The Man Who Can't Do Small Talk
“Huh?”
“So, um……”
How am I supposed to tell him to wear a hood because seeing his face keeps making my heart flutter?
In the end, after hemming and hawing, I just asked after his well-being.
“How was your week?”
Oh, that came out in such a weird tone.
Still, it was decently quick-witted of me.
I waited for Everett’s answer while silently patting myself on the back.
“Nothing much happened……”
When our eyes met, Everett scratched his cheek and gave a faint smile.
“He always says nothing much.”
I grumbled just loud enough for Everett to hear.
Everett had improved a lot since the beginning, but he was still the strong and silent type.
I was the kind of person who frequently tossed all sorts of trivial questions at such a reticent man first.
Especially “What did you do last week?”—that had been my regular question since the second exhibition.
And the answer was always the same.
This was the third time I’d asked, and hearing “Nothing much happened……” every single time had left me a bit miffed.
Does he not know how to make small talk?
Even though I was trying to act more mature considering our rather significant eight-year age gap, my lips still poked out in a pout.
In the middle of that, Everett tried to keep the conversation going by asking me in return.
“And you?”
His tone was perfectly calm, as if he had no idea at which point my mood had soured.
This is the third time I’ve heard that one, too.
“I didn’t have anything much happen either.”
It’s not like I have exciting episodes every single day.
I straightened up from my forward lean and crossed my arms.
In the most defensive posture possible.
That is, to put as much distance between me and Everett as I could.
When I noticeably scooted my chair back and readjusted my position, this time it was Everett’s upper body that leaned slightly closer to me.
“Miss Diaz?”
The man who would usually hear “Nothing much happened……” multiple times and then nonchalantly say Then listen to my story and launch into his daily life now looked genuinely flustered that I had clammed up.
After a moment of thought, Everett carefully opened his mouth.
“Now that I think about it, is there really such a thing as a day when nothing happens?”
Then, as if checking a graded assignment, he glanced sideways to meet my eyes.
The deadline’s already passed and you got a C+.
Still, watching a man who looked like he had never needed to read a room in his entire life constantly gauge my reaction made me willing to give him a break.
“Right?”
When I uncrossed my arms and nodded moderately, Everett’s face brightened in an instant.
“Yeah.”
I subtly pulled my chair forward again.
This is your retake opportunity. There won’t be a third chance.
At the very least, tell me something like how summer roses bloomed in the inner palace garden, or how you had dinner with your fellow knights.
When I gave Everett a coy look that clearly meant keep going, his mouth opened slowly, as if receiving a cue.
“So this week……”
However, the man who lacked a certain eloquence seemed to be struggling to pick an appropriate topic for casual conversation.
I cheered him on with silence and smiles.
Finally, Everett’s slightly furrowed brow smoothed out.
It seemed he had thought of a suitable episode.
“Now that I mention it……”
Everett began the preamble in a dry, monotone voice as if he were reading a report.
“There was a second round of reparation adjustment negotiations with Bellot, but they broke down. I was about to put an end to it this time, but things have gotten a bit troublesome.”
It was a tone that perfectly matched the conversation topic he had finally come up with.
Excuse me? This isn’t what I was hoping for?
My eyes widened at a story on a completely different scale from the trivial small talk I had wanted.
With Bellot.
What?
Wait a minute, is this something I’m even allowed to hear?
Even at a glance, it sounded like a diplomatic secret that a low-level palace administrator should not be privy to.
“W-wait a moment.”
I hastily stopped Everett.
Everett, who had been about to say something again that he labeled as “his daily life” but was actually a matter of national importance, paused.
“Why?”
His face showed complete confusion about why I was stopping him.
“Isn’t this classified information?”
I checked the already tightly closed door once more and asked Everett in a whisper.
In the imperial palace, you have to watch your ears and your eyes at all times.
Even though he must have worked here much longer than me.
Seeing me thoroughly frightened, Everett laughed.
“No way.”
Everett smiled playfully.
“That… it’s not just your personal opinion, right? It’s official?”
Everett’s answer left no room for doubt, but I checked once more just to be sure.
“It’s the Empire’s official opinion.”
Everett let out a short laugh and answered casually.
“Then that’s a relief.”
Only then could I let out a sigh of relief.
“You startled me.”
I grumbled as I flopped down onto the table like I was collapsing.
My heart was pounding rapidly for a completely different reason now.
Everett laughed out loud.
“I can never tell if you’re brave or a scaredy-cat.”
Then he teased me mischievously.
“I want to live long and prosper, you know.”
I grumbled while still lying face down.
“It seems the news hasn’t reached the outer palace yet, but everyone working in the inner palace knows about it. It’s hardly a secret.”
Everett explained in a soothing tone.
“Well, that’s good then.”
While I felt somewhat relieved, Everett, perhaps reminded of the re-negotiation of reparations with Bellot while talking to me, added grumpily.
“The crown princess tends to make quite a fuss.”
At this point, Everett’s expression hardened a little.
“Coming here as a guest and then causing such a stir everywhere—it’s impossible for rumors not to spread.”
The latter part was muttered in a small voice, but since his diction was excellent, it came through crystal clear.
At Everett’s unreserved way of speaking, I checked again if the door was properly closed.
No matter that she’s royalty from another country, she’s still the crown princess. Is it okay to talk about her like this?
When I flinched with an uneasy expression, Everett belatedly added an honorific.
“So, Her Highness the Crown Princess, I mean.”
Everett looked extremely awkward attaching an honorific to the crown princess.
As if he had never once used a title of respect for anyone in his life.
Well, they do say knights originally have rough speech.
Especially since they had been at war with Bellot until just recently, it wouldn’t be strange if some ill feelings remained.
It’s not like I only used proper and nice words when talking about Connie and Donovan.
The comfortable way of speaking seemed like evidence that Everett felt quite at ease with me.
I had already come to a reasonable understanding, but when Everett saw me staying quiet, he seemed to think he had made a verbal slip and tried to change the subject.
“What else happened?”
The way his eyes darted around made it obvious he was just opening his mouth for now.
I smiled at Everett with wide eyes.
“So how exactly has the crown princess been causing a stir?”
Because I wanted to tease him.
As if my intention was obvious, Everett exaggeratedly shook his head.
I burst out laughing at the deliberately dead-serious expression Everett had put on.
But Everett wasn’t the type to just take it lying down.
He continued the conversation, pretending not to notice the seventy-percent-transparent playfulness in my question.
With the air of I don’t particularly want to talk about work on my precious weekend, but since you asked, I’ll answer.
“She planned a charity donation targeting the nobles, but when that didn’t work, she went to the temple to request dispatch of relief personnel and so on.”
“Oh.”
She’s got some nerve.
Indeed, they were actions that weren’t very appropriate for someone from a foreign country—one they had been at war with until recently.
When I rounded my lips and let out a sound of amazement, Everett laughed along.
Finding my reaction amusing, Everett shared a few more episodes related to the crown princess.
“The breakdown in the reparation renegotiations is all because the crown princess was so persistent.”
Perhaps thinking of the headache he’d left behind in the office, Everett’s brow narrowed again.
“Going on and on about how the Empire’s grace is as vast as the sea, when it’s all just talk.”
Everett clicked his tongue softly.
“Um, isn’t Her Highness the Crown Princess from the pro-Empire faction?”
Everett raised the corners of his mouth in a smile as if he had heard a truly funny joke.
“That woman is still a Bellotian after all. She only sided with the Empire because not surrendering would mean ruin.”
It seemed there were more detailed inside stories than what had been covered in newspaper columns.
“Well, the Empire also needs to maintain Bellot’s current royal family, so we took the hand that was offered.”
At this moment, Everett seemed more like a strategist than a knight.
“I heard that in the reparation renegotiations, if we took the originally set amount as is, half of Bellot’s population would starve to death, so it’s under discussion.”
I grew serious as well.
“That’s true. But we can’t just overlook it too much, which is where the problem lies. The relationship isn’t good.”
Everett summarized the situation in one sentence.
“Because Bellot was the main axis of the coalition forces?”
Everett smiled like he was looking at a diligent student and nodded.
“Instead of the grains and such that were agreed upon, we have to receive other items, but aside from the king’s crown, I bet they’re completely broke?”
“Then wouldn’t it be okay to take the crown?”
“What?”
It was a lightly tossed comment, but Everett’s eyes widened roundly.
As if to say that was going a bit far.