Chapter 29

Episode 29 - Unexpected (2)

“The elder told me to deliver this to you.”

Jing quietly looked at Ratel, who had come to his room from dawn, then turned his gaze out the window.

Since the sun had not risen, the blue dawn sky dimly lit his view.

“Thank you. A young man with less morning sleep than an old man. How very kind.”

At his weak answer, Ratel silently nodded and quietly held out what he had brought.

Jing accepted the heavy object.

“It seems they conducted various investigations on it all this time, wondering if it might be a suspicious object.”

Ratel added.

Jing quietly slung the now somewhat tattered leather bag over his shoulder.

It was the bag the Seventh Prince had given him.

It was the only object that had accompanied him from outside.

And it was also the most suspicious object to him.

“You cannot die yet.”

Remembering that face muttering expressionlessly as if placing some kind of curse, Jing almost shuddered without realizing it.

Since Ratel was staring intently at him, Jing cleared his throat and asked.

“So, did anything come out?”

Perhaps a stone related to Amica or something?

That reckless Seventh Prince bothered him terribly.

The black-haired prince’s final words, as if he had predicted that Jing would receive summary execution according to imperial tradition that day, were enough to make Jing regard him with suspicion.

If this was somehow an object related to Amica, then there was a high chance it had called him into that strange cave.

It would become a clue for escape.

And it would also become a reason to return to the capital and make contact with the Seventh Prince.

Ratel quietly answered.

“No. They were ordinary stones.”

“Is that so?”

Jing asked back, feeling the strength drain from him again at his bland answer.

“Yes. And the elder asked me to ask whether people outside take care of their health in this manner. He said he very much wants to learn.”

He wanted to argue that carrying around such things could dislocate one’s shoulder, so there was no way it could be good for health, but he shook his head, thinking that the other party was wrong.

“That......I will tell him separately.”

Perhaps Ratel had not said it expecting an answer either, because he opened his mouth again.

“Yes. He said to come to the archive after breakfast, so you can go there.”

‘Ah, I had said I would look around the archive. That I would...... look at Amica’s books in the archive......’

“Are you unwell?”

At the blunt way of speaking that did not suit concern, Jing suddenly came back to his senses.

“Ah, I am fine. What did you say?”

“The elder said to come alone. He said he would be waiting underground.”

After finishing those words, Ratel turned around without lingering.

Jing’s hand as he closed the door was not as unburdened as Ratel’s.

Jing placed a hand over his chest.

His heart was beating unpleasantly fast.

* * *

The place called the archive was smaller, older, and, more than anything, far dirtier than he had expected.

“It is quite......cozy.”

At the greatest compliment he could offer in front of that sight, the elder, who was standing in the middle of the archive that looked as if dust would fly everywhere, laughed lowly.

“Since anyone can come and go, it is a little messy.”

Perhaps Ratel’s words that anyone could read the books as long as they received permission had not been a lie, because the inside, filled with books so worn that it was hard to find one without signs of use, was worn down here and there.

“If just anyone comes and goes, the precious books will be damaged.”

It was a question he asked because he could not understand managing what were probably the last materials remaining in the world like this, but the elder merely laughed.

“Rather than ‘just anyone’, it is ‘everyone’. The two are not the same.”

That was true.

Jing nodded and carefully looked around.

As expected, it was ordinary.

So much so that it felt absurd that he had come in while forcibly calming his pounding heart.

Jing had felt uncomfortable because there had been a time when he had taken the lead in executing those who possessed heretical books in Abiran.

But now that he had actually come here, he did not feel emotions as intense as he had expected.

“Is there anything you want to read? ‘Everyone’ includes Jing as well.”

The sudden suggestion pulled Jing out of his thoughts.

“Ah, are there books that are not religious texts?”

“If there were not, there would be no reason for them to be here.”

Jing, who had never once in his life thought about learning Amica’s teachings, could not hide his flustered expression.

The elder tilted his head.

“Did you not say you wanted to look around this place once?”

“I….did. Yes, I did say that.”

“The most basic book is this one.”

As if unaware of Jing’s flustered heart, the elder held out a book about the thickness of a thumb, one that looked the oldest, right before Jing’s eyes.

It was just a book.

A bundle of paper.

Jing, who had kept his eyes wide open even when all kinds of threatening weapons brushed past his neck, felt himself flinch as if frightened by a bundle of paper.

It felt as if Knight Commander Agony Feedus still remained inside him.

“Reading seditious books is betraying Abiran. Betrayal is rebellion. Rebellion is......”

“Punishable by death.”

The elder, whose eyes briefly widened at the lump of thought that slipped out lowly, folded his wrinkled eyes again.

“I see.”

He immediately withdrew the hand he had extended.

“If your life is at stake, there is no helping it.”

Feeling as though the blade that had threatened his neck had been withdrawn, Jing let out a deep breath.

“If your heart changes, you may come anytime.”

The old man spoke peacefully, then said he would look around the dusty books again.

‘What was that just now?’

Something was strange.

Jing, who was not Duke Feedus, had no reason to be afraid.

Jing looked down at the sweat soaking his callused palm.

* * *

The son whom the former Duke Feedus was dying of curiosity about was currently standing at the center of an awkward situation without a single fingertip injured.

“Seya? Seya? Are you dead? Seya!!”

Beside the fallen bigger fellow, the smaller fellow, who looked as if he might collapse together from shock, shook the child while the Little Duke watched with a complicated expression.

The bigger fellow named Seya had charged toward the Little Duke at a fairly fast speed just a moment ago.

The Little Duke had also been flustered by that agile movement, but he was, in any case, a person of the Feedus ducal family.

That meant he had not neglected training as the sword of the imperial family, and at the same time, it meant he was nimble enough to avoid a child of the streets rushing at him from close range.

The child named Seya noticed with astonishing reflexes that they had not collided with the Little Duke, and at the same time, hurriedly tried to stop.

However, perhaps because bare feet lacked friction with the ground, the child slid just like that and fell face-first to the ground.

Around the time the Little Duke thought he could no longer endure the still silence that followed the thud of the light child falling, the smaller child approached the fallen child with tears in their eyes.

And that was how the current situation came about.

The Little Duke was flustered.

The plan the children had been discussing was so absurd and dangerous that he had only stepped forward to stop it.

He had not intended to hurt the children.

Most commoners the Little Duke remembered were people who bowed their heads the moment he appeared, so he had never dreamed things would turn out like this.

“Sniff, ugh, Seya, open your eyes.”

Because the small child was already crying as if the bigger child had died, the Little Duke’s confusion grew even greater.

“Wait. You must not shake them like that.”

Thinking that first, he had to stop the small child who was shaking Seya like mad, he grabbed the child’s shoulder, but that did not seem to be a good choice.

The child began crying as if having a seizure.

“Uwaaaah!!! I am sorry!! I am sorry!!! Because we are bad insects......!!! I guess we are dying like this after trying to do something bad!!!”

“Ah, no, that is not what I meant. No one is dying.”

Even at the Little Duke’s words, the child could not stop crying.

“Wait here. I will bring someone. They are not far from here.”

In the end, the Little Duke acknowledged it.

This was not something he could solve.

Moreover, even though they were commoners, a child had been injured.

A faint sense of guilt from the fact that he had acted in the exact opposite way from his original intention of seeing with his own eyes how the ducal family helped children moved the Little Duke’s feet.

The Little Duke, who was about to turn back and leave, saw the child lying on the cold ground and returned again.

“Here, cover them with this for now. I was told you must not let the body get cold.”

The small fellow looked with tear-filled eyes as the Little Duke carefully covered Seya’s body with his luxurious coat.

That sight again seemed to blame him, so the Little Duke avoided the child’s eyes and spoke.

“Do not worry. The Feedus family will take responsibility for the treatment.”

After leaving those words, the Little Duke really turned to call Tollin, and the small child hesitantly asked in a voice like an ant crawling.

“Thank you, really, thank you. What is the noble lord’s name?”

At that awkward honorific speech, as if the child had not been properly taught, the Little Duke hesitated for a moment before answering.

“......It is Plin.”

“Lord Plin. Thank you, truly, truly.”

Leaving behind the child who repeatedly lowered their head, Little Duke Plin Feedus ran with all his strength.

* * *

The small child did not take their eyes off the end of the alley until his back disappeared.

And around the time they thought the Little Duke had completely left, they cautiously opened their mouth.

“You can get up now, Seya.”

Seya slightly opened one eye, then realized that only his companion remained beside him and sprang up.

“You really are smart, Mir.”

Seya praised Mir, who had carefully whispered to him while he was collapsed.

“Keep pretending to be unconscious.”

Because Mir always found the proper solution, Seya had followed it without a word.

Seya remained motionless like that, as if dead.

As expected, it had been the right decision.

They had not only saved their lives, but had also obtained the expensive clothing of a noble lord, just as they had originally intended.

Excited, Seya looked over the black coat Plin had left behind.

Is it made of gold?

It felt too light for that.

Whatever it was, even if they only tore off the buttons and sold them, it seemed they would not have to worry about food for a week.

“He seems extremely rich and soft-hearted too. Should we just lie down and say we are injured, Mir?”

Seya looked at Mir, who did not answer.

They still had not taken their eyes off the end of the alley where the small head had disappeared.

“No, the Feedus ducal family is too big. We have to be satisfied with this.”

Mir, who muttered softly, was still looking at the end of the alley, so Seya found it strange but accepted it because it was Mir.

“Then let us go now.”

At Seya’s urging, Mir slowly tore his gaze away and stood up.

“We scammed a noble, so we need to avoid him well so we never run into him.”

At the words that sounded like a vow, Seya also nodded.

The two children held the luxurious coat tightly and disappeared into the darkness.

The Little Duke who would return later and be flustered was outside their concern.

* * *

Tollin was still maintaining an awkward relationship with the Little Duke after the meeting at the imperial palace.

The strange situation where he could not even see his face at all, and they only exchanged updates in writing, no longer happened, but Tollin still could not treat the Little Duke as he had before.

The clever child must have noticed his discomfort, because he began avoiding looking for Tollin unless it was something necessary, as if watching his mood.

Perhaps his recent insistence on riding in the carriage alone was also a kind of consideration.

How unadultlike.

Tollin sat inside the carriage and pressed hard against his throbbing temples.

Today, he intended to see the child’s face directly and speak with him.

He could not keep receiving the child’s consideration forever.

At the very least, he had to avoid doing anything that would leave him unable to raise his face before the former duke.

He had resolved not to let the child develop the strange habit of watching an adult’s mood, yet he had made things turn out like this.

“Pale, once the work is done and we arrive at the ducal residence, have the documents to be processed brought up at dinner time.”

“......Lord Tollin, you did not properly eat lunch either.”

Pale, who had been watching Tollin continuously rub his temples, spoke cautiously.

“Prepare something simple for dinner. I can sort documents while eating as much as needed.”

At the irritated response, presumptuous words rose all the way to Pale’s throat, but he merely nodded and whispered softly that he understood.

Whether Tollin knew that or not, his current interest was focused on the small child.

‘When we return, I must ask the Little Duke for his understanding right away. I must say that I am sorry, that I could not look after him because work was busy. Even if it is only a half-truth, I must reassure him.’

It was the moment he thought that.

Bang!

At the not-small impact inflicted on the front of the carriage, Tollin’s body tilted forward.

As soon as he steadied himself, Tollin sprang out of the carriage.

“What happened!”

“Lord Tollin, it is dangerous if you suddenly come out.”

Jack guarded his side.

Tollin urgently asked Jack.

“Is the Little Duke all right?”

Though things had stabilized considerably, foolish groups targeting the ducal family existed everywhere.

There had not been no large or small threats, but Tollin, who had taken every precaution for safety so this kind of thing would not happen when he was with the Little Duke, felt his blood run cold.

“He seems a little startled, but he is not injured anywhere.”

One of the knights who approached them quickly reported.

Tollin let out a sigh.

He pointed at the knights with his finger and ordered them to escort the Little Duke’s carriage.

Then he turned his gaze to the carriage that was the cause of all this.

Even though it had not been such a large accident, and the knights were busily dragging out the collapsed coachman, no one came out from inside.

“Open it.”

Tollin coldly ordered.

He had to confirm the face and the backing of the madman who had suddenly cut into the road at the intersection.

His gaze as he looked at the suspicious carriage with no pattern on it was sharp.

But the familiar face of the person who finally opened the carriage door and came out was enough to make his expression even colder.

“What is this?”

“I see you even here.”

At the appearance of his eldest brother, Ego Crisa, who spoke calmly, Tollin narrowed the space between his already close brows so much that even a needle might fit between them.