Cornered Rat (5)
His eyes, which resemble the sun, captivated me. Every part of me that his gaze touched seemed to burn hotly.
Neither Ian nor I opened our mouths.
When I was so tense that I could barely breathe.
"Miss! I found your shoes!"
Nadia came into the private room, shaking my shoes. Then she stopped, perhaps sensing an ominous atmosphere.
"Did you two have a fight?"
"...Why would I fight with little Duke?"
"But why are your eyes red, young lady..."
Ian cut Nadia off.
"Nadia, where are the shoes?"
"Yes? Oh. yes. I found it. I'll give you a new one."
Nadia squatted down, put the shoes on my feet, and handed me the cane.
"They're announcing the rankings now. Would you like to go out and take a look?"
"That's right."
When we went outside, the officials were already announcing the rankings.
"I'll skip the titles. Third place goes to Kalit Busha Antiete, who hunted twelve, and second place goes to Kjer Astrod, who hunted fourteen."
"Wow!"
Kalit and Kjer responded to the cheers of the people.
The official continued his presentation.
"First place goes to Ian Tennesse Eldern, who caught a whopping eighteen in two hours! If your name has been called, please come forward!"
lan stepped forward, receiving admiration from the attendees.
There was no emotion whatsoever from the Emperor standing on the podium. There was no trace of the thirty-year imprisonment sentence he had just given to his son.
"The Empire's greatest sword has wiped out my hunting grounds. It will take a long time to recover."
He even lightened the mood with a joke.
The attendees who had been unknowingly watching the Emperor's expression finally burst into laughter.
"Congratulations."
The moment the Emperor tapped Ian on the shoulder, Ian bowed his head deeply.
"Your Majesty, instead of a reward, I would like to request a private meeting."
The Emperor was silent for a moment at the unexpected turn of events. Then, after skillfully gathering his emotions, he opened his mouth.
"I permit it."
There was a brief lull as Ian followed the Emperor.
The attendees talked with somewhat tired faces.
I overheard and it turned out that it was about electing the commander-in-chief.
"Now, I guess we should consider the commander-in-chief as a two-way battle between Prime Minister Hallstail and the First Prince."
"Have you thought about it?"
"Wouldn't Prime Minister Hallstail be better? He has a history of leading the Great Rift to victory 30 years ago."
"How old is he, and you want him to be the commander again? I think the First Prince of the Empire is much better."
"I think so too. Furthermore, the First Prince has experience using the anti-monster herb in actual combat. I think that is an advantage that cannot be ignored."
It's a useless worry. Anyway, the only candidate for Commander-in-Chief is probably Kalit.
As I was looking down, pretending not to hear anything, Kalit approached me.
"Are you okay?"
"Thank you for drawing the attention to me earlier. And I know you were very surprised. I'm sorry for worrying you."
Kalit glanced around and lowered his voice.
"You were alone with Oslo on purpose?"
"Yes..."
"I can guess what you were thinking, but it was dangerous. You know that, right?"
"Yes."
"Don't ever do that again. I'll be really angry if you do."
"Yes."
"Will you marry me?"
“Nо.”
"Oh, that doesn't work."
Kalit wrinkled his nose. I smiled faintly and touched the hem of Ian's jacket that was wrapped around my shoulders. The faint scent of soap rose.
I used to feel calm when I smelled this soap, but now it's different.
'Run until your heart breaks.'
"Next time I'll do it on the lips."
"If you don't like it, then allow it."
His voice never left my ears.
A voice that seemed to echo from deep underground, the movement of lips kissing the back of my hand, golden eyes that were tightly shut for a moment, and then stared straight at me.
'I feel like my face is going to turn red again.'
I felt a little dizzy, so I closed my eyes for a moment. Then, Kalit grabbed my hand.
"Millenia, what's wrong? Your face is red."
"Ah, I feel a little dizzy."
"Hey, come this way."
He sat me down on a chair placed behind the stage. Then he asked the attendant for some water and put it in my hand.
"It's water. Drink it."
"Thank you."
Kalit, who was waiting for me to finish my glass of water, asked secretly.
"You said you only told Father what Oslo did to you?"
"Yes, that's right."
"I should have told you that Oslo was raising private soldiers. If I had, Father would have given a stronger punishment. To be honest, that's the most sensitive issue for Father."
"Secretly raising a private army is a huge weakness. It would be a shame for me to use it."
"Then who writes it?"
"This is Kalit."
Kalit pointed at himself unexресtedly with his finger.
"Me?"
The collapse of Oslo's power does not automatically lead to Kalit's power.
Of course, some crossed over to Kalit on their own feet, but most did not.
Because they know that their power will be helpful.
Perhaps they would ask Kalit to negotiate
At that time, their weakness of raising private soldiers under the auspices of Oslo would be a very good weapon.
"Use that weakness to absorb the Third Prince's power."
Kalit's expression became strange.
"You really give everything to me."
"I thought you had already persuaded Count Gideon and Count Saiga about the private issue."
"There's no way I would do that without consulting you. I just caught them for tax evasion."
"Changing one's mind just by evading taxes is easier than I thought."
"I guess he was looking for an excuse to change."
Even if tax evasion is discovered, the only thing you will get is a fine.
So, Count Gideon and Count Saiga would not have promised to cooperate with Kalit for fear of being caught for tax evasion.
They had just noticed that Oslo had no hope and was looking for a chance to switch sides when Kalit happened to give him an excuse.
"We must increase our power, but we must not disband our private army. We must recruit soldiers to fight in the Great Rift anyway."
"You are wise, Your Highness."
"Please call my name."
"I will, Kalit."
Kalit's smile deepened.
He stared at me for a while and then tapped the back of my hand like he was playing chess.
"It's amazing. When I talk to you, I feel like I can accomplish anything."
That's what will happen.
Because I will return to you double and triple everything I took from you in my past life.
I smiled bashfully, hiding my feelings. Then Kalit pulled my hand toward him and kissed it.
It felt like a sharp pain for a moment.
My heart started pounding for no reason even though it wasn't the hand Ian had kissed.
"Millenia, do you have a wish?"
"Um... Actually, I have a favor to ask."
"Tell me, right now I feel like I could say yes to being your husband."
"I'll decline that."
"Ugh, you're so cold."
"You don't sound hurt. Don't joke around."
"Hmm, that doesn't work."
He frowned and tangled his fingers between mine.
Come to think of it, this guy really seems to enjoy being picky.
"So, what do you want?"
"Please prevent the Little Duke from participating in the Great Rift."
Kalit's smile disappeared in an instant. The change in expression was so dramatic that I was the surprised one.
"Kalit?"
Only then did Kalit respond softly, though his expression was still stiff.
"Will Duke Eldern allow the little Duke to participate in the war?"
"Because I don't know."
In his past life, Ian participated in the Great Rift and went missing.
His life or death was not confirmed until I was in prison. Everyone said he was dead, and I thought so too.
Of course, I believe he would be alive now.
Not only was his body not found, but if he were my benefactor, he would have come all the way to the desert alive.
'But if Ian is not my benefactor...'
What if it's true that he disappeared in the Great Rift? So he died in a place where no one can go and his body wasn't even found?
'We must stop it no matter what.'
The only person who could do that was Kalit.
I have no right to interfere with Ian's choices, and I have no reason to, but Kalit was different.
Because the two have a close relationship.
Kalit asked.
"Have you seen the future of the little Dume?"
150,000 troops are mobilized for this great rift. Interfering with the future of even one of them would be against the duty of neutrality. I shook my head quickly.
"No, I have never seen Little Duke's future."
Actually, in my past life, I never once saw Ian's future.
"Then...."
Just as Kalit was about to lose his temper, Ian appeared after finishing his private meeting with the Emperor.
I don't know what they were talking about, but the Emperor's face didn't look very good. His silver-gray eyes lingered on me for a moment before leaving.
"This concludes the hunting competition. Thank you all for your hard work."
Everyone was curious about the contents of the private conversation, but the Emperor did not say anything.
It was the same for Ian.
Ian's mouth would not open no matter how many times I asked him while we were all walking home after the hunting competition.
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