SLDS 59

“Your Highness, someone from the Peridot Palace has arrived.”

“……”

The head attendant of the Saint Palace delivered the message cautiously. The office was so quiet that there was no reason for the attendant’s words to be lost. However, instead of answering, Alexis continued to flip through his documents, conveying his meaning through silence.

The head attendant swallowed hard. He once again reported to the crown prince, who was consistently ignoring him.

“They say that Mister Cecil went out of the palace this afternoon and has yet to return.”

“Why are you telling me that? It has nothing to do with me.”

Alexis replied with his eyes fixed on the documents. Not a single change in his expression or tone. He truly did not spare a shred of interest for Cecil.

However, the head attendant sensed the gravity of the situation and, undeterred, reported again.

“The attendants of the Peridot Palace are asking Your Highness for help.”

“It seems they think I’m quite the pushover. Just like their master, they have no manners.”

“They must be desperate. He went out alone without taking anyone with him, so they can’t help but worry. Seeing as he hasn’t returned even at this late hour, something might have happened to him.”

“……”

“Your Highness, I implore you to show Mister Cecil your generosity.”

“Do not speak that name in front of me.”

A sharp voice cut through the air.

The head attendant, who had served the crown prince for a long time, knew Alexis’s razor-sharp personality and could not make any more requests. He kept his mouth firmly shut and tactfully left the room.

Alexis turned his attention back to the documents. Although he had deliberately brought work to clear his mind, he could not concentrate at all.

Of all times, it was pouring rain outside right now. The raindrops tapping against the window also scraped away at Alexis’s nerves.

Alexis, who was trying to focus on reading the letters in the documents again, soon threw the papers down and stood up. He went to the window and drew all the curtains shut. The gloomy weather was so grating that he couldn’t stand it.

✽ ✽ ✽

Cecil’s first time running away from home was, to put it mildly, a series of hardships.

To begin with, setting his destination as the most bustling central district of the capital was fine. The problem started when he ran into robbers on his way to the central district.

Last time, he had been riding in a carriage emblazoned with the imperial crest, so no one dared to touch Cecil.

But the situation was different now. When a young man who looked like a rich young master at first glance was traveling without a single guard, he was bound to become a target for robbers.

“If you want to live, hand over everything you have!”

When men who had drawn swords and axes surrounded him, Cecil raised both hands and surrendered meekly. He had no weapon on him now, and even if he did, there was no guarantee he would win a fight against them.

Thanks to that, he was robbed of not only the horse he was riding, but also all the expensive jewels he was carrying. They were ruthless enough to tear off even the pearl decorations on his cuffs, but it was a relief, at least, that they left him his clothes and shoes out of a sense of decency.

“God hasn’t completely abandoned me.”

Cecil tried to think positively. Even though he had been robbed of everything and was broke, he couldn’t bend his pride. He would absolutely not go back.

By the time he arrived at the central district after walking for a long time, the sun was already setting. To make matters worse, the weather turned cloudy, and it began to rain drearily. It didn’t seem like a rain that would stop easily; the cold wind gradually grew stronger, and the raindrops also grew thicker.

“Now what do I do…”

He had made it this far, but Cecil had no plans whatsoever for what came next.

He was terribly tired from walking for so long, and a chill set in from being soaked by the rain. Wanting to lie down in a warm place first, Cecil stopped by an inn located on the bustling street and asked if he could stay for one night.

As if that would work. Cecil, who had shamelessly requested it without a single penny, was turned away at the door and had to wander the streets again. He went to other inns and pubs, but the situation was the same.

The merchants did not know that the person in front of them was royalty and regarded him as a fallen noble who had squandered his fortune, or perhaps a vagrant who had picked up some expensive clothes somewhere. It was clear that even if he had revealed himself to be royalty, they would not have believed him.

After wandering here and there, he took temporary shelter from the rain under the awning of a small fruit stand. Experiencing such disrespectful treatment for the first time in his life, Cecil even felt a little bewildered.

Still, having escaped the imperial palace, his mood felt like it could fly. Cecil watched the bustling square where many people came and went, relieving his feelings of suffocation. At the same time, he made a decision.

He would not return to the imperial palace for the time being. It was a life he would never have again anyway, so wouldn’t it be okay to be selfish just this once?

As he was waiting under the awning for the rain to subside, the shop owner suddenly came out and began to check his stall. Perhaps because there were few customers due to the rain, the owner’s expression was not very bright.

The plums he was touching looked so luscious. Their fragrant and tart scent pierced through the intense downpour and reached the tip of Cecil’s nose. Cecil, who was hungry, unknowingly gulped and stared intently at the plums in the fruit stand owner’s hand.

After writing a drastically discounted price in front of the fruits that needed to be sold off today, he turned around and his eyes met with the drenched Cecil.

The owner clicked his tongue, tsk. Business was already bad, and he was quite displeased with the presence loitering in front of his shop, supposedly to take shelter from the rain.

Still, his face was comely and the material of the clothes he was wearing looked good, so he didn’t seem like a street homeless person, and he didn’t chase Cecil far away.

“Stand a little further away. You’re blocking the view of the fruit I’ve laid out.”

“My apologies.”

Cecil shuffled to the side. As the stream of water falling from the edge of the awning soaked his left shoulder, he unconsciously had to wrap his arms around himself.

He didn’t pay much mind to the merchant’s blunt tone. Right now, the priority was where he could sleep tonight. No matter what, he couldn’t sleep on the street, could he?

Should I just find a random rich-looking house and ask for a favor? If I say I’m Cecil Adrian, will they even believe me?

If it had been Alexis, he could have revealed his identity with his platinum blonde hair alone, but Cecil had nothing to prove he was royalty.

At the very least, it had to be a noble who knew Cecil’s face for him to be able to impose on them. But the mansions of high-ranking nobles were mostly on the outskirts, and Cecil didn’t have the stamina to walk that far. His worries just kept piling up, one way or another.

After about an hour, the shop owner showed signs of closing up shop. He came outside, cleared away all the fruits on the stall, and was about to take down the awning.

“……”

Cecil looked at the fruit stand owner with a pathetic gaze. He seemed quite sad that the only shelter that could protect him was disappearing.

His face looked so pitiful that the fruit stand owner cleared his throat, ahem ahem, and gave up on putting the awning away.

“Leave when the rain stops.”

“You are a most generous man. What is your name?”

“They call me Odric, but hey, why do you keep talking down to me when you look much younger than me? You look like you’re wandering around without any money, too.”

“Right, Odric. I will not forget your kindness. I will be sure to repay you later.”

Odric shook his head and continued to clean up. He thought to himself that the person seemed to be crazy, clearly under the delusion that he was of a very high status.

As the night deepened, darkness gradually descended on the square. Due to the bad weather, foot traffic had come to a complete halt. The shops were each closing up for the day, and the number of places with their lights out was increasing one by one.

Cecil was still lingering in front of the fruit stand. Perhaps because he was soaked to the bone from the rain, as time passed, a chill began to seep in, and now his body was trembling so much that his teeth were chattering even when he stood still.

They say you suffer when you leave home, and he was keenly feeling the truth of that saying. Cold, sleepy, and hungry—the trifecta conspired to test Cecil’s patience.

“Wow… this is beyond what I can endure out of sheer stubbornness.”

He was rubbing his arms, trying to forcibly raise his body temperature.

A carriage that was luxurious at first glance crossed the square. The sound of the horses’ hooves and the wheels hitting the ground echoed loudly, so Cecil also raised his head to look at the carriage.

The carriage, which had been passing by quickly, suddenly stopped, then turned and approached the front of the fruit stand. Cecil, who was just blinking his large eyes, not knowing what was going on, was startled to see the face beyond the carriage window.

“…Marquis?”

A greasy face and a plump physique—it was undoubtedly Marquis Valery, the Minister of Finance.

The Marquis, who had peeked his head out the window, narrowed his eyes as soon as he recognized Cecil.

“Good heavens! I thought it might be, and it is!”

Marquis Valery flung open the carriage door and stepped out. His servant opened an umbrella and attended to his master.

“Mister Cecil, why on earth are you here alone? Where is your carriage? Where are your attendants?”

“Huh?”

“Did you perhaps come all the way here alone?”

Marquis Valery was uncommonly quick-witted. After all, Cecil, drenched in rain, did not look like someone who had just stepped out for a stroll.

“Ah… well.”

Cecil, taken by surprise, stammered, unlike his usual self.

How much should I tell Marquis Valery?

In fact, the Marquis and Cecil did not have a very amicable relationship. Previously, at a gathering of the Council of Elders, Cecil had revealed his own inclinations and, in the process, had also exposed the Marquis’s secret, so their relationship could be considered rather awkward.

But it was an undeniable fact that he was happy to see him in this situation. Cecil asked cautiously.

“I’m sorry, but my situation is not favorable right now. Could you provide me with a place to sleep for just one night?”

At that, Marquis Valery’s expression changed strangely. He swiftly scanned Cecil’s wet body, then smiled insincerely.

“Of course, is there any question? I will be happy to serve you.”

Before long, Cecil was escorted by the Marquis and boarded the carriage. The rain still showed no sign of stopping, and the pitch-black carriage, carrying its precious guest, hurriedly left the square.