Preparations for the Founding Festival (6)
“Haha, then I won’t hold back and will ask directly.”
Marquis Redcliffe answered with a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
“If His Majesty the King and Duke Crowner were to duel, who does Your Majesty think would win?”
A chilly silence fell over the hall at his question.
Jerome glared at the marquis for posing such a difficult question, then glanced sideways at Kaiden.
He’s definitely no ordinary opponent.
With monster appearances growing more frequent these days, wars between humans had decreased. Thanks to that, Jerome had never once crossed blades with Kaiden.
They call him the King of Knights.
Though he’d been acting refined in front of the emperor, Jerome was a knight who lived by the sword. He too felt a competitive urge to test himself against the man who had conquered the entire western region in just three years.
Still, he had no intention of revealing that desire openly.
“I’ve heard many stories about the empire’s sword.”
At that moment, Kaiden spoke first. His gaze was fixed on Jerome.
“As one who wields a blade, it would be a great honor to cross swords someday.”
When such a beautiful young man smiled and spoke with humility, who could possibly object?
Jerome cleared his throat several times in response to the King of Adamanth.
“Ahem. If the Knight King would deign to face an old man like me, that would truly be the honor.”
“While I remain in the empire, would it be acceptable to request a spar if the opportunity arises?”
Wasn’t that just polite small talk?
At the unexpected offer, Jerome’s eyes widened slightly. In that instant, he sensed an inexplicable hostility lurking beneath Kaiden’s smile.
“I would like to attend that spar as a spectator, if the chance comes.”
“His Majesty is always welcome.”
“By the way, regarding the reason the Adamanth delegation arrived later than scheduled…”
The emperor interjected into their conversation and smoothly changed the subject. His expression had grown gravely serious.
“You mentioned it was because of monsters. Are sightings still frequent across the lands?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Kaiden set aside his smile and answered with complete seriousness.
“We were attacked by a pack of monsters on the road, but the scale wasn’t large. Still, just to be safe, we eliminated every monster in the entire area. Attacks should decrease for the time being.”
“…Every last one?”
The route from the Adamanth Kingdom to the empire passed through the waist of a massive mountain range. Due to its geography, powerful monsters frequently appeared there. The empire’s knight orders regularly dispatched subjugation forces, yet they had never once succeeded in wiping them all out.
The number of knight casualties had always exceeded the number of monsters slain.
That means he cleared out all those monsters and still hurried the rest of the way.
The emperor stared quietly at Kaiden, then smiled as if nothing were amiss.
“I thank you for your hard work. You must be exhausted from the long journey, so please rest and recover first. The Founding Festival banquet begins in three days regardless.”
The emperor turned to the empress seated beside him.
“Empress, where did you say the Adamanth delegation would be staying?”
“The Third Prince’s Palace.”
At the words “Third Prince,” Kaiden’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, but no one noticed.
“Edwin.”
At the emperor’s summons, Third Prince Edwin stepped forward. Emilia clung tightly to the hem of her brother’s pants, hiding behind him.
“I am Third Prince Edwin Anaxinian Ventrum. And this is First Princess Emilia Luce Ventrum.”
Fortunately, he neither stuttered nor let his voice tremble.
Yet even after receiving the greeting, Kaiden remained silent. He simply alternated his gaze between the prince and princess—who were both much smaller than him—a couple of times.
Why… why is he acting like this?
Edwin, who lacked the courage to meet Kaiden’s eyes, kept his gaze fixed on the man’s solar plexus while cold sweat trickled down his back.
Don’t tell me he dislikes me?
Had the shameful nickname “Shabby Prince” spread all the way to Adamanth? What if Kaiden suddenly shouted that he absolutely could not stay at the Third Prince’s Palace and stormed out?
While Edwin fidgeted anxiously, Kaiden finally spoke.
“I greet Your Highness the Third Prince and Your Highness the First Princess. I am Kaiden Ram. I look forward to your kind hospitality during my stay in the empire.”
There was no trace of displeasure in his greeting.
Edwin unconsciously lifted his head and met Kaiden’s gaze. Those golden eyes that had gleamed so intensely from afar held a warmer light than he had expected.
“Edwin.”
The emperor, who had been watching the exchange, issued his command.
“Attend our honored guest well until he returns to his own kingdom. Understood?”
“Yes, Father.”
When Edwin bowed to the emperor, Catherine—who had been waiting in the rear—stepped forward as if she had been waiting for the cue. Though she had clearly been more nervous than the prince moments ago, she now appeared utterly composed, as if that had never been the case.
“I am Catherine Veil, chief maid of the Third Prince’s Palace. I will guide you to your quarters, Your Majesty.”
Kaiden gave a light nod at the chief maid’s words.
“Then I shall take my leave, Your Majesty.”
After delivering his final greeting to the emperor, Kaiden turned without hesitation. As he exited the hall, his gaze seemed to linger on Edwin for the briefest moment, but it was gone in an instant.
He doesn’t seem quite as frightening as I thought.
Edwin watched Kaiden’s retreating back as he left the hall first and fell into thought.
But why does he feel so familiar?
The young prince was bewildered by the inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
Is it because we encountered each other once in the garden before?
Edwin lightly scratched his cheek. It was strange to feel such closeness toward someone he had only met twice, yet he brushed it off as nothing important.
* * *
“Getting old really makes your knees ache. Mind taking over for me?”
“I’m already doing the hard labor, aren’t I?”
“Put more heart into it. More heart.”
“Damn old geezer, will you shut up?”
“Look at that! See how the real personality comes out! Oh dear, how scary! Is it proper for a nanny to use such rough language?”
Honestly, his mouth was the only lively thing about him.
I wiped the sweat running down my forehead and let out a sigh.
I wonder when Edwin will return.
Sitting in the vegetable garden under the midday sun, swinging my sickle, my thoughts turned to Edwin. He was probably in the middle of greeting the delegation right now. Since Catherine the chief maid had gone with him, I wasn’t too worried.
He needs to come back soon so I can escape this manual labor.
After cutting weeds for quite some time, I stood up and stretched. Sage, who had been leaning against the cabin window, cackled.
“Wow, even Kyla’s past her prime? Stretching after just a few hours of pulling weeds? You really are getting old.”
“…Even if I am past my prime, I could still finish you in five seconds. Care to test it?”
I turned around still holding the sickle, and Sage’s face went pale.
“Hey, hey, Kyla. It was just a joke, why are you suddenly…”
“I distinctly remember telling you not to call me by that name.”
“Aigo! This woman is tormenting an elder! An elder is dying! Have you lost your mind!”
“I’ll turn you into fertilizer for this herb field. Hold still.”
Sage locked the cabin door and started screaming.
Bang.
But the plywood made from old wood had no chance of withstanding my strength. The moment I smashed the doorknob and stepped inside, Sage stared at me with horrified eyes.
“Say it again. Who’s past her prime?”
“No, no—you’re clearly still in your golden years! Golden years! Why are you coming closer!”
“That half-bald head of yours—I’ll make sure to shave the rest clean off today, so look forward to it.”
“Aaaaaack!”
After venting with Sage like this for the first time in a while, quite a bit of time had passed. I noticed the sun had tilted slightly westward and slowly rose to my feet.
“What, you’re done already?”
Sage lay sprawled weakly on the floor, his hair a complete mess. He looked up at me as I suddenly stood, his expression puzzled.
“It feels like someone has arrived.”
“Hm? Who?”
“I don’t know either.”
It was a presence I had never felt before. At the very least, it didn’t belong to anyone who normally resided in the imperial palace.
If they lived in the palace, there’s no way I would have missed someone with this much presence.
Sage blinked at my words.
“If it’s someone with a presence strong enough to make even you tense, it has to be Duke Crowner.”
“That guy’s presence is on the level of a roadside pebble.”
“You’re probably the only person who talks about Duke Crowner that way, Kyl— I mean, Rachel.”
He asked as if he truly couldn’t understand.
“I’ve been curious for a while. Why do you hate Duke Crowner so much? Did he wrong you or something?”
“I just hate him. I hated him from the start, but now I hate him even more.”
“Why?”
If I were to list every reason I despised Jerome Crowner, it would never end. I hated how he acted one way in front and another behind people’s backs. I hated how he tried to dress it up. And I hated how he didn’t even bother hiding his hypocrisy even when it was exposed.
“Do I really need to explain all that? I’ll be going now.”
“Hey, you haven’t even finished the garden work yet.”
When I simply glared instead of answering, Sage backed down immediately.
“Fine, fine… you can finish it later…”
I brushed the dirt from my clothes while watching Sage trail off.
“Right, I’m sure you heard the warning, but during the Founding Festival you should forget about coming outsi—”
“Even if you begged me to come out, I wouldn’t, so don’t worry.”
Sage waved his hand without any intention of getting up from the floor.
“Just get going already. Isn’t it about time for Edwin to return?”
“All right, then.”
I left Sage’s cabin without so much as a goodbye and began meticulously scanning the area around the prince’s palace.
I needed to locate the source of that disturbingly powerful presence.