0&1 Ch 5.2

Of course, the afternoon commotion reached the Queen’s ears too. Even after being thoroughly examined by a doctor and declared perfectly fine, I was held by Her Majesty for quite a while.

“Prince, your mother knows nothing about horseback riding. I would like you to explain it to me. Why did the horse run away on its own and put the prince in danger when there was a knight, who is supposed to be a hero, by his side? Can you answer me?“ The Queen asked softly, holding me in her arms, stroking my head and back.

I defended Sir Baumkuchen as best I could.

I said horseback riding is a practical skill, and Sir Baumkuchen can’t always hold the reins, but anyway, I wasn’t hurt, so it’s okay.

“Oh my, I see.” The Queen smiled sweetly and then said she’d be observing tomorrow’s class.

I’m doomed.

Late that night, I ended up calling for Dot.

“Dot. Sorry, but can you run an errand for me?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Anything!”
“Tell Sir Baumkuchen that the Queen will be observing tomorrow’s lesson. Tell him to say that we’ve been practicing together all along.”

“… What?” Dot was appalled. “But it was his fault that you had an accident!”

“By that logic, it’s my fault for wanting to learn horseback riding and getting him punished.”

“No, that’s not true! It’s completely different! The Prince isn’t at fault at all! It’s all that man’s fault!” Dot was indignant.

“Alright. Thank you. Anyway, that’s the message. Will you go tell Baumkuchen?”

There was no one else I could trust to deliver the message.

“Yes. If it’s Your Highness’s command.” Dot frowned.

“But Dot… didn’t Sir Baumkuchen have a son? About my age?”
“What? As far as I know, he doesn’t have any children.”
“Oh… right. Is he married?”
“Yes. He’s famous for a love marriage. That’s probably why they haven’t talked about divorce even though they don’t have children.”

The word adoption popped into my head.

Usually, nobles adopt from among their relatives, but that eccentric man might have done something unexpected.

Dot returned from his errand.

“He didn’t even say thank you!” Dot huffed.

“Will he attend the lesson tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. He just heard the message and turned around with a ‘hmm’ and left!”
“I see. Good job.”

I’d done what I could.

The next day, I didn’t invite Edward to lunch. We agreed to stay apart for a while.

“I think we should have some time alone.”
“Okay.”

Avoiding the Queen’s attention wasn’t easy. We didn’t know where she might be watching from.

Grey, who had been eavesdropping on our conversation, teased us. “It sounds like you two are having a secret love affair.”

Grey disapproved of our newly formed friendship. It seemed like he couldn’t understand Edward.

To Edward, I was the son of a villain, someone he shouldn’t associate with.

By this point, I had given up on becoming friends with Grey.

There is a saying that you can’t spit on someone’s smiling face, and Grey seemed like the type of person who could do just that.

I don’t think he originally disliked Joffrey. But it felt like he started really hating Joffrey once I began getting close to Edward.

If you don’t like me taking care of Edward, then you take care of him.

You’re free to come and go as you please, so you could at least tell Edward’s mother how he’s doing. If you don’t mind, you could even pass on a letter.

But Grey never did any of that.

When I casually asked him, he just replied, “Are you serious?”

I was serious, but Grey looked at me as if to say, “If you’re serious, you’re an idiot.” I had no choice but to back out and say I was joking.

“What do you need time for?” Grey asked.

For some reason, I had a feeling that if I told him about my conversation with Edward yesterday, I would get scolded. Should I just not say anything? But Edward, like a kid reporting his day to a parent, told Grey everything.

“Horseback riding?” Grey’s expression stayed calm. “A servant?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“What a strange coincidence, isn’t it? It happened at just the right time.”

I laughed.

Grey didn’t even smile.

“It’s really strange. It’s almost impossible for such a coincidence to happen.”

I felt like my head was going to drop to the ground.

“What were Your Highnesses thinking…!” Grey stopped himself from shouting and closed his mouth. Then he nodded, closed his eyes, and let out a sigh. He looked like he was boiling with rage.

I was nervous.

After a long pause, Grey spoke with a perfectly neutral expression.

“… Well, I suppose that’s your right.”

Now I was scared.

“Grey?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You weren’t going to scold us?”
“How could I dare? I’m sure you all had your reasons. You are wise men.”

Grey looked at Edward. Edward’s face was even more blank than usual. He seemed to be thinking of nothing.

Grey’s sarcasm was impressive, I had to admit.

“That’s scary, why don’t you just get angry?”
“If my attitude was disrespectful…”
“Yes. So continue what you were saying earlier.”

Grey sighed. “We study history to learn about the future. History repeats itself because people don’t change.”

“So?”
“It means exactly what it says. People don’t change. If something didn’t happen in the past, there’s a reason why it didn’t happen.“

I thought he was trying to play a game of riddles with me, but Edward answered instead.

“Don’t assume I don’t know what you know.”
“I won’t.”

Grey tucked his history books under his arm and said goodbye to us.

“I’m going to go ahead. Enjoy your lunch.”

Grey strode down the hallway after leaving the classroom. 

“Don’t assume I don’t know what you know”

Why would someone who knows so much say something like that?

Before Grey entered the palace as the Princes’ companion, his father had advised him: “Don’t try to understand the royal family. Don’t think of them as people like you.”

He should have listened! Why didn’t he heed his father’s advice? There’s no harm in listening to adults!

“Are you mad?”

“No!” Grey answered reflexively and turned around. Edward was standing behind him.“Why are you here? What about your heartfelt farewell?”

“There’s no need for that,” Edward replied. Grey’s insides were boiling, but he couldn’t show it here.

Once he confirmed the hall was empty, Grey led Edward into a vacant room. Edward followed blankly.

“What about the servant who saw the two of you together?” Grey asked in a low voice.

“Ah… it’s fine. Joffrey threatened him.”
“… What?”
“Joffrey took care of it. That servant won’t report anything to the Queen.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“That’s exactly what I said. There won’t be any problems with this. I told the servant that reporting it would not be good for him.”

Grey frowned.

“You think the servant would fall for that?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m still not convinced.”
“Really?”

Edward tilted his head and leaned closer to Grey.

Grey held his breath. The doll-like face was right in front of him. He had seen it every day, but it was not a face he had grown accustomed to. 

My heart is beating fast…

He couldn’t mean that he had persuaded him with his face. Grey frowned, trying to control his excitement. It was easy to control his emotions because Edward’s expression was as cold as a doll’s.

Edward whispered, “See? Joffrey is hurt. You did that.”

His voice was joyful. Even though his expression didn’t change, Grey could tell that Edward was happy. 

Grey turned pale and looked at Edward.

Edward, looking blank, added: “That’s what I said. If that servant had a head on his shoulders, he would have thought about it. What would I say to the Queen if she called me because of him?”

“… Oh. That’s what you told the servant.” Grey finally reacted.

“Yes.”
“It should be fine.”
“Yes.”

Servants were quick-witted and skilled at protecting themselves. From the servant’s point of view, it was okay to report that Edward and Joffrey were together.

The Queen would reward him.

However, if the Queen heard that Joffrey had been injured while chasing the servant who had witnessed the incident, it would be problematic.

Edward had threatened the servant: if you report this, I won’t stay quiet.

If it was to their advantage not to report it, the servant would keep his mouth shut.