Chapter 242 : Chapter 242
Chapter 242 : For the King (3)
Gunt stood blankly with his mouth open for a long time.
"Wh-what did you just say—"
"I believe you are a brilliant person, Brother, so you must have understood completely. I will take my leave then."
Adeline turned away without any lingering attachment. There was absolutely no room for negotiation in her resolute figure from behind.
Watching her retreating back, Gunt desperately began to untangle the threads knotted in his mind. The words he just heard could be interpreted with various political implications. However, the more complex the situation, the more the answer lay in the most simple and primal place.
Gunt faced the shocking conclusion his intuition pointed toward.
'......Adeline is in love with Bihen Benkou?'
Gunt blinked rapidly.
'Adeline, who received such cruel scars from people...... has let someone into her heart?'
While he was thinking, Adeline was quickly growing distant.
"Y-Your Grace! Wait a moment!"
Gunt ran and grabbed Adeline again. He had forgotten the truly important matter while talking about Bihen Benkou.
"Do you still have more to say?"
"His Majesty will take you and Bihen Benkou to the Imperial Capital no matter what."
Adeline turned around again and stared at Gunt. At the baseless and stubborn notification, she could not even fathom where to begin asking for the reason.
"It is because he must have the two of you attend the upcoming completion ceremony of the Pantheon."
"The Pantheon?"
"It is a hall created by extensively expanding the Aleos royal cemetery where the former kings rest. Moreover, it is inside a strict sanctuary where no one can easily set foot, and since the construction was carried out in absolute secrecy under the Chancellor's leadership, it is known externally as merely a standard repair job."
Gunt subtly checked his surroundings, then lowered his voice.
"The Duke of Conwell, who boasts mighty power, and Bihen Benkou, who is revered as a hero by the public—the sight of those two people paying respects side by side at the splendid Pantheon that proves the majesty of the Aleos royal family. His Majesty intends to proclaim the royal family's enduring strength to the whole world with that single picture."
".........."
"Therefore, he is trying to bring the two of you to the Imperial Capital by any means necessary. Even going as far as placing absurd titles like Royal Guardian on you. What His Majesty needs is not a knight to protect the Kingdom, but the most glamorous and expensive ornament to make his majesty stand out."
Gunt took a deep breath, as if he had finally completed his mission.
Joel cautiously gauged Adeline's reaction with a bewildered expression. His previous childishness was nowhere to be found. He was feeling as though he had heard a secret history he was not supposed to hear.
".........."
On the other hand, Adeline was utterly expressionless. In that cold silence and tranquility, Joel snapped to his senses all the more.
Because he knew better than anyone that his lord's expression, which even exuded a chill, was her unique demeanor that only revealed itself when she perfectly controlled her swirling emotions.
Adeline's following question proved that.
"What is your intention in telling me this fact? Is it personal revenge?"
There was no agitation whatsoever. She was like a well-sharpened sword.
Joel widened his eyes silently and secretly looked at Gunt.
Gunt was also calm.
"Revenge...... I do not know how this will sound to Your Grace, but I have already let go of many things. Of course, my doing this alone will not erase my bloodline, nor will it undo the tragedies of the past, but the current me is merely the Imperial Magic Corps Commander Gunt."
"To say you have let go of the past, how arrogant of you."
"You are correct. Rather, my words and actions like this might be nothing more than a rash act that provokes Your Grace's scars."
Gunt bowed his head slowly, and politely.
"Please just accept it...... as a belated atonement."
***
Around the time Bihen and Zisair, and Adeline and Gunt were concluding their respective talks.
"......Sniff."
Philinus II, who was left in the reception room, was still unable to escape the earlier shock.
—I am saying that the two of us do not have such a formal relationship. From the beginning, until now. It has always been like that.
Philinus II suddenly grabbed his face with both hands.
'Not a formal...... relationship?'
Adeline's voice rang loudly in his head, and suddenly, a corner of his heart ached.
'......Stop joking, seriously. Because it's not funny.'
In an instant, that hot energy surged up to his face.
"I said it's not funny!"
Finally, he lay face down on the table and buried his face. Only his bent back heaved slightly as he desperately held back tears he did not want to be caught shedding.
Through his narrow field of vision as he lay face down like that..........
The smoothly extended legs of a maid walking over with a tray holding refreshments came into view just then.
"A-Ahem."
Philinus II straightened his back. He subtly checked the maid's face. She looked a bit older than he thought, but looking at her exposed lower body again, it did not matter anyway.
"The scent of the almond comfits is, hmm, weak, isn't it? It seems you spared the caraway?"
He sniffled and pretended to examine the refreshments on the tray. Meanwhile, his hand stealthily crept up to the maid's buttocks. It was a very habitual movement.
"Your Majesty."
Philinus II's hand stopped abruptly. It was Chief Attendant Ternien. Her chilling gaze was directed at the King's frivolous hand.
"......Haa."
Philinus II let out a sigh that could sink the ground and neatly gathered his hands together again. He looked completely ready to cry. It seemed like tears would burst out at any moment.
"You always only scold me. You nag me about every little thing. Truly, I can't breathe, I can't breathe."
"Your Majesty, right now, rather than that—"
"Rather than what! Let us hear what is more important to the Chief Attendant than soothing my empty heart!"
Ternien hurriedly bowed her head. She was no different from a nanny who had practically raised Philinus II on her back. This was also why Philinus II acted uniquely like a child in front of her.
However, Ternien prioritized formal etiquette over personal feelings. No matter how immaturely he acted, the man in front of her was the supreme king of this country, so she always clearly maintained that line and lowered her posture.
Above all, Ternien was the shade and the final bastion that protected the King from Chancellor Zisair.
Of course.
Philinus II himself did not realize that fact.
"Forget it! It seems in the Chief Attendant's eyes, I still look like a greenhorn who hasn't lost his baby fat! Then I shall naturally meet those expectations and act like an immature brat!"
Ultimately, Philinus II kicked off his seat and stormed out. The marble corridor looked as though it would split from his huffing and puffing footsteps.
SLAM—!
As soon as the door closed as if it would break, Ternien and Ludsilla simultaneously let out a sigh as if they had promised to do so.
The two soon bowed their heads to the Lord of Pretoria, who had an expression as if he were sitting on a bed of thorns across from them.
"We apologize, My Lord. His Majesty is so......"
"N-No. You two are truly going through a lot of—"
It was before the Lord's consolation could even finish.
Suddenly, the closed door flung open, and Philinus II trudged back in with an even fiercer expression than before.
With the gazes of the three people focused on him, he grabbed a handful of almond comfits from the bowl on the table for all to see.
Glaring fiercely at the seated individuals one by one, he vanished out the door again with a majestic air, as if he had secured the spoils of war.
'No, what in the......'
The Lord of Pretoria clicked his tongue.
***
Trudge, trudge.
Philinus II headed somewhere with angry steps. He tossed almonds into his mouth.
'I am the King, the King!'
He chewed the mouthful of almonds nervously. After indulging in binge eating, his mood would settle down at least a little.
'Everything is mine just by reaching out my hand......'
Suddenly, he stopped and looked down at his palm. Almond crumbs were thickly smeared on it.
'......Only the human heart does not go as I wish.'
For him, human relationships were always a difficult and clumsy homework. Even if he might appear foolish in the eyes of others, he too knew how to distinguish between the pretense of snobs flattering him to cater to his mood and the loyalty offered with painful sincerity.
The words of the former made the corners of his mouth tickle, and the words of the latter made his chest sting.
'Since some time ago...... it's empty, as if the inside of my chest is hollow.'
It was this difficult to win the hearts of his retainers, so how much more so for love?
'That is the problem.'
Philinus II held onto the railing that clearly looked down over the garden and slowly scanned the scenery before him.
Indeed, as he had heard, the scenery of Pretoria was magnificent. It was on a different level from the artificially cultivated flower beds of the Royal Palace. A natural landscape that gardeners could not even dare to attempt, no matter if they were the best in the Kingdom, stretched out drawing beautiful curves.
"Haa, it's nice."
Philinus II took a deep breath. He somehow felt a bit better at the fresh scent of grass.
"......Hmm?"
It fleetingly entered his vision as he was stretching. It was the back of a woman sitting inside a white marble gazebo amidst the colorful flower beds.
'..........'
Philinus II, who was watching with narrowed eyes, soon scrambled down to the garden as if he had made up his mind.
Dragging his uncomfortable leg and limping closer to the gazebo, he let out an exaggerated fake cough to announce his presence.
"Ahem! Hem!"
Startled by the sound, the woman flinched her shoulders and looked back.
She was none other than Linda.
Meeting Linda's eyes, Philinus II's face instantly flushed red. His heart began to race at her beauty, which was far more exquisite than he had expected.
"Your Majesty! It has truly been a long time!"
"Y-You know me?"
Philinus II panicked and stuttered. Linda smiled brightly and asked back.
"Of course. Do you not remember me?"
"......Have we met before?"
"I saw you and even greeted you in the audience chamber on the day of your coronation. When I was about this big."
Linda placed her hand near her waist and waved it. At that, Philinus II furrowed his brows. If they met separately in the audience chamber during the coronation, it meant this woman was the daughter of a high-ranking noble.
"I'm Linda. Linda Theodore."
"..........!"
Philinus II's eyes instantly widened. Count Theodore. Was he not the former king's Grand Tutor and the feudal lord his father had trusted and relied on?
He gulped down his saliva. He felt like he had encountered a tiger cub while trying to hunt a rabbit.
'By the way, to think this beautiful woman is really that little brat from back then......'
In his memory, Linda was a cheeky child who completely resembled her father's fierce temperament and could not stay still for even a moment. Moreover, even her hair was short like a tomboy's, so he couldn't bring himself to feel any attachment to her no matter how hard he tried.
'......I should have treated her well back then.'
Philinus II shut his eyes tightly. He did not know why his past self always went around leaving nothing but regrets everywhere.
"Weren't you in the middle of a meeting? What brings you here?"
"I-It's break time. It's an important meeting, so there's no way it would end in one go."
"I see. If you are fine with it, please rest before you go."
"S-Shall I?"
Following Linda's guidance, Philinus II entered the gazebo and sat down. Looking now, Linda's pageboy was also nearby. He seemed to have been keeping his master company, but when Linda gave him a look, he backed away with quick little steps.
"Anyway, Linda, what brings you here?"
"Ah, about that......"
Soon, a rather long and turbulent story followed. Following Linda's quiet and gentle voice, the white curtains of the gazebo fluttered languidly.