Only for You (3)
In the central region of the Nostrum Kingdom, on the road leading to Seirene Territory, Claydoll Marquis—master of the Empire and a marquis himself—felt a genuine chill run down his spine at the sight of the man sitting before him.
"Heh heh, heh heh heh."
A smile leaked out like a cog had come loose in a magitech machine. As a master himself, Claydoll could clearly tell when another master was hiding emotions behind their expression.
He had known this man, Hapsburg von Tersian, since childhood—over thirty years now—but
"Heh heh heh... How amusing. Truly amusing."
This was the first time he'd seen the man smile so sincerely.
"What has you in such high spirits, Your Highness?"
"Hm?"
Anyone else might have let it slide out of fear, but Claydoll didn't beat around the bush.
"You've been smiling nonstop the whole way here."
"Ah, it's nothing. Just met a fine connection, that's all."
"Are you going to drive Isabella Imperial Consort into another frenzy?"
"What are you saying? Your words make it sound like I've fallen for some woman I met in the kingdom."
"Isn't that exactly the look on your face right now?"
"...Me?"
The crown prince flinched in surprise, fiddling with his beard.
"That's how I see it, anyway?"
"Yes. Like gazing upon a young man smitten with love."
"Love... I see. So this feeling is love?"
"Your Highness...?"
"No. It is love, but not the kind you think."
The crown prince was firm.
"Because the object of it is a man."
"......."
"Grey Gibraltar. A brief meeting, but one that left an indelible impression."
"Ah, that impudent little whelp. He seemed to have some promising talent."
The crown prince snapped his fingers.
"Come to think of it, you said you'd met Grey Gibraltar before, didn't you? Seven years ago?"
"No. That was when I was leading soldiers to take photos. It was a few years later, when I escorted him at the request of Chairwoman Iferia."
"Ah, right, that time."
"He was suppressing his presence, but even then, mana on par with a beginner knight was leaking out..."
"As a swordsman, he's finished. The mana channels in his right leg are badly twisted."
"Ah..."
A genuine sigh of regret escaped Claydoll Marquis.
"He was arrogant, but his abilities seemed solid..."
"Even so, it looks like he's training separately from his leg issue. He was hiding his presence well."
"To what extent?"
"Hmm..."
The crown prince repeatedly clenched and unclenched one hand.
"Judging purely by the uncontrolled aura leaking out, it felt like advanced knight level."
"Advanced, at seventeen, even with one leg's mana blocked?"
"Doesn't he need that level of talent to back up the confidence to talk about killing or sparing me?"
"...He threatened to kill you, Your Highness?"
Claydoll's eyes widened in shock, and the crown prince chuckled lowly, as if something had just occurred to him.
"Your Highness... Heh heh heh."
"Don't laugh like that. It really gives me the creeps."
"Ah, sorry. It's just... I almost feel like staying in the capital longer."
"He must have really caught your eye. He seemed clever enough when I met him, but he was just a kid."
"He's a full adult now. I found myself treating him as such without thinking. Led to a little slip-up."
"A slip-up from you?"
"A minor one, but... strangely comfortable. Like..."
The crown prince gazed out the window, stroking his chin beard.
"He'd make the perfect son."
"You're a man with over a hundred sons already."
"A son who could also serve as my successor. Perfectly suited to inherit after Hapsburg."
"Didn't you say his leg was ruined?"
"Ugh..."
The crown prince twisted his face in genuine irritation.
"So what if one part of his body is busted? Does that make him less?"
"...Why take it out on me like that? Like a young man raging because someone badmouthed his crush."
"That's not it."
The crown prince waved it off.
"The era where swords and spears rule the world needs to end. And he's strong enough to protect himself."
"But not a master."
"Just assign one master to guard him constantly."
"And there's someone like that?"
"Conveniently, there's the perfect fit. Even without me doing anything, they'll stick to him like glue."
"...No way."
Claydoll paled for a moment.
"Are you seriously thinking of pairing Grey Gibraltar with Grand Princess Astasia?"
"The opposite."
"Pardon?"
"Making Astasia the pair for Grey Gibraltar."
"......What's the difference?"
"Have you ever seen me change a goal I've set and vowed to achieve, no matter what anyone around me says?"
"No. Never. Who could sway Your Highness's stubbornness?"
"Grey Gibraltar is the same. He's... yes."
For a moment, the crown prince grinned at his reflection in the glass.
"He takes after me."
"......."
"He probably sensed it too. That he's no different from me."
"Ahem..."
"Twisted, in a way ordinary people can't understand."
"Genius recognizes genius, is that it?"
"Not genius... Well, to borrow a trendy new term from the imperial papers lately."
Clunk.
The carriage jolted hard.
"Psychos understand each other."
"...I wouldn't know. What's that?"
"Look it up later. Anyway, Grey Gibraltar's a fine specimen. If he'd been born in the Empire, around my age... yes. Perfect material for a prime minister."
"Prime minister...? It does suit him."
"Yes. But not emperor."
"......."
Claydoll paused, catching his breath.
"Emperors are born. Below that, you keep one who'll grumble but execute perfectly. That's the type."
"And if not?"
"I'd admit my eyes were clogged, find another prime minister. Sigh."
The emperor let out a deep sigh.
"Too bad he's not a woman."
"...Are you saying you'd have jumped a seventeen-year-old and gotten him pregnant?"
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
The crown prince shook his head at Claydoll's words.
"Not even that?"
"Doesn't matter either way?"
"......Pardon?"
"It's a shame we're both men. If one of us were different, I could've made him mine through flesh, at least."
"......That."
Claydoll asked very cautiously.
"I have no prejudices, Your Highness, but man and man between..."
"Suppose. If Grey Gibraltar were gay."
"......."
"Then, for his sake, I might consider it."
The crown prince smirked and shook his head.
"But Grey Gibraltar likes women, and I'm not gay. What's with that look?"
The crown prince blinked, pointing at himself.
"I'm not gay."
"Ah, yes."
"And a safer, surer path to 'family' is forming on its own. You think I'd introduce a variable like that?"
"...Is it really possible?"
"Of course. After Grey Gibraltar declared he'd even kill me for it."
Clunk.
The carriage passed the highway into Gibraltar territory.
"Blood ties. What surer bond is there?"
"Grey Gibraltar and Astasia von Tersian..."
"Not necessarily Astasia, but she's the highest probability—no, the surest card. Truly exciting."
Heh heh.
"Wonder what child they'll have."
"Already thinking up names for your grandchildren?"
"Best prepare in advance. ...Ah, come to think of it, I didn't tell him."
"Tell him what...?"
"Next time we meet, tell him it was a perfect hundred. Heh heh heh."
The crown prince gazed toward the capital through the window, beaming.
March 1st, evening.
"Alright, everyone to your rooms! Looking forward to tomorrow too!"
Astasia von Tersian waved to the imperial exchange students, pressed the elevator button, and headed to the fourth floor.
Clunk, clunk.
The elevator ascended agonizingly slowly.
Just before it rose, she'd glimpsed the imperial students' expressions change through the glass—but Astasia pretended not to notice, closing her eyes quietly.
"Whew..."
Before coming here, that man had told her: Make it succeed, no matter what.
And to drive the point home, rumors had spread from day one that Grey Gibraltar had taken her out to eat alone.
The forsaken eldest son of the gorge and the imperial crown prince's meeting.
Some chattered that it meant Grey was already selling out to the Empire.
If it ended as mere chatter, fine.
But if Grey Gibraltar hit it off with one of the imperial exchange students, became lovers—or worse...
"Just as expected."
Astasia clenched her fist, striding to her door the moment the elevator opened.
Click.
She touched the imperial-style magitech lock, which recognized her with a click and unlocked.
Slide.
Astasia cautiously opened the door and stepped inside.
"Wow..."
The interior was achromatic overall. Even the Empire's most renowned interior designer would want to learn from the creator of this room—
"This isn't a room; it's a house...?"
A house for one was impossibly sleek and beautiful.
"Ah, shoes off here."
Astasia removed her shoes at the entryway, opened the inner door, and went further in.
"Wow..."
Passing a vertically curved hallway into the living room, she found a sofa, dining table, and several magitech devices in place.
"It's fully furnished... even the furniture."
Astasia set her carrier down beside the living room, then spotted something on the table.
Enter the inner room.
A wooden plaque decorated with Somnus flowers. Words were inscribed behind it.
"Enter the inner room? Heh heh, how much of a surprise are you planning with this?"
Astasia scanned the surroundings.
"Coming through the window? Or the rooftop? Rooftop would mean the communal stairs~"
Astasia hummed playfully as she opened the door.
"Whoa..."
A massive bed that could fill the room. Big enough for not one, but two—no, three people to sleep comfortably.
"Where are you~ ...Ah, further in?"
Astasia moved toward the narrow passage at the back of the bedroom.
A closet-like space. At its end was another firmly shut door. Astasia tilted her head and grasped the handle.
Clunk.
Pulling open the thick door—several centimeters thick—a cramped space barely big enough for a few people appeared beyond.
"......?"
Just gray walls. No—a fairly large pillar inside the building.
"...Ah."
Astasia lightly reached toward the wall.
Clunk.
Somewhere, an elevator seemed to move.
"Princess."
Rustle.
"Space behind the pillar?"
The wallpaper—what looked like a wall—parted, and something red emerged.
"...Magic?"
"No. Just a makeshift emergency escape route using panic room principles and magitech tricks."
"This elevator..."
"The only path to escape underground. The sole route from basement one to this fourth floor."
The gray-haired man who emerged through the wallpaper smiled brightly.
"Nothing special. Just connects straight from the underground to my bedroom in the scholarship building over there. Like a magical passage."
The gray youth—Grey—approached Astasia, raising a finger.
"Shh. Don't tell anyone. No one knows about this passage."
"Meaning..."
"Yes."
His finger lightly pressed her lips.
"Our little secret."