The early morning sunlight rippled softly over their heads.
“My lady, are you going out?”
Seton, who had been saying something to the knights in the garden, approached Coco and asked. After greeting the old man and Ren as well, he turned his attention to Coco’s answer.
“Yeah, I’m going out with Hugh.”
“Please take care on your way. But your face seems a little red. Are you certain you do not have a fever?”
“It’s not like that, so go!”
“Why? Do you have a fever? Then we don’t need to go ou—”
“I said let’s go! You clueless idiot!”
“Lady Coco, you must refrain from speaking that way.”
Seton stopped Coco with an expressionless face. Ren stared at him in fascination. He had felt it from the first day, but Seton really had the strange talent of looking cold while somehow making people feel his kindness.
Coco shouted that she understood, so he should stop nagging, and dragged Ren away.
However, before they could get into the carriage, something happened that forced them to postpone their outing.
“Receive the king’s command.”
The “king’s command” was so trivial it was almost ridiculous. It was praise for taking good care of Ren, the royal castle’s “honored guest,” along with an assault of gifts. One might have expected Coco to be pleased after receiving gifts full of jewels and praise, but she flew into a towering rage. On top of that, the message even said Ren was to return to the royal castle today, so Coco felt as if she had been struck by lightning. There were so many things she had to do with Ren! They needed a great deal of time even just to treat his illness.
“That moron king!”
“My lady! Please mind your words.”
“I’ll come back. I can come back soon.”
Even with Ren’s firm answer, Coco pressed her mouth shut. The old apothecary rolled his eyes awkwardly and quietly patted Ren’s shoulder.
In the end, without finishing even half of what she had meant to do, Coco had to send Ren back to the royal castle.
“Come back in three days.”
“Got it. Why are you saying it so seriously! I told you I’d come out if you called me!”
Ren understood why Coco was so solemn, but deliberately acted as if he knew nothing. Whether Ren’s strategy worked or not, Coco looked at him with some pitying exasperation, but her expression softened as if her mood had improved.
“I’m not asking you to come just to play.”
“Then? Is there something to do? I think the mages talk too much. Coco, let’s cut down the number a little.”
“We can’t. I worked hard to bring them here.”
Coco cut him off firmly, then opened her mouth again.
“Come to the funeral.”
“Funeral?”
“Yeah. Duke Gannion’s funeral.”
Ren blinked slowly and asked,
“Coco’s father?”
Coco only nodded.
“Of course. No matter what happens, I’ll come.”
“...You don’t have to say it that grandly, you know?”
Coco scrunched her nose.
The carriage arrived soon after, and Coco saw Ren off herself. The carriage carrying Ren and the old apothecary sped through the well-maintained streets toward the royal castle.
***
“Old man.”
“What is it?”
Ren had said they should take a walk before going up because he felt stifled, so the two of them were walking slowly through the garden. Early spring flowers were beginning to bloom one by one, swaying in the wind with a faint fragrance.
“Do prophecies always come true?”
“Is this because of what you heard earlier?”
“Yeah.”
When Ren went to the restaurant with Coco, he had unwillingly heard about the “Sorse” prophecy. It concerned the “treasure,” something he had heard mentioned a few times before.
“They said whoever possesses the treasure will become king of the greatest nation.”
Had the prophecy been distorted, or had the prophecy he first heard been wrong? Or was it a new prophecy? Ren did not know, but it was different from what he remembered.
“Do you believe it, old man?”
“This old man believes only in the providence of nature.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? You sound like an old man!”
“Hohoho, you little rascal. This old man is an old man!”
But somehow, the old man’s words sounded wonderful. Ren repeated them inwardly. If he did not believe in prophecies, maybe there would be one less thing in the world to fear. Ren decided he, too, would believe only in that “providence of nature,” like the old man. Though he did not really know what the providence of nature was.
“Lord Ren, good day.”
“Who are you?”
A servant appeared and greeted him politely. Unreactive even to Ren’s prickly voice, the servant opened his mouth.
“Lord Giselle is looking for you.”
“All right.”
“He is asking for Lord Ren alone.”
Ren, who had been about to move with the old man, stopped. He looked up at the old man and said,
“I’ll be back.”
“Can this old man not go with you?”
“No, you cannot.”
“Old man, what am I, a child? I’ll be back.”
Ren grumbled and waved at Veron. The servant took the lead with brisk steps, and Ren followed.
And behind them, a bird circled after them as if in pursuit.
As Ren walked after the servant, who went this way and that, he held back his shortness of breath. If he had not had the medicine the old man had given him, he might have been so winded he would have sat down.
“Are we going to the greenhouse garden?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Ren was good at memorizing routes. After turning a few corners, he realized the scenery had become familiar.
The greenhouse garden was the place Riperoman had taken him after the last banquet. In one way, it was nice to return to the place where he had received warm comfort, but he did not like the person who had summoned him. Ren might not recognize goodwill directed at him very well, but he was good at noticing hostility. Giselle the Hero—he held something other than goodwill toward Ren.
“I have brought the younger brother of Hero Temar.”
The servant relayed the message to the soldier standing guard at the entrance, then, once the greenhouse garden doors opened, said he would be leaving and turned away.
When Ren stood still at the entrance, one soldier urged him to go in already.
Though this was the same greenhouse garden that had welcomed him last time in all its beauty, Ren felt a chill the moment he entered, so strong he could hardly believe it.
The beautiful flowering trees and fresh green plants did not even enter his eyes.
Only the man deep inside the garden, his long hair gathered and braided down his back, struck itself into Ren’s sight. Ren looked at him, then moved his feet.
The man, who had not spared Ren a single glance as he entered while drinking tea, finally raised his head only when Ren stopped before the table.
A graceful, beautiful face gazed at Ren.
“I have been waiting.”
“...”
“Was the tender comfort you received here helpful?”
Giselle smiled softly.
“Are you watching me?”
“In a sense. This conversation may grow long, so sit first.”
He offered the seat across from him.
Giselle lifted the teapot and poured tea for him himself. The fragrant scent was fine enough that even Ren, who knew nothing about tea, could tell it was expensive. Throughout the greenhouse garden, a faintly bitter yet sweet smell spread softly.
Ren held the teacup for a moment. The warmth melted his fingers, which had gone cold and stiff. But Ren had no intention of drinking it. After quietly staring at the teacup, Ren looked at Giselle. Even then, Giselle had not taken his eyes off Ren.
It was a gaze that constricted him like a snake. Ren opened his eyes fiercely, refusing to be pushed back.
“What are you curious about?”
What on earth was it, the thing that frightened his brother and even sealed Luman’s mouth?
Was it something terrible enough to torment them?
His chest trembled with tension.
“Ahahaha. Hahahahaha!”
“...Why are you laughing?”
Giselle suddenly burst into laughter.
“It is very pitiful when you say that with such a pale face.”
Contempt seeped into Ren’s glare.
Was he looking down on him? Fine, he was one of the king’s closest people, so he must be like Ragniel. The type who deceived people with gifts and played the hypocrite.
Ren made a hasty judgment. But he did not think that judgment was wrong.
It felt strange that someone like this was his brother’s comrade.
“You seem similar to Temar, yet you are truly different.”
“You said you had something to say to me, so why bring up my brother?”
Ren trembled and asked sharply. For a moment, he could not hold back the emotion rising in him. It was the instant all the countless warnings he had heard from Riperoman, Luman, Peruan, and Coco became useless.
Maybe it was because he had seen his brother’s weak face. Those eyes afraid of something. What had those eyes been afraid of? Losing him?
“However, there is one thing exactly the same.”
Ren did not ask. He did not think anything good would come out of Giselle’s mouth.
“I’m not curious. I’d rather you just tell me why you called me here. Is wasting time while acting slimy your hobby? All the king’s stars are busy, but I guess only you have nothing to do.”
Haha. Giselle laughed low at Ren’s venomous words. That smile could not truly be a smile. A mocking light, as if he were looking at someone beneath him, crossed Giselle’s face. But that light disappeared quickly.
“Your eyes are the same.”
Clack. The teacup he deliberately set down with a sound seemed to freeze the air. Giselle, who had been stroking the teacup’s handle, stared at Ren. Those pitiful green eyes had frozen without reacting at all. There was a hint of thought in them, as if trying to find the intention behind his words.
“I mean those frightened eyes.”
