“What’s this now?”
At Kiss’s gaze that seemed to want an explanation, Ash stammered an explanation.
“Ah, our family is so serious about private education. The tutors are also high-level. So I was wondering if I could get a little help……”
“No, the risk is too great. Send them back.”
Kiss, who refused point-blank, turned around as if there was no need to discuss further. Ash, who had been flustered for a moment, quickly chased after him. Then he blocked the doorway to prevent Kiss from leaving the bedroom.
“Why?”
“Simple, being employed by the Serpents means there’s a high probability of connection to your father. If they’re a spy who came to observe the Crown Prince’s current movements, my position becomes difficult.”
“Wasn’t bringing me as a hostage to prevent exactly that kind of thing?”
Ash, who shot back without backing down, continued with a serious expression.
“Father won’t do anything that endangers my safety. You know how devoted my father is to me.”
“……”
“It’s not too late to send the tutor back after confirming their skills. Right now we have neither manpower nor time. We’re in a situation where we need to borrow even a cat’s paws.”
Kiss, who had been looking down at Ash with a cold expression, held out his own hand. Ash, who had a blank expression for a moment, soon irritably swatted the hand away. Kiss muttered expressionlessly.
“It might be helpful, since we’re both felines……”
“Lord Kiss…… you don’t seem to distinguish well between atmospheres where jokes are appropriate and aren’t. Maybe it’s because you can’t empathize well with other people’s feelings.”
“You’ve become quite bold now that you have someone to lean on, Ash.”
When Kiss gently warned him, Ash, who had been arguing spiritedly, became quiet as if it had never happened. It was different from his childhood when he couldn’t read the atmosphere and just poured out his own emotions.
‘Normally I would have made him submit, but…… it’s quite commendable that he thought hard on his own.’
Kiss, who had been tapping his forearm with his index finger while crossing his arms, smiled brightly.
“Right, certainly in the current situation with not much time left until the birthday celebration, it would be unreasonable to find a skilled tutor without any connections.”
“Then……”
“But I’ll also observe. If someone has sinister intentions, they’ll show signs in some way. I have quite good senses for distinguishing allies from enemies.”
Ash blinked slowly. Even as they went down the stairs to meet the tutor, Ash, who had said nothing, stopped Kiss who was walking ahead.
“Lord Kiss.”
“……”
“Then which am I? Between ally and enemy.”
Kiss, who seemed about to say something, closed his mouth again. Deus, who had been there who knows when, was looking at them with his chin propped on the second-floor railing. Kiss let out a small laugh.
‘No, he seems to be looking at me, but…… he’s ultimately watching Ash who’s looking at me.’
An existence so strong and ominous that its birth alone brings destruction to the empire. To be so hung up on just one human man like that. In the end, Kiss, who couldn’t hold back his laughter, burst out laughing.
At Kiss’s hearty laughter that was rare to see, Ash’s expression gradually stiffened. Kiss, who could hardly stop laughing, sighed and cupped Ash’s cheeks. The silver eyes that had always been soaked in lethargy rarely showed vigor.
“Pitifully…… you can’t be either of them.”
“……”
“You can’t be anything to me, Ash.”
It had been like that from some point. When he hurt Ash, he felt like he possessed him, even if only for a very brief moment. Confirming that Ash returned to his side no matter how much he hurt him was ultimately proof that he loved him.
Ash, who had a blank expression for a moment, lowered his gaze. His long eyelashes trembled. Kiss indifferently withdrew his hand.
‘He’ll cry, as usual.’
Deus who saw Ash sniffling from hearing mean words would feel sick inside.
It seemed directed at Ash, but ultimately it was a blade aimed at Deus. He wanted to cut Deus’s heart at least once for hurting Ash while he was away.
However, contrary to the expectation that he’d shed tears, Ash, who raised his head with a calm expression, spoke in a composed voice.
“When I was young, I once picked up a nameless seed in the garden.”
“……”
“At first, that seed that had no name, when I tilled the soil for it. When I watered it…… watching it grow as if trying to find its own name, I thought. If you give your heart and care for it, even a nameless seed can grow into a beautiful flower.”
Ash moved his steps and descended the stairs. Ash, who had been quietly looking at Kiss who stood still, smiled faintly.
“Since I’ve decided to cooperate, I want to be as helpful as possible. Because as you once said, Lord Kiss, you were the one who acknowledged me when I was oppressed by my siblings as incompetent.”
“……”
“However Lord Kiss thinks of me, that’s how I feel.”
After finishing speaking, Ash bowed his head and went down the rest of the stairs.
‘Now……’
An inexplicable anxiety pooled at his feet like poison smoke. Kiss, who had been watching Ash’s retreating figure, tightly gripped the other paperweight he’d put in his pocket.
‘Can’t make him cry anymore?’
* * *
As soon as I came down the stairs with a calm expression and turned around the wall, I collapsed right there. I exhaled the breath I’d been holding while dry-washing my face with trembling hands.
‘My feet went numb so I asked a pointless question……’
When Kiss said he had good instincts for distinguishing allies from enemies, my heart sank. It was because I remembered asking Deus to kill Kiss in the Void.
The reason Kiss, who was wary even of a tutor from the Serpent family, wasn’t wary of me was one thing. Since childhood, Ash had lived looking only at Kiss with longing. He would use such an Ash if he used him, but wouldn’t think he’d betray him.
But if he found out I’d tried to kill him, Kiss would surely question that devotion and be wary even of me.
‘I see, since I’ve decided to cooperate with Kiss…… it would help for now to pretend to like Kiss as much as possible like in the original work. But if I like him too obviously, Deus will flip out again. To the extent it’s not too obvious……’
I sighed while clutching my throbbing forehead. Why is everything so complicated? Both Deus and Kiss without exception. It’s not like they’re desperate to devour people mentally and physically.
Even if it’s called the Detached Palace, this was still part of the imperial palace anyway. Since it was a hotbed of slander where someone’s head could fly off at a single word, I thought I should be more careful with my words and actions. Just as I was crouching down with all my energy drained, someone called my name.
“Ash?”
When I turned my head at the delicate voice calling my name, a woman with lustrous black hair hanging down to her waist came into view. She was a beauty whose elegant water-colored dress and bonnet suited her like a painting.
Since she was calling my name, she was clearly someone Ash originally knew. The problem was I had no idea what kind of relationship they had. The woman, who had been looking at me with puzzlement as I gave no response, approached with large strides. Then she cupped my cheeks with both hands without hesitation.
“What brings you here, what brings you! Why on earth is Ash here?”
“Wh-who……”
“What? You’re joking, right? After taking my classes for so many years…… I’m the one who taught you Imperial language!”
The original work’s content flashed by quickly.
‘Come to think of it, there was one tutor in the Serpent family who was the only one who cared about Ash. Who taught letters to Ash who couldn’t receive proper education due to his siblings’ meanness……’
She was the daughter of an educator family that had taught many outstanding political figures, the empire’s top elite that Lucius had cast by paying extra. In the work, I clearly remember she temporarily stepped down from her educator position and left the empire saying she wanted to study more.
‘No…… even so. Sending such high-level talent without any conditions just because the youngest son asked? Lucius would?’
Lucius was very sensitive about protecting his own assets. Even Baron, the next Family Head of the Serpents, had to write a horse loan certificate when borrowing a single horse from the family. It wasn’t just material assets. He would invariably scold greatly if he saw his children using the reputation he’d built up.
<Don’t even think about using my name to obtain talent. They are my associates, not yours.>
I looked at the woman smiling brightly. Request in words only. Probably some kind of deal had been made with the woman. A woman clear about interests who had even studied abroad to learn diplomacy couldn’t have returned to the empire out of simple goodwill. The woman, who had been smiling brightly at me making a bewildered expression, spoke first.
“The Duke personally requested it. He said Ash seems to be trying to do something, so he’d like me to lend my strength. Fortunately, I happened to have business coming to the empire anyway.”
“……”
“Oh, this is a letter the Duke is sending you. He emphasized so much that I must deliver it. Then I’ll go to the drawing room first. Take your time reading and come.”
The woman, who took out and handed over a letter from her robe, moved her steps following the maid’s guidance. I read with my eyes the nervously scrawled sentence written on the letter’s exterior.
[To my small and adorable puppy, Ash]
