By Zephyria 
Andrew couldn’t even properly deny it, just opening and closing his mouth in front of me. I added one more comment at the end.
‘I’m joking, brother. The esteemed young viscount of our family would never dare do such a thing.’
The noble young Viscount Hamilton couldn’t even reprimand his younger brother for daring to mock his elder sibling with such impertinent words. I slowly brushed past him, and he ultimately couldn’t even grab my sleeve.
Both I who spoke and he who listened knew it wasn’t a joke, but we decided to salvage the situation with such a flimsy excuse. It was probably a silent agreement.
“I didn’t expect you to personally accompany me to the imperial palace, brother. It’s an honor.”
Throughout the journey to the imperial palace, Andrew Hamilton didn’t utter a single word. That worthless silence was the only countermeasure he could wield against me, having had his cards completely exposed.
Favorability: -27%
Favorability: -32%
Favorability: -36%
Favorability: -21%
The affection level continued to draw erratic curves, never tiring. I leisurely admired those curves, inwardly sneering.
“Oh my, you must be the infamous youngest son of the Hamilton family.”
“Please forgive my disrespect in only greeting you now. I am Noah of Hamilton, Lady Grachio.”
There was already a guest in the crown prince’s reception room. It was Beatrice, the only daughter of Duke Grachio, who had manifested as a dominant Omega three years ago and whom everyone had considered the future empress until I appeared.
Seemingly unconcerned about public gossip that treated us as the rivalry of the century, the duke’s daughter smiled sweetly and willingly offered me her hand.
“Just Beatrice is enough, Noah.”
“Yes, Lady Beatrice.”
Even though we were both candidates for the crown prince’s consort, she was the empress’s niece and the precious jewel of Duke Grachio, leader of the aristocratic faction, while I was merely the third son of a count, not even his biological child. Given this fundamental difference in status, my attitude could only be even more respectful.
Adding the honorific “Lady” despite her request to call her Beatrice was an excellent choice. Her gaze toward me seemed to grow more curious.
A small stature with delicate limbs. Cotton candy-like fluffy, light pink hair and a cute, lovely appearance.
Already twenty years old, yet looking at most sixteen or seventeen even when viewed generously, when she blinked her doll-like eyes and said “Just Beatrice is enough” while calling the other person’s name, a hundred out of a hundred people would unwittingly call her “Beatrice,” not realizing this was the duchess’s first test.
Except for the empress, she was the noblest Omega in the country and had the right to address others by name however she pleased, but so far, no Omega had the right to casually call her by name.
The reason I could easily recognize and pass her test this time was because I had referenced Allen’s behavior from the game.
In their first meeting, Allen had jumped up in protest asking how someone like him could possibly do such a thing… but even though I planned to follow Allen’s strategy as much as possible, I couldn’t quite bring myself to copy that.
“By the way, His Highness is quite late. Calling busy people all the way here. What do you think, Noah? Aren’t the refreshments here rather mediocre?”
“Haha… do you think so…?”
As the empress’s niece, Lady Beatrice could freely express dissatisfaction toward the crown prince, but I certainly couldn’t. With an innocent and youthful expression that gave no indication she was testing people, the duchess repeatedly made indirect criticisms about the crown prince’s shortcomings.
As I neither agreed nor questioned, just awkwardly laughing and scratching the back of my neck, a mischievous glint gradually appeared at the corners of the duchess’s mouth. It was a good sign.
“Hmm…”
She fluttered her fan slowly while looking me up and down. It wasn’t the gaze of someone sizing up a late competitor for the position of crown prince’s consort. Her gaze wasn’t sharp enough for that.
This was an unexpected result gained from having earned the crown prince’s favor in advance. Originally, the crown prince, who didn’t have much interest in me, would have simply let the situation be even after hearing news of a new candidate for his fiancée. In other words, he wouldn’t have called everyone together like this just to see the candidates’ faces. And given my inferior status, I couldn’t have requested a meeting with the duchess whom I had never met before.
Being formally invited to the crown prince’s palace and meeting Lady Beatrice before Allen’s appearance—both were firsts for me.
In previous cycles, by the time I met the duchess, she had already become Allen’s closest friend and helper.
Still, Beatrice was exactly as I had known her.
Andrew couldn’t even properly deny it, just opening and closing his mouth in front of me. I added one more comment at the end.
‘I’m joking, brother. The esteemed young viscount of our family would never dare do such a thing.’
The noble young Viscount Hamilton couldn’t even reprimand his younger brother for daring to mock his elder sibling with such impertinent words. I slowly brushed past him, and he ultimately couldn’t even grab my sleeve.
Both I who spoke and he who listened knew it wasn’t a joke, but we decided to salvage the situation with such a flimsy excuse. It was probably a silent agreement.
“I didn’t expect you to personally accompany me to the imperial palace, brother. It’s an honor.”
Throughout the journey to the imperial palace, Andrew Hamilton didn’t utter a single word. That worthless silence was the only countermeasure he could wield against me, having had his cards completely exposed.
Favorability: -27%
Favorability: -32%
Favorability: -36%
Favorability: -21%
The affection level continued to draw erratic curves, never tiring. I leisurely admired those curves, inwardly sneering.
“Oh my, you must be the infamous youngest son of the Hamilton family.”
“Please forgive my disrespect in only greeting you now. I am Noah of Hamilton, Lady Grachio.”
There was already a guest in the crown prince’s reception room. It was Beatrice, the only daughter of Duke Grachio, who had manifested as a dominant Omega three years ago and whom everyone had considered the future empress until I appeared.
Seemingly unconcerned about public gossip that treated us as the rivalry of the century, the duke’s daughter smiled sweetly and willingly offered me her hand.
“Just Beatrice is enough, Noah.”
“Yes, Lady Beatrice.”
Even though we were both candidates for the crown prince’s consort, she was the empress’s niece and the precious jewel of Duke Grachio, leader of the aristocratic faction, while I was merely the third son of a count, not even his biological child. Given this fundamental difference in status, my attitude could only be even more respectful.
Adding the honorific “Lady” despite her request to call her Beatrice was an excellent choice. Her gaze toward me seemed to grow more curious.
A small stature with delicate limbs. Cotton candy like fluffy, light pink hair and a cute, lovely appearance.
Even though she was already twenty this year, she barely looked sixteen or seventeen at best. As she blinked her eyes like a doll and called out the other person’s name, saying that Beatrice would suffice, ninety-nine out of a hundred people, unaware that it was the Lady’s first test, would easily call her Beatrice.
Except for the empress, she was the noblest Omega in the country and had the right to address others by name however she pleased, but so far, no Omega had the right to casually call her by name.
The reason I could easily recognize and pass her test this time was because I had referenced Allen’s behavior from the game.
In their first meeting, Allen had jumped up in protest asking how someone like him could possibly do such a thing… but even though I planned to follow Allen’s strategy as much as possible, I couldn’t quite bring myself to copy that.
“By the way, His Highness is quite late. Calling busy people all the way here. What do you think, Noah? Aren’t the refreshments here rather mediocre?”
“Haha… do you think so…?”
As the empress’s niece, Lady Beatrice could freely express dissatisfaction toward the crown prince, but I certainly couldn’t. With an innocent and youthful expression that gave no indication she was testing people, the Lady repeatedly made indirect criticisms about the crown prince’s shortcomings.
As I neither agreed nor questioned, just awkwardly laughing and scratching the back of my neck, a mischievous glint gradually appeared at the corners of the Lady’s mouth. It was a good sign.
“Hmm…”
She fluttered her fan slowly while looking me up and down. It wasn’t the gaze of someone sizing up a late competitor for the position of crown prince’s consort. Her gaze wasn’t sharp enough for that.
This was an unexpected result gained from having earned the crown prince’s favor in advance. Originally, the crown prince, who didn’t have much interest in me, would have simply let the situation be even after hearing news of a new candidate for his fiancée. In other words, he wouldn’t have called everyone together like this just to see the candidates’ faces. And given my inferior status, I couldn’t have requested a meeting with the duchess whom I had never met before.
Being formally invited to the crown prince’s palace and meeting Lady Beatrice before Allen’s appearance, both were firsts for me.
In previous cycles, by the time I met the Lady, she had already become Allen’s closest friend and helper.
Still, Beatrice was exactly as I had known her.
The noble Lady Beatrice, who despised the dull-witted, hated the presumptuous, and knew how to sympathize with everything weak and beautiful.
For her, the weak and beautiful was always Allen, and the dull-witted and presumptuous who repeatedly broke Allen’s heart was always me.
Whether I bullied Allen proactively or not, Allen would shed tears in front of those who loved and cherished him for trivial matters, and skillfully put me in the position of the perpetrator and punish me.
Even though it wasn’t my will that he came to live under his name that he didn’t remember, or under his parents and siblings that he had lost.
He would sob, saying how could he reclaim his name when Noah Hamilton, who had already taken root in aristocratic society, existed, and he couldn’t hide his sorrow, his jaw trembling, whenever he saw his room or childhood toys that I had been using.
In the meantime, Allen somehow became the Crown Prince’s lover every time, and lamented that if he had grown up normally in Hamilton and received the blessing at his age, as if his Dominant Omega trait had been stolen, he would have surely become a Dominant Omega and stood by the Crown Prince without any difficulty.
Allen’s Alphas and his family (who were once my family) agreed with his words and drove me as if I had stolen even the Dominant trait.
The fact that I, too, had my name and age stolen before Allen, and received the blessing at nineteen, two years late, not at my age, was the same, but no one was interested in what I had lost. Everyone was always focused on what I had stolen from Allen.
“I heard that the fabric that the Lady suggested to Duke Grachio is very popular these days? I heard that no one even thought of importing it, how did you do it?”
I widened my eyes even more and asked, pretending to be curious, even opening my mouth. It was a bit of an exaggerated expression, but since my basic appearance was sharp and fierce, it was impossible to look innocent without exaggerating to this extent.
“Is that so? Is that rumor reaching your ears as well?”
The praise that worked best for Beatrice, who had a much brighter and more intelligent sense of economics than her older, dull-witted brothers, was indeed this kind of thing. The Lady’s cheeks soon turned red.
Perhaps I was the first to praise her for something other than how sweet her cotton candy-like hair looked, or how cute and lovely her white cheeks, which hadn’t lost all their baby fat, were. Since this was how Allen first opened her heart and entered, the effect was undoubtedly clear.
“Of course! I wanted to make clothes with that fabric too, but I couldn’t find it anywhere? I leave all the family matters to my two older brothers and just play around… I was so respectful when I heard that the Lady was preparing a trading company herself!”
“Ahem…! Well, if you’re okay with it, I’ll send you a few rolls to your mansion next time!”
She wouldn’t know how glad I was to hear that Lady Beatrice was coming to the Imperial Palace with me today.
“Really? Wow, I’m so happy.”
“To be happy with just this. By the way, Noah is too soft.”
“Yes? Me?”
“Yes. How are you going to survive in this Imperial Palace with that kind of mindset… Ah, never mind. Forget I said that.”
Beatrice Grachio. As Grand Duke Graham’s cousin, she was the free pass ticket to the third target character in this game, Grand Duke Carlisle Graham.
“His Highness the Crown Prince is entering!”
Just as the conversation took a break, the command was heard at just the right timing. We stood up from our seats and took the etiquette of welcoming the royal family. We knelt on one knee and bowed our heads deeply, then slowly raised our eyes…
“Welcome. It must have been difficult with the sudden invitation.”
“Not at all, Your Highness. Rather, the problem is that you were so late after calling us.”
“Haha. The Lady’s sharp words are just like Her Majesty the Empress. Blood doesn’t go anywhere.”
The one wearing the Crown Prince’s clothes and the Lady exchanged greetings with some sharpness, as if they had met several times before. During that time, I couldn’t say a word and just looked back and forth between the Crown Prince and the servant behind him, unable to hide my confusion.
“Well, then, this must be Young Master Noah Hamilton, who has newly manifested his trait.”
“Ah… Yes… Yes, Your Highness! Noah of Hamilton greets the heir to glory…!”
‘Long time no see, Young Master.’
Behind the Crown Prince (probably a proxy) with an unfamiliar appearance, who was wearing the Crown Prince’s clothes and exchanging familiar greetings with Lady Beatrice… the real Crown Prince, still dressed as a servant, greeted me with only lip movements and smiled leisurely.