Chapter 11: A Bystander's Anguish (1)

“Tollin!”

The Duke, upon spotting the lake in the distance, discovered his aide slumped over the horse standing by the lakeside and ran out in surprise.

“What in the...….”

“Ugh.”

Having also discovered the dried blood on his head, the Duke began to look around fiercely.

But even so, the culprit was standing right beside him, so there was no way he could be found.

I, for my part, was panicking because I hadn't thought that he would still be unconscious.

No, I couldn't have hit him that hard, could I?

The Duke, after examining his condition for a moment, must have judged that Tollin was not in as serious a state as he thought, as he carefully pulled him down from the horse.

Watching the Duke's back as he laid him down by the lakeside and rummaged through his bag, I slowly moved my steps back toward the bushes we had walked out of.

Because I had to return to human form first before I could do anything.

Phrrng?

The brown horse, which had been watching its master along with me, tilted its head as if finding me strange, but it didn't cry out loudly.

Entering the forest and confirming there was no one around, I went into the space created by two beech trees that were half-fallen and leaning against each other.

And I closed my eyes and thought that I wanted to return to being human.

Fortunately, perhaps because there was no difference between the crow and the horse, when the familiar warm energy enveloped my body and I opened my eyes, I had returned to the 7th Prince's body.

Readjusting the slightly twisted bag, I quickened my steps.

If Tollin's condition was really bad and the Duke decided to go back and treat Tollin first, that would be troublesome in its own way.

It took a little more time than when I was a horse, but I immediately found the path I was walking for the third time and emerged through the bushes.

As my vision cleared, the familiar lakeside, two horses, and two people came into view.

Things had gotten more complicated than I thought, but it was a relief that the tangled skein was now slowly unraveling anyway.

As I got closer, I could hear their conversation a little.

“Tollin, do you know who did this?”

Tollin, holding a towel to his head, answered mumblingly.

“I'm not certain. There was just a sudden, strong impact on my head...….”

“This was lying nearby. It seems someone threw a stone at you.”

The Duke showed Tollin the blood-stained stone.

It wasn't a large amount, but the area stained with blood looked exceptionally large.

Damn it, to think I just left that there.

“My goodness, at this size...… could there have been an intent to assassinate?”

“I can't be sure. Your horse and mine are similar. It might have been aimed at me.”

...…Maybe I should just postpone meeting the Duke for a year?

The protagonist is the protagonist, so he might have something like a protagonist buff.

I shook my head back and forth.

No, I have to take responsibility for what I've started.

Judging by Tollin's dazed state from earlier, he might not even remember my face properly.

Because people's memories sometimes blank out for a moment right after being hit in the head.

Thinking that, I took a step forward again.

“But...… Your Grace, I saw a familiar face before I lost consciousness.”

“What? Who was it! That fiend could be the culprit.”

“The 7th Prince...… It was the 7th Prince.”

Our protagonist is a growth-type character, so he'll be able to overcome it well, no matter what happens to the timeline.

This time, I turned my steps without hesitation.

Thinking that I would create an opportunity to face the Duke later, just not right now.

Crunch.

But God was never on my side, and since I was the type to mostly blame the other party, my short escape ended quickly.

I glared at the unusually large-looking beech nut lying at my feet.

That thing, which seemed to have gotten caught on the edge of my bag when I transformed into a human earlier, was already miserably crushed.

Hoo.......

I collected my breath for a moment and looked back.

I saw the Duke, staring at the area around my feet with an expressionless face, and Tollin, whose already pale face had turned even whiter as he bowed his head.

“So, is the hunt going well?”

If it's ruined anyway, it's not so bad to screw it up completely.

***

A brief, awkward silence filled the space between the three of us.

The first one to come to his senses was Duke Piteos.

“Greetings to the 7th Prince.”

“Gree, greetings to the 7th Prince.”

Tollin, who awkwardly bowed his head following him, kept it buried and didn't raise it.

“I discovered His Highness the Prince's horse in the forest. Fearing something might have happened, I followed where the horse led, Your Highness.”

Leaving the troubled Tollin, Duke Piteos stepped forward and opened his mouth.

When I looked around at his words, he continued with a chagrined look on his face.

“The horse disappeared while I looked away for a moment. I am truly sorry.”

He bowed his head with a truly apologetic expression.

“Ah, don't worry about that. It probably went back on its own. It's a very clever creature, my horse.”

It wasn't untrue.

My horse, which is so clever it's impudent, is probably grazing on grass somewhere by now, and the black horse that met the Duke has, one way or another, found its way back here just fine.

“Even so, I am deeply ashamed.”

He apologized to me, still not raising his head.

I looked at the submissive man and recalled our conversation in the forest.

Him, who had muttered that there was nothing as happy as ignorance and oblivion.

In the book, his heart is shaken by an incident he experiences around this time, but he tries hard to ignore it.

In other words, the Duke is currently in a state of lacking confidence in himself and being confused.

And I plan to exploit that opening.

I watched Tollin, who was stealing glances at the Duke, and twisted the corners of my mouth.

He needed a slightly bigger stimulus.

“More importantly.”

When I opened my mouth with a voice tinged with laughter, the Duke, perhaps finding it strange, raised his head and met my eyes.

“Your aide doesn't seem to be in good condition. Is he alright?”

As I moved my steps and approached Tollin, who was standing half a step behind him, I felt the Duke flinch.

“It seems you've injured your head?”

The cowardly Tollin still had his head bowed low, so I could see the cold sweat running down the nape of his neck.

“Lift your head. I'm not here to look at the crown of your head.”

“I, I apologize, Your Highness.”

“What did I just say?”

As I pressured him, he had to raise his head, trembling.

Tollin Crisa.

The third son of the Crisa Count Family, he is knowledgeable about the state of affairs and capable, but is too cowardly to stand out.

The one who first trusted him and brought him in was Duke Piteos.

Duke Piteos, for his part, has his own reasons for cherishing him greatly.

The point is, that blue-haired young man is a very good target for provoking the Duke.

I scrutinized his face carefully.

He's fine, aside from the slight gash on his forehead.

It seems he fainted because the impact was too great at the moment he was hit, but the wound itself didn't look serious.

That much will heal if he gets proper treatment and sleeps well for a week.

He was injured because of me, after all, so tormenting him for a long time would be an inhuman act.

I should end this quickly.

“Looks like you were hit by a stone or something.”

“Hic!”

He couldn't even answer properly, perhaps recalling the conversation he was having with the Duke before I appeared.

“Your Highness, right now he is unwell...….”

“Can you not see that I am speaking to your aide right now, Duke?”

I spoke coldly to the Duke, who had interjected in panic.

He, still unable to disobey an Imperial Family member's command, pressed his lips tightly together and stepped back.

Tollin, who had even started to hiccup, had red rims around his eyes and was on the verge of crying.

He's probably recalling the rumors about me.

There was even a rumor going around about a Prince who boils people alive.

Hoping the rumor he heard wasn't too cruel, I continued.

“And I think you said you saw something earlier, and I think you also said it was me. Is that true?”

“Ah, no! Not at all! I was so out of it I couldn't see anything.”

He shook his head like mad, as if he immediately understood what I was saying.

I could see the Duke's fists clenching tightly as he watched the desperate sight of him shaking his head frantically, a scab of blood on his head.

I smiled faintly.

“Right, then you weren't hit by a stone today, nor did you see me. Correct?”

“Yes, yes. That is correct, Your Highness.”

He answered as such and bowed his head low again.

As if that were true.

It wasn't intentional, but he was hit by the stone I threw, and it was true that he saw me.

Normally, he should be demanding an explanation from me right away, receiving an apology, and insisting that I receive just punishment.

But at least today, that's not going to happen.

Because I am still the 7th Prince.

The law and such have no effect on me.

And this wouldn't be any different for other Imperial Family members, either.

I completely erased the smile from my face and looked at the Duke expressionlessly.

The Duke looked confused, and he also looked angry.

As it should be, because confusion and pain always follow when one breaks free from rationalizations like self-brainwashing and confronts objective facts.

The pain might be a little less if he broke out of the egg himself, but that's a difficult task for the Duke right now.

If he can't overcome this now, the Duke will lose something even bigger later on.

I left the trembling Tollin standing there and slowly approached the Duke, patting his shoulder.

“Look at this, Duke. Your subordinate obeys any word from the Imperial Family like this, he is truly...… loyal.”

The Duke gave no answer.

He just gave a slight nod, so faint it was hard to tell.

“Befitting a subordinate to the Duke, who is loyal to the Imperial Family with all his soul.”

He was silent again.

But his insides were surely not as quiet as his mouth.

“The Little Duke will be the same, right? Since he grew up watching you, Duke. I'm really looking forward to his future.”

When the Little Duke was mentioned, he wavered noticeably.

He, who couldn't even bring himself to meet my eyes, snapped his head up and met my gaze.

What was contained within them was clear anger.

I did not avoid his gaze.

“He, too, will become a faithful sword of the Imperial Family. He'll walk the same path as you. Groveling just like this at a word from the Imperial Family.”

“Th, that is...….”

“Are you not pleased?”

At my question, he seemed to come to his senses and slowly opened his mouth.

“...…That is correct. It is an honor for the family.”

“And the person watching that most closely will be you, the father, Duke.”

“...….”

“I do hope you'll be proud then, too, Duke. Of your son, who will obey the Imperial Family's commands in any situation.”

The deeply wrinkled corners of the Duke's eyes trembled minutely.

This should be enough.

“You and Tollin have gone through a lot today, Duke. You took care of my horse, and must have been dragged all over the place to help me. This is a reward for that.”

I undid the bag I had been carrying all this time and set it down at his feet.

Thud.

The mouth of the bag, which landed at his feet with a heavy sound, opened slightly, revealing a glimpse of what filled it.

...…It was stones.

Yes, this was the reason I, who wasn't even hunting, had been carrying this ridiculously heavy bag around all day.

To hand him this pile of stones that filled the bag.

It wasn't what I intended, but because I ended up hitting Tollin with a stone, it turned into a complete mockery of him.

Doesn't it look just like I hit Tollin with this stone and am now making fun of him.

A posture as if delivering the message: 'Here, this is the stone that hit your aide. Even if I openly say I did it, you can't say anything, can you, Duke Piteos?'

I hadn't planned to go this far, but I also thought it might be for the best if it could provoke the Duke even more.

“Th, ank you, Your Highness.”

“Yes, make sure you never take that off your body for the rest of today.”

He wordlessly picked up the bag I had thrown (dropped) and slung it over his shoulder.

When he straightened his bent back and looked at me, his eyes still looked confused, but at least they weren't wavering like before.

I thought that he seemed to have braced himself somehow.

He still maintained the flawless bearing of a knight toward me, and he did not look at me insolently.

But something inside him must have clearly changed today.

I observed his eyes a little more, then said I would be going and turned away.

I had to borrow the Duke's horse since I had lost mine.

A perfect piece of trash, right to the end.

As I rode the horse away, I briefly turned my head and took in the sight of the two, still bowing to me from the lakeside.

I had done something I was sorry for.

But it couldn't be headed.

In the original work, he is the person who will speak out against tradition to the Emperor at next year's hunting competition, and then fall off a cliff.

The Duke at that time will have already lost the most precious thing to him, so he won't need a catalyst like me.

He doesn't die.

Because then he wouldn't be a main character.

He loses one leg but miraculously survives.

And he abandons all status and name and is reborn with the name One-legged Jing.

One-legged Jing, the friend and parent who protects his side until the end of the novel, and also, the protagonist's one and only teacher.

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