Chapter 52
When Adi went outside, Lev was already standing nearby. Lev gestured with his chin to follow. After scanning the surroundings, Adi followed behind.
Having visited this place numerous times, Lev moved naturally without hesitation. They went to a corner where buildings connected, with no windows, making it difficult for anyone to hide. Being a corner, it was easy to notice if anyone approached.
The two looked at each other wordlessly. A few years wouldn’t have made them drastically taller. Neither Adi nor Lev looked much different from before.
Lev spoke first.
“Did you hear what the Count said?”
“Why did you call me here?”
“You once said you weren’t mine. How does it feel now that’s been reversed?”
As Lev’s hand reached toward Adi’s face, Adi knocked it away before it could make contact.
“Cut the nonsense. Why did you call me?”
“I just wanted to see you.”
“Sure you did.”
“Really.”
Lev withdrew his hand as he spoke.
“I wanted to see you in despair.”
“…”
As much as Adi hates Lev, Lev hates Adi equally. The Count had made the wrong choice. If he was going to arrange a match, he should have chosen someone with potential. Though that wouldn’t change anything now.
However, Adi couldn’t understand why the Count had suddenly changed his mind about sending them back to Grimaldi. It would be good to find out, but the Count wouldn’t tell.
“So, how does it feel seeing me in despair?”
Perhaps this was a chance to probe for information.
“It feels great. Though I don’t know what you did to make His Highness the Crown Prince want you.”
“…”
“Thanks to that, you get to go back to Grimaldi, right?”
Adi hadn’t thought of that. Has meeting the Crown Prince caused problems? How could they know what he was thinking? Had the Crown Prince and Count met separately?
Adi knew nothing about that. If the two had met and had some conversation—for instance, if he had mentioned taking them to Ionad—that would explain this situation.
“Go back to Grimaldi and live like before, Adrina.”
This gave the situation some plausibility.
“Live forever lonely, where you have no allies.”
Lev stepped closer as he spoke, as if he were the only one who cared about them.
“Isn’t that what it’ll take for Adrian’s soul to find peace?”
“I’m not the only one responsible for my sibling’s death, Lev.”
Everyone blamed Adrian’s death on Adrina. While Adrina didn’t consider themselves blameless, everyone present had been complicit. Everyone there had made Adrian’s life difficult.
“You seem to think you’re innocent.”
“I cherished Adrian more than you ever did.”
“Cherishing someone and being guilty are different things. I loved Adrian too.”
“You?”
Lev smirked.
“Did you ever really think of Adi as your sibling?”
“They were my sibling.”
“I was more of a sibling to Adi than you ever were.”
Lev’s words weren’t wrong. But he had simply been given the time and place to be by Adrian’s side. After Adrian became bedridden, Adrina had no options either.
“They say you didn’t shed a single tear at Adi’s death.”
They hadn’t wanted the curse-bearer near Adrian. Adi remained silent. Lev just glared at Adi. After their gazes crossed briefly, Lev sighed.
“Now that it’s come to this, we should talk about our relationship too. I’ll follow the Count’s wishes for now, but I still need to inherit the Jid family line.”
Adi’s lips quivered.
“You’ll become a non-person anyway.”
The Crown Prince was behind all this. It seemed to have started with his words about calling them to Ionad. The Count had no intention of sending them to Ionad. Why? What was the Count planning? If he wanted a deep connection with the royal family, sending them to Ionad would be easier.
Was there some reason they couldn’t go to Ionad?
“Since you don’t care anyway, it shouldn’t matter who I end up with.”
They needed to meet the Crown Prince.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Can you hear them?”
“No, I can’t.”
The three of them were looking down at Adi and Lev from above. The two had chosen such a secluded corner that trying to watch from the side would only get them caught. With no windows nearby, they had to observe from above, but couldn’t hear the conversation. Usually, voices carried upward, but their careful speaking suggested they didn’t want to be overheard.
“How did they end up talking in such a corner? There’s nowhere to hide.”
“Looks like they deliberately chose a spot with no windows nearby.”
Even trying to read their lips proved difficult. The only thing they could make out were expressions, which showed no signs of friendliness.
“Well, would you look at that—raising his hand to their face. How dare he! Is that any way to treat a noble of the Count’s family?”
“Adi’s too kind to put up with that bastard.”
Roy said. Bert hesitated before saying, “I wouldn’t say Adi is… kind.” After all, in Palesa, it was Adi Grimaldi, not Lev Jid, who was called the bastard.
And Yuls…
“Don’t they seem a bit too close?”
He couldn’t hide his stern expression. Touching faces, grabbing chins—the physical distance was too intimate. Even milk-brothers wouldn’t act this way.
It wasn’t just the closeness; it bordered on insubordination. No matter how they grew up together, Adrian Grimaldi would become Lev Jid’s lord. Such behavior toward someone he should protect was inappropriate.
“You think so? They just look like normal friends to me.”
Roy said. Bert looked at him as if wondering about his lack of perception. Then he remembered that Roy Gaillard was from the South.
Unlike Bert, who was from the North but had moved South, or Yuls Woodpecker, who was from the South but had few real friends, Roy seemed to have grown up with proper friendships—typical of the South’s more casual, physically affectionate culture.
“We can’t tell what they’re saying at all like this. If we could read their lips, we’d at least know if they’re leaking our information or discussing something else…”
Bert’s voice trailed off as he noticed Yuls’s expression.
“Your Grace?”
“What’s wrong?”
His voice was lower than usual. Though his voice had deepened with growth and gained resonance, this was even lower and deeper than that.
He’s in a bad mood. The reason why…
“It’s nothing.”
It might be because of Adi Grimaldi. Bert wore a troubled expression. He had noticed the “stickiness” between the two that Joel had mentioned. More precisely, it was Yuls Woodpecker’s one-sided attachment.
“What’s their relationship?”
“Just childhood friends. Lev Jid’s mother was the head maid, and before that a wet nurse. They’re milk-siblings.”
“They don’t seem very friendly for that.”
Moreover, there was something strange about how Lev treated Adi. It wasn’t the way one would look at a milk-sibling. Lev’s emotions toward Adi—whether hatred or perhaps something like attraction—seemed to cling one-sidedly.
A fatally attractive person? But for that fatal charm to work on men… The Adi that Bert knew was pretty and quiet but not particularly charming as a man. …Was that why men were drawn to them?
While Bert pondered this with a serious expression, Yuls clicked his tongue and continued.
“I thought Northerners kept their distance from each other.”
Even without going as far as the North, the royal family in the Central region was the same way. They were people who strongly rejected others. Yet these two…
“They’re close.”
“Close” wasn’t quite the right word. Though their relationship seemed poor, their physical contact appeared natural and familiar.
“There seems to be something else going on.”
“You think so?”
Roy asked, tilting his head with a puzzled expression.
“It’s probably because they’re from the North. While Northerners do tend to reject others and keep their distance, once they become close, they’d give you their liver and gallbladder—that’s how intimate they get. They say if you win a Northerner’s heart, you have a friend for life. These two probably…”
Roy abruptly stopped speaking when he saw Yuls’s expression. Bert noted that while Roy might not be particularly perceptive, he certainly knew when his neck was on the line.
“Well, um, being milk-siblings might explain it. But Adi didn’t like Lev. They told me to crush him thoroughly.”
At Roy’s words, Yuls’s expression softened. Beside him, Bert placed a hand on Roy’s shoulder, saying, “Make sure you win, Sir.” Bert couldn’t predict what would happen if he didn’t.
Yuls looked down. Lev Jid left first. Adi remained standing still.
After staring at the motionless Adi for a moment, Yuls said, “Let’s go back.”
Lilina
Lev’s a bit of an asshole but ughhhh
Is power worth having to live with someone you hate to bits he should just go stab himself, Adi deserves better