Chapter 35
She looked at me with a face of many thoughts crossing her mind, but for a moment she held a gaze that seemed to stare off into the distance.
And I noticed a strange longing in her face.
“Thank you…”
Maud smiled, her face crumpling. She looked like she was suppressing her emotions.
“Are you busy? Do you want to take a walk with me?”
I knew it was work time, but the hollowed-out cheeks and sunken eyes made me want to give her a break somehow. She conflicted for a moment, then answered slowly.
“… I’ll be fine for a while.”
I was expecting a quick rejection that I had to work, but I was relieved.
She didn’t retract her acceptance, even though she had a “why am I doing this?” look at her face. I wanted to cheer for a moment, but I just smiled and nodded once, not wanting to give away my feelings.
***
My walk with Maud was short, but we talked a lot in that short time.
As is her wont, she asked me a lot of questions about my food tastes, which I answered with enthusiasm. After listening to me ramble on about my dislike of cucumbers, my preference for meat over vegetables, and my preference for fruity desserts over chocolates, she gave me a quizzical look.
“You sound a lot like my friend…”
She started talking about the past.
“When I was younger, I would sometimes sneak her food, which is usually not a big deal for people like us because desserts aren’t something we have access to, but she had an unusual taste for them.”
Maud gazes off into the distance as if reminiscing about a childhood memory, then lets out a small laugh.
“I was grateful for anything I could put in my mouth at the time, so I was never in a position to judge her taste in food, but she was honest with me about my tastes, no matter how hard it was. Oh my god… She thought I was funny, but I’ve never met anyone as unique as her.”
… Wait, was I unique?
That’s a compliment, right? I shook my head slightly as I thought back to what had just happened. Well, she seemed to be having fun when she said it, so maybe that’s a good thing.
Anyway, this was an opportunity. If she was looking at me and thinking of Lari, it was worth a shot. Especially…
“I’ve heard rumors that His Majesty has been keeping Princess close to him lately, and I can see why.”
“What, why?”
“You look like my friend Lari.”
The fact that it was Maud, not anyone else, who said this was decisive.
Given Thierry’s suspicion of me, Maud would probably suspect me of being an imposter, too, but her last words gave me a glimmer of hope.
“… Beware of His Majesty the Emperor.”
I wasn’t sure what exactly she was warning me to watch out for, just that I looked a lot like Lari.
“Princess, the training grounds are just a little further on.”
Oh, right. I was using the excuse that I wanted to see the training ground.
‘I guess I shouldn’t have followed you.’
I’m getting tired of this, but there’s no way out of this. I stare blurry-eyed at the back of Oscar’s head as he leads the way with excitement.
The distant cheering was getting closer and closer, and I figured I should just sit still and rest, since Oscar would be too busy wielding his sword to show me what he was going to show me when we got to the training grounds.
A lukewarm breeze brushed my cheeks. It felt like early summer was just around the corner.
I looked up at the sky and tucked my disheveled hair behind my ear. Then, slowly, I lowered my gaze to the thin air.
Thierry came into view.
‘Here we are again.’
I strained my blurry eyes. Beside Thierry, who was quickly closing the distance between us, was Rudd, whom I hadn’t seen in days.
“I said you don’t have to be polite, I didn’t mean you have to be all bodice.”
I smirked at Rudd, who casually rubbed his head in my hand, when a cold voice pierced the top of my head.
I jerked up from my downward gaze. My eyes locked with Thierry, who was staring down at me with a strangely disgruntled gaze.
“I apologize.”
“… I didn’t mean to apologize.”
The uncomfortable air sucked in my lungs.
I curled my mouth awkwardly, as if to hide what I was about to say. I instinctively stroked Rudd’s head to steady myself, and my gaze slid downward.
“Ah…”
At that moment, Thierry let out a sound of suppressed irritation and snatched my hand away.
I didn’t have time to think. My shoulders slumped for an instant. It wasn’t that I thought Thierry was going to hit me, I was just reacting to his sudden movement, but he was clearly scared.
There was silence. A cold breeze seemed to blow between Thierry and me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“What are you doing…?”
“Yeah, what?”
Thierry said after a long moment, his voice squeezed.
“Did you really think I was going to hit you, now?”
His voice quivered slightly with emotion.
I snapped my head up and stared at Thierry. His hand was still on his head, running through his hair, and his face looked more hurt than embarrassed.
I stuttered at the foreign word, which I was sure I must have misunderstood.
“I, Your Majesty, I was just, uh, surprised, unknowingly…”
The words spilled out of my mouth. I opened my mouth to say something because I knew I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, but I was so embarrassed that I was rambling without realizing what I was saying.
Finally, Thierry’s brow furrowed. It was a definite change from his strangely desolate expression, and I watched him silently.
He glared down at me and squeezed his eyes shut tightly, as if trying to suppress a surge of emotion.
The large hand that had been rubbing his forehead casually came down and covered his face. Then, breaking the brief silence, Thierry muttered slowly, his voice muffled by his breath.
“… I’m not touching you.”
‘Why does he sound so weak? It’s getting on my nerves…’
I felt a little sorry for myself, and a little dismissive.
I clasped my hands together in front of me, my fingers twitching as I tried to catch his eye, though he didn’t seem to realize the flirtatiousness of the situation, and I found myself flirting with his head in my hand.
There was another stifling silence.
“Your Majesty…?”
I cautiously called out to him, realizing I couldn’t keep this up. Then, to my relief, his hand slowly withdrew, revealing an expressionless face.
I looked up at him far away, not recognizing the expression that had been on his face a moment ago, and now he was staring down at me with eyes that I couldn’t make out what he was thinking.
“I have the results of the poisonous herb test.”
I blinked at the sudden topic.
“There was a suspicious case, and the substance was identical to the one at the crime scene.”
He continued to speak as I stared in bewilderment. I soon understood why he was deliberately changing the subject.
“So this isn’t… First time?”
“Yes. There were some people in the slums who died in an unexplained fire, and I found a bottle of some kind of liquid in their house.”
Such an incident? My curiosity at this unexpected story broke the awkwardness of the moment.
‘The slums, why are you there… Was it some kind of experiment?’
There was only one reason for the ‘porch’ to be there, given the circumstances. I waited for his next words, my mind half-forming a half-assed but possibly correct answer.
I wondered if he’d brought it up for a reason; sure, he could have said it to change the subject, but it wasn’t something he’d bring up just for that purpose.
And I was right.
“Thanks to Princess. Thanks to you, I’m able to solve my other problems.”
“I apologize, I just happened to know about it.”
“No. If it weren’t for your quick thinking in bringing the arrowhead, the evidence would have been burned for nothing. Good job.”
“Ah… Thank you.”
“I’ll give you what you want.”
My eyes widened in surprise, because I hadn’t expected this.
“What?”
“Why are you so surprised? You deserve a reward, it’s not something you can just walk away from.”
I pressed my lips together in an amused smirk.
But it was short-lived, as I realized that it was Thierry who was offering the reward.
His recent changes in testing me made me suspicious of the whole situation. Maybe it was just a favor that I should have accepted, but what if he had granted me a wish as a reward and then used it to get what he wanted from me later?
“Ugh.”
A gust of wind interrupted my thoughts. I tilted my head slightly, one hand gripping the bonnet I was wearing, and caught a glimpse of hair dancing across my vision.
“… Wait.”
A shadow fell over my face as I muttered a low murmur.
I barely lifted my fluttering eyelids. He stood in front of me, shielding me from the wind, his hands reaching into my hair as if to tidy it up. It was a very cautious move, like a predator approaching a wary herbivore.
“Tell me what you want. The wager at the hunting festival is over.”
“I didn’t win the bet, so I lost.”
“Well. Let’s just say you caught the horse.”
Is there something you want to give me? Why is he acting like he’s so desperate for something?
Maybe it was the distance, but he was whispering to me at some point.
