Chapter 106

The breeze carried the scent of broadleaf trees.

The court was quiet. Except for the wind, the peaceful weather seemed to amplify this silence.

No one knew where the knights who had moved at early dawn had gone. All meetings were cancelled, and the nobles remained in their respective residences.

And Lady Connolly, the source of all this trouble, had already departed for Palesa. There was a reason for her hasty departure. Having caused such an incident, the Count wouldn’t let it slide. Especially now, when he was preparing to put Claude on the throne.

“It’s still quiet though noon approaches.”

Meanwhile, Yuls couldn’t understand Count Grimaldi. Claude would clearly ascend to that position safely if he just stayed still from now on. So why was he struggling so hard to put him there?

—Is there something else?

“All court meetings for today have been confirmed cancelled. Though there are no restrictions except for visiting His Highness Claude, no one is moving.”

“Moving now would draw attention.”

Dimitri nodded at Yuls’s words. During times like these, meetings between nobles were frequent. This applied to both official and unofficial gatherings.

Of course, Yuls received no separate communications. Nobles from the South faced many restrictions in activities at the Ionad court. This was because they had once betrayed the royal family.

While Yuls could have become their support base, there were many lacking elements for that. Above all, he lacked a foundation in Ionad since he always returned to Woodpecker after fulfilling only the mandatory period each year. It was too late to start now. Since Yuls had no intention of being very active in court anyway, he didn’t care about this aspect. However, lately…

“I think communications will start trickling in soon.”

“No one has shown any particular movement yet.”

“Seems everyone’s staying in their residences. Well, they can’t help but be cautious for now.”

When meetings and assemblies were active, people didn’t pay much attention to who met where, but meetings during quiet times like this naturally drew attention. While many wanted to stand out at court, no one wanted to stand out in a bad way. Consequently, the entire court would likely remain quiet today.

“Then today.”

Yuls opened his mouth, looking at Adi.

“Shall we have a leisurely meal?”

Seeing him smile as he said this, Dimitri seemed to understand his intention and bowed his head saying, “Then I’ll prepare.”

Adi stood quietly in place. A leisurely meal. While thinking it would make sense to want one since they’d been busy lately, Adi made a puzzled face at the way Yuls and Dimitri were looking at them.

“Adi.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“You need to prepare too.”

For what? A question crossed Adi’s face. The context was unclear. But since they couldn’t pretend not to know here, Adi answered, “I can go out like this.” After all, what need was there for a guard knight to change clothes and prepare?

However, Yuls and Dimitri’s reactions to Adi’s answer were unusual.

“Like that?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Dimitri slowly turned his head as if avoiding looking at Adi.

And soon Adi realized what this meant.

It was truly a beautiful day. Though the wind blew occasionally, it was more refreshing than strong, just enough to cool one’s sweat.

The garden in the palace courtyard was lush with trees, and the buildings surrounding these trees made it difficult to see into the garden.

Yet this place, where the clear sky was visible, was prettier than expected, and in some ways reminded them of Woodpecker. The feeling of the dense forest, that is.

And Adi sat across from Yuls at a table in the middle of the garden.

“…”

Still wearing their knight’s uniform.

Until the amuse-bouche and appetizers arrived, Adi couldn’t say anything and just ate awkwardly. Dimitri watched this situation silently.

And Yuls, sitting across from Adi, turned his head to look at empty space, then slightly bowed his head and let out a laugh. After a sound like air escaping, suppressed laughter followed.

“…I think you should have told me to prepare.”

“I believe you forgot, but I did tell you. You said that outfit was fine.”

“You should have said it in a way I could understand. You knew I don’t know court etiquette.”

Adi protested timidly. This wasn’t their fault. Yuls looked at Adi as if finding them cute, then quickly managed his expression. Though he cleared his throat with a “hmhm,” he couldn’t erase the smile from his lips.

At Yuls’s reaction of just finding it amusing despite their improper behavior, Adi quietly lowered their head. There was no point in saying more. It would be better to eat quickly and leave.

When Adi moved their utensils quickly, Dimitri, standing behind Yuls, cleared his throat with a “hem.” It was loud. Almost like a warning.

“…”

Adi realized this was an action indicating that it violated etiquette. This connected to their conversation with Dimitri yesterday.

Noticing the signals passing between the two, Yuls laughed again and spoke.

“It’s better than I expected.”

“…What is?”

Adi questioned. Yuls just quietly looked at Adi without answering. His gaze was so intense it felt like it might bore holes in their face. But Adi didn’t avoid his gaze either.

“I’ve often heard women say they get excited about knights. It’s refreshing to understand that feeling firsthand.”

Getting excited about knights—which women were going around saying such things? Adi wondered.

“Are you attracted to knights too?”

Yuls’s voice as he said this felt quite cold. Adi searched their memories.

Knights. They were once people they had been close to, perhaps too close. Whether squires or knights, they were always sweaty, picking fights over everything, not wearing proper clothes, going around half-dressed, and then acting all proper and modest once they left the training grounds or knights’ quarters. Excited about them?

“…No. Knights are not to my taste.”

Horrible. They’re beasts.

“Then?”

Yuls asked again. Adi couldn’t answer. They didn’t know how to react. While it was certain that knights weren’t to their taste, if asked what was to their taste, they had never thought about it.

Seeing their expression reveal their confusion, Yuls didn’t ask further and just smiled. Dimitri looked at Adi with narrowed eyes. It was like the gaze of a beast that had found its prey. Adi felt a bit of fear at his expression that seemed to be considering what etiquette to teach from where to where.

Rather than press for an answer, Yuls just turned his gaze to look around. He had noticed that his gaze made them uncomfortable.

This residence where Yuls stayed was different from other places in the Ionad palace. Of course, it was completely different from the Palesa palace as well. Rather, it resembled the Woodpecker mansion. Though it was more enclosed than that. This was also something Adi wondered about.

It wasn’t a space suitable for a prince. This structure and form was more fitting for a wife, or perhaps a mistress. But the current king didn’t officially keep mistresses. Of course, he only had one wife. Because Dalkatir practiced monogamy. Not even the king was an exception.

“My father had very light pigmentation.”

Yuls spoke. As if he had noticed Adrina’s question.

“He was hypersensitive to sunlight, so my grandfather worried a lot about him from childhood.”

Adi didn’t know. They had never even seen the current king’s face. So talk of the previous king felt unfamiliar. The fact that this was everyday life for Yuls was also strange to Adi. Though they were facing each other like this now, it felt like being reminded again that he was royalty.

“So he built this palace. Small, modest, and densely wooded to block out sunlight.”

And the Duke of Woodpecker built a mansion resembling this place. That mansion was much larger than this.

“My grandfather must have loved my father, but he also judged coldly. He must have been certain the previous Duke of Woodpecker wasn’t qualified to be king. Nothing is more troublesome and requires more handling than a king who dies early. Since the previous king wasn’t bad, he wasn’t really a consideration to begin with, but in a way, it was foresight.”

Since the previous king had died early. Whether there had been others’ intentions in that or not.

“What history discusses and actual feelings must have been different, but I still don’t know what grandfather was thinking. Sometimes I wonder. What thoughts he had.”

Looking at his dead son, looking at his worthless son, and looking at his son who had ruined everything.

“I feel a contradiction when I think about how such an excellent king ended up struggling because of his children.”

He was powerful. Alone.

He probably never thought his own children would become problems. Yuls smiled bitterly.

“The only thing certain is that he didn’t like me.”

“I like Your Grace.”

Adi said. At this sudden confession, both Yuls and Dimitri looked at Adi. Both their eyes seemed to widen slightly.

“…Not in that sense, but anyway, I’m proud of Your Grace.”

“That’s kind of you.”

Yuls smiled and said.

“Try liking me in the other sense too. We’re supposed to love each other, aren’t we?”