~Chapter 29~
“Uncle, look! I can do this!”
“Wow, you’re really good!”
Once inside the room, Sertien proudly showed off a trick, standing on one foot for a long time in front of Ered.
Ered clapped and played along, entertaining Sertien.
Watching them, I realized Ered and Sertien got along quite well.
After seeing them interact, I couldn’t wait any longer and decided to ask what had been on my mind.
“So… Your Highness, why are you going to Sylvia?”
“Didn’t I tell you to call me by my name?”
“Why? There’s no one else around here.”
“Because it needs to become a habit. If you keep calling me ‘Your Highness’ when we’re alone, what if you slip up and call me that in public?”
“But what if I get so used to calling you by your name that I accidentally do that in the palace?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll forgive you.”
“Even if you forgive me, I’m sure others won’t. I don’t want to get arrested for treason.”
“Are you going to keep arguing? If you don’t call me by my name, I won’t explain anything.”
Ered was being childish, and it was getting on my nerves.
“Fine, Ered. Why are you going to Sylvia?”
Finally, Ered began to talk properly.
“No big reason. A friend of mine is in Silvia, and I’m just going to visit.”
“…Is that really all?”
“What else would it be? When have I ever left the palace for an important reason?”
“Wow, you really say that like it’s something to be proud of.”
I replied, sounding exasperated.
Sertien, apparently fond of Ered, kept lingering around, wanting to play with him.
Though Ered didn’t seem the type, he was surprisingly good with kids, playing along with Sertien.
But was he really going to Sylvia for such a simple reason?
For some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Ered was hiding something.
Sure, he was the type to leave the palace for trivial reasons, but going to another country? That didn’t seem like him.
I stared at Ered, who still had that mischievous look on his face, and asked again.
“…Are you sure?”
“Why are you asking like you wish I had another reason? Is your life boring these days?”
“Not really. It’s just that I know you. Sometimes you do things with hidden motives.”
“…”
The strange look on his face confirmed my suspicion—there was something more.
But it was clear he wouldn’t tell me, so I gave up trying to find out.
“Anyway, just stay with me until we get to Sylvia.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m worried you’ll sneak off and tell Latryne everything.”
“Do I seem that untrustworthy? You’re hurting my feelings.”
“Why would you feel hurt? You can watch over me too. By the way, aren’t you curious why I’m secretly following Latryne?”
Suddenly, I realized something odd.
While I had been focused on Ered’s reasons for going to Sylvia, he hadn’t asked once why I was going.
Wasn’t he curious?
Ered smiled as if reading my thoughts.
“I don’t need to ask. You’re going to stop Latryne’s marriage, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t say ‘stop’… More like helping him out. But how do you know that?”
“It’s obvious.”
“You really do have sharp instincts.”
But was it really just his instincts?
I glanced at Ered, who was now playing with Sertien again, feeling something strange.
Sometimes, Ered seemed to know too much, beyond just being perceptive.
It was as if he knew everything, even things he shouldn’t.
The story didn’t reveal much about what Ered knew, so I wasn’t sure either.
He knew more than he admitted, and I could only assume that.
It took quite a while to get to Sylvia, so we had to spend several nights on the train.
After all that excitement, Sertien eventually fell asleep. Ered, sitting next to him, had his eyes closed, resting his chin in his hand.
Not feeling tired after having so much rest lately, I quietly left the room.
I found a chair by the window and sat down, watching the scenery pass by.
The moon was shining brightly in the clear sky.
As we traveled further toward Sylvia, the weather was becoming more wintry.
“When we arrive, I’ll need to buy Sertien some warmer clothes,” I thought.
Sylvia was a cold country, and winter had likely already begun there.
While the imperial capital was still in the middle of autumn, Sylvia was far colder.
The northern regions of the empire, where Latryne was, were probably already preparing for winter.
I had packed warm clothes for myself, knowing this, but Sertien hadn’t.
As I sat thinking, I felt a sharp pain in my left arm.
Even though I had rested, it seemed my injury hadn’t fully healed yet.
I rolled up my sleeve to check the wound.
Suddenly, Ered, who had silently appeared beside me, spoke.
“I told you not to push yourself when you’re not fully healed.”
“Weren’t you asleep?”
“I was, but I heard you leave, so I came to check.”
Ered carefully examined my arm.
“Shouldn’t you change the bandage?”
“I brought everything with me. I was just about to change it.”
“You’re going to change it yourself? Seriously… Give it to me. I’ll do it for you.”
Ered clicked his tongue, and I handed over the bandage without hesitation.
It was the first time I’d seen Ered treat someone’s injury, but he was surprisingly skilled at wrapping the bandage.
“Have you been injured a lot before?”
“Why?”
“Just… you’re really good at wrapping bandages.”
At my words, Ered seemed to recall something and replied.
“I wasn’t the one getting hurt, but there were a lot of people around me who were.”
“I’ve thought this before, but Ered, you seem to have a side that’s different from what I imagined.”
Maybe it was because of the strange atmosphere, but I ended up saying that without thinking.
After tying the final knot on the bandage, Ered straightened up and looked at me.
“You imagined me?”
“Oh… yeah… before I came to the palace.”
Actually, I was referring to how I imagined him when I read the novel, but there was no way I could explain that to him, so I mumbled an excuse.
I could feel Ered looking at me with a curious expression.
I started to feel uneasy, wondering if saying I imagined him before coming to the palace was strange.
Luckily, Ered laughed and spoke.
“You’re a funny one. Imagining what I’d be like before coming to the palace.”
“Am I?”
“…Litya, have you ever thought, ‘Why does I always seem to know everything without you having to say it?’”
“Me?”
“It’s written all over your face.”
I thought I was pretty good at keeping my emotions from showing, but it seemed that sharp-eyed Ered could see everything.
This is why I felt like I couldn’t deal with him.
“Of course I’ve thought that. You always act like you know everything. But I just assumed it was because you’re very observant.”
“Really? You never found it strange?”
“Why are you asking that?”
I asked because Ered seemed to be saying strange things.
He smiled slyly and said something unexpected.
“To be honest, people always say I act like I know something, but from my perspective, it seems like the one who really knows something is you.”
I wasn’t prepared for that.
I could feel cold sweat running down my back.
Could it be that Ered knew I wasn’t actually from this world?
There was no way, right?
I was too shocked to respond.
Ered, who had been looking at me as if he could see through me, shrugged his shoulders and spoke casually.
“Well, you’re from a noble family and the commander of the royal knights, so you must know some secrets. Just like I do.”
“…”
“…Though sometimes it feels like you know the future, and that’s a bit scary.”
That last part was said so quietly that it was almost a murmur, but my ears were sharp enough to catch it.
Ered really seemed to know something.
“Um…!”
“Ah, I’m sleepy. I should head back. I can’t leave Sertien alone either, so I’ll go back now.”
He spoke in a way that cut me off before I could say more, and he headed back to the room.
I stood there, left thinking.
If Ered really knew that I had a sense of the future, wouldn’t it be better to just tell him?
He cared more for Latryne than for Phaedris.
Of course, he cared for Phaedris too, but if he had to choose between the two, Latryne was the one he valued more.
If I told him that Latryne would die in the future, wouldn’t he help me to change that fate?
But how could I even bring that up?
And why does Ered think I know something about the future in the first place?
I followed Ered back to the room, still deep in thought.
Sertien was still sound asleep.
As I checked on Sertien, Ered, who was sitting nearby, suddenly spoke.
“It would be best not to sleep too deeply tonight.”
“What? What do you mean by that…?”
But before I could ask more, Ered had already fallen asleep.
Whether he was actually sleeping or just pretending, I couldn’t tell.
