Chapter 119: Their Respective Moves (3)
Chapter 119: Their Respective Moves (3)
"I don't think it would work. Objectively speaking, you're handsome and your status is high, so if he really liked men, he'd be easily swayed."
"......Do we really have to go that far?"
"There will be a war with the demon realm soon. And Deon Hart is still the empire's most dangerous and unstable hero. My gut tells me so."
There was no concrete evidence for this.
In fact, the princess didn't even know that Deon Hart traveled between the demon realm.
The crown prince, who had been eyeing the princess with fresh astonishment as she singled out Deon Hart based purely on instinct despite her limited information, let out a sigh.
"Certainly...... now is the right time to bind him to the imperial household."
If they missed this timing, there was no telling when the next chance would come.
After standing with arms crossed and lips sealed in thought for a moment, the crown prince glanced at the princess's sparkling eyes, squeezed his own shut, then opened them and rose from his seat.
"Please do not forget that I have the duty to produce an heir."
"My, of course. After you've firmly tied him down, that is."
You can meet all the women you want, brother.
The princess smiled and waved her hand.
Enough that she would listen to the princess's claims that others would laugh off.
The crown prince, too, was every bit as free of prejudice as the princess.
* * *
"I've come regarding the matter of your appointment as honorary marquis."
"......I've already received the appointment letter."
And what is with that bouquet in your hand......?
Now that I looked, his hair and overall appearance showed that he had paid attention to his looks. Was he planning to meet a woman after seeing me?
Dressed more splendidly than usual, with one side of his normally carelessly worn hair pulled back, the crown prince smiled nonchalantly and spoke.
"We didn't just send the appointment letter alone, did we? His Majesty was busy and sent the letter first in haste, but you aren't planning to simply accept the title and wipe your mouth without an oath to the Emperor, are you?"
"How could I ever?"
Why are you wording it like that? Are you trying to kill someone?
I hastily shook my head, feeling my life threatened, and he laughed as if it had been a joke and held out the bouquet he was holding.
"It was a joke, so you can rest easy. I did come as His Majesty's proxy to receive the oath in his stead, but in truth, His Majesty said such empty formalities were unnecessary. He said an insincere oath is pointless. I came today simply because I wished to see the marquis."
What was this? In a different sense, I had a bad feeling.
I pointed at the proffered bouquet and stammered out.
"......Uh, the flowers......?"
"These are a gift to celebrate becoming honorary marquis and winning first place in the hunting competition."
"Oh...... thank you."
"And there is also some jewelry and money...... that is the winner's prize, along with compensation from His Majesty for the indignities you suffered at the hunting competition."
So he hadn't taken offense at having the first-place spot snatched from him at the competition. That was a relief.
Out of respect for the giver's sincerity, I fiddled with the bouquet a few times, then held it in my arms and turned my head to look out the window. People who appeared to be from the imperial palace were busily carrying something.
Even at a glance, they were hauling several crates—and he called that 'some'......?
"That, well...... you."
"Ah, yes. Please speak."
I turned my gaze back and faced the crown prince.
The man, whose appearance was so dazzling it practically created the illusion that his surroundings were sparkling, was uncharacteristically hesitating, unable to broach the subject.
Just what was he trying to say, for that snake of a man to be taking his time?
The crown prince, who had even been furrowing his brow as he agonized over how to bring it up, finally broached the topic in an elegantly roundabout tone.
"You...... what would you think if the law were to change and same-sex marriage became possible?"
"......Excuse me?"
Why are you asking me that? No, more importantly, that's completely out of the blue. We're not even talking about war—why marriage talk in times like these?
Still, since it was a question from the crown prince, I had to answer. I suppressed the absurdity that was about to burst out and racked my brain to produce as innocuous an answer as possible.
"I wouldn't really know, but I suppose there would be some people who would be happy."
Was there some noble with influence who liked the same sex? Was he trying to win that noble over by dangling a law change?
It was certainly a peaceful method. Though not something one should be talking about in the current state of affairs.
"You wouldn't really know...... so you don't like men?"
"No."
To be precise, I ought to say I don't have the leisure to like anyone.
I'm already busy enough looking after myself, so how could I care about someone else? To me, other people are no more than flat characters.
They're existences with whom, without needing to exhaustingly pay attention or dig into their personal histories, simply dealing with them as they appear on the surface is sufficient.
If you take it to the extreme, they're like background props...... ah, since conversation is possible, I guess they're not props. So, extras. Or existences like characters in a book who move according to a set theme.
"Is that so......."
Somehow, a deflated voice brushed against my eardrums.
Suspicion raised its head there. No way.
'Was I the target?!'
The bait about same-sex marriage, the immaculately neat appearance—was it all aimed at me?
So because the princess didn't seem to work, the crown prince personally stepped in, is that it? I roughly grasped the situation. But.......
'I understand all of that, but why are you trying to change my sexual orientation.......'
If the princess didn't work, they could just go 'Ah, seems she's not his type' and find another woman. Why was His Highness the Crown Prince 'personally' stepping in?
......Don't tell me the crown prince's tastes......?
Apparently, I had unconsciously pulled my body back. The crown prince, with a flustered face, waved his hands.
"It's a misunderstanding."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
To think the crown prince liked men.
Of course, whether he liked women or men was none of my business. Even if he did like men, I'd only briefly think something like 'What about the heir?' and have no interest beyond that...... but if I became that target, the story changed.
Fumblingly, I stretched my hand to the side and pulled the cord. No response. I pulled it again. Still, no one came.
I pulled the cord madly.
"......The cord you're pulling right now is not the call cord; it's the light cord."
"Ah."
No wonder one part of my vision kept flickering.
"I said it's a misunderstanding."
"Yes, I believe you. Just a moment......."
Cautiously, I stood up and backstepped toward the door.
I studied the crown prince's dumbfounded gaze, then quickly turned my back, opened the door, and let out a shout into the corridor.
"......Rememver! Rememveeer!"
"No, Marquis. Please calm down first...."
"When are the preparations going to be finished?!"
"Marquis?"
The crown prince grabbed my shoulder!
A close voice came from right behind me, making my skin crawl, and as a final act, I yelled out the door.
"Elephant 3 seconds—you can use it, so just finish quickly!!"
"Elephant 3 seconds......?"
I don't know, I'm bolting to the demon realm.
Having shouted this much, Rememver would have heard. Even if he didn't, another servant would have heard and passed it on.
So I just had to buy a little time. I turned around as if nothing was wrong, faced the crown prince, and calmly spoke.
"I believe Your Highness. Naturally, it must be a misunderstanding."
"......Then why are you pressed flat against the door?"
"Ah."
"......."
After that, until Rememver arrived, I was caught by the crown prince and had to listen to his explanation until the misunderstanding was resolved.
Well, in the end, the misunderstanding was cleared.
In that short time, he must have received considerable stress, because the immaculately dressed crown prince looked half out of his wits, enough to make his grooming pointless—but I felt not the slightest speck of guilt.
That's what you get for doing something like that. Hmph.
* * *
"Let's eat!"
"You crazy bastard! Don't cut in line!"
"......But hasn't the revolutionary army been quiet lately?"
"Seems like it...... yeah right. We handled another incident today. How long is His Majesty planning to work us like this?"
"We've got to pay the building costs...... How many buildings have we wrecked?"
"Honestly, that was all because of the bombs the revolutionary army had. We're busy fighting, so how are we supposed to deal with bombs one by one? Only choice is to throw 'em into the sky."
"Anyway, the frequency really has dropped lately. Even the ones that show up are small fry. Why? Because of the war?"
"But dude, why's your hand shaking?"
"Mind your own business. It's aftereffects. And today I was the one on revolutionary army duty, so I took some meds......."
"Pfft! Hey, guys! Check out this loser who still can't get over the aftereffects!"
"Seriously? It's been years since we took the meds!"
"Ah, you pathetic weakling. You gotta put in the e-ffort, ya know? Huh? You just lack will-power. Will-power."
"Argh, all of you shut up!"
Thud!
"......I said shut up, not plant your face into your tray."
"Is that some new eating method? Eat like a dog without using hands?"
"He's not getting up. At this rate, won't he suffocate and die...... ugh."
"Hey, this guy's asleep. Guess he had narcolepsy."
"Everyone just......."
Thud! Thud!
"......."
"......Grrhhh."
"......To think they'd take the drug that'd knock out a beast and still chatter for ten more minutes before conking out."
How on earth did the marquis end up gathering and leading only lunatics like these? If this counted as a talent, then it was one, he supposed.
At any rate, next time, he could mix the medicine even stronger.
"Inform the marquis that the departure preparations are complete."
* * *
Escape!
* * *
Deon Hart, as always, skillfully rode his horse and arrived at the entrance of a mountain range untouched by human foot.
Both the Emperor and the Demon King knew that a boundary line existed here, but they did not send troops to station there. For the small boundary line, barely enough for a single person to come and go, existed solely for Deon.
Until Deon Hart definitely decided his allegiance, the two monarchs, different yet alike, had exchanged an implicit promise to refrain from sending anyone to the boundary line within the mountain range, so as not to carelessly expose its location.
Thus, those who saw him off, to ensure no one tailed him, also did not follow him into the mountain range.
'Until I definitely decide my allegiance.......'
Surely his life was not a food item, yet a kind of expiration date had appeared. He had braced himself, but the feeling of rotting away within was a separate matter.
If the Emperor had forced a decisive move, would the Demon King truly stay still? As if.
Rubbing the brand on his fingertip, he let out a scoff.
'Someone who carves something like this can't be normal.'
For now, the initiative still lay with this side, so He wouldn't act overly coercively, but it was best to brace himself nonetheless. The Demon King was not the Demon King for nothing, after all.
He sent the horse he had ridden back and set foot into the mountain range. Without looking back, he climbed the rugged mountain path, and when he was about halfway up, a sound that should not have been audible reached him.
"Khhrrk-."
The sound of boiling blood. In other words, the sound of someone dying.
He turned his head. A short distance away, a man was covering someone's mouth and pulling a dagger out of their neck.
Green eyes, black hair. How dreadfully tiresome. Why must you be wherever I go?
"Cruel Hart."
He muttered as if speaking to himself and drew his dagger.
Cruel, who had been looking down at the fallen corpse, raised his gaze and saw Deon. Their eyes met, and silence flowed.
A witness must be killed. Given the location, the witness might not have seen the boundary line, but the reason he had been tailed was all too clear, so killing him was the right course. Especially if the opponent was a subordinate of the Duke, the head of the noble faction. Even more so.
Yet, though he knew this well, Deon did not move. He did not want to move. He was currently far too exhausted to show hostility to him.
"......."
"......."
In that strange silence, Cruel, who had been quietly watching the eyes of the mentally drained Deon, soon turned his head away.
Whether Deon widened his eyes or not at this unexpected action, Cruel, acting as if he had seen nothing, showed no hint of reaction and moved his feet as if to return the way he had come, leaving the corpse abandoned.
Unable to fathom Cruel's thoughts, Deon could do nothing but glare at the retreating back with a furrowed brow.