REFDL 99
Kaelus went to check the artifact alone.
He returned to the room and nodded.
“It was definitely genuine. I’m still not sure if they’ll hand it over.”
I changed into a human and answered.
“We should prepare too.”
“I told you to be careful.”
“There’s no one around now.”
Perhaps it was because we’d signed the contract. Previously, they’d refuse indirectly even when I asked them to clear the room, but today there wasn’t a soul near the room even though I hadn’t asked. Even the knights who’d guarded the window airtight were all gone. Kaelus said he’d checked on the way, and there were only a couple of people standing at the end of the hallway.
“See? It’s fine.”
“……”
Kaelus looked like he wanted to sigh, but he didn’t scold me to turn back into a dragon. I grinned and jumped onto the bed. I lay down, propped my cheek on my arm, and patted the spot next to me. It was an imitation of an absolute ruler calling for his favorite concubine.
Kaelus held back his sigh but couldn’t help but laugh. He huffed and climbed onto the bed without a fuss.
“……”
“……”
We lay on our sides and faced each other. It was a face I saw every day, but it felt different looking at it from this close. His handsome face felt even more vivid.
He was like an ink wash painting, his ash-like hair and charcoal eyebrows.
His eyes were like dawn mist deep in the mountains.
Only his lips alone were as red as rubies among those features. I couldn’t help but look at them.
To be clear, this isn’t because I’m perverted.
“If you’re going to stare like that, why don’t you just do it?”
“N-no!”
“I didn’t say exactly what to do, but you understood immediately. You must’ve been thinking about it.”
“……”
I learned something new. A sly expression suited Kaelus too. I opened my eyes wide on purpose to hide my heart, which rattled like a train about to derail.
“Don’t tease me.”
“It’s because you’re too cute.”
“……”
I rolled and climbed on top of Kaelus, who was lying flat. He seemed flustered as if he’d never imagined this. His arm came up reflexively and awkwardly wrapped around my waist. I giggled and brushed my lips against his muscled chest, and he laughed as if he couldn’t help it. Soon, a gentle hand started stroking my hair.
I enjoyed the touch for a moment and then asked the question I’d kept in my heart.
“……If Odan is the second prince’s son, would the Emperor really try to kill him?”
“……”
Kaelus went silent.
There are times when silence is an answer.
I sighed softly.
“If Odan really is the second prince’s son, I might take him and go into exile.”
The stroking stopped. The arm around my waist tightened.
“Where? Surely…… you don’t mean Denos?”
“Ugh. No. I wouldn’t go to Denos even if I died.”
His grip loosened a bit, but he didn’t let go.
“I heard a story before that there might be another country beyond the Sea of Trees.”
“……”
“I’m thinking of taking only you and Odan. Of course, I’ll take anyone who wants to go. My back’s very wide, right? I could probably carry a hundred people if I tried.”
“……Setting aside Odan, you assume I’ll naturally follow you.”
Oh. I looked at his reaction and asked.
“Uh…… aren’t you going……?”
“……”
“R-really? You won’t go?”
Kaelus laughed out loud.
“No. I’ll go.”
His answer was firm, unlike my question, which I’d asked while trembling like a newborn fawn’s legs. I buried my head in his chest and pouted.
“…What about the Duke’s house?”
“Titles can be inherited. I’ll look for a suitable successor when I return.”
“Hahaha.”
“……”
“……Wait. You weren’t joking?”
“No. I don’t know which part sounded like a joke.”
Kaelus shrugged. My body, which was almost on top of him, moved along with him.
“I even have two children in mind.”
“What?!”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“No. Well……”
I couldn’t answer immediately and hesitated, so he tapped my forehead with his fingertip.
“You don’t need to think deeply. I’ve thought about adoption for a long time. It was just a matter of timing.”
“……”
“I didn’t intend to marry in the first place. No one caught my eye, and I think I had…… a bit of a resistance to creating such a person.”
“……”
“It’s not like that now.”
Kaelus quickly said when he saw my expression. I pressed my cheek against his chest as an answer. I heard the sound of laughter vibrating from inside. His heartbeat was a bit fast, and it sounded as lovely as a drum.
“But then there would be no one to succeed Irelion, so the answer was adoption. It might be a wiser decision in the long run to hand over the family to someone with proven ability and character rather than a biological child whose upbringing is uncertain, even if they share the bloodline.”
“I like it. It’s your family, I shouldn’t say anything regardless of your decision.”
……It’s not like he’s saying he’ll marry someone else and have children. I buried my lips in his chest and mumbled.
He laughed again. This time, his spread the fingers that were tapping my forehead and covered the top of my head.
It was like he was patting a younger brother, not a lover. I glared at him, but Kaelus shamelessly pretended not to notice.
“No. You’re my partner, so you’re the only one who has the right to speak on my decisions.”
“Part……!”
“Was I wrong?”
“What are you talking about? You’re absolutely right!”
I shouted, and Kaelus burst into laughter. I’d never seen him laugh like that before. His cold eyes curved, and his body, which was stiff even when we had sex, relaxed softly. He hugged me and rolled around the bed. The sheets caught on our legs and wrapped around us.
“For your information, the adoption candidates are a girl and a boy. The girl is fifteen. I thought the boy was the same age, but he’s one year older than her.”
……Are those perhaps kids I know?
I looked at his bright face and engraved it in my mind like a drawing.
“Oof!”
Kaelus suddenly leaned down and skillfully wrapped the sheets around us. The white blanket covered both of us up to our heads. He and I were stuck into the narrow, makeshift space.
“……”
We could fell each other’s breath. We kissed without either of us starting it first. The room was filled only with the smell of clean blankets and his scent.
***
I went out with Kaelus. The excuse was sightseeing.
The Ilba family tried to attach as many people as possible as guards. Kaelus only pretended to refuse and accepted them. We’d already discussed how to get rid of them yesterday.
“……Yes? Wh-where are you going?”
“I think I explained it properly. Is there no such place in the capital? I want to go to a street where I can find someone to spend the night with.”
“……”
“I heard there are a few places near the harbor according to my preliminary research. Was I wrong?”
“N-no. That……”
It was worth picking a naive escort knight on purpose. His neck turned red, and he started sweating, unable to say yes or no.
“In any case, they exist, and you know the location. So what’s the problem? Drive the carriage there.”
Kaelus announced and got into the carriage. The door closed, and a hellish silence flowed outside. Soon, the carriage started moving.
I peeked out the window and saw the knights’ faces wearing expressions of contempt, disgust, and curiosity as they glanced at the carriage. However, one person was missing. They must’ve gone to report to the mansion.
Soon, the carriage entered the ‘street of those who sell their bodies.’
We immediately attracted attention. A visit from a noble wouldn’t be a new thing.
According to Nitan, the main customers of the street were wealthy commoners, but the number of capital nobles who visit secretly was by no means small. There was even a separate brothel where only nobles could enter.
But nobles who valued honor and prestige never walked here so overtly. It was midnight. Usually, nobles rode in shabby carriages without crests or even windows in the middle of the night. Even then, they’d park them close to the building’s back door.
“The Ilba family? Isn’t that the Ilba family’s carriage?”
“They brought guards and visited this place so confidently?”
“The head of the house has finally gone senile……”
“Shh! Are you crazy? Do you want to be exiled to the ‘West’?”
I heard the curious conversations of the people nearby. I don’t know where the West is, but I know what’s on the west side of the archipelago. The left side. It was a place where houses were crowded like barnacles. Too many voices were mixed together, so that was all the information I got properly. My ears were too good, so I heard too many sounds.
The knights’ faces turned pale and then red again at the people’s conversation. They looked around with a terrifying aura, hands on their swords’ hilts.
Frightened people moved to the edge of the road. But once the carriage moved out of sight, they chattered even louder than before.
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