Questions at Dawn
41. You Are 05/09 Revision Complete A lively and ordinary morning……! Letting out a long breath, I pushed myself up from bed. It had been a while since I'd enjoyed a proper day off, so I stretched languidly, loosening my stiff body from the night before. The cracking sounds of my joints reminded me just how long I'd gone without training, and I couldn't help but grimace. No time to rest. Training today, too!! With that thought in mind, I dragged myself out of the cozy embrace of my bed, threw on some clothes, and stepped outside my room. Then I tilted my head, realizing someone was waiting for me.
"……Cain?"
It was Cain.
"……Do you train like this every day?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, ever since I entered the Academy."
"At this rate, I might actually lose to you."
"You're ridiculously strong, though."
The truth was, no matter how hard I tried, surpassing Cain was a distant dream. But when I realized he wasn't just saying that to be polite, a faint smile slipped out. Cain returned the smile and continued jogging alongside me.
Morning training had always been a solitary affair because I started so early, so running with someone else felt awkward. Especially since that someone was Cain, who wasn't exactly a close friend.
"Still, I've been neglecting training lately because of family matters."
"Even so, I don't feel like I can beat you."
Cain's talent was in a league of its own. At the same time, he was also an incredibly hard worker, so the thought of winning never even crossed my mind.
"Running for two whole hours and still thinking that is kind of annoying, you know."
"……Sorry."
I chuckled at his words, and Cain shook his head with a sigh before pointing to a bench up ahead.
"Let's rest for a bit."
"Sure."
Neither of us was particularly winded, but I'd realized Cain had come looking for me this early just to talk. So I agreed and slowed down. After skipping morning training for several days, the crisp dawn air felt especially refreshing. I took a sip from my water bottle and glanced at Cain. I'd thought my stamina had improved a lot, but he didn't even look slightly out of breath. He drank from his own bottle, staring blankly into the air.
"……What's got you so curious?"
It wasn't sarcastic—just a genuine question. At my words, Cain flinched slightly, then let out a long breath and blinked.
"You're sharp."
"……Anyone would think that if you were acting like this."
The way he wore "I have something to ask you" all over his face made it hard not to find the situation ridiculous. Cain let out a small laugh at my remark and nodded. Then, carefully, he spoke.
"What do you think of Silvia?"
"……Silvia?"
Honestly, I'd been wondering ever since he came to find me. What on earth did Cain want to ask me? But when the question turned out to be about Silvia, I couldn't help but feel dumbfounded. You two just went to the banquet together the other day—why are you asking me that now? Don't tell me he's checking if I still have feelings for her……? ……Besides, am I even enough of a threat to warrant that kind of caution?
Blinking slowly as I processed the situation, I shrugged and answered honestly.
"She's just a good friend."
"That's all?"
"……What else would there be?"
I understood why Cain was uneasy. Silvia was beautiful, and plenty of men hovered around her. Since the only people she could truly open up to were me and him, he probably worried that if I developed feelings for her, he might lose her. But from my perspective, I didn't like Silvia enough to interfere in their already-progressing relationship and pull off some NTR stunt. If you asked whether I liked her or not, I'd say I did—but as a friend, not romantically.
"I was just curious, that's all."
Looking a bit sheepish at my incredulous tone, Cain scratched his sideburns with a finger and said,
"I escorted Silvia to Her Highness the Crown Princess's investiture banquet yesterday."
"Yeah, I saw."
As I answered casually while drinking water, I felt Cain's gaze turn toward me.
"There's no way you missed it. I was pretty high up in the rankings, after all."
"……I suppose that's true."
Silvia's appearance stood out. Cain's did too, so it would've been strange if no one had noticed them among the crowd.
"When you saw that, didn't you feel anything?"
"Huh……?"
If I said I felt nothing, that would be a lie. I'd been curious about when the two of them had gotten so close. That was all. But since I was supposed to be unaware of their relationship publicly, I couldn't say that out loud.
"Not really?"
Cain stared at my simple answer for a moment, then let out a soft laugh and exhaled deeply.
"I see."
Why was he acting like this today? Normally, Cain rarely showed his emotions on his face, even when angry. But today he was openly relieved, openly smiling. As I gave him a bewildered look, Cain shrugged and stood up.
"That's enough."
"……You came all the way here just to ask that?"
"It might not mean much to you, but it did to me."
With a strangely refreshed expression, Cain stretched as he answered. I frowned at him for a moment before standing up as well.
"You still want to run more?"
"……I've still got a long way to go."
I still had about two more hours of running ahead. Cain let out a dry laugh at my words and nodded, starting to move his feet again. It seemed he was planning to run with me after all.
@
Cain remembered. Just the other day, the look on Silvia's face as she watched Felice and Crown Princess Asilie dancing. Though she'd tried to appear calm, her expression had been so broken that it couldn't possibly be described as the look of someone merely watching a friend. Even Cain, who didn't understand human emotions very well, could easily tell what that expression meant.
'For now…….'
It's fine. Thinking that, Cain glanced at Felice running beside him. Silvia's feelings for Felice weren't love. At least, not yet. She clearly didn't even understand her own heart and was confused. Her feelings could develop into love—or they could remain friendship. The first thing Cain did after noticing this was to sound out Felice's intentions. Just like they'd talked about a month ago—whether he'd completely given up on Silvia…… or if he was still waiting for an opportunity by her side. And what Cain discovered was that Felice's feelings were surprisingly clean. As if he'd never liked Silvia in the first place. Seeing how not even a shred of lingering attachment remained, Cain found himself unconsciously relieved.
"……My father."
"Yeah?"
Actually, that wasn't the only reason Cain had come to find Felice. It was because of a letter that had arrived last night. A letter from the Jairus family, addressed to Cain. Specifically, one asking him to pass along a message to Felice.
"He asked me to tell you something."
"……The Duke of Jairus?"
Felice asked with a slightly startled expression. Seeing that, Cain wondered what the Jairus family had done to him…… Of course, they'd done nothing, so he could only shrug. Felice merely shuddered at the thought that, after the Emperor, even the Jairus ducal house was now watching him.
"That's right."
"……What did he say?"
"He said that if you ever need his help, you're welcome to come find him anytime."
"……Me?"
Felice pondered for a moment. Had there ever been a situation where he'd needed to rely on the Jairus family? There had been one—when he'd had a private audience with His Majesty the Emperor. But that was something even the Jairus family couldn't have prevented, so it didn't count. Aside from that, there was nothing. Besides, he had no idea why the Jairus family would even offer to help him in the first place.
"Yeah. Father said that day would come soon enough."
"………I see?"
Since it was pure goodwill either way, Felice simply nodded. Though he knew there was no such thing as truly pure goodwill in this world, well…… If someone as capable as the Duke of Jairus was saying it, maybe it would happen someday. That was all he thought.
Cain swallowed a dry laugh as he watched Felice nod so nonchalantly. Even after being escorted by Her Highness the Crown Princess, Felice's reaction to the Duke of Jairus offering help was far too calm.
'……Well, I don't really understand Father's thoughts either.'
He decided to just accept it. And so the two boys kept running until the sun had fully risen.