Anya couldn’t answer. That scar could have been left by Royster, or it could have been left by other brothers. They had all treated Anya roughly, so he couldn’t point to just one person. More than anything, Anya absolutely didn’t want Evernight to find out about this shameful secret.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t.”
Fortunately, he didn’t ask any further. The cool touch of the man quickly disappeared.
“It must be uncomfortable, but.”
“I-I’m not uncomfortable.”
Anya interjected abruptly.
“C-can I put my clothes back on now?”
Without even making eye contact with Evernight, Anya quickly put his clothes back on. He hated that Evernight still saw him as a helpless child who couldn’t do anything.
‘Pathetic… Even after causing such a mess, I still want to be acknowledged by Lord Evernight.’
Anya let out a small sigh and fidgeted with the edge of the carriage curtain.
“Um, my lord. The curtain… can I, can I open it? It’s stuffy.”
Every time he was alone with him in an enclosed space like this, his heart fluttered. Moreover, he was built large, so this carriage felt like it was instantly packed full. His back burned hot, and every time he met those blue eyes, his heart stirred. It would be better to turn his gaze somewhere else.
“Do as you please.”
Evernight said, stretching his legs up onto the opposite carriage seat.
“Y-you’re not getting out?”
Anya asked in surprise. Evernight crossed his arms, leaned back, and closed his eyes.
“I’ll leave after I see you sleep.”
“…What?”
With his eyes still closed, he spoke to Anya in a blunt tone.
“In case you curl up in that corner again and suffer like an idiot like before.”
Anya lowered his head obediently with a noticeably gloomy face. Given all the things he had done, there was nothing to refute.
‘But still… is he worried about me?’
Anya pressed his forehead against the cool window covered with hazy frost and stole a glance at Evernight. Back then too, when coming to Tildyen, they had ridden this carriage. The memory of curling up his body beneath that very spot where Evernight was now stretching his feet and suffering all night was still vivid.
“The road will be rough for a while, so sleep well before then.”
A faint blush appeared on both of Anya’s cheeks. At the same time, Dragcals whispered in his head.
《Humans all have foolish sides.》
‘Be quiet!’
Anya cleared Dragcals’s voice by pretending to clear his throat, feeling unnecessarily embarrassed. Ever since Dragcals had entered him, that spirit occasionally spoke to him out of the blue.
《If you want to control our voice, don’t get angry and build up your strength, human.》
Dragcals was truly capricious, just as Sabelli had said. The characters engraved on his wrist stung. Anya hastily glanced at Evernight from the corner of his eye.
“I can feel all your movements. Are you hoping for praise perhaps?”
“N-no!”
Anya, flushed red as a beet, waved his hands frantically in the air. Praise was absurd.
“You did well.”
Then Evernight suddenly opened his mouth. He still had his eyes closed and didn’t even glance at Anya, but those few words struck Anya’s heart without warning.
“So stop talking and go to sleep now.”
“…Y-yes.”
His heart swelled as if it might burst, to the point where he thought he might die at this rate. Anya pressed down firmly on his stiff left chest, worried that Evernight might hear his heartbeat, and leaned his head against the window.
A handful of cool winter sunlight caressed Anya’s reddened cheeks. Anya closed his eyes, using the creaking of the carriage running over the desolate plains as a lullaby.
Evernight, who had been organizing his thoughts, opened his eyes at the presence he felt beside him. Anya, who had insisted he wouldn’t sleep, nodded off and dropped his head onto his shoulder. Long hair spilled down and touched Evernight’s lap. That’s when it happened.
‘Hey, be careful! The Commander and my lady are riding in the carriage!’
Having left Tildyen’s territory and entered a rough gravel road, the carriage suddenly bounced high. As Anya’s body helplessly poured forward, Evernight grabbed the boy’s shoulder. Anya made a small groaning sound but couldn’t wake up easily, having fallen deeply into sleep.
He had reason to be tired. Evernight too had a time in his boyhood when he was dragged by Sabelli and forced to learn the sword. Back then, even he would collapse every night without time to be tormented by hallucinations.
“Commander… Oh!”
Sisou opened the carriage door and gasped at the scene before him. Anya was lying sideways on Evernight’s lap, snoring softly.
Shh. He brought his index finger to his lips.
“Close the door.”
Outside was noisy with the sounds of the long procession. When Evernight muttered softly, Sisou, his face turning red, carefully closed the carriage door.
‘What, you say he’s fine?’
‘Yes….’
‘Your answer doesn’t sound very confident?’
‘The Commander… since the Commander is there, he’ll be fine!’
‘Ah, you scared me! Why are you shouting!’
The bickering between Sisou and Riario gradually faded away. Evernight looked down at his young partner sleeping face-down on his lap. Long strands of hair were scattered messily. Without realizing it, Evernight raised his hand and swept Anya’s hair back behind his ear. A young face that still hadn’t lost its baby fat was revealed.
“……”
Evernight silently cast his gaze toward the desolate plains visible through the carriage window.
* * *
“It’s the Golden Crows!”
Maneregia was a pure white city that had been ruled by the Claist emperors for many years. On King’s Hill at the center of the city, Eos Castle, symbolizing light and whiteness, stretched high toward the sky, and like a planned city, the city extended radially from Eos Castle at its center.
If Tildyen Rock was shaped like a giant born from the Beriela Mountain Range crouching down, Eos Castle was in the form of a great monarch receiving grace and endlessly reaching hands toward the sun.
“Open the gates!”
As the bronze gates of the white fortress surrounding the circular city rose upward, golden waves poured over the massive bridge leading into the city. Because Maneregia had a circular river surrounding the city—the so-called Never-Drying Spring—that continuously circulated and flowed, once past the castle walls, great bridges connecting to Eos Castle in all four directions—north, south, east, and west—were laid out.
Outside the walls, endlessly spreading fertile plains provided abundance, and inside the walls, the never-drying water provided vitality. That’s why the people of Maneregia sometimes called the Claist imperial family God’s representatives who inherited divine grace.
The carriages and people crossing the northern bridge all made way to both sides at once and bowed their waists. Children were held by their parents’ hands and looked up with admiring eyes at the Golden Crows guarding the imperial family.
“They must be Northerners.”
Soon after the golden waves passed and black waves came rushing in, people began to whisper. The appearance of a new duke after several hundred years caused a commotion throughout the empire.
“A few days ago, the Rivercastle people from the East came…”
“It’s His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday soon. Since a new duke has been born, this banquet will be very grand, they say. I heard the Kun Merchant Guild supplying flour concluded a huge contract.”
“The market will be bustling for a while.”
“I hope the dukes spend money lavishly.”
Everyone burst into laughter at one merchant’s words. The Delphium Empire now had a total of seven dukes, including Tildyen. People watched the group of Black Crows with curious faces.
The Tildyen party passed through the towering marble gates of Eos Castle with aching bodies and somewhat tired. They were soon captivated by the enormous dome-shaped castles of various sizes, arched corridors, and greenhouse gardens that couldn’t be seen in Tildyen.
“I greet the Lord of Tildyen.”
As they passed through the castle gates and rode upward, the imperial chamberlain welcomed them. He bowed his waist to Evernight standing on the black war horse. Indeed, the Lord of Tildyen had refined looks unsuited for a knight as the rumors said, but the coolness given by his blue eyes made people feel intimidated.
“I would be most pleased if I could be of help.”
The chamberlain smiled, hiding his true feelings. Unlike Gregos, he was a man with a constantly smiling face, plump build, abundant black beard, and short stature. As Anya got off the carriage, his gaze passed over Evernight’s shoulder.
“Your Highness the Prince, did you have a safe journey?”
When Anya had practically been sold to Tildyen, the imperial palace had been abuzz with talk of the 12th Prince for a while. Most didn’t even know the 12th Prince’s face, but as rumors tend to do, they were soon busy digging up negative aspects of the boy.
‘I think I heard he was small and scrawny, with a hopelessly gloomy face and a stutter…?’
The chamberlain soon tilted his head. The boy standing near the carriage looked tired, but his eyes were intelligent and caught attention, and far from looking gloomy, his expression overflowed with vitality.
“Y-yes, I look forward to your care.”
Ah. He does stutter, that’s right.
Even so, his gaze kept going there. When he was ordered to attend to Tildyen, he had casually thought he’d just slack off, but seeing the Lord and Lady of Tildyen, he had an ominous premonition that doing so would be a big mistake.
“With Tildyen being the last, all seven dukes are now staying at Eos Castle, so His Majesty the Emperor has commanded that a banquet be held this evening.”
