Sophia visited Richard's orphanage quite often.

She was completely smitten by Richard and listened to whatever he said.

There was no need to brainwash her.

Although Richard was cornered by the fake Ancia incident, Sophia was completely smitten by him so she wouldn't want to break up.

"I didn't send it. Please believe me."

When Richard didn't say anything, Sophia cried.

She was very annoying, but that was not important now. Stopping the breakup was more urgent now.

"I know. Your father did it on his own."

"That's right! My father sent it all on his own! I had no idea."

Richard hugged her as he smiled.

"I knew it. Sophia, you're a good girl. There's no way you would betray me cruelly even though you knew that I'm in a bad situation."

"I'm on your side no matter what!"

"Yes, I'll trust you."

How did she want me to believe her? She couldn't even speak to her own father!

Richard held back his irritation.

"I'd like to speak to the Marquis. Is he in the mansion?"

"Yes, he's in the office."

"Alright."

When Richard was about to enter the office, Sophia suddenly held his hand.

"If my father asks us to break up, I won't allow him to."

It had been a long time since she said something commendable.

"I will abandon my family if he persists. I'll leave my house and go with you."

Richard's expression crumpled.

What? She was willing to abandon her family? There was no reason for him to marry a foolish woman like her if not for the Marquis!

If she wanted him to believe in her, she had to at least say that she'd endure everything without breaking the marriage, or that she'd drive her father out and make him the Marquis!

At least tell me that you're going to convince him!

"Richard...?"

Richard's thoughts appeared on his face and Sophia looked at him in surprise.

'What's wrong with her?'

Richard had long known that Sophia was tactless and frustrating. Both he and Frank knew that way before.

It was frustrating, but he could accept anything considering the position she would bring him.

He tried to think positively and reminded himself that Sophia was easy to use.

But it was especially hard to bear Sophia's every move after seeing the real Ancia.

Even at this moment, Ancia completely belonged to Blake. Richard thought that he had to get rid of Blake as soon as possible.

Ancia is mine! I have to get her back!

Richard was filled with the desire to own her.

The intense desire that he could not understand himself engulfed his whole body.

"I hate you."

The voice of the woman named Laontel rang in Richard's ears yet again.

Then, he got a headache, and his desire began to grow even more intense.

'I'll have her for sure this time.'

He gritted his teeth.

'Wait, why am I being like this?'

Richard hated to admit it, but Ancia was the Crown Prince's woman.

As a child, whenever he went to a party hosted by the Bellacian family, Ancia used to stare at him.

Richard knew that she liked him, but he did not reciprocate because she would be of no help to him.

Nevertheless, he was filled with anger.

He felt as if Ancia was his from a long time ago.

He couldn't stand it because he felt he had lost the woman who was originally his to Blake.

His headache was followed by the auditory hallucination.

"What's wrong you, Richard?"

Richard turned around and Sophia came to him.

"Nothing. I'm having a headache because of the breakup. I guess it's because I'm nervous that I might not be able to see you anymore."

Richard pretended to look sad.

In any case, he had to pretend until he took over the Marquis position.

"Richard, don't worry too much. You're the only one for me. If they disagree, let's run away together."

Sophia hugged Richard with the expression of the heroine of a tragic love story in an opera.

What nonsense was she saying?

Richard smiled as he held his irritation back.

"I'll be right back."

***

"Why are you showing your face after what you did? Get out of here!"

The Marquis of Westin yelled as soon as Richard came into his office.

'How nostalgic.'

Every time Richard met Marquis Westin, he'd recall his days at the Duke of Cassil's mansion.

It was such a bad time.

Richard didn't want to put up with the insults like he did then.

After he married Sophia Westin, he'd kill that old man right away.

He'd torture him until he couldn't even scream. But that was for later. In the meantime, he'd put up with the humiliation. Richard spoke politely for now.

"A notice of divorce arrived at my place. What happened?"

"You're asking me? I can't believe you brought a fake Crown Princess to the palace! I was so embarrassed that I couldn't even attend the Founding Festival! Do you know how upset Sophia was?"

"That was just a small mistake. That woman looked so much like the Crown Princess that even the Emperor was deceived. Besides, it was already clear that I was innocent."

Marquis Westin was enraged by Richard's imposing manner.

"What?! There's a limit to being shameless. As expected of someone with Roum blood!"

"You're crossing the line."

"Did I say something wrong? This is why I shouldn't have accepted you! I was crazy! I was crazy for taking you in!"

Richard looked at the Marquis coldly.

"I'm innocent. I can't accept the breakup."

"How dare you disobey my will when you are a Roum?!"

"If you want us to break up, then please file a trial."

No matter how big of a fuss the Marquis of Westin made, Richard had an absolute advantage since they were already engaged.

If a trial was held for the breakup, it would take at least a year or more until it could come to a conclusion. At the longest it could also take three to four years.

In addition, there were far bigger problems than the trial period.

Each side's dirty laundry would be aired in the breakup trial.

Everything would be disclosed and the damage to the woman's side would be most severe.

The woman would be ridiculed or pointed out as a lustful woman and have several reports about it published in the newspaper.

"You didn't send me a divorce notice without preparing for this, did you?"

Richard smiled arrogantly. In the meantime, since there wasn't much time left for their marriage, he had been holding it in moderately.

However, if the Marquis of Westin wished to break them up, then he had no intention of putting up with anything.

"How dare you! Since you were the son of Duke Cassil, I've been treating you nicely so far, and you still don't know to repay me!"

Richard was dumbfounded. The Marquis had never treated him with respect in the first place.

He only treated Frank and Neon like the sons of the Duke but Richard had the blood of a slave so he treated him like a servant.

"Your Excellency, Sophia and I won't give up. Don't be like this."

"No, you both will break up. Richard, I know everything you've done to her!"

As soon as the Marquis of Westin shouted, Richard's expression became stiff.

'Did he know about that?'

The Marquis of Westin opposed the marriage between Richard and Sophia.

He opposed it for a year and even tried to marry her off to another man.

In the end, Richard had to use the last resort.

He arranged a drinking party with the Marquis Westin. Then, he cast a brainwashing spell on the drunk Marquis and got him to sign the engagement papers.

The next day, Marquis Westin was shocked to see that the engagement document had been signed.

But he only thought he made that mistake while he was drunk.

"I signed it when I was drunk! This is invalid!"

Richard whispered to the Marquis.

"I'll make Sophia the Empress."

"...what?"

The Marquis of Westin was a greedy man. Even though he knew Frank was not a good man, he still let Sophia be engaged to him for his own gain. Even after they broke up, Marquis Westin struggled to find the best candidate for Sophia.

Richard knew of his ambition well. The Marquis of Westin would ignore his lineage and support him completely if the Marquis believed that he'd become the next Emperor.

But that didn't mean Richard would tell him everything about his plans.

"The Crown Prince is now waiting for the dead Crown Princess. He's also kept his distance from all women in the meantime. If he doesn't get married, the Crown Prince will belong to me in the end."

"You're of Roum origin and don't even have a title."

"If I were to marry Sophia and get the title, then I'd have the right to become the Crown Prince."

"......"

"It's possible with your help. If you choose me, you'll definitely have a lot to gain."

Marquis Westin began to calculate in his head.

Richard's words sounded like a bluff when he first heard it, but it was not entirely impossible if Prince Blake did not marry or met with an accident.

Marquis Westin decided to gamble.

But his gamble failed miserably.

The real princess returned. Now that Ancia came back, the possibility of Richard becoming the Emperor was nearly impossible.

Furthermore, Richard even caused the fake Crown Princess incident.

The Marquis couldn't possibly let someone who had no possibility to become the Emperor and had no title become his son-in-law.

"I shouldn't have accepted a son-in-law like you!"

Richard was relieved. The Marquis was just trying to force him to break up with his daughter, but he didn't notice that Richard had used black magic.

"Don't be stubborn. Didn't Your Excellency sign it yourself?"

"You must have done something dirty! You must've used some kind of black magic!"

"......"

"Yeah, black magic! I heard that the Roums betrayed the Goddess and practiced black magic. So you should've done it too!"

"......"

"It was you who killed the Duchess of Cassil! She wouldn't kill herself! She's not that kind of person in the first place. Did you use your dirty tricks to kill her?"