SIWALL Ch 52

“Luor.”

Arzen, sitting inside the carriage, called out to Luor sitting across from him.

“What you said you’d look into regarding Elliot Brown before—you may do so.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Arzen looked out the carriage window at Elliot and Loran, who were gradually growing distant.

When they met previously, Loran had explicitly stated that he knew nothing aside from Elliot Brown’s name. Yet today, he seemed to know that Elliot had written novels, and that he wasn’t writing them anymore.

The two of them were very likely in some sort of relationship. And that grated on Arzen’s nerves.

As Arzen silently looked outside, Luor threw a question his way.

“By the way, Your Grace, that fellow Darlin is already dead, so would there be any point in going to see the corpse?”

To that, Arzen replied.

“Most certainly, there is.”

Darlin was a spy for the Emperor who not only insulted Elliot but framed him. He had probably been used and discarded by the Emperor, but Arzen had not the slightest intention of letting Darlin’s crimes slide because of that.

Arrived at his destination, Arzen stood before Darlin’s corpse. With an arrow stuck right through the center of his forehead and his eyes wide open in death, Darlin’s body was already rotting to a significant degree.

“Judging by the level of decomposition, it seems to have been a few weeks since he died.”

Luor said from beside him.

“Unfortunate.”

Arzen continued as he drew his sword.

“An arrow right to the forehead. My uncle was far too merciful, finishing off this trickster in one go.”

With that, Arzen severed Darlin’s neck with his sword. It was a clean stroke without a single splash of blood.

“Throw this head out in front of the Imperial Palace entrance. So that His Majesty the Emperor can immediately know it was my doing.”

“But Your Grace…!”

“He probably tried to drive out Elliot Brown in order to fill the bedchamber attendant position with his own person. It was likely also to find out what kind of relationship he has with me. The Emperor already knows that I don’t treat Elliot Brown like any ordinary attendant.”

Arzen’s sword left another deep scar right across the exact center of Darlin’s forehead. It was the very spot where an arrow from the Red-White Dan, the imperial assassination unit, had been planted.

“If so, all that remains is a warning. If anyone touches Elliot Brown again, this nephew of his won’t stand by quietly either.”

At Arzen’s words, Luor hesitated before asking.

“Um… Your Grace, I apologize, but might I ask why you cherish Elliot Brown so much? It doesn’t seem to be simply because he helps with sleep….”

“…That is the only reason.”

Arzen replied. Luor quietly nodded and began gathering up Darlin’s head. However, Arzen stood tall in that spot, lost in quiet thought.

In truth, that wasn’t it. To be precise, though he didn’t know how to define this emotion, Arzen knew that he cherished Elliot for other reasons as well. What was certain was that he had a fondness for Elliot.

Arzen recalled the events and emotions that had passed between him and Elliot up to now.

At first, he had suspected Elliot, but gradually, his pathetically weak mind and body began to feel pitiful. The way Elliot went to all sorts of efforts until he eased his suspicion and vigilance was also somewhat amusing.

Then, little by little, he became cute, he received comfort from him, and seeing him close with other people made him jealous. He wanted to kill the people who hurt him.

“…I see.”

Arzen nodded. He was in the midst of confronting emotions he was feeling for the very first time in his life thanks to Elliot. Everything those emotions pointed to was one thing.

‘I just wanted to treat Elliot Brown well.’

If Arzen were someone who had ever experienced love, he would have felt that this was akin to love, but having zero such experience, he strayed slightly off course and arrived at no other conclusion than simply wanting to treat him well.

Right now, he realized this wasn’t the time to be dawdling like this.

‘To treat him well, I have to stick by his side twenty-four hours a day.’

With that thought, he fastened his mask a bit more securely.

“Luor. I must go to Elliot Brown right this instant.”

“Pardon? Ah, yes… then I’ll see you at the mansion.”

Arzen untethered one of the three horses hitched to the carriage and bolted toward the mansion. He wanted to hurry up, cling tightly to Elliot Brown’s side, and lavish all kinds of delicacies and kindness upon him.

∞ ∞ ∞

Elliot was sitting on his bed, propping up his face with both hands, looking with weary eyes at the pile of gifts stacked in one corner of his room. Everything bought today had been delivered to Elliot’s room by the servants of each shop.

Even excluding the custom clothing and handmade shoes that would take a bit of time, gorgeous cloaks, perfumes, jewelry, magical items, books, and more were packed into overly large, glossy boxes adorned with ribbons and small gems. There was also food for Camembert—that was undeniably wonderful.

Was there some sort of ulterior motive behind this sudden gift offensive? Elliot felt suspicious. However….

“This is the first time I’ve ever owned so many things….”

He had never once stepped outside a studio apartment in his entire life. Whether when his mother was alive, when it was just him and his father left, or when he was abandoned alone, he had always been allowed only a single room.

Living in a small home naturally meant keeping your belongings sparse. With nowhere to put unnecessary items, you stopped buying things, and desires became suppressed. Even if you found something you wanted to buy, the thought ‘it’s useless anyway’ usually took over.

So even though these gifts felt suspicious, honestly and simply put, he was happy. The children in foreign movies shouting in joy under a Christmas tree laden with colorful gift boxes of every hue and tearing open the wrapping paper. It was a joy as if he had become one of those kids he had always envied.

Actually, he wanted to say thank you. He had already greeted Loran before parting ways, so he would just greet Arzen tonight as well. After all, he couldn’t let Loran die, nor did he wish for Arzen to destroy everything around him and live on in solitude.

Now, not just for himself and Camembert, but for Arzen and for Loran, he wanted to prevent the original ending.

Dong— Dong—

The clock signaling the exact hour began to toll. Seven in the afternoon—it was time to go to the Grand Duke’s bedroom and tidy up the sleeping environment for a bit.

Elliot lightly tapped his sore legs from all the walking with his fists and stretched his stiff lower back this and that way. Before leaving the room, he cast his gaze once more toward the pile of gifts. A genuine smile hovered at the corners of his mouth.

∞ ∞ ∞

As he was tidying the bed and placing a few sleep-inducing scent pouches by the window, Arzen entered the bedchamber. Elliot turned his head in surprise. In Arzen’s hand were colorful wildflowers. He had probably plucked another batch of herb types from the greenhouse.

“Why did you come in so early?”

“Work finished quickly. And take this.”

Arzen held out a crude bouquet of flowers.

“…Are there going to be more times I have to eat herbs, Your Grace?”

A spasm twitched in Elliot’s smile. Fortunately, however, Arzen shook his head.

“Those aren’t herbs, just wildflowers.”

“Why are you suddenly giving me wildflowers?”

“Those are flowers that don’t have a strong scent. Since you dislike heavy fragrances.”

Elliot blinked with his mouth open.

Did I hear something wrong just now? So basically, he just gave me flowers he thought I’d like?

“Did you buy your books well?”

Arzen asked as he took off his outer coat. At the outline of the shirt and chest revealed beneath the clothes, Elliot replied blankly like a parrot.

“Yes. I bought them well.”

This time, Arzen unbuttoned his shirt one by one and asked.

“What books did you buy?”

“What books I bought.”

“What?”

“Pardon? What, yes?”

Gulp. Elliot smacked his lips and raised his gaze to Arzen’s face. Having lost the effect of the hair-dye potion and returned to platinum blonde, Arzen’s beauty was so holy it recalled a great archangel.

That face on that chest, oh man.

Elliot instinctively stroked his own meager, flat chest with his hand a few times. Should I do some upper body workouts? If I really build my stamina just like Arzen tells me to, could I also have a body like that—?

“Elliot Brown. You’re completely failing to focus.”

Arzen pointed out. As he did so, he hesitated slightly before spitting out the next question as if acting nonchalant.

“By any chance, do you not like the wildflowers?”

“No, absolutely not!”

Elliot mimicked taking in the floral scent.

“Mmm~ Not smelling anything at all is truly fantastic, Your Grace!”

“That doesn’t sound like a particularly flattering thing to hear.”

Saying that, Arzen finally took off his shirt. He had always gone to another room to change clothes, so he wondered what had gotten into him today. Elliot prepared himself to observe Arzen’s magnificent naked upper body solely from a perspective of envy, admiration, and academic inquiry.

Hey, when you start working out, everyone gets motivated and models themselves after pictures of muscle-bound bros, right? I’m doing the same thing.

Elliot made up an excuse to himself and widened his eyes. If he had time, he would have liked to clean his glasses a bit more thoroughly too, but that felt like going overboard so he stopped himself.

However, the revealed upper body of Arzen was a bit different from what he had expected. Of course, it was a thick and magnificent physique well-built with muscle, but… there were an excessive number of scars.

“Your Grace, your body is… .”

Elliot’s expression darkened in an instant. Even at a glance, the traces of injuries that must have been severe at the time remained all over. They looked like struggles just to survive.

“Ah, I forgot. I don’t usually take off my clothes in front of others.”

Arzen turned around and began fumbling with his shirt to unfold it again. Across his back lay a large, deep, red scar cutting diagonally.

So… pitiful…!

Elliot’s signature empathy ability began to activate toward Arzen once more. And that was precisely what Arzen had intended.