“I saw him directly yesterday, and he’s truly a magnificent person.”
“Goodness… You saw His Highness the Grand Duke directly?”
This time the person who reacted was Mrs. Minuel, who had visited the boutique with the baroness. She too was dressed up with a hat decorated with flowers.
“Yes. My husband received an invitation to the chariot race, so we went to see it together yesterday. And well, His Highness the Grand Duke was also there.”
The large-scale chariot race held at the kingdom’s largest circular arena. As it was a race hosted by the royal family, not only Grand Duke Kailton but most of the royals attended that place to watch the race.
But the baroness’s interest was only in Grand Duke Kailton, the king’s younger brother. She thought not just herself but almost all the spectators must have been the same.
Because Grand Duke Kailton was an extremely dominant Benic, of which there weren’t even ten people in the entire kingdom. Moreover, after leaving for his territory long ago, he’d been virtually reclusive, so the saying that seeing the Grand Duke’s face was harder than picking stars from the sky was openly circulating.
In fact, the seat where the baroness sat yesterday was on the opposite side from the royal family seats. The arena was so large that the Grand Duke’s face wasn’t even properly visible, but just the fact that she’d been in the same space, even briefly, was enough to be a great source of pride.
“Was he truly extraordinary as the rumors say?”
“Of course. I’ve never seen such a magnificent person in my life.”
“You must have been so pleased.”
Undisguisable envy appeared on Mrs. Minuel’s face. Soon words continued in a voice that had become even smaller, as if whispering.
“I heard he’s still unmarried, is that true?”
“Yes. That’s what I understand.”
“What could the reason be? He’s the third in line for the throne and has a striking appearance, he rules the entire northern territory. Above all, he’s an extremely dominant Benic. He’s truly someone who could take anyone as a partner… I wonder why he doesn’t marry.”
“Isn’t it because of that rumor?”
“A rumor?”
Clear interest appeared on Mrs. Minuel’s face. Grace also looked at the baroness with a rarely curious expression.
“There’s a rumor that His Highness the Grand Duke received a prophecy about his partner when he was young, but hasn’t met that person yet.”
“I see.”
Mrs. Minuel readily agreed. The kingdom had a custom of visiting the temple with a guardian on the first day of the new year at age five to receive a prophecy, and royalty was no exception. If the baroness’s words were true, it would mean the Grand Duke was still waiting for his partner to appear.
“I hope that person appears soon.”
“…The thing is.”
Since Baroness Tabera’s voice also lowered, Diego listened intently. Though he had no desire to eavesdrop, he couldn’t help it. On his first day of work, Martin had advised him not to let even small things slip by since he might find clues in unexpected places.
Soon the lady’s story continued.
“There’s a rumor that he’s finally found that partner.”
“Oh my, is that true?”
“Yes. It seems he’s been constantly accompanied by someone since the day after entering the capital.”
“Then you must have seen them yesterday too.”
For a moment Baroness Tabera was flustered, but soon nodded nonchalantly in affirmation. At this point, saying ‘Actually, I didn’t see properly’ would only make her a laughingstock. Going even further, she elaborated plausibly on a story she’d heard at another gathering as if she’d witnessed it herself.
“Of course I saw. It was a man with black hair and neat features.”
Even Diego, who had been listening expressionlessly, was slightly surprised at those words.
Though people of the same trait could meet, generally those relationships didn’t last long. Since they couldn’t satisfy the most fundamental desire to drink or give blood, they inevitably came to seek other partners.
So while trait was primarily prioritized first, gender was equally important. Because only men and women could have children together.
The reason Diego was surprised was partly hearing that the Grand Duke’s partner was a man, but more than that, the word black hair bothered him more. Unlike him, Mrs. Minuel seemed startled by the word man.
“A man? Is that true?”
“Yes. He was wearing a frock coat and even carrying a dagger, so he’s definitely a man. He seemed like a noble from the Helaon Kingdom, but anyway, he didn’t look like an ordinary trait.”
Soon Mrs. Minuel nodded with an expression filled with excitement.
“That makes sense. Pardon my presumption, but if his lifelong partner were an ordinary trait, it would be too harsh for His Highness.”
“You’re right.”
“Oh, and a few days ago…”
The conversation soon flowed to a different topic, but Diego couldn’t quite escape his thoughts.
A black-haired man, a Neo above ordinary trait. As the two conditions overlapped into one, one person’s face naturally came to mind.
To speak coldly, the possibility of it not being him was much greater. He’d heard before that Roman no longer did escort work starting a few years ago. But what were the chances of encountering a man who wasn’t even in his home country, and a man who’d returned after ten years at that?
“……”
Clearly his head thought that way, but for some reason, Diego couldn’t quite shake off the uncomfortable feeling. He thought it fortunate there was a partition and listened to the ladies’ conversation again. Otherwise, his expression, which was obviously stiff, would have been blatantly revealed.
***
Lady Selena, the lady of the house of Count Frang, had time alone every evening unless there was something special. What she did varied. She’d embroider or knit, or focus on reading while drinking her favorite tea. But today, none of those applied. It was because her youngest son, who had been summoned, showed his face at a late hour.
“Did you eat dinner?”
“Of course. Why did you call for me?”
Though he had a good relationship with his mother, he visited the main house about once every two months. If his memory was correct, not much time had passed since he last saw her, but seeing that she’d sent someone to summon him, he thought something must have happened.
But contrary to Roman’s guess, Lady Selena continued speaking with a rare smile covering her entire face.
“An invitation came from His Highness the Grand Duke today.”
That explained why his mother was in such a good mood. It also seemed he understood why she’d suddenly called him.
If you had to pick one thing that was currently the most talked about in the kingdom, it would undoubtedly be Grand Duke Kailton’s return. The Grand Duke, who had continued to reside in the royal palace even after the prince was born for various reasons, had completely left for the northern territory after the attack incident in which Roman was seriously injured.
Since then, he hadn’t visited his home country even five times. Nevertheless, the Grand Duke’s presence was incredibly tremendous beyond imagination. The current king’s only brother and holder of the third succession right to the throne, an emperor-like man born with an extremely dominant trait. So it would be strange if he didn’t become the center of attention in high society.
As far as Roman knew, Grand Duke Kailton had no interest whatsoever in the kingdom’s nobles. He was also someone who acted as he pleased in all things, but even he had a special relationship with the Frang family to which Roman belonged.
Julia Heder, the Grand Duke’s mother and former queen, and Selena Frang, Roman’s mother, had been close friends since childhood. The two girls promised to trust each other and stay together for life, but unfortunately, that promise couldn’t be kept. Julia, who had given birth to Kailton at an advanced age, ended up passing away from puerperal fever.
There was no time to remain immersed in sadness for long. One day, Lady Selena was summoned by the royal family, and she heard directly from the king, Julia’s eldest son, ‘Please take good care of Kailton in place of our mother.’
Under extreme care and attention, Kailton grew up well and thrived. And in the year he turned sixteen, he left the royal palace and moved to the northern territory where he should have gone long ago.
After that, Selena could hardly even see Kailton’s shadow, because he never visited his home country. Then not long ago, she heard joyful news. That Kailton would also attend the king’s 30th coronation anniversary ceremony, and thanks to that, Selena was able to see his face for the first time in almost ten years.
The joyful news wasn’t just that. Kailton, whom she’d encountered at the banquet hall, invited Count and Lady Frang to a dinner, and that day was tomorrow.
“—So I’d like you to come along too.”
Roman delayed his answer for a moment while drinking tea. Other nobles might have fainted with joy at receiving the Grand Duke’s invitation, but that didn’t apply to Roman. He’d mingled with him from a very young age, and had even protected Kailton as the Knights’ Order vice-commander at one time. In short, having dinner with the Grand Duke was not at all special to him.
Though it would just be an ordinary meal, of course, that was only his inner thought. Instead of pouring cold water on his mother, who seemed excited like a girl, Roman chose the method of declining in a roundabout way.
“If I have time, I’ll come straight to the Grand Duke’s residence.”
Then he hurriedly added other words before the perceptive mother’s nagging could follow.
“Are you that pleased?”
“Of course, naturally.”
Looking at his mother whose smile showed no sign of leaving, Roman ended up smiling faintly. In a way, he’d been robbed of his mother’s love and attention that he could have monopolized entirely by Kailton, but he didn’t particularly feel jealous. Rather, Roman quite liked him too. Enough to volunteer for the Imperial Knights’ Order to protect him.
Anyway, it seemed the business was finished, so he was about to stand up when his mother brought up an unexpected topic.
