Chapter 67
“It’s expected that Türingen’s demands will intensify. They’ll continue requesting aid. Tubrosa has already refused, and Bellipera is still deliberating. Though they’re requesting cooperation from more countries, few are responding. They see the most hope in our Dalkatir, but it will depend on how His Majesty moves.”
“The King will want to provide aid. And he’ll put forward those who oppose it most strongly.”
And among those who oppose it most strongly is Grimaldi. The King will want to send Grimaldi to Türingen somehow to demonstrate his power.
“Luigi must have had some exchange with the Türingen royal family.”
Yuls said. If the Türingen royal family were to put Luigi forward to request aid along with this situation, what would the King do?
If Luigi steps to the forefront, they might not move. In that case, from Türingen’s perspective, they would feel more gratitude toward Luigi than the King himself. But if they don’t provide aid, there would be no way to keep Grimaldi in check.
“It’s complicated.”
It seemed better to stay back and observe for now rather than step forward immediately.
“Since he’s requesting a meeting, let’s meet him. But not alone.”
Yuls said. There was someone here who was friendly to both parties but had a somewhat ambiguous relationship with them both. Someone who could watch from behind.
“Contact Claude.”
❖ ❖ ❖
“Ugh, I’m dying!”
Roy entered, twisting his whole body. Complaining about standing still all day, he did push-ups, stood up and sat down repeatedly, and finally started jumping around.
“Change of shift?”
“Yeah. You’re already up? Don’t you want to sleep more?”
“It’s fine. I rested yesterday.”
Though their mind kept working on how to proceed from here, their body was actually comfortable. Perhaps having a rested body made thoughts flow more freely.
Various scenarios came to mind, but nothing was clear yet. They had only thought it would be better to work together, assuming the Duke wouldn’t just use and discard them.
“I heard you decided to go with them,” Roy said.
“To Woodpecker.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s great.”
Roy smiled.
“The South is really wonderful. You won’t regret it. The food is delicious. I’m so happy I can finally let you taste real food.”
He seemed to consider anything that wasn’t Southern food as either fake or garbage. Seeing those sparkling eyes, Adi feared that any objection would lead to a lengthy lecture about the greatness of Southern cuisine, so they just said, “…I’m sure it is.”
“It’s true. Once you taste it, you won’t even think about returning to Grimaldi. You might want to bring the whole Grimaldi territory down South.”
They couldn’t become the lord of Grimaldi in the first place. When Adi didn’t respond, Roy, who had been looking out the window, said, “Want to go out for a bit?”
“It must be boring staying in the room all the time. Let’s get some sun.”
Adi nodded and stood up at the suggestion.
They couldn’t remember the last time they had spent an afternoon so leisurely. They closed their eyes in the bright sunlight. But soon a white cloud blocked the sun. It was fortunate it wasn’t raining. Cloud shadows formed on the grass.
Roy lay down on the grass suddenly and said, “Nice weather.”
Not just Roy, but many others were lying on the grass.
Nobles, children, soldiers, and knights all enjoyed their rest.
“People really need photosynthesis to be less depressed. I can’t wait to go South. The weather’s good all year round there.”
“Doesn’t too much good weather make you depressed?”
“What kind of talk is that?”
Roy spoke with a face that couldn’t comprehend Adi’s words. His expression seemed to wonder just how harsh the North must be to change someone like this.
“If the weather’s too good, it’s hard to adjust.”
“…May the blessing of the South descend upon you.”
As Roy spoke, he turned his body and said, “Ah, over there…” while looking at someone. Adi’s gaze followed Roy’s.
Familiar faces.
“House Lintew and Lady Connolly?”
“You remember?”
Roy said. He made a face as if wondering whether to mention their meeting, then muttered quietly, “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now.” When Adi asked “What is it?”, he continued.
“You know how House Lintew keeps approaching His Grace the Duke because they want something, right?”
“It seemed they had their eye on His Grace.”
They seemed to have been that way even when the Duke wasn’t grown. Suddenly, Adi remembered the Duke speaking with disgust about pedophilia. While such things probably didn’t happen, there must have been people who approached with such intentions. But House Lintew wouldn’t have been like that. That’s why he occasionally conversed with them.
“At first it seemed they just wanted to rise in status, but now it seems they might genuinely like him.”
“He is handsome. And uniquely wealthy, from the royal family, and a duke on top of that.”
“Yeah, he’s perfect. Anyway, since things weren’t going their way, it seems they’ve approached Lady Connolly’s side.”
“His Grace’s aunt?”
“That’s the relationship technically, but some say she’s his stepmother’s sister.”
Roy said. Even that story had various opinions. In any case, Duke Woodpecker uniquely had red hair unlike his other siblings. Not the royal family’s dark blonde, but Lady Woodpecker’s red hair.
That’s why the Lady also said that if he wasn’t her own son, where would such a color come from? But internally, other stories seemed to have spread.
“There were such rumors. I don’t know the details either.”
“Lady Connolly had red hair too.”
“Not everyone with the same hair color is related.”
That’s true. Even within families, different hair and eye colors were common. Even they were different from their father.
“According to my colleague,”
Roy continued.
“It seems Lady Connolly is thinking of adopting House Lintew’s daughter.”
“As an adopted daughter?”
“Yeah. Seems she thought the current blood relationship wasn’t enough. Since House Lintew’s daughter likes His Grace, she might formally support her after adoption. That way the status would be maintained, and being adopted, marriage wouldn’t be a big problem.”
“Wouldn’t that only benefit House Lintew?”
“Lady Connolly wouldn’t do something without getting anything in return.”
Roy asked if they knew what kind of person she was. When Adi replied that they were asking because they didn’t know, Roy fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“Seems House Lintew has something quite valuable. Rumors say it’s a mine. They don’t say exactly what comes from it, but if Lady Connolly covets it, its value must be considerable.”
A gem mine? Or it could be magic stones. Those would be worth considerable money when processed. However, it was uncertain whether Duke Woodpecker would like that. House Lintew seemed unaware, but Lady Connolly and the Duke weren’t on good terms. Roy had learned this fact after coming here.
Wonder how things will turn out, Adi thought as they watched Roy speaking quietly. Feeling their gaze, Roy asked.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You know more than I expected.”
“You’re the one who knows too little, aren’t you?”
“Is that so?”
Roy scratched his head while frowning at Adi. Looking at them, it seemed the Count hadn’t told them anything, and they appeared to be in a position similar to his own, having to struggle alone. Roy sighed.
“I had a goal, so I tried to find things out on my own. Made connections here and there.”
His mother’s side offered no help. She said if it was already over, it would be better to just bury it and move on. She easily forgot and found her new life.
“But in the end, without Duke Woodpecker, my plans wouldn’t work. Eventually, you need to attach yourself to greater power.”
Only Roy remained in that place. But he didn’t misunderstand his mother. That moment just felt too unfair.
“A family in name only can’t do anything.”
“Is that why you came to me that day?”
“Yeah.”
Roy recalled when he first approached Adi. Palesa’s dog who had taken his position. He thought he had to reclaim it no matter what.
“I would have failed otherwise.”
What had he said then? Something about crawling between legs?
“Thanks to that, I’m getting help now.”
In the end, such things didn’t happen, and thanks to that, Roy found the position he wanted. Should he offer to crawl between legs now? Adi didn’t seem the type to prefer such things. As he was about to make a joke, Adi asked curiously.
“I wonder what His Grace wants.”
“Isn’t that the easiest part?”
Roy said.
“Breaking the curse.”
And the person who would break, or had broken, that curse was right in front of him. So technically speaking, Duke Woodpecker had achieved his goal. Though they themselves didn’t seem to understand the significance yet.
“Then what about helping you?”
“…Strictly speaking, Adi, His Grace isn’t helping me. I’m attaching myself to His Grace and making requests. His Grace is merely graciously turning a blind eye to my borrowing his name.”
Yes, graciousness. There was no other way to express it. Duke Woodpecker didn’t need anyone’s help; he could be the strength for others.
“They call him the Woodpecker King, you know.”
At Roy’s words, Adi’s face asked for more explanation. Roy’s current words weren’t making much sense.
“A king doesn’t move with intention. He just sits on the throne and watches below.”
Adi had thought people called him the Woodpecker King simply because of his vast territory and royal blood. But seeing Roy’s words, he seemed to truly regard Woodpecker as a king.
“That’s why people like me cling to him. Asking for grace and mercy.”
Not the current King of Dalkatir.
“If you don’t disturb him, His Grace probably has no intention of doing anything else.”
But the ruler beneath the oak forests of the South.
“That’s our king.”
Lilina
Huh that’s interesting The world building is getting bigger
Now we know four countries close by to each other
Bet an arm somehow or other Adi is getting involved in the war in Türingen