REDA | Chapter 31

Posted by LUNA, Released on September 1, 2025

~Chapter 31~

Ivan told the emperor everything he had discussed with Ruby, without adding or hiding anything.

“Is that so?”

The emperor’s gaze moved to Ruby.

Ruby immediately nodded.

“We, of course, want to be friends with the princes. But I think there wasn’t enough time for Their Highnesses to judge whether we’re suitable as playmates.”

Ruby spoke as if she still had hopes about the princes—so Ivan’s pride wouldn’t be hurt.

Realizing that, Ivan felt once again how impressive Ruby was.

“What is your opinion, Grand Duke Lux?”

This time, the emperor looked to Duke Lux.

Unfortunately, since the children had caused trouble by injuring a prince, Duke Lux had no real choice.

“They are lacking, but it is an honor to get another chance for them to befriend the princes,” he said.

It was obvious he was forcing the words, but the emperor smiled, satisfied anyway.

“Then we should set the next meeting.”

***

Duke Lux and the children rode the carriage back to the grand duke’s mansion.

Unlike on the way there, on the way back Duke Lux asked the children questions.

“So, did you already become close with the princes?”

“Yes, Prince Theo is a good person.”

“Mm, I wike him!”

Calix and Sasha answered right away.

They must have been very moved that Theo had stood up for them. Of course, the time they spent playing together probably made them feel closer, too.

“And Prince Ivan?”

Duke Lux’s sharp eyes turned to Ruby.

“With Prince Ivan… we’ve only opened greetings, you could say.”

Ruby described both relationships calmly and clearly.

“Do you not want to be his playmate?”

“That’s not it.”

In front of Ivan, Ruby had spoken as if being his playmate brought her no benefit, but that wasn’t true.

She wanted a steady reason to go in and out of the palace.

The cool attitude she showed Ivan—acting like she wouldn’t cling—was just a bluff to build an equal friendship.

In truth, the reason Ruby wanted to visit the palace wasn’t Ivan—it was Theo.

Because in the ending of Our Family Must Regret, the male lead, Theo Baldur, executes Maria’s siblings.

Worried, Ruby wanted to watch how the novel’s future male lead would grow up—right by his side.

“So you do want to be playmates?”

“If we can become friends who open our hearts.”

She wasn’t lying—Ruby truly did want to be real friends with Ivan too.

He seemed prideful because he was royalty, but he didn’t seem like a bad child at his core.

She was also grateful that he had supported them along with Theo.

“Very well. Do as you wish.”

Once again, Duke Lux gave Ruby the choice.

It still felt strange—he didn’t order her to be playmates or forbid it.

Ending the conversation, Duke Lux turned his head back to the window.

Ruby studied his profile, trying to guess what he truly wanted.

Did he want the children tied up as playmates or not?

He had refused at first, so maybe he didn’t want it… but he agreed to “take time and meet again,” as Ivan suggested, so maybe he didn’t mind if they became playmates.

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t read him.

Ruby tilted her head, then turned to Calix and Sasha, who were causing new trouble.

The two were standing on the seats, trying to balance while the carriage moved.

Ruby sighed deeply and pressed her fingers to her forehead.

Even after putting Theo in danger and nearly risking their lives, these kids hadn’t lost their spirit. It was impressive in its own way.

“Kids.”

Just as Ruby was about to start scolding them—

The carriage stopped suddenly because someone was crossing the road.

“Ah!”

Sasha, who had been standing on the seat, lost her balance.

Ruby rushed and caught Sasha with her body, then glared back and forth between the two.

“I told you not to stand in a moving carriage.”

“Big brother started it first.”

“Sasha said to try it first!”

They pointed at each other and glared.

Ruby sighed and sat Sasha back down.

“Both of you—no snacks today.”

The children opened their mouths wide, shocked.

Ignoring their whining, Ruby picked up Maria again.

From the palace until now, Maria hadn’t cried once and kept smiling.

“Kyah.”
Ruby thought, Maybe the most mature one here is actually Maria.

Even with all the noise, Duke Lux didn’t waver. He kept his eyes away from the children and stared out the window.

***

A few days later, the children entered the palace again as promised.

This time, Duke Lux didn’t come with them.

They didn’t meet the emperor either.

They were led straight to the First Prince’s palace, the Frigia Palace.

Ivan and Theo were waiting to greet them there.

“First Prince, Second Prince—hello,” Ruby said brightly.

“We meet again, Your Highnesses.”

“Hewwo, pwinces!”

Calix and Sasha tossed aside formal speech and greeted them innocently.

“It’s ‘prince,’ not ‘king,’ Sasha.”

“It’s okay. You can just call me Theo.”

Theo seemed happy to accept Calix and Sasha as friends.

With an open heart, he even allowed them to call him by name.

These three didn’t seem to need extra time to get to know each other.

Calix and Sasha looked at Ruby with hopeful eyes.

But Ruby firmly shook her head.

“No matter what, you can’t call a prince by name.”

Their lips popped out in a pout right away, but Ruby cleanly ignored it.

Theo gave an awkward smile and didn’t insist further.

Ruby wasn’t against the three becoming close.

Who knew what might happen later—but if the children and Theo kept a good relationship, maybe, when the time came, Theo would hesitate even once before “executing” them. That was Ruby’s calculation.

Of course, her first goal was to prevent such a thing from ever happening.

But the palace was a dangerous place. If they were caught casually calling royals by name, who knew what label they might earn—that’s why she warned them.

“We didn’t especially come out to greet you,” Ivan said, clearing his throat. “Our timing just happened to match.”

In society, people call that ‘coming out to greet us,’ Ruby thought, but held back the teasing and greeted him again.

“It’s an honor to see you again, Prince Ivan.”

“You brought the baby sister again.”

Maria was still in Ruby’s arms.

Though she was very young, Ruby wanted Maria to form good memories of the palace—since she would marry Theo someday.

Theo, who didn’t know anything about such a future, showed no interest in Maria at all.

Maybe he thought they couldn’t really communicate yet, or maybe he just wasn’t interested in babies.

“Of course. Maria is clever—she hardly cries even as a newborn,” Ruby said, subtly promoting Maria while glancing at Theo.

Ivan noticed Ruby’s gaze was clearly fixed on Theo.

He understood Calix and Sasha being interested in Theo, but why was Ruby focused on Theo?

Weren’t her comparisons between Ivan and himself?

Prick.

Ivan felt as if a tiny thorn had lodged in his chest.

It was a new feeling; he rubbed his chest and tilted his head.

“Are you unwell?”

Before he knew it, Ruby had turned her head back to Ivan.

Surprisingly, the “thorn” in his chest seemed to slip right out the moment Ruby looked at him—and at the same time, it felt like something squeezed his chest tight.

“It feels a little hard to breathe.”

“Shall I call the court physician?”

“It’s not that serious.”

It didn’t hurt—just felt a bit uncomfortable.

Ivan felt better at Ruby’s worried look.

“No need to worry.”

“If you feel pain, please tell me anytime. Don’t mind me.”

“I will.”

But he didn’t want Ruby to leave the palace just because he felt uneasy.

While they were greeting each other, Calix, Sasha, and Theo chatted a bit, then looked at Ivan and Ruby with excited eyes again.

“What is it?” Ruby asked, squatting a little to meet their eyes.

Theo pursed his lips, then spoke to Ivan.