CH-008

8.

A splendid court banquet is not merely a place for extravagant revelry as it appears on the surface. It is a place to laugh and dance and probe one another, and also a battlefield where sharp blades are wielded with the tongue. And it is also a place to scout out partners in order to marry off one's grown children under the best possible conditions. For that reason, young men and women are bound to appear dressed splendidly and beautifully. But today's banquet, the young ladies' adornment was especially exceptional.

Noble ladies who had dressed themselves up to the utmost each took the hand of a relative or sibling and danced, showing off their graceful movements. The brief, meaningful glances they occasionally sent toward Gideon were undoubtedly the product of dozens upon dozens of repeated rehearsals.

It was a banquet where the most outstanding and beautiful ladies of every house had turned out in full force. Since Gideon wouldn't so much as glance at the portraits, the banquet had become an occasion to present the real articles in person for his consideration. There was no way Gideon could fail to notice this, and his mood was extremely foul, and he seemed to have no intention of hiding it.

His cold, chilly deep-blue eyes gave off an almost menacing air at a glance. Ecklet quietly kept his place at Gideon's side. Each time the noble ladies sent their glances his way, Gideon would surreptitiously lean his body toward Ecklet. When Ecklet had shaken off his attempt to hold hands earlier, he now pressed his body close against him instead. As if protesting that he had no intention of answering those temptations, or as if worried that Ecklet's feelings might be hurt.

Ecklet cleanly ignored Gideon's such behavior and surveyed the banquet hall. The ladies being pushed forward by each house were quite outstanding. Given that Gideon had shuddered at the memory of a foreign-born mother empress, there was almost no chance he would take a foreign lady as empress. If a new empress were to be chosen, there was a high chance she would be one of those noble ladies over there. And at that time, it would be that lady, not himself, who would sit here, at Gideon's side.

Which of them would become the new empress?

Gideon was endlessly sensitive about things like empresses, concubines, and consort clans. He would scrutinize everything in detail, starting from bloodline and extending to political relations, before selecting. And even after taking an empress, he would strive not to produce a new son. At least until the legitimate firstborn son he had sent far away had grown sufficiently.

Conversely, the new empress and her house would fight tooth and nail to produce a prince quickly. And from the moment they bore a prince, they would devote their whole heart and strength to making him crown prince. No matter how one weighed it, taking a new empress at this point held no benefit for Gideon. It would only add a great heap of troublesome affairs.

But it wasn't easy to postpone and refuse the matter of choosing a new empress either. Once the subject had been raised, people both at home and abroad would fling themselves at it with eyes ablaze. The position of empress was that coveted a seat.

It was entirely understandable that Gideon, whose mood grew not merely foul but downright menacing with each passing day, looked the way he did. In the beginning it had merely been portraits being sent, but now it was gradually growing more intense. Come to think of it, it hadn't even been a year since he had found political stability. That the peace he had barely obtained should shatter this quickly—it was only natural that it would rouse not just irritation but fury.

But it's none of my concern.

Ecklet withdrew the gaze he had fixed straight ahead and rose from his chair. Gideon, who had been wearing a menacing look, immediately sent his gaze over.

"I'm tired, so I'll take my leave and rest now."

When he bowed his head lightly, Gideon likewise rose from his seat.

"I'll go together."

Gideon said curtly and pulled him by the hand. All eyes were drawn to the figure of the emperor trying to leave not long after the banquet had begun. The ladies who had lavished such effort dressing up for this very moment today were watching this side with anxious eyes. Ecklet gently, but with resolve, pried Gideon's hand away.

"I'm going to go back and go straight to bed. Shouldn't Your Majesty keep your place a little longer?"

When he pried the hand away and stepped back one pace, Gideon's eyes narrowed. Gideon threw a perfunctory glance at those filling the banquet hall, then presently snatched Ecklet's hand again. And without warning he began to stride off with great steps.

"Your Majesty. …Your Majesty!"

Gideon's stride was rough and fast. With Bobby Palmer's body, it was hard to keep up with his fast steps and stride. He called out while being dragged along, nearly running, but Gideon did not stop. He merely walked as though getting as far as possible from the banquet hall were his only purpose.

"Your Majesty!"

In the end, Ecklet, growing heated, shouted out. Only then did Gideon stop his steps. The firmly gripped hand throbbed dully with pain. When he frowned, Gideon eased his grip. But he did not let go of the hand.

"It hurts."

He glared with irritation-laced eyes and tried to pull his caught hand free, but it was hopeless. Gideon, while easing the force on the hand he held, tenaciously would not let go. Ecklet gave up on pulling his hand free and turned his gaze to the side. As he stood with his gaze fixed on the wall, as he always had since returning from the Palmer house, he felt a hot gaze on the crown of his head.

A heavy silence flowed. Ecklet feigned ignorance of Gideon's tenacious gaze and looked only at the wall. After a moment, a faint sigh came from above his head.

"There will be no taking of a new empress."

Gideon said calmly. He forcibly restrained his head, which was about to turn toward him of its own accord.

"So don't think useless thoughts."

Gideon, having spoken quietly, pulled Ecklet into his embrace. He could tell. Gideon was worried that Ecklet might be fretting over the matter of a new empress. He was concerned that he might be distressed. That was why he had deliberately left the banquet early and followed him out. Out of worry.

Ecklet bit his lip. Even while held in the broad embrace, he stubbornly kept his gaze fixed on the wall. He had to.

Gideon buried his nose in the crown of Ecklet's head and drew long, slow breaths. From his chest, the beating of his heart carried over. It was beating strong and a little fast. When Ecklet quietly let out a sigh, the beating grew even louder and faster. Somehow it felt like his face was reddening. Ecklet deliberately sharpened his gaze. He must not become intoxicated by such a thing.

"You ought to go ahead and take a new empress soon."

"Why?"

"It's a seat that has to be filled anyway, isn't it?"

"It doesn't necessarily have to be now."

"There's no reason it shouldn't be now either."

"Why do you think that?"

Each time he tossed out a curt reply, Gideon questioned him again. Ecklet, struck by a sudden thought, stopped his words. When he shut his mouth, Gideon's body shook slightly. He had burst into laughter. Only then did Ecklet realize that Gideon had been tossing out questions he had no interest in whatsoever in order to keep his mouth opening. They hadn't been conversing about something like choosing a new empress. He had wanted to keep opening the mouth of Ecklet, who for a while had given no reply at all to his words.

When he raised his head and glared, Gideon smiled. The eyes that had always been frozen expressionless were, for once, loosened and relaxed.

"Now you're finally looking at me."

"…."

"And talking readily too."

Ecklet turned his head aside again. He was angry. It felt like he'd been had. It was because he'd let his guard down for a moment on account of the way Gideon had been so on edge over the matter of choosing a new empress lately, and the menacing look he'd been showing until just moments ago.

"Why don't you keep trying to persuade me that I have to choose a new empress."

Gideon said in a laughter-tinged voice.

"I'm tired. I'll be taking my leave now."

Ecklet pushed away the closely-pressed Gideon. Gideon, pushed off obediently, grabbed his wrist and offered, "I'll walk you back." Knowing it would be useless to shake him off, Ecklet moved his steps without a word.

Gideon chose to walk to the detached palace instead of taking a carriage. It was surely to extend the time spent together even a little. The path they walked side by side, his wrist held by him, was quiet. Gideon's face, when he looked up at it, was expressionless. Ecklet could read the fatigue settled in his face without difficulty.

He knew well the cause of the fatigue. The pressure at home and abroad to choose a new empress was growing stronger by the day. The ambassadors of each nation mobilized every connection they could muster to push forward ladies of royal-princess or royal-blood lineage from their own countries, and did not hesitate at lobbying or subtle pressure. Of course, the domestic situation was no less than that, if anything more.

For Gideon, who had not even a proper excuse to refuse, holding out without choosing a new empress must have been gnawing at his nerves not a little. Indeed, on the face of Gideon, who diligently came to the detached palace after finishing his work, the fatigue deepened with each passing day. Anger and irritation, and the displeasure caused by past memories being awakened, were probably part of the cause.

Ecklet, who understood his aversion better than anyone, was, instead of comforting him, only adding to his fatigue with cold rejection. But Gideon did not blame Ecklet for that. He merely came quietly, spent time at his side, and left.

The detached palace drew near. It was quite a distance, but the time spent walking together felt as brief as an instant. Ecklet looked at Gideon's hand gripping his wrist with complicated eyes. Why are you so gentle and generous toward Bobby Palmer—resentment and anger surged up, and yet again his heart fluttered at his actions. But even amid all this, what was fortunate was the fact that his intention to leave this imperial palace, at least, remained firm. Probably, once he had been far away from his side, this complicated heart too would gradually settle and vanish. Ecklet was counting on that.

Before he knew it, they had arrived before the bedchamber. Ecklet quietly pulled his gripped wrist free.

"Thank you for walking me back."

The words, spoken while avoiding his gaze, were closer to a dismissal than an expression of thanks. Gideon grabbed his chin and lifted it. Their eyes met forcibly. Gideon's face gradually drew nearer. Ecklet raised his head to avoid his lips. The eyes of Gideon, refused a kiss, twisted.

The deep-blue eyes that had been quietly gazing discovered, around Ecklet's chest, the locket that was slightly revealing itself between the folds of his garment. Gideon's jaw hardened as he looked at the silver locket containing the portrait of Ecklet Howell. Ecklet gripped the locket in his hand to hide it from his gaze, but it was already too late.

"You wear it around your neck quite ostentatiously, as if flaunting it."

"Now you even meddle in my accessories? You seem to have a great deal of free time."

At the sharp retort, Gideon's mouth twisted crookedly.

"Truly…. You never once keep your mouth shut and yield a single word. You really have a bad temper. Do people naturally grow to resemble each other when they love? Your behavior is the spitting image of Ecklet. I mean to say you're utterly wicked."

His whole body shivered as though he'd received an unexpected attack. Even knowing that Gideon hadn't realized anything, his body trembled without his willing it. However he interpreted that, Gideon's eyes grew fierce.

"What? Does hearing the person you love so dearly badmouthed put you in a bad mood? So angry you can't bear it? But what can be done when it's the truth. Both Ecklet and you have utterly wicked tempers."

It was the first time Gideon had spoken such openly spiteful words to Bobby Palmer. It seemed the resentment over having been rejected all this while was bursting out. In truth, Gideon had endured a great deal. But that was that…. Ecklet too was slowly starting to get heated.

Ha—. Right. So then and now, the moment you look at me, all you can think is that I have a filthy, wicked temper? Well, I'm sorry about that. Someone with a temper this filthy and wicked went and became imperial consort twice in a row.

"Why don't you leave wicked, foul-tempered me be and go back to the main palace? For that matter, why do you keep coming to see foul-tempered me?"

When he shot back with fierce eyes, Gideon bared his teeth and smiled menacingly. The hand gripping his chin filled with force. Ecklet gritted his teeth and endured the throbbing pain. Gideon, who had watched him for a moment with menacing eyes, flung open the bedchamber door. Ecklet was seized by the forearm and dragged into the bedchamber.

The bedchamber door slammed shut roughly. And at the same time his back struck hard against the door. Without even a moment to spit out a groan, his lips were swallowed. It was a violent kiss in which the anger was felt whole. There wasn't even a moment to squirm. His lips were bitten every which way and teeth clashed and clattered. His hard-bitten lip split and there was the taste of blood. His tongue was strongly sucked and bitten, making it hard to breathe.

Ngh, nnghh—!

Ecklet thrashed while gripping Gideon's collar. Beyond the pain, he couldn't breathe. But it was all utterly useless. The strength of Gideon, who was going at it in earnest, was immense. He realized anew just how much Gideon usually held back when dealing with Ecklet.

Gideon, who had poured out a one-sided and rough kiss for a long while, pulled his lips away. When the hands that had been holding him fell away, his strength-drained body slid down below. Gideon quietly looked down at Ecklet, who leaned his back against the door and gasped for breath. While he barely caught his breath and wiped his saliva- and blood-soaked mouth with his sleeve, Gideon merely stared without a word.

"Please go back now."

Ecklet demanded, still slumped on the floor. Gideon did not move. How long had he been like that? Gideon bent his legs and crouched down. When Ecklet raised his head and avoided his gaze, his hand traced the wounded lip. It wasn't as if he were giving the sickness and the cure both. As Ecklet avoided his gaze with a sidelong look, Gideon pulled Ecklet into his embrace.

"I misspoke. You're far more wicked than Ecklet. You throw every tantrum there is to throw, and then when someone tries to get a little angry, you go and cry…. On top of being foul-tempered and wicked, you're even underhanded."

"When did I ever—"

Ecklet, about to retort, presently bit his lip. Damn it. The small mutter was buried in a sob. The tears, which had gone completely loose since he'd awoken in this body, had burst forth of their own accord again. As if being forcibly kissed once were any great matter. He blamed his own pathetic self inwardly like that, but the tears that had already burst forth would not easily stop. Gideon's embrace, holding him tight, was strangely sorrowful, and the tears burst forth all the more.

"Foul-tempered crybaby consort."

Gideon whispered teasingly. Who's a—! Ecklet, welling up and about to argue back, in the end shut his mouth because of the tears bursting forth again. Gideon, as though he'd never been angry, chuckled low and patted Ecklet.

Drowsiness came rushing in. Even as he thought how absurd it was to fall asleep held in someone's arms after having just had a whole quarrel, he was so terribly drowsy. As he blinked eyes heavy as stone, Gideon lifted Ecklet and laid him on the bed. Gideon, having loosened his outer garment, stroked his hair. Blink—

Each time he barely opened his eyes, his face drew nearer. And presently their lips met. Unlike moments ago, it was a very light and gentle kiss.

"I simply cannot understand you at all."

As he sank down into sleep, Gideon's bitter mutter was heard.

I'm the one who can't understand you at all.

He wanted to retort like that, but the next moment he sank completely into sleep. In that brief instant, he felt terribly wronged. Both the throwing away of Ecklet, whom he'd loved to death, like a worn-out shoe, and the sinking headlong, floundering, into foul-tempered and wicked Bobby Palmer as he put it—the one who couldn't understand a single thing was this side….

* * *

The time the emperor had granted was nearly used up. Once the given time ended, it was obvious he would be cast out beyond the imperial palace by force. Once out beyond the palace, everything was over. Epios was spending each day with his blood drying up, hoping Count Sisei would keep his promise as soon as possible. And when at last Count Sisei sent word that he would visit, Epios shut his eyes tight and let out a sigh of relief.

The meeting had to take place secretly. Since Epios's residence was far removed from people's attention, there was no great need for effort, but it was best to avoid the emperor's eyes as much as possible. It was the early afternoon when Count Sisei was to visit, accompanied by the noble who would take Epios as an adopted son. Epios, thoroughly tense, awaited their visit.

"Oh. My. My. Our lord Epios. It's been so long since I've seen you up close."

"…Baron Witches."

The moment the door opened, a middle-aged man who came right up close, Baron Witches, abruptly pressed his lips to the back of Epios's hand. Startled by the damp sensation touching his skin, Epios tried to pull his hand back, but Baron Witches, far from letting go, pressed his body even closer and wore a beaming, meaningful smile.

It was a contact unimaginable in the old days. He'd have been blocked by the emperor or his close attendants before he could even come this close. But now the circumstances were different. There was no one to block him or protect him. Epios realized this fact once again and gritted his teeth.

Why, of all people, someone like this.

Epios sent a resentful gaze toward Count Sisei. Baron Witches was a figure who had long looked at Epios with lecherous eyes. Having lived as a male prostitute, an object of men's lust, he could tell easily.

"Baron. This is too—."

"Shh—. You must call me Father. And don't worry about the adoption matter. I'll begin the registration process this very day, tomorrow if need be."

"Tomorrow, you say?"

"Yes. That's right. Tomorrow. So, come, come close here. Come."

Baron Witches snatched Epios's waist and pulled him close. And pressed their lips together. The horrified Epios thrashed desperately to pry the baron off.

"What do you think you're doing?"

When Epios rubbed his violated lips with the back of his hand and pulled his body away, Baron Witches's laughter-filled face hardened.

"It's you, lord Epios, who—what do you think you're doing right now?"

"What?"

In a very short span of time, Baron Witches's expression and countenance had completely reversed. He looked at Epios with cold, chilly eyes as if reproaching him. The man who had had thick flesh and a lecherous gaze had, in an instant, transformed into a noble who regarded commoners as lower than dogs.

"Didn't you want to become my adopted son and enter the harem? When I'm offering to put you—someone who long ago lost His Majesty's favor—into my house and make you a concubine, you ought to pay a commensurate price. Isn't that so?"

Epios quickly understood what price Baron Witches spoke of. He wanted Epios's body, for which he had harbored lust from before. The now very faint memory of his male-prostitute days surged up all at once. Epios, his face twisting, cried out with a burst.

"I never said I would pay such a price!"

He was no longer a male prostitute. He was a beloved concubine receiving the emperor's love with his whole being. He was the sort of person before whom heaven-high nobles flattered and bowed their heads. He was no mere male prostitute.

"That's strange. It's completely different from what I heard. Count Sisei clearly made me such a proposal. That if only lord Epios's wish were granted, he would gladly pay any price."

"I can give you something else. Once I become a concubine, then anything after that."

Even amid the shame and bewilderment, Epios did not forget his goal. In fact, once he became a concubine, he was willing to do whatever the baron wanted for him. But it seemed it did not satisfy Baron Witches's heart. The baron rose from the sofa with a hardened face.

"Then this deal is off. A shame, but it can't be helped. I'll be taking my leave now."

Count Sisei merely stood off to the side, as if his entire role had ended with bringing Baron Witches. Handle it from here yourself. That intent could be felt. Even amid all this, Baron Witches was stroking Epios's hand meaningfully. Gooseflesh rose over his whole body. Epios, unable to endure any longer in the end, pulled his hand free with force.

"I have something to speak with Count Sisei about for a moment."

Baron Witches unexpectedly stepped aside obediently. Once he was left alone with Count Sisei, Epios hurriedly approached him.

"Why, of all people, that man?"

"Is there some problem?"

Count Sisei asked in a leisurely tone. The count too must have known that Baron Witches had cast a lecherous gaze at Epios. And yet he had deliberately brought such a man.

"Baron Witches… he—."

The rest of the words did not come easily. He looks at me with lecherous eyes. He makes me an object of his lust. Such words could hardly come out of his mouth easily. It was because of shame. While he hesitated, unable to continue, the count's laughter-tinged blue eyes were gazing at Epios as if observing him.

"…I'd prefer it to be someone other than Baron Witches."

"As I asked just now, is there some problem?"

"He… is merely a baron, isn't he. He won't be able to become a great strength to me. It ought to be a count, or a marquis at least…."

"For you, a commoner, to spurn him, calling him 'merely' a baron."

Count Sisei smiled.

"House Witches is an exceedingly wealthy family. He's a man who can exercise practical power rather than a title good only in appearance. And above all…."

The count, breaking off for a moment, twisted his mouth.

"Now that you've lost His Majesty's favor, the only one who has stepped forward to help you, of lowly status, is Baron Witches. There's no room for choice. You ought to consider it a stroke of luck that even he stepped forward."

"…."

"So it would be best to make a good impression on him. Because if his mood sours and he withdraws his hand, there's no more hope for you. Should that happen, there'll be no way for me to help either. Do you understand what I'm saying? Well. If you truly can't stand it, you may refuse."

Count Sisei, having patted his shoulder as if in encouragement, left first. Epios stood biting his lip for a moment, then in the end opened the door of the room where Baron Witches was waiting. Enduring feeling unpleasant for a while was a small thing to bear. Because once he obtained the position of concubine, the baron too would no longer be able to treat him carelessly as he did now.

"Lord Epios."

The moment he entered the room, Baron Witches pulled him by the hand. The baron's hand was plump like his thick-fleshed body and clammy with sweat. Epios was desperate to compose his twisting face. Baron Witches led Epios to the sofa and sat him down, and sat down beside him himself.

"You must have had a hard time all alone. How you must have fretted, all by yourself in this vast imperial palace."

Baron Witches consoled him while stroking his hand.

"Now don't worry about a thing. I'll help you with everything. After you come in as my adopted son, I'll use my influence so you can enter the harem. From now on, you need only trust me. You understand, don't you?"

"Thank you. Baron Witches."

Epios muttered while raising his gaze and avoiding him. The baron rubbed and scratched Epios's palm with his fingers. It was plainly molestation. Before, when he'd made his subtle approaches, Epios had been able to avoid him without hiding his disgust, but now that the positions were reversed, there was nothing to do but endure.

"'Baron Witches,' you say. Not such a title…. From now on you must call me Father. Because you're becoming my son."

"…Yes. Father."

At the obedient reply, Baron Witches laughed aloud. Epios focused on the thought that before long he would possess a noble's status. It was a thing worth enduring.

"Then when will I be taken in as an adopted son? I don't have much time. The time His Majesty permitted me to stay at the palace is running short."

"Now, now. I told you to just trust me. Bringing you in as my adopted son is merely a matter of drawing up a single document and submitting it."

"Then this very day, right away—."

Baron Witches blocked the anxious Epios's lips with his finger. And pressed his body close with a smiling face. The body, already close to begin with, was now half pressed against him. He could feel the warmth and the curves of the body.

Baron Witches gave a slight nod of his head and turned his body. He truly looked without so much as a single grain of lingering regret. At his retreating figure walking toward the door, the sky came crashing down. Count Sisei had clearly said Baron Witches was the last chance. Miss him and there would be no more prospect.

In that brief instant, countless thoughts flashed through Epios's mind. That dreadful time when, sold to a brothel at a young age, he'd had to live receiving customers. The shame and humiliation and pain he'd had to suffer, treated as less than human. The rapturous time after being rescued by Count Sisei and entering the palace. And—….

"Wait!"

Epios dashed and caught Baron Witches. The baron looked back with a chilly face.

Right. Hadn't he lived all that long time selling his body? How many countless men had he received in his life? So, just one more time. Shut his eyes tight and endure just one more time, and he could achieve what he wanted. It wouldn't even show, so just one more time.

"Just this once."

Baron Witches's cold, chilly face changed in an instant. He smiled beamingly and took Epios's hand affectionately.

"You've thought well. My son."

Feeling the clammy touch caressing his hand, Epios shut his eyes tight.

'Well. If you truly can't stand it, you may refuse.'

The words Count Sisei had said as he left circled through his head. He had clearly known things would turn out this way. He'd said he could refuse, but he must have anticipated that Epios wouldn't.

Baron Witches laid Epios down on the sofa. His clothes were peeled off one by one. Thick, clammy hands toyed with his skin. Epios, eyes shut, merely wished for this time to pass.

Behind his shut eyes, the figure of Count Sisei rose up. As always, he stood wearing an unfathomable smile.

You really are a devil.

He muttered inwardly. But now he dimly understood.

"If there is someone who would willingly take that devil's hand again and again, they would surely be just like you, Epios."

"So, will you take my hand? Or will you, this time at last, shake it off?"

* * *

"My lady. Did you hear?"

The young maid who had been combing his hair opened her mouth with eyes that simply could not hold it in. The maid beside her gave the young maid a warning look, but once opened, the mouth would not stop.

"The beloved concubine who was driven out to the far end of the western palace. Epios."

When he looked over at the name Epios, the young maid prattled on excitedly.

"They say he's become Baron Witches's adopted son. The whole palace is in an uproar over the story."

The young maid only shut her mouth after being jabbed in the side. A trace of gauging whether she had perhaps disturbed his mood could be felt, but in truth Ecklet was entirely unaffected. Because it was he himself who had taught Epios that method.

That it was always oneself who decided to take the hand Count Sisei extended. He never once forced it. The choice was always one's own. And this time too, the one who had gone to that devil and extended his hand first was none other than oneself.

* * *

He managed to pull it off.

Ecklet chuckled. To think there was still someone left who would take the hand of Epios, of commoner status and fallen from favor. House Witches was, if anything, a family counted among the wealthy. And the baron too, unlike his ever-smiling face, was a considerable man of resource. It didn't seem like something he'd pulled off alone… so had Count Sisei bridged it for him?

In any case, it was good news.

To Epios he'd put it as wanting to watch him flounder, but in truth it was a thing that helped Ecklet too. Therefore, if he played his role well, it was a good thing.

"I don't understand why he'd take in as an adopted son a beloved concubine who's even lost His Majesty's favor. It's not as if a commoner's bloodline changes by becoming a noble house's adopted son."

The young maid grumbled, jutting out her lips. It was unclear when Gideon's favor had been at its peak, but now that the favor was lost, Epios's reputation was poor. In particular, the attendants and maids who had been born of noble blood yet had to wait on the commoner Epios were apt to send hostile glances.

"Still, perhaps His Majesty did that for him because he was once a beloved concubine. Because it was pitiful to simply cast him out."

As if her mouth itched terribly, the young maid whispered, heedless of the glare the maid beside her gave.

The hairdressing finished and the maids withdrew. Ecklet went to the window and looked at the distant main palace. If the wealthy and resourceful Baron Witches stepped forward, Epios's wish to become a concubine was not a mere dream either. And whether it came true or not, it was certain that Gideon would suffer quite a headache. Wasn't the situation already one where his nerves were on edge over the matter of a new empress? If Epios's affair descended upon him along with it, it would become utterly wearisome. It was as though he could vividly hear at his ear the sound of Gideon's patience reaching its limit.

That day, in the early afternoon.

At last, the nursemaid entered the palace again.

It was long after he had returned to the imperial palace, all but abducted by Gideon from the Palmer house. Since he had declared divorce to Gideon the moment he returned to the palace, calling the nursemaid back in again was no easy matter either.

In any case, now at last both the luggage that had been at the Palmer house and the nursemaid could enter the imperial palace again. At the reunion, finally achieved after they'd been parted when he was snatched away by the emperor without so much as a goodbye, the nursemaid welled up with tears again. Ecklet, by now quite accustomed to the nursemaid's fits of tears, soothed her without difficulty. Soothing her was simple. It was a matter of saying he was hungry, or that he wanted to drink some tea.

At the words that he wanted veal pie, the nursemaid brightened and dashed off. Since Bobby Palmer had been such a picky eater from childhood, whenever he wanted to eat anything, the nursemaid was beside herself with joy. Once the nursemaid had thus disappeared, the attendants finally began bustling about to sort the returned luggage. Ecklet sat in a chair and watched them sort the luggage. Returning to their places the luggage that had been loaded up by the carriageful and hauled out and back was no small task.

As he watched the busy movement, the chief attendant Jefferson suggested how about a walk. He must have looked terribly bored. Ecklet refused with silence and focused on watching. It wasn't as if he watched because sorting luggage was particularly interesting. He was waiting for a certain item that ought to appear to reveal itself. To be precise, Bobby Palmer's precious wooden box.

He could have just told them to find it and bring it, but he didn't. The moment he named it aloud and sought it, it would become an item of significance to the consort Bobby Palmer. There was no need to draw attention to the existence of a box that could become a great weakness.

The afternoon passed entirely on sorting the luggage. But the wooden box did not turn up. According to the nursemaid, it had definitely been packed and loaded onto the carriage, so it had vanished either along the way, or while the luggage was being unloaded and sorted.

It was a wooden box that looked plain and worthless on the outside. There was no way someone, blinded by greed for possessions, had stolen it. He'd deliberately fitted it with a lock, so there was no way someone had opened the inside by mistake and taken it either. In the end, it was a story of someone having deliberately combed through the luggage coming into the palace. The likelihood was great that they'd rummaged to see if there was anything that could serve as a weakness, and having found it, taken it.

"Was there something precious inside? Shall I send word for them to search in case it was left behind at the mansion?"

As he sank into deep thought after inquiring about the wooden box, the nursemaid asked worriedly. Ecklet shook his head.

Saying he was tired, he drove everyone out of the room, and Ecklet gripped the locket hanging at his neck with menacing eyes. It was the love letter the boy Bobby Palmer had written to him. That letter alone was the sole possession that was wholly Ecklet Howell's. At the thought that someone had stolen it, heat rose to the top of his head.

"Kimbel Sutton!"

When he shouted out, Kimbel Sutton, who had been waiting outside, came in. Ecklet, keeping Kimbel Sutton standing before him, took a great deep breath. But the heat still remained risen to the top of his head.

"Is there something you wish me to do?"

Kimbel asked in his usual placid voice.

"Was it you?"

The abrupt question could be considerably insulting. But Kimbel did not so much as furrow his brow once.

"What do you mean?"

"My box has gone missing. That box you saw at the stable."

"It was not I."

"Even if it wasn't you, you have a guess as to whose doing it is, don't you?"

Kimbel shut his mouth. When a reply was difficult, he chose silence. In the end, his silence meant affirmation. He was a needlessly honest man. And Ecklet greatly disliked that manner of honesty.

"Well. Fine. Go at once and fetch my box. Because I need to have it back right this instant."

Kimbel did not move. He was wearing that look again. That look, awkward and feeling a little guilt. Ecklet glared at him with fierce eyes.

"I wonder whether His Majesty knows that the knight he assigned to protect me might in fact be the most dangerous existence to me. Isn't that so? Sir Sutton."

The eyes of Kimbel, which had held awkwardness, hardened minutely. Since he was a man so utterly without expression, even that small change stood out greatly. Ecklet leaned his back against the chair, wearing a crooked smile.

"Since the subject's come up, how about we slowly start being open with each other now? I've known for a while. Though I was certain only after being bitten by the viper. That a culprit clearly visible even in my investigation, when I'd barely entered the palace, couldn't be found by His Majesty—how could that possibly make sense?"

"…."

"An unfamiliar person coming and going in a detached palace with few people and isolated is bound to stand out. Especially right after the viper bite, my detached palace was watched airtight by my people and His Majesty's people. In such a situation, those who could secretly erase evidence were limited. In the end, that's it. It's a story that someone who was in the detached palace and at the same time close at hand to His Majesty made the evidence disappear."

Kimbel's gaze lowered. His face was confessing everything.

"There was no need to even search. There was no one else who could do it besides you."

When Ecklet crooked his finger, Kimbel obediently bent his knee and crouched. Their gazes drew near.

"No matter how I weigh it, there's no way you or your house and I would be bound by conflicting interests, so the likely conclusion is that in the end you did it to protect someone—."

Ecklet grabbed and pulled the collar of Kimbel, who was right at hand. Their faces drew close. Their eyes met right in front of each other. As if that stirred his guilt all the more, Kimbel's eyes twisted.

"To protect whom did you bury the evidence? Epios? Or Ren Sisei, who's behind him?"

He gazed into Kimbel's eyes for a long while as if gauging, but he couldn't pin down which of the two. Kimbel was a placid and needlessly honest man, but he was no fool. He was a man born and raised a noble, who had spent long years close at hand to the emperor. He knew at least how to hide what absolutely had to be hidden. But it didn't matter. It was clearly one of the two, either Epios or Count Sisei. That much was enough.

"You said the reason you were prowling around the Palmer house the day before I entered the palace was that you'd obtained intelligence of a threat to my safety. I asked before, but I'll ask once more. That intelligence—who did you get it from? Who was the one trying to harm me? Just what was that person's reason for trying to harm Bobby Palmer?"

That Bobby Palmer would seize the heart of the emperor Gideon was something no one could have predicted. There was no way to understand the reason for trying to harm, before he even entered the palace, some male concubine who was fated to live receiving only the emperor's hatred. And to say it was simply to strike at the Palmer house, the timing was too curious.

As expected, Kimbel Sutton did not open his mouth. Ecklet, who hadn't held any expectation to begin with, let go of the collar he'd been gripping and leaned his back again.

It was after he'd finished. Coming to the detached palace at a time when he should have been deep in his work was rare. And from the look of Gideon's face, it wasn't a particularly good matter either.

At the sight of Gideon approaching Ecklet directly, the chief attendant hurriedly withdrew to the back. Gideon, standing behind Ecklet's chair, wrapped both arms around his neck. Burying his nose in the crown of his head and drawing a deep breath was like hurriedly inhaling a sedative. Only after drawing several such deep breaths did Gideon seem to feel a little better.

"Give me a cup of tea or something. Crybaby consort."

The words, spoken with his chin propped on Ecklet's shoulder instead of the crown of his head, somehow seemed like coaxing.

"You're heavy and my shoulder hurts. Move aside a bit."

Ecklet pushed Gideon's face with his fingertips. Gideon, who had held out with his chin propped on the shoulder, finally surrendered and fell away.

"Utterly wicked."

Gideon, plopping down in the opposite chair the chief attendant offered, grumbled. And then he leaned deep into the chair and tilted his head back. Gideon's chest, sprawled with his head resting against the chair-back, heaved slowly and greatly. His eyes, as he drew a heavy sigh, were slightly closed. Seeing that figure gave the illusion of having gone back to the past.

Back when he was the consort Ecklet Howell, Gideon would occasionally sit before him with such a weary face, spending time. The weak parts he would never show before the retainers who followed him, he often showed before Ecklet Howell. He, who always had to be a steadfast sovereign before his retainers, was perhaps able to show his weary and fatigued self more comfortably precisely because Ecklet was an enemy.

Seeing the creases furrowed between his brows brought a pitiable feeling. The more so, the harder Ecklet stiffened his face. Because he was in no position to clumsily comfort him or do anything for him.

"Hand."

Gideon, who had been leaning back with eyes shut, abruptly demanded. He was stretching his arm toward Ecklet with his eyes closed. It meant give me your hand. When Ecklet merely stared blankly, Gideon once more demanded confidently, "Hand." As a matter of course he ignored it, but Gideon wouldn't just leave it. Instead of forcibly pulling his hand, he,

"Please just hold my hand. Wicked crybaby consort."

—made a show of pleading. And gazed at Ecklet with just one eye slyly opened. He urged him along, wiggling the hand held out toward him. At that sight, Ecklet ended up chuckling.

…A hand's not much, I suppose.

"Oh, by the way, Your Majesty."

Count Sisei caught the attention of Gideon, who was about to return to his work. Seeing the deep-blue eyes turn toward him, the count grinned.

"Did you hear that news? About lord Epios. They say he's become the adopted son of a noble house."

"Adopted son? Whose?"

"Baron Witches."

Gideon set down the pen he was holding.

It was a situation where things were noisy beyond measure at home and abroad over the seat of the new empress. As if his head weren't aching enough already, now this time Epios had gone and become the adopted son of a noble house. And of all houses, Baron Witches's adopted son—.

Baron Witches was a figure who had secretly offered help since the days when Gideon was crown prince. The sum he had donated to Gideon was not small. He was a figure always keeping a foot in both camps, but in any case he was not an opponent to be cut off carelessly. What reason could there be for such a Baron Witches to take Epios in as an adopted son? As his handling of affairs had always been, it would be to keep a foot on various possibilities by helping Epios.

Epios. He'd given him time to decide his whereabouts before sending him out beyond the palace, and to think he'd moved like this in the meantime. He'd cut off all information and contact so that Epios couldn't form a political faction, yet in the brief window when his person had become free, he'd moved quick-footedly.

Creases formed again between Gideon's brows. On his face, which always maintained an expressionless look, there was scarcely a day lately without faint creases. And those creases only grew deeper and deeper. That was how vexing the days were.

Gideon, who had been sitting with his face scrunched as his mood reached its worst, sprang up from his seat.

"Your Majesty?"

"I need to take a walk."

Gideon strode out of the office with fast steps. Call it a walk, but it was obvious he was heading to the detached palace where the consort Bobby Palmer was.

"My lady. His Majesty is coming."

The chief attendant Jefferson conveyed in an urgent voice. No sooner had Jefferson finished speaking than the bedchamber door opened. It was Gideon. Ecklet glanced at the outside, still bright. Despite the cold rejection and disregard, Gideon always came, but that was only after his day's duties—

"Well, fine. Never mind the rest, just go quickly and fetch my box. Until you've found the box, don't so much as set foot in the detached palace. Do you understand. Sir Sutton."

Kimbel Sutton withdrew with a hardened face. Ecklet, buried deep in his chair, fiddled with the locket hanging at his chest. Touching the locket had by now become entirely a habit, to the point that he felt bereft when it wasn't in his hand.

In truth, there was nothing to gain from pointlessly rummaging as if searching and badgering Kimbel Sutton. It would only signal that this side was anxious. Whether by threat or by deal, it would be better to wait quietly until the other party brought it out of their own accord. Fundamentally speaking, that is. But well, that too would be good in its own way.

Right. That's precisely my weakness. The weakness you could bite into and inflict a fatal wound with. So go ahead and bite into it. In exchange, you'd best keep it safe and sound and bring it back. Because if you bring it back with even a scratch on it, I won't let it slide.

* * *

"Lady Heather is the cousin the king cherishes most."

The cloth covering the portrait was drawn away. The young woman, seated at an angle with her eyes cast slightly downward, gave a demure and modest impression. That she cast her gaze down, when this sort of portrait usually gazes straight ahead, was undoubtedly out of consideration for Gideon's taste. The young emperor would surely detest a woman with the potential to clash politically, so they had emphasized the submissive and demure aspect as much as possible. Like Epios, who had once received deep affection.

The reason Gideon was looking at this portrait despite his displeasure was that the other party was the nation of Telmer. Telmer, sharing a border to the west, was an exceedingly wealthy nation through its lively maritime trade. Since Telmer was a major ally, he had to at least make a show of looking at the portrait.

As befit a candidate Telmer had chosen with great care, the young woman was beautiful and seemed submissive and demure. Her bloodline too was excellent, and her age appropriate. In particular, the dowry she would bring was enough to make one's ears prick up.

"A whole harbor, you say."

Gideon muttered, propping his temple with a finger. The ambassador of Telmer nodded confidently, a smile across his whole face.

"That's right. Your Majesty. As long as Lady Heather remains as Your Majesty's empress, the harbor of Nobelton will always be open to Your Majesty."

The dowry Telmer proposed was precisely the free lease of Nobelton harbor.

Nobelton harbor was one of Telmer's three major trade ports. It was the smallest in scale of the three great harbors, but it was only 'comparatively' small; a considerable volume came into and went out to the continent through there. This side too had to pay Telmer a not-insignificant sum each time it used that harbor. And yet they were offering to lease that harbor as a dowry at no cost. It wasn't complete monopoly, but even that alone was tremendous.

This was truly a matter with room for deliberation. It was a dowry no one could easily shake off. Telmer had made a truly striking decision.

When Gideon remained sunk in deep thought without saying yea or nay, the surrounding retainers exchanged glances with tense eyes. Most of the retainers around Gideon were in a situation of being severely pressured by their houses to use their influence so that the new empress would come from their family. Seeing the attractive dowry Telmer proposed, they couldn't help but grow tense over whether the empress seat might slip away.

"…And if I refuse?"

Gideon opened his mouth after a long while. The Telmer ambassador, without erasing his smile, bowed politely at the waist.

"Our king, who greatly anticipates that relations will grow close through the marriage, will fall into very, very great heartbreak."

Call it heartbreak, but it was as good as saying that disadvantages would arise. That would become a headache impossible to ignore.

"They say Lady Heather is in fact a considerable beauty. And her nature is so mild and gentle that she'll never interfere with or oppose her husband."

After the Telmer ambassador had withdrawn, Count Sisei spoke while looking at the portrait. Portraits meant to sound out a marriage were mostly not to be fully trusted, as they were often drawn glorified or with faults severely softened. But this portrait seemed to have almost no such artifice.

Gideon, half-listening to Count Sisei's words, waved his hand. At the gesture to take the portrait away, the attendants hurriedly removed it.

"It's a good proposal. Your Majesty. Do give it consideration."

Count Sisei urged with a laughter-tinged face. Gideon didn't flatly say no either. That was how attractive the dowry was. Gideon, who had grown up educated as crown prince, had briefly at a young age burned with ambition to conquer Telmer. It was the harbors he coveted, rather than the wealth.

But the hesitation was truly only a moment. Gideon presently shook Telmer's proposal out of his mind. For Gideon, what was important was not the attractive dowry that would follow the empress, but the pressure Telmer had subtly applied along with the proposal. For Gideon, who was excessively fastidious about that sort of thing, it was a factor he could absolutely not tolerate.

The retainers, seeing the creases between his brows vanish, were relieved. It meant Gideon's brief deliberation had ended, and the empress seat still remained open.

A shallow thought came to him. When he stealthily stretched out his hand, it was caught at once and yanked hard. The body that had been sitting in the chair was, in an instant, sucked into Gideon's embrace. He protested, "Your Majesty!" but Gideon, without a word, lifted Ecklet's body and, seating him at an angle on his own knee, held him close. Holding him tight like that, he let out a satisfied sigh.

Wound about with both arms, he couldn't budge at all. The tightly pressed body bothered him.

"Let go of me a bit."

Despite the crooked protest, Gideon gave no reaction. He merely held Ecklet tight and quietly drew his breaths. As if he'd found a comfortable place not easily found, he was taking his rest with his eyes shut. Again a pitiable feeling surged up.

He won't let go even if I ask him to anyway.

Ecklet rationalized inwardly like that and quietly leaned into Gideon's embrace. As time kept flowing on just so, he didn't particularly feel bored or restless. It was as if time had stopped, or as if it were a fleeting instant.

The two of them spent a good while just like that. He felt the presence of the chief attendant, who quietly came in to check inside and left again, several times over, but neither Ecklet nor Gideon reacted at all. The outside, which had been bright, was by now being dyed with red evening glow.

"Your Majesty. The young master—no, the consort—may take ill in the body if you stay in one posture so long!"

The nursemaid, who had been fretting outside, finally flung open the bedchamber door and came in and had her say. Had it not been for the nursemaid, the two might have spent the whole night just like that. At the sight of the nursemaid making a fuss right beside him, Gideon unwound the arms wound tight about him. As the nursemaid said, the body that had been in one posture so long creaked. Gideon lifted such Ecklet and laid him on the bed.

Gideon stood at Ecklet's bedside and bent at the waist. Having pressed his lips to his forehead, he whispered by his ear.

"Thanks to you my mood has eased. I have to go back now, so you rest well."

Gideon, having stroked his cheek a few times as if reluctant, turned his body. He seemed to intend to tackle from now the work he'd put off to come here. The nursemaid began to knead Ecklet's stiffened arms and legs.

"Thanks to the young master, His Majesty seems to have recovered his spirits a bit."

"Well now—. Who's to say. Whether I bolster His Majesty's spirits or break them is something we'll have to wait and see to know."

Ecklet smiled bitterly, tracing the forehead where Gideon's lips had touched.

"Ren."

Count Sisei stopped his steps. The one standing guard in the corridor leading to the emperor's office was Kimbel Sutton. Kimbel Sutton, approaching Count Sisei, wore a grave expression. Kimbel mostly kept a placid and expressionless face, but when one has known someone for many long years, one can catch even the faintest change of expression.

"Aren't you the emperor's loyal knight-commander. What brings you to seek me out?"

A crooked smile rose at the corner of Count Sisei's mouth. Kimbel Sutton, without preamble, seized and pulled Count Sisei's arm. Even as he opened the door right beside them and dragged him in, Count Sisei followed obediently.

The heavy door closed and locked. The small waiting room was empty. It was clearly the case that he'd been waiting with this place in mind from the start. Count Sisei, far from being flustered, leaned his back comfortably against the sofa in the waiting room and sat.

"So. What grand matter is it that you've arranged such a secret meeting?"

Kimbel Sutton stood before Count Sisei, who sat leaning back at ease. Large, firm knightly hands seized both of Count Sisei's shoulders. His shoulders, gripped hard enough that muscle and sinew stood taut, would surely hurt, yet Count Sisei's expression did not change.

"Was it you who took the consort's box?"

"Well now. Who could it be?"

Count Sisei smirked.

"Ren. Go no further than this. I'm telling you to truly rein it in now. I'm saying this for your sake. There's a limit to how much I can veil the emperor's eyes and ears and shield you. You don't suppose His Majesty truly knows nothing, do you?"

"…. Saying it for my sake?"

Count Sisei's face hardened coldly.

"You're saying it for my sake? For my sake, you say."

Count Sisei, muttering, burst into laughter. As though he'd heard something truly comical, in the eyes of Count Sisei, who threw his head back laughing, a blue edge stood sharp.

"If you were so worried about me, you shouldn't have made that request back then. Isn't that right? Kimbel Sutton."

Kimbel's face contorted wretchedly. Seeing that face, the corner of Count Sisei's mouth curled up.

"When did I ever ask you to veil the emperor's eyes and ears? Did I ever ask you to clean up after me?"

Count Sisei's finger jabbed at Kimbel Sutton's chest.

"Don't get it wrong. Kimbel. What you have to stop isn't me. I'm a person who, as His Majesty's loyal servant, can look up at heaven without a single speck of shame. My every action is carried out solely for the sake of His Majesty the emperor alone. It is precisely I who perfectly serve and assist His Majesty. I'm assisting him so that he may reign as a flawless sovereign without a single speck of dust."

"You're wrong. Ren. You're wrong."

Kimbel whispered with a contorted face, but he too already knew those words would not reach Ren Sisei.

"On the contrary, the one harming His Majesty is precisely you. Kimbel. If you truly are for His Majesty, you ought to cleanly clear away useless male concubines and beloved consorts and the like, and in their place seat a good-blooded mare to His Majesty's taste upon the empress's throne. If you feed the empress a drug and make her barren, His Majesty's cause for worry will vanish too. After that he'll be able to devote himself solely to affairs of state without any headache whatsoever over concubine matters."

"That will not happen, Ren. Because I won't let it turn out that way."

"If you don't let it? What will you do?"

"Will you go and report to His Majesty that I made that male prostitute loose a viper? Or that I stole the consort's private possession? Or failing that, will you try reporting that on the day before entering the palace, I tried to poison Bobby Palmer to death?"

"Ren."

"Or failing even that! That I—."

"Stop it!"

Kimbel Sutton shouted out. Count Sisei, slammed hard into the sofa with both shoulders held, laughed with his shoulders heaving.

After a moment, Count Sisei, having stopped laughing, peeled off the hands of Kimbel Sutton that gripped both his shoulders. When he shoved them away roughly with his palms, Kimbel Sutton stepped back. Count Sisei rose from his seat and straightened his disordered clothes. The eyes of Kimbel Sutton watching such a count were wretchedly contorted.

"You and I are both servants who devote our loyalty to His Majesty. It's only that the methods differ a little. Think rationally. What good is there in a male, Bobby Palmer, being at His Majesty's side? He's a maggot that pointlessly drains the imperial treasury. Getting rid of him is the thing for His Majesty's sake."

Count Sisei, having straightened his attire, tapped Kimbel Sutton's shoulder.

"So don't be so sensitive. You need only watch as I work for His Majesty's sake. Haven't you done so all this while. Hm?"

The hand tapping Kimbel Sutton's shoulder was grabbed hard. At the tremendous grip, Count Sisei furrowed his eyes. The face of Kimbel Sutton, which had been full of wretchedness, had by now returned to impassivity.

"This is as far as it goes. Ren. I can no longer shield you."

"You talk as if I ever asked. Did I ever once ask you to shield me? You do as you please. Because I'll do as I please."

Count Sisei shook off the caught hand and turned his body. Kimbel Sutton snatched his hand again and warned in a heavy voice.

"His Majesty is in earnest. Do not touch the consort."

"It's none of my concern. I mean to protect His Majesty as a sovereign; I'm not trying to protect His Majesty's love or heart or the like. Is love even befitting a sovereign?"

"I will protect the consort. Ren. His Majesty has so commanded."

Count Sisei, who gazed for a moment at his hand caught by Kimbel Sutton, presently shook it off and turned his body.

"Tell him the box can be returned before long."

Count Sisei vanished beyond the waiting room. Kimbel Sutton gazed with anguished eyes at the door through which Count Sisei had disappeared.

Sisei, having left the waiting room, headed straight for the emperor's office. The time had been delayed a little, but not enough to be late. As the office drew near, the number of maids encountered in the corridor grew. The maids who had crowded in at just the right time to catch a glimpse of the handsome young count, always wearing a smile, were each busy blushing. But they failed to notice the fierce fury glinting deep within the eyes of the smiling Count Sisei.

The blue eyes of Count Sisei, standing before the office door, gleamed cruelly. The only thing to see that look was the office door alone. Presently, when the door opened, the count wore the smile he usually wore.

The young sovereign was already immersed in affairs of state. Count Sisei stepped up before the emperor.

"Your Majesty. I have something I must tell you in confidence."

The pen moving in the emperor's hand stopped. The deep-blue eyes looking at Count Sisei were calm. The creases between his brows, there just until yesterday, had also vanished. It seemed he'd had a good time at the detached palace. Lately the emperor's mood was largely dictated by the consort of the detached palace.

It was a good thing. The more the emperor was deep in love with Bobby Palmer, the greater the aftermath would be when things blew up. As love runs deep, so hatred and loathing are bound to deepen.

"What is it?"

Gideon asked, having dismissed those around. Count Sisei opened his mouth, furrowing his eyes as if awkward.

"I've found the cause of why home and abroad have suddenly grown noisy over the matter of a new empress. Just as Your Majesty surmised, this whole affair began in one place. It seems someone secretly contacted powerful houses and the ambassadors of each nation and hinted that hadn't the time come for Your Majesty to take a new empress. They said Your Majesty would no longer greatly mind now, so to proceed. Since the source was so trustworthy, it appears everyone leapt in without much deliberation."

The deep-blue eyes hardened coldly. Count Sisei continued, unfazed.

"In particular, to several powerful houses at home, they even directly picked out and pointed to candidates likely to be to Your Majesty's liking. It was such a meticulous selection—not only appearance and character and bloodline, but even the dowry they could bring and the political interests involved, all chosen as ladies sure to be exactly to Your Majesty's taste. It was admirable, even."

Count Sisei looked as if he wanted to applaud. Gideon propped his temple with a fingertip. Between his brows, the creases that had barely vanished had formed again.

"Astonishingly, the one who orchestrated all of it behind the scenes was none other than—."

"Enough."

Just as the name of the culprit who had vexed him so relentlessly of late was about to come out, Gideon blocked the words. Count Sisei smiled with narrowed eyes. The reason he was reluctant to hear who the culprit was would be one. He didn't want to confirm as fact what he'd dimly surmised from before. But Count Sisei did not aid the emperor's evasion.

"It is the consort of the detached palace."

Gideon shut his eyes tight.

"When I looked into it, I found that since returning from the Palmer house he had been moving busily. Not only did he hint about the empress matter to the mistress of each house and send letters addressed to the ambassadors of each nation, but under the pretext of walks he apparently held secret meetings and even offered various bits of advice."

Something grazed past Count Sisei's ear in flight. The inkpot Gideon had thrown struck the floor and shattered to bits. At the clamorous sound, the knights who rushed in looked back and forth between Count Sisei's ink-stained clothes and the emperor sending a fury-laden gaze toward that count.

"Your Majesty. Do you have a command to give?"

a knight asked. Instead of answering, Gideon headed out of the office with rough steps. Once Gideon had vanished beyond the office, Count Sisei clicked his tongue, inspecting his ink-stained clothes.

At the sight of the emperor, who had descended suddenly, the chief attendant wore a startled expression. Before the chief attendant could even raise his bowed waist, the emperor passed by his side. The emperor's gait, heading straight for the bedchamber with rough, fast steps, was ominous beyond measure.

The chief attendant, sensing the extraordinary atmosphere, hurriedly chased after the emperor. Though he tried several times to check his steps, calling Your Majesty, the emperor didn't so much as pretend to hear. Instead the emperor flung open the bedchamber door as if to break it and stepped inside.

The bedchamber of the consort Bobby Palmer was quiet. The maids tidying the bedchamber had their eyes wide as startled rabbits. Before the startled maids could gather their wits and pay their respects, the emperor's figure had vanished.

The emperor went about flinging open every door of the detached palace that was a door, scattering an ominous aura all about. When, even after searching all the rooms of the exceedingly small detached palace, the figure of the one he sought was nowhere to be seen, the emperor's fury exploded outright.

The emperor, drawing the sword from the waist of a knight following close behind, began to smash the room to pieces. Each time the sword cut through the air, furniture was sliced and broken and split. At the ferocious sight, the maids screamed and shut their eyes tight. The knights who had long guarded the emperor's side couldn't hide their bewildered expressions at this rarely-seen sight. From his early days as crown prince, the emperor had been a person who, far from such violent outbursts of emotion, took care even with small expressions of feeling.

"Shall I bring the consort?"

the maid who had managed to keep her composure whispered to the chief attendant. The chief attendant shook his head. The reason the emperor had deliberately come all the way to the detached palace to ferociously smash the room was obvious. He was thoroughly enraged at the consort. If they met in such a situation, that fury would obviously pour out entirely onto the consort. The emperor too, knowing this, was likely smashing the innocent room rather than asking where the consort was.

In a short time the room was utterly ruined. Watching the back of the emperor standing tall amid the ruin, the chief attendant let out a sigh. It was fortunate that this last room he'd descended upon was one of the bedchambers not much used. Since not much money had gone into it, the loss was that much smaller. Had a bedchamber or study the consort used been smashed, that loss would have been enormous.

The chief attendant, calculating the restoration costs inwardly even in such a situation, straightened his posture with a start at the deep-blue eyes turning toward him. The emperor's gaze, having poured out a bout of fury, was nonetheless still rough. At the wordless question, the chief attendant spat out the place where the consort was now. The emperor, having returned the sword he held to the knight who was its rightful owner, commanded that no one follow, and headed for the detached palace garden.

Unlike the raging gale within Gideon, the weather was clear and fine. The snakes that had come out to the path to sunbathe hid their figures into the bushes with a slither at the presence of a person.

The insides that had been boiling hot were in truth not calmed in the least. If anything, they seethed all the more furiously and made his head burn. Gideon resolved that this time alone he would not let it pass. Everything else he could endure, but this one thing he could not. Being coerced and opposed by mobilizing political means was something he could not simply let go. Having set such a thing in motion behind his back, she had watched silently at his side as he suffered the headache. How could she deceive him with such a composed face?

The nearer the destination drew, the more all sorts of cruel and violent thoughts churned in his head. His eyes were red with the sense of betrayal. If he met her in this state now, he might strangle the boy's neck on the spot. But knowing it was better not to face him until the heat cooled, he still couldn't manage it.

Gideon at last spotted the one he'd been aiming for. As if struck in the eye by an arrow, the figure of that single person alone lodged itself into his sight.

The boy… his crybaby consort was sitting on a bench at the edge of the garden path. He sat leaning his back comfortably, head tilted back and eyes closed. Over such a boy, sunlight poured down in full. As if the sunlight felt so good, a faint smile even hung at the corner of the boy's mouth.

The attendants who spotted Gideon hurriedly bent at the waist. At that presence, the boy slowly lifted his closed eyelids. His green eyes, discovering Gideon, gazed at him blankly. The instant their eyes met, all his strength drained away.

"Have you come out to play again in the middle of working?"

the boy asked. The utterly composed manner was infuriating. When he stepped right up in front of him, the boy blinked slowly. The green eyes that always brought him down so simply. Gideon covered the boy's eyes with his hand.

"…What are you doing?"

"I thought if I covered those eyes, I might be able to get properly angry."

The lips were about to move. Gideon covered the boy's mouth too with his other hand. The small face was completely hidden within both hands. The breath issuing from the sole remaining nose tickled his hands.

"If I stop up this insolent and wicked mouth too, will I be able to punish you?"

Instead of thrashing to pry the hands off, the boy quietly only drew his breaths.

"Why did you do it? Why did you incite the choosing of a new empress? Did you think that if a new empress came in, I would easily let you go? That I'd even grant you a divorce as you so desperately wish?"

There was no reply. It was only natural, since he'd stopped it up so he couldn't give one.

"Or did you simply want me to suffer a headache? Did you want to inflict a wound on me?"

Stopping up both the green eyes that always shook him and the lips that, never yielding a word, chattered only wicked things, made it far easier to reproach him. The boy, who had quietly only drawn his breaths, pulled away the hands covering his eyes and mouth.

The boy, blinking a few times as if dazzled, looked up at Gideon. In the green eyes there was not a speck of guilt or apology. The boy, looking up with composed and clear eyes, said.

"Please divorce me. Your Majesty."

In place of the hot fury and betrayal that had cooled, a cold and chilling fury quietly bloomed. Gideon, with an expressionless face, wrapped his hand around the boy's neck. The frail, slender neck fit simply into one hand.

"Don't make me angry. Consort. I become pathetically weak and generous toward you, but that doesn't mean there's no limit to it. Don't test my limit."

In the eyes gazing at Gideon there was still not a single speck of fear.

"My house has considerable military strength and political influence too. I can become a headache to Your Majesty at any time. And if need be, I've every will to. My loyal father would never do such a thing as oppose Your Majesty, but if I set my mind to it, I can hand you a headache like this one anytime. Will you live with an explosive in your bosom that may go off at any moment?"

"Now you even threaten me to my face."

"I'm glad you've understood."

Force entered the hand gripping his neck. The boy's face turned red. With just a little more force, the boy's breath would cease pitifully simply. Despite possessing such a frail body, the boy's insides were so terribly tough. Had this body been a little stronger, would he have been able to handle the boy more roughly than now? He pondered for a moment, but couldn't know the answer.

Gideon released his hand. The face that had flushed red gradually recovered its original complexion. Gideon lifted the still perfectly composed boy and headed for the detached palace. The boy was held meekly and quietly.

Gideon went into the bedchamber of the detached palace and laid the boy on the bed. And he swept the boy's soft cheek. The green eyes were gazing at Gideon with observing eyes, as if to predict his next action.

Gideon, who had turned his body to head out of the bedchamber, halted his steps for a moment. And with an expressionless face he opened his mouth.

"From this moment on, the consort is confined to the detached palace."

After Gideon left, the vicinity of the detached palace was surrounded by soldiers. Everyone, the chief attendant included, moved quietly, holding their breath. The nursemaid, who had been observing outside the window with anxious eyes, approached the bed.

"Why has His Majesty confined the young master?"

"His Majesty… loves Bobby Palmer, you see."

Enough that, even though I did the thing he hates most, he couldn't even properly get angry, and could only barely confine me to keep me from doing the same thing again.

"…What?"

The nursemaid gazed at Ecklet with puzzled eyes. But knowing her young master had no intention of interpreting his words for her, she once more set about consoling.

"His Majesty will lift the confinement soon. Don't worry."

"That we'll see."

Ecklet traced the neck Gideon had gripped earlier. The sensation of the hand that couldn't bring itself to strangle was still vivid.

No matter how firm and solid a thing, if you strike the same spot several times, it's bound to crack and in the end break. A crack will have begun to form with this affair, so next time it will break. Or the time after that.