A voice flowed from between the lips of Nigel, who had been lying comfortably on the sofa. As soon as he heard it, Eden slammed his teacup down on the table and immediately rushed to the sofa.
“Yes! N-Nigel-nim, are you conscious?”
However, Nigel looked at Veil Khalid instead of Eden Lake, who had run up to him, and said.
“…Don’t touch him. Eden.”
“……”
“I just… tested it earlier, and he really doesn’t seem to know.”
Aah? At those words, Veil raised one eyebrow with a fierce expression. I came all the way here because of what, exactly? Was this all the Crown Prince, intoxicated with truth serum, had to say?
Besides, that expression was something else. It was like the face of some street thug helping to protect an innocent junior from being unfairly pressured.
“I, Nigel, came here with the intention of helping you—”
Veil said, twisting the corners of his mouth in displeasure.
But Nigel cut off his sentence. Even in his hazy vision, he persistently followed Veil’s amber eyes, slowly moving his lips.
“I know.”
Nigel said, leaning the side of his face slightly against the sofa, as if even sitting up properly was difficult. At Nigel’s calm voice, Veil Khalid’s lips, which had been about to speak indignantly, stopped dead.
“I know… Veil Khalid. How much you… care about me.”
It was a response unbefitting of a Crown Prince. Or was it because the truth serum was forcing him to be honest? Perhaps he usually kept such kind thoughts to himself.
……Uh. Veil Khalid started to say something, then scratched the side of his head with a face that showed he didn’t know what answer to give, and gave up. If he knows how much I care, that’s enough, right… he thought.
Ahem.
Just then, a throat-clearing sound wedged itself between Nigel and Veil. It was Eden Lake.
“Here, this is the list of people who brought gifts to the Student Council today.”
He held out a single sheet of paper densely filled with names in small letters before Veil’s line of sight.
Veil cleared his dazed expression, then snatched the paper as he spoke.
“…You already found it? You’re quite fast.”
“His Highness’s safety is at stake. It’s only natural.”
Eden’s answer was impeccably polite, but his eyes beyond his glasses were coldly scanning the shoulder of Nigel that Veil was holding. That guy probably drank about a mouthful of truth serum too, but he looks far too normal.
Whether or not that was the case, Veil snorted and scanned down the list.
“Count, Marquis, a branch family of a marquis house. The Brion royal family. A queen from a kingdom I’ve never even heard of… What’s this, there are too many suspects. And why does the Student Council get so many gifts? The variety is on a different level from what comes into the Academic Department too?”
“It’s the Student Council of Kaiserion. Moreover, Nigel-nim is here now. There are more than enough people who would offer even their kingdom’s heirloom just to catch the Crown Prince’s eye.”
It was a voice full of pride in the academy. But Veil knew that Eden Lake’s loyalty to Kaiserion was really directed solely at Nigel alone.
Veil stared intently at the list, then stopped his gaze on one particular name.
“…Mm.”
“Is there something?”
Eden approached and examined the list together.
Veil Khalid pointed to a certain part of the list with a strange expression. Where his finger pointed was written [Ribe Hallion – Tea leaves from the Blackrock region].
In the long, long gift list, that was the only tea leaves. After all, the distinguished guests visiting Kaiserion Academy were focused on sending things far more valuable and precious than just dried leaves.
“There are tea leaves on the list. From the Blackrock region.”
“……”
Immediately, Eden Lake’s expression hardened. ‘Blackrock’ was a region on the continent with many black rock cliffs, and had been territory of the Sihar nation before being incorporated into the Empire.
It was a place that no one called Blackrock anymore. The fact that someone would specifically gift tea leaves from there might mean there was some other hidden intention.
“Is it a name you know?”
So it was a natural flow of thought for Veil Khalid to immediately ask Eden Lake this question. Veil Khalid asked while observing Eden’s complexion. After a very brief pause, Eden answered in a chillingly dry voice.
“…If it’s Hallion, it’s a common surname in Sihar.”
Eden Lake answered that way. Under the continued suspicious gaze directed at him, he added once more.
“I don’t know every single Sihari person.”
“Well, of course not.”
Hoping that the truth serum’s effect was working on Eden Lake as well, Veil Khalid nodded his head up and down shallowly with twisted lips.
“Nigel, we need to thoroughly investigate which bastard dared to send this to Kaiserion’s Student Council—”
The latter part of Veil’s voice as he tried to speak to Nigel sitting on the sofa faded. Without knowing when it had started, Nigel had his eyes closed as if sleeping.
“…It would be better for him to get some rest anyway.”
Eden slowly moved his steps to clear away the teacups placed on the table. The clinking friction sound of the glass cups was unusually loud.
That’s true. Veil leaned his body against the sofa where Nigel was sleeping, then watched Eden Lake tidying up the Student Council room.
Nigel turning into a frog without knowing it himself, and truth serum mixed into tea meant for him who usually enjoyed tea. Someone quite suspicious was within this academy.
It could be that Sihari-born new student right before his eyes, or it might be a student with no connection at all. External visitors to the academy during the Mardinia festival period couldn’t be completely ruled out either.
Swoosh—
Veil gently brushed back the sleeping Nigel’s hair. It was something he couldn’t have done normally, but it was possible since Nigel had his eyes closed and was lying down. He could hear the low breathing of Nigel, who was leaning back against the sofa with his eyes closed as if dead. It was the first time seeing Nigel asleep.
Even when sleeping, he’s expressionless.
Veil inwardly laughed as he traced Nigel’s sharp, tightly closed eyes.
Just then.
“He’s a sensitive person.”
Eden Lake’s voice came from behind him. He was already standing with a tray, having apparently finished clearing all the teacups. Then, looking back and forth between Veil and the sleeping Nigel through his glasses, he added in a voice devoid of emotion.
“Can you move Nigel-nim to his dormitory room? We can’t keep him on the Student Council room sofa like this.”
From start to finish, it wasn’t wrong. But somehow he couldn’t shake the feeling that Eden was trying to remain alone in this Student Council room.
But Nigel’s condition took priority. At least he knew the name of the person who had gifted those tea leaves, so that would be enough.
Veil lifted the sleeping Nigel into his arms conspicuously.
From the momentum, Nigel’s head flopped powerlessly and buried itself in Veil’s shoulder. The moment his chin, usually arrogantly held high, touched his collarbone, and his even breathing tickled his nape, Veil had no choice but to hold his breath for a moment.
“……”
The body held in his arms was firmer than expected, and the weight resting on his arms gave a strange sense of pressure, as if transporting a holy relic. True to being the second most noble body in the Empire, he felt heavy in his embrace.
The corridor leading to the dormitory was eerily quiet, the festival noise blocked out. Veil readjusted the heavy warmth in his arms and turned a corridor corner. But it didn’t take long before he stopped in his tracks.
At the end of the corridor, before Nigel’s dormitory room door, a single shadow stretched out long.
“……”
It was Rowen Ashfield. With disheveled blond hair and unfocused eyes that suggested he’d been training just moments ago, a terrible fatigue could be felt.
It seemed he’d been waiting here for Nigel for quite some time.
“Oh, Rowen.”
Veil greeted him with a light wave of one hand while holding Nigel. It was a relaxed manner, as if welcoming a guest in his own bedroom.
Then immediately, Rowen’s gaze reached Nigel, who was held in Veil’s arms with his face buried in his nape.
At that moment, Rowen’s blue eyes trembled finely before freezing cold.
“…Did something happen to Nigel?”
Rowen strode forward and blocked Veil’s way. He looked ready to push Veil aside and snatch Nigel away at any moment.
Instead of being flustered, Veil actually wore a smirk at the corner of his mouth. He showed Nigel in his arms slightly toward Rowen, then conspicuously wrapped his arms more firmly around Nigel’s waist. Swoosh, Nigel’s soft hair brushed past Veil’s cheek.
“As you can see, our prince isn’t feeling too well. I’m kindly escorting him to his bedroom.”
