*Sorry, Kaian. There's a lot of turmoil inside and outside the kingdom, so I can't treat you specially in front of the old nobles.*
From behind, out of sight of others, Valquiterre approached him with the lines blurred to the point where Kaian couldn't even tell if he was disappointed. Then, Kaian accepted it again.
Being the owner of Rowan was a difficult position. His succession had come too suddenly, and Kaian had to juggle the responsibilities of becoming the family head and filling the void left by his parents.
Without any time to console his empty heart, Kaian tried not to think at all as he left the territory to his father's close friend, who'd become Valquiterre's subject, and headed to the battlefield. No matter what he was thinking, it was better to clear his head.
Although he'd had the immunity granted to members of royal blood, everyone in Rowan had resented him for being unable to use it. But even about that, Kaian thought resolutely.
*There's no way Valquiterre did that to me on purpose.*
Rather, he thought that Valquiterre's position was so difficult and unstable that he couldn't guarantee the rights that clearly existed and had influenced dramatic moments in the long history of Oberon's kingdom.
They had a special relationship, and there was absolutely no reason for Valquiterre to put him in danger. As there was no reason, there was no room for doubt, and Kaian was even more willing to support Valquiterre.
There'd been a request within the family that someone from the collateral lines should be sent out as a proxy, but the plan was to show that other subjects couldn't speak out if he stepped forward himself.
*Kaian of Temnes will obey His Majesty's orders and annihilate the enemy in the name of Oberon.*
As the Duke of Temnes, who had immunity, followed the King's wishes, none of the nobles under him were dissatisfied that the family head or the eldest son had to go to war. Except for Vermont, who'd decided to bring in his son-in-law and send him out.
Even so, nothing could be the same as before. From children who played by clashing toy swords against each other, to boys who practiced with wooden swords together, to adults who could wear sharp swords at their waists.
There wasn't that much of a gap during the time they'd spent together with Valquiterre, but did the difference in their positions between King and subject make their relationship so unnatural?
Kaian felt sorry for himself for not being able to enjoy Valquiterre's visit with pure joy.
*If he stays two or five days, it can't be said to be short given the King's burdens.*
He hoped that Valquiterre, who'd asked where he could rest if not here, would spend his time in peace and return to the royal castle with a little relief.
Kaian hurried toward Valquiterre, who looked back as if asking if he was coming.
---
I couldn't remember what I was thinking when I returned to the bedroom.
*Bang!*
I couldn't control it as I wanted, so I put all my strength into it, and when I closed the door too hard, Hannah, who was coming to greet me, looked at me in surprise.
"My Lady, how did you come back alone?"
"Ah."
"You called the butler or said you were coming with an escort, so I was told not to wait and to go ahead."
I sat down in the chair at the table by the window, leaning forward as if I couldn't hear what Hannah was saying. Hannah, who felt such a sight was strange, examined my complexion.
"But suddenly you're walking like someone with no energy. Are you uncomfortable? Oh my, look at your sweat."
"Hannah, can you give me some water?"
At my words, Hannah diligently poured cold water with lemon into my cup.
"Drink it slowly."
"Ugh, cough cough."
I hurriedly drank some water, then struggled to breathe and started coughing, so Hannah quickly patted me on the back.
"Why are you doing this, my Lady?"
I looked at Hannah's face with my unfocused eyes.
*Claudel, don't cry.*
Overlaid on her face was the face of the girl who'd comforted me, with traces of her tears on her tangled cheeks.
*You have me. I have you too.*
It was as if I could hear the voice of young Hannah, desperately comforting me.
*Because he just became a star like my aunt.*
My memories of my father's funeral were fragmentary. I couldn't stop crying and continued to shed tears, but the maids in the castle had ordered me to wear black clothes and shoes under the Duke of Vermont's orders.
I'd then had to watch my father's coffin being placed in the family cemetery at Valmonde, and young me had pounded the sarcophagus with my tiny fists before it went down into the crypt.
*Dad. Dad. Wake up, Dad.*
Then I'd passed out, and when I'd opened my eyes, the funeral was over. Next to me was Hannah, trembling and crying as if she'd be in big trouble if she even let go of my hand.
From that day on, I'd become a child who didn't cry. I hadn't even opened my mouth to my friend, with whom I was bound by such a bond, because I'd had no idea what to say or how to say it.
"Shall I bring the doctor?"
Seeing Hannah trying to take care of me, I felt like I'd explode and die if I didn't say something right away, so I grabbed my friend's wrist.
"My Lady?"
"Hannah."
"Your hands are so cold."
"Hannah."
Hannah's expression changed as she realized I was shaking as I called her name in a dazed state.
"Claudel, why? What's wrong?"
When Hannah left behind the Lady and the maid and returned to being my friend, I showed her the nameplate I'd been holding tightly in my hand the entire time.
"This—you remember?"
As soon as she saw it, Hannah's expression changed.
"Where did you get this?"
"Ha."
Hannah's eyes flashed wildly as she fiercely took the piece of red stone from me.
"This... This is your father's, right?"
Hannah, who'd lost her entire family in the fire and was left with nothing, had kept one thing as a keepsake from her parents—the clothes she'd been wearing when she'd left the village.
It was a dress Hannah's mother had hand-sewn for her using soft fabric and threading a needle with very small stitches. Hannah washed it well, removed her pillowcase, and placed it inside. Then it had become her sleeping habit every night to put her hand inside and caress it.
How terrible was it that she'd even had to lose that?
Hannah was so agitated her eyes were wild.
"Where did you find this? Tell me, Claudel."
Hannah was more desperate and earnest than me, even though it was my father who was buried in the castle catacombs.
"At Kaian's desk."
"...What?"
Her wide-open brown eyes wavered, unable to figure out where this was going.
"Hannah, I feel strange."
I hugged Hannah's shoulder.
"As soon as I saw this, I was so scared. My eyes went dark and I couldn't hear anything."
Unable to cry, I could only shrug my shoulders and whimper.
"Can I ask Kaian why he has this? Is that okay?"
It had to be done, but I didn't know if it would be good to hear the answer, and it felt like my vague fear was slowly wrapping around me, starting from my ankles.
A series of horrendous events had hit me, leaving huge scars. Even though I'd lived my life thinking it was a thing of the past, the hideous wounds were clearly visible when I discovered them.
I was so panicked that I trembled just from being touched, even though I couldn't guess why or how it had gotten into Kaian's hands.
It was Hannah who came to her senses first.
*It's because of Aunt Leonie.*
Hannah, who'd run into Leonie by chance in the capital city, had heard many stories during their brief time together.
*"Was it you who sent the prescription for consumption to the Lord?"*
*"Evan was always worried about that."*
A shadow had appeared on her face as she'd remembered someone who was no longer in the world.
*"He said Claudel didn't receive the baptism of ice because of him."*
*"That's a disease that only people living in frozen lands get. She wouldn't have caught it if she'd continued to live in Plogne."*
*"You don't know what fate has in store. Who knew Claudel would end up living in Castle Valmonde?"*
Leonie had seemed like a person who had bitterness in every word that came out of her mouth.
*"He thought his worries were useless. Thanks to you, Claudel lives."*
Leonie had remembered that Evan had entrusted a prescription for consumption to her as an apothecary, and so she'd sent someone to look for it at Rowan Castle.
*"There are many precious ingredients in consumption medicine. The cost of the medicine must have been quite a lot of money."*
Then, after paying a certain amount of money, they would have left the nameplate as collateral with the intention of paying the rest when they could.
*"If this is discovered, my Lady could be in danger."*
As Madame Cronach, all she'd had to worry about was Claudel.
*Maybe Claudel too.*
Why had she met her daughter for the first time in ten years without even revealing herself? Because she knew Claudel truly cared for Kaian.
The young man who'd come leisurely to the Rowan estate, saying "I came to rest," was indeed not an easy person. Since this was a relationship forced upon them to reconcile enemy families, the commoner mother couldn't reveal who Claudel was and had kept her mouth shut for fear it might negatively impact her daughter's marriage.
*I can't let Aunt's efforts go to waste.*
Hannah tried to calm Claudel down.
"Claudel, listen to me."
Claudel's golden eyes looked at her, still unable to control her confused emotions.
"I think you'll have to pretend you didn't see this."
"Why?"
"Don't you remember the old days? How long have we hidden the existence of Plogne Village?"
Claudel just blinked without reacting to Hannah's words. She seemed to have been greatly shocked by encountering her deceased father's belongings this way.
"We have to hide that we lived there."
Some time had passed since they'd arrived at Castle Valmonde. After Claudel had become the Duke of Vermont's adopted daughter and Hannah had gotten new parents on paper, the Duke of Vermont had called them in and forced them to agree.
"The Duke of Vermont said so too. From now on, this matter must be kept secret."
Hannah clutched the object in her hand.
"I'll put this back in its original place."
But as soon as she finished speaking, the door to the room opened.
"What should I do with this? I wanted to hear more about that secret."
Kaian said coldly.
"I'm very curious to hear that the Duke of Vermont issued a gag order."
---