SLDS 9

When I opened my eyes again, I thought I had come to a funeral parlor. It was because all the servants were surrounding me, sniffling.

A sigh escaped me on its own. As Cecil shook his head as if annoyed, his dark brown hair, buried in the pillowcase, swayed back and forth.

“Did I die or something? Why are you all crying and making a fuss.”

“Sob, Mr. Cecil.”

Leo’s wailing was the most pathetic of them all. Perhaps because he had witnessed Cecil faint right before his eyes, he couldn’t stop crying even after seeing that Cecil was awake. Something like a soap bubble repeatedly emerged from and went back into his nostrils, which were full of snot.

Cecil refused the hands reaching out to help him up and sat up on his own.

For someone who had been in enough pain to collapse, his body felt quite light. It seemed that the momentary pain was severe, but thankfully, there were no aftereffects.

“I’m perfectly fine, so all of you, stop it. If you have nothing better to do, go bring me something cool to drink.”

Cecil waved his arm as if bothered. As soon as the words left his mouth, the servants scattered in different directions. One fellow rushed to present the fruit wine Cecil usually enjoyed, while another was in a flurry to bring freshly baked cookies as an offering.

Now that the noisy bunch was gone, it was at least bearable. Cecil roughly swept his messy bangs aside and kneaded the nape of his neck carelessly.

He was tilting his head from side to side, so far that his head almost touched his shoulder, when he suddenly glimpsed a faint figure beyond the canopy.

Cecil paused for a moment.

As he placed a hand on the edge of the bed and leaned his upper body out, the being hidden by the white curtains finally came into view.

His widened eyes moved up and down. His startled gaze ultimately fixed on the cynical face, and Cecil’s lips parted silently.

“Your Highness… Why are you here?”

“I came by on some business, and as it happened, there was a commotion.”

Alexis was leaning at an angle, with his elbow resting on the back of the sofa Cecil had been sitting on earlier. As if to indicate the purpose of his visit, a handkerchief dangled from his fingertips.

Alexis walked over with a short sigh. He not only made Cecil, who was trying to hurry out of bed, sit back down, but he also poked him on the shoulder, making him lie back down on the bed.

“For the sake of your poor servants, how about you stay lying down for a bit?”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“I’m saying you should at least pretend.”

It was hard to interpret the meaning of his indifferent voice. Was he worried, or was he being sarcastic?

What was certain was that it was difficult for Cecil to refuse Alexis’s command. As ordered, he leaned his back against the fluffy pillow and just blinked his large eyes.

Alexis, who was quietly looking down at that sight, let out a chuckle. Pfft.

“You’re weaker than I thought.”

“…”

“Or are you just as weak as you look?”

Although he had grown taller, Cecil’s body looked so thin it seemed like it could snap at any moment.

Having grown up eating only the finest things in the imperial palace, his hair and skin overflowed with a radiant glow, but his constitution seemed to be one that didn’t gain weight easily, so his arms and legs were just slender. And what about his waist? The slim outline visible through the thin fabric was, no matter how you looked at it, not masculine.

“Can you even hold a sword with this?”

When he grabbed and shook a wrist as thin as a sword hilt, Cecil freaked out and pulled his hand away.

“Where would I ever have a reason to use a sword?”

“You are also a member of the imperial family, for what it’s worth, so you should at least know how to make a show of it.”

“…Then Your Highness should teach me.”

“What?”

Alexis laughed as if it were preposterous.

He sat down on the stool placed next to the bed. On the backless chair, he crossed his arms and even loosely crossed his legs. That brought him roughly to eye level with Cecil, who was lying in bed.

“Do I look that free to you?”

“It’s not like I want to do it, either. As you said, since I’m a member of the imperial family for what it’s worth, it means I can’t learn from just any teacher.”

“The tuition will be quite expensive, you know.”

“How much is it?”

He retorted in a deliberately sharp voice and glared. A strange smile hung on the face of the crown prince, who was usually just cynical, so his gaze kept going there. Even though he knew this was a person he could never have, his heart pounded foolishly.

Alexis tapped his knee with his long fingers. He took a long time to speak, as if gauging his thoughts.

“I heard the news about your nanny. They said she escaped harm thanks to your help.”

“…”

“I express my gratitude in her stead. Consider the tuition as my repayment for that. When your condition improves, send word to Saint Palace.”

Then, as if he had nothing more to say, he pushed off the stool and stood up without hesitation. Cecil just sat there dumbly, even as the crown prince was leaving.

“For real?!”

Leaving the dumbfounded voice shouting into the air behind him, Alexis exited the bedroom. Just then, he came across the servants who were coming in, holding platters full of food for Cecil. His cold gaze landed not on the servants, who were bowing their heads politely, but on the silver trays.

All pretty and sugary things.

“His tastes are still childish.”

He began to walk again, tossing out the brief comment.

✽ ✽ ✽

Hope was already beginning to sprout. If things went well, he might be able to build a friendly relationship with Alexis. Cecil added one more thing to his life’s goals.

Make Alexis the emperor. In addition, become his right-hand man. No, Claude Vandel would have already taken the right-hand man spot, so maybe his left-hand man…?

Of course, it was a period of less than three years, but still, if this atmosphere continued, it wasn’t an impossibility. It felt like if he achieved his wish, he would be able to close his eyes in peace.

He didn’t even wish for affection. Trust was enough.

Tap, tap.

A long switch tapped the back of Cecil’s hand. The action, meant to call back his straying concentration, made Cecil, who had been staring blankly out the window, turn his head back to where it should be.

Viscount Gerhalt, Cecil’s private tutor, spoke in a deliberately stern voice.

“I don’t believe this is the time for you to be lost in thought. You need to solve the problem quickly!”

“…”

“It’s no use staring at me like that! Isn’t all of this what we learned today! My goodness, how can someone said to be so brilliant…!”

Cecil pouted his lips and feigned ignorance.

“That was all just a baseless rumor I spread. The Viscount must know my true nature by now, right?”

At those words, Gerhalt struck his frustrated chest with his fist. Since he couldn’t bring himself to hit Cecil’s back, he was pounding his own easy-target chest instead.

Regardless of whether he did or not, Cecil hummed a tune and wrote another wrong answer on the paper. He could hear the Viscount lamenting.

Cecil had started advanced lessons a few days ago. From the empire’s history to foreign languages, theology, diplomacy, and mathematics. He was even learning The Prince under the empress’s secret orders.

Of course, all of these things already existed inside Cecil’s head. It was only natural that he knew them like the back of his hand, since he had learned them all in his previous life.

But he deliberately acted stupid, pretending not to understand. What good would it do to show off how smart he was? It would only inflate his mother’s expectations and earn him misunderstandings from Alexis. Wasn’t it far more advantageous to just remain an empty-headed person?

It was just unfortunate for Viscount Gerhalt. He was, in his own right, the most successful private tutor in the empire, so Cecil ended up sullying his reputation.

Cecil was now resting his chin on his hand, quietly staring at Viscount Gerhalt’s curly mustache. The viscount, noticing the stare, narrowed his eyes and gazed at him mistrustfully.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Viscount.”

Cecil, who had been looking down, flashed his eyes upward. He decided he should try one test while he was at it.

“I happen to be able to read faces a little.”

“I don’t believe in superstitions, you know?”

“The Viscount’s daughter is due to give birth soon, right? The child to be born will probably be a granddaughter. Her hair will be a pretty red color, like maple leaves, and her eyes will resemble the warm sunset.”

“How do you know that? I mean, it’s true that my daughter is pregnant, but anyone can see she’s carrying a son.”

“I told you. I can read faces a little… Ugh, you see.”

Cecil clutched his shirt as he continued speaking. A slight pain flared up near his heart. So that’s how it is.

If he carelessly revealed the future, the pain would return to him. With this, the prerequisite became clear.

The pain was less severe than last time, so it seemed to vary depending on the gravity of the situation. In the case of the duchess, it was a matter of saving a person’s life, but now it was just a confirmation of fact. This level of pain would be fine after taking one long breath.

“I’m not feeling well today, so I don’t think I can have class…”

Cecil feigned illness and laid his head down on the desk. Viscount Gerhalt, who had been grinning from ear to ear while imagining his soon-to-be-born granddaughter, glared daggers at Cecil, who made excuses every chance he got, and bellowed.

“What have you done to be lying down already!”

“It’s hard… I don’t understand a single thing.”

“Haah, this easy material, really! Now, I will explain it again slowly, so please sit up straight.”

Indeed, he was worthy of being called the empire’s greatest educator. Cecil, still lying face down, gave a faint smile at the passion of his old teacher, who tried to take responsibility for his substandard student to the very end.