Chapter 12

Episode 12 — The Agony of an Onlooker (2)

There was no conversation between the two as they crossed the small-animal section and returned to the starting point.

A chilly wind brushed between the duke and Tollin.

Tollin hesitated as he looked down at the back of the duke’s head, who had been walking silently with a stiff expression for some time.

The one who first broke this difficult silence and opened his mouth was Duke Feedus.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, of course! I wasn’t hit that hard. Look."

Tollin shook his head from side to side as he looked at his superior, who had asked awkwardly.

Then his head throbbed, and he had to clutch his forehead again, but the duke’s eyes, watching that sight, sank even deeper.

"I mean it. They say that in a faraway foreign land to the east, stones suddenly fall from the sky and become great craters. The stone that hit me might have been something like that. Looking at it that way, shouldn’t I consider myself lucky? I was hit by a stone falling from the sky, but instead of getting a hole in my head, I only ended up with one wound."

The duke merely nodded expressionlessly as he watched Tollin’s pitifully glib act.

Seeing that, Tollin felt uncomfortable for no reason and simply drove the horse forward slowly.

It was also uncomfortable that he, not the duke, was riding the one remaining horse.

Since the duke could not let the 7th Prince simply walk away, he had even given him a horse and sent him off.

Two large adult men could not ride on one horse together.

Thanks to that, Tollin was riding the horse while the duke was walking.

Even if he were to be hit in the head by another stone, Tollin insisted that he would walk, but the duke stubbornly threatened that if Tollin did not get on the horse, he would jump into the lake carrying this bag full of stones, so Tollin had no choice but to mount the horse.

The two chose their words carefully, knowing that it was no longer appropriate to speak of what had happened with the 7th Prince.

"....Anyway, what are you going to do? You didn’t catch anything. From the looks of it, it seems you even lost the golden fox."

Tollin asked the duke in order to turn both of their attention away from what had happened today.

"Well, I suppose I’ll be called a washed-up old man or something."

The duke answered with a faint laugh.

"Oh dear, now others besides me will call you that, Your Grace."

"So you were the source of the rumor after all. I thought as much."

"I only thought it to myself, so strictly speaking, I’m not the source yet."

The two walked while exchanging light conversation, as if nothing had happened today.

As if nothing unfair or painful had ever happened even once.

Tollin had been hit by a stone without even knowing the reason, but from the moment he learned that the other party was the 7th Prince, he wanted no punishment, and because he knew that further protest against a member of the imperial family was meaningless, he decided to bury the matter.

And to empty his mind as lightly as the conversation they were having now.

He believed the duke would do the same.

Because the superior he had known for over ten years was someone who could not even imagine rebelling against the imperial family’s orders, far more than Tollin himself.

But contrary to Tollin’s thoughts, rather than emptying his mind, the duke’s head was filled entirely with the voice of the 7th Prince.

—He, too, will become a loyal dog of the imperial family. He will walk the same path as you.

The 7th Prince’s mocking voice was still vivid in his ears.

That had clearly once been the future the duke had wanted most.

For the young duke who would inherit his position to become the proud sword of the imperial family.

And for the House of Duke Feedus to inherit that duty generation after generation.

—The person watching that from closest by will be his father, the duke.

The jeering voice echoed in his ears again.

‘Can I endure that?’

The duke could no longer dare answer that question.

He merely forced himself to repeat that each of his steps felt as heavy as if tangled in a swamp because of the bag slung over his shoulder, and took one step after another.

* * *

When I had almost reached the stone tower where the tents were gathered, the participants who had arrived first and the waiting attendants glanced at me.

I was used to people stealing glances at me, but something about the atmosphere felt strange.

Everyone was busy avoiding my eyes whenever our gazes met, so I could not figure anything out.

Anyway, where did my horse go?

Did it really go back to the stable or something?

I was just thinking that if that were the case, I would starve it for dinner as punishment for acting too clever.

"We greet the 7th Prince."

Two knights with gold engraved on their armor approached me and bowed their heads.

The Imperial Knights, huh.

"What is it?"

"Her Highness the 1st Princess is looking for Your Highness the 7th Prince."

The 1st Princess.

She was my eldest sister, the one who had made the 8th Prince have a fit during the last ritual.

Well, I doubt that guy has anyone among his siblings he isn’t afraid of besides me.

In any case, she was someone it would do me no good to meet face-to-face and talk to up close.

I gripped the reins shortly and said,

"I sweated too much while hunting. I cannot meet Her Highness the princess in this state. Tell her I will visit her later."

One of the two, the one who looked a little younger, glanced at my empty saddle, but the other stopped him by elbowing him in the ribs.

"....My apologies, Your Highness. Her Highness the princess said she is keeping the horse Your Highness cherishes in her care. If you do not come now, how she will handle it….."

"Enough. Lead the way."

I dismounted while cursing inwardly.

When I obediently stepped forward, they looked relieved and guided me toward a splendid white tent.

If word spread that I had lost the horse gifted by the 4th Prince, I could not know how a prince whose personality did not seem very good would react.

It would be better to deal with someone I could at least communicate with.

Besides, I had to retrieve the horse anyway.

I had hoped to encounter the 1st Princess as late as possible, or, if possible, not until I left the imperial palace, but it could not be helped.

And when I returned, that insolent horse would be made to see a slaughterhouse built beside the stable.

* * *

The imperial family is, in truth, a place overflowing with humans a person should never meet in their entire life.

The emperor goes without saying, and all members of the imperial family, including my siblings, are people one should not even glance sideways at while passing by.

Among them, the 1st Princess ranks quite high.

"You’ve come."

When the servants opened the entrance to the tent, whose white leather looked like it must have been difficult to obtain, the 1st Princess, seated on a brown sofa in the center, greeted me.

The 1st Princess, Mentil Abiran, a beautiful woman with long wheat-colored hair hanging down, smiled brightly and invited me to sit on the chair placed beside the sofa.

"I greet Her Highness the princess."

When I chose to bow and greet her before sitting, she made a thoughtful sound and comfortably leaned her body back against the sofa.

"Set aside such stiff greetings. Are we not siblings who share blood? We should become comfortable with one another."

"Stiff greetings and an appropriate distance are what make me most comfortable, Princess."

"Hahaha, I did not know my younger brother was such an inflexible person."

She laughed brightly and clapped her hands.

At that sight, I silently stood there and stared at her.

"Yes, most of my other younger siblings have fiery sides, so I suppose it is good to have someone a bit like a rock, like you."

"Thank you for seeing me that way."

Since I was still standing as I answered her, she spread her hand toward the chair and said,

"I think it would be best for you to sit."

"I am fine..."

"My arm hurts."

She still spoke with a smile, but this time I could tell it was not a suggestion I could simply resist.

I sat on the chair, which was softer than it looked, and had to face her as she persistently followed me with her eyes.

After a brief standoff, the princess opened her mouth with her usual gentle smile.

"So…."

For a moment, mischief, caution, and cruelty flashed through the princess’ eyes.

A strand of the chilly wind outside entered the warm tent of the 1st Princess and brushed the nape of my neck.

No, perhaps it only felt that way.

Because I could no longer distinguish it from the goosebumps rising on my neck because of the princess’ next words.

"What change of heart made my younger brother become a completely different person?"

The sharp question pierced through me.

This was why I had not wanted to face the 1st Princess.

In the novel Dark Header, only an extremely small number of people are born holding Manis.

Manis manifests entirely as abilities related to nature.

The emperor uses fire, and the 1st Prince uses water Manis.

And the ability of the 1st Princess, in a way, could be described as standing at the pinnacle of all nature.

"It isn’t something that can simply be called a change in personality, is it? I am not sure, but I know you better than you know yourself."

The 1st Princess’ ability is human beings.

She controls people’s hearts.

And this is the reason Duke Feedus cannot break out of his own shell by himself.

* * *

I had to stay calm.

From the moment I possessed a character in the novel, I had kept in mind that someone would not simply overlook my sense of foreignness.

Since the 1st Princess’ ability was what it was, I had expected that she might be the first to notice.

Fortunately, I was an avid reader who had read the novel over a hundred times, and I knew more about the character named Mentil Abiran than most people.

Fortunately, I even knew the conditions that prevented her ability from activating.

She said she knew me better than I knew myself, but well, that was probably no longer true.

Because inside Ran Abiran’s body was a twenty-eight-year-old man, and she did not know that yet.

I let out a small sigh and met her eyes.

The 1st Princess was still looking at me with a gentle smile.

"Answer carefully. Wouldn’t life become difficult if everyone serving you were turned into idiots?"

That is terrifying.

Still, thanks to that, the little tension that remained loosened.

I caught my breath for a moment and slowly opened my mouth.

"....My mother passed away."

Of course, I did not even know where the 7th Prince’s mother was right now.

While confirming that the corners of her mouth stiffened, I silently offered a sincere apology to Ran Abiran’s mother, who might be perfectly alive somewhere.

* * *

Thinking calmly, the fact that Princess Mentil personally called me out and asked me a question tells me that her ability does not work on me.

If it did, she could have simply controlled me and obtained the answer.

She probably realized something was strange about me because she noticed that her ability no longer worked on me.

In the original work, the 7th Prince is swayed by Mentil’s ability and moves as she wants.

Then what kind of people can escape that hellish ability of the 1st Princess?

In the novel, the people on whom the 1st Princess’ ability does not work satisfy the following two conditions.

First, they must be connected to the 1st Princess by blood.

For now, since my body belongs to Ran Abiran, that condition is satisfied.

And second, they must feel familial love toward Mentil Abiran, not romantic desire.

The problem is this second condition.

There is no chance I would feel romantic desire toward the 1st Princess, but there is even less chance I would feel familial love.

There is no way I would feel something like familial love, which I have never even felt toward my biological parents, from her, when this is only the second time I have seen her face.

Even so, I still do not know why the princess cannot control my heart.

I only think it has something to do with the fact that I am someone who possessed a character in the novel.

There is only one thing I must do in this situation.

Make her misunderstand and accept that I felt familial love toward the 1st Princess.

I know that the words she repeats like a habit, saying family should get along, are not just empty words.