“There you go again. I have told you again and again that she has been kept safe without a hair out of place, and still you will not believe me. Has your mind gone dull with age.”

Michael’s tone remained soft throughout, but his eyes were cold. He gestured to the soldiers and they stepped forward to take hold of the king.

The old man, who had been thrashing about trying to strike his son again, wailed with both arms pinned by the guards. Even before that desperate anguish, the son was unmoved. He spoke in a calm, measured voice.

“Write the decree naming me your successor. And specify that you will abdicate at the earliest possible date. Once I am seated in your place, I will arrange for you to see Cordelia.”

The king broke down in sobs of despair. There was no pity in Michael’s eyes. He watched his father’s struggles with a look of contempt, then turned away at his leisure. He tossed a parting word over his shoulder.

“Farewell, Father.”

There was no answer. He had never expected one. The door closed behind Michael. A wail like the roar of a wounded beast seeped through the door and spread through the corridor in a grim echo.

Michael wiped his tired face with one hand. Lowering his hand, he saw a loyal subordinate walking toward him from across the corridor.

“Ian.”

“Your Highness.”

Michael smiled faintly. Ian, by contrast, wore the same blunt expression as always. There was a faint smell of blood about him. Knowing it was not Ian’s own blood, Michael did not worry.

“Did the interrogation go well?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“There is no one who knows the young lord’s whereabouts. I cannot tell whether they truly do not know or whether they are all simply deeply loyal. I suspect it is the former.”

“That is unfortunate.”

Michael said it sincerely. Duke Rodrian had been the king’s friend, and his son had been Princess Cordelia’s betrothed. When the capital was seized, the duke was captured, but the young lord had managed to escape. Despite Ian’s relentless interrogation, his whereabouts remained completely unknown.

If the young Lord Rodrian was alive and well, there was a good chance he would eventually gather forces and come seeking retribution. It was a headache to even think about, but Michael decided not to let himself get lost in imagining what was yet to come.

“But it cannot be helped. If we have not found out by now, the odds of finding out going forward seem low. Deal with it quietly.”

“I apologize.”

“I am not blaming you. I do not think your efforts were lacking.”

Michael said it sincerely once more. He had never thought the reason he had yet to get an answer was any failure of Ian’s ability or loyalty.

Even hearing his liege’s generous words, Ian still looked remorseful. He seemed to think that if he had not let the young Lord Rodrian escape in the first place, none of this would have happened.

But Michael had no intention of reproaching his subordinate. The undertaking had ended in success, and he would soon be king.

There were a few lingering loose ends, but these things could never be perfect from start to finish.

Had it failed, he would have been branded a traitor and met a wretched end, but here Michael stood, alive, with a brilliant future ahead of him. A day like this called for praise and celebration. He turned a gentle expression on the subordinate who had made a misstep.

“Shall we walk for a bit?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Ian nodded at Michael’s suggestion. The two went outside together.

Behind the palace where the old king was being held was a beautiful garden. Michael strolled through it slowly, and Ian kept pace beside his liege in silence.

“Ian.”

“Yes.”

“You are twenty-two this year, are you not?”

“That is correct.”

“Well past the age for marriage. It is about time you found a wife.”

“Hardly.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Who would want to marry someone like me? I have never dared to hope for such a thing.”

It was a calm voice with not a trace of self-pity. Michael let out a short laugh watching his subordinate speak nothing but his honest mind.

“I did not know you had such a poor grasp of your own worth. With a face like yours, would there not be plenty of women eager to come running? There have been plenty up until now, in fact.”

“They came running because they wanted a single night. Becoming husband and wife is an entirely different matter.”

“I cannot argue with that, you have a point.”

Michael laughed quietly. Ian said nothing. Michael gradually let the smile fade and fixed his subordinate with a look that had turned quite serious. He spoke.

“What would you think if I told you I wanted to make you my brother-in-law?”

Ian went rigid. Michael stopped walking along with him. Ian stared at his liege with a rare look of open bewilderment. Michael turned to face him and added calmly.

“Would you not like to marry my sister?”

Ian was quiet for a moment, his lips moving without sound. He was not a man given to great swings of emotion, so seeing him shaken like this was a rare sight, and Michael watched with some curiosity.

“……Why, me, why would.”

“Call it a reward, perhaps. You have truly worked hard all this time. If I were to name the person with the greatest contribution to this undertaking after myself, it would undoubtedly be you. Think of it as a gift, a token of recognition and gratitude.”

“How could I dare, that is to say, someone like me……”

“Ian, please hear me without misunderstanding. It is precisely your bloodline I had in mind when I chose you.”

Ian stopped speaking. Michael’s sunlit golden hair and aquamarine eyes reflected in Ian’s dark violet ones. Michael elaborated quietly to Ian, who was still visibly at a loss.

“I cannot kill the princess. She is quite popular. Not only the nobles but the common people love her as well. I could not even bring myself to kill a worn-out old father for fear of being branded a monster, so there is no way I could harm a young sister. But leaving her free is another matter…… if the princess were to ally herself with a noble house and turn against me, it could become quite dangerous. Do you understand what I mean?”

He understood. If a man born of a lowly pirate and an even lowlier slave were to marry the princess, her tarnished nobility would make it difficult for her to rebel against her half-brother.

Sir Ian Lakenon was a man who fit that condition perfectly. A wretched boy who had been doing menial work on a pirate ship until the prince took him in, a man so lowborn he had no surname until he received his knighthood the previous year.

So lowborn, and loyal on top of it, he was the perfect leash for the new king to put on his half-sister. A man who would soil the noble princess’s honor by sharing her bed, yet would never be swayed by his wife into betraying his liege.

Michael had already made up his mind. He and Ian would be bound together going forward not merely as liege and retainer but as close family.

“Take her. It is what you have always wanted, after all. Surely you will not say otherwise?”

Michael coaxed him gently. Then his eyes curved and he smiled pleasantly.

“I know you have coveted her from the moment you first laid eyes on her. All you need to do now is take her. Accept it while it is being offered.”

Ian’s discomfiture deepened. The thought that his liege had seen straight through the disrespectful feelings he had harbored toward his liege’s sister brought a wave of shame.

“……I do not think I can follow this order.”

“That is not your decision to make.”

Michael replied. His tone was gentle, but the compulsion was unmistakable. Ian’s face went blank.

“I apologize, Your Highness. I overstepped.”