“Louis!”

“...Maryse?”

On his way to the National Business Support Department, Louis stopped at the sound calling his name.

His face twisted at once. It was a face he really didn’t want to see.

“Maryse.”

“Why are you here?”

“As you can see.”

Louis shook the documents in his hand. A long sigh slipped out of him.

‘Where did it start going wrong?’

After Maryse—who’d been the student council president—quit the academy, half by choice and half not, he and the other student council executives had been forced to stop their studies as well.

The students they’d wronged came back at them the same way—targeting the student council executives after Maryse.

Of course, they hadn’t just taken it.

They’d leaned on their families’ power—trying to buy those students off, trying to threaten them.

But it hadn’t done much.

Their anger was sharper than expected, and in the end, they had to get legal counsel and restrain them through the law.

Sure, rumors went around—how money really could do anything, which law firm it was, and so on—but he didn’t care.

‘If you’re jealous, you should’ve been born into a good family.’

‘Seriously.’

They’d even snickered about it.

He thought that would be the end of it.

But then things started happening to each family.

Business problems erupted one after another, until now they’d reached a point where there was nothing they could do.

They didn’t even have the donation money they were supposed to give the academy, so they’d had to stop attending.

‘And now...’

He was here to apply for business support funds from the state. Even his father was currently borrowing money from wherever he could.

But it wasn’t easy.

If these papers didn’t pass, all that would be left was despair. Every business was on the verge of being swallowed by debt.

“And you? What are you doing here?”

“Me too...”

Maryse was doing even worse.

Ever since before her father, Marquess Gavriel, died, their businesses had been wobbling—now they were nearly at the cliff’s edge. Her mother was bedridden, and every relative had turned their back on her.

No—worse.

Their eyes were bloodshot, looking for anything they could still snatch away.

She too had come here with a new business proposal, trying to borrow money.

“......”

“......”

Facing each other, neither of them could speak for a while.

Then, at the same time, they let out short sighs and looked at the tightly closed door.

<Business Support Department>

They knocked lightly and went inside.

“How can I help you?”

A male staffer who looked to be in his late twenties spoke in a stiff tone.

Most people who came here were here to borrow money, so being too kind only made things exhausting. They would cling and cling, trying to get something out of you.

“We’re here to submit our business proposals.”

“The final decision will be made by the Minister of Finance, and you’ll need to be reviewed by someone else first. The person in charge is in the office further in. Go on in.”

Listening to the man recite the standard script, the two of them went to the inner office and knocked.

“Come in.”

A young man’s voice answered from inside.

CLICK.

“Excuse—!”

Louis and Maryse froze the moment they stepped in.

Because someone extremely familiar was sitting in the room.

“You...!”

“What brings you two here?”

A man staring at them coldly.

“K-Kevin?”

Kevin Brian.

The person who had ultimately quit the academy because of their bullying.

“...I heard you left the capital?”

“Long time no see.”

The two of them swallowed hard without realizing it.

Why was Kevin here?

They’d clearly been told to come here and have their documents reviewed...!

Their eyes darted to the desk. The name engraved on the nameplate there.

<Examiner Kevin Brian>

“You... you’re the examiner?”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“H-how are you—!”

A Ministry of Finance examiner wasn’t something just anyone could become. Skill mattered, but more than that, you needed a letter of recommendation from someone with unquestionable power—someone everyone had to acknowledge.

So how could Kevin, who’d had no power, whose family had been pathetic to the point of misery, be sitting in that seat?

“I recommended him.”

“......!”

At that moment, the person who had been sitting with their back turned slowly turned their head toward them.

“Y-you...!”

Their faces twisted into shock all over again.

“Long time.”

Camilla lifted a hand and greeted them like she knew them well.

“For the record, the three dukes wrote recommendations too. With qualifications like his, he could’ve kicked down the door anywhere he applied, but he said he wanted the Business Support Department.”

“...This line of work suits me more than I expected.”

“You applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at first. His Majesty and the Duke of Jevillan were so disappointed. His Majesty even dropped hints to me not long ago.”

“......!”

After the Eva Faith incident, Crown Prince Edsen—no, Emperor Edsen—replaced everyone working in the palace.

Even people who’d served the imperial household for a long time, if they were incompetent and just clinging to a seat, he cut them down without mercy.

He poured energy into appointing new talent, and Kevin was one of the people who used those newly opened vacancies as an opportunity to get in.

“His Majesty was very satisfied with Kevin’s abilities. The kid’s incredibly smart. It’s almost a shame he couldn’t finish the academy—thanks to someone.”

Camilla’s gaze slid to Kevin. When their eyes met, Kevin bowed with perfect courtesy.

“Why would you help Kevin...”

Maryse and Louis couldn’t understand it. Even back at the academy, they hadn’t been close with him.

“Kevin came to me.”

“What?”

“When was that again?”

“Last autumn.”

“Oh, right.”

Around when the wind started turning cold, Kevin showed up at the Ghost Trading House out of nowhere.

Camilla had barely exchanged a proper conversation with him before. His visit left her puzzled.

Help me.

Me? Why?

I don’t want to live as a loser like this.

He’d probably heard that the student council had collapsed because of her and came looking for her.

Honestly, at first, she didn’t feel like helping him. She wasn’t running a charity. Why should she?

I don’t have a hobby of reaching out to people who ask for help with empty hands.

I...

I do like investing, though.

...What?

Do you study?

Still—she decided to respect the courage it took for him to come. The fire in his eyes, the resolve to do something, wasn’t bad.

That didn’t mean she helped him immediately. She truly had no intention of helping someone with no ability at all.

So she told him to prove himself. The value he carried.

If he could, she said she’d invest as much as he wanted.

‘And Kevin proved it.’

He passed something like a civil service exam—the kind administered by the state—in only half a year, without hesitation.

Now even the Minister of Finance was paying attention to him.

“So. Why did the two of you come here?”

Only then did Kevin glance at the documents Maryse and Louis were holding.

It was obvious what they were here for, but he asked again on purpose.

“I asked what you’re here for.”

“......”

Maryse bit down hard on her lip. The bastard who couldn’t even raise his head in front of me back then...!

Louis let out a short sigh too—disgusted all over again by how pathetic his own situation felt.

“They’re here to borrow money, obviously.”

Camilla continued for them when they couldn’t bring themselves to speak.

“Those two families are struggling right now. Both of you have over ten million gold due in fifteen days, right? Your other debts have a month left, but the amounts are bigger.”

“H-how do you know that?!”

Louis and Maryse’s eyes flew wide open.

They’d clamped down hard so it wouldn’t leak outside the family.

How did she possibly know?

Only then did Camilla rise slowly from her seat and step toward them.

“I’ve never broken a promise.”

“...A promise?”

Camilla’s eyes curved prettily as she looked at Louis, the former vice president.

“The video.”

“......!”

“I didn’t leak it anywhere, just like I promised. But...”

She cut ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) herself off and clicked her tongue lightly.

“I never said I’d stop your fathers.”

“...Our fathers?”

If she meant Camilla’s father...

The Duke of Sorpel.

Louis’s eyes shook without rest.

No way...

“My dad’s a little excessive when it comes to loving his daughter.”

“D-don’t tell me... our family ended up like this because—?”

Camilla’s smile deepened.

“I only found out recently, but he got involved. He cut off your partners, blocked your funding, and supported your competitors.”

He’d crushed every last one of the student council executives’ families into the ground.

“Th-that’s impossible.”

Only now did they understand.

Why the student council executives’ households had suddenly collapsed into ruin.

Behind it all had been the Duke of Sorpel.

No—was it Camilla?

“Why?! We never touched you!”

“You touched my friend.”

“......!”

“And my dad adores Laila.”

Because she’s my only friend.

Louis had nothing to say.

He’d never imagined a childish act of reckless pride from a careless age could lead to something like this.

And his resentment spilled sideways—straight onto Maryse.

If it weren’t for her...!

I wasn’t the one who started it. I only went along with Maryse...!

“Just leave your documents and go. I don’t know if you’ll get approved.”

Maryse stared at Camilla—who was pointing at the documents in their hands—and ground her teeth.

“Who do you think you are?! Do you even work here?!”

“You didn’t know?”

“...What?”

“That I’m the biggest sponsor of the Business Support Department.”

“......!”

“You know the department runs on sponsorships, right?”

More than half of that funding came from the Ghost Trading House. The other half was mostly paid by the Duke of Sorpel and the other two dukes.

In other words, the Ministry of Finance was being run by the three ducal houses.

“So I think I have the right to weigh in on where the money goes.”

“Ugh...!”

Maryse clenched her fist, trembling with humiliation.

Back then, I should’ve made sure she was dead.

Maryse knew her father had tried to kill Camilla. She’d overheard a private conversation he’d had with his aide.

She’d pretended she hadn’t heard anything, but inside, she’d been cheering.

Because everything—her expulsion from the academy, her father’s business collapsing—had been Camilla’s fault.

She’d wanted her to die in a foreign land and never come back.

But in the end...

The one who died was her father.

“Leave the proposal and go. If you threw together a plan because you’re desperate, you’d be better off looking somewhere else right now.”

Maryse—biting her lips raw—turned around on the spot. Louis turned too, letting out a short sigh.

But the way Maryse’s steps looked so heavy as she walked ahead of him wasn’t his imagination.

She’d turned away in fury and shame, but the suffocating dread of having nowhere left to borrow from must be swallowing her whole.

Louis understood that feeling better than anyone.

Before the door fully closed, Louis met Kevin’s eyes—Kevin watching them without expression. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Louis had no choice but to lower his head and leave.

The price of the past came crashing down on him—painfully, unmistakably.

Side story. A Day in King’s Life

Cold. It’s too cold here. Why is no one coming to find me?

I tapped at my surroundings, fidgeting with my paws for a bit, then—like I always did—I curled my body up tight and held my breath.

Cold... I hate water, too... How long do I have to stay here?

One day, I swelled with anticipation, and the next, I just slept and slept, drowning in resentment. I repeated those days countless times.

I was whimpering in the loneliness that always came back—when all of a sudden, a strange sound started to reach me.

[Th... is... Al... rea... dy!]

I can hear something! Did they come to find me? I’m here. I’m right here!

Thinking I might finally be able to get out of this place, I poured out my light with everything I had.

Then, a moment later, someone lifted me up, and at last...

“Ba... by... Spi... rit... ri... ght?”

“Yo... cou... gh!”

Outside!

The instant I realized I’d escaped the water, my tail started moving on its own.

I flailed, trying to grab my swishing tail—and then, suddenly, my whole body became warm.

Huh? What is this warmth? Warm. Feels good.

“So... th... at’s it? It... pi... cks up... spi... rits?”

“As expe... cted, it’s... fast...!”

The ones who found me bustled around, darting this way and that.

Maybe because I’d spent so long in the quiet water, this kind of noisy commotion felt welcome.

“...La, this... could it be...?!”

“Yes, I... be... lieve so.”

As I rolled around lazily, a familiar presence brushed against me.

This is...!

WUUUUNG—

Ah! It’s calling me! The one I’m meant to be with is calling me.

FWOOSH!

Everyone’s going to be shocked when they see me, right? They’ll be in awe of my overwhelming power!

PITTER PATTER.

My dignified steps.

[GYUU!]

My booming cry!

“...A kitten? I thought it was a White Tiger.”

[You finally woke up!]

That’s right. I am the divine beast White Tiger!

I looked around and saw a big man clutching a pendant in one hand, his face full of emotion.

Ah. So that’s the one I’ll be protecting from now on.

But the warmth I felt at first wasn’t from this human.

That warmth was definitely... yeah. That human!

PITTER PATTER!

[GYUU!]

Hold me, human!

“No, no. Not me.”

H-huh? Did you just push me away? How? Why?

I looked up with shocked eyes. The woman made an awkward face for a moment—then turned her head away.

Look closely. I’m a divine beast! A divine beast everyone wants! Do you think there’s another divine beast as magnificent as me?

Human. Hurry up and hold me!

[GYUU?]

Why do you keep pushing my butt?

“I said it’s not me. Over there—go over there.”

Go? Really? To that human?

[GYUUU.......]

Fine... I understand. I’ll go to that human. H-huh?

“Camilla!”

Human, why are you collapsing?!

[GYUU!]