"Your Highness, this isn't something you need to apologize for. Rather... I should be the one apologizing. I've shown myself in an unseemly manner in front of Your Highness."
Ophelia felt truly sorry for Winfred for making a child tremble and apologize so immaturely.
But aside from that, she also didn't have the confidence to maintain her facial expressions in front of him. Wouldn't it be easier to sort out her feelings if she were alone?
“Your Highness... If you have anything else to say...”
Although the subject was carefully brought up, it was clearly a request for a guest. It was a request that might have been a bit rude to the Crown Prince of a country.
However, Winfred, who understood Ophelia's feelings, obediently accepted the order to swear at her.
“Ah, then I’ll take my leave now... I’ve seen you off.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness.”
Ophelia rose from her seat and bowed to her knees.
Winfred, who was about to leave the reception room, staggering away, suddenly stopped in his tracks as if a thought occurred to him.
“Ah, that... I know Aila asked that it be kept a secret from anyone except the Duke and Duchess, but... it seems to be related to treason. Can I tell my father?”
As he asked hesitantly, Ophelia, who was still standing there with a dark expression, looked at him.
"Ah, of course you should tell His Majesty. However... Byron's eyes seem to be everywhere, so I think you should be careful about security even in the palace."
Even within the Duke's household, which was believed to be quite secure, there were leaks. This meant there was no one to trust.
Winfred briefly thought, "Surely not," at her words, but quickly nodded. There's no harm in being cautious, right?
Upon returning to the palace, Winfred went straight to his father. He must have received permission from the Duchess, as he needed to tell him the truth as soon as possible.
The importance of the story was also important, but more than that, it was better to tell the story as quickly as possible to appease his father, who would be upset and ask, "Why have you kept such an important story hidden for so long?"
Don't they say it's better to get hit first?
And Father Hiram's reaction wasn't much different from what Winfred had expected. However, unlike his imagination, his expression wasn't one of disappointment, but of bewilderment.
“So, that’s the story you kept your mouth shut about for three seasons.”
He met Aila in early fall last year, and now it's already spring.
He seemed quite shocked to learn that his son had kept such a big secret from him for so long.
And Winfred thought it would be better to pretend to be angry and play along. He felt a sense of emptiness as he wondered how long the aftermath would last this time.
“I’m, I’m sorry, Father...”
Winfred muttered in a hoarse voice. A twisted thought crossed his mind: "How many people do I owe an apology to for this?"
But it was true that he had kept a huge truth from his father, even if it was at Aila's request.
Whether he had heard his son's apology or not, Hiram sighed deeply and buried his face in his palms. His thoughts were complicated.
He couldn't figure out how to apologize to the Duke of Weishaffen or how to make amends. Ever since he was little, he's been used to Byron apologizing and making amends on his behalf for the accidents he'd caused, but this was just...
Some might argue that the Duke's family should be held accountable for concealing such a grave matter from the Emperor, but Hiram felt it was only natural to keep his mouth shut when his daughter's safety was at stake. He would have made the same choice if he were in Roderick's shoes.
This is something the royal family should apologize to the Duke's family for, and it is by no means something to blame the Duke's family for.
It wasn't because of any lingering kinship that he was struggling with these issues. He couldn't forgive the person who tried to kill his father.
But does that mean blood ties can be severed just by cutting them off? Morally, Hiram was also responsible for Byron's heinous actions.
This couldn't be compensated for with money or anything else. Even if the child were returned, there's no way to turn back the time that's passed.
Even if he could get the child back right away, he wouldn't be able to find out where he was hiding.
He said Byron planned to use Aila to kill Roderick, so he'd have to send her back when the time came... but... Hiram wondered if he could really just wait for that day.
The Emperor, who had been burying his face in his palms and thinking for quite some time, finally looked up and noticed his son fidgeting while looking at him.
It seems that he was worried that his father would get upset again this time, as he had always teased his son by pretending to be upset.
Of course, it would be a lie if he said he wasn't upset.
He seemed to have trusted and followed his swordsmanship master more than his father, yet he was so brazen as to keep this secret from Roderick. And he hadn't even been training in swordsmanship for very long.
But right now, Hiram had no time to tease his son. Just thinking about how he could undo his brother's terrible actions was enough to make his head spin.
“...I’m not mad at you, so you don’t have to be so wary, Win.”
“Excuse me, are you serious?”
“Yeah. I just have a headache thinking about what to do about this.”
Winfred looked quite relieved at his father's words. Just knowing he wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of his actions was enough to put his mind at ease.
“Well, I heard someone went to the Inselkov Kingdom to look for Aila... so they might be able to find her soon.”
He kept his voice low as he whispered to his father, keeping an eye on his surroundings. Although they were talking in a room with a strict security spell preventing eavesdropping, he seemed uneasy.
“...Well, I don’t know. How long will he stay in the Inselkov Kingdom? The older brother I know... no, if it were him... I don’t think he’d miss this opportunity.”
Hiram spoke with a skeptical voice.
“An opportunity?”
Winfred tilted his head in bewilderment at his father's incomprehensible words.
"...The war with the Sekim tribe. With all the forces concentrated in the northwest, there are fewer people left to search for him... so I think he'll probably just say, 'That's right,' and quickly return to the empire."
Hiram chuckled.
It was a question Winfred couldn't quite grasp. Would Byron really make such a choice? Even though he was his uncle, he hadn't seen him since he was so young that he barely remembered him.
But since it was the words of his father, who had been close to him as a brother his entire life, it was quite believable.
Winfred was a little scared that that evil traitor would return to the empire.
Byron's ultimate goal is to ascend to the throne, and to do so, he will definitely try to eliminate him as Crown Prince.
And that wasn't all. He was going to try to destroy his father, mother, and all his loved ones.
But there was a greater emotion than that fear: joy at the prospect of Aila's return to the Peles Empire.
He had no idea where she was now or when he would see her again.
The mere thought that she might be somewhere in this imperial land made Winfred excited.
“Sister, sister!”
Early one morning. Candice, who had barely finished a video conference with the Wizard Council before dawn and was about to fall asleep, was awakened by an unpleasant knock on her inn door.
From the voice that kept calling her "older sister," it seemed he was the information guild member who had requested the search for Aila.
Candice roughly tied up her messy hair with the hair tie she had around her wrist and opened the door with half-closed, sleepy eyes.
She didn't even have time to remove the booger from her eyes, so she looked like she was in a mess.
"What."
She felt that he had offended Candice, who had said in a cold tone as if she was telling him to keep things brief because she was so sleepy, and he apologized with a frightened expression.
“I, I’m sorry...! How dare I interrupt your peaceful sleep...!”
He looked ready to kneel in the inn hallway and bang his head on the floor, so Candice quickly stopped him.
“Now that you apologize, tell me why you came.”
After speaking, she yawned, her mouth wide open. She was just thinking about quickly hearing what was going on and, if it wasn't a big deal, going back to bed.
But at the sound of the answer, Candice's sleep was completely shaken away. Her drowsy eyes, which had been on the verge of closing, were suddenly bright and sparkling.
"I found the trading ship you mentioned! Which merchant ship is it?"
“What, really?”
"Yes! The sailors were drunk and going around telling stories about encounters with pirates, so it must be true. The date is also roughly correct."
At the welcome news, Candice hurried to get ready to go out. Even though she was prepared, she only threw on her usual thin white coat over her clothes.
And the man who saw her like that asked with an embarrassed expression.
“S, Sister... Are you really going to do that and leave?”
“Why? What’s the problem?”
Candice asked with a bright expression. It was a literal question, but to the man who feared her, it sounded like, "Are you dissatisfied?"
He shook his head desperately, as he could not possibly dissatisfy his scary older sister.
“Oh, no! I think you just need to wipe off some of the eye boogers.”
Ah, eye gunk. Candice glanced at the small mirror on the table and roughly removed the gunk with her finger. She even wiped the dust off her glasses while she was at it, and her appearance was no different from her usual self.
“Then let’s go.”
"Yes!"
With the man's spirited reply, Candice left the inn and moved toward the harbor.
Ophelia felt truly sorry for Winfred for making a child tremble and apologize so immaturely.
But aside from that, she also didn't have the confidence to maintain her facial expressions in front of him. Wouldn't it be easier to sort out her feelings if she were alone?
“Your Highness... If you have anything else to say...”
Although the subject was carefully brought up, it was clearly a request for a guest. It was a request that might have been a bit rude to the Crown Prince of a country.
However, Winfred, who understood Ophelia's feelings, obediently accepted the order to swear at her.
“Ah, then I’ll take my leave now... I’ve seen you off.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness.”
Ophelia rose from her seat and bowed to her knees.
Winfred, who was about to leave the reception room, staggering away, suddenly stopped in his tracks as if a thought occurred to him.
“Ah, that... I know Aila asked that it be kept a secret from anyone except the Duke and Duchess, but... it seems to be related to treason. Can I tell my father?”
As he asked hesitantly, Ophelia, who was still standing there with a dark expression, looked at him.
"Ah, of course you should tell His Majesty. However... Byron's eyes seem to be everywhere, so I think you should be careful about security even in the palace."
Even within the Duke's household, which was believed to be quite secure, there were leaks. This meant there was no one to trust.
Winfred briefly thought, "Surely not," at her words, but quickly nodded. There's no harm in being cautious, right?
Upon returning to the palace, Winfred went straight to his father. He must have received permission from the Duchess, as he needed to tell him the truth as soon as possible.
The importance of the story was also important, but more than that, it was better to tell the story as quickly as possible to appease his father, who would be upset and ask, "Why have you kept such an important story hidden for so long?"
Don't they say it's better to get hit first?
And Father Hiram's reaction wasn't much different from what Winfred had expected. However, unlike his imagination, his expression wasn't one of disappointment, but of bewilderment.
“So, that’s the story you kept your mouth shut about for three seasons.”
He met Aila in early fall last year, and now it's already spring.
He seemed quite shocked to learn that his son had kept such a big secret from him for so long.
And Winfred thought it would be better to pretend to be angry and play along. He felt a sense of emptiness as he wondered how long the aftermath would last this time.
“I’m, I’m sorry, Father...”
Winfred muttered in a hoarse voice. A twisted thought crossed his mind: "How many people do I owe an apology to for this?"
But it was true that he had kept a huge truth from his father, even if it was at Aila's request.
Whether he had heard his son's apology or not, Hiram sighed deeply and buried his face in his palms. His thoughts were complicated.
He couldn't figure out how to apologize to the Duke of Weishaffen or how to make amends. Ever since he was little, he's been used to Byron apologizing and making amends on his behalf for the accidents he'd caused, but this was just...
Some might argue that the Duke's family should be held accountable for concealing such a grave matter from the Emperor, but Hiram felt it was only natural to keep his mouth shut when his daughter's safety was at stake. He would have made the same choice if he were in Roderick's shoes.
This is something the royal family should apologize to the Duke's family for, and it is by no means something to blame the Duke's family for.
It wasn't because of any lingering kinship that he was struggling with these issues. He couldn't forgive the person who tried to kill his father.
But does that mean blood ties can be severed just by cutting them off? Morally, Hiram was also responsible for Byron's heinous actions.
This couldn't be compensated for with money or anything else. Even if the child were returned, there's no way to turn back the time that's passed.
Even if he could get the child back right away, he wouldn't be able to find out where he was hiding.
He said Byron planned to use Aila to kill Roderick, so he'd have to send her back when the time came... but... Hiram wondered if he could really just wait for that day.
The Emperor, who had been burying his face in his palms and thinking for quite some time, finally looked up and noticed his son fidgeting while looking at him.
It seems that he was worried that his father would get upset again this time, as he had always teased his son by pretending to be upset.
Of course, it would be a lie if he said he wasn't upset.
He seemed to have trusted and followed his swordsmanship master more than his father, yet he was so brazen as to keep this secret from Roderick. And he hadn't even been training in swordsmanship for very long.
But right now, Hiram had no time to tease his son. Just thinking about how he could undo his brother's terrible actions was enough to make his head spin.
“...I’m not mad at you, so you don’t have to be so wary, Win.”
“Excuse me, are you serious?”
“Yeah. I just have a headache thinking about what to do about this.”
Winfred looked quite relieved at his father's words. Just knowing he wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of his actions was enough to put his mind at ease.
“Well, I heard someone went to the Inselkov Kingdom to look for Aila... so they might be able to find her soon.”
He kept his voice low as he whispered to his father, keeping an eye on his surroundings. Although they were talking in a room with a strict security spell preventing eavesdropping, he seemed uneasy.
“...Well, I don’t know. How long will he stay in the Inselkov Kingdom? The older brother I know... no, if it were him... I don’t think he’d miss this opportunity.”
Hiram spoke with a skeptical voice.
“An opportunity?”
Winfred tilted his head in bewilderment at his father's incomprehensible words.
"...The war with the Sekim tribe. With all the forces concentrated in the northwest, there are fewer people left to search for him... so I think he'll probably just say, 'That's right,' and quickly return to the empire."
Hiram chuckled.
It was a question Winfred couldn't quite grasp. Would Byron really make such a choice? Even though he was his uncle, he hadn't seen him since he was so young that he barely remembered him.
But since it was the words of his father, who had been close to him as a brother his entire life, it was quite believable.
Winfred was a little scared that that evil traitor would return to the empire.
Byron's ultimate goal is to ascend to the throne, and to do so, he will definitely try to eliminate him as Crown Prince.
And that wasn't all. He was going to try to destroy his father, mother, and all his loved ones.
But there was a greater emotion than that fear: joy at the prospect of Aila's return to the Peles Empire.
He had no idea where she was now or when he would see her again.
The mere thought that she might be somewhere in this imperial land made Winfred excited.
***
“Sister, sister!”
Early one morning. Candice, who had barely finished a video conference with the Wizard Council before dawn and was about to fall asleep, was awakened by an unpleasant knock on her inn door.
From the voice that kept calling her "older sister," it seemed he was the information guild member who had requested the search for Aila.
Candice roughly tied up her messy hair with the hair tie she had around her wrist and opened the door with half-closed, sleepy eyes.
She didn't even have time to remove the booger from her eyes, so she looked like she was in a mess.
"What."
She felt that he had offended Candice, who had said in a cold tone as if she was telling him to keep things brief because she was so sleepy, and he apologized with a frightened expression.
“I, I’m sorry...! How dare I interrupt your peaceful sleep...!”
He looked ready to kneel in the inn hallway and bang his head on the floor, so Candice quickly stopped him.
“Now that you apologize, tell me why you came.”
After speaking, she yawned, her mouth wide open. She was just thinking about quickly hearing what was going on and, if it wasn't a big deal, going back to bed.
But at the sound of the answer, Candice's sleep was completely shaken away. Her drowsy eyes, which had been on the verge of closing, were suddenly bright and sparkling.
"I found the trading ship you mentioned! Which merchant ship is it?"
“What, really?”
"Yes! The sailors were drunk and going around telling stories about encounters with pirates, so it must be true. The date is also roughly correct."
At the welcome news, Candice hurried to get ready to go out. Even though she was prepared, she only threw on her usual thin white coat over her clothes.
And the man who saw her like that asked with an embarrassed expression.
“S, Sister... Are you really going to do that and leave?”
“Why? What’s the problem?”
Candice asked with a bright expression. It was a literal question, but to the man who feared her, it sounded like, "Are you dissatisfied?"
He shook his head desperately, as he could not possibly dissatisfy his scary older sister.
“Oh, no! I think you just need to wipe off some of the eye boogers.”
Ah, eye gunk. Candice glanced at the small mirror on the table and roughly removed the gunk with her finger. She even wiped the dust off her glasses while she was at it, and her appearance was no different from her usual self.
“Then let’s go.”
"Yes!"
With the man's spirited reply, Candice left the inn and moved toward the harbor.
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