After the long, long luncheon ended, Serdin headed to Karta Palace’s office with Harold. Though he wanted to return immediately to Sotes Palace where Formo would be, there was still work left to handle.
“Right. That’s what I mean.”
Harold muttered in a small voice as he opened the office door.
“A justification to get rid of whatever’s lurking around Arancha…”
The reason Serdin came to see Harold was precisely because of that “justification.” It had started like this.
This morning, one of the jaguars stationed near Arancha came to see Serdin. Though it wasn’t yet the day for regular reports, he’d been curious seeing him come saying he had something to report, and the report he gave was truly absurd.
‘Since two days ago, some raccoon beast-person has been wandering around near Arancha as if exploring. He’s clearly from Chaimb, and since he’s not threatening Arancha, we couldn’t take separate action, but I thought it best to inform Your Highness in advance, so I came.’
What reason would a raccoon have to visit Arancha? The exact location of Arancha wasn’t even publicly known. As long as the barrier Formo created was in place, there wouldn’t be any particular danger to Arancha, but still… the premonition wasn’t good.
Therefore, to cut off that bud giving an unpleasant premonition, he was deliberately taking time to have a discussion with Harold. Since relations with Chaimb were just about to improve, he couldn’t just arbitrarily capture and interrogate the raccoon beast-person.
To do that, he had to create a plausible justification.
“This is… quite a tricky problem.”
Harold spoke as if troubled, yet his lips twitched. He’d just been pondering how to bring up the topic of tying Formo to his side under the name of family. It was a difficult topic to bring up suddenly, and there hadn’t been a suitable opportunity to raise it all this time. But his admirable son had simply resolved that worry.
“Hmm…”
As he made a small groaning sound as if deeply pondering, he felt a sharp gaze from beside him. Harold slyly observed Serdin’s mood. The clever Serdin was looking at him with a furrowed brow as if sensing some strange atmosphere.
“Ahem!”
Harold deliberately cleared his throat loudly and hastily turned his gaze away.
“What is it?”
“Mm?”
Harold blinked his eyes and asked back as if he didn’t know why Serdin was asking that. However, seeing no particular change in Serdin’s expression, it seemed his acting had completely failed. Harold, who clicked his tongue with a regretful expression, gestured to Serdin.
“Come here, Serdin.”
“Speak from there.”
“What if someone hears this important conversation!”
“Who else is here to listen besides me?”
“You never know with beast-people, Serdin. Stop talking and come closer.”
Not even knowing I’m trying to do something good for him. How ungrateful. Harold shook his head from side to side. He felt Serdin, who had been standing in place with a frown, soon approaching his side. Harold hung a pleased smile on his lips and spoke to Serdin, who had come closer.
“Listen, Serdin. How about making Pipi family at this opportunity?”
At Harold’s words, Serdin’s eyebrows twitched. What did he mean by being tied to Formo under the name of family?
“In what way?”
No matter how self-centered he was, Harold, who valued principles and traditions even for the sake of balance within the empire, wouldn’t give Formo a grand position like “Crown Princess” to tie him to his side. For the same reason, the relationship of brothers wasn’t worth considering either.
Serdin waited for Harold’s answer with a slightly lukewarm expression.
“If you, Serdin, weren’t the last emperor of the Jaguar House, I wouldn’t have considered at all the option I’m choosing.”
It was quite a grandiose opening. Serdin looked at Harold with a subtle expression.
“If Pipi becomes tied to your side under the name of mate, it would be good for you and good for the small kingdom of Arancha too.”
“That means.”
“Deal with the raccoon bastard matter after making an official relationship with Pipi, whether through engagement or marriage.”
Having finished speaking, Harold looked at him expecting Serdin’s reaction. As expected, when it came to matters related to Formo, his son who clearly showed emotions had his lips slightly relaxed. Since he kept seeing sights he’d thought he wouldn’t see in his lifetime, the feeling was quite strange.
Whether he’d grown old too, he felt like his eyes were reddening for no reason.
On the other hand, Serdin wasn’t greatly shaken. Though he showed pleased emotions, that was all. It was because he hadn’t yet shared affectionate feelings with Formo to the extent of pushing through engagement or marriage. Moreover, Formo too seemed to think of him only as something like a protector.
Still, since he’d informed him through Kert that “reproduction” between same-sex was possible, there must have been changes in Formo’s perception too. Serdin planned to target that gap. Serdin’s eyes, calculating quickly in his head, were slightly curved.
* * *
Meanwhile, Formo was taking Bléar to the palace prepared as lodging for the delegation. Though it would be quick to go by carriage, Bléar had refused that. Something about it being better to walk to build stamina and take a walk.
If he were a long-tailed tit, Formo would have been busy flying around here and there too, but in his humanized state, he didn’t want to move around much. He also didn’t want to reveal to the world that he was still clumsy at moving as a beast-person.
Formo, who was walking silently along the path in the castle with Bléar, suddenly became curious about how he and Chaimb’s Crown Prince had developed into lovers. Formo, who glanced at Bléar, carefully opened his mouth.
“Um, you know.”
“Yeah. What?”
“Actually yesterday… I saw you with Chaimb’s Crown Prince.”
“Yeah?”
Bléar asked back in an indifferent tone while looking at Formo.
“I don’t know much about that sort of thing… Ho, how did you come to love each other?”
Formo’s earlobes asking that were heating up red. As someone from Arancha, he should keep distance from Bléar who was a sparrow, but Bléar was taciturn unlike other sparrows. The sparrows Formo had seen until now never stopped moving their beaks for even a moment, so it was unexpected.
More than anything, since Bléar himself treated him with subdued energy, he too could treat him comfortably.
“Mm.”
Bléar, who blinked his eyes briefly at Formo’s question, soon opened his mouth.
“I’ll tell you in advance, but the one who clung to me first was that guy Kaien.”
“…Wait.”
Kaien? Formo’s eyes widened at the name “Kaien” that came out of Bléar’s mouth again. He’d asked about the story with the Crown Prince, but the name Kaien came up. Did that mean Kaien wasn’t the name of a young individual but the name of that Crown Prince?
Formo’s lips parted weakly. To refer to the Crown Prince with a physique much larger than himself like a child… Formo’s mind was dizzy as if he’d been hit in the back of the head.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you also can’t believe Kaien clung first?”
“Wha, what? No. Keep telling me.”
“That’s fortunate then. But no matter how much I say it, everyone seems unable to believe it. Anyway, Kaien and my relationship wasn’t good from the start.”
“…Really?”
“Well, the situation of our first meeting wasn’t very good. Anyway, we just kept being wary of each other… It’s so long ago now it’s hazy. But from some day on, the two of us came to rely on each other. I don’t know if it was because the situation was bad or if I unknowingly felt favorable toward that guy Kaien.”
Bléar had distant eyes as if recalling that time.
“After opening my heart to Kaien, I almost protected that guy. At the time, Kaien was such a dim-witted and fragile wolf, I had no choice. Then an unexpected miracle came to that guy Kaien.”
Formo moved his steps slowly while concentrating on listening to Bléar’s story.
“It was tantamount to an opportunity to escape from a bad situation, and Kaien didn’t miss that opportunity. He recommended I go with him, but I wasn’t inclined to. That was a miracle that came to Kaien, not a miracle that came to me.”
“Mm-hmm. So?”
“That’s how Kaien and I parted. Though my heart ached, even then I thought the reason my heart ached was just friendship or comradeship or something.”
Bléar continued speaking with a slight smile. As his neat lips rose, an atmosphere completely different from the sharp first impression was felt.
“But it seems Kaien wasn’t like that. Well, there were more twists and turns in between, but if I explain all that it’s complicated… I just came to know what emotion I had thanks to Kaien coming to find me and confessing his feelings. It’s nothing special.”
Having finished speaking, Bléar shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s a boring story, right?”
“N, no?”
Formo shook his head left and right. The story Bléar told was truly amazing. The love story transcending species was attractive even though many parts were omitted. For Formo, who had never even experienced unrequited love in his lifetime, it was a dramatic anecdote he couldn’t help but admire.
Whether it was thanks to Bléar’s calm voice, Formo, who had become completely captivated by his and Kaien’s story, asked while feeling his fingertips tingle.
“Then Bléar, you were already in love with Kaien even before Kaien came to find you?”
“Yeah. Without knowing it, I was gradually giving my heart to Kaien, I guess.”
“How do you… know something like that?”
Formo had many questions since it was an emotion he hadn’t felt yet. How one realized it was love and not friendship or comradeship was vague. Did one feel changes big enough to turn the world upside down, did one get the illusion that flowers and butterflies were flying around whenever seeing that person, did one feel as overwhelming and happy as when freely flying through the blue sky?
“Just naturally? My heart beat abnormally fast and Kaien felt different from usual… Ah, my fingertips and toes also felt tingly. Also, whenever I saw Kaien, my face kept heating up and my ears felt stuffy.”
Formo nodded while concentrating hard on listening to Bléar’s words as if engraving them. At such a sight of Formo, Bléar burst into laughter and added.
“But things like this really come at unexpected moments, so you don’t need to concentrate and listen like you’re studying.”
“But…”
“Pipi, a really huge carriage is coming this way?”
Formo, who had been moving his lips with a confused expression, widened his eyes at Bléar’s words. From where Bléar’s fingertip was pointing, a carriage with a familiar appearance was approaching.
