"Wait, the tea's getting cold."
Prokeon waited with a sullen expression. He felt like his mouth was becoming dry because of how much he worried for her excellency.
Sooner or later, Gilbert knew that he'd end up in trouble. The capital might've been rather restless, but its vicious nature would not change so easily.
Gilbert was also violent towards his little brother.
Eight years ago, while they were dying in the middle of a desert, the lord picked them up and adopted them as his final good deed. Even his adoptive father was a snobbish man who only ever thought of restraining him.
Even if the lord didn't seem human, and his eyes looked as if they were going to drag you down to hell, Prokeon had not one desire to look like Gilbert's subordinate.
Instead, he'd rather sass Gilbert.
Prokeon glared at him with fierce eyes. Because of you, our grand duchess, who's the most beautiful in the world and probably the nicest too and probably also an advocate of peace, had her feelings deeply hurt. How can I not be filled with resentment towards you?
Vega eventually put his teacup down and calmed Prokeon.
"I was the one who took the young master away whilst the lord danced with her excellency."
"Huh?"
"I wasn't able to enter the banquet but I heard it was a complete catastrophe."
"Huh?!"
The word 'catastrophe' left him aghast. His lord dancing amongst the other nobles… it was something he couldn't possibly imagine.
The temperature of the capital would've dropped just because Aedis entered it.
He was that much of a monster, so something like this would've never happened.
But maybe her excellency, who was as pure as the hydrangea flower he'd once seen in a book and probably as bright as the sun on a fine spring, didn't know the lord's true nature. She must've mustered up her courage to ask him for a dance just to ease their surroundings.
But even before the threat that was Gilbert went away, she caught the eye of their lord.
"S-such a thing. How can such a cruel thing..."
Prokeon shed tears for the pitiful grand duchess, who had to suffer from two encounters with the Kallakis family.
"Her excellency is pitiable. A beautiful flower who somehow got involved with the Kallakis family! Kuhuk! Wouldn't it have been better for her to marry the second young master?"
"However, the second young master is still only eight years old."
"The lord and her excellency were born in different centuries."
"Ah, that is right."
The two's idle chatter seemed to have no end.
Prokeon continued to praise Maevia, even though he had never met her. Gilbert cursed under his breath.
But that sound didn't go unheard by the grand duke's elite knights.
"Stay quiet, would you? You think swearing will bring you something?"
Prokeon bluntly retorted at Gilbert before redirecting his attention to Vega.
"I'm worried about the grand duchess. Are you sure she won't get hurt?"
"Don't know, we should get ready to leave."
"Already?"
"I'm only here to pick up her excellency, not like I was gonna stay along anyways. Besides, the capital is too hot."
Vega drank all of his tea at once. Before he left, Prokeon gestured over to Gilbert.
"What about the first young master?"
"Do whatever. Wrap him so that he won't be a bother to the lord and her excellency's eyes."
"Alright."
He nodded gently.
As Prokeon pulled out a rope from the inside of his cloak, Gilbert furrowed his brows and said,
"…..Wait."
"What is it?"
"I'd like to say goodbye to my friend first."
Prokeon's eyes widened.
"You have friends?"
This was the reason why Gilbert hated the dogs his adoptive father had trained.
He endured it because he was a patient man. But, since he had no intentions of being wrapped up or removed from the vicinity, Gilbert called for his sword without hesitation.
They were elite soldiers, but a little bit of bloodshed was the natural cost of victory.
The sword didn't betray the whims of its master. It revealed itself as it sliced through the air.
But a strange odour was present.
"Uwek."
Prokeon gagged and covered his nose, and the stink made Vega change expressions.
"What's this? Suddenly there's this rotten smell...."
Their attention moved over to the sword. The rumoured sword put its fame to shame with its dirtiness.
"Did you fall in a ditch or something?"
"Ughhhh, I'm gonna vomit."
Not being able to stand it, Prokeon opened the door.
Haa haa, you could hear him gulping in the fresh air.
"Come with me. But before that, lock the door."
Gilbert grinded his teeth as he attempted to leave through the door with Vega.
"I said I have someone I need to meet."
Prokeon turned his head around to see Gilbert, who was emitting an aura of bloodlust, and immediately regretted it.
"Who, um, who is it? Tell me his name, ergh."
"Bring Kallen", Gilbert muttered as he lifted his sword that seemed to have been at the bottom of some ditch and stared at it.
If he couldn't touch Maevia Morgana, he'd just have to vent his anger on the people surrounding her.
I wasn't sure if bringing Aedis to a cafe was a good idea. And so, I rented the whole cafe. The owner and their staff trembled as they hid beneath the counter.
That was because of the pressure coming from Aedis.
"Mr. Aedis."
"Hm?"
"Follow me."
I smiled at him.
He stared back at me compliantly and followed with a smile on his face.
"Eek!"
One of the personnel fell back.
"That backfired."
I thought they wouldn't be scared because of his handsome face. Though, it seemed like I was the only one capable of staring at his face without turning blue.
"H-h-here's y-your c-coffee."
Because Aedis didn't order anything, only I received the coffee from the employees.
But it was just coffee. No cream nor any milk.
A slight ominous feeling swept over me as I took a sip, a frown following afterwards.
Bitter...
"What's wrong?"
Before answering his question, I glanced over to the staff member.
They seemed to have used the wrong recipe, but I had a hunch that if I were to ask them to make it again but sweeter, they'd hang themselves right away.
When I looked at Aedis, the image of Sarah's shoulders quivering came into mind and made me weak.
"It's nothing."
"It's truly regrettable that my wife has already started lying on our first day of marriage."
I couldn't stop thinking about how nice his voice was. He wasn't too loud, but his pronunciation was clear so it was easy to understand him. Plus, no matter what he said, he still sounded hot. My ears felt like they were in heaven.
"Wait a minute."
The coffee in my hand was taken away.
Aedis stood up. I thought he was going to beat up the staff, but after they exchanged a few words he entered the kitchen.
He came back a moment later with a coffee full of milk decorated with a heart shaped straw, a wafer stick, whipped cream and sweet syrup to finish it all off.
"Is this what you wanted to eat?"
"Wow, it looks exactly like the one shown on the menu."
I couldn't help but admire it.
He accepted the compliment as if it were only natural.
"I'm a bit quick when it comes to visual learning."
Because of the bitter taste still present in my mouth, I quickly gulped down the drink. It was sweet.
Yup yup. I like my husband.
"It's delicious, thank you."
When I smiled widely, Aedis smiled with his eyes.
"There's something I'm curious about my beloved wife."
"Ask away", I said as I stirred the drink with my straw.
His eyes were fixed on my face.
"You said you'll only take your most trusted maid. Is she the one who brought you that letter?"
"That's correct."
"And her name is Sarah?"
"Yes."
"Is she very precious to you?"
"She's both precious and cute."
"Do you want me to kill them?"
[T/N: a pronoun wasn't used, so technically it's "Do you want me to kill".]
Huh?
He asked the same question as before, but this time its meaning differed. I felt like he had a deeper, hidden motive.
I ate the whipped cream with my teaspoon and asked,
"Is there something wrong with Sarah?"
"It seems like she'll be taken away soon."
I put down my teaspoon and laughed coldly.
"Will it be dealt with violently?"
"Since my wife's maid is quite cooperative, there's most likely no need to. Since they're planning on finding your weakness, she won't be killed."
Instead of getting up, I continued drinking my coffee. Then, I continued with the conversation, unperturbed.
"And how come Mr. Aedis knows about this?"
"I've already told you, I'm quite quick when it comes to learning things."
"Ah, is that so."
When I stared at him because of his lousy explanation, Aedis laughed like a villain.
"Do you have good hearing too?"
As the most powerful man in the North, it was only logical that he was quick to learn things and had excellent hearing.
I drank my coffee and murmured in a subtle tone,
"I had a hunch this would happen, but it still upsets me."
"Well, the kidnapper isn't exactly Gilbert. He's playing the role of the mastermind instead", Aedis said, his smile never disappearing.
"That look on your face tells me you want to know how I educated my kids."
"..."
"Though, the fact that I was forced to take them in concerns me quite a bit. I assumed he'd get along with his teachers, but he turned them into disabled people instead."
Oh.
Oh?
"So you're telling me you adopted them against your will?"
It'd be a lie to say I wasn't surprised. The novel never mentioned any kind of explanation like this.
So I ignored it like it was nothing, but it was certainly strange.
The story behind the Aedis' adoption of the main characters… It was almost like his character was breaking apart.
Why did he travel all the way to the desert to fetch the two dying brothers?
Why did he choose to pick them up himself, and why were they in that desert in the first place?