#93
In that moment, my heart went cold. Since I couldn’t hide the sword inside the palace, I had concealed it inside my loose clothing. Persis had offered to carry it, but I didn’t want to put him in greater danger.
Even if I showed the sword to Kuatrin now, it wouldn’t appear in its original form due to the illusion magic cast on it. However, Kuatrin was looking at me with a relaxed smile, as if such magic couldn’t deceive him at all.
My pounding heart constricted my breathing. I glanced discreetly at my chest, trying to maintain my composure. If I answered yes here, I could casually tell him to go see the Duke together if he wanted to see it. I tried to calm myself to say just that.
“What are you still doing here?”
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind. I hurriedly turned to look at the man who had spoken to me.
The Duke, with his expressionless face, slowly approached us and bowed to Kuatrin.
“It’s an honor to see you, Your Highness.”
“Ah, Duke.”
After a brief greeting to Kuatrin, the Duke frowned and immediately addressed Kara and me. It was as if he didn’t care whether Kuatrin was there or not.
“Why does it take so long to complete one simple task? Must I come all the way out here myself?”
“I apologize.”
Looking at his unsatisfactory son, the Duke clicked his tongue briefly. He seemed truly dissatisfied that he couldn’t reprimand me further due to our current location.
“Your Highness, may we take our leave now?”
“Duke.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I’d like to see what the young master has in his possession. Would that be alright?”
It was a question whose answer was already determined. No one in this palace could refuse a prince’s request.
“No, it would not.”
But the Duke refused outright. For a moment, I saw Kuatrin’s face twitch slightly. Until now, probably no one had ever defied Kuatrin’s words. The imperial family’s authority was that great in this country. Even for a Duke, directly refusing a royal’s request could be considered an act of treason.
Whether Kuatrin’s expression wavered or not, the Duke faced him without any sign of concern.
“This is a matter concerning the nation’s security. You will know everything in due time, Your Highness.”
“In due time, you say?”
“Yes. When you reach the appropriate position.”
The Duke conveyed precisely that he couldn’t speak to a prince who wasn’t the Emperor. Another royal might have flown into a rage and ordered the Duke imprisoned immediately. However, despite his pride being wounded, Kuatrin merely stared at the Duke without showing any particularly emotional response. The more composed they were, the more nervous I became, standing between them.
“I see. Things will be different when I reach such a position.”
“I shall pray for that day to come.”
“Thank you, Duke. But such words should not be spoken carelessly. There are many listening ears within the palace.”
Kuatrin gracefully countered the Duke’s words and placed a finger over his lips with a playful expression to lighten the tense atmosphere.
“Then I shall hope for a day when I can certainly tell you. Duke and Young Master.”
Kuatrin looked at the Duke and me in turn, then turned his back and walked away from us. Yaksi also followed after him. I thought she glanced in our direction momentarily, but it was so brief that I wouldn’t have noticed under normal circumstances.
We couldn’t move from that spot until Kuatrin and Yaksi had completely disappeared. Only when they were out of sight could I finally exhale deeply. I’d tried to act as composed as possible, but my body must have been tense because the area around my neck felt stiff.
“Let’s go.”
Without saying anything else, the Duke spoke to me and quickly walked ahead. Kara and I followed behind him without a word.
It would have been better to wait quietly in the office. I hadn’t expected the Duke to come all the way here looking for us. Strangely, I felt a tingling in my chest. Was he worried about me? Or about the sword I was carrying? I wasn’t sure. The only certainty was that he had walked all the way here to retrieve us.
* * *
We remained silent throughout the carriage ride. Since we had agreed to discuss details at the Duke’s residence, we were all conserving our words.
I wondered if Persis and Rikin had managed to escape safely. We had arranged to meet outside since it would be dangerous to meet again inside the palace. There hadn’t been any commotion until we left the palace, so they must have escaped well. Only Kuatrin and the Emperor could interrogate Persis in the palace. Since we were the ones who encountered Kuatrin, Persis and Rikin should have been able to escape without any danger.
I surreptitiously examined the Duke’s expression. Unlike usual, he was looking out the window. Normally when riding in a carriage, he would either look straight ahead or close his eyes, but now he was averting his gaze as if he wanted to avoid eye contact.
The sword in my possession trembled slightly. The Duke had been watching this sword longer than I had, and I wanted to show it to him right away. This sword and the Duke were the very beings who could put Persis and Iria in danger.
The original story came back to mind, and I shook my head. Hadn’t I already acknowledged that this world I was in was different from the original? The Duke was not the Duke I knew, and this sword in my possession was not the sword I knew.
It wouldn’t be too late to make a decision after hearing everything from the Duke and the sword. I suppressed the rising anxiety and prayed for the carriage to arrive at the mansion soon.
Before I knew it, the carriage had passed through the main gate of the mansion and crossed the garden. When the carriage stopped in front of the building a moment later, I finally felt like everything was over. The Duke walked to his room without a word. Though he hadn’t told us to follow, Kara and I went after him.
As soon as we entered the room, the Duke turned around and leaned his face toward me. Then he examined various parts of my body with a stern expression.
“Are you injured anywhere? Did anything happen? I heard there was a disturbance at the temple. You weren’t caught up in anything dangerous inside, were you? Did anyone see your face?”
[You’re scaring the child. Stop it, Zahar.]
At that moment, the Duke’s body flinched. His gaze, which had been examining me, fell on my chest area. I could see his eyes trembling minutely as he stared intently at that spot. He looked as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. And the same was true for Kara.
Kara couldn’t take her eyes off the sword hidden in my possession, her eyes wide open. Watching their reactions, I took out the sword I had been hiding until now.
The Duke silently stared at the sword as its illusion magic began to fade.
The noticeable black-hued magic sword emitted a slight glow before slowly darkening again. No one in the room spoke first. I had planned to ask the Duke many questions as soon as we arrived at the mansion, but it was too difficult to speak in this atmosphere.
It was the sword that broke the awkward atmosphere by making a sound again.
[Well, it’s been a while… I should say.]
The Duke didn’t respond to the sword. Instead, he reached out and gently received the sword from me. As the sword was held in his hand, I reflexively recalled various scenes I had seen in the original work. I shook my head slightly, trying to erase the lingering thoughts. I didn’t want to be swayed by prejudice because of what I knew.
The Duke and sword before me were not the two I knew, and I was also not the Andelion I knew. I remembered what happened at the temple and what Ramtel had said while looking at me.
‘You both know what that is, don’t you?’
It meant that I was somehow different from others. And the only person who could tell me that answer was the Duke.
[Zahar, what were you thinking? Sending Andelion there! No matter how dangerous it was!]
“Yes. You’re right. It’s my fault.”
[Andelion is still a child! A child!! What if something terrible had happened to him in that dangerous place!]
“You’re the one who said to contact us immediately if anything strange appeared. You’ve been silent all this time, so what’s this about?”
Having come to her senses, Kara interrupted the conversation between the Duke and the sword. When Kara clicked her tongue briefly as if displeased, the sword immediately raised its voice in anger.
[Contact? Hey! I’m a sword! A sword! I’ve only recently been able to speak, so what contact? You should have done something when Andelion started getting attention at school!]
“Yes, you’re right.”
“That’s not true! The Duke has been taking action in his own way!”
[Taking action? What, meeting the principal briefly? Do you think that’s enough?]
I don’t know where the previous silence had gone. I stood quietly amidst the three who had suddenly become noisy. The atmosphere had lightened compared to before, but I couldn’t properly comprehend this situation. Now I could see that Kara and the sword had known each other for some time. Well, since the sword had told me to find Kara if anything strange happened, I had expected they would know each other to some extent. Not only that, but the Duke couldn’t say anything to the sword and was just nodding his head. That Duke, of all people.
Noticing my confusion, the Duke raised his hand to restrain Kara. Only then did Kara close her mouth and step back.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
