Chapter 5 – Issen (Part 13)

“…Mr. Nichols.”

Harry Nichols. Jared’s college friend. The one who brought him to the reading group and introduced him to Evelyn, and one of the few people who knew about their engagement.

“It’s been a long time, Miss Dale. It’s really been a while.”

Nichols was just as she remembered him. Tall with a lean build. Even down to the glasses polished to a pale shine. Evelyn tried to suppress the flood of thoughts that rushed in. The man seemed equally flustered by the awkward encounter. He even slightly stammered, which was quite unlike the character she knew.

“So, you’re here in Issen?”

“No, I live elsewhere. I’m just visiting for a while. How have you been?”

“Yes, I’ve been the same as always. Have you been well, Miss Dale?”

“Yes. I’ve been well.”

“Uh, Miss Dale. Perhaps…”

Nichols stopped mid-sentence and glanced at Bryant standing beside her.

Was he still maintaining his friendship with Jared? Did he know Jared was currently in Issen?

She never expected to meet him here.

“Oh. This is,”

Evelyn pretended not to know and pointed to Bryant. It was an uncomfortable situation, but it wasn’t polite not to introduce the two.

“This is Mr. Clifton. He runs a publishing company. This is Mr. Nichols. He was part of the reading group with me.”

The two men exchanged introductions.

“I’m Bryant Clifton.”

“I’m Harry Nichols.”

As soon as the simple courtesies of a first meeting were over, Evelyn asked again. She needed to end this conversation quickly and leave.

“Do you still come here often, Mr. Nichols?”

“No. I don’t come here that often, but I had an appointment today…”

His eyes darted anxiously behind his glasses. Suddenly, Evelyn felt her heart sink.

Oh no.

She now understood why this man was so flustered upon seeing her.

I need to get out of here immediately. But how? What excuse should I use?

Bryant was standing beside her. She wanted to grab his arm and leave right away, but she couldn’t.

What should I do? What do I do now?

As she cursed her frozen brain,

“Glenn.”

Nichols smiled awkwardly. The sound of footsteps approached and stopped very close by. She sensed the three men exchanging glances. Evelyn couldn’t bring herself to turn her head.

Jared was in casual attire. The black frock coat and light gray silk tie were of high quality, but neither the design nor the color stood out much. The most noticeable feature was probably his face. Black hair and green eyes were an unusual combination.

With those rare-colored eyes, he looked over the peculiar group of men and women. His eyes briefly met Evelyn’s but didn’t linger long. He showed no signs of surprise at this astonishing gathering. As if he already knew, he calmly chose the person he should greet first.

“Mr. Clifton. We meet again.”

“What a surprise, Duke of Windberg. What brings you here?”

“I have an appointment with a friend.”

The Duke gestured to Nichols with his eyes and then looked at Evelyn again. Bryant deftly interjected at that moment.

“Miss Evelyn Dale showed me around this place.”

“…”

“She said there’s some less famous but very delicious food here.”

He spoke with a relaxed expression, but his eyes were quite meaningful. Jared met those eyes, as if reading the intention, and then,

“Miss Dale.”

He addressed the lady by her last name as Bryant intended, nodding briefly.

“…Your Grace.”

Evelyn’s return greeting felt like her insides were burning.

Jared seemed to completely understand the situation now. He seemed to have already grasped who needed to be deceived and why. He also seemed to know who among the four men and women was truly being deceived.

So when their eyes met again, Evelyn had to see a faint sneer on his face.

“This is my college friend, Harry Nichols.”

“Oh, we’ve already introduced ourselves.”

Nichols was also cleverly picking up on the rules of this game.

“I was in a reading group with Miss Dale a few years ago. We’ve met before.”

“What a coincidence.”

Jared, playing along appropriately, looked at the woman again. He seemed to find the current situation quite amusing. There was an innocent cruelty in his eyes, like a boy tormenting a beetle.

“Since it’s come to this, why don’t we join tables?”

The table is set for four, after all.

Jared added with a slight smile. Evelyn, unable to say anything, felt as if her blood was drying up.

“I’ll treat you both to a meal.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid it might be an intrusion. You must have been looking forward to meeting your friend, and I don’t want to interrupt.”

“It would be more enjoyable for him to share the table with an interesting gentleman like you, Mr. Clifton, who is a new acquaintance, than with someone like me, whom he’s known inside and out for 10 years.”

He didn’t listen to the polite refusal. Bryant smiled awkwardly, and Evelyn stood silently beside him.

“This place is known for its potato dishes. I’ll recommend the best one for you.”

“The Duke of Windberg is a renowned gourmet. I assure you that any dish he recommends is worth trying.”

With Nichols joining in, understanding his friend’s intentions, the four of them ended up sitting around the square table.

After ordering the food, Evelyn barely spoke. Therefore, the conversation was mostly between the three men. Or rather, it should be said, between two men. The Duke of Windberg mostly took on the role of a listener.

Harry Nichols, who claimed to have known the Duke for 10 years, was cheerful and talkative, unlike his taciturn college friend. When he found out Bryant was from Kingston, he began speaking in his language, and his fluency was impressive enough to surprise Evelyn. The only native speaker at the table didn’t hold back on compliments.

“You speak Ritten remarkably well.”

“I know a bit. I’m from Windberg, after all.”

“I see. People from the north learn our language quickly.”

“Because the roots are the same.”

Nichols, smiling warmly, speared a piece of meatball with sauce on his fork.

The Trissen Empire was originally composed of several independent nations. The peoples of the continent each had different cultures and languages, but over the long years of conquest and division, they naturally became intermixed. Among them, the Northerners were the first to leave the continent, sail south, and settle on the archipelago. Nichols’ comment about having the same roots meant this.

The hypothesis that Windberg and Kingston shared the same ancestors was widely accepted as fact. There were several pieces of evidence supporting this, including the physique and appearance of the people, but the most decisive evidence was the language. Ritten was very similar to the native languages of the North, so Northerners from Trissen could still easily learn Ritten.

“Who knows? If we go back dozens of generations, the three of us might have had the same grandfather.”

Nichols joked. His intention was likely to add a friendly atmosphere to the awkward setting. However, the other two men, instead of responding to this effort, merely offered vague, faint smiles.

In the midst of these awkwardly composed men, Evelyn barely breathed. She couldn’t even lift her eyes, staring only at the table. When Bryant spoke to her, she responded with a slightly stiff smile. She just hoped the ordered food would arrive soon. Then she could pretend to focus on eating. But when the food did arrive, she found herself in a different kind of predicament. The dish on her plate looked as appetizing as it used to, but she didn’t have the confidence to enjoy it now.

So she chose instead to listen to the men’s conversation.

“What do you do, Mr. Nichols?”

“I’m a lawyer.”

“I see. What’s your field?”

“Criminal law. Recently, I’ve been supporting defendants who can’t afford legal fees.”

“That’s commendable work.”

“I’m just doing my job for money. The real commendable work was done by Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Her Majesty the Empress?”

“The person who established the lawyer support system was Her Majesty Reinus. Of course, the law was made by the Parliament, but everyone in the industry knows that Her Majesty worked behind the scenes.”

“I see.”

Bryant nodded. Evelyn saw the smile that appeared on his lips.

“Our Majesty is very interested in the judicial system. If she were born a man, she would have certainly become a judge. Of course, if she were a man, she wouldn’t have become the Empress, which would have been a great loss for Trissen.”

“This friend is an ardent admirer of Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Is it just me? Every citizen of the Empire respects Her Majesty.”

Jared said nothing more, only smiled. He did not mention that Bryant was related to the Empress. Perhaps he was allowing Bryant to reveal it himself. However, instead of disclosing his status, Bryant diverted the topic.

“If you two were classmates, then it seems you also majored in law, Your Grace.”

He asked, making eye contact with the Duke. Although the two men had been sitting across from each other, this was the first time they were having a conversation that could be called such.

“Yes. I was a lawyer too.”

Jared replied, looking directly at his counterpart. Then he immediately returned the question.

“When did you start your publishing business, Mr. Clifton?”

“This year marks the 10th year. I started the company the year I graduated from university.”

“You started early.”

“It was thanks to the help of those around me.”

“What kind of books do you usually publish?”

Nichols interjected. Bryant slightly turned his head to the right.

“We cover almost every field, but our main focus is on literature. Personally, I’m very interested in publishing novels and poetry collections.”

“Is there a work you’ve published that I might know?”

“A recently noted book is The Evergreen Forest.”

“The Evergreen Forest? Dennis Howle’s new work?”