48.
Every word from Alteion felt like a sudden, brutal clarity.
“To be honest, I knew His Imperial Highness could harm me, but I was running away because I didn’t want to face it.”
Ekian, too, had merely been running away because he could not face his own reality.
If he remained in the shadows as a missing man, the Mayous Ducal House could not effectively oppose the Emperor. He knew this, yet he had stayed away, clinging to a cowardly pact with himself: *I’ll give up once a declaration of death is issued.*
His biological mother had prophesied that he would ruin his father.
*But what if that father refers to my biological father?*
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t considered it. When his birth mother, The Last Priestess, had cast that curse, surely she had been thinking of the Emperor. Even so, he could not bring himself to return to the Mayous Ducal Mansion with a light heart. A lingering “what if” had anchored him to his exile. He knew nothing of the curse’s true mechanics. What if, just what if, his return brought ruin to the Mayous family?
So he had evaded. He had run. He had hesitated.
“However, rather than standing by and letting precious people slip away, isn’t it better to face it head-on, no matter what happens?”
But hadn’t his constant evasion led exactly to this?
His younger brother, Karl Mayous, was being dismantled by the schemes of a maid named Sarah Orton. The Duke and Duchess Mayous had nearly lost their lives to a traitorous family physician. Even after leaving, Ekian had watched over the Mayous Ducal Mansion from the periphery. He had been close enough to identify the background of the servant who tried to harm Judith and attempted to impersonate Hyude. He had thought he could protect them quietly, from afar.
However.
“But there are things that cannot be seen from a distance.”
Right.
There are things that cannot be seen, and thus cannot be protected, from a distance. Just as he could not understand why a certain woman wore such a hollow, depressed expression, even though he had tried his hardest to protect her while keeping her closest to him.
“Just as you were unable to hear the disparaging remarks directed at Judith Mayous inside that banquet hall.”
He swallowed hard.
He despised that Judith had to hear those dirty rumors. He had intended to hunt down everyone who spoke them. But that was the wrong approach. If he truly hated her hearing those remarks, he should have become her shield.
Well, even though there was no child in reality… he was the one who had become the official father figure.
*I suppose I can’t help it even if I call it rationalization.*
Ekian let out a sigh.
*Even if I admit I’m doing this because I want to step into her husband’s place… I have no excuse.*
Nevertheless, he reached his decision. He would return as Ekian Mayous.
“I am now going to turn completely against the father who seeks to kill me. I will even accept the disgrace of patricide.”
Alteion was not a man of empty words. He would stand clearly on the opposite side of the Emperor, initiating a definitive confrontation. To be of genuine strength to Alteion, it was more advantageous to operate from the position of the Young Duke Mayous.
Therefore, he had decided to commit that patricide with him.
“It’s not that I am not afraid of that disgrace, but I have no choice. Because I, too, have a precious wife and child.”
Because he, too, had a precious family.
His real family—the ones who would cling to his survival, trying to extend his position as Young Duke, if only by a fraction. A mother who noticed even the minor, specific shape of his fingernails, a detail he hadn’t even recognized himself.
*Of course, my birth mother… seems to have thought more of House Shoden than of me.*
Ekian let out a deep, bitter sigh. At the same time, his thoughts drifted to the red-haired woman with the clever, guarded eyes.
*Judith.*
She had once said she used to like him.
How would she react to the husband who had returned, having become her husband in name?
*Since I am someone she liked in the past, would it be easy to capture her heart again if I seduced her anew?*
It was a ridiculous thought. He had never fretted over a woman’s heart before. Favor had always been a given; he had assumed that no matter whom he married, he would live well without issue. But thinking of Judith made it difficult. He felt restless, preoccupied with trivialities.
That jarring, difficult feeling.
He wondered if this restlessness, which was decidedly not easy, was what others called “affection.”
* * *
Judith enjoyed the banquet in moderation.
She had been organizing her thoughts on the balcony, but she couldn’t stay there much longer after Hyude found her and remarked, “So this is where you were.”
“It will be fine now.”
“Oh, is that so? Did you poison everyone who was whispering, Hyude? Just like Bart Kalon did?”
“My apologies, but I am a doctor with less experience than Bart Kalon.”
Hyude played along with her joke, smiling suavely.
“I couldn’t go as far as poisoning them, but I did discover the Duchess returning. The situation was resolved after the Duchess said a few cold words.”
“My.”
Judith laughed merrily.
“That’s an effect on par with poison.”
The banquet hall she returned to certainly had a shifted atmosphere. Everyone still whispered while glancing at Judith, but they dared not utter insults or satisfy their petty curiosity aloud.
“Oh my, isn’t that necklace really expensive?”
“The Mayous Ducal House must truly cherish their new daughter-in-law…”
After that, really, nothing much happened.
No, wait—did something happen?
The protagonist of the banquet, Crown Prince Alteion, was attacked by a royal guard on his way down from the podium. However, perhaps because he was secretly wearing armor, Alteion remained unharmed, nimbly dodging the strike.
The banquet verged on chaos for a heartbeat, but Alteion only laughed and shouted cheerfully.
“Were you all surprised? This was a fun play I had planned.”
The guests blinked in bewilderment. Alteion chuckled, slung his arm around the guard who had attacked him, and shouted, “I suppose it was a bit much. Everyone, continue to enjoy the banquet.”
At those words, the music began to play briskly once more. Judith watched the scene quietly.
*As expected.*
Originally, Alteion should have suffered a major injury, hovering between life and death.
*Master delivered the message accurately.*
Come to think of it, Master was truly an amazing person. Knowing the secret passages of the Mayous Ducal Mansion and communicating directly with the Crown Prince.
*His abilities are great. He wouldn’t let his wife and child starve even if he gets married later.*
Judith’s thoughts had already spiraled into the future. She wondered if this kind of excessive imagination was what they called “affection.”
The banquet continued naturally, and it was time for the first dance. Judith hadn’t intended to stay long, but she decided to dance the first dance as per custom before leaving. The partner was, of course, Hyude.
There was no one left to pick a fight by the time they started their light waltz; Isabella Mayous was guarding the hall with her arms crossed and a haughty expression.
“It’s true, Hyude.”
Judith smiled as they moved.
“Everything is really fine now.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Milady.”
Hyude answered with a bitter smile.
“I haven’t really done anything.”
“Nonsense. You told me the atmosphere had calmed down, didn’t you? That’s a huge help.”
“Honestly, that’s not really it.”
Judith tried to brush it off, but Hyude’s expression remained clouded. He sighed and murmured, “If I become the heir to the Marquis, will the day come when I can be of a little more help to you, Judith?”
“Well. But I hope that day never comes. Being in a position where you have to receive help from someone isn’t exactly ideal, is it?”
At her response, Hyude smiled gently.
“That is true. I hope such things do not happen.”
Then, he looked at her with a soft, lingering gaze and said earnestly, “But if a situation should arise where you absolutely must receive help from someone, please come look for me, Judith.”
It was a serious proposal that felt jarring against the bright music.
“I will lay the foundation so that I can resolve any problem whatsoever.”