Chapter 36
“Blair!”
Theodore jumped up from his seat and approached to welcome Blair. Blair, who had been leaning against the door, straightened his posture and smiled brightly. With the owner’s permission, Blair walked into the room.
“Have you been well, Hyung?”
“Of course. What about you? Has anything happened?”
“Not at all. What could possibly happen at the Academy?”
“It must be around dinner time now. Aren’t you hungry?”
Blair restrained Theodore, who looked ready to call a maid to bring refreshments, and carefully observed his complexion. His skin was pale as if he hadn’t seen the sun at all. Sunken cheeks and dark circles made his complexion look gloomy.
“You look tired.”
“Hmm, it’s been like that lately. I have a lot to do.”
Theodore fidgeted with his bluish chin where stubble had slightly grown.
“Is Father already planning to pass the title of Count to you, Hyung? That seems early. Or is work at the Imperial Palace keeping you busy?”
Blair tilted his head curiously.
“No, it’s not just that, there’s something else… No, it’s nothing. Forget about it.”
Theodore, who seemed like he was about to say more, swallowed his words. Blair’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he sat down at the tea table in Theodore’s office. He didn’t want to pry into matters his brother didn’t want to discuss. Instead, Blair checked on him once more.
“Nothing’s wrong, right?”
“At least not with me.”
Theodore smiled bitterly as he prepared tea. Looking at Theodore’s back, Blair slowly sank into thought. Saying there was nothing wrong with him implied, conversely, that there was something wrong elsewhere. If there were no problems in the family, there was only one place where issues could arise: his workplace, the Imperial Palace.
Theodore was a brilliant student who had graduated from the Academy with excellent grades both in the past and now. Thanks to that, he worked as a high-ranking official in the Imperial Palace both in the past and present. In the past, he had retired from his position as a high-ranking official to inherit the title of Count when the previous Count’s health deteriorated. The current Theodore was still working as an official in the Imperial Palace because Count Monetery was still healthy. As a result, Theodore was well-versed in Imperial affairs. Being a high-ranking official in the finance department made this unavoidable.
“By the way, you seem to have grown up while I haven’t seen you. You’ve grown taller, and your face looks more mature?”
Theodore, who had placed a teacup in front of Blair, smiled affectionately as he examined Blair’s face. To Theodore, who was ten years older, Blair felt almost like a son. This was separate from the fact that he was self-sufficient and quite capable. Blair, embarrassed by Theodore’s gaze, touched his own cheeks.
“Well, living away from family tends to do that.”
“That’s what the Academy is like.”
“Indeed. With six and a half more years left, how am I supposed to keep doing this until then?”
Blair joked with a smile.
“That’s the best time. You don’t have to think about much. After graduation is when it gets harder. Learning what others teach you is the easiest part.”
“Is that so? It’s still tough…”
Blair joked, playing innocent.
“Of course, it’s the best. Are there any difficulties at the Academy?”
“Not at all. I’m doing very well.”
Blair replied with a bright smile.
“Good. I’m not particularly worried about you since I think you’d do well anywhere. It’s already evening. You must be hungry after your long journey, shall we go have dinner?”
“Yes.”
Theodore, checking the time, got up from his seat. There were many things Blair wanted to ask and confirm, but there was plenty of time. What was Theodore going to say? With time on his side, he could find out slowly.
The dinner prepared for Blair, who had returned after a long time, was luxurious. Even Clara, who had postponed her merchant guild work to see Blair, made a grand entrance. The family dinner, gathered after a long time, excited Blair. Even at over thirty years of age, spending time with family wasn’t bad at all. The people of House Monetery were all gentle and kind-hearted, making others feel comfortable.
No matter how good the Academy chef’s cooking skills were, mass-produced food couldn’t compare to a carefully prepared family table. Even Blair, who disliked feeling overly full, put down his utensils after eating dinner to the point of excess.
“Shall we have tea now?”
The Countess, who had changed into an evening dress, gently took Blair’s hand and led him to the garden. As summer deepened, roses were blooming magnificently in the garden. A tea table was prepared in the garden where pink roses, the Countess’s favorite, were in full bloom.
From Count Monetery to the busiest Clara, the entire family was gathered for tea time. Carefully prepared scones and desserts from the kitchen were served in abundance.
After spending time with his family, Blair, feeling heavy, dragged himself to his room and threw himself onto the bed. Even though he had been away, the bedding was clean without a speck of dust, always kept neat.
Fatigue washed over him, though he hadn’t done anything particularly strenuous. Blair quickly fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
Blair, who had slept soundly without waking once, sat up abruptly in bed. Checking the clock, it was already ten o’clock. No one had disturbed his sleep, though he hadn’t specifically asked not to be awakened.
Blair got up quickly and changed into proper clothes. After a light breakfast prepared outside his door, Blair left his room and headed to Theodore’s office. Theodore would have already left for the Imperial Palace. While it would be fastest to speak with Theodore directly, Blair actually had a hunch about something.
There was nothing to be nervous or ashamed about, but it wasn’t a good look for a guest to freely enter someone else’s room without the owner present. Blair moved carefully to avoid being seen by the servants, looked around briefly, and entered Theodore’s room.
Since no one used the room when Theodore wasn’t home, there would be no one to disturb him. After carefully closing the door, Blair scanned the room.
Unlike Blair, who was a warrior to the bone, Theodore loved studying. Books that even the past Blair hadn’t read were densely packed on the shelves. Scanning the bookshelves, nothing particularly stood out.
He pulled out a few books and flipped through them, but there were no hidden notes or anything similar.
‘Did I guess wrong?’
Blair stood in the quiet office, tilting his head.
It was clearly around this time that First Imperial Princess Adriana’s health had deteriorated. Adriana, the Emperor’s only daughter, was the most suitable person to inherit the throne according to the principle of primogeniture. In the past, when Blair was twenty-six, Adriana had withered away and eventually died the following year.
There had been much talk within the Imperial family because a young princess had died. To make matters worse, the Emperor died shortly after, creating an overall ominous atmosphere. Adriana had never been particularly healthy to begin with. But there was a hidden story behind Adriana’s death. Blair, who had investigated the matter most closely, knew the whole story better than anyone.
Looking around the office once more, Blair sat down heavily in the plush chair. The wide desk had documents neatly arranged on it.
An inkwell and quill, documents stacked precisely at right angles, and a seal engraved with the family crest. Even the scent matched the neatly organized room. In the vase were modest yellow flowers picked from the garden. While exploring his older brother’s desk, Blair began to sift through the stacked documents. He picked up a bundle of documents and, leaning against the chair’s backrest, started flipping through them.
They were full of boring content. Various documents were mixed together haphazardly—about repairing irrigation before autumn, increasing the budget for state-assigned orphanages, and so on.
Blair’s hand suddenly stopped as he was skimming through, reading only diagonally. Quickly flipping back to the previous paper, Blair pulled out a sheet covered in scribbles.
The flowing ends of the letters were clearly Theodore’s handwriting. Theodore tended to write with long, sharp strokes. With circles drawn here and there and various doodles, it was difficult to perfectly discern the writing, but he could make out the larger, more boldly written words.
Princess.
Adriana.
Health.
Convalescence? If going, where to?
Having found what he wanted, Blair slowly scanned the words written on the paper. The handwriting was so erratic that he couldn’t decode entire sentences or words, but he could roughly identify the important information. Some words had multiple circles drawn around them. This meant they were important information. Or perhaps Theodore had pondered over those words for a long time.
After returning to his childhood, not everything repeated exactly as before. It could be because he deliberately took different actions. Once a path was diverted, it branched off in a completely different direction.
For this reason, he had expected matters related to Adriana to be somewhat different as well. But unfortunately, this seemed to be flowing similarly to the past. It might be because Blair hadn’t actively intervened in Adriana’s affairs.
He couldn’t yet tell if she was showing the same symptoms as in the past. But from the contents of Theo’s note, it seemed that the current Adriana was also gradually losing her health. Having obtained the information he wanted, Blair put the scribbled paper back between the documents, restoring them to their original arrangement.
Opening the door slightly and checking once more that no one was passing in the corridor, Blair left Theodore’s reception room and returned to his own room. Having only satisfied his hunger slightly, Blair headed to the stable. Before bringing up the matter with Theodore, he needed to organize his thoughts. Blair took out a gentle chestnut-colored horse, saddled it, and mounted.
When he lightly spurred the horse’s belly, the horseshoes made a regular clack-clack sound. The rhythmic noise seemed to organize his previously complicated thoughts. Blair slightly increased the speed. The horse, after a brief prance, galloped away with a thundering sound.
[To be continued…]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
