Chapter 87
Claude looked at Adi. His face showed endless fascination. How could they have deceived everyone so perfectly? On one hand, it was remarkable how feminine they looked with just slightly longer hair. No, that wasn’t it. Actually, they hadn’t changed much from then.
But…
They really were a woman. Truly a woman. Even the knight’s attire wasn’t much different. The waistline wasn’t fitted, nor were chest contours visible.
Yet why did their femininity feel so obvious now? It wasn’t just the hair length, but something else made them feel that way. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
“What about Count Grimaldi?”
Yuls asked. Claude’s gaze, which had been fixed on Adi, finally broke away.
“Not yet.”
“I asked when he’s coming.”
“Ah, it’ll take at least another week. He should have just departed.”
Unlike the south where one only had to traverse plains, coming to Ionad from the north required crossing a mountain range. Northern nobles accounted for this, departing early since they could be delayed even when leaving before others.
“Rather, it’s surprising you arrived so early.”
But this time Woodpecker was faster. Coming during summer when territory management should be busiest—what could it mean? Claude considered various angles but reached no conclusion. He had no one suitable to advise him. He still lacked his own people. The only one he had was that northern snake.
“You don’t like Ionad. You even minimized your stay during social seasons, so what’s with this sudden change?”
He needed to form alliances. Preferably with the powerful ones. Someone Grimaldi wouldn’t look down upon. Lady Connolly was out. He needed to recruit a marquis or duke, but there were few of that caliber.
“I don’t know either,”
Yuls answered.
“I just felt the need.”
Felt the need? It must be because of them.
Claude’s gaze returned to Adi.
Spencer Grimaldi must have truly believed that corpse was his daughter. At first. Though Claude’s mind had frozen at learning Adi Grimaldi wasn’t male, thinking back, Yuls must have already known to prepare such a corpse.
“Stop staring. They’re mine.”
Yuls said. Claude looked back at him.
What was Julius Woodpecker’s purpose? Whatever it was, it didn’t matter as long as it didn’t harm him. Yes, that would do. As long as they moved to support his claim to the throne, Claude wouldn’t care what Yuls did. For now.
“Well, you wouldn’t have kept a man around.”
“That’s uncertain.”
Back then, anything would have done. Though he probably would have used and discarded a man, it turned out to be a woman, and circumstances flowed in Yuls’s favor.
“How long have you known?”
“For a while.”
Did they tell him directly? They didn’t seem the type. Was it discovered? That was possible. The more he thought, the more complicated it became. Claude finally stopped thinking and slumped down.
“The Count’s reaction will be interesting.”
As he said this with a snicker, Adi’s gaze turned to him. Yuls glanced at Adi, then stared at Claude.
“Surprising. I thought you’d joined hands with the Count.”
“…More like I was grabbed. Seems forcing others to do what you want doesn’t work.”
“You’re just realizing this now?”
He had just realized it. So Claude regretted. Forcing and suppressing others only creates resistance. But making them submit willingly would be more convenient. Count Grimaldi had at least taught him that lesson.
“I need help, Yuls.”
The Count had to be eliminated somehow. At least prevented from coming to Ionad. But the Count was coming. And by Claude’s own invitation.
“We’re cousins after all.”
“What kind of help?”
Yuls asked. Claude gestured toward Adi with his head. He meant he couldn’t speak with them present. Yuls called out, “Adi.”
“Adi.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Come back in five minutes.”
“Ten minutes.”
Claude said.
“Come back in ten minutes.”
Adi looked at him, replied “Understood,” and went outside.
Even after Adi left, Claude didn’t speak. Perhaps he worried about them standing outside. But palace walls were solid. Once a door closed, conversations inside couldn’t be heard.
“You don’t plan to keep your mouth shut for ten minutes, do you?”
When Yuls spoke, Claude quickly answered.
“I need to break free from Count Grimaldi.”
“…Did you make that choice without knowing what kind of person the Count is?”
“I wasn’t completely ignorant. But he’s worse than I expected, that’s the problem.”
Indeed, the king’s movements were unsettling. The Count was too valuable a card to discard simply for not taking his side or opposing aid to Türingen. But that card turned out to be a joker. And he had been the one to pick it up.
“I never thought he’d bury his dead son and raise his daughter as a son. Even though I asked for her.”
He had refused, saying she was dead, yet here they were. Yuls frowned at Claude’s words. Though he knew Claude had asked for Adi, that was firmly in the past. Adi had no connection to Claude now. Adrina was now his knight.
“I can’t give them up.”
At Yuls’s words, Claude looked at him silently. He hadn’t meant to ask for them. Honestly, Claude was sick of Grimaldi. He just didn’t want to be entangled. Not just with the Count, but with everyone else too.
“But is it alright to keep them like this? When the Count finds out?”
“I’m not keeping Adrina Grimaldi, but Adrina Din.”
“…You gave them Bert’s surname?”
“Bert offered it. Adi accepted.”
“Wow, the Count will hate that.”
Though the Count pretends to be generous on the surface, he actually rejects everyone who doesn’t meet his standards. Of course, Bert was skilled and one of the era’s famous knights, so his ability met the Count’s standards, but being a commoner was the problem.
No matter if one received a title, there were differences between being of common birth, gentry class, or noble birth. Many nobles looked down on Bert for this reason. Count Grimaldi was the same.
If not for that, it wouldn’t make sense for Spencer Grimaldi, who didn’t hesitate to befriend skilled knights, to have no connection with Bert.
“Stop wasting time and say what you want to say. There must be a reason you sent them out?”
“Well, Adi Grimaldi is still Grimaldi’s person. Who knows what might be conveyed?”
“That’s not true.”
“You don’t know that.”
Blood and family ties aren’t easily severed. No matter if they use the Din surname now, who knows when they might return to being Grimaldi. Moreover, they’re of Grimaldi blood. That alone causes trust to plummet rapidly.
“The Count killed Luigi. And the Count had prepared Adi Grimaldi’s corpse. It was all planned. Lady Connolly met him without knowing this.”
“They met, I take it?”
“Since that happened to Luigi while they were together.”
And he even framed his own child as the culprit and put out a bounty for their head. It’s unclear why he went to such lengths. In the end, didn’t the Count lose his child? He wouldn’t have thought they’d be in such an unexpected place.
“Isn’t this good for you? One less competitor after all,” Yuls said.
“If I’m not satisfactory, I’m also someone to be eliminated.”
“There’s no one else suitable for that position besides you. Sasha is too young, and Luigi is dead. So there are only three or four candidates left? None of whom the Count would reach out to. Whether considering their position in the palace or their status.”
“He could choose you.”
“Won’t work because of my mother. The Count may overlook other things, but he’s particular about blood.”
“…”
Claude said nothing more to that. That much was certain.
“Anyway, Count Grimaldi killed them all.”
Yuls looked at Claude. Had he just realized it? That the Count did such things? But even such a Count had been unusually generous to Claude. More so than even his own children.
How could that be? Had he grown fond of Claude instead of his children? Because he’d watched him grow up? Though that was possible, it was unclear if the Count retained such humanity.
“The Count killed your parents too.”
One thing was certain: Claude wanted to break free from the Count. And he wasn’t even a child trying to break free from his parents.
“Just my father. Not my mother.”
Yuls answered. She had made her own choice. And it wasn’t Grimaldi who had made her make that choice. It was the royal family. The situation didn’t feel so serious to Yuls. Whether things went well or poorly, it wasn’t something he needed to worry about.
“Yuls.”
But Claude was desperate.
“Help me.”
The king had mocked Claude’s choice. Claude had belatedly realized his choice was wrong. It was hard to turn back. Unless the Count took someone else’s hand. But if that happened…
“You’re the only person I can trust.”
Would he be able to live normally? The Count? He was someone who had ruthlessly and secretly killed previous princes.
“Right?”
Claude reached out to grasp Yuls.
He didn’t want to die.
