SLDS 58

The sunny weather continued for days on end. Cecil stuck his head out the window and bathed in the pouring sunlight.

He had now almost completely recovered his strength. His once rough skin was smooth and radiant again, and his dark brown hair also boasted a soft texture.

Dressed neatly and adorned with jewels, he looked like the usual Cecil Adrian. But the face looking out the window rarely smiled. He looked like someone who had lost all motivation.

After pondering alone for several days, Cecil finally decided to take care of the matter he had been putting off. Today, he would go see Yuria.

He wanted to meet her, apologize, and have an open-hearted conversation. Perhaps, by talking with Yuria, he wanted to clear up the unfair misunderstanding.

Yuria’s chambers were guarded much more heavily by knights than before. As soon as they saw Cecil approaching, the knights’ eyes flashed as they blocked his path.

“What is your business?”

“I came to see Yuria.”

“Have you received permission?”

“Permission? From whom?”

The knights exchanged glances amongst themselves, then stood guard even more impenetrably.

“You cannot meet the Saintess. We have orders not to let anyone in.”

“Please tell Yuria that I wish to see her…”

“Forgive me for saying so, but for you, Mister Cecil, it is even more out of the question.”

The knight spoke as politely as possible, but Cecil read strong suspicion and disillusionment in their expressions.

To them, he was as good as the one who had harmed Yuria. He could see their firm resolve that, as long as they were tasked with protecting the Saintess, they would absolutely not let him in.

He had expected that it wouldn’t be easy to meet her, but he hadn’t thought he would be turned away at the door like this. Cecil bit his lip and replied with difficulty.

“Alright, I understand. I will come back later after receiving permission.”

Cecil turned away, half-resigned.

However, the bad things did not end there. No sooner had he returned to the Peridot Palace than he was immediately summoned by the emperor and received a severe scolding.

“Cecil, I am truly disappointed in you. How could you do such a thing!”

“…I am sorry, Your Majesty.”

“Do you have any idea how important the Saintess is to our empire? You must have been out of your mind. Otherwise, there is no way you could commit such a nonsensical act. I warn you, if you threaten the Saintess one more time, you will not remain unscathed either.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“For the time being, I don’t even want to see your face, so do not appear before me. I order you to stay quiet and reflect until I summon you again.”

The emperor’s anger was fiercer than he could have imagined. Even Cecil, whom he had cherished so much, was cast out in an instant. Like that, Cecil listened to the lecture for over an hour and trudged out of the main palace, completely drained of energy.

But, as if one misfortune were not enough, he was immediately summoned by the empress. No, it would be more accurate to say he was dragged there.

The empress, having heard from the spies she had planted in the main palace that Cecil had been ostracized by the emperor, was thoroughly incensed. As soon as she saw Cecil, she threw the goblet she was holding to the floor, shattering it, and at the same time, chided Cecil for his arbitrary and incompetent actions.

He could have easily talked back to the empress, but Cecil did not. He was already exhausted enough from the events of the day.

He thought he would be fine with the contemptuous gazes of people and being pointed at as vicious, since he had experienced it all before.

But it is harder to accept than he expected. That is probably because Cecil had lived a good life, albeit for a short time.

A good while later, he let out a dry laugh as he came out of the empress’s palace. For some reason, everything felt utterly tiresome. To the point where he did not dare to even think of visiting Alexis.

However, one cannot completely avoid him while living within the walls of the imperial palace. As if his luck was particularly bad today, Cecil happened to run into Alexis on the way back to the Peridot Palace.

His eyes met inescapably with those clear blue ones.

He had faced rejection and criticism from everyone all day, but none of it was as difficult as facing Alexis’s piercing gaze right now.

The moment he saw the scorn in his eyes, Cecil felt as if the resolve he had barely been holding onto was crumbling down.

As Cecil stood stiffly without even a greeting, the corner of Alexis’s mouth rose crookedly.

“I was wondering when I would run into you. It seems you’ve been busy roaming all over the place. You look better than I thought.”

“Did you… want to see me?”

“Not a chance.”

Ah… he had thought so anyway. But thinking it in his head and having it confirmed by Alexis directly were two vastly different degrees of what he could handle.

Cecil bit his lower lip hard. He clenched his trembling fists and forced down the surging feelings of hurt inside him. His mind made up, Cecil’s eyes flashed fiercely.

“Then what does it matter to you what I do and where I go? You’re not interested in me anyway.”

“You’re still impertinent.”

“That’s just the kind of person I am. Do you still have any disappointment left for me?”

As Cecil talked back, not yielding a single word, Alexis’s firm jaw trembled minutely. In contrast to his calm complexion, a vein bulged on his temple, revealing his rage. He gave a sneer and replied coldly.

“Yes, it’s disappointing. Was I really that bad at judging people? I find myself deeply disheartened by my own insight.”

“……”

“Trying to trust you, even for a moment, was the mistake of my life. You made a fool of me.”

“It seems Your Highness and I are fated never to be close.”

“We were never meant to be in the first place.”

“Yes, I am glad you know that now. Since nothing good will come of us facing each other, from now on, I will not even come near Your Highness’s sight.”

Cecil turned on his heel without a farewell. He knew very well how rude it was to leave after saying only what he wanted to the crown prince, but right now, he was not in a state to consider such things.

He had only exchanged a few words with him, but Cecil’s body and mind felt tattered, as if clawed by sharp talons. Even though it was all his own doing, he felt a boiling sense of hurt and resentment toward Alexis for not knowing the truth.

Breathing and living within the imperial palace felt horrible. He wanted to escape this suffocating place right now. His determined footsteps headed straight for the imperial palace stables.

The stable hand, who had been humming a tune while tending to the horses, was startled to see Cecil approaching with a stiff face and hurried over.

“What brings Mister Cecil here… Ah, greetings to the little star of the empire.”

“I am going out. Bring me a horse I can ride immediately.”

“If that is the case, I will prepare a carriage for you.”

“I ordered you to bring me a horse.”

His voice was so sharp that the stable hand, thoroughly intimidated, obeyed Cecil’s command. When he brought a healthy white horse, Cecil put his foot in the stirrup and swung himself up onto the saddle.

“Mister Cecil, who is accompanying you? Surely you are not going alone? Uh, when will you be back?”

As Cecil was about to leave without a single attendant, the stable hand was overcome with worry. For some reason, he had a premonition that he shouldn’t let him go alone like this.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back either.”

Leaving only those words, Cecil turned the horse’s head. Soon, he was galloping swiftly out of the castle gate, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The stable hand scratched the back of his head. Was it the first or second time that royalty had acted on a whim? It was just that it was a little strange because cases like this, where they rode out on a horse themselves, were rare.

Right, riding in a carriage can be stuffy. He’ll probably just get some fresh air and come back, what could possibly happen? The stable hand dismissed it lightly and began to focus on his own work again.

A short time later, the Peridot Palace was in an uproar. Their master had vanished from within the imperial palace without a trace.

The attendants hurriedly inquired about Cecil’s whereabouts and confirmed from the stable hand and the royal guards guarding the castle gate that Cecil had gone out.

With no information as to his destination or whom he had gone to meet, the attendants’ hearts burned with anxiety.

On top of that, hadn’t Cecil been ordered by the emperor to stay quiet and reflect! If this fact became known, it was obvious he would receive an even greater scolding.

“What do we do! Where do we find Mister Cecil?”

“Let’s just trust him and wait for now. He left empty-handed without anything. He’ll be back before the sun sets.”

“What if he gets into an accident? How do we handle that!”

While the attendants of the Peridot Palace were stomping their feet and worrying, Johannes was hiding behind a wall, eavesdropping on their conversation. His insides were also burning with anxiety.

Cecil, whom he had believed without a doubt would just get some fresh air and return, had not been heard from even after the sun had set.

As the surroundings grew dark, the attendants could no longer just stand by and wait. Thinking it was a problem difficult to solve among themselves, the head attendant, Leo, immediately ran to the Saint Palace.