Chapter 16
Roy Gaillard was looking at Adi with a meaningful expression. Adi couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Likewise, Roy didn’t know what Adi Grimaldi was thinking.
“I did say it was my position,” Roy said first, very quietly, almost to himself. But it was clearly audible.
“What are you trying to say?” Adi asked. Roy’s lips moved. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to say thank you, but he wasn’t thankful. No, he was thankful, but he didn’t want to say thank you.
Late last night, the Duke’s servant had come to see him. He then informed Roy of things he shouldn’t do as the Duke’s guard. While such instructions were common when guarding, it was the first time they had been so detailed. As he listened to the servant, Roy Gaillard wondered.
Adi Grimaldi’s nasty personality was well-known among all the knights, pages, and soldiers at Palesa Palace. All the pages, before becoming knights and being assigned to knight divisions, stay in the northern palace where the 3rd Knight Division is located. Since they all knew each other, rumors spread quickly.
Cases like Adi Grimaldi, coming from outside, were extremely rare. It was said to have happened only twice in Palesa. Once with Adi Grimaldi, and the other time with a prince 20 years ago.
Most pages stay in the palace from the beginning, receive knight training, and are assigned to the palace. These days, academies are being established, but the best place for knight training is still the royal palace. Palesa and Ionad. They both claim to be number one, but in any case, they’re the best in Dalkatir.
Moreover, Adi Grimaldi wasn’t from the royal palace page system. If he had come from Ionad, they would have disliked him in a different way, but he didn’t even meet the basic criteria. Yet, it’s said he received his knighthood from the prince. Even that would have upset the pages, and the fact that Adi Grimaldi’s father, Spencer Grimaldi, was a knight from the Ionad page system was also an issue.
The Grimaldis have no connection to Palesa. Perhaps that’s why the knights and pages of Palesa particularly dislike Adi Grimaldi.
Even so, Roy hadn’t thought Adi Grimaldi would be an idiot who would give up his position so easily. It was good for Roy, as he could finally become a guard knight for Duke Woodpecker, which had been his goal.
“If you have something to say, say it directly.”
But.
“…If they were short on people, it would have been nice if they’d said so earlier.”
Adi Grimaldi was still Duke Woodpecker’s guard.
“This is my first time being a guard too,” Adi said. But he should have received training… No, since he wasn’t from the page system, he probably didn’t receive the education given when assigned to each knight division.
“The 2nd Knight Division didn’t tell me anything either.”
That must have been ostracism. Men, contrary to expectations, aren’t straightforward. They harbor much jealousy and feelings of inferiority.
Roy had suffered a bit during his time as a page due to his inherited good looks. Bullying happens in various ways, but the worst is sexual exploitation.
Perhaps the 2nd Knight Division of Palesa is so skilled because they worked hard to protect themselves during their page days. Maybe that’s why the 2nd Knight Division is so tight-knit. Even more so than the 3rd Knight Division.
If Adi Grimaldi had come as a Palesa page from the beginning, it might have been similar. More than that, if he had endured in the 3rd Knight Division with that face, well…
Feeling an inexplicable sense of kinship, Roy quickly shook his head. Even so, he was an outsider.
At that moment, Bert entered. Seeing Adi and Roy sitting apart, Bert thought it strange that they could sit so far apart at the same table. He had been sure they were close.
“Are you two not getting along? Why is the atmosphere like this?”
Looking at this, they seemed distant. But then how did the recommendation happen?
“His Grace…”
“It’s fine, the servants are nearby.”
Reassuring them that nothing would happen, Bert pulled up a chair and sat at the table, saying,
“Well then, let’s have our own meeting.”
Was there anything to meet about? The Duke hardly moves around to begin with. At most, they might allocate time.
“Since there are three of us, we’ll divide it into thirds, with each person guarding for eight hours. However, if one person has to guard all night, it’ll be tough, so it’s better to adjust the times as needed.”
As Bert spoke, he gestured for Adi and Roy to come closer.
“We’ll gather every morning at 8 when His Grace has breakfast. We’ll discuss the schedule then. Share information with each other, especially about who you met. Some people get angry when guards don’t remember them, even though they themselves can’t remember which guard was with them.”
Roy nodded. This was news to Adi.
“Keeping in mind that the schedule might change in the future, Adi, which works best for you?”
“Any time is fine with me.”
“Roy?”
“The same for me.”
They don’t even look at each other.
“How did you two get to know each other?”
“We don’t.”
Adi answered without a moment’s hesitation. Bert made a face that said, “What are you talking about?” Does this mean he recommended someone he doesn’t know?
Roy looked at Adi with an incredulous expression. What is this guy thinking, or rather, even if he’s not thinking, if he’s had any social experience, shouldn’t he know to coordinate their stories? Does he have no common sense? Roy’s worries became reality.
“He suddenly came and said it was his position and told me to give it up. But I thought it might be okay since we were short on guards anyway.”
The one who demanded his position back, and the one who recommended him despite that…
Bert looked at Roy. His pale face showed his bewilderment. Roy’s actions were enough to arouse suspicion. Bert and Yuls had approved because there were no problems when they did a brief investigation, but they hadn’t anticipated this process. As Bert remained silent, Roy spoke up.
“I thought it was originally my job.”
“Is that so? Someone of your caliber could find a good guard position elsewhere. We’re only here for one season anyway. Wouldn’t it be easier to guard some appropriate royal or noblewoman?”
“No, I like this job.”
Is it the job, or is it Yuls Woodpecker?
“Do you like men?”
“Pardon?”
“As guard subjects, I mean.”
Roy was at a loss for words. Any answer to this would be strange. No, he wasn’t interested in men. But he couldn’t say he was only interested in the Duke either.
“Or was our Duke your goal?”
“……”
Bert directly voiced what Roy had been worried about. Sometimes silence serves as an answer.
“Wouldn’t it have been easier if you had used your godfather’s surname?”
“…You knew?”
Roy answered with a trembling voice. Though she didn’t know what was going on, Adi was certain there was some kind of relationship between these people.
“The Duke knows too,” Bert said.
However, Adi had no intention of finding out.
“He doesn’t seem to care about it.”
Since no orders had come down regarding it. Adi just hoped this time would pass quickly. So who would be guarding the Duke in the morning?
“Then let’s have Roy take the morning today, and Adi take the evening,” Bert said.
Roy from 8 AM to 4 PM, herself from 4 PM to midnight. Bert from midnight to 8 AM. Adi realized Bert was being considerate of her.
“Well then, let’s do our best.”
With those words, Bert stood up. He then entered the leftmost room, seemingly intending to go to sleep. Adi looked at Roy. The luggage he had brought in the morning was still there.
“I use the rightmost room, and Bert uses the leftmost. The middle one is your room. Since you came late, you’ll have to deal with that.”
Originally, the middle room was disadvantageous in many ways, including noise and location. Roy’s face showed he understood this was unavoidable. However,
“Hey.”
“What?”
“You… do you know your reputation is really bad?”
“I know.”
“……”
Roy wanted to ask if he knew, why did he act like that? If he had just toned down his personality a little… But then he might have been looked down upon. Perhaps Adi Grimaldi had done his best.
“……”
Maybe he had done more than his best. When Roy had heard that Adi had crushed someone’s testicles, he had thought he must be crazy. As a man, there are things you can and can’t do. Nevertheless, Adi’s actions had been helpful to Roy. So, reluctantly, really reluctantly, he expressed his gratitude.
“Thanks, for now.”
Not expecting to hear such words, Adi looked at Roy with surprise.
“I needed this position.”
A meaningful statement. Could this bastard have come to assassinate the Duke? Adi thought. But since Bert and the Duke had checked and approved, it should be fine. Adi said,
“If you’re grateful, pay me back next time.”
“……”
Roy didn’t answer. He didn’t want to pay it back. But he didn’t want to act ungrateful or lie either.
