Eldest SS3

Side Story 3.

“Aining, please.”

Killian muttered, bowing his head.

His reaction made me giggle, and I kissed his forehead.

“Are you no longer upset?”

My voice carried a teasing note, and Killian sighed as if embarrassed, but nodded.

“It’s hard to keep pretending I’m sulking, thanks to Aining.”

“I’m just true to my feelings~!”

Aining shouted as she bounced on my bed.

Killian smiled faintly at her words, then wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me.

It was a far deeper kiss than mine had been.

Gladly, I closed my eyes and responded in kind.

For a long while, we stayed like that, sharing each other’s breath, before we finally parted.

“So am I.”

Killian looked at me with eyes still heavy with lingering emotion.

He gently stroked my cheek, murmuring,

“I love you, too. Truly, deeply.”

His reply made my heart flutter with joy.

Savoring the warmth of it, I nestled into Killian’s embrace.

Holding me close, he spoke softly,

“To tell the truth, sometimes I was anxious.”

“Worried that I might not love you?”

It was careless of me—even now, I realize it—to have kept my feelings to myself for so long.

Killian, meanwhile, had been showing his affection openly in countless small ways.

‘Reflect on this, Belladi Alton.’

When I glanced up at him, Killian was wearing a beautiful smile.

“To be honest… I was always pretty sure we’d end up like this.”

Oh?

I cocked an eyebrow, amused by his unexpected boldness.

Killian responded by placing a quick kiss there.

“Every time you allowed yourself to show a hint of vulnerability, you can’t imagine how proud I felt… It’s a feeling you’ll never truly know.”

I had no choice but to admit—he was the only person in this world around whom I could let down all of my defenses and be as childish as I liked.

It seemed he’d long since realized what I was only just coming to recognize.

‘Is this what love is?’

Maybe love is the freedom to reveal the most fragile parts of oneself, without the slightest hesitation.

With that thought, I spoke.

“Then what made you anxious?”

“…I worry that whenever we’re both so busy, you’ll try to spare me by making decisions alone, without ever discussing them with me.”

At his careful answer, I slipped from his arms and faced him directly.

Those transparent gray eyes were filled with nothing but me.

“And so, bit by bit, misunderstandings and hurt feelings might pile up between us.”

“I…”

“I think the balance between work and love isn’t something you determine alone. It’s something we have to find together. I always want to know your thoughts, in all things.”

His voice grew noticeably, deeply plaintive as he spoke.

“If I’m the only one who feels this way…”

Before he could finish, I cupped his cheeks in my hands, pressed my forehead to his, and whispered,

“That’s always been my greatest failing.”

“…”

“I’m sharper than most, and quicker to think things through—which means I’m also more inclined to make decisions alone…”

“Belladi.”

“So every time I do, please, point it out to me.”

I gave a gentle smile.

“As you said, you’re the only one I can show my weaknesses to. If you teach me, I’ll make sure we don’t let misunderstandings build up between us.”

“I just hope that, with me, you’ll always be honest about everything.”

Killian seized this opening to murmur quietly.

I chuckled and nodded.

“Of course.”

With that response, Killian at last smiled as brightly as ever.

Aining, who had been bouncing about, came sidling over and jumped between us.

“Belladi~ Killian~ Aining wants a hug too~!”

Making space for her, I reached out to draw her in.

But a firm hand caught the little fox by the scruff of her neck and gently lifted her up.

“Come on, Aining.”

Dangling from Killian’s hand, Aining blinked her wide eyes and tilted her head.

“Killian?”

“Good spirits need to go home now.”

“No, no! I want to stay with Belladi!”

Aining protested, but Killian’s answer made it clear she had no chance.

“See you tomorrow, Aining. Sweet dreams.”

“But—I want to sleep with Belladi toni—”

Aining never finished her sentence.

Killian had swiftly banished her back to her realm.

‘What’s this?’

Killian, who was usually soft on Aining?

While I blinked in surprise, he stood from the sofa and swept me up in his arms.

He strode straight to the bed and asked,

“When you asked me to come find you every night—did you really mean it?”

Was he referring to the invitation-turned-seduction I’d offered earlier?

His voice was so serious I nodded before I even realized it.

“I did.”

“In that case, Belladi…”

He set me gently down on the bed, then climbed over me.

This vantage point—looking up at him from below—was unfamiliar.

As I hesitated, Killian leisurely began to undo my uniform.

“When I leave—well, that’ll be at my discretion.”

“Meaning—”

Just like Aining, I never got to finish.

He silenced me with a kiss.

All the while, his hands moved deftly down my jacket, unbuttoning with fluid skill.

“You wear this often. It comes off easily.”

Killian whispered with satisfaction, and his lips trailed down my neck.

Naturally, I reached up to tangle my hand gently in his hair.

‘Today really is a landmark day.’

One that, for me, couldn’t have been happier.

That night,

Killian stayed with me until the morning sun rose.

The light we shared in bed felt warmer than any before.

‘Even if I didn’t sleep a wink.’

On the very first day of my new office, I’d probably be late.

But somehow, I couldn’t find it in me to care.

‘Right. I’ve been running so fast, for so long.’

So surely, I deserve at least this bit of leisure with the one I love.

Isn’t that right, Belladi Alton?

As I bargained with myself, Killian—still holding me in his arms—murmured quietly.

“I wish we could stay like this forever.”

His voice was low and a little hoarse, and I smiled faintly.

“Didn’t you say you’d come every night?”

“…I don’t want to go back.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s just not possible.”

I tapped his nose gently.

“You’re about to become Crown Prince, destined for the throne. You can’t neglect your duties.”

“Honestly, I never wanted to be Crown Prince or Emperor.”

I just want to stand at your side as Duke Alton’s consort.

His childish complaint made me smile lightly.

“Still, Killian, you do have a very reliable heir, don’t you?”

“Ah…!”

“With Princess Hera around, you can take a more relaxed view.”

“Hoo, I’ll try.”

Killian sighed and held me tighter.

I patted his back, thinking for a moment.

‘Princess Hera will need to come of age, and she’ll have to spend time gaining experience as the next Emperor… At the very least, that’s probably another fourteen years, isn’t it?’

Of course, at that moment, I didn’t know.

That Killian was dreaming a rather different dream of his own.

---

From the very next day after returning to the Imperial Palace, Killian began dividing his time by the second, gathering, refining, and organizing information.

He spent his mornings and afternoons on the duties of the Crown Prince, then worked out in the evenings, making plans and assembling more documents.

And at night, he indulged in Belladi’s sweetness.

Often, with Aining’s help, he’d forgo sleep entirely, living each day as if it were two.

A few months passed like that.

“Hera.”

Thud—!

Hera’s eyes widened at the sight of the hefty stack of books plopped in front of her.

“O-Older brother, what’s all this?”

Killian spoke with grim resolve.

“These are the core textbooks for your future lessons as Emperor, assembled to be as efficient and substantial as possible.”

“What?”

“The same materials have already been given to your instructors and the scholars in charge of your education. If you master just what’s in here, you’ll be proficient in statecraft within five years.”

Until now, higher education consisted of hundreds of treatises penned by various scholars, all independent of each other.

This often led to confusion in the order of learning, and much of the material proved useless in practical affairs.

But compiling all this into a single, unified curriculum was such a fiendishly tedious and difficult project that no one had ever attempted it.

No one except this man.

“Heavens, brother…”

“Hera!”

Killian grabbed Hera by the shoulders.

“I have no doubt you’ll be an even greater Emperor than the late Sovereign Gririka.”

Hera was deeply moved.

To be believed in so completely, to have someone so devoted to her growth!

Acknowledged for her potential, the girl felt nothing but pure joy.

“Let’s dream big together!”

“Thank you, brother! I’ll do my very best!”

Hera hugged the thick textbook close to her.

On its ornate cover, the title was boldly marked: The Canon of Rulership.

Killian clenched his fist in determination, unaware that, from this day, the very book he had compiled would become the essential textbook not only throughout the Empire, but for the heirs of every realm on the continent.

For right now, there was only one goal visible to this love-struck man.

‘Let’s get the throne to Hera as fast as possible!’

Only about eight years until she comes of age! No, looking at history, there are plenty who were crowned before adulthood!

‘And when Hera becomes Emperor…’

I’ll finally hold a grand wedding with Belladi!

Killian lost himself in soaring dreams.

But how convenient if life unfolded just as you planned.

Even Killian could not yet know that his own long, dull, and at times arduous, struggle was only just beginning.