Maximilian, who had been tearing his hair out all day under the endless workload of the Crown Prince's Office, was finally able to leave his office only after the sun had set.
Normally, even when work was hard, he tended to exercise restraint because he had to go to work the next day, but today happened to be a Friday—and today of all days, the stress was particularly severe.
He intended to put everything down just for today, and spend the whole night in the harem hidden within his detached palace, frolicking with beautiful women until dawn to relieve his fatigue.
As his steps grew lighter and a broad smile formed at the corners of his mouth while he made his way to the detached palace, an attendant caught up to him.
"Your Highness, shall I have the bathwater heated in advance?"
"Very well. Tonight... put aside that tropical island princess, and have the dancers from the desert kingdom prepared. Tonight will be a long one."
It was at that very moment that Maximilian cheerfully gave the order to the attendant and quickened his steps toward the detached palace.
"Brother Maximilian!"
A golden-haired figure suddenly appeared from around the corner of the corridor and blocked his path.
It was Chloe, the beloved youngest princess of the Empire.
"Oh, if it isn't our pretty Chloe. What brings you here at this late hour?"
Maximilian, who had been particularly stressed today and had wanted to go play with women as soon as possible, let out a light sigh inwardly.
But his adorable youngest sister, whom he wouldn't hurt even if she were placed in his eye, had come to find him in the middle of the night; as the eldest son, he couldn't simply pass her by—it simply wouldn't look right.
"Brother. Are you busy right now? Talk with me for a bit."
"Hmm, I'm not exactly busy... but this brother is terribly tired and wants to rest. Can't we talk over tea tomorrow afternoon? Is it very important?"
Maximilian asked affectionately but subtly hinted at his intention to refuse.
Then Chloe glanced around, stood on her tiptoes, and whispered softly into Maximilian's ear.
"It's about a way to have Ian Sterling work under you five days a week. Would you still like to do this tomorrow?"
"...!"
At that magical sentence, the images of beauties waiting naked in his harem evaporated cleanly from Maximilian's mind.
His eyes, which had been dim and sunken from fatigue, snapped open and gleamed sharply like those of a bird of prey.
"Let us go to your detached palace at once, Chloe."
Crown Prince Maximilian.
Though he was fond of women, what he liked most was a competent bureaucrat.
If he could have a limited-edition SSS-grade slave work full-time, there was no reason for him to hesitate.
#
The two immediately moved elsewhere and sat facing each other in the parlor of Chloe's personal detached palace.
Once warm black tea was prepared and the attendants had all withdrawn, Chloe fiddled with her teacup and cautiously opened her mouth.
"Um... Brother. Please don't be surprised and listen."
"Very well. If you have a way to hand Ian over to me completely, I wouldn't be surprised even if the sky split in two."
Prompted by Maximilian, Chloe blushed and made a shy confession.
"For the first time in my life... I've found a man I like."
"You mean Ian?"
Maximilian asked back, far too calmly, as he sipped his tea.
"...Did Brother know too?"
"Who in the imperial palace doesn't know you've been attached to him in the library all day? So, what about Ian?"
"...I want to marry Ian."
Though slightly surprised, Maximilian rubbed his chin and nodded.
For the moment, Ian Sterling's status was that of a hostage, but from what he could see, Ian was not a bad choice as a husband for his sister.
Ian was smart, useful to him, and had such humble origins that even if he grasped power himself, he would pose no threat to imperial authority whatsoever.
If he were wed to Chloe and completely brought under the Imperial Family, it would amount to fitting him with a definite shackle that Maximilian could use for life.
"Not bad at all. No, I rather approve. But Chloe, marriage is not a matter of convincing me—isn't it a matter of convincing Father? Why did you come to me?"
"If I say it alone, Father might be bewildered. But if Elder Brother and Arthur Second Brother both go to Father and back me up, saying Ian seems perfect as Chloe's husband, then Father won't be able to break the stubbornness of his two sons and his youngest daughter, whom he wouldn't hurt even if placed in his eye, and he'll grant his permission."
"Hoo. That sounds quite plausible? You have a natural talent for politics yourself."
Maximilian smiled as if intrigued and asked in return.
"But what do you intend to do about Victoria? She is, after all, the eldest of us. Won't you need her consent as well?"
"You mean Victoria?"
Chloe set down her teacup and replied in a coldly chilled voice.
"It would actually be much more helpful if Sister flew into a rage and opposed our marriage. You know it too, Brother. Father is more inclined to happily permit something that Sister hates. So I'll just leave Sister completely out of this matter, knowing nothing."
Maximilian let out a small exclamation of admiration at Chloe's unexpectedly cunning side.
"That's right. You have a point."
"So, Brother, if you help me, I'll give you something definite in return."
Chloe's blue eyes sparkled as she threw out an ambitious proposal.
"Right now, Ian only works at the Crown Prince's Office part-time, two days a week, correct? If Elder Brother backs me up, I'll personally pester Father to pull Ian completely under the direct control of the Crown Prince's Office. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday! I'll make it so he can work entirely under you."
Having made Maximilian an offer he couldn't refuse, Chloe was able to secure his approval almost instantly.
"Good, very good. The deal is sealed. Tomorrow, when I have a private audience with Father, I'll subtly drop a hint that Chloe seems to have taken a liking to Ian. I'll neatly package the parts you're too embarrassed to say yourself, as your eldest brother."
"Really? Thank you, Brother!"
"In return, you must absolutely keep your promise to hand Ian over to me for five days a week. But how will you convince Arthur, that muscle-brained fool? He only thinks of Ian as his workout partner—will he readily consent to your marriage?"
At Maximilian's reasonable doubt, Chloe shrugged her shoulders and smiled brightly.
"Oh, that's very simple. I just need to subtly let Arthur Brother and Ian know that I like muscular men."
"Muscular?"
"Yes! Then Arthur Brother, excited by that, will take it upon himself to make Ian perfectly muscular and become my excellent assistant. And Ian will gladly follow Brother's training for my sake too."
Chloe giggled and continued.
"After all, even if some thick muscles attach to the outside, the contents of a person named Ian won't change, will they?"
"Keke...!"
Maximilian couldn't hold back the laughter that burst out just from imagining it.
Ian, having received Arthur's hellish training, would become a durable slave capable of continuing to work even if he couldn't sleep much...!
"Victoria will absolutely love seeing him like that. Still, it's an excellent and ingenious idea for buttering Arthur up."
"Right? I'm off to convince Arthur Brother now, so Elder Brother, don't forget your promise!"
#
Maximilian's steps as he exited Chloe's detached palace were as light as a feather.
Although tonight's entertainment in the harem had been postponed, his heart swelled with an overflowing joy that couldn't compare to embracing beautiful women.
'Keke... five days a week. A whopping five days a week!'
Now that smart and quick-witted Ian Sterling could come to work every day by his side, not just a mere two days a week.
And if Arthur raised the fellow's stamina to beastly levels under the pretext of training?
'Overtime will be basic, and I'll call him out on weekends using special duties as an excuse and work him like a dog. With good stamina, he'll be fine even pulling all-nighters!'
In the Crown Prince's mind, Ian's future was already being drawn out.
Right now, he would be put in charge of all the miscellaneous affairs and planning documents of the Crown Prince's Office.
And later, when he himself ascended to the throne?
He would have that fellow serve successively as Minister of Finance and Minister of Home Affairs, and finally seat him in the position of Prime Minister of the Empire, making him serve the Empire buried in paperwork until his very death.
Of course, he would have to grant him power, status, and wealth befitting those positions—but having raised a hostage from the South to a position just below one and above all others, wouldn't that be a cheap price to pay?
"Hahaha! Ian Sterling. You will never be able to leave my side for the rest of your life."
Maximilian's cheerful laughter echoed across the dark night sky of the imperial palace as he walked down the corridor.