Chapter 40
A breeze stirred gently. Despite the approach of early summer, the evening wind carried a chill. Opening their eyes, Adi sniffled and looked toward the bedside. Adrian’s portrait had fallen face-down. It must have been the wind.
After setting the portrait upright and gathering clothes, Adi went to the bathroom and surrendered to the warm water.
The palace bathroom was better than the one at the mansion. It was said to be a device created by a magician, though Adi knew how to use it but didn’t understand its structure. If they had to leave here—though where they would go was uncertain—they would like to have something like this installed. Calling a magician would be expensive, though.
After bathing, Adi wiped off and put on a chemise, adding a leather breastplate over the chest. As Adi shook out wet hair while pulling on pants, they opened the door to find Roy sitting at the lounge table. He had already prepared, with a chessboard and pieces set up.
“Done already?”
“What time is it?”
“4:20 PM.”
He must have just finished his duties.
“Did you wash up?”
“Couldn’t, since you were in there. That’s the inconvenient thing about the residence quarters.”
Too lazy to go back to his original quarters to wash, Roy had left his shirt buttons undone to let it flutter. He gestured with his chin toward the seat across from him, as if saying ‘come here.’ Chess-obsessed fool.
Adi sat down across from him. Water still dripped from their not-quite-dry hair onto the chemise. Thanks to the open lounge windows, their hair would probably dry faster. Roy pulled out tobacco from his jacket hanging nearby and asked, “Want to smoke one?”
“You smoke too? Must be expensive.”
“Got it for free.”
“From His Grace the Duke?”
Adi asked while moving a pawn.
“No, from some lady I met when I stepped out briefly.”
Roy said as he lit up. Seeing how the abundant smoke spread, he clearly hadn’t properly learned how to smoke.
Roy moved a piece while taking another drag.
Though Adi disliked tobacco smoke and wouldn’t keep it around, the Countess would collect good tobacco when available and occasionally enjoyed it. Watching Adrian cough and seem to get worse every time he visited the Countess, Adi had grown to particularly hate tobacco.
…No, perhaps—
To stop the emerging thought, Adi quickly moved a piece. Clack, clack, the pieces made sounds hitting the wooden board. After several exchanges, Roy’s mouth fell open.
“Hey, your rook!”
“You’re always weak here. Learn to look ahead.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you!”
Roy stared mournfully at his captured piece, then quickly grabbed that tower-shaped piece tormenting him before stubbing out his cigarette on the table.
“So, what did you want to ask about?”
“I don’t know enough to know where to start.”
“Is there any information worth getting from me?”
“All information is valuable.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.”
“What are you curious about?”
“Lev Jid.”
Adi hesitated. Reading that reaction, Roy asked, “I heard you were close, but I guess not?”
“Lev… bullied…”
“Bullied what? Where’s the object?”
“Adi.”
“You?”
As Roy continued questioning, he recalled that the Duke had mentioned both Adrian and Adrina called each other ‘Adi.’
“Don’t tell me—your sister? That bastard?”
Adi closed their mouth. It was true. Lev Jid had hated them.
‘Cursed thing,’ ‘Someone like you should be ashamed to be the Count’s child.’
Lev and Adrian were milk-brothers, and such relationships were said to be even closer than regular siblings. Adi wasn’t sure how Lev thought of them, or whom Adrian cared for more between Lev and themselves, but at least Lev seemed to consider himself Adrian’s brother. And to such a Lev, Adrina was a terrible existence.
However, he treated them well in front of others. In public spaces, Lev Jid appeared submissive and considerate—only the deceased Adrian knew his true nature.
Adrina never dared to ask who was more precious between themself and Lev. They couldn’t have borne hearing another name. Perhaps Lev felt the same way.
We both loved Adrian and hated each other.
It was paradoxical.
“Yes. That’s what that bastard did.”
After Adrian’s death, many people hated them, but among them, Lev Jid was exceptional. Yet he still acted submissively on the surface. Except when they were alone.
“Hey, if you’re saying it like that, how much did he… Are all northerners like that?”
That’s what they hated. Because his goals were obvious. He wanted blood ties with the Grimaldis. He also wanted the Grimaldi name. He thought that was how he could become Adrian’s true brother.
“No, just Lev. He’s obsessed.”
Sadly, that goal overlapped with Spencer’s. The Count wanted few people to know this shame while simultaneously desiring exceptional offspring. Someone who would be neither weak like Adrian nor a female twin like themself—a perfect Grimaldi.
That’s why Spencer might give Adrina to Lev. He was the most outstanding in the Grimaldi household, and though of low status, he was still nobility. He also knew all the Grimaldi family’s circumstances.
Lev, Spencer, and Adrina and Adrian.
Entangled in a mess.
Adi captured another piece. Roy collapsed onto the table with a thud, groaning, “Taken again.”
“I told you to look ahead.”
“That’s my line, friend. Taking your knight.”
“…”
Cunning bastard. Typical southerner.
“Anyway, so you weren’t close? Then what are you curious about?”
“You said Count Grimaldi isn’t your enemy, right?”
“Right. I’m from the south, after all.”
“Then who is your enemy?”
“Kenneth Marx.”
“The Second Brigade Commander?”
“Yes.”
“You seemed to be getting along well?”
Roy’s gaze, which had been fixed on the chessboard, rose. His usually smiling expression vanished. A faint anger showed through. Anger well-contained to barely show.
“I’m pretending. Until I leave, I will. The day I leave…”
How could he torment Kenneth Marx? Having experienced so much, Kenneth wouldn’t be moved by ordinary things. After contemplating, Roy said:
“I might eat something super spicy and shit all over Kenneth Marx’s office desk, hoping it splashes.”
“Just… leave.”
“Or should I crush his testicles like you did?”
“They weren’t crushed. He says reproductive function wasn’t affected.”
“Who says?”
“He does. Will you move already?”
“Let me think. Why do you move so quickly? Your pawn movements really irritate me. At this rate, the knight I barely captured might revive.”
There were no pieces left to block the pawn that had almost reached the end. Watching Roy clutch his head, Adi moved another piece. Clack, wood struck wood again.
“So then are you, His Grace the Duke, the royal family, my father, and Kenneth Marx all on the same side?”
“No. The King and Grimaldi are at odds. Haven’t been invited to Palesa for years, right?”
“…”
“Someone else must have invited him. Probably the Crown Prince. Count Grimaldi treated the Crown Prince well. Even served as his guard for a time.”
Continuing, Roy said as if finding something strange:
“Come to think of it, didn’t you receive your knighthood from the Crown Prince? Then you must know his face.”
“I know the face, but…”
“What, I don’t need to tell you he’s blonde… Ah, well, all the siblings there are blonde. Though His Grace the Duke isn’t blonde, since the previous Duchess was a redhead. And things are awkward between the King and Crown Prince. After all, originally a different prince was supposed to be Crown Prince.”
“Really?”
“Don’t you know anything about the royal family relationships?”
“…Never had the chance to learn.”
Roy clicked his tongue. While it’s common for nobles not to know the faces of royalty and the king, no one is unaware of how he came to hold his current position. The Count really must not have educated them.
“Listen well, Adi. Don’t make mistakes anywhere. The royal family considers this somewhat shameful, so they might take your head for the slightest displeasure.”
“…”
“The current King couldn’t inherit the throne. He was the Third Prince. Shortly after the previous king stepped down due to old age and the Crown Prince ascended, he fell ill and died. Before the previous king, in fact. His reign didn’t even last a year. And the Second Prince was the previous Duke Woodpecker. That’s why the current Duke is fourth in line for succession. After the King’s direct line, the rest goes by age order.”
The twenty-six-year-old Duke was fourth. Claude, whom they’d seen at the training grounds, didn’t look that old. Though it was hard to tell who was younger, being in the King’s direct line meant someone else was excluded, implying someone else was above the Duke.
“Originally they planned to make the Crown Prince’s son king, but some nobles, including Grimaldi and Marx, conspired to put the then-Third Prince, the current King, on the throne. During that process, most nobles who sided with the Crown Prince and his son were purged. They took advantage of a period of conflict with other countries. While the lords were away at war, they waged territory wars against the ladies managing the territories. Witch hunts were the excuse.”
So that’s how Grimaldi stood above the witch hunts. Perhaps all land greater than their reputation was taken that way.
“The lords received the news too late and returned to find their territories in ruins.”
The Gaillard family was among them.
“Our family went to war late because we’re from the south. It was harvest season in autumn.”
The north doesn’t farm much. Though they don’t completely avoid it, they prefer buying wheat and such from the south. That’s why they seemed to have been mobilized early for war.
“Thanks to that, my mother survived. Kenneth Marx struck while my father was preparing for war.”
Clack, wood met wood again. The knight was captured.
“We thought they were reinforcements, but they weren’t.”
Particular force entered Roy’s hands.
“Do you know why Woodpecker’s territory is so vast?”
It was said Woodpecker owned all lands beneath the sessile oak forest.
“Because the southern lords who were devastated tried to make Duke Woodpecker king. He was the Second Prince, after all. The lords offered their territories and swore loyalty to him.”
Anyone who’s seen the map of Dalkatir would know how vast that territory is.
“But it failed. The Duke was assassinated.”
Nearly half the kingdom.
“Still, the south never withdrew their loyalty sworn to Woodpecker.”
Gaillard, if they existed, would have done the same. Roy too had been steadily waiting for this opportunity. He had no intention of being loyal to the current King.
“Even if you call him king, no one in Ionad says anything.”
His lord is the Woodpecker King who owns the sessile oak forest.
“But young, unable to use any power.”
Young.
“The cursed king.”
Duke Woodpecker.
“The First Prince is older than the current Crown Prince. According to our tradition of direct line inheritance, he should be the real king, but the King put the current Crown Prince in that position. So the nobles protested.”
“But you’re saying the King and Crown Prince are at odds?”
“According to rumors. But it’s certain Grimaldi is at odds with the King. And certain he’s sided with the Crown Prince.”
“I see. Checkmate.”
“…”
Lost again. This makes the record 2 wins, 11 losses. To Roy, who thought he would definitely win someday, Adi said, “Thank you.” Roy, not expecting to hear such words, stared blankly at Adi.
“That was very helpful.”
“Then you give me something too.”
“What information?”
“Lev Jid.”
“…What about him?”
“His weaknesses, of course. We’re supposed to duel, right?”
“We’re dueling?”
“Yeah, he was glaring at me earlier when I came. Looked really angry.”
Watching Roy, who seemed completely clueless about why that happened, Adi smirked. Right, Lev Jid would consider them his property. Roy’s southern-style familiarity must have really angered him.
“Alright.”
Adi said.
“I’ll tell you everything.”
They really wanted to see Roy crush Lev.
Lilina
Oh god so he wasn’t just some guy from Adi’s past
The fuck get away from my kid you’re not marrying her!?