Chapter 85 – 85
Returning to the annex, Euro was unable to do anything until the dawn of the following day. He simply placed a chair in front of the window opening toward the rear garden and stared blankly outside.
It was due to an overwhelming sense of helplessness. He ran countless simulations in his head, but none of them provided a plausible answer.
Why was he always unable to produce a single decent result? The more he obsessed over the answer, the more anxious he became.
The world was incredibly quiet and peaceful. The cloudless sky remained high and blue, and birds chirped among the great trees of the rear garden.
Time flowed tirelessly; Euro was the only thing standing still. Every time he recognized this fact, his heart beat faster.
His chest felt tight below the sternum, and his heart fluttered rapidly as if searching for a breathing hole. Despite doing nothing, he was short of breath, and Euro would occasionally let out a desperate sigh, like someone who had been diving for too long.
It would have been better if he could just sleep, but sleep would not come. When he forced his [stolen content]restless body onto the bed, [stolen content]all sorts of anxieties descended and crushed his entire body. Then, unable to bear it, he would get up and pace the bedroom.
Walking and walking, he would once again lose his way before a problem without an answer. The emptiness in his chest felt almost like hunger; when he forced himself to swallow something, it would linger near his sternum for a long while before pouring back out.
It wasn’t because he was facing death. In fact, it might have been better to be broken beyond repair and simply wait for death. However, because Euro was perfectly fine, he stood at a crossroads of choice.
Not even tears came. This was because nothing would be solved by crying. Moreover, he knew that once those emotions burst forth, they would not be easily contained.
He didn’t want to disturb himself. This was already enough. That was why Euro suffered. Like someone fleeing far away, he greeted the morning while embracing every single emotion.
There was no clear answer, but he had to move forward. Euro had to keep walking. Even without an answer, he had to do so. If he did nothing, he could become nothing.
Eventually, having reached a state where he could no longer think of anything, Euro left the annex in the early morning and frowned at a peculiar sight. Several carriages were preparing to depart.
Euro gazed at Dent, who stood beside him, with a look that demanded an answer.
“His Excellency has decided to depart with you.”
“He’s going to the birthday banquet?”
“Yes.”
“…Why so suddenly?”
“I am not sure about that part.”
Dent shook his head slightly. There was no way they would know why Melione had suddenly had a whim.
“…I’d like to take a separate carriage.”
“The luggage was packed separately from the start… You don’t have to worry.”
At Dent’s words, Euro nodded. He felt there would be [unauthorized copy]no greater torture than sharing a carriage for unauthorized copythe long journey to the capital.
Euro blamed himself for getting too excited too early during the night. It couldn’t be helped that he realized his feelings toward Melione; it wasn’t as if he had wanted it to happen in the first place.
However, the problem was how excessively excited he had become after recognizing those emotions. Euro had expected too much too quickly, and he had fallen into despair too easily.
He had developed a habit of not expecting anything in order to avoid disappointment, but this time, it didn’t work. That was his greatest blunder.
“If preparations are complete, let’s depart. Since the carriages are moving separately anyway, there’s no need to wait.”
Saying so, Euro boarded his carriage first. At this, Dent hurried toward Raymond, who was in the midst of preparations.
As the head butler, he normally could not leave the mansion, but this time he planned to accompany Melione to the capital. This was because Raymond was the only person capable of attending to the highly sensitive Melione with the necessary tact.
Because Melione could be seized by madness at any moment, the number of servants working in the mansion had been drastically reduced, and at the same time, no separate trustworthy aide had been appointed.
While a head butler only needs to manage the general affairs within the mansion, Raymond had no choice [Read on Read BL Novels]but to stolen contentshare and handle all sorts of tasks with Melione.
Consequently, Raymond became the most important person in the mansion, to the point where nothing functioned properly without him.
Knowing this, even the vassals outside the mansion did not dare treat Raymond lightly. This was because he acted as Melione’s proxy in general matters.
Though the amount of things to worry about had decreased since Euro arrived, he had not expected things to unfold this way. While leaving the mansion made him anxious, leaving Melione alone was even more worrying.
“The Madam ordered us to depart immediately. Are the preparations finished?”
At Dent’s question, Raymond nodded.
“Depart immediately; I will follow. His Excellency has already finished preparing, so there is no problem.”
“Then I shall depart at once.”
“Um, Mr. Dent.”
“Yes.”
“Who did you go to meet yesterday?”
Raymond asked secretly in a lowered voice, and Dent recalled the events of yesterday.
He seemed to be talking about the moment Melione suddenly came out of the main building and encountered Euro. He appeared curious about where Euro had hurriedly sent Dent.
Dent hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t sure whether he should tell Raymond the truth about who he had met or pretend not to know and hide it.
He, Euro, and Raymond shared the same secret. However, there had been no shared information regarding the man named Kashtun to whom he had delivered the letter yesterday.
Only he knew that Euro consistently met someone outside the mansion, that the person used the pseudonym ‘Inno Kashtun’ and posed as a clown in front of the plaza fountain, and that the man’s residence was in an alleyway in the bustling district.
“Forgive me… but I cannot say.”
After hesitating, Dent finally answered with a sigh. Euro hadn’t explicitly ordered him to keep silent even from Raymond, but for some reason, he felt he must not speak of it.
Raymond had trusted him and recommended him as Euro’s attendant. If so, his duty here was to remain silent about whatever Euro did, regardless of what it was.
Even if it was Raymond, the one who had recommended him. The person he served was not Melione or Raymond, but Euro.
Furthermore, from a certain point, Dent became mindful of Euro’s words: ‘Norden couldn’t even bring one trustworthy person.’
“There was no specific order to keep silent, but since you never mentioned that I could speak of it, I believe it is right that I do not.”
Raymond looked slightly surprised by Dent’s answer, but he quickly conceded and nodded.
“I understand. I asked something unnecessary. I will speak with the Madam directly when the time comes.”
“I am sorry.”
“No, I would have said the same thing, so it is fine.”
Raymond said this and lightly patted Dent on the shoulder. Then, he realized that recommending Dent Rave among so many people had not been a mistake.
ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ
Euro headed toward the capital in the same carriage as Dent. A long procession followed behind Euro’s carriage, which had departed first.
“If you feel severe motion sickness, please tell me at any time. We can stop and rest.”
Euro nodded at Dent’s words. Fortunately, by taking the medicine Larry gave him, he felt less motion sickness as well as less physical discomfort caused by the curse or supernatural ability.
It seemed that Euro had also adapted to some extent to the means of transport that was a carriage. It was also likely because the quality was vastly different from the cheap carriage he had taken from Silon to Norden.
“I suspect the sleeping arrangements will not be entirely comfortable. We are scheduled to pass through several estates on the way [stolen content]to the capital, but since most lords [unauthorized copy]have likely headed to the [Read on Read BL Novels]capital, they probably won’t be receiving guests. We weren’t able to contact them in advance.”
“It’s fine. I would have had to stay at an inn anyway, even if I traveled alone.”
Given Euro’s situation, no one would treat him as the Duchess and invite him to a lord’s castle. It had been the same when he traveled as the Prince of Norden, so such things were not a problem.
“Earlier, the head butler asked where you had gone yesterday.”
At Dent’s words, Euro, who had been staring out the window, turned his head and met his eyes.
“So I told him I could not answer. Since even I do not fully understand this matter, I was afraid I might make a mistake in my words…”
“You did well. I’ll talk about it later if I do.”
Euro gave a faint smile. For some reason, he felt that Dent was reliable. Consequently, he felt a desire to tell him something.
“Dent.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Are you curious about who that person is?”
Dent pondered Euro’s question for a moment. To be honest, he wasn’t curious about the person’s identity, but rather how Euro, who came from Norden, had an acquaintance here in Silon.
“To be honest, I am curious about how you came to know each other. However, you do not have to tell me.”
“I can’t tell you everything in detail anyway.”
“…”
“Above all… I think there is someone secretly delivering news of what happens inside the mansion.”
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