Chapter 65
“I’m already a dead person, after all.”
“But you’re alive as Adrian.”
“Adrian was sickly, so a sudden death wouldn’t have been strange.”
Even so, that’s…
“Your Grace, do you think the Count would let me inherit Grimaldi?”
Given the Count’s nature, absolutely not—not when he went so far as to raise a daughter as a son. Besides, even if they were living as a man now, they couldn’t live as one forever. The signs would show more as time passed, even if they were still growing.
“No.”
“If he could have had another child, the Count would have made them his heir. Not me or Adrian.”
“But the Count can no longer produce heirs.”
“Yes, and there’s me.”
“…What?”
“Because I’m a woman.”
Though he knew they were female, hearing it directly from Adi’s lips made it feel different. Yes, a woman. Despite everything, they were a woman. Now that he knew, it seemed strange he hadn’t noticed before, the way Adi Grimaldi was…
“I can at least produce children. Especially my child who would be undisputedly a Grimaldi child. Regardless of who the father is.”
Yuls raised his hand to cover his eyes and said “Stop.” He had thought the kisses between men were just expressions of intimacy, and assumed he wouldn’t care once the curse was broken, but knowing they were a woman made him feel strange.
Could they be left in the knights’ quarters? Would it be better to give them a separate room? But showing special treatment to Adi alone might raise suspicions.
As Yuls pondered what to do, Adi continued, “The Count…”
“He arranged to give me to Lev Jid. Then Adrian would die, and I would have to bear the heir the Count wants.”
At these words, Yuls exhaled. He wasn’t sure what to say, but it felt wrong.
“How dare he.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Continue.”
“…That’s all for now. I don’t know much more myself.”
They had never properly told Adi anything. Finding out this much on their own was already significant. Perhaps sensing the sincerity in Adi’s expression, Yuls said, “Well, enough about that.”
“Let’s talk about the assassin.”
“…”
“Claude sent that assassin.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Yes.”
“But…”
“Did he say he trusted me?”
Adi nodded.
“He does trust me. Even though he sends assassins periodically.”
“How can he do that if he trusts you?”
“If he didn’t send them to me, other cousins and siblings would be suspicious.”
“…”
“I don’t know when they’ll come, but they arrive periodically. However, what I want to know is…”
Yuls narrowed his eyes. According to what he heard through Bert, Adi already knew. And even without Yuls saying it, Adi had noticed that the Duke knew.
“The Count must have given you instructions. What did he say?”
Adi’s lips moved.
“Did he tell you to protect me? Or eliminate me?”
“…He told me to protect you.”
“You followed the Count’s orders obediently.”
“I would have protected you even if he had told me not to.”
“Are you asking me to believe that?”
“You don’t have to believe me.”
Their eyes were steady as they spoke. It didn’t seem like a lie, but that might just be because the Count had already ordered them to save him. If not for that, would Adi have protected him? Yuls couldn’t be sure.
Yet strangely, it didn’t displease him. Adrian Grimaldi, who might not protect him.
“I’ve thought about why you were saving your wish.”
No, Adrina Grimaldi.
“Even the way you unhesitatingly kissed to break the curse.”
What were they planning to use that saved wish for? The contemplation wasn’t long.
“It seems you want to escape from the Count.”
There seemed to be only one answer.
“Won’t you come to Woodpecker with me?”
“…Does Woodpecker need me?”
“Well…”
Woodpecker doesn’t need anyone. Unless others need Woodpecker’s power. So Adi might be unnecessary there. Even if they were skilled as a knight, Woodpecker had plenty of such talented individuals. Also, it seemed unlikely that someone bearing the Grimaldi name would fare well there.
Nevertheless.
“Woodpecker might not need you, but I do.”
“To break the curse, you mean?”
“That’s part of it.”
Adi fell silent. The Crown Prince and Woodpecker, Claude and Yuls.
In terms of pure power, the Crown Prince’s side might be better, but something about the Crown Prince troubled them. The Duke of Woodpecker probably wouldn’t retaliate even if they went to Ionad. The Crown Prince, though he said going to Woodpecker was fine, seemed to have other schemes in mind.
“What will you do if I go to Ionad?”
“I’ll have to go to Ionad too. Because I need you.”
Perhaps he would have to court them earnestly there. Not particularly difficult.
After this festival ends, summer would come. Lords discuss legislation then. Yuls usually didn’t participate. He would have to visit Ionad in autumn anyway regarding taxation matters. After that period, winter was the social season. In the cold winter, nobles with nothing to do either handled work at home, prepared for the following year, or went to Ionad to enjoy winter.
“But Adrina…”
“Please call me Adi.”
“Adi.”
Though Yuls didn’t like Ionad’s cold winters, he would be willing to go once if Adi was there. He would have to bring them back then, of course.
“The Count can easily access Ionad too.”
“…”
“The Count won’t kill you for his heir, but he could certainly kidnap or make you disappear.”
Not wrong. Though Palesa wasn’t in the Count’s grasp, there was much he could do in Ionad. He had spent his page years there, served as a knight, and helped put the king on the throne.
“Grimaldi. Though I’ve never been there, like other northern castles, it must have tall towers. The windows would be long to let in light, and it would be grey. Like your name.”
He had never been curious about Grimaldi. He only knew there was someone cursed there, or that it was the Count’s hometown.
But thinking of it as where Adrina had lived made him somewhat curious. How had they described it? Something about magnolia flowers, he thought. Or maybe not. Restraining his desire to ask again, Yuls spoke practically.
“You know that when nobles are imprisoned, they’re kept in towers, not dungeons.”
At Yuls’s words, Adi recalled the small tower at Castle Grimaldi.
“At least for the dignity of choosing their own death.”
The space in the tower atop the high stone walls was narrow. Adrian had said someone had been imprisoned there before. They had sat in the grass together, looking up at that tower.
If Adi and their sibling had been the same gender, would one of them have been imprisoned there?
If so, which one?
“But would the Count grant you such dignity?”
“…”
Adi couldn’t refute Yuls’s words. Normally, one would be confined in such a tower, but the Count might lock the current Adi somewhere underground.
Yuls continued asking.
“What did Claude offer you?”
Adi gave no answer. Claude hadn’t yet offered anything. He had only told them to come to Ionad.
“Whatever he might offer, I can do better than Claude.”
They could reveal that information now, but keeping silent might lead to better conditions.
“So tell me what you want, Adi.”
“…I…”
What should they say? Adi hesitated momentarily. Perhaps they themselves didn’t know what they wanted right now. There wasn’t enough time to organize the thoughts swirling in their head. But one thing was certain.
“I won’t do what the Count wants.”
“And what does the Count want?”
“To produce an heir.”
They would betray the Count.
“I will end the Grimaldi name.”
They would prevent his most cherished goal from being achieved.
“It’s what the Count fears most.”
“Yes, what many nobles fear. The end of their name.”
What was so special about that worthless name? Everyone was obsessed with it. Not just humans. Witches were especially obsessed with their names. That’s why the witch had left her name to Yuls.
“But Your Grace.”
Caspras, the witch of the oak forest.
“This is something I can do alone. Whether Your Grace helps or treats me well is irrelevant.”
She had red hair and black eyes. While the previous Duke aged, her appearance never changed, always remaining the same. He recalled the back view of the woman who had wanted to return to the forest. The previous Duke had built her a greenhouse. Even knowing such a thing couldn’t bind a witch.
“I haven’t decided whose hand to take yet.”
At Adi’s words, Yuls narrowed his eyes. Well, well.
“You want more than just ending the lineage, don’t you?”
Adi’s lips moved.
“What else do you want?”
“…To escape.”
After a slight pause, Adi spoke.
“Aren’t you already free?”
“For Adi…”
Adrina, who called their brother Adi.
“For Adrian…”
And Adrian, who would have used the same name.
“To break free from that place and become truly free.”
In that moment, Yuls sensed something was wrong. But he couldn’t yet clearly identify what it was. Something in Adi’s words glinted like a troublesome shard revealing its presence, but…
“I will reclaim my soul.”
At this time, he didn’t pay attention to it.
“I’ll help you.”
What they actually had to endure.
“To reclaim your soul.”
And what they had to overcome.
“In exchange, you’ll break my curse.”
Was being a dead existence.
“How about it?”
Lilina
Uwahh it’s finally here The start
Go to woodpecker Adi!! And reclaim Adrian’s coffi Ganbare!!