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Chapter 17
I was aware it was a pointless thing to say. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but say it.
“No!”
However, I hadn’t expected Wendy to look at me with an incredulous face, clasp her hands together, and look up at me.
“Why would I betray Your Grace? I’ll say it again, I really! I want to live a long, quiet life?!”
Wendy, who had been speaking full of grievance, grabbed Kaien’s collar with a bewildered look.
“Your Grace, between Duke Dermis and the Grand Duke, whose position is higher?”
“The Grand Duke, surely.”
“I’m a thorough opportunist, so naturally I prefer the side with more potential. Frankly, what would I even gain by betraying Your Grace? My neck would go flying!”
“That is true, but…”
“Exactly!”
Kaien nodded involuntarily even as he let out a hollow laugh inwardly.
He had met all kinds of people in his life, and had seen his share of those who tried to threaten him, but he could say with certainty: this was the first time he had felt so thoroughly overwhelmed.
No, perhaps not the first time.
Ever since their conversation on their wedding night, he had always been the one being led around by this small woman.
Looking into those eyes as clear as a bright sky, he found himself caught in the illusion that everything this woman said was true.
“Anyway, I have no intention of ever doing anything that would harm Your Grace, so don’t worry.”
Though she might smack the back of his head a little.
Kaien, who had been staring silently at Wendy as she made her grand declaration, gave a slight nod.
“…Let us return now.”
“Yes!”
Wendy, who had cheerfully called out and stepped out of the inn room, glanced briefly toward the window before withdrawing her gaze.
I hope Sei escaped safely.
Meanwhile, outside the inn, a quiet game of tag was underway.
Sei, sitting atop the roof and looking down at the group of men wandering below, clicked his tongue lightly.
They were dressed in commoner’s clothes, but their coordinated movements made it clear they were well-trained knights. Judging by their numbers, they had clearly chosen today deliberately.
They really came prepared.
But he was used to being chased like this. In fact, that was why he was good at finding Alec even when he disappeared.
Whenever Alec complained about how he was always found so easily, Sei always gave the same answer.
I’m confident in tag, Your Highness.
“Are we being chased?”
Sherry, dangling from Sei’s side, looked up at him from that same position.
“If we are, we are; if we’re not, we’re not. Hmm…”
Wendy was surprisingly clever for a noble lady, but she had a somewhat complacent side. To put it bluntly, it showed that she had been raised pampered.
Thinking he should tell her to be more careful next time, Sei bit down on his thumb.
“What are you doing?”
“A shortcut.”
It consumed a lot of energy so he had wanted to avoid using it if possible, but there was no helping it.
Sei, who had stated it flatly and muttered something under his breath, watched as drops of blood trickled from his thumb and fell onto the roof, forming the shape of a magic circle.
Soon after, the silhouettes of the two people on the roof vanished.
A new moon night with not even a moon in the sky.
“Ugh…”
Sweat beaded on the forehead of the man lying flat on the bed. Suppressed groans seeped through his teeth, and after tossing and turning for a while, he slowly lifted his eyelids.
His hazy golden eyes soon found their color.
Kaien, who had been quietly regulating his breathing in his lying position, slowly rose. A sneer lingered at the corner of his mouth as he covered his face with a large hand.
“Truly, there is no end to it.”
Nightmares had always been as familiar to him as old friends, but they worsened considerably on new moon nights. All sorts of unhappy memories would mix with happy ones and psychologically drive him.
He had hoped today might be a little better, but.
This time, the period when his parents passed away had mixed with the time when Alexei was ill, making it all the more troublesome. Fortunately, thanks to that, he had realized it was a dream and woken up quickly.
In any case, as a master swordsman, he was skilled at governing body and mind. Enduring alone was something he had always done.
There were no issues like a struggle for the throne, and despite having capable and loyal subordinates, he was always plagued by a strange loneliness. Even knowing this too was the effect of the curse, there were often times when life felt wearisome.
He should drink some cold water and clear his head.
Instead of ringing a bell to summon a servant, Kaien rose from the bed and walked through the castle corridors.
Even the wall lamps were extinguished, so the interior of the castle was very dark and quiet. Kaien, pressing firmly on his brow where a headache lingered, walked through the darkness, his golden eyes gleaming like a cat’s.
Then, the man stopped at a faint sound drifting toward him. Tilting his head, his footsteps began moving toward the source of the sound.
After walking down the corridor for a while, he climbed the spiral staircase leading to the top of the castle. Following the gradually approaching sound, he threw open the door leading to the castle wall.
With a gently blowing breeze, the man found a woman leaning against the railing just ahead, her back to him. Her long, loose silver hair shone beautifully like silk.
The sound had stopped the moment the door opened, so it must have been singing. Of course, there was a reason he had only realized it now.
“Your Grace?!”
Because she sang so terribly.
It was so bad that, to exaggerate, it seemed like the sound of fingernails scratching kitchen utensils.
How on earth could someone with that face and that voice sing such a complete mess? Just looking at her face made one imagine a nightingale’s song.
Kaien, who had been pondering this pure question, asked the startled Wendy who turned to look at him.
“What on earth… were you doing here?”
He had meant to ask why on earth she was singing such a dreadful song, but Wendy, taking it literally, answered quickly.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I was getting some air.”
You too?
Kaien nearly retorted that way but barely managed to close his mouth.
She had expected him to turn and leave, but Wendy blinked at the sight of Kaien silently approaching her side.
“Would Your Grace like some air too?”
“My sleep is already fully gone.”
Hearing a song like that would make anyone’s sleep flee entirely.
“From the looks of it, you seem to have no talent for singing whatsoever.”
“Ugh, you’re poking at a sore spot.”
Even when I was Joo Ha-yeon, I had no talent for singing, and it was the same now. My voice had been called sweet then and now, but somehow, whenever I tried to sing, it was hopeless.
And today I thought I was doing pretty well, too.
When Wendy exaggeratedly clutched her chest with a sullen expression, Kaien muttered inwardly.
She seems so easy to read at times like this, and yet.
“So, you were just singing?”
Kaien, standing beside Wendy, leaned against the railing. Wendy, who had been looking at him curiously—he seemed somewhat more powerless than his usual flawless self—shook her head.
“That’s not all. I was looking at the night sky.”
“On a night with no moon like this?”
“But the stars are clearly visible instead. Look over there!”
Following Wendy’s finger, he saw quite a few stars sparkling like scattered sugar.
“Right?”
Kaien turned to look at Wendy, who was asking triumphantly, and his lips moved softly before he spoke.
“You are truly a positive person.”
Normally, one might be disappointed about not being able to see the moon, but even in that, she said it was fine because she could see the stars.
To the man speaking in a rarely relaxed tone, Wendy responded calmly.
“Well… misfortune comes to everyone, doesn’t it? There’s no one in the world who is only ever happy.”
Wendy’s blue eyes, gazing directly at Kaien, shone like stars.
“So rather than focusing on that, I’ve found that looking for even small happy things suits me better.”
It had been the same when she worked at the company. Even while struggling with overtime as a new employee, a cup of coffee she liked made her momentarily happy.
And was there any reason it would be different now? Even if her life was in a situation where she didn’t know what would become of it.
Kaien, who had been silent for a moment as if chewing over her words, added quietly.
“That is a valid point.”
“It’s my life motto. Be faithful to the things you love!”
Looking at Wendy as she spoke confidently, Kaien let out a soft laugh. Wendy, who had witnessed the smile flicker like a mirage and disappear right before her eyes, widened hers.
“Your Grace, is something the matter?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“No, it’s just that you seem to be talking more than usual.”
