32.
“Hm?”
“So……”
*How am I supposed to say, ‘Your face makes my heart flutter, so please keep your hood up,’ to you?*
In the end, I stammered and just asked how he was doing.
“How was your week?”
*Oh, that sounded really awkward.*
Still, it was a decent improvisation. I praised myself internally and waited for Everett’s answer.
“Nothing much happened, but……”
As our eyes met, Everett scratched his cheek and smiled faintly.
“You always say nothing happened.”
I grumbled, keeping my voice just loud enough for Everett to hear. Everett had improved a lot since we first met, but he remained a man of few words. I, on the other hand, was the type to frequently pepper such a man with trivial questions.
“What did you do last week?”—a question I’d asked every time since our second meeting. And the answer was always the same.
Having asked for the third time and receiving that same, “Nothing much happened, but……” for the third time, I felt a little pouty.
*Do you not know what small talk is?*
Even though I tried to act mature, mindful of the eight-year age gap, my lips jutted out regardless. In the midst of this, Everett tried to keep the conversation going in his own way.
“And you?”
It was a calm, indifferent tone, completely oblivious to what had offended me.
*I’m hearing this for the third time, too.*
“I didn’t have anything special happen, either.”
*Do you think my life is overflowing with stories every single day?*
I straightened my body and crossed my arms—the most defensive posture possible. In other words, I was positioning myself as far away from Everett as I could. As I pointedly pushed my chair back, Everett’s upper body leaned slightly toward me.
“Ms. Diaz?”
After hearing “Nothing much happened, but……” twice in a row, he had previously responded by nonchalantly saying, ‘Then listen to my story,’ and sharing his daily life. Now that he was keeping his mouth shut, he seemed flustered. After a moment of contemplation, he opened his mouth cautiously.
“Now that I think about it, how could there be a day where absolutely nothing happens?”
Then, he glanced at me sideways, as if checking the results of a test.
*It’s a C+ because you missed the submission deadline.*
Still, since a man who looked like he’d never had to read the room in his life was gauging my reaction, I felt like cutting him some slack.
“Right?”
As I uncrossed my arms and nodded, Everett’s face brightened in an instant.
“Yeah.”
I subtly pulled my chair back in. *This is your chance for a retake. There won’t be a third time.*
*At the very least, tell me something like summer roses bloomed in the Inner Palace garden, or you had dinner with your fellow knights.*
When I gave him a prim look to encourage him, his mouth opened slowly, as if he’d received a cue.
“So, this week……”
However, the man, who wasn’t very eloquent, seemed to be having trouble picking a topic. I cheered him on with silence and a smile. Finally, the slight crease between Everett’s brows smoothed out. It seemed he had thought of a suitable episode.
“Now that I think of it……”
Everett began in a dry tone, sounding as if he were reading a report.
“There were negotiations for the second installment of the indemnity with the Kingdom of Bellot, but they fell through. I was about to wrap it up this time, but things have become a bit troublesome.”
It was a tone perfectly suited to the topic he had finally chosen.
*Excuse me? That’s not what I was hoping for!*
My eyes widened at a story of a completely different scale from the trivial things I had wanted.
*With the Kingdom of Bellot.*
What?
*Wait a second, is this something I’m allowed to hear?*
Even at a glance, it sounded like diplomatic secrets that a low-level official of the Imperial Palace shouldn’t be privy to.
“W-wait a minute.”
I hurriedly stopped him. Everett, who had been about to relate what he thought of as his daily life—but was actually a major national affair—paused.
“Why?”
His face showed he didn’t understand why I was restraining him at all.
“Isn’t this classified information?”
I whispered, checking the already well-closed door for no reason.
*In the Imperial Palace, it’s essential to watch your ears and eyes.*
And he had been working here much longer than I had. Seeing me terrified, Everett laughed.
“No way.”
Everett laughed playfully.
“That… that’s an official stance, not your personal opinion, right?”
His answer felt absolute, leaving no room for doubt, but I insisted on confirming it one more time.
“It is the Empire’s official stance.”
Everett chuckled, answering half-heartedly.
“Well, that’s a relief.”
Only then could I let out a breath.
“You scared me.”
I complained, collapsing onto the table as if my strength had drained away. My heart was pounding, but for a very different reason. Everett laughed out loud.
“I can’t tell if you’re a coward or not.”
Then, he teased me mischievously.
“I want to live a long and quiet life.”
I grumbled while still in my slumped position.
“News hasn’t reached the Outer Palace yet, but everyone working in the Inner Palace knows about it. It’s hardly a secret.”
Everett explained, as if to soothe me.
“Then that’s a relief.”
Contrary to me, who had somewhat calmed down, Everett—perhaps reminded of the renegotiations—added sullenly.
“The Crown Princess tends to be quite loud about things.”
At this point, Everett’s expression stiffened.
“She’s a guest, yet she’s acting so recklessly that it’s impossible for rumors not to spread.”
His last words were muttered in a small voice, but since his diction was excellent, they were heard clearly. I checked the door once more.
*No matter if she’s a royal from another country, she’s a Crown Princess—is it okay to talk like this?*
As I flinched, Everett belatedly added an honorific.
“I mean, Her Highness the Crown Princess.”
It seemed genuinely awkward for him to use an honorific for her. It was as if he were a man who had never once used a formal title for anyone in his life.
*Well, they say knights are usually blunt, anyway.*
Especially since they were at war with the Kingdom of Bellot until just recently, it wouldn’t be strange if he still harbored some ill will.
*It’s not like I used only polite and proper language when talking about Connie and Donovan, either.*
Perhaps his casual tone was proof that Everett felt comfortable with me. I had already convinced myself, but seeing me quiet, Everett seemed to think he’d had a slip of the tongue and tried to change the subject.
“And what else happened?”
His eyes darting back and forth suggested he was just opening his mouth for the sake of it. I smiled at him, my eyes crinkling.
“So, how has the Crown Princess been acting recklessly?”
I wanted to tease him. Perhaps because my intentions were obvious, Everett shook his head exaggeratedly. I laughed aloud at his intentionally serious expression. But Everett wasn’t the type to just take it lying down. He pretended not to notice the seventy percent transparency of playfulness in my question and continued the conversation—as if to say that while he didn’t want to talk about work on his precious weekend, he would answer since I had asked.
“She planned a charity fundraiser targeting the nobles, and when that didn’t work, she went to the Temple to request the dispatch of relief personnel, and so on.”
“Oh.”
*She’s got some nerve.*
It was certainly inappropriate behavior, especially in another country—and one they had been at war with until recently. As I made an exclamation, puckering my lips, Everett laughed along. Seeing that my reaction was amusing, he shared a bit more.
“The indemnity renegotiations fell through all because the Crown Princess is being persistent.”
Everett’s brows furrowed again as he thought of the headache he had left behind at the office.
“She keeps talking about how the Empire’s grace is as deep as the sea.”
Everett clicked his tongue softly.
“Is, um, isn’t the Crown Princess pro-Imperial?”
Everett smiled, curling his lips as if he’d heard a very funny joke.
“That woman is a Bellotian through and through. It’s just that if they don’t surrender, they’ll be ruined, so she’s clinging to the Empire.”
It felt like there were deeper details here than what had been covered in the newspaper columns.
“Well, the Empire also has a need to maintain the current royal family of the Kingdom of Bellot, so they took the hand she offered.”
At this moment, Everett seemed more like a strategist than a knight.
“I heard they are discussing the indemnity renegotiations because if they take the originally set amount, half of the Kingdom of Bellot’s population will starve to death.”
I became serious as well.
“Exactly. But the problem is they can’t be too lenient. They don’t have a good relationship.”
Everett summarized the situation in one sentence.
“Because the Kingdom of Bellot was the backbone of the Allied Kingdom forces?”
Everett smiled and nodded, looking at me like a diligent student.
“They need to receive other items in place of the grain and so on that they were supposed to get, but that place is probably broke, save for the King’s crown.”
“Then why don’t you just take the crown?”
“What?”
It was a comment I’d tossed out lightly, but Everett’s eyes went wide.
As if to say, *Isn’t that a bit much?*