Chapter 13 : A Bystander's Choice (1)
ntil looked at my eyes with an expressionless face.
If she wanted to confirm the truth of my words, there wasn't much I could do.
I, too, just t her gaze silently without opening my mouth.
Her blue eyes didn't let go.
“Have you been in contact with your mother all this ti?”
I shook my head.
She stopped talking again and looked at .
She was probably thinking about the 7th Prince's mother.
Because Ran Abalan's mother is quite famous.
The current Emperor has many children.
My siblings number over twenty; there's no way all of them have the sa mother.
I know he has quite a few consorts, aside from the Empress.
My mother is famous because she is the only woman among them who ran away from the Imperial Palace.
There's no detailed description.
Because the 7th Prince is not the protagonist.
In the original work, she, who ran away from the Imperial Palace, appears briefly in passing conversation or is used to insult the 7th Prince, and then is never ntioned again.
Piecing together the small clues described, she seed to be the last remaining royalty of another race, one with black hair like Ran.
Not long after the 7th Prince turned 12, she vanished forever from the Imperial Palace.
So said she returned to her holand.
But most people said that after giving birth to a half-wit, black-haired prince who couldn't wield Manis, she was ashad and afraid, and ran away, abandoning her young son.
Because the 7th Prince would imdiately throw a fit if such talk entered his ears, the number of people who spoke of it openly decreased significantly.
Well, there are still so, like the 8th Prince, who say it openly.
In any case, she is a character who doesn't appear, not even a strand of hair, until the end of the novel.
And that's the reason I can use her as an excuse with such peace of mind.
I crossed my arms and slowly opened my mouth in front of the Imperial Princess, who was waiting for to speak.
“For a month, I watched a single falcon fly east every day around sunset.”
The question 'So what?' was written on the Imperial Princess's face.
“I'm told that in the far eastern country where my mother lived, when a royal passes away, they call one bird each day for a month.”
The Imperial Princess was listening to my words impassively.
Because she didn't cut off, I continued impassively as well.
“They say they call a peregrine falcon if a king or queen dies, and a black falcon if a prince or princess dies.”
ntil just continued to stare at silently.
“So I knew. That the last remaining eastern princess had, fortunately, fallen asleep in the east and not sowhere else.”
Even after I finished speaking, silence lingered between us.
I also kept my mouth shut, as I had nothing more to say unless she asked .
“The window...….”
She opened her mouth for a mont, then swallowed once.
“...…Did you look out the window every day?”
Well, I don't know if the 7th Prince really did that.
Though I personally hope he didn't.
Hiding that inner thought, I answered.
“There's a window with a nice view of the outside by my bedside.”
To my follow-up answer, 'My eyes just went to it on their own sotis,' the 1st Imperial Princess fell silent again and covered her forehead for a mont.
And she leaned back, resting completely against the sofa.
“...…Right, so...… did your remaining blood relative suddenly beco precious to you?”
“Of course not.”
I answered with a short laugh.
“I just realized that there's no one left around but people who will live longer than I.”
“...….”
It took quite a long ti for the 1st Imperial Princess to remove the hand that had been on her forehead and raise her head.
“You may leave now.”
She said to , her face wearing the sa gentle smile as before.
At the thought of being able to leave this suffocating space, I gave a quick bow, stood up, and headed for the exit.
But right before leaving, I rembered my original purpose and had to turn back.
“I heard you were looking after my horse.”
“Ah.”
She let out a short utterance as if she just rembered, and then smiled brightly.
“I heard it's resting very comfortably in the 7th Prince's Palace stables. You have a clever horse.”
I grit my teeth, bowed my head once more, and stepped outside.
The 1st Imperial Princess is really soone who brings nothing good when t.
***
I ca out of the tent and walked, leading the horse tied up next to it.
The wind blew, sweeping past with the sll of grass.
Even though I wasn't inside the warm tent, it didn't feel colder than the breeze I felt in there.
The 1st Imperial Princess probably won't completely believe my words, but she won't think they're a complete lie, either.
Because she's the only one among the Imperial Family who places great aning on blood relationships.
Of course, she can also be endlessly cruel to those unrelated to her.
What I told her wasn't a complete lie.
Watching a black falcon pass by for a month was a lie, but things like the funeral culture in the far eastern country actually exist.
If I had lied about even that, it would have been found out quickly.
The answer to that question is whether I watched out the window every day...… I don't know.
I personally really hope not.
I hope that the books about the culture of another race, which were located in one corner of the study, and the fact that the bed and chair were insistently placed by the window, don't hold much aning either...… I hope so.
Bbooo-- Bbooo-- Bbooo--
The sound of the horn announcing the end of the hunting competition echoed through the forest.
I shook my head once and led the horse toward the place with the altar.
To complete today's real mission.
***
As soon as Tollin returned to the Ducal family's tent, he was sent to the court physician who was on standby.
“My goodness, you tripped on a stone, fell, and hit your head on another stone?”
The doctor, who was making a face as if looking at the biggest idiot in the world, looked at the shape of Tollin's wound and, without asking further, applied dicine and wrapped it in a bandage.
“Next ti you fall, you should at least take your anger out on the stone that tripped you. Kick it, stomp on it.”
Tollin laughed awkwardly, haha, at the muttering middle-aged doctor, and answered inwardly that if he did that, it wouldn't be Tollin returning here, but just Tollin's head.
“Stay here. Jack and I will go and finish up the hunting competition.”
The Duke said, looking at Tollin who was wrapped in bandages.
“What? No. This is really just a simple wound, the treatnt was just fussy.”
“It's true it's a wound that will heal with about a week of dicine and rest, but saying the treatnt was 'just fussy' is a bit grating.”
At the doctor's complaint, the Duke made a firm expression.
“A whole week of rest? That's a serious injury, a serious injury. Now, just lie here until the closing ceremony and get so sleep.”
“Sleep? What sleep! You never gave a single vacation before, no matter how hard it was!”
Tollin shouted as Duke Piteos forced him to lie down on the dical bed.
“Alright, alright. Let's call it even for all the grief you've had until now.”
“No, what kind of daylight robbery is...….”
“Tollin, even if it's a light wound, you lost so blood, so if you make a fuss like that, you might get mild dizziness.”
“Ugh.”
“See.”
As the doctor said, a throbbing sensation made Tollin grip his head, and the Duke patted his shoulder.
“Just rest. If you don't want to make feel even more uncomfortable.”
Tollin t the sunken eyes behind the playful tone, and it wasn't as if he couldn't understand the Duke's desire to not face the 7th Prince at all, so he nodded with a dissatisfied expression.
“We're calling this event for next year's vacation too, so rest well!”
The Duke left the tent, making a ridiculous joke.
Muttering that it had better be a joke, he laid his body down on the hard patient bed.
And he fell into a deep slumber.
***
“Hey.”
He was about to fall under.
If so voice screaming in his head 'You must never forget' hadn't snatched his fading consciousness back.
When he opened his eyes, he saw black eyes looking down at him.
Tollin imdiately tried to stand up and show his respects.
“Huk! Greetings to the 7th Prince, ugk!”
But a hand grabbed his shoulder as he tried to rise, blocking him like a spring, forcing him to lie back down with a strange, breathless sound.
“If you get up suddenly like that, the blood will rush and you'll get dizzy.”
“Yo...… Your Highness, why are you here...….”
Surely he didn't co to completely crush his head this ti.
To the trembling man, the 7th Prince said sothing unexpected.
“How's your head? It looks like it'll be fine if you rest for about a week.”
“Yes....... That is correct. It's really fine, Your Highness.”
Tollin was horrified by the creepily specific and accurate selection of the ti period, but he tried not to show it.
...…Don't tell he intentionally sets a ti period and throws stones at passersby?
The guy I hit this ti gets 1 week of recovery, that guy over there gets 3 weeks of recovery, like that?!
As if he had no interest in what Tollin was thinking inwardly, the 7th Prince stared at him blankly and said.
“Right. While you're resting, get a prescription from the doctor for antibiotics...… no, olive leaves.”
“Yes, yes, Your Highness.”
Tollin replied, thinking it was unexpected that he, who seed like he would be the one hitting others, not getting hit, knew about wound treatnts.
He didn't know what his objective was, but if it was to pressure him into not running his mouth, he had already succeeded a long ti ago, so Tollin wanted to beg him to please leave.
The 7th Prince was more taciturn and expressionless than the rumors, which made him even more uncomfortable.
“You're obedient.”
Tollin's expression stiffened as he rembered the 7th Prince who had sarcastically called him loyal in the forest.
Is it like that this ti, too?
Tollin peeked at the 7th Prince's expression.
He was surprisingly looking at the slightly open tent entrance with no emotion.
“Well, let's just make that until today.”
At the 7th Prince's voice suddenly speaking to him, Tollin was startled and quickly ducked his head low again.
“Do your resting starting tomorrow. It would be good to go see the closing ceremony right now.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. Right now.”
'Do I have to make it an order for you to listen?' To the muttering Prince, Tollin quickly answered.
“Ah, no! I will run there right now.”
He smiled again, with just one corner of his mouth tilted up, said he would be going, and turned to leave without any lingering attachnt.
That appearance was so strange that Tollin opened his mouth without realizing it.
“Did you co here just to tell that?”
The 7th Prince turned his head toward Tollin, who was admonishing himself for his own reckless act after asking cautiously, let out a short laugh, and then picked up a dical bandage from the table that happened to be next to him and headed for the tent entrance again.
“No, I ca to get a bandage because I needed one. Everywhere else was empty because they all went to see the closing ceremony.”
Tollin couldn't understand his bizarre behavior, but in any case, he couldn't disobey the words he'd spoken to a mber of the Imperial Family, so he imdiately left the tent and headed for the altar.
And that was, in Tollin's 30 years of life, the most regrettable choice and, at the sa ti, the most fortunate action.
***
As he got closer to the altar, Tollin realized sothing was different from usual.
It was too quiet.
There was no sound of people murmuring, no cheering.
Pushing his way through the people, among whom an uncanny silence flowed, Tollin was finally able to discover a single blue sphere floating, with the dizzying height of the cliff below it.
And inside it...….
“Your Grace!!!”
Without a mont more to think, Tollin scread and dashed forward.
Though he was soon tripped by soone's foot and fell forward.
Fortunately, as if he had heard his scream, the Duke's gaze reached Tollin, who had fallen.
Those gray eyes widened for a mont upon discovering Tollin, and then relief and satisfaction soon swirled within them.
Tollin had many things he wanted to ask.
What was going on, why was he there, couldn't he co back.
But these words just circled inside Tollin's gasping mouth, unable to be spoken.
Ti was not rciful to Tollin.
Soon, a cruel voice rang out.
“We will carry out the summary execution of the criminal, Agoni Piteos.”
And the water that had enveloped him vanished in an instant.
As if ti was flowing slowly only for him, Tollin captured in his eyes the Duke's body falling slowly down the cliff and his tightly closing eyes.
And when he ca to his senses, nothing at all remained.
Not the Duke, not the gray eyes that had looked at him, nothing.
Tollin lost consciousness right then and there.
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