When the two of them stepped out of the greenhouse, Eden and the Emperor had already gone. A heavy silence and a strange, lingering heat coexisted inside Drachenberg.
Calix had shut himself in the bathroom adjoining his bedroom. He had poured cold water over his head, but the heat churning from somewhere deep within him refused to die down.
“Haah…”
Calix swept his wet hair back and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot. The moment he closed them, the scene from just before surfaced like an afterimage burned into his retinas.
Elian, struggling to take his enormous length into his mouth. Those tear-rimmed eyes looking up at him, and that deeply flushed tongue licking the liquid from the corner of his lips. And that languid voice murmuring against his ear — calling him hyung.
This is going to drive me insane.
Calix pressed a hand to the wall and bowed his head. A heavy, aching pull settled low in his abdomen again. He had just found release, and yet it wasn’t enough. If anything, having had a taste only made the thirst worse.
He wanted to run to Elian’s room right now, lay him down on the bed, and spend the entire night devouring him on his own terms. But he couldn’t.
He… only sacrificed himself for my sake.
Elian had done it simply because he needed to. He must have needed to understand how his newly acquired power worked. To push his desires onto someone who had offered that kind of service out of necessity — it would be a betrayal of the goodwill Elian had shown in saving him.
Calix clenched his fist. He had to hold back. Until Elian could accept him fully, of his own accord.
“Cedric.”
He called out to his adjutant through the bathroom door.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Give the Baron… the finest room in this castle. Prepare a warm bath and the best meal we have. Whatever he wants — see to it. He doesn’t need my permission.”
“I anticipated as much and have already seen to it. I’ll go confirm again.”
Listening to Cedric’s retreating footsteps, Calix lowered himself into the bath filled with cold water. The ice-cold water struck his body like a blow, but his heart refused to slow its pounding.
***
Meanwhile, Elian was sinking into a bath full of steaming hot water.
“Ahhh… I might actually survive.”
Even as his tired muscles loosened in the warmth, Elian’s mind was turning over itself with complicated thoughts. He pulled up the System Window to check — a satisfying amount of points had accumulated. But he couldn’t feel purely happy about it.
Eden retreated, but this is only a temporary withdrawal.
The look in Eden’s eyes at the very end. It had gone beyond mere interest — there had been a killing intent lurking beneath it. Rage that his creation, Calix, had broken free of his control. And hostility directed squarely at Elian, the cause of it.
Eden would certainly go back and sharpen his blade. Whether by changing the settings, sending down a disaster, or some other method — he would try to break the North.
I need to prepare.
Elian let the water wash over him as he thought. The saving grace was that Calix was very well-disposed toward him. Even a moment ago, when Elian had indulged himself, Calix had given his body willingly. There may have been some internal resistance, but his body had responded honestly. It seemed he hadn’t found it entirely unpleasant.
It’s just gratitude. Because I saved his life.
Elian smiled, a little bitterly. He had been full of ulterior motives, and yet Calix seemed to have simply endured it as repayment to the person who had saved him — and that made Elian feel guilty.
It would be best if he actually came to like me, but…
Elian looked at his own reflection in the water and shook his head. Softly falling hair, bright sky-blue eyes, lips that moved in a slight pout with the upper lip just a little fuller than the lower. A high, handsome nose and a jawline that was masculine yet delicate. Even looking at himself, it was a face worth loving.
But looks aren’t everything. It’d be hard for anyone to like my strange behavior and my headstrong personality. And on top of that, we’ve already gotten off on the wrong foot…
You couldn’t force feelings. For now, he needed to be grateful just to have Calix by his side. Because that was the only way to protect him — and the North.
“Alright, let me head out.”
Elian finished his bath, pulled on a robe, and stepped out of the bathroom. He was just about to sit down with the warm tea Cedric had prepared and catch his breath.
Bang—!
The heavy door flew open without so much as a knock.
“Elian Valeria! You insolent wretch!”
Elian set his teacup down and furrowed his brow. A group of elderly men in elaborate finery came storming into the room, bristling with fury. Behind them stood a row of knights wearing grim expressions.
“These are the senior retainers who have served Drachenberg for many years.”
Cedric, standing nearby, spoke in a low but rapid murmur.
“What is the meaning of this? So suddenly.”
“You dare speak of manners right now?!”
The eldest-looking among the retainers — Conrad, the treasurer — struck the floor with his cane.
“His Majesty left for the capital furious because of you! How dare a mere Baron provoke the Emperor — do you intend to brand all of the North as traitors?!”
Hearing those words, Elian immediately understood their motive. They were frightened. The Emperor and the Tower Master had departed in anger, and they were afraid the sparks would fly their way. So they needed a convenient scapegoat.
“Seize this man and throw him in the dungeon! I will speak to the Grand Duke myself!”
At Conrad’s command, the knights began advancing toward Elian. Elian was taken aback. Cedric had told him clearly that Calix had ordered that his every need be provided for without question — and yet these retainers were treating him like a criminal.
Just like in the novel…. No matter how powerful Calix is as Grand Duke, the real political authority in the North lies with these old men.
The Cold Curse that was slowly freezing his heart, and the mana surges that struck without warning. The retainers treated Calix like an uncontrollable beast that could snap at any moment. On top of that, he was forced to spend more than half the year hunting monsters on the front lines.
While Calix was out on the frontlines drowning in blood and filth, it was those old nobles — sitting safely inside the castle walls, pushing their pens and lining their pockets — who had been running things. To them, Calix was not their lord. He was merely a well-honed sword that kept the North from falling. Recalling that detail from the story made fresh anger rise in his chest.
How do I deal with these old men?
Just as Elian’s mind began to work—
Shink—!
A sharp crack of cleaving air split the room.
“Ugh!”
The knight reaching for Elian’s arm cried out and stumbled backward. A clean line of sword energy had swept past his feet, leaving a vivid mark on the floor.
“What… is the meaning of all this?”
A voice from beyond the doorway. Low and chilling, as if it had been dragged up from the very bottom of hell.
Elian looked up. He could see dark hair still damp, not quite dry yet. Calix stood in the doorway with his sword drawn, his shirt buttons not even properly fastened. His crimson eyes were locked on the retainers as though he intended to kill every last one of them.
“Y-Your Grace…!”
Conrad and the rest of the retainers went pale as sheets and stumbled backward.
“Your Grace, that is not— this man has insulted His Majesty and—!”
“Silence.”
Calix leveled the tip of his sword at Conrad’s throat.
“That man is my most honored guest.”
Calix’s gaze swept briefly across Elian. In that fleeting glance, blind possessiveness and a fierce, instinctive need to protect him churned visibly.
“He is someone deserving of treatment beyond even what I receive. He is not someone the likes of you may presume to point fingers at.”
“B-but Your Grace—!”
“If you wish to defy that.”
Calix adjusted his grip on the sword. Mana hummed and rippled down the length of the blade.
“Draw your swords this instant. You will settle it in a duel with me for the sake of your honor. The price for insulting my guest will be paid in blood.”
Cold killing intent. This was no mere threat. He had every intention of following through. The image of the ‘figurehead Grand Duke’ who had silently endured or quietly ignored the retainers’ words was gone without a trace.
“Eek—!”
The retainers fell to their knees right where they stood, trembling violently. In the face of overwhelming force, neither political maneuvering nor authority meant anything.
“W-we are deeply sorry! We were far too hasty in our judgment!”
“Get out. And don’t you dare set foot in this room again without my permission!”
At Calix’s thundering command, the retainers scrambled out of the room as though fleeing for their lives. As they disappeared down the corridor, their hushed murmuring reached Calix’s sharp ears.
“Heavens, so that rumor was true!”
“To think the Grand Duke fell for that baron at first sight…”
“I’ve never seen him so beside himself before.”
The retainers’ whisper, ripe with misunderstanding. Calix heard every word — but made no effort to deny it. It hadn’t been love at first sight, but the truth was that his heart was already mortgaged to that man.
Calix sheathed his sword and walked toward Elian. The killing intent from moments ago was nowhere to be found — in its place was a gaze full of quiet concern.
“Are you alright? That must have startled you.”
“Ah… yes. I’m alive, thanks to you.”
Elian answered in a daze. But his mind was so consumed with entirely different thoughts that the retainers’ whispering barely registered.
The attitude of those retainers he had just witnessed. The spinelessness with which they had cowered at a single word of imperial authority and moved to throw him in a cell. This was the reality of the North. No matter how strong Calix was, if the North itself had no power, it would always be at the Emperor’s mercy.
Calix alone isn’t enough.
Elian’s gaze deepened.
To stop Eden… it’s not enough for just the two of us to grow stronger.
The entire North had to change. Not retainers who trembled at the Emperor’s gaze, but a North that made the Emperor tremble at theirs. They needed to build a narrative so vast and self-sustaining that Eden’s ‘settings’ simply couldn’t take hold.
Overwhelming wealth and technological power. That’s how I’ll make the North independent.
Calix was watching Elian with adoring eyes — but Elian’s mind was already drafting a grand blueprint for the development of the North.
Two men looking at each other, thinking entirely different things. And yet they shared the same destination: to protect one another. Just then, as though it had read Elian’s thoughts, the quest window flickered.
Ding!
[System: Player’s intent to ‘alter the narrative on a large scale’ has been detected.]
[Tutorial (Survival) has concluded. The Main Scenario is now unlocked!]
[As a reward for Tutorial completion, special skill ‘Blueprint Design (S)’ has been unlocked!]
[Main Quest: Develop the Frozen Land!]
― Category: Domain Management / Revolution
― Difficulty: EX
― Description: The Creator (Eden) has designated this land as a stage of ‘eternal winter’ and ‘despair.’ But you must overturn these settings and rebuild the North into the wealthiest, most thriving land in the empire. Go beyond mere survival — construct an ‘overwhelming civilization’ that Eden cannot touch.
― Objectives
- Valeria Domain pilot project: success (Completion Rate: 70%)
- Obtain ‘complete submission’ from the Northern retainer faction (Completion Rate: 5%)
- Raise the average temperature across the entire North and achieve economic independence (Completion Rate: 1.3%)
― Success Rewards
- Large quantity of BP distributed
- Special rewards upon achieving each stage objective
- Hidden Piece: Stage-by-stage special rewards unlocked upon establishing physical intimacy with Calix
― Failure: Destruction of the North and death of Calix (Bad Ending).
“Your Grace.”
Elian looked up from reading through the quest, his expression resolute.
“There is something I need to tell you. A very… grand business proposal.”
