The Woodpecker King has gone mad.
Such rumors never spread. And they couldn’t separate. All the servants present were on the Duke's side.
Adi also could not spread such a rumor. Adi had no friends. Although she, of course, wanted everyone to know: this king was crazy. However...
- Do you remember the daughter from the Lintu family?
- Lintu...
“The one who was interested in His Grace the Duke.” They say that she saw him in a new guise and completely lost her head, there was such a commotion.
She had tried to stay close before. Although, probably, it was not so much about appearance as about the title.
“Their guards keep asking if there is any way to arrange a chance meeting.”
—Are you closely acquainted with their guards?
- We are from the same knightly order.
- I have no idea.
- Well, you, of course.
“Even in one order there are plenty of people with whom you are not particularly close.
-...Well, you, of course.
What is this, an insult? Not a single swear word - and still clearly nothing good.
- Did something happen to you? The face is as white as chalk.
- I'm always like this.
Grimaldi is a place where the sun hardly shines. In the south of Dalcatir, beyond the Red Oak Grove, there are endless plains, but apart from the central basin and the western coast, the east and north are completely covered with mountains and forests.
- I say because you are whiter than usual.
Even though he is a northerner, how does his skin not tan at all? I'm sure I've struggled with this too. Look at it like this - and it’s really very... no, even last time it caught my eye: so fragile, pale - just like a girl. And he doesn’t carry any old peasant spirit either.
In fact, Roy had no intention of making any judgment on Adi's appearance. What kind of appearance there is - probably no one in the Third Order of Knights cared what the Mad Dog of Palesa looked like. If he saw it, go around it, ignore it, or get into a fight - that’s all that happened to him.
-...I am.
Adi opened her mouth. Roy just thought she was going to say something, when suddenly—
- Am I beautiful?
-Are you completely crazy?
He could not answer anything else.
-......
She didn’t even intend to say it out loud - it came out on its own, against her will. She looked somewhat depressed, and Roy carefully asked:
- Do you want to be told that you are beautiful?
- No.
- Well, that's right.
Hearing “beautiful” was disgusting to her. It’s better to say “reliable”, “prominent” - something like that. Roy shuddered. Goosebumps ran across his skin - he fiercely scratched the back of his head and asked why the hell she was talking about this. Adi hesitated, then finally spoke:
— Do you know much about His Serene Highness the Duke?
- I don’t really know either.
Julius Kaspras Woodpecker, twenty-six years old.
Starting from Red Oak Grove in the south, all of the southern lands, including the forest itself, are part of the ducal domain, and some even call it the dukedom.
The most famous city and residence of the ducal house is Epesche, and besides it, Ilot, Ruzgoz, Gillieri and others are famous, and there is also the free city of Greil, which has concluded treaties with nine states. The land where a young ruler rules and where there is an abundance of splendor and wealth.
- In time you will find out everything.
There are tens of thousands of divisions under his command in every city, and the most famous unit is the Duke’s personal special unit, called the “Night Guards.” They received their name because they operate primarily at night, in the forests, and are considered the strongest fighting force of Woodpecker, subordinate to no one except the Duke himself.
Roy's ultimate goal is to get into these Night Guards.
- What, are you interested in the Duke too?
Roy asked. Adi wanted to deny, but stopped. A man was walking from the opposite end of the corridor. In the corridor where everyone walks, it was not unusual to meet someone, but this person’s position did not allow one to simply pass by. Adi and Roy froze in place, waited for him to approach, and saluted when he caught up with them.
— Sir Roy Gagliardo, Sir Adrian Grimaldi.
The man—Kenneth Max—called out to them.
- I see you have become friends.
Monotonous, devoid of intonation manner of speech. Typical Palesian dialect. In both Pales and Jonad the accent is practically absent. Either because such speech was considered refined, this manner became fashionable among the aristocracy. And now most nobles say exactly that.
- Adrian.
Max, that is.
- Yes, sir.
Not a family surname, but a granted one. Apparently he received it when he became a knight.
“You haven’t picked up your letters for several days.” Go to the Office.
- …Understood.
Having said this, Max looked at both of them from top to bottom and went about his business. Adi, who was expecting to hear something completely different, looked with bewilderment after the Commander, who was only talking about some letters, and asked:
- Does the commander care about such nonsense as letters?
- I have no idea. I've never received one.
- Have you ever received any letters?
- Yeah. My whole family died.
Everyone, of course, has their own stories - but when something like this pops up like this, you suddenly, involuntarily, get lost. Roy, looking at the confused Adi, smiled and asked: “Who do you think it could be?”
“Whoever did this, it looks like whoever did this didn’t have a good relationship with the Duke.” Since you were assigned to him.
Thinks faster than expected. But judging by the fact that he doesn’t seem to know much, he has no informants. However, what could he find out this way?
- Right. Enemy. The head of the knightly order is also among them. So perhaps he will become your enemy too. So do I, and Duke, and Bert—all of us.
-......
So even if he has an interest in the Woodpecker house, things probably won't work out with Adi. Grimaldi - Royalists. Not just because he is a king, but because the Count himself, together with several associates, elevated the prince he serves to this throne.
- And Duke, by chance...
Frankly, getting a fox like Grimaldi on your side isn't bad, but the Count never backs down from his decisions. So Roy can't become Adi Grimaldi's friend—
- Does he have a penchant for sodomy?
No...
Roy was speechless for a moment. My thoughts also stopped. He froze, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. Soon, Adi's words penetrated his consciousness and began to repeat over and over again.
Does he have a penchant for sodomy?
Tendencies towards sodomy...
Sodomy......
There can only be one reason why such a question is asked. Roy quickly came to a conclusion.
- What, do you really like men?
-......
Adi didn't answer. No, okay, loving men - well, let’s say, God bless him. But the Duke looked about twelve years old just recently, didn’t he? No, wait, he has age, but still looks, looks!
- Don’t tell me that you love young children? Then I'll kill you right here.
- Don’t talk nonsense, what an abomination.
Adi became gloomy. Roy breathed a sigh of relief. If you're not a pedophile, that's fine.
“There are no rumors that His Highness the Duke has such inclinations.” And anyway... in general, until recently he was a child. Did you really have a crush on him getting older or something? Oh, well, I’m not prejudiced, I’m just......
And in general, in knightly orders, where there are only men, or on the battlefield, sodomy is something that you cannot get rid of no matter how much you try. Roy himself, remembering his sweet days as a page, realized that he was constantly exposed to similar threats. All people from the Second Order of Knighthood went through this.
To protect my body, I had to run harder than others, train late, and be on guard in my sleep. As soon as someone approached, he immediately woke up. It can be said that he has been trained since his days as a squire. Be that as it may, thanks to this, Roy managed to maintain his innocence. The main thing here is pressure.
“If anyone puts his hand up my ass, I’ll blow his head off...
“Your ass doesn’t interest me.”
Adi cut Roy off with a straight face. He thought that this was for the best, but at the same time asked a contradictory question: how could such a handsome man like him be uninteresting?
* * *Roy headed to the training ground, and Adi headed to the Chancellery. She was curious how many letters had come since Kenneth Max had mentioned it.
There were indeed more letters than were usually sent from the count’s house, but still not so many that the commander personally ordered them to be collected. There are only five pieces: two from the mother, and the remaining three from the father.
Adi came home with letters. Bert was nowhere to be seen; he seemed to have spent the entire day with the Duke.
Entering the room, Adi opened the envelopes. The letters from my mother always said the same thing. They were full of longing for Adrian. She asked if everything was okay there and told me to dress warmly because it was cold outside.
Summer was already approaching, but she still seemed to be locked in winter. And she really didn’t seem to understand who really died.
Putting those letters aside, Adi looked at the messages from the count. Opening the one with the date of the most recent departure, Adi grinned when she saw only one phrase there.
[Heard the news. Well done.]
Apparently, he had heard rumors about the Duke's rescue.
But from whom could he hear this? On the Duke's part, everything was kept secret. Did he guess because the assassin did not return?
There was no need to report that he was poisoned. Otherwise, I would have only heard words that it couldn’t be any weaker.
Adi put this letter aside and opened another.
More precisely, it was sent not by the Count himself, but by the Butler of the estate.
[His Excellency the Count intends to arrive in Palesa for the holiday. I'll let you know as soon as the placement location is determined.]
- Holiday.
Well, yes, every year the May Day is held in Pales. Because long traditions have been preserved there. At this time, even the king - even the king himself - returns to Palesa. And the Count too.
- He will come to Palesa.