"Sir Dexen said so. He said Marquis Caenis keeps trying to plant his people in the capital defense area. So he told us to leave them alone. Doesn't that mean their uprising isn't far behind?"
“Yes, I think so too.”
No matter how strong the trap was built in the Duke of Weishaffen's residence, it would be all for naught if Byron did not enter the capital.
So, shouldn't we leave a gap for him to walk into the trap?
Hiram, who had been smiling cheerfully the whole time, now smiled bitterly at the thought that the day was near when he would catch the brother who had tried to harm his father and himself.
“...”
Roderick didn't bother asking why.
Even if he had committed a heinous crime, Byron was still Hiram's brother. Capturing someone like that couldn't be all joy.
“I’m craving a drink. Want to have a drink today?”
“...”
At Hiram's suggestion, Roderick couldn't coldly refuse and just rolled his eyes awkwardly.
He wanted to refuse, having recently had a hard time holding back on his drinking with Hiram, but he knew how he felt, so it was difficult to cut him off outright.
Seeing Roderick like that, Hiram laughed heartily.
“I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding. You don’t have to be so embarrassed.”
“...You were joking. That’s fortunate.”
Roderick smiled and answered playfully. Hiram grumbled sadly at his response.
"What's with that reaction? I'm also someone who gets hurt."
“Haha, I was just joking.”
Hiram stared at Roderick's joke, which he didn't usually joke around with, with wide eyes as if it was something strange.
Hiram, who had been laughing and joking for a while, opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“By the way, I actually have something to confess to you.”
“What is it, Your Majesty? Please speak.”
He hesitated, not knowing what on earth he was going to say, and just tapped the poor teacup with his hand.
“Is that difficult to say?”
"Well, that's true. The plan is almost over, and I figured it wouldn't be right to keep hiding it from Winnie, so I told him..."
What he meant was that he had told Winfred about Aila's affair and Byron's actions. He figured it was safe to talk now that the curse had been lifted.
"Then, that guy insisted on seeing your daughter at least once. I told him the curse had been completely lifted and she was fine now, but..."
It was absurd for the Crown Prince to be unaware of the situation, as it was a matter of capturing a traitor to the empire, so it was something that had to be made known at some point.
Roderick, wondering what he was thinking, just drank his tea in silence despite the Emperor's words.
“...Don’t just stay silent. Say something. If you like it, say so. If you don’t, say no.”
When Hiram, unable to bear the frustration, pouted and urged Roderick, Roderick answered with a calm expression.
“Umm... This isn’t something I can decide on my own, so would it be okay if I discussed it with my wife and daughter and then told you?”
"Of course. I was worried you might reject me outright, but I'm glad you didn't."
Hiram nodded as if satisfied.
"...Aila's wishes are important. Even though I'm her father, I can't just arbitrarily reject her without hearing her opinion, right? If Aila agrees, let's try to arrange a time for the children to meet naturally."
Roderick spoke with an indifferent expression that made it difficult to read his thoughts.
And then, that evening.
Roderick naturally called Aila into his room. This was possible because he had gotten rid of Laura, who had always been there, watching her like a leech.
In addition, he was also tracking and managing several people suspected of being Byron's spies, other than Laura.
Knowing that Laura was using the magical pigeon to communicate with Byron, he asked Candice to use the magical tool detector to see if others were using it as well, and surprisingly, it worked.
She quickly repurposed the technology she had used to track down Aila in the Inselkov Kingdom and sent them the detector they requested.
Using that detector, he picked up several magical tool signals from the employees' quarters within the mansion.
Even though the salaries of the Duke's employees were good, it was not easy for ordinary citizens to own expensive magic tools, so it was definitely a suspicious situation.
Even if the tools possessed by the owners of that signal are not related to Byron, there is nothing wrong with being wary and cautious of them.
So, Aila and her family could share their secrets with much greater ease than before. All they had to do was call Aila into her room and block out any sound.
“So, His Highness the Crown Prince wants to meet you... What do you think?”
Roderick asked cautiously, and Aila blinked blankly.
In fact, she's been waiting for the day to meet Winfred. He was the first friend she'd ever made, and she'd also received a lot of help from him.
How much help has she received, even excluding the small help she received when she was embarrassed by her dirty clothes?
He granted a far-fetched request to tell her parents a story without even telling them who her parents were, and he even gave her a magic box so she could hide things without Byron knowing.
And again... he was protecting those she so desperately wanted to save.
'Come to think of it, I haven't even heard how the couple is doing.'
Aila had been so busy with the curse and other issues that she hadn't been able to bring herself to meet Winfred, but now that those issues were being resolved one by one, she thought it would be okay to meet him once in a while.
No, actually... She wanted to see him.
From the moment Roderick asked if she wanted to meet Winfred, she felt a strange thrill.
"...I'm happy. I had a special request for Winfred. I'd like to hear about it, and I'd also like to express my gratitude for all the help he's given me."
Aila spoke calmly, trying to calm her trembling voice. She wasn't lying, but she felt strangely like she was deceiving her parents.
"Um, okay. Since you're okay with it, I'll try to create a natural opportunity to meet you."
Roderick nodded with a somewhat resigned voice.
A few days later, Winfred and Aila's meeting was arranged sooner than expected. The imperial family and the ducal household were all gathering for an outing.
It wasn't all that unnatural, since Hiram and Roderick were such close friends and had often gone out together like this before losing Aila.
Hiram smiled mischievously and went to the Crown Prince's palace to tell his son the good news.
“You’re here, Father.”
Winfred greeted his father with a strangely listless expression. He had been like this for several days.
Something big was happening to Aila, and he didn't know about it.
He hated his father for keeping this fact hidden from him and for keeping it to himself, and he also hated himself for living peacefully on his own without even knowing it.
‘...How can people really be so cruel?’
Winfred shuddered as he remembered his uncle, whose face he couldn't even remember. Thinking of what he had done to Aila, he felt a deep sense of disillusionment with the world.
Born as a human, he committed such atrocities, worse than those of a beast. It felt as if the faith he had built in humanity throughout his life had been shattered.
"Why are you so dispirited, Win? This father has brought some encouraging news."
"...What is it? Please tell me.”
Winfred reacted skeptically to his father's words, as if he were quite certain that they were true. He felt that nothing could possibly cheer him up now.
"Let's go out to the countryside with this father this holiday. We can go horseback riding together, and if the weather's nice, we can play in the water by the lake."
"...No, I do not want."
As a father, how could he possibly be so ignorant of his son's temperament? Knowing Winfred wasn't particularly fond of the outdoors, he decided to take him out for a walk, hoping to cheer him up.
Winfred pursed his lips with a pained expression.
"Really? You really don't like it? Hmm, what should I do...? I've already made an appointment. I'll have to send a message to the Duke's family. My son says he doesn't want it, so I'll have to cancel. What can I do?"
Hiram shrugged and said in a sarcastic voice.
“What, what did you say? A Duke?”
"Oh, didn't I tell you? The Duke and Duchess of Weishaffen and their children were also coming to visit. I wonder how much Noah has grown."
“Well, then maybe...”
At the mention of the Duke of Weishaffen, Winfred grabbed his father's arm in a hurry. He wanted to confirm whether he could really see Aila.
“Of course, the Princess decided to come too. Hmm, but, well, since Winnie said he didn’t want to...”
Hiram chuckled and turned around, ready to leave the drawing room at any moment.
“No, Father! I like it! I said I like it!”
Winfred held onto his father tightly with both arms. He knew he was joking, but he was still afraid that he might actually cancel their promise.
“Yes, I think so too.”
No matter how strong the trap was built in the Duke of Weishaffen's residence, it would be all for naught if Byron did not enter the capital.
So, shouldn't we leave a gap for him to walk into the trap?
Hiram, who had been smiling cheerfully the whole time, now smiled bitterly at the thought that the day was near when he would catch the brother who had tried to harm his father and himself.
“...”
Roderick didn't bother asking why.
Even if he had committed a heinous crime, Byron was still Hiram's brother. Capturing someone like that couldn't be all joy.
“I’m craving a drink. Want to have a drink today?”
“...”
At Hiram's suggestion, Roderick couldn't coldly refuse and just rolled his eyes awkwardly.
He wanted to refuse, having recently had a hard time holding back on his drinking with Hiram, but he knew how he felt, so it was difficult to cut him off outright.
Seeing Roderick like that, Hiram laughed heartily.
“I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding. You don’t have to be so embarrassed.”
“...You were joking. That’s fortunate.”
Roderick smiled and answered playfully. Hiram grumbled sadly at his response.
"What's with that reaction? I'm also someone who gets hurt."
“Haha, I was just joking.”
Hiram stared at Roderick's joke, which he didn't usually joke around with, with wide eyes as if it was something strange.
Hiram, who had been laughing and joking for a while, opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“By the way, I actually have something to confess to you.”
“What is it, Your Majesty? Please speak.”
He hesitated, not knowing what on earth he was going to say, and just tapped the poor teacup with his hand.
“Is that difficult to say?”
"Well, that's true. The plan is almost over, and I figured it wouldn't be right to keep hiding it from Winnie, so I told him..."
What he meant was that he had told Winfred about Aila's affair and Byron's actions. He figured it was safe to talk now that the curse had been lifted.
"Then, that guy insisted on seeing your daughter at least once. I told him the curse had been completely lifted and she was fine now, but..."
It was absurd for the Crown Prince to be unaware of the situation, as it was a matter of capturing a traitor to the empire, so it was something that had to be made known at some point.
Roderick, wondering what he was thinking, just drank his tea in silence despite the Emperor's words.
“...Don’t just stay silent. Say something. If you like it, say so. If you don’t, say no.”
When Hiram, unable to bear the frustration, pouted and urged Roderick, Roderick answered with a calm expression.
“Umm... This isn’t something I can decide on my own, so would it be okay if I discussed it with my wife and daughter and then told you?”
"Of course. I was worried you might reject me outright, but I'm glad you didn't."
Hiram nodded as if satisfied.
"...Aila's wishes are important. Even though I'm her father, I can't just arbitrarily reject her without hearing her opinion, right? If Aila agrees, let's try to arrange a time for the children to meet naturally."
Roderick spoke with an indifferent expression that made it difficult to read his thoughts.
And then, that evening.
Roderick naturally called Aila into his room. This was possible because he had gotten rid of Laura, who had always been there, watching her like a leech.
In addition, he was also tracking and managing several people suspected of being Byron's spies, other than Laura.
Knowing that Laura was using the magical pigeon to communicate with Byron, he asked Candice to use the magical tool detector to see if others were using it as well, and surprisingly, it worked.
She quickly repurposed the technology she had used to track down Aila in the Inselkov Kingdom and sent them the detector they requested.
Using that detector, he picked up several magical tool signals from the employees' quarters within the mansion.
Even though the salaries of the Duke's employees were good, it was not easy for ordinary citizens to own expensive magic tools, so it was definitely a suspicious situation.
Even if the tools possessed by the owners of that signal are not related to Byron, there is nothing wrong with being wary and cautious of them.
So, Aila and her family could share their secrets with much greater ease than before. All they had to do was call Aila into her room and block out any sound.
“So, His Highness the Crown Prince wants to meet you... What do you think?”
Roderick asked cautiously, and Aila blinked blankly.
In fact, she's been waiting for the day to meet Winfred. He was the first friend she'd ever made, and she'd also received a lot of help from him.
How much help has she received, even excluding the small help she received when she was embarrassed by her dirty clothes?
He granted a far-fetched request to tell her parents a story without even telling them who her parents were, and he even gave her a magic box so she could hide things without Byron knowing.
And again... he was protecting those she so desperately wanted to save.
'Come to think of it, I haven't even heard how the couple is doing.'
Aila had been so busy with the curse and other issues that she hadn't been able to bring herself to meet Winfred, but now that those issues were being resolved one by one, she thought it would be okay to meet him once in a while.
No, actually... She wanted to see him.
From the moment Roderick asked if she wanted to meet Winfred, she felt a strange thrill.
"...I'm happy. I had a special request for Winfred. I'd like to hear about it, and I'd also like to express my gratitude for all the help he's given me."
Aila spoke calmly, trying to calm her trembling voice. She wasn't lying, but she felt strangely like she was deceiving her parents.
"Um, okay. Since you're okay with it, I'll try to create a natural opportunity to meet you."
Roderick nodded with a somewhat resigned voice.
***
A few days later, Winfred and Aila's meeting was arranged sooner than expected. The imperial family and the ducal household were all gathering for an outing.
It wasn't all that unnatural, since Hiram and Roderick were such close friends and had often gone out together like this before losing Aila.
Hiram smiled mischievously and went to the Crown Prince's palace to tell his son the good news.
“You’re here, Father.”
Winfred greeted his father with a strangely listless expression. He had been like this for several days.
Something big was happening to Aila, and he didn't know about it.
He hated his father for keeping this fact hidden from him and for keeping it to himself, and he also hated himself for living peacefully on his own without even knowing it.
‘...How can people really be so cruel?’
Winfred shuddered as he remembered his uncle, whose face he couldn't even remember. Thinking of what he had done to Aila, he felt a deep sense of disillusionment with the world.
Born as a human, he committed such atrocities, worse than those of a beast. It felt as if the faith he had built in humanity throughout his life had been shattered.
"Why are you so dispirited, Win? This father has brought some encouraging news."
"...What is it? Please tell me.”
Winfred reacted skeptically to his father's words, as if he were quite certain that they were true. He felt that nothing could possibly cheer him up now.
"Let's go out to the countryside with this father this holiday. We can go horseback riding together, and if the weather's nice, we can play in the water by the lake."
"...No, I do not want."
As a father, how could he possibly be so ignorant of his son's temperament? Knowing Winfred wasn't particularly fond of the outdoors, he decided to take him out for a walk, hoping to cheer him up.
Winfred pursed his lips with a pained expression.
"Really? You really don't like it? Hmm, what should I do...? I've already made an appointment. I'll have to send a message to the Duke's family. My son says he doesn't want it, so I'll have to cancel. What can I do?"
Hiram shrugged and said in a sarcastic voice.
“What, what did you say? A Duke?”
"Oh, didn't I tell you? The Duke and Duchess of Weishaffen and their children were also coming to visit. I wonder how much Noah has grown."
“Well, then maybe...”
At the mention of the Duke of Weishaffen, Winfred grabbed his father's arm in a hurry. He wanted to confirm whether he could really see Aila.
“Of course, the Princess decided to come too. Hmm, but, well, since Winnie said he didn’t want to...”
Hiram chuckled and turned around, ready to leave the drawing room at any moment.
“No, Father! I like it! I said I like it!”
Winfred held onto his father tightly with both arms. He knew he was joking, but he was still afraid that he might actually cancel their promise.
Comments
Post a Comment