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Chapter: 40

Lord Naam was in agony.

He was in a difficult situation.

So difficult, in fact, that it ranked among the most challenging situations he\'d encountered in his 47 years of life. It was the most difficult situation since last year when he\'d nearly made an embarrassing mistake in front of Duke Woo Joong, a mistake unbefitting of a fully grown adult, after experiencing a sudden bout of stomach trouble.

"Damn it..."

This wasn\'t how things were supposed to go. Unforeseen events were unfolding one after another.

Lord Naam racked his brain, his head throbbing from overwork. He reached up to massage his temples, but remembering that his hair had recently started falling out rapidly, he lowered his hand.

"Prince Ikwon...!"

He thought the reckless prince would just cause trouble and leave. He could handle that much. Wasn\'t it said that the prince couldn\'t live without indulging in something?

He\'d assumed that providing the prince with drinks, entertainment, and a bit of flattery would be enough to keep him happy.

Yes, what\'s so difficult about handling a fool?

It was simple. He was an expert in such matters.

The sharper the exterior, the more rotten and soft the interior, so someone like the reckless prince was the easiest to manipulate.

There was, however, one concern. The date set for the Duke of Mungung\'s liaison to arrive at Naam Fortress was close to the date of the wild prince\'s visit.

In his dealings with Duke Woo Joong, Lord Naam was always the subordinate. An absolutely subservient one at that.

He was in no position to dare ask Duke Woo Joong to adjust his schedule to accommodate Lord Naam\'s situation.

How could he even make such a request? Ask the Duke to send his liaison after the wild prince had left Naam Fortress?

If he made such a request, Duke Woo Joong would probably give a positive answer.

But then he would never send another liaison again.

To Duke Woo Joong, someone like Lord Naam wasn’t special, so it was always Lord Naam who had to be the one to compromise. That\'s what he believed. The weak had to bow their heads.

The only fortunate thing was that the prince had no reason to stay in Naam Fortress for long.

Treat him well, and he\'d be satisfied and leave. Even the wild prince had a busy schedule. He surely wouldn\'t stay long.

Lord Naam didn\'t want to antagonize Prince Ikwon unnecessarily. The prince\'s maternal relatives had abandoned him, and his mother, the deposed queen, had been executed.

The authority that came with the prince\'s status was intimidating, but that was all there was to it. Aside from his title, there was nothing to fear, which meant there was no need to make an enemy of him.

Although the timing was a bit tight, there was no need for major concern. After the reckless prince left Naam Fortress, Duke Woo Joong’s liaison would arrive.

There was no problem. Lord Naam thought so. And so, without worry, he waited for the reckless prince\'s visit.

As expected, the reckless prince was pleased with his reception. Just one or two more days like this would be enough.

Even though he was called a fool, a prince was still a prince. Prince Ikwon pretended to care about Naam Fortress. His efforts were commendable, but such efforts were less welcome than indifference.

Because he didn\'t want his prophetess, whom he had taken in as his adopted daughter, to be discovered.

Bam!

Lord Naam punched a wooden pillar in frustration.

Yet, his anger wouldn\'t subside.

"That damn fool..."

His mistake was not considering the possibility of an accident.

But it wasn\'t his fault. Who could predict such accidents?

People can\'t see even an inch ahead. He had simply done his best within his capabilities.

"That bastard..."

Lord Naam gritted his teeth.

Was there some ill fate between him and the wayward prince? Should he have called in a fortune-teller beforehand?

From the crow he\'d tried to shoo away, which turned out to be the prince\'s pet, to an entire pavilion suddenly catching fire during the prince\'s stay. Nothing good had come from his entanglement with Prince Ikwon.

And why did the prince have to keep a damn crow as a pet, of all things? Why keep such a thing and put him in trouble?

Ugly people only do ugly things, and the wayward prince was a perfect example.

Besides, why did the pavilion suddenly catch fire?

The losses were immense. It was enough to drive him crazy.

When he first heard the report from the general about the fire, Lord Naam thought the general was playing a prank on him.

That\'s how absurd it was.

Moreover, even Gae Yeohwa wasn\'t helping him.

With the wayward prince coming, he wanted to foresee the future, just in case. But all he heard was nonsense about the future being unclear.

And earlier, she was even close to the wayward prince.

He was indeed startled by that sight.

Even though he had long been out of favor with the king, a prince was still a prince. If the prince decided to make Gae Yeohwa his princess consort, there was nothing he, a mere lord of a fortress, could do. He couldn\'t dare refuse a royal proposal.

The problem was that if that happened, he would lose more than just the prophetess.

Suppose Gae Yeohwa became the princess consort of the First Prince, Ikwon. Then, Lord Naam could no longer form a marriage alliance with the royal family. A marriage alliance meant taking their side.

In other words, the marriage between his own daughter, Gae Rihwa, and the Second Prince, Jaean, which had been proposed beforehand, would fall apart.

At the same time, he would be abandoned by the Second Prince\'s maternal relatives, Queen Woo, Duke Woo Joong, and Commander Woo Jo.

Lord Naam was convinced that joining hands with the Woo family was the greatest fortune of his life.

He would give the quack prophetess he had somehow obtained to Duke Woo Joong, and make his own daughter the crown princess, and someday, the queen. What a sweet dream.

He couldn\'t miss this opportunity. He couldn\'t afford to.

On the other hand, he also had regrets.

"That ungrateful girl."

He should have taken her as a concubine instead of an adopted daughter.

He had taken her in as an adopted daughter because she was younger than his own daughter when he first took her in, but now that he thought about it, it would have been better to make her a concubine.

An adopted daughter could be given away to someone else, but a concubine wouldn\'t be.

Anyway, would the wayward prince really take Gae Yeohwa away? No answer would come from pondering alone. Lord Naam muttered curses as he headed down the hallway.

The wayward prince had spotted the liaison from Duke Woo Joong and demanded an introduction, so he had to comply for now.

He had tried so hard to keep him out of sight, but the pavilion fire had ruined everything.

Could his luck get any worse?

The pavilion fire had started on its own, so there was no one to blame. But if he wanted to blame someone, he could. Lord Naam muttered about Gae Yeohwa, who had already disappeared into her quarters.

"That damn thing didn\'t even say a word..."

If he had heard even a single prophecy, he could have prevented the pavilion from burning.

Therefore, the pavilion burning was Gae Yeohwa\'s fault for not foreseeing it. It was her fault for not fulfilling her duties and only eating his food. Was that all she was here for?

She had said she couldn\'t foresee anything since they started preparing for the wayward prince\'s visit, so Prince Ikwon was also responsible for the pavilion fire.

He wanted to shout at the wayward prince to get out and kick his butt.

He walked down the corridor with heavy footsteps.

"You saw it too, right?"

At that moment, the words of a servant passing through the corridor pierced his ears like a knife.

"Yeah, I saw it."

What did they see? Lord Naam turned around with a sinking feeling.

"He\'s not a commoner like us, he\'s a prince."

"That\'s right. He\'s a prince."

"But he was there, helping put out the fire. Man, I never thought I\'d be carrying water buckets alongside His Highness."

"Oh my, you\'ve got a story to tell for the rest of your life."

"Of course, man. I was so worried a spark might land on his precious body, my heart was about to burst."

"Oh, stop exaggerating."

"He\'s so handsome and well-built. Wow... If you\'re going to work, you should work under someone like that. It makes you want to go to work, am I right?"

Lord Naam let out a hollow laugh.

The servants\' chatter was outrageous. He couldn\'t bear to listen anymore.

"You scoundrels!"

Lord Naam roared. The servants, who had been chatting while walking, bowed their heads. They apologized first, without even knowing why. It wasn\'t uncommon for the lord to yell.

"How dare you...!"

He shouted, but he had no words to scold the servants. Lord Naam clenched his teeth.

"...You fools, do you think His Highness is someone you lowly bugs can even mention?!"

He had shouted because he didn\'t want to mention the wayward prince, but the reason for his outburst was also the wayward prince.

In a fit of anger, his voice only grew louder.

"If I tell His Highness about this, you\'ll be punished immediately!"

Faced with his outburst, the servants bowed their heads and trembled. With a single word from him, the lord of the fortress, they could be expelled from Naam Fortress. And a single word from Prince Ikwon could get them beheaded or dismembered.

Their situation was different from his, the lord of Naam Fortress. This realization momentarily eased his anger, but then he remembered that he, standing before the prince, wasn\'t much different from these servants standing before him. This thought fueled his anger once more.

"Do you still not understand? If I go right now and say a word to him right now, you\'ll be dragged to the execution ground before anyone can do anything. The law is strict!"

"We\'re sorry!"

"What is your wrongdoing?"

"Please forgive us! We\'ve committed a grave mistake. We\'ll never dare speak of His Highness again."

Lord Naam clasped his hands behind his back and clicked his tongue. His expression clearly showed his contempt for the servants.

"I\'ll be generous and pretend I didn\'t hear this time. There won\'t be a next time, so if you want to keep your lowly lives, remember this well."

"Yes, yes! My Lord!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Lord Naam shook his head and turned away. His mood had improved slightly.

He started walking again. He still didn\'t like the wayward prince and the Senior Secretary being together.

But disliking it didn\'t change anything.

"That fool of a prince doesn\'t even know what\'s appropriate..."

Lord Naam sighed.

The wayward prince wasn\'t someone who could be reasoned with using etiquette or rules, so there was no way to avoid him.

Each step felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.