Free Web NovelWas there anything more delightful than stealing a glimpse of someone beautiful?
Peruan stopped in his tracks, wondering if he might be a pervert. Before stepping into the place where the servant had guided him, Peruan held his breath and gestured for the servant to be quiet.
Fine blond hair tangled like threads, lashes lifted delicately, eyes and lips that seemed damp. And a small smile, as though relieved...
Ren was more beautiful than a boy statue carved by the great sculptor Elgiroterento.
Truly, meeting Ren in that place had been a great stroke of fortune for Peruan.
He wanted to watch Ren like this for a long, long time. As Peruan stood still and looked at him, Ren suddenly turned his head, as if he had felt his gaze.
His eyes slowly widened. His body shot up, and he came running toward Peruan.
“Peruan!”
His mouth opened as if delighted, and his arms spread as though he were about to throw himself into an embrace.
Imagining a wedding ceremony, Peruan flung his arms wide. Imagining the warmth that would fit perfectly in his arms.
Ren, who had been running toward him so eagerly, seemed to come to his senses and faltered to a stop.
“Ren? Why are you not nestling perfectly into my arms?”
At that wistful, damp voice, that dreamy, dazed tone, Ren’s expression changed at once. With a sour look, Ren backed away.
Behind Ren, Hugh approached. Seeing his troubled smile, Peruan came to his senses and swept back his hair.
“Ah, Sir. Was I hideous just now?”
“...You looked passionate.”
“Tom, was I hideous?”
“Yes, young master. I thought you were some kind of perver—mmph.”
Peruan swiftly covered Tom’s mouth, then released him.
“Forget that and come here. The pastries are good.”
Ahem, ahem. Ren cleared his throat for no reason and grabbed Peruan by the collar. With a face full of happiness, Peruan gladly let Ren drag him along. For the sake of their conversation, Hugh and Tom remained at a distance from their table.
“I didn’t think I’d meet you here!”
“I intended to surprise you. It did not quite work out.”
Peruan narrowed his eyes.
“Well, I saw you, so that’s fine. Um. Have you been well?”
Ren awkwardly asked after him. At Ren’s question, Peruan’s gaze grew deep.
“I could not sleep properly for worry over you, Ren.”
“That’s so cheesy.”
But Ren was smiling. He had already grown used to Peruan’s attitude. He did make a disgusted face, but in the end, he smiled.
That smile sent a sharp ache through Peruan’s chest. Through his father, he knew what Ren had been going through at the royal castle. He had been worried the entire time, and only now, seeing him like this, did his heart finally settle. He had so many things to ask, so much advice still to give him, about how he had been living.
But now that Ren was in front of him, Peruan was simply happy, so he decided to bring out the words he had prepared slowly.
“Ren, take this.”
“What is it?”
Peruan smiled and rummaged through his bag. What he took out was a small box. When Ren opened the lid, a bracelet revealed itself. It was a gold bracelet with pendants shaped like a bird and leaves.
“It’s pretty.”
Ren’s eyes sparkled. Saying that it was not very expensive because it had no jewels, Peruan quickly fastened the bracelet around Ren’s glitter-dazed wrist. His hands were practiced enough that it did not seem like he had done it only once or twice before.
“Has something happened?”
“Why?”
“You seem different from usual. If it were you, Ren, I would have to plead before you accepted a gift.”
“...”
“Ren! Why are you crying...”
Thud.
Peruan hurried to his feet. The chair he had been sitting on fell backward. Peruan bent at the waist and took Ren’s face in his hands. His soft hand stroked Ren’s cheek. Looking at him this way, it seemed Ren had already cried earlier. It was probably not because he was grieving Duke Gannion’s death.
“Ren, I have been a fool. To be so drunk on your appearance that I failed to notice your sorrow.”
Peruan reproached himself deeply.
“You really say the funniest things, Peruan. You’re so cheesy it’s killing me.”
Tears clung to Ren’s mumbling voice. Peruan’s brows drooped. His round eyes filled with worry and sorrow. Looking at the emotion rising in those jewel-bright beautiful eyes, Ren felt his stiffened heart loosen.
“Tell me, Ren. Who is tormenting you?”
Who made you so lonely and hurt that you wanted comfort from a gift like this?
Ren’s lips parted slightly. freēwebnovel.com
“Could it be me?”
A calm, beautiful voice rang through the garden.
“Giselle...? Why are you here?”
Giselle? The King’s Hero? Was that the man who had made things difficult for Ren?
Peruan stroked Ren’s cheek once more, then straightened from where he had bent down.
Giselle, Coco, and Kirky were entering the garden.
Coco looked unwilling, and Kirky wore his usual smiling face. Giselle’s face showed no expression at all.
Peruan stepped forward and greeted the King’s Hero, the ducal lady, and the priest with the proper courtesy owed to each.
“Did the King’s Hero torment a young boy?”
Peruan asked with a sly smile. But his eyes were sharp enough to dissect the man. Giselle met that gaze and answered.
“Sometimes one must play the villain.”
“Let’s sit and talk.”
At Coco’s jerk of the chin, servants carried over a much larger table. Soon after, maids arrived with trays and laid out all kinds of fruit, tea, pastries, and cakes beautifully.
Coco, Ren, Peruan, Giselle, and Kirky sat around the long oval table.
“Oh! This is my favorite snack! Ren, try this. It is terribly delicious.”
Kirky broke the quiet atmosphere and ate a snack. He even put one into Ren’s mouth. Peruan’s eyes narrowed.
“I can eat by myself!”
“Hehe. Of course I know. But sometimes, when someone else takes care of you, it tastes even better.”
Kirky only pretended to listen to Ren and popped another pastry into his mouth. Somehow, he was excellent at finding bite-sized pastries, and every time Ren opened his mouth to speak, another one slipped right in. In the end, Ren had no choice but to chew the pastries filling his mouth, his cheeks puffed out like a squirrel’s. Sweetness and saltiness burst one after another in his mouth, and his sharp mood settled.
With Kirky wedging himself into the serious situation, the atmosphere softened considerably.
“So. What matter could make the King’s Hero volunteer to play the villain? Enough to come all the way to a funeral.”
If Giselle had not been there earlier, Coco would likely have lost her reason and fought Lady Kelberg disgracefully. But if Giselle had not come and stolen her time with one comment after another, that would never have happened in the first place.
“I came to mourn.”
“The royal palace would never send the King’s Hero for such a simple reason. Besides, don’t you manipulate the king?”
“She is a young ducal lady, so let it pass, Star. When we pray to the Lord, young priests sometimes say such things as well, but no one grows angry.”
“Kirky!”
Coco glared at Kirky. Kirky flinched at her gaze, but shook his head. It meant she should not step in.
“You seem close to the ducal lady.”
“She saved me from a very terrifying person, so she is no different from my lifesaver!”
Kirky shouted proudly. If the high priest heard it, he would clutch the back of his neck and collapse. Even Coco could not help letting out a laugh for a moment. Kirky winked the entire time, and of course Giselle, who had eyes, could clearly see Kirky’s winking too.
“I hate beating around the bush most of all. So if you have a request to make of me, just say it.”
Coco spoke sharply. Though she glared at Giselle throughout, she checked on Ren from time to time.
‘This makes me uneasy.’
Before the funeral began, Giselle had asked Coco several things, and one of them had been about the funeral rites. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
At the funeral of a great noble, a high-ranking priest participated. Sometimes they stayed only for the first day, while sometimes they stayed for both the first day and the final day when the coffin was buried. This procedure was not decided by the individual, but by the priest.
After confirming the life of the deceased and assigning the appropriate prayer, the number of days they stayed was decided according to the content of that prayer. However, that was only the method used by those with low divine power. High-ranking priests with divine power above a certain level chose the prayer and bestowed the blessing on the spot when the funeral was held.
‘He already knows Kirky, so why ask that?’
Was he trying to take Kirky somewhere? Why?
Giselle had even told her to take good care of Ren.
Her mouth went dry with tension. As Coco lifted her teacup and took a sip, Giselle finally opened his mouth.
Sharp gazes flew toward him.
“There is a matter that requires the high priest’s foremost disciple.”
His tone was exactly the same as it had been at the start. Giselle slipped a hand into his chest and took out a folded paper.
It was a sealed letter, stained with blood.
“Good news tends to come together with bad news. We won a great victory, but the King’s Sword was gravely injured.”
Crash!
Ren dropped his teacup and went white.
