Chapter 15

Past midnight, Killian quietly returned to the estate. It was something familiar. The birthday of Verdict, the only Crown Prince of the Luan Empire, was approaching.

On his way to his room, Killian stopped in front of the room for the Duchess, where Lizette was staying.

‘She must be asleep.’

Standing before the door, Killian’s eyes sank deeply.

—……Mother?

—Young Master, you must not stay here!

—Let go of this! I said let go!

It had been too cruel a day for a young boy. Every time he stood before this door, Killian became that helpless ten-year-old boy again. The one who could do nothing but cry out as he looked at his mother, who had ended her own life. Though the room had been newly prepared for Lizette, the memories beyond the door were still vividly alive.

He had brought Lizette to the ducal residence, but since it was such a busy period, he had not been able to pay her any attention at all. That fact weighed on his mind, and he wanted at least to check on her sleeping face, but it was impossible. This was still a room Killian could not open.

“Hoo.”

With a small sigh, Killian turned toward his own room again.

Click.

The moment he opened the door, within the silence, an unfamiliar scent tickled the tip of his nose. The corners of Killian’s mouth, which had been stiff until just now, softened. A faint smile spread across his lips, and a low voice slipped from them.

“Lizzie.”

Today as well, there was a flower blooming on the bedside table beside the bed. It was Lizette’s gift. These days, at the end of Killian’s day, there were nameless flowers. No matter how exhausting the day had been, at its end, the warmth given by the flowers Lizette had brought and placed there waited for Killian.

“I should at least tell her thank you.”

In this wide estate, the only thing that had changed was Lizette, and yet somehow the space he returned to each day had lately begun to feel unfamiliar. The estate, which had always been so quiet and still as though time itself had stopped, now seemed somehow brighter. Even the faces of the servants, who had always been hardened by tension, seemed more relaxed and bright.

Without intruding on Killian at all, Lizette was affecting his world.

The small comforts she had prepared soothed the exhaustion at the end of every day. To keep delaying his thanks any longer under the excuse of being busy was shameless.

“I absolutely must come back early tomorrow.”

* * *

The next day, Killian sat in a meeting room filled with a peculiar air.

“……Last year, when His Highness the Crown Prince made his parade through the streets, there was a tendency for the crowd to gather too heavily. We will make thorough preparations this year as well, of course, but we need to pay even more attention to security.”

“……”

Killian ignored the curious eyes directed toward him. The meeting had already been going on for quite a while, yet the discussion had not progressed at all.

It was not as though he could not guess the reason, but Killian did not bother showing that he knew.

“Of course, His Highness the Crown Prince must also refrain from any impulsive behavior.”

Having finished speaking, Killian frowned as he looked at the others, who still appeared to have no interest in the meeting.

“It seems everyone’s thoughts are elsewhere, so shall we end it here?”

Killian looked as though he might rise from his seat at any moment. At his chilly words, the imperial palace scribe who had been recording the minutes immediately lowered his eyes.

“No, Commander, that’s not it.”

Apel Perhi, the vice commander of the knight order who always liked fooling around, also flinched at the force of his stern superior.

“Killian, I’m rather hurt.”

Verdict von Luan, the main figure of the party soon to come and the one presiding over today’s meeting, spoke teasingly.

His face, always full of a fresh smile, was once again spread with a playful grin even now. At Verdict’s words, jokingly complaining of hurt toward him, Killian immediately asked back,

“What do you mean?”

“The whole capital is in an uproar. How are we supposed to focus on the meeting like this? I’ve already been holding back what I want to ask for several days, and it’s getting difficult.”

Killian wanted to ask in return. Since when had the capital ever been quiet because of rumors? But he knew that because the subject of the rumors was himself and Lizette, everyone was being especially excessive about it.

“I believe focusing on the meeting is a matter of will.”

“Commander, since it’s come to this, just tell us properly!”

Apel cut in, seeing his chance.

“That’s right. Even Apel is that curious.”

When Verdict added his agreement, Killian habitually brushed back his bangs. Only the imperial palace scribe, who had to record everything discussed in the meeting, was inwardly agonizing over just how much of this conversation he was supposed to write down.

‘Let’s end this in one go.’

Killian was not usually the sort to indulge an atmosphere like this, but he knew well how persistent Verdict could be.

Back in their academy days, even after Killian had told him to stop bothering him and get lost, Verdict had clung to him all the same, saying he liked him. Killian was not someone who easily let others come close, and yet in the end had he not ended up yielding not just friendship, but even the place of his lord.

“What is everyone so curious about?”

Killian’s voice, answering against his will, was stiff.

“Commander, are you really getting married?”

Apel asked as if he had been waiting for this moment. Their superior had never shown even a speck of interest in anyone else. It had already been strange enough that he had suddenly asked for an investigation into the daughter of the Marquis’s house, but Apel could not understand how that had led to the conclusion of marriage.

“Yes.”

“To the daughter of Marquis Trianne?”

“Yes.”

It was not the first time Killian had suffered from absurd rumors. Everyone there knew that. So at Killian’s clear answer, all who had been only half-believing it were left gaping in shock.

“And the rumor that you stormed into the Marquis’s estate and practically kidnapped the young lady into the ducal house?”

It was outrageous.

“Do you truly expect me to answer such a question?”

Killian shot Apel a look of disdain.

“Of course I didn’t think that myself, but that’s what the rumor says, haha.”

Apel quickly drew back a little. Quietly watching that, Verdict propped his chin on one hand and asked with an intrigued expression,

“So the rumor that you chased after her with an onslaught of gifts and asked her to marry you is true, Killian?”

“I was the one who asked for marriage, and it is true that I sent gifts. I sought permission from Marquis Trianne’s house and brought her to the ducal residence, so I did nothing like kidnapping.”

Killian’s complexion steadily darkened. Seeing that, Apel hurriedly shut his mouth, but Verdict was not the type to restrain himself over such things.

“Hm, just what kind of young lady is she, for you to be like this, Killian?”

Verdict asked again. Unlike his smiling face, his gaze was not light at all.

—Did you send an invitation to House Trianne as well?

—I should. All the wine for the party comes from House Trianne. Of course, the young lady will decline again.

—I will deliver the young lady’s invitation personally.

Verdict recalled a conversation he had had with Killian not long ago. There was clearly something he did not know. But Killian was not someone who easily spoke of his own matters. Verdict knew very well that no matter how much he probed, Killian would not simply give him an answer.

‘Your Highness the Crown Prince, please have some sense.’

‘You two may be friends, but we are not!’

At the sight of Verdict continuing to test Killian, Apel and the scribe, who were already frozen stiff, swallowed hard at the same time.

“Well, just see for yourself at the party. If you look without prejudice and judge directly, won’t that be enough.”

At Killian’s plain answer, Verdict nodded as though he had expected nothing less. As expected, his friend was not someone who would fall easily for probing words.

“Um……”

At that moment, the scribe spoke cautiously. His voice trembled with nervousness at the thought of asking Killian a question. The scribe’s uneasy eyes wandered all around the meeting room.

“C-Commander Cedric.”

The hesitant scribe finally seemed to make up his mind and called Killian’s name.

“What is it.”

“May I ask just one thing?”

“……This is the last question.”

“When you proposed to the young lady, what kind of ring did you use? There is also a young lady I wish to propose to.”

“……”

There was no sign of Killian opening his lips. As the silence dragged on, cold sweat broke out on the scribe. Instead, Apel waved his hands around dramatically.

“No way. Come on.”

“……”

“……Surely not?”

“What.”

There was obvious restraint in his voice, but confusion also seeped through it.

‘No matter how uninterested he’s been in women, surely not to that extent.’

Verdict asked with an awkward smile,

“Killian, you didn’t actually fail to give her one, did you?”

“I did.”

“Really?”

“……When I sent the proposal letter, there were many jewels in the carriage, so I assume there must have been a ring among them.”

Silence fell, and it felt as though the temperature inside the meeting room dropped sharply. Shock that no one could hide spread across every face, and only Killian did not know why.