Chapter 166

The townhouse was exactly as it had been in Arenheit's memory.

Perhaps thanks to Arndt's personal touch, even the smallest furniture arrangements were all the same.

In the previous iteration, Arndt had worked quite hard to keep the townhouse in good condition.

Even back then, his face had been dark from overwork.

Maybe he should give him a vacation when all this was over.

As he entered through the wide-open door that welcomed those arriving in the capital, he said to Arndt:

"It's been a really long time."

"A long time?"

Arndt's expression was peculiar. Why was he asking like that?

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I was trying to recall if Your Grace had ever visited the townhouse before."

At that moment, Arenheit felt his heart sink.

Had he never come here in this iteration?

He started getting confused about whether he'd gone to the capital in the previous iteration or the one before that.

"What I meant was, it feels familiar, like seeing something after a long time. I can feel the unique dignity of the Hartmann ducal family and the atmosphere it gives off."

"Ah, if that's what you mean... Although the townhouse is a relatively recent building, they say that when designing it, they considered how to capture the history of the ducal family. Apparently, the best architects, designers, and artists of the time worked on it for a long time."

"I see."

"In a way, your impression of familiarity is correct. The ducal residence is the origin of Hartmann, and the townhouse was built to resemble it."

"That's what I meant."

"Is that so? Since your audience with the Crown Prince is the day after tomorrow, I'll first escort you so you can rest. Since this is your first time at the townhouse, please come this way."

As he followed Arndt, who was climbing the white marble stairs past the servants busily moving luggage, Arenheit secretly sighed.

From now on, perhaps he should write some kind of regression record to avoid confusion.

After going through regression more than three times, his head was starting to get all mixed up.

"Um, Your Grace. It seems like you just lied?"

"Aaaah! Don't suddenly talk to me from behind!"

Verde was right behind him, looking at him with a somewhat mischievous expression.

Until just a moment ago, he had been making a fuss about moving his luggage. Why was he here now?

"What? What lie?"

"Don't play dumb. You shouldn't tell lies as easily as eating bread at your age when the blood behind your ears hasn't even dried."

"It's not like that."

"Could it perhaps be related to Your Grace's constitution?"

Verde suddenly lowered his voice.

Though he used the euphemism 'constitution,' Arenheit could immediately understand what he meant.

"No. It's not that. I just get confused like this sometimes, but it gets better soon. It's just my head getting jumbled and then clearing up again."

"What if, perhaps, I were to, ahem, do that... Could I take a look at Your Grace's head too?"

"Head?"

"Yes. Head. Those old-fashioned clerics and priests out there might say that the heart is the most important thing to humans, but there's really no organ as complex as the brain."

"That's true."

"Isn't everything we think, say, or want determined by the head? Including memories, of course. So if you're frequently experiencing such confusion and find it inconvenient, I could take a look."

He meant examining the inside of his head, right?

"Is that necessary?"

"Who knows? Perhaps in the process of Your Grace 'waking up' again, something strange has developed or is developing somewhere in your body."

Examining the head.

Verde seemed curious about what was inside Arenheit's head.

There was nothing incorrect in what he said, but Arenheit knew there was nothing particularly wrong with his own head.

The incident just now was simply a matter of confusing the previous iteration with the current one.

It shouldn't matter.

"Wouldn't it be fine? After all, when I'm dead, I can't feel whether you cut open my head or take out my heart. If you want me to recover, you just need to stop immediately."

Since it had come to this, he nodded obediently with the sentiment of receiving a health checkup.

Though it was a bit too anatomical to be called a health checkup, it didn't matter.

Verde, upon receiving his permission, tightly clenched both hands, punched the air with a 'Got it!' expression, and ran off somewhere else.

Was it really that good to warrant such a reaction?

"Your Grace, do you need anything from downstairs?"

"I'll come up now. I just had something to talk about with Verde."

Arndt, who had gone upstairs, came back down and urged him.

Because of that, Arenheit hurriedly moved his steps, burying the conversation he had with Verde in a corner of his memory.

The townhouse where they stayed for two days was peaceful.

Even though it was a visit to the palace, there wasn't much he specifically needed to prepare.

It didn't feel like Yurik had a sincere will to discuss the return of territories,

And he seemed more likely to be curious about Leandros's current situation and actions.

He would just go, see Yurik's slick face, eat a meal at the royal palace, and come back.

Surely they wouldn't invite him all the way there and not offer a meal?

After experiencing so many heart-pounding events, being invited by Yurik to enter the royal palace was quite sweet.

Of course, unlike Arenheit's carefree attitude, Arndt was extremely anxious.

"My thinking was shallow. When you returned to the ducal residence, I should have immediately hired at least one mercenary knight. How can I not worry when you go with just one physician who doesn't have a shred of etiquette, without any escort?"

"I can hear everything you're saying. Are you perhaps saying this for me to hear?"

"Should I try to recruit escort personnel from the adventurer's guild even now, Your Grace?"

Arndt, completely ignoring Verde, looked at Arenheit with a thoroughly pitiful expression.

"It's fine. Surely there won't be an attack targeting me at the royal palace? If there were, it would be an assassination attempt targeting Crown Prince Yurik."

"Are you not thinking that Crown Prince might target you?"

"He won't try to kill me outright. It would look suspicious in many ways. We should also maintain a certain noble decorum."

In response to Arenheit's nonchalant attitude, Arndt, with his mouth tightly closed, adjusted the silver-embroidered cloak and stepped back.

All nobles entering the royal palace were not allowed to bring personal forces.

That was only natural. The royal palace was where members of the royal family resided. Who would dare lead forces into a place where noble bloodlines dwelled?

In the previous iteration, Leandros and Russel frequently entered and exited the royal palace, but Russel had been directly invited by the Crown Prince,

And Leandros... as Yurik's eternal attachment object, he was probably just overlooked.

Such a biased bastard.

"Be thankful that at least Verde is coming along. Originally, no one other than the invited person, me, could go."

"I just hope that rascally physician doesn't cause trouble due to his unfamiliarity with royal etiquette."

"Excuse me? Can you hear me? I'm still listening."

In response to Arndt's sarcastic tone, Arenheit could only pat his shoulder with a bitter smile.

It seemed the remnants of the ducal residence explosion incident still lingered.

"I'll be going. If a letter comes from Leandros, check it immediately."

"Yes. Don't worry."

Arndt said reassuringly, tightly clenching both hands.

As soon as Arenheit and Verde boarded the pre-prepared carriage, the wheels began to move slowly.

Verde sat across from Arenheit and started fidgeting with the curtains covering the windows while looking around the interior.

It seemed he found such an expensive carriage fascinating.

Though Arenheit hadn't ridden in them much either, it was still intriguing.

As Verde was feeling the smoothly finished walls, he asked:

"How long do we ride like this? A few hours?"

"It won't take that long. Getting to the capital takes about half an hour."

"What? You're using such an expensive carriage for such a short distance? Is money rotting in abundance?"

"For various reasons, we can't walk. It can't be helped."

"That statement sounded really noble. Be careful."

"What did I do?"

There was a time when he too had eaten 1,700 won promotional special discount cheeseburgers for three days straight to save on food expenses.

But now, even though he was possessing someone else's body, he was still a duke, so it couldn't be helped.

After watching Verde exploring the carriage for a while, Arenheit spoke up:

"Verde. I'm bored."

"What? I'm not bored at all. Can't you see I'm exploring here?"

"I'm bored. Since we have time, let's do a role-play."

"...What? I must have misheard."

Verde's face began to darken rapidly.

It was the most unpleasant and uncomfortable expression Arenheit had seen so far.

"I said, let's do a role-play. At the royal palace, in front of Crown Prince Yurik, you and I each take on a role and act it out. Wouldn't that be fun? If we work out the settings until we reach the castle, time will pass quickly. It's perfect for killing time."

"No, I'm not doing that!"

"You don't need to be modest. I heard from Amelia. Wasn't it your hobby? They say you act so well you could join the Royal Theatre Troupe."

"Has Your Grace finally gone mad? What on earth did that woman say!"

Wow, that grinning smile wouldn't leave his face.

Verde tried his best to protest, but in the end, he lost to Arenheit.

Haha.

* * *

Yurik was in a particularly good mood today.

The date for the palace visit, which he had wrested after squeezing Duke Hartmann, had arrived today.

Though he didn't particularly like the Duke himself, he was extremely pleased when he thought about what would happen because of the Duke.

Thanks to this, Yurik had completed his perfect attire since early morning.

The black formal attire, like mourning clothes, with gold twisted decorative cords and buttons, and sparkling shoulder decorations, matched elegantly, while a blood-red cloak was draped over his other shoulder, reaching down to his feet.

Soft, thin black gloves wrapped perfectly, hiding his pale hands.

Even after that, he contemplated for a moment, and only after tying his hair neatly did he complete his thorough preparations.

"Your Highness, Arenheit Hartmann, Duke of Hartmann, has requested an audience."

"He's finally here. Guide him to the audience chamber promptly."

The last time he saw him, he was trying hard to look quite ill, so Yurik had pretended not to notice.

How would he come today?

Yurik headed to the audience chamber at a leisurely pace, wearing a rare mischievous smile.

Today, he had decided not to overlook it even if the Duke pretended to be ill.

Upon arriving at the audience chamber after passing through maze-like complex paths, the waiting attendant bowed his head and announced the arrival of His Highness the Crown Prince.

Today, he would definitely dissect him bone by bone and swallow him in one bite.

With such a mindset, he flung open the large, ornate door and entered, and the waiting person hurriedly stood up.

It was the sickly and unpleasant-looking Arenheit Hartmann, Duke, who always looked the same.

Yurik, with a benevolent expression, gestured for him to sit, and sat down opposite Arenheit and his new servant, who seemed to have green hair, and was just about to open his mouth.

"Duke Hartmann, has your ailing body improved?"

"I behold His Highness Crown Prince Yurik den Menadia, the small sun of the kingdom. Thanks to your concern, I have improved greatly."

"That's good. How I cherish the Duke. You must have received the medicine sent from the royal family? I would be delighted if it was of help."

"Of course, Your Highness."

Arenheit seemed somehow particularly compliant today.

Was he not going to engage in unnecessary power struggles like before?

Yurik, feeling a strange satisfaction in this minor detail, reached for the teacup brought by the attendant.

Arenheit continued speaking.

"With boundless grace like the ocean, I was able to make the long journey from the ducal residence to the capital BLEEEEEURGH!"

"What the hell!"

"AAAAARGH! Your Grace! Your Grace! Come to your senses! Your Grace!"

Yurik inadvertently cursed as Arenheit, who had been speaking normally, suddenly vomited a basin of blood and collapsed.

Why? All of a sudden? Could there be poison in the tea?

Yurik looked at the attendant, but even the attendant who tasted all the food was panicking and desperately shaking his head.

Arenheit, with trembling hands, showed them to Yurik and the attendant who had lost their words with open mouths.

"I... I apologize... for being rude... Actually, my body is still... not fully recovered... Sometimes I vomit blood like this BLEEEUURGH, UWEEEEGH!"

"Your Graaaaace!"

"Stop, stop speaking..."

Yurik had unconsciously half-risen.

The amount of blood soaking the golden table genuinely astounded Yurik for the first time in a long while.

Could a person survive after vomiting so much blood? Is this guy perhaps not human?

While Yurik was having rational doubts in his irrational state, Arenheit, who by now had blood soaking up to his chin, managed to smile with his thin, gaunt face.

"I am fine... I am fine... The return of the territory... for the sake of the family..."

With those words, Arenheit collapsed to the side.

Only silence filled the room.

Yurik inadvertently looked at the green-haired servant.

The Duke's servant checked the Duke's pulse with trembling hands, then turned to look at Yurik with a pale face.

This reaction, could it be.

"...Could he be dead?"

The Duke's servant tightly closed his eyes.

Yurik, half-dazed, stared at the pool of blood that had formed on the table.

No matter what had happened, he felt like he had been played by the Duke's scheme.