Da Capo 16

 Chapter 16

“Blair really was an idiot and a fool. What was so pretty about you that he did that? What was so pretty about you that he died in your place? Huh? Kyle Owentree. Have some conscience, please. You became Emperor by mortgaging someone’s heart! And now you’re surviving on the price of his life! You should at least have the audacity to live well! That would be much better! Huh? Do you know how he felt about you? You must know. If you don’t, you’re truly an idiot and a bastard.”

Aaron, overcome with anger, began to shout at the top of his lungs. His voice started to echo like a reverberation in the dark, narrow room with its curtains drawn. Aaron, his eyes wild, began to speak without restraint.

“You don’t know? You really didn’t know? Put your hand on your conscience and think. Did you really not know? Or did you just pretend not to know for your own convenience? Did you really not know he liked you?”

Aaron breathed heavily.

“I really tried not to say this with my own mouth to preserve that bastard’s last honor! But I’m so annoyed with him for dying to save someone like you! And I’m so annoyed with you for pretending to be dead without actually dying when you should be living earnestly after surviving that I can’t stand it anymore. I’m really annoyed, seriously.”

Aaron took off his leather gloves and threw them at Kyle. A nobleman throwing his gloves was a signal for a duel. It was that insulting an action, yet Kyle didn’t react at all. Aaron’s nose stung and his eyes hurt. He looked up at the ceiling. His tears had stopped. He himself was being wounded by the words he was speaking.

“Kyle Owentree. You’re really like an idiot and you’re annoying. Just so you know, if I calm down a little more, I’m going to prepare for a state funeral right away. I can’t bear to see that bastard’s body become rotten flesh. I’ll send him off more magnificently and grandly than any emperor’s funeral, so do whatever you want.”

Aaron turned around with a swoosh sound and approached Blair again.

“Rest well. I’ll come again.”

It was a gentle voice, quite different from how he had been shouting at Kyle just a moment ago. He briefly kissed the cold forehead, but there was no response. Aaron strode out of the room. A servant hurriedly bowed to Aaron’s back, but he left the western palace without looking back.

After leaving the western palace, Aaron walked aimlessly. Since the western palace was part of the outer palace, it didn’t take long to leave the imperial palace. People carrying documents and looking for the Finance Minister followed Aaron, but he didn’t look back.

Outside, where the sunlight reached, was actually warmer than the western palace.

Fine, freeze to death then. Who’s stopping you?

He felt like he wouldn’t shed a single tear even if Kyle died just like that.

Aaron’s footsteps became increasingly violent.

Even after leaving the imperial palace, Aaron’s pace didn’t slow. Without knowing where he was going, he just walked wherever his feet took him. The hard shoes, unsuitable for long-distance walking, made his feet hurt, and the whip-like wind lashed at his face, but Aaron didn’t yield.

“Ah.”

Something cold fell on his head. Aaron let out a short exclamation. It was snow.

Very small, sleet-like snow began to fall.

Aaron stopped abruptly.

Blair hated the cold. The House of Monetery was wealthy, and their territory was near the sea, so it wasn’t as cold as inland areas. Blair, who had grown up in warm places all his life, loved gentle, warm atmospheres and liked blankets made of fine fur. Even on the battlefield, what he suffered from and disliked the most was the cold. Aaron wanted to move him to a warm place. He couldn’t leave him in such a cold place.

‘I thought you didn’t seem like a rich man’s son, but at times like this, you definitely show signs of being raised preciously.’

‘I just don’t like being cold.’

Blair’s voice echoed in his mind. Suddenly, he remembered a conversation they had jokingly. His eyes stung. Aaron pressed his eyes roughly with his palm. A small tear stained his palm. Aaron slowly began to move his feet again. It was a slightly slower pace than before, but still with no clear destination.

The snowfall gradually grew heavier. The sleet-like snow became bigger and soon turned into large flakes. Snow was falling heavily from the sky. Aaron neither hunched his shoulders nor hailed a passing carriage. He just let all the falling snow hit him.

After walking for a while, night had fallen. Winter nights came early in the empire. As he walked along the dimly lit road, he eventually reached a shopping district. Just as he was about to walk all the way home, a voice called out to him.

“Lord Aaron!”

Not many people in this empire called him by his name. Aaron slowly turned his head to look in the direction of the voice. Long, luscious black hair like a slice of the night sky pasted on. Black eyes as clear as if black pearls had been embedded in them.

It was Lily.

“…It’s been a while.”

“It has been a while.”

Lily dragged Aaron into the pub. In winter, there are fewer people out and about, so business naturally doesn’t do well. The unusual cold kept people indoors. This was especially true on snowy days. Even a pub that was usually bustling with customers was quiet today.

“It’s quiet.”

Aaron glanced around. There were hardly any customers.

“Yes, it’s because of the cold weather.”

“Have you been well?”

“What could possibly happen to me? Have you been well, Lord Aaron?”

“……”

Aaron lowered his head, tracing the rim of a teacup with his finger. Lily tightened the purple shawl she was wearing. It was a color that reminded him of Blair. When I saw you earlier, there wasn’t even a speck of color left in you.

“Would you like something to eat? Have you had dinner?”

“Anything is fine.”

“I’ll bring the Hoberlon that Lord Blair left here.”

Lily stood up. She brought several dishes and alcohol, put down two glasses, and filled them.

After filling the glass, Lily threw the straight liquor down her throat. Aaron also picked up his glass unsteadily and drank. It was terribly bitter. It seemed like it didn’t taste like this when he drank with Blair. So this Hoberlon, considered the finest liquor, was only this good. The aftertaste was too, too bitter. It’s a terrible drink.

Lily didn’t say much either. Her delicately colored pink lips parted several times, but in the end, no words came out.

“It’s a cold winter.”

“It really is cold.”

“Haah.”

Aaron slid down in his chair. Leaning languidly back in his chair, Aaron sighed.

“Would you like some tobacco?”

“No, it’s okay. Alcohol is enough.”

Aaron, having emptied his glass, poured himself another. The alcohol was too, too bitter, but his body wasn’t getting drunk. Considering his tolerance that Blair used to tease him about, alcohol shouldn’t be going down this smoothly.

“It feels strange with just you here, Lord Aaron.”

Lily spoke up.

“It does. I feel strange too.”

“None of the three of you have ever come to our establishment alone.”

“Well, now there’s a first.”

Aaron smiled bitterly. Lily also gave a bitter smile in response. There was no one in this empire who didn’t know about the death of Duke Gladius.

“I had thought a few times that it would be nice if you came to enjoy yourself alone. But now that it’s happening, it’s not really good.”

“What’s good about it? Nothing’s good about it.”

The alcohol went down well even without any food.

“How is His Majesty doing?”

“How could he be doing well? He’s half-mad. No, maybe he’s already gone mad. He might be crazy. A sane person couldn’t behave like that.”

“Haah.”

Lily rested her chin in her hand and sighed briefly. The atmosphere was too heavy.

“The bastard has just lost his mind. I really don’t know what to do.”

“What does His Majesty want to do?”

Aaron silently shook his head.

“I don’t know either. He’s not in his right mind, I tell you.”

“The Duke would be sad.”

“Indeed. An Emperor living with a corpse. It would be perfect material for some low-grade ghost story somewhere.”

“How are you planning to handle the funeral?”

“I don’t know. If we were to match his taste, it should be modest, but the time for a modest funeral has already passed. We’ll have to hold a grand state funeral.”

“When will it be?”

“For now, I think we should leave him like that. Maybe in spring when the weather gets warmer. We can’t let the flesh of that noble person decay and rot.”

A bitter smile crossed Aaron’s lips.

“That’s true. We should send him off with full honors until the end.”

“Haha. What a stupid bastard. I never thought he would act so foolishly until the end.”

“How could you say Lord Blair was stupid?”

“He was stupid, that’s what. Devoting his entire life like that should have been enough, why did he have to give his life too? For what beauty? Really.”

Aaron picked up the bottle again. The large bottle was already about half empty.

“Haah. I’m not even getting drunk today.”

“The Duke was truly a splendid person.”

“Just splendid? He was a really good person. I think the world is so funny. It’s always the good people who go early. They say life is in heaven’s hands, but it’s really ridiculous.”

“That’s true. I was actually planning to close this place when I got a bit older and go to the Gladius territory where the Duke would be.”

“He invited you?”

“Yes. I really was planning to go there. I never thought it would end like this.”

“It would have been so good if that had happened.”

“Indeed. The Duke would have taken a good woman as his partner and started a family. Growing old like that, when we were all very, very old, I thought we would be able to talk and laugh together.”

“I thought so too. Whew.”

Lily poured a drink into her glass with a calm smile. As she moved, the amber earrings with flowers embedded in them sparkled at her ears. They were earrings she had been wearing constantly since Blair’s death.

[To be continued in the next chapter…]

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus