Chapter 45 :

Chapter 45 - First Impression (3)

“What kind of hospitality is this?!”

What shattered the taut tension inside the reception room was a booming and eccentric voice.

And it was shouting a line that, if anyone heard it, sounded like something a troublesome customer from somewhere would say.

The young duke opened the eyes he had squeezed shut so tightly that it hurt.

The Second Prince’s chilling eyes were no longer directed at the young duke.

For the first time since coming to the ducal residence, he frowned slightly and looked toward the reception room door.

Tollin was the same.

It was an arrogant voice whose owner he could not possibly fail to recognize.

And it was a voice he would never forget, even if he lived his entire life.

Bang!

Beyond the door that opened forcefully appeared a man who was unmistakably a member of the imperial family, with platinum-blonde hair brighter than the Second Prince’s.

With a face surprisingly similar to the Second Prince’s, he looked around at the four people frozen in that posture and clicked his tongue.

“Does the Feedus family, from servants to the family head’s proxy to the successor, not know how to show courtesy to the imperial family?”

The one who reacted first to the voice full of irritation was Dito Abiran.

“Brother?”

At his call, which contained bewilderment, the man who might have been an uninvited guest or a savior answered cheerfully.

“Yes, I heard you were coming here, so I dropped by to see your face for a moment.”

At the sudden appearance of the First Prince, one of the few members of the imperial family who could stop the Second Prince, a different kind of silence than before lingered in the reception room.

Even Dito seemed unable to listen to such insane words, and his face crumpled sharply.

Yes, I know too. I know.

I know better than anyone that it is insane nonsense.

It is not as if I want to say something this stupid either.

Rasia Abiran ground his teeth as he recalled the shameless face that had made him come here about an hour ago.

The First Prince, Rasia Abiran, stood before the four of them while hiding his own embarrassment in his own way.

“Brother, did I not clearly see you this morning?”

At Dito Abiran’s puzzled question, which broke the silence, the First Prince pressed his lips shut and then opened them.

“Thaaat......is true. But when have we ever been the kind of siblings who only see each other once a day?”

Finding it hard to accept the fact that he had personally said such embarrassing, ticklish, and creepy words, the First Prince secretly clenched his fist.

“So, you mean you came to see me again?”

“......Yes.”

“Do you remember that we spoke for about an hour this morning?”

“There are faces one misses no matter how many times one sees them, so what is there to avoid?”

* * *

After finishing his late lunch, the First Prince had headed to his office.

It was to process the remaining documents after having an enjoyable conversation that morning with Dito about the method of finally moving forward with that damned hospital business.

“Ah, you came?”

And when he saw the illusion of the black trash leisurely sitting in his office, waiting for him, his face had to crumple violently.

Now that he had grown somewhat used to these sudden visits and no longer jumped in shock, Rasia Abiran felt subtly dirtier and slammed the door shut as he entered.

“Why are you here again? You were the one who said last time that I could proceed with Dito now.”

“Where has the Second Prince gone?”

“Why are you asking that?”

The First Prince frowned again, dumbfounded by the fact that he had become used to the Seventh Prince ignoring his words.

“Did he go to the Feedus ducal residence?”

“If you already know, why are you asking?”

“Hmm.”

Rasia, wearing an expression of disgust at the Seventh Prince pretending not to hear him several times, moved toward his desk.

“Are you busy right now?”

As soon as he sat down, the Seventh Prince asked.

“Can’t you tell by looking? I am working. Do you not know what an office is for?”

Rasia, whose specialty of shouting had been taken away, showed off the sarcasm he had recently learned, but the black-eyed prince did not even blink.

“Then it should be fine for you to step out for a moment.”

“What are you talking about? I said I am working.”

“You must go to the Feedus ducal house.”

“......Can you really not hear me?”

“I would like you to go as quickly as possible.”

When such a one-sided monologue continued this far, Rasia Abiran could not endure it and slammed the desk as he stood up.

“No! Why should I go there?”

If there was something to see, he could summon them. There was absolutely no reason for him to personally go there.

Looking at him, who could not bring himself to shout loudly, his seventh younger brother quietly stared at him with that unpleasantly expressionless face.

“Are you saying you will only move if there is a reason?”

He was not so dull that he could not understand the meaning hidden within those words.

Since when were you able to do that?

Rasia Abiran had already granted his bizarre, inexplicable requests little by little several times.

To Rasia, who pressed his lips shut, the Seventh Prince shrugged and said.

“It is not a difficult task. You only need to visit the Feedus family now and bring the Second Prince back.”

“Dito? Why?”

“Because nothing good will come from him being there.”

At the way he said it lightly, as if he were merely acting on a whim again this time, the First Prince ground his teeth and spoke.

“We spoke about the business for an hour this morning. What am I supposed to say if I suddenly go there?”

“I see.” 

The fellow seemed to ponder for a moment, then answered roughly, as if that was none of his concern.

“Make an excuse that you came because you wanted to see his face. Is that not what siblings are like, missing each other even if they see each other every day?”

Too tired to ask what insane siblings in the world were like that, Rasia Abiran sighed and rose from his seat.

“Ah, when you go, do not so much as glance at the young duke. Do not speak to him either.”

A request that grated on his nerves but could never be ignored came through the closing door.

* * *

“Something feels strange.”

“What, do you need to go to the bathroom? You have to hold it until we arrive.”

At Jack’s answer, Seya glared at him with an irritated expression.

“That’s not what I mean. I mean it feels like something not very good is happening.”

“How surprising.”

When Jack pretended to be surprised, Seya’s expression also darkened.

“Why, why? Is something bad really happening?”

“No, I mean I’m truly surprised that you only realized now that your situation isn’t very good.”

Jack shook the rope binding one of Seya’s arms.

Ignoring Jack, Seya fell into thought.

By now, Mir would have heard Jin’s words and be extremely worried.

She wanted to run away quickly, but Jack’s large frame had fewer openings than she had expected.

If she showed even the slightest sign that she might try to escape, he would glare and warn Seya with an expression that said, “You are not trying to run away right now, are you? Surely not?”

Seya had no choice but to move as the man led her.

“Oh, this looks good. Give me two more of these.”

Jack received two skewers from a street stall.

“Here, eat one.”

Seya stared blankly at the golden-brown skewer held out before her.

“Why do you keep feeding me?”

“Didn’t you want to eat it? You kept glancing at it.”

“.......”

In truth, Seya’s eyes had been gradually turning toward the stimulating smell that had been piercing her nose since earlier, and embarrassed that her inner thoughts had been discovered, she silently accepted the skewer.

But she only held it.

Perhaps finding it strange that Seya did not eat the skewer even while swallowing her saliva, Jack stopped in the street.

“What is it? Why are you not eating? There is no poison or anything in it. You saw me buy it from the shop just now.”

Why else?

I was going to bring it to Mir.

“I’m saving it to eat later.”

At Seya’s dishonest answer, Jack cast his gaze toward the child’s hand, which was stained with oil.

Thinking he might take it back, Seya subtly hid the skewer behind her.

Surely he would not take back something he had given, right?

When she narrowed her eyes and glared at him, Jack wordlessly turned back the way they had come.

Dragged along by the rope without understanding why, Seya lowered the hand she had hidden behind her back while clutching the skewer as Jack stopped at the stall from a moment ago.

“Here.”

Jack handed her a paper bag filled with skewers.

“Don’t bother saving it. Just eat when you want to.”

After watching his expression as he spoke bluntly, Seya snatched the bag.

If he was giving it to her, there was no reason to refuse.

Jack thought that the sight resembled a wild dog gradually being tamed.

But perhaps because Seya was a human child, or perhaps because she was a child of the streets, she was not a child easily tamed.

The child, who was closer to a stray dog than a puppy, silently gathered the sharp sticks from the skewers she had finished eating one by one and followed behind Jack, who was feeling pleased on his own.

* * *

Perhaps because the servants of the Feedus ducal residence had ended up receiving members of the imperial family, whom they might never see even once in their entire lives, twice in one day, they could not hide their confusion.

None of them dared to raise their heads and take in the sacred beings with their eyes.

But there was no way they could go close enough to carelessly hear the sounds inside the reception room.

Only Pale, standing at the end of the hallway, looked at the firmly closed reception room door while hoping that nothing dreadful would happen.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the room where the dreadful thing Pale had worried about had nearly happened but stopped, an awkward confrontation was continuing.

Tollin, who was looking expressionlessly at Rasia and Dito, the two members of the imperial family exchanging subtle glances, and the young duke, who was trying to remain calm but could not control even his shaking pupils.

The one who first broke the silence between these four people was Tollin.

“I apologize for failing to greet you. I greet Your Highness the First Prince.”

At Tollin’s manner, the young duke also hurriedly bowed his head.

“I greet Your Highness the First Prince.”

Rasia Abiran, who had been wearing a displeased expression while receiving Tollin’s greeting, started to look at the young duke, flinched, and sharply turned his head away.

“......Yes, you should do it properly.”

At the sight of him answering without giving even a glance toward the young duke, the Second Prince raised one eyebrow and looked at him.

“Brother, are you all right?”

“Yes, I am always all right.”

No matter how one looked at him, something seemed strange, but since he himself insisted so strongly, the Second Prince readily nodded.

In truth, Rasia’s mind was spinning far more busily and tightly than it appeared.

Dito visiting the ducal house was not particularly strange.

It had been Dito who had put forward a rather decent idea for Rasia, who wanted to punish the Feedus family, and it had also been Dito’s opinion that they should use Ego Crisa as a pretext to pressure them further.

What great matter could it be if his younger brother tormented one noble as a joke?

But why is that fellow trying to stop Dito like this?

At the same time, he had also told him to delay the Feedus hospital business for as long as possible.

He wanted them to remain involved in the business for a long time, but he did not want Dito to get close to them.

‘......Is he worried Dito will find something out?’

At the thought that brushed through his mind, Rasia clenched his fist without realizing it.

“Brother, are you smiling right now?”

At Dito’s remark, Rasia only then realized that he was smiling.

Hurriedly covering his mouth with his hand and lowering the corners of his lips again, the First Prince waved his other hand and changed the subject.

“How could an elder brother remain still when his younger brother is busy? I heard you were here and stopped by for a moment, and seeing your face like this makes me feel good. Well, judging from the look of things, it seems the business discussion is over?”

“......Yes, the important discussion has already ended.”

The Second Prince, who had somehow recovered his smiling face, nodded and spoke.

“That is perfect timing. Then we can return now, can we not?”

At the sight of Rasia subtly trying to take him along, Dito pretended not to notice anything and looked around at Tollin and the young duke.

“I would like that too, but......I was just teaching the young duke an amusing game.”

“A game?”

Only then did Rasia look at the Second Prince’s aide standing a little way off and the shards of the broken teacup, then nodded as if he understood.

“You play like a child even at your age.”

To the young duke, the sight of the First Prince seemed as if he were truly treating someone like close family, and he wondered if this was how one would feel upon seeing a lion speak.

In the atmosphere where the cruelty from moments earlier had vanished and become not exactly comfortable but somewhat softer, the child carefully observed the First Prince.

He also felt that the First Prince was less frightening than the Second Prince.

“What kind of difficult game is it that you even have to teach it?”

In the next moment, however, the young duke had to realize that this was a great misunderstanding when the First Prince, who spoke as if it were nothing, picked up the teapot in an instant before the young duke’s eyes could even follow.

The heavy vessel cut through the air.

Fortunately, the young duke did not see with his own eyes what became of the flying teapot.

That was because Tollin quickly blocked the young duke’s view with his body.

However, through the loud shattering sound of the vessel breaking and the rich scent of tea filling the room, the child could imagine the situation that had unfolded beyond Tollin.

In the young duke’s ears as he inhaled sharply, the First Prince’s composed voice was heard.

“I hit the very center, so I win, and the game is over. With this much, the young duke should understand as well.”

And along with the innocent urging of the First Prince, telling them to return now, came the quiet laugh of the Second Prince.

It was the moment the young duke’s feelings toward the imperial family hardened into fear and wariness.