The sound of the teacup shattering rang out ominously.

I felt sick. Who got hurt? I just hoped it was not my brother. I knew it was pathetic to think that way. But even so, I hoped it was not him.

My head spun. I felt like I was going to collapse. I could not tell whether time had slowed down or whether Giselle was deliberately dragging things out. Someone patted my shoulder, but I could not endure it and slapped the arm away.

Smack!

The arm fell back with a somewhat rough sound. When I lifted my hazy gaze, Peruan was staring at me with a worried expression. Coco had already risen from her seat and come over beside me.

“Who... got hurt?”

“Answer properly.”

Coco also pressed him sharply. Hiding her shock, she glared at Giselle.

“I cannot tell you that.”

“You cannot tell us?!”

I shot to my feet, my body slamming into the table. The table rocked under the force, tea spilling everywhere, and as I nearly toppled over from the recoil, Peruan caught me. He froze in surprise before pulling me against him.

“Let go! Why can’t you tell me? Why?!”

“Ren, please calm down!”

“It isn’t my brother, right? Tell me it isn’t! Anyone but my brother!”

I shoved Peruan away and lunged at Giselle. He did not stop me. Even when I grabbed his chest and shook him, he did not move in the slightest.

“Ren! Stop it! Let go!”

“Ren, I will find out somehow, so please release this man.”

Coco rushed over and grabbed my arm, and Peruan tried to soothe and calm me, but I could not loosen my grip.

Even to me, it was an uncontrollable reaction.

If they had sent word that a Hero was gravely injured, then it could not be an ordinary wound. Maybe he was lying somewhere barely alive, just like Verdi.

“Tell me—! Say some... thing...”

My breathing turned ragged. Like his chest was my final shred of hope, I could not loosen my hands.

The hands trying to pull me away now held me tightly instead, as though comforting me.

“We’ll step out. So please tell only Ren. This child is involved, isn’t he? He’s a Hero’s younger brother...!”

Coco’s calm voice gradually sped up as she spoke. But Giselle still said nothing.

“Please tell me who...”

Clinging to him, I begged while staring into those dry, emotionless eyes. Giselle watched me as though measuring something, then finally opened his mouth.

“Then please leave us.”

“Let’s go.”

Coco pulled Peruan away. I could feel them looking back several times, but I never took my eyes off Giselle.

Once everyone left, the strength drained from my body. The hand gripping Giselle weakened too, and I fell toward the floor.

No—I almost fell.

Giselle caught my slipping body. Wrapping an arm around me, he swept one hand across the plates on the table. Dishes slid and shattered loudly. Then he sat me on top of the table.

I had no strength in my body at all. I could not resist him, nor even ask what he thought he was doing.

Giselle braced one hand against the table as though trapping me within his arms. His long hair hung around us like curtains. All I could see was his chest and his face.

I stared at him, my lips moving soundlessly...

And suddenly, I became afraid.

Because the way Giselle looked down at me was so calm and dry.

Those eyes that carried no warmth whatsoever, those eyes that looked straight through people—I was afraid of them.

It felt like I was meeting him for the first time.

The man who pressured me in the greenhouse, the man who pretended kindness while telling me to take care of Verdi... neither of those had been Giselle’s true self.

“...”

Maybe this was the real him.

Quiet as a shadow. Dark and dry. Someone who could become anyone... someone with no warmth at all, and therefore capable of imitating any kind of warmth.

That kind of person.

“Are you curious who was injured?”

We were close enough that I could feel his breath. His hair brushed against my cheek. I could not say anything. All I could do was barely blink and hold his gaze without turning away. Giselle stroked the corners of my eyes, stretched wide enough to gather tears.

“It was probably not Temar.”

“Hhk...!”

The breath lodged in my chest burst free.

“Hah... hah...”

I could not control my breathing. Gasping frantically, I clutched at my chest. Giselle still did not move at all.

I could feel him watching me.

He was still observing me.

Was this what it meant to be the king’s strategist? A position that never intervened, only watched?

“Hah... ngh, hah...”

It hurt.

My chest burned.

Something about it felt wrong for this to simply be relief that my brother was safe.

Ah, no...

Please.

Tears dripped down.

I hate this.

I hate this.

Not in front of him.

I would rather die than this.

“Ren, are you in pain somewhere?”

I hated it. I hated it. I hated it, but—

As always, the seizure did not come when I wanted it to.

Eventually, a groan slipped from me, and I curled into myself. My legs dangled awkwardly off the table, kicking helplessly enough to make the table shake as though it might overturn.

It hurts, it hurts.

Pain like my heart was being wrung apart, like tiny needles were slicing through my entire body...

Pain like my soul was being stolen away.

No matter °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° how many times I endured it, I could never grow used to the agony hammering through my whole body.

I wanted to scream, but this was not the shack.

I could not just cry out as loudly as I wanted.

It’ll be okay. It’ll be okay. Like always, this pain will pass.

But it will come back again.

Was this really okay?

Shouldn’t I leave before it got worse?

Wouldn’t it be better to disappear without telling anyone anything? To run away like this?

But, but...

I miss my brother.

I wanted him to never go to war again. I wanted to see him quit being a Hero and return to ordinary life. I wanted certainty before I left.

Should I ask the king? Ragniel, that gentle-looking king. Maybe he would help.

No. No, he would never quit before finding the treasure from the oracle. Then what should I do?

No—

What could I even do?

Me, who could only writhe in pain like this.

Even the air touching my skin hurt, and even my tears felt like they were crushing my flesh.

The pain growing worse and the seizures coming more often—

I could no longer ignore it.

Death was right in front of me.

That I had to stop avoiding it and prepare.

The next funeral might be mine.

Just like the scene I saw back then...

Ah.

My whole body felt numb, and my mind drifted blankly.

The buzzing noise slowly turned back into voices.

“What did you do... no matter if you are the king’s—!”

“...can’t leave him like this...!”

“I will take him...”

The hair tickling my forehead no longer hurt.

Someone was holding me.

Had I passed out at some point?

My breathing...

had calmed down.

“He has duties as well. He cannot remain a child forever. If the royal castle calls for him, then answering it is the duty of a citizen of the kingdom.”

The chest holding me rumbled beneath the words.

A summons from the royal castle? Duty of a citizen?

What did any of that matter?

The voices drifted far away again.

***

“Lord Giselle! You’ve arrived? The person in your arms is...”

The servant who had hurriedly come looking for Giselle spotted him and quickly bowed his head. Then he noticed the person in Giselle’s arms and asked in surprise.

A blond-haired boy rested in Giselle’s arms.

The limp body and pale complexion made it look as though he had fainted from illness somewhere. Long lashes, a soft nose, pale lips, and a slender neck... His bundled-up body could not be seen clearly, but even the fingers visible between the sleeves were white and beautiful.

Adjusting the boy in his arms, Giselle turned the boy’s head toward himself.

“Ah...”

The servant let out a disappointed sigh before flinching and covering his mouth. Giselle strode closer.

“What did you seek me for?”

Though his tone was polite and his expression gentle, the servant felt fear. Stammering, he forced a smile onto his face. Fortunately, the news he carried was something Giselle would likely be pleased to hear.

“L-Lord Verdi is improving! They say he’s slowly showing signs of recovery. Earlier, he regained consciousness for a moment.”

“What did he say?”

“I-I don’t quite remember... I’ll try to recall!”

The servant hurriedly excused himself, saying he had been too shocked by the Hero waking to hear properly, then strained to remember. Suddenly, as if it came back to him, he snapped his head up and shouted:

“‘The Hero’s miracle’! I think that’s what he muttered.”

Giselle nodded, thanked him for his work, and walked past him.

The servant’s lips twitched as though he wanted to ask about the boy in Giselle’s arms, but he eventually gave up and followed after him.

They headed toward Giselle’s room, where Verdi was being hidden.