The Grand Duke's Gift
The Grand Duke had returned.
It was just before daybreak when he finally came back to his chambers. I lay sprawled across my bed, glancing out at the sky beyond the window. It was still dark, but the sun would rise in about an hour, that much was certain.
He's really going to march straight into the next meeting without a wink of sleep.
After the first council ended, a day of rest had been granted before the second one began. And the Grand Duke had flung that entire day of rest God-knows-where.
What if he collapses at this rat—
No. Come on. The Grand Duke, that monster of a man, collapsing? Pfft. Not even in my imagination.
Still, looking after the Grand Duke's health is technically my job as the Grand Duke's butler, so I should at least pretend to care.
Maybe I'd have him drink some honeyed apple tea before the meeting started.
I was revising the morning schedule as I listened to him rustling around in the next room. And then, a moment later—every little noise from next door simply stopped.
Hm?
I sat up in bed. What now? Was he sleeping?
Ah. He's hiding his presence again.
The Grand Duke concealed his aura whenever he got bored. Mid-meal, mid sword training, even riding along in a carriage—he hid it all the same. You could call it his own personal survival strategy: foiling an assassin's ambush, shaking off a tail on his trail. He'd practiced concealing his energy so relentlessly that he could now suppress it without even thinking about it.
Well, fair enough. Someone as exposed to danger as the Grand Duke should be constantly erasing his tracks by masking his presence.
The cunning Grand Duke. All this time I thought he was buried under mountains of paperwork—and he'd been secretly training behind my back.
Cheeky man. I watch every single one of your training sessions, don't I?
But he hides his? A strange sense of betrayal crept up on me.
Just then—
Knock, knock.
Huh?
My head turned at the sound of knocking on my door.
"Who is it?"
"Me."
"……"
The curt answer. The tone that had discarded courtesy somewhere along the way. And yet, that pleasant voice. Anyone would have known it was the Grand Duke.
Startled, I hurried out of bed and opened the door. Sure enough, an enormous Grand Duke stood on the other side of it. I'd expected as much, but the fact that the Grand Duke had actually come to my room left me a little dazed.
I tilted my head up at him.
"Your Highness?"
"……"
He gazed down at me in silence. I met those violet eyes and spoke.
"Your Highness, if you need something, you could simply ring for me. Then I'd have come right away—"
"How does one order a sick person to come to them?"
The Grand Duke cut me off, cold as ice.
Sick? Who's sick? I'd only wobbled for a moment from a little headache. Anyone listening would think I was on my deathbed.
Oh. I did faint briefly, didn't I.
Hm. Let's just call that falling asleep from exhaustion.
I let out a sigh. "I'm telling you, I'm not sick at all. Look—perfectly fine."
As I spread my arms and waved them about, the Grand Duke exhaled.
"Take this."
He held out a small wooden box in one hand. I accepted it and asked, "What is it?"
"Medicine."
Medicine? Sneaking a glance at his face, I quickly opened the lid. Inside sat a glass vial—and whatever filled that transparent glass to the brim was…
"Pills?"
I lifted the vial out of the box and gave it a gentle shake. Clack-clack—a clear sound of pills knocking together rang out inside. The round pills were about the size of a pinky nail, a deep shade of green. And here was the curious part: a very faint golden glow shimmered along their edges. You'd miss it unless you looked closely—but an expert of my caliber could spot it in a heartbeat.
Hmm… but then.
I couldn't place the pills themselves. But this box. This vial.
Where have I seen these before…?
Where was it? I rummaged through my memory, and the moment I did—
"This is the sap you requested. Since it was by the Grand Duke's own request, the High Priest drew it out specially. Three questions is the limit. Beyond that, your body would be unable to withstand the World Tree's power, and you would lose consciousness."
That's it! The wooden box and glass vial the priest had carried in with the sap!
Yes! That's it! This crest engraved on the lid—it's exactly the same!
I asked, hardly daring to hope. "Th-this wouldn't happen to be from the temple, would it?"
"Sharp eyes."
The Grand Duke replied indifferently.
"One a day. And you'll take it where I can see you."
"…I'm sorry, what?!"
Hold on—what kind of medicine is this?!
Was it another truth serum, like the sap of truth?
Planning to interrogate me for the truth once a day, are you, Your Grace?!
Only when I shot him a look of open suspicion did the Grand Duke seem to realize his mistake, and he finally spoke. "I don't know what misunderstanding you've formed, but… it's for headaches."
Eh? I blinked rapidly.
"A… headache remedy?"
"Yes. I asked the High Priest to prepare it personally. The headaches won't vanish entirely, I'm told, but it will ease the pain."
"……"
"He said to take one a day, without fail. A butler is a dreadfully busy creature—you might forget. So every night, before you go to bed, you'll take it in front of me."
"……"
"There will be no more collapsing. That's the least of it."
"……"
"It's made from rare ingredients. Wasting it by not taking it properly would be a shame."
"……"
I stood there staring up at him, my mouth hanging open without my even noticing.
The Grand Duke certainly is talkative today. …No, more importantly.
The moment the meeting that had dragged on for two days and nights finally ended, he'd bolted straight to the temple without resting first?
To get medicine for me?
And he'd asked that impossibly busy High Priest—whom no one could simply get an audience with—to make it himself?
No, wait. Grand Duke. Why would you go to such lengths…
At that moment, his voice surfaced in my memory.
"Do you… remember me?"
"I'm merely saying the sooner you recover your memories, the better."
His gaze and his voice—directed not at me, but at that someone inside my body.
Whoops.
Almost got the wrong idea there.
Right now, the Grand Duke wasn't worrying about me—he was worried about the true owner of this body. After all, this beautiful, lovely form couldn't be allowed so much as a single scratch.
Good thing I didn't get all touched for nothing.
Ahem. I cleared my throat, pulled the stopper from the vial, and shook out a single pill.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I appreciate the trouble you've gone to."
"……"
Now—watch me take it, will you, Your Grace?
Wanting to look good in front of him, I tipped the pill into my mouth and swallowed it whole.
Ulp.
It wouldn't go down! Perhaps because of its less-than-smooth coating, the pill snagged somewhere in the middle of my throat and crept down at a glacial pace.
Ah, I should've had water with it!
Too late for regrets. Watching me struggle, the Grand Duke clicked his tongue, nudged me aside, and strode into the room. Then he poured water into a cup and handed it over.
"Ah—thank you…"
I sipped the water and stole a glance at him.
Unbelievable. Always quick on the uptake when it counts.
He could have just gone back to his room and let me drink water on my own time. It's not as if I'd die from a single pill sliding slowly down my throat…
I set the cup down, and the Grand Duke stepped out of the room with a parting word. "Rest."
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
"Yes, Your Highness. Thank you."
"……"
I simply stood there, staring at the door he had left through, for a long while.
The next morning, the second grand council of high nobles convened.
This time, we were told, a conclusion had to be reached—whether it took two days or an entire week.
He didn't get a proper rest yesterday, either.
But my worries proved pointless. The Grand Duke emerged from his chambers looking perfectly fine and took his seat at the council once more.
As expected of the Grand Duke.
Monstrous stamina.
How many days will it drag on this time? Surely not a whole week?
I was starting to genuinely worry about him, and I missed Riel and Anna too.
And I do wonder whether the little furball is doing well.
Perhaps thanks to all that fretting of mine, the grand council wrapped up that very evening.
"Well done, everyone. Who knew it would end so simply?"
"Simply? If the Grand Duke of Ballot hadn't stepped in himself, we'd have been stuck here a week, a month! …Ahem. Never mind. It concluded smoothly, and that's what matters."
"Indeed. Haha! His Highness seems to have had urgent business. I can't recall the last time he hurried a council along like this…"
The doors to the council hall swung open and the high nobles spilled out. As they filed from the chamber, trading remarks among themselves, the nobles were escorted by their attendants back to their lodgings. Last of all, the Grand Duke strolled leisurely out of the hall.
And the next day—
The news was formally proclaimed: the alliance between the Cadea Empire and the Tenasis Empire had been sealed.