Chapter 55
Roy ended up bathing with Bert. Roy insisted on bathing first, claiming that as a Southerner he was weak to cold, while Bert argued he should go first because getting rained on was especially bad for aging bones. They finally compromised by bathing together.
Adi went to their room, removed their wet clothes, and put on thick garments. The weather had suddenly turned chilly today. Though their hair only needed drying, they couldn’t appear disheveled when meeting the king.
Adi opened their knight’s notebook while waiting in the lounge for Roy and Bert to emerge.
It seemed like a good opportunity to encounter the Crown Prince before the Duke’s audience with the king. But would knights wait outside during the royal audience, or enter together? Without experience, they couldn’t know.
“Ah, so refreshing!”
“…”
Roy and Bert had just come out.
“Huh? You changed clothes? You need to bathe.”
“Put some clothes on.”
“What’s the big deal between men?”
“Bert, you put clothes on too.”
Though it was common for men to walk around undressed, Adi didn’t want to face such a sight.
“You’re oddly modest. Even for a Northerner, it’s extreme.”
“Please put clothes on…”
Adi covered their eyes with their hands. Roy grumbled while wrapping a towel around his waist. Bert had already gone to his room to dress and came out with a comb. Instead of combing his hair, he groomed his wet beard. While carefully combing, Bert looked at Roy and said:
“Roy doesn’t seem bothered by the cold.”
“Seems his claim about needing to bathe first as a Southerner was a lie.”
Adi said, standing beside Roy. At Adi’s call of “Roy,” he flinched. Though he hoped they wouldn’t scold him about bathing first, that expression suggested they might pick a fight over even such trivial matters.
“Tomorrow’s the duel.”
“Y-yeah, that’s right.”
“That bastard.”
Adi said, lowering their gaze. Roy’s eyes slowly followed downward.
“Crush him.”
“…”
Why did those words sound so chilling? As if threatened, Roy took a step back. Adi’s gaze remained fixed on Roy’s lower body.
“Smash everything you can.”
Even Bert stopped combing his beard.
“Better if he can’t function as a man anymore.”
“Hey, even that’s going too far…”
“It’s fine.”
“…”
“Just do it.”
The hand that rose gripped Roy’s shoulder tightly. Despite their usually weak grip strength, why did it feel crushing now? Roy could only swallow hard, unable to respond.
“If you don’t, your bits will be the ones getting crushed.”
Though he had felt warm and relaxed after the hot bath, suddenly he felt chilled as if caught in the rain again. He rubbed his trembling nape with both hands to raise his body temperature, but still felt goosebumps. Adi passed by such a Roy and entered the bathroom.
The door closed silently.
Bert and Roy stared quietly at the bathroom door. Bert broke the silence. While resuming his beard grooming, he asked, “Are they angry?” Roy responded, “You think so too?”
“Don’t know what they talked about earlier, but seems like something made them angry?”
What could Lev Jid have said to Adi at noon? Though they hadn’t seemed friendly then either, to speak like this—it must have been something serious.
“To do such things when angry…”
Bert shuddered. He’d heard rumors about Adi breaking things, but never imagined they would instigate others to do so.
“Just because they look docile doesn’t mean they truly are. They’re a dog, after all.”
“Even dogs wouldn’t be so cruel.”
“…”
That’s true. This is creepier than expected. Bert seemed to have misjudged Adi. Roy quietly stared at the bathroom door before turning away. After frowning several times with a serious expression, as if considering something, Roy spoke:
“Still better for someone else’s to break than mine, right?”
“Obviously.”
Bert answered without hesitation.
❖ ❖ ❖
Yuls brushed back his wet hair. The long hair was cumbersome. Though cutting it might be better, everyone opposed the idea, so he’d have to leave it.
Sighing while staring at the ceiling, Yuls suddenly recalled Adi’s behavior. They had been watching Claude and Count Grimaldi. Their gaze had lingered more on Claude than the Count.
Considering Adi’s connections, no one would help them. So why look that way? Did they think the Crown Prince would take their side?
He wasn’t that kind of person. If anything, he’d use others for his benefit. In that regard, the Count was wiser, calling his son back to their territory to prevent exploitation. But Adi didn’t see it that way.
What happened between them?
And why did Adrian look at the Crown Prince like that?
Was there something else between the three of them?
While pondering this, stroking his chin, Yuls paused. His fingertips caught on something rough. Thinking it might be his imagination, he stroked various spots again, but realized it wasn’t imaginary. Though not visibly long, he could feel stubble. He called for the attending servant.
“Joel.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Prepare a razor.”
Joel briefly looked puzzled at Yuls’s words but soon understood and quickly nodded. He had grown. Whatever Yuls and Adi had done, he had grown. Though the change was subtle, barely noticeable.
Joel quickly brought a razor and sat nearby, working up lather with a brush. Just a month ago, he never thought he’d be shaving the Duke—it was quite moving.
“It’s strange. Sometimes I grow, sometimes I don’t.”
He recalled those hands trembling, clutching his cravat, unsure what to do. Whether unfamiliar with such contact, they had breathed heavily. Remembering their cheeks flushing pink like flower petals, he found himself smiling.
“I thought it was just physical contact.”
They say once you find something cute, that’s the end—and this was exactly that situation. Whether Adi was male or female, Grimaldi or not, it didn’t matter much anymore. He hadn’t expected this. Adrian. Not Adrina, but Adrian? Something felt odd about that. If not that, perhaps “love” truly was the medium for breaking the curse.
“Have you found some clue, Your Grace?”
“I think so.”
What could the witch have been thinking?
“My mother was more romantic than I thought.”
The witch had cursed her own son. Some days she said it was to protect him, other days that she did it because she hated him to death. He didn’t think either was a lie. She must have had ambivalent feelings. The witch was always sincere. She loved to death and hated to death.
Unlike humans, they lived solely on love. If the previous Duke hadn’t lied, if he had kept his promise, she wouldn’t have changed like this. It was all human karma.
Yuls, being half-human, inherited that karma.
“The curse was amusing, but it seems the condition for breaking it wasn’t just a simple kiss.”
That must have been the starting point. When curiosity arose about the grown man who pitifully said they’d save him while calling his name. But that wasn’t love. He was just slightly interested. When was the next time? He couldn’t remember clearly.
But now he seemed to understand.
“Emotions, huh.”
Perhaps the key to breaking the curse wasn’t Adrian but emotions.
“How unnecessary.”
Yuls covered his mouth with both hands while staring at the ceiling. Were emotions or love even possible? He hadn’t thought such feelings would develop in him. But human hearts don’t move as expected.
Emotions, love, curse-breaking kisses.
These witches.
“What now?”
Yuls muttered to himself. Developing emotions isn’t difficult. However, if it’s simply a matter of emotions, does it only apply to Adi? Or would it respond to feelings developing for someone else as well?
Lilina
Guhhh dick hanged again-wait I meant cliff dicked- CLIFFHANGED no I mean Cliffhanged