The Palace, of All Places
"The imperial palace?"
"Yes."
The moment I stepped into his room, the Grand Duke told me to prepare for a summons to the palace.
An imperial audience? Out of nowhere? At this hour, of all hours?
"At this very moment, Your Highness?"
The Grand Duke answered with the easy indifference of a man describing something perfectly routine.
"The person in question is rather fond of secrets."
Fond of secrets? If the Grand Duke addressed someone with such deference, there was really only one possibility.
Royalty.
Well, that explained it. After all, who else could summon a Grand Duke of the Empire hither and yon at the crack of dawn?
Considering His Majesty used to summon the high nobles of Serhin purely for the sport of tormenting them.
I nodded to myself and began gathering the Grand Duke's clothing, piece by piece. Once I had laid out everything he would wear, from the crown of his head to the tips of his shoes, along with his accessories, he spoke again.
"The butler is to accompany me to the palace as well. Prepare yourself."
My hands froze midway through sorting the accessories on the side table, and I whipped around to stare at him.
"Me? I'm sorry, you want me to come along as well?!"
"Yes."
He fastened the cufflink at his wrist and continued.
"My adjutant says he has business of his own to attend to, so he instructed me to bring you. With him absent, my butler is the only one left to attend me."
"......"
A prickle of unease crawled up my spine. That "business of his own" was almost certainly the corpse I'd disposed of before dawn.
Well. Not my problem. Wherever the adjutant was sweating right now, the Grand Duke's invitation mattered far more to me than his suffering.
My heart, which had been shriveled up playing dead in front of the Grand Duke, began beating again of its own accord, entirely without permission. Thump, thump, thump.
I get to go out? Me? From this Grand Duke's estate?
I looked up at him. Perhaps my unspoken question reached him, because he opened his mouth.
"I heard you spent two years behaving yourself. I half expected you to attempt an escape at least once."
His voice trailed off, and his slanted gaze drifted down to the vicinity of my neck. Judging by the angle, there was no doubt about it — he was looking at the dog collar he'd put on me.
I traced the collar with my fingertips.
In truth, calling it a collar would have been generous at this point.
The jingling thing had been such a nuisance that I'd begged for a replacement, and he'd obliged — by prying the blue jewel out of the collar and fastening it to a white ribbon tie instead. Which meant it now sat snug against my throat, closer than ever. Arguably, it had only become more of a dog collar.
I fiddled with the blue gem, feeling the smooth, immaculately cut facets under my fingertip.
Strange words coming from the man who clamped a dog collar on me to keep me from running, wouldn't you say, Your Highness?
Keeping that thought carefully buried, I answered with the most respectful voice I could summon and my softest smile. I could not afford to let his mind change — not when he was finally offering to take me out.
"As I said before, Your Highness, I have simply done my utmost to honor every promise I made to you."
"......"
"Had I truly intended to break that promise and flee, I would never have taken the position of butler in the first place."
I pressed a hand to my chest and gazed up at him, silently pleading for him to read the sincerity in my eyes.
Hm. The Grand Duke arched a single eyebrow. His violet eyes, unreadable as ever, studied my face as though searching it for answers.
And honestly — who wouldn't have wanted to get out?
It wasn't that I'd dreamed of fleeing the Grand Duke's estate itself.
I simply wanted to slip beyond the mansion's walls, to learn what news there was from the Tenasis Empire, to scout out a ship bound for its shores.
No harm in preparing early, after all.
So yes, I had schemed, once or twice, about sneaking out of the estate.
However.
"Consider this a warning, in case you were contemplating any funny business."
My teacher had cut me off before I even tried.
"The jewel at your throat bears an enchantment. Should you leave this estate without permission, the experience will likely be quite... electrifying."
I had no idea precisely what "electrifying" entailed, but one thing was certain — it involved offensive magic.
The kind that triggers the instant you cross the line.
I despised pain above nearly all things. So I gave up on the idea.
Fortune favors the patient, as they say.
One day, I told myself, once I'd earned his trust, I would be free to come and go as I pleased. I clung to that hope and endured.
And in the end... that day finally came.
My hand, which had drifted down, curled slowly into a fist.
Magnificent. I am magnificent.
Well done, past me! Well done, present me! My nose prickled and the corners of my eyes grew warm. But no — I was still standing before the Grand Duke. It was far too early to start setting off fireworks.
I hastily reined my emotions back in. And it was then that the Grand Duke took a single step toward me.
My breath caught.
Wh-what is he doing?
As I blinked up at him, he finally reached out his hand toward me.
I barely managed to suppress the urge to shove him away and stood there waiting — and then his fingertip touched, with a light tak, the jewel of my dog collar.
Huh?
A faint, stinging warmth.
I blinked rapidly, and the Grand Duke looked down at me with utter nonchalance.
"You'll be able to leave the estate now."
"!"
My eyes went wide.
Wait. What.
It was that easy? It just... came off like that?
All he did was touch it with one finger?
My orphaned eyes rolled around in every direction, searching for an explanation.
How did he do that?
Wasn't it supposed to be some dreadful, powerful enchantment? All it took was the Grand Duke's fingertip? What possible principle did this thing even operate on?
Hold on. If the spell was this trivial to break, then I'd spent two whole years bound here for nothing?
If I'd known, I would have at least tried!
I should have overpowered him while he dozed or let his guard down and pressed a finger to the thing myself. I couldn't have killed him, surely, but pinning him down for a moment or two — that much had to have been within my abilities, no?
...Then again, maybe it wouldn't have been.
It felt doable now. But then, I didn't need to do it anymore, did I? The magic was already undone.
A swarm of petty questions and stray thoughts set my head buzzing.
And yet the swell in my chest at the simple, dazzling fact — that I could now walk out of the Grand Duke's front gate — drowned out every one of them.
I turned my head toward the window.
I can go past that gate now...
Beyond the glass, the estate's black iron gate stood firm, flaunting its grandeur.
Ah. Good heavens. I had never known joy like this.
That iron gate I had longed to cross for two whole years — and now I could stride through it, head held high.
Excellent. I hadn't expected to get out this quickly, but now I can start gathering intelligence on the Tenasis Empire. First, I'll find the information guild and—
At that moment, the Grand Duke's languid voice sliced clean through my daydream.
"Just once, mind you."
...Huh?
My head snapped around from the front gate to face him.
Once?
It was like being doused in ice water. Every grand fantasy in my head evaporated at once.
Whether it was the sight of my face that pleased him or not, the corner of the Grand Duke's flat mouth curved ever so slightly.
"Why are you looking at me like that, butler? Don't tell me you actually expected me to undo everything for you?"
"......"
I could not bring myself to say no.
Two years. Two years of grinding away at this estate, struggling to keep my promise to that insufferable man.
And only then had I become his butler.
I had kept the promise, hadn't I? So yes — I'd harbored the quiet hope that he might at least remove the dog collar for me. I couldn't deny it.
I clenched my jaw and wrestled my reason back under control.
The Grand Duke looked down at me and spoke.
"Butler."
"......Yes, Your Highness."
I managed the reply only by smothering everything I felt. He went on.
"I have no use for a capable butler who does nothing but flatter. I need a butler who can speak his convictions to my face — even if it costs him his neck."
"......"
"And in that spirit — you have not, in fact, kept your promise yet."
"......"
I haven't kept it?
"Learn well from Norbert. Who knows? If you grow into someone so fine that I cannot do without you, I may find myself spilling, of my own accord, the very secrets you're so desperate to know."
Grow finer than that? And how, exactly, is a person supposed to do that?
Just how much more, and what more, am I supposed to do here to be "fine enough"?
Two years of endurance. Six months as a butler. It felt as though all of it were being dismissed, wiped away with a flick of his hand.
My head dropped. A sigh rose from somewhere deep in my belly, and I let it out slowly.
Haah......
...This is, ...unbelievably annoying, isn't it?
I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them, and in that breath I packed away the surging frustration, quick and clean.
I've come this far. I'm not throwing in the towel now.
I lifted my head slowly and met, dead-on, the violet eyes that had been fixed on me the entire time.
And then I smiled — a smile drawn as sweetly as I could manage.
"I'm afraid I don't follow, Your Highness. I have never once spoken with a honeyed tongue. Every word that has ever left my mouth came from genuine conviction — I would take it as a kindness if you believed that."
The Grand Duke gave a short laugh, as though he'd expected exactly that.
"Good. I don't know how long you'll manage to keep the act up, but by all means — keep at it as long as you can. I'm prepared to wait."
He gave my shoulder a couple of light pats and strode out of the bedchamber.
"......"
I stared at his retreating back.
The Grand Duke's voice, dripping with the certainty that he already knew everything, echoed in my ears like a bell that wouldn't stop ringing.
Fine. Oh, it is on. Let's see who wins, shall we?
I hurried after him.