A Dinner Invitation
Chapter 4: A Dinner Invitation
It wasn't even the weekend, yet the Carrington residence was bustling with crowds. After days of deliberation, the Academy had decided to close for a full month. The damaged facilities from the battle needed repairs, but more than anything, the psychological toll on the faculty and students had been severe. Everyone needed ample time to recover before returning to anything resembling normal life. There had been objections that the curriculum would fall short of the required instruction days, but a solution was found by substantially shortening the winter break.
A wave of mourning for the knights who had died protecting the Crown Prince spread outward from the Academy, through the city of Carrington, and into every corner of the continent.
"Father, when will His Highness the Crown Prince return to the palace?"
For the first time in a while, Bayul and the Duke sat side by side on the sofa. It was too early for dinner, and they had guests to wait for, so they were enjoying a light tea time in the meantime. Around them sat Ian and Sadad, the respective escort knights of Bayul and the Duke — along with Death.
"The temple staff seem rather uncomfortable with all this. Wouldn't it be better to welcome him here at the residence?"
"Here, in this cramped place?"
When Duke Randert laughed and tossed the question back at his son's concern, Sadad explained on his behalf.
"The knights guarding Crown Prince Lindemann alone number well over a hundred. To accommodate all of them, the temple is far more suitable than here. It's a true blessing that the temple happens to be so spacious."
"They may use as much of it as they wish."
Death tilted back the teapot and drained the remaining tea in one go. Sadad gave him an odd look for a moment, but soon lost interest.
Not knowing Death's true identity, Sadad believed, like everyone else, that he was one of Bayul's secret bodyguards. In fact, he was still slightly sulking at the Duke for keeping it secret even from him, a fellow escort knight.
"Ah, I hadn't thought of that. I completely forgot the knight order arrived at the imperial district today."
For the Crown Prince's return to the palace, the imperial family had dispatched an enormous escort force — over five hundred men if the common soldiers were counted. He was the second most precious person in the Empire after the Emperor himself, and knowing that the Crown Prince's life was safe, Bayul felt a deep wave of relief once more.
"Once the investigation into this incident concludes, I will personally escort His Highness back to the imperial palace. You will come with me then."
This was the son who had died and come back to life. Left alone, who knew what might happen next — the thought left the Duke uneasy.
"Yes, Father. I thought we'd be leaving for Hamilton right away, but I suppose it'll take a few days."
"Eager to get home, are you?"
"No, not exactly. I just suddenly started wondering how Jasper is doing."
Jasper was busy in full swing raising his brood, but Bayul knew nothing of it, and worry nagged quietly at him. Perhaps it was because of everything he'd been through — he found himself missing the dog terribly.
"Oh, that reminds me — you don't know yet, do you, young master?"
"...?"
"His Grace personally named the puppies Jasper fathered. Would you like to guess what he called them?"
"You named them yourself, Father?"
That was supposed to be Bayul's job. He'd planned to mull it over at his leisure during the break, but after receiving Aidan's letter and rushing back, he'd never gotten around to it.
"Now, don't laugh. Citrine, Rose, Smoky, and Crystal. They're being called the Gem Quartet."
"Citrine, Rose, Smo... I'm sorry, what?"
The names that flashed by were somewhat foreign to Bayul's ears.
"All gemstones. Citrine, Rose, Smoky, Crystal. Since the sire and dam both had gemstone names, His Grace insisted the pups had to match — and he named them him! self! Personally!"
"Ah..."
At first Bayul wondered why those particular names, but after the explanation it made a certain sense. Still, it was surprising that his father had come up with them himself — the man who, as far as Bayul knew, had no interest whatsoever in jewels.
"Don't they suit them well?"
Duke Randert gazed at his son with something like expectancy in his eyes. Just as children long for their parents' approval, parents were no different.
What expressions would people wear, he wondered, if the world knew the great Duke Randert could make such a face?
Before their liege, Sadad and Ian exchanged a glance, each reading the same feeling in the other's eyes.
"Yes, I love them! The names are a bit of a mouthful at first, but the more I say them, the better they sound. The Gem Quartet — I can't wait to see them. They must have grown so much, right?"
Puppies grew at a pace wildly different from humans. Judging from his experience raising Jasper from a pup, they would have swelled to three or four times their size by now. Taking them all on a walk through the back mountain would make for a wonderfully rowdy, chaotic day.
"Let me refill your tea!"
Just as the talk of the Gem Quartet was hitting its stride, Rita appeared from the kitchen, teapot in hand, busily cooking away. The sudden houseguests had her run off her feet — she could have used ten bodies — but she refused to let Bayul and the Duke drink cold tea.
It was also an expression of her own firm resolve: now that the young master had come back from the dead, she would attend to him more perfectly than ever.
"Perfect timing."
No one welcomed Rita more than Death, who thrust his empty teacup toward her.
"What is this tea? It's my first time trying it and it's incredible. From now on, this is the only kind I'll drink."
He'd never cared about tea before, but that faint bitterness lingering on the tongue was just right as a pre-meal palate cleanser.
"Are you insane? Do you have any idea what this costs!"
The audacity of a servant hoping for the master's tea. Rita was so dumbfounded it felt like her sinuses were sealing shut.
"It's expensive?"
"Of course it is! This is a special tea for His Lordship and the young master! Do you know how long I scoured the market to get my hands on it? Honestly!"
He must think sitting at this table makes him somebody important, hmm?
Swatting away the arm Death had extended, Rita ostentatiously poured tea into the Duke's and Bayul's cups instead.
The gazes of the Duke, Bayul, and Ian collided in midair. They all knew Rita had no idea Death was a demon, but every time this happened, they were still at a loss for how to handle it. A flicker of worry crossed their minds — what if Death dropped the mask and tore into her?
But it was a needless fear. Death remained as docile as a mouse before a cat.
Rita's anger at the Death brothers hadn't fully faded yet. Through his accumulated experience, Death knew very well that poking the wrong thing at times like these would only invite a far greater storm.
Mustn't make a mistake with dinner right in front of me.
If it came to pass that he lost his meal, that — and only that — would be a true catastrophe for Death.
"By the way, Death, how long are you planning to just sit around here? Did you finish cleaning upstairs? The guests will be here soon — aren't you being a little lazy?"
"Finished the cleaning the moment I arrived. Not a speck of dust left. Flawless."
"...Is that so."
"Yep. And I'm not sitting here idle, you know. I'm here because someone has questions for me. Isn't that right, Duke Randert?"
Death meant it as a plea for help — his own little strategy, you might say, to make sure dinner arrived safely.
Whether he saw through him or not, the Duke gave a slight nod and said it was indeed so.
And yet you never asked me anything...
Rita's lips pushed out in an unwarranted pout, but everyone was too busy watching Death to notice.
"Well then, I'll get back to my cooking."
Shooting Death one last resentful glare, Rita hurried back to the kitchen. The moment she was gone, Death snatched up the teapot as if he'd been waiting for just this and refilled his cup.
"Mmm. Just as delicious as I remembered."
The way he closed his eyes and savored it looked like genuine, unfeigned appreciation. He'd been told Death was gluttonous and obsessed with food, but there was a vast difference between hearing something and seeing it with your own eyes. For this moment at least, it was hard to believe Death was really a demon.
"Since we're on the subject, let me ask one thing."
The truth was, Duke Randert had been wanting to ask something for a while now. He'd agonized over how to broach it, but with the conversation leading here, he decided now was the moment.
"The one who pierced Bayul's heart and crumbled to ash. Do you happen to know who it was?"
"You're rather late with that question. I was wondering when you'd ask."
"Sir Death! How dare you—!"
Stung by Death's insolent tone, Sadad shot to his feet in outrage. No sane man could let this stand.
"It's quite all right. Leave him be."
"But Your Grace, how can you tolerate such disrespect? Does he not realize where he stands—!"
It was then, mid-tirade, that Sadad abruptly sensed something strange. Here he was, the only one worked up over the man committing insolence right in front of them. The Duke, Bayul — even Ian — showed not the slightest flicker of anger.
"...Just who is this man?"
He was no ordinary secret bodyguard. There was something more to him.
"May I answer?"
Death faced Sadad squarely, making sure he heard every word, and introduced himself.
"That temple you mentioned earlier. Its master is me."
"The master of the temple...?"
"Hamilton worships the God of War, does it not? Would it clear things up if I told you that fellow is my errand boy?"
"What in the world are you...?"
Sadad could not understand a single word of what he was hearing. This was the man hailed as the most brilliant mind in the Full Moon Knight Order — and yet he couldn't make head or tail of any of it.
"Did you see him?"
Setting the bewildered Sadad aside, the Duke asked again.
"I only saw him once. I gave him a warning, too. Though it doesn't seem to have taken."
"A warning?"
This was news to Bayul, and at his startled expression, Death explained.
"The night we went to the night market — he followed us."
"Ah, that night!"
He'd felt a killing intent and scanned his surroundings, but he'd never spotted anything suspicious. Ian gave the Duke a brief report of that day — the incident he had never brought up before.
"Do you still remember the man's face?"
"Want to see it?"
It was hardly a difficult task for Death. He snapped his fingers, and black smoke billowed up into the air. It quickly coalesced into a large form — a human face.
"Your Grace, this man is—!"
He didn't know what was happening, but Sadad was the first to recognize the face's owner. He cried out the name in shock.
"Vandine!"
Emperor Royan's closest confidant, and the godson of Barachel, who had taken his own life. The undisputed greatest master of the Dwyat Empire, acknowledged even by Duke Randert himself.
"Now I understand why Hayes lost."
The man possessed martial prowess on par with Barachel in his prime. Hayes alone could never have defeated him. Apart from the Duke, only Ian could have crossed blades with him on equal footing. Tying down Ian's feet — it had been an enemy's move, but a brilliant one.
"So it truly was the Dwyat Empire's doing."
"We must hasten his return to the palace."
With that, everything was certain. The time had come to draw the true final line under the Ten-Year War.
In Duke Randert's eyes, gone cold as steel, burned a resolve harder than it had ever been.