Chapter 19
-Step step
Meanwhile, in the imperial palace, Noah Mille, Astina’s second older brother, was walking hurriedly down the corridor. In his hand was a society newspaper, similar to the one Sophia had shown Emily earlier. Noah stopped in front of a large, ornate arched door. After tidying his disheveled hair and clothes from his rush, he caught his breath and raised a trembling hand to knock on the door.
“Enter.”
As a low voice was heard from inside the room, the attendants standing on either side of the door silently opened it. Beyond the door, a spacious room was revealed. The floor was covered with luxurious carpets, large sofas and bookshelves were placed on the right, and sculptures decorated various spots.
Directly ahead was a large, intricately carved arched window, but the most striking feature was the large desk placed right in front of it. Noah bowed to Crown Prince Theodore, who was sitting at the desk, flipping through documents.
“I greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Theodore continued to look at the documents without responding, but as this was usual, Noah quietly entered the office and stood near him, placing the newspaper he had brought on the desk. After silently reviewing documents for a while, Theodore finally put down his pen and reached for the newspaper Noah had brought.
As Theodore raised his head and relaxed his posture, his silver hair shone brightly in the sunlight from the window, contrasting with the shadow on his face due to the backlight, making his expression difficult to discern. Noah watched nervously, clenching his sweaty hands, as Crown Prince Theodore quietly read the newspaper.
“…I hear your younger sister went to the academy following Lucas?”
At that moment, Theodore spoke while keeping his gaze on the newspaper, startling the tense Noah.
“Yes? Yes, that’s correct.”
Theodore quietly closed the newspaper and placed it on the desk, then leaned back in his chair, resting his arms on the armrests.
“I find it truly unpleasant when something I thought was mine turns out not to be. I thought your family had sworn loyalty to me.”
As Theodore casually tapped his fingers on the armrest while speaking indifferently, Noah turned pale and bowed deeply at a right angle on the spot. Simultaneously, he cried out urgently.
“Our Mille Count family has sworn loyalty to Crown Prince Theodore, and this will never change! Also, there will never be any connection between my younger sister and Prince Lucas!”
“…Is that so? I thought your family might be weighing me against my dear younger brother. I wondered if you might be trying to connect your sister with my brother, perhaps intending to turn your back on me.”
“N-Never such a…!”
“Yes, you must never commit such a mortal sin. Do not test my patience.”
“I will keep it in mind, again and again.”
As Noah stood stiffly, unable to straighten his bowed back, feeling as if his family’s extermination was hanging in the balance, he heard Theodore laugh lightly.
“Raise your head, Lord Noah.”
At the Crown Prince’s words, the frozen Noah slowly raised his head. Theodore, leaning back in his chair with languid eyes, glanced at the newspaper on the desk and smiled slightly.
“Both you and I have our troubles. But isn’t that how it is? The more foolish the dog, the cuter it is.”
“Y-Yes, yes.”
Noah stumbled in his response, unsure whether the “foolish dog” Theodore mockingly referred to was his younger sister or Prince Lucas.
With those final words, Theodore straightened his posture again and turned his attention back to the documents, waving his right hand at Noah. Noah hurriedly bowed to the Crown Prince and left the office. As the attendants quietly closed the office door behind him, Noah finally realized his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
The Crown Prince’s blue eyes held a chill like a frozen ice wall, making Noah feel as if his head could be cut off at any moment. Noah wiped the sweat around his neck with his hand and slowly walked away.
* * *
A hot breeze blew in through the classroom window.
After morning training under the intense sunlight, showering, and changing into their uniforms, William turned to look at Eden sitting next to him in the classroom. In contrast to everyone else sprawled limply on their desks from exhaustion, Eden sat with perfect posture. William clicked his tongue at the difference, despite having trained together all morning.
“You monster. Don’t you ever get tired?”
Eden ignored William’s words and sat at his desk, reading the textbook with an expressionless face. As William observed Eden’s fresh appearance in his uniform, he suddenly noticed that the pages of the book Eden was reading weren’t turning very often.
-Screech
As William tilted his head curiously, looking at Eden, suddenly Eden jumped up from his seat. William, caught off guard, was startled as Eden sprang up like a coiled spring the moment break time began.
“Whoa! What, what is it?”
“I’ll see you next class then.”
“Huh? Eden, where are you going again?”
It had been like this since yesterday. Every break time, Eden would quickly disappear somewhere and return just before the bell rang. The only exception was during training when they were drenched in sweat. Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, William quickly got up and followed him.
“Eden, where have you been going every break time since yesterday? Is something wrong?”
As William lightly ran up to Eden and asked, Eden glanced at him and replied nonchalantly.
“I’m going to meet Miss Emily.”
“What?! You’ve been meeting Miss Emily every break time?”
“No, I went to meet her, but couldn’t.”
“…Huh?”
For a moment, William blinked his eyes, not understanding Eden’s words. Eden, in a hurry, ignored him and quickened his pace.
“Wait, Eden, just a moment!”
This caused William to hurriedly catch up behind Eden. He walked, almost running to match Eden’s stride, and asked again.
“You went to meet Miss Emily but couldn’t? Did you miss each other when you were supposed to meet? No, meeting in the first place, could it be… are you dating? Since when??”
William poured out questions in an urgent tone. Eden responded indifferently, walking without even looking at William.
“We never agreed to meet. I just waited where she might come. I’d like to date Miss Emily, but unfortunately, we’re not dating yet.”
“What? Didn’t you say you weren’t sure if you liked Miss Emily? And what do you mean by ‘where she might come’?”
Surprised by Eden’s words, William grabbed his arm to stop him. Forced to stop walking, Eden looked at him somewhat irritatedly.
“Stop interfering. I need to go quickly. Since I don’t know when and where she’ll pass by, I’ve been going to places where I’ve accidentally met Miss Emily before.”
“What?”
“And I like Miss Emily. I’m thinking I want to formally date her.”
“Huh?”
As Eden dropped this bombshell statement with an expressionless face as if stating an obvious fact, William stared at him blankly with his mouth open. Eden looked at William like this, then resumed his halted steps. As William watched Eden’s back walking away with large strides, he suddenly came to his senses and hurriedly followed, calling out to stop him.
“No, what does that even mean… Hey, Eden! Stop for a moment! Eden!”
However, as Eden ignored his words and left, William stood in place and muttered quietly as if talking to himself.
“Miss Emily’s third period on Wednesday is Magic and Theology class, so now that her free period is over, she’ll probably be on the second floor of the main building?”
At that moment, Eden, who had been walking far away at a terrifying speed, stopped abruptly in his tracks. Then he immediately turned around and walked briskly towards William. William grinned at Eden, who was approaching with tremendous momentum.
“…How do you know that?”
Eden approached William, who was standing with his arms crossed, and asked with a slightly furrowed brow. William shrugged.
“Well? You probably didn’t know, but last week Prince Lucas asked Kira for her schedule. At that time, Kira handed over Emily’s schedule as well. I received it and have been keeping it.”
“……”
At his words, Eden stared at William expressionlessly, and William continued with a grin.
“Eden, do you want to know? Shall I tell you?”
“Yes.”
“Just like that? I’ll tell you if you call me ‘brother’.”
William teased Eden with a mischievous smile. When else would he get a chance to tease this perfectionist? Imagining Eden hesitating in frustration, William couldn’t help but smile, covering his mouth with his hand.
“How about it, is it difficult? But if you don’t call me ‘brother’…”
“Brother.”
“…What?”
“Brother William.”
“……”
William blinked for a moment with a blank face and his mouth open. What had he just heard? Eden, who had promptly called him “brother” with an expressionless face, confidently extended his right hand to the dazed William. William looked down at that hand with an incredulous expression. It was a silent pressure to hand over Miss Emily’s schedule immediately.
“…Uh, I don’t have it with me right now, so I’ll give it to you later.”
“Alright.”
At William’s words, Eden nodded with a satisfied expression. Then he left the dumbfounded William behind and walked towards the second floor of the main building with lighter steps. William watched Eden’s figure with a sour expression, then laughed helplessly and shook his head.
Eden’s time seemed to be constantly stuck on Monday evening. To be precise, it felt like he was still standing in the garden where he had walked with Emily in the sultry evening breeze.
‘…Then, when would you like to go for that cup of tea?’
When he had asked that, Emily’s expression, smiling lightly as if thinking he was hopeless, seemed to linger like an afterimage on his retina. At that time, she had agreed but hadn’t set an exact date.
In fact, he had wanted to ask Miss Emily when they could go for tea together all along, but he hadn’t been able to run into her since then.
“…Lord Eden?”
Eden, who had stopped at the landing of the second floor of the main building and was looking out the large window, turned at the sound of Emily’s voice. Emily’s face, coming up the stairs, shone brightly in the sunlight from outside the window.
Eden squinted slightly as if dazzled by the light.
