Chapter 24

"How is the Duke's condition?"

"Not very good."

It was the second day since Arenheit had regained consciousness.

Leandros and Arndt were beyond worried.

Arenheit had never been of a healthy constitution to begin with.

Though he had been raised with tender care at the ducal residence, for some reason, he hadn't been taught swordsmanship or basic physical training.

Nominally, the reason was that as a precious heir who had been barely obtained, any possibility of injury had to be eliminated.

But Leandros knew how ridiculous that reason was.

Just by going into society, young lords would show off their martial skills and young ladies would compare their jewels as a daily routine.

In such a situation, a frail young Duke who couldn't even hold a sword.

He was the perfect target to be torn apart.

As a result, he never made his debut in society, and thus never had to hear such mockery.

Arenheit's physical strength had long been a concern for Leandros.

Arndt let out a small sigh.

"It would be good if he could regain some strength."

"Did he send back his meal again?"

"Yes. It might not suit his taste, but he needs to eat more of anything right now..."

Arndt looked down at the thin porridge.

It was a porridge made by simply boiling whatever grains were left.

But in the current situation, even such porridge was a luxury.

After all, Arndt and Leandros had been drinking soup with plucked grass since arriving at the castle.

"I'll speak with him in the evening. I'm going out now."

"Are you going hunting?"

"It's not hunting season, so I can't promise anything."

As Leandros was about to turn away, Arndt urgently called out.

"Sir!"

Arndt continued quickly.

"This might just be my own conjecture, but I think His Grace is mentally overwhelmed."

Leandros was about to ask why but stopped.

It would make sense, losing everything in an instant at a young age, and continuously hiding and fleeing.

While Arndt and Leandros might have become somewhat desensitized, Arenheit was different.

Hadn't the late Duke and Duchess treated him like a fragile crystal vase?

"Moreover, since waking up, he has been refusing meals and staying in his room all the time, showing a tendency to be reclusive..."

"He was never outgoing to begin with."

"But I didn't expect him to seclude himself completely. Perhaps the shock was too great?"

Arndt muttered in a dejected tone.

Leandros lightly gripped the worn scabbard and then released it.

"Well. It seems best to continue serving meals. I'll check on him when I return."

* * *

Leandros caught two rabbits.

They weren't as large as he had hoped, but he decided to find significance in the fact that they could provide a meal.

After tossing the hefty creatures to Arndt, he washed his hands in the rainwater tank outside the castle.

Though he hadn't cultivated his swordsmanship for hunting, it was quite useful in times like these.

After thoroughly washing off any potential dust or rabbit fur, Leandros looked up.

The castle, which once boasted the power and majesty of the ducal family, now appeared dreary.

What did Arenheit think when he saw the desolate castle?

Was he shocked, as Arndt had suggested?

Or was he relieved that the endless fleeing had finally ended?

Leandros shook his hands well and dried them.

Then he returned to the castle to visit Arenheit.

Arenheit was still using the room he had used during his time as the young Duke.

This was thanks to Arndt's insistent argument that even moving to a different bedroom could be mentally burdensome.

In Leandros's view, both bedrooms looked equally looted and shabby.

Standing in front of the door, Leandros cleared his throat as a courtesy.

"Your Grace."

What should he say when he sees Arenheit?

He thought he just needed to check his condition, but now that he was here, it occurred to him that Arenheit might be crying or in a vegetative state.

He wasn't good at encouraging others or boosting their spirits.

While thinking these thoughts, Leandros called out once more.

"Your Grace. May I come in?"

Is he sleeping?

Leandros put his ear close to the door from outside.

There was a rustling sound from inside the room.

It wasn't the sound of bedding moving, and there was a hard, clacking sound mixed in.

"I'm coming in for a moment."

The door wasn't locked.

Just a slight push and the door opened naturally. Behind it, Leandros lost his words at the sight of the revealed room.

The wall, which had been intact, was black.

No, it was so densely covered with writing that it gave that impression.

Writing filled all four walls, excluding the floor and ceiling.

Directly in front of Leandros, Arenheit was on the bed, arm stretched out.

In his hand was a piece of charcoal found from the stove.

The burnt wood was worn down to a blunt end, but Arenheit's writing continued.

Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.

"Your Grace!"

"Ah."

As Arenheit turned around, Leandros couldn't help but be further shocked.

Arenheit's sleeve was covered in blood. Moreover, his face was a mess with dried nosebleed that had flowed continuously.

A white face that looked almost like a corpse, dark shadows under his eyes.

Arenheit was continuously mumbling something.

'To not die, to not end up like that this time.'

Hearing this, the back of Leandros's neck grew cold.

Was Arenheit in his right mind?

* * *

Standing in front of Leandros, who had frozen in his tracks, he wiped his face again with his blood-soaked sleeve.

This nosebleed just wouldn't stop.

"Sorry. I didn't hear you."

"This is..."

"It's nothing. I just wanted to organize my thoughts, but there was no paper. It seems that was confiscated too."

He was seething at the royal palace people who had scraped away everything, down to a single quill and a single sheet of paper.

He threw the charcoal piece he was holding and sat on the bed.

Leandros quickly approached, examined his face, and pressed on both sides of his nose bridge while making him raise his head.

"Since when have you been like this?"

"The walls for the past two days. The nosebleed started just a while ago."

The world spun once more.

Feeling dizzy, he closed his eyes, and Leandros supported his back and carefully laid him down.

"What about your meals?"

"I wasn't hungry."

"You need to eat to recover quickly."

"It would be a waste if I ate and then vomited."

Leandros had an expression that seemed to say, 'This is why you're having nosebleeds.'

Seeing his face without a trace of hostility, he felt a newfound realization.

This person was not the Leandros he remembered.

He was a completely new person.

A new character with everything reset and initialized, without any memories.

"Sir Leandros."

"Command me."

"You were my mother's knight. Don't you regret how things turned out?"

Leandros had become the escort knight of the Duchess of Hartmann of his own will.

But as he was originally a free knight, he could have left anytime.

If he hadn't fled with this body, he could have lived with a respectable status.

"The Duchess asked me. To protect Your Grace, who was then the young Duke."

"Solely because of that request?"

"Yes. The Duchess never asked anything of me otherwise. That was the first request I heard from her."

Wow.

How steadfast.

"But you've gone through hardships and have even reached a situation where you can't eat well. Are you okay with that?"

"Are you worried about others while you're having a nosebleed?"

"It's not foolish, is it?"

"...I am accustomed to such matters. So is Arndt."

"But I'm sorry. Because of my mother, both you and Arndt are suffering."

Leandros blinked.

He seemed unable to understand why he was acting this way.

It would be puzzling for a Duke who had been in seclusion for two days to suddenly speak so amiably.

But this was necessary.

"Let's think about it as soon as I recover."

"What do you mean?"

"A way to return to how things were before."

"..."

"If we return to how things were, Arndt would be happy. You would also be at ease. But it won't end there."

"What are you saying?"

"You know too."

Leandros knelt beside his bed.

It was partly to match eye level, but he also seemed to anticipate that the conversation wouldn't end quickly.

Their gazes met.

"Was Hartmann really plotting treason?"

"Your Grace."

"I'm asking if they were secretly gathering private soldiers to march on the capital, pressuring vassals to stockpile war supplies. If they excessively exploited the territory's grain and accumulated wealth through unethical means."

"That's..."

"Not true, right?"

If Hartmann had been plotting treason in the original work, Leandros would surely have known.

How could there not be a single mention in the novel when the royal authority might have been overthrown?

Within the one-line setting that 'Hartmann plotted to overthrow the king, and the royal palace punished them,' many things were missing.

What was needed was what lay beneath the surface of the result that had already occurred.

"It's not true, right?"

"...Your Grace, you were young, so you might not have known about any movements within the family. Therefore..."

"I'm not saying this because I trust our family. As you said, I don't know everything. I'm saying this because I trust my mother."

"Your Grace."

Leandros closed his mouth.

It was clear that he had touched on Leandros's sore spot.

Even if the Duchess had made a request, Arenheit's future was uncertain.

If not for Yurik's whim, Arenheit would have had to continue living as a fugitive.

If an escort from a free knight background decided to devote his life because his lord had asked...

With what feelings had he served his lord?

"My mother wasn't a person who coveted power. I think you know that well."

"..."

"So tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Whether Hartmann truly did so. Tell me here all the truths you saw with your own eyes by my mother's side."

A faint hesitation flashed in Leandros's black eyes, which were conflicted.

"...Words once spoken cannot be taken back. Crown Prince Yurik is alive and well, and the royal authority is unprecedentedly powerful. My words will cloud Your Grace's judgment and make rational decisions impossible. Therefore, please withdraw your command."

Leandros's concern was sufficiently realistic.

But his mind was already made up.

"I want revenge."

"Your Grace!"

"I will survive. But I don't want to merely extend a life barely saved. I want revenge against Crown Prince Yurik."

The true heart hidden behind the name of family and mother.

Crown Prince Yurik, who had killed him.

Before he returned, Yurik had said he would make good use of his body.

The more he thought about those words, the stranger they felt.

He finally came to think that even the reinstatement, which he had thought was merely Yurik's whim, might have been because Yurik wanted something.

Yurik would kill him this time as well.

At this rate, no matter how many times he returned, what awaited him was only Yurik's mockery and his blade.

To prevent this, he had to move first.

His previous self wouldn't have been able to think of anything.

Thinking, how could he confront the main villain of the novel?

But the current him had one card.

"You need to help me. Stay by my side until this revenge is complete."

Leandros.

The protagonist of this novel had been an extra by his side.