DGMYF 12

Hayward wagged his index finger from side to side and stepped back. Then he once again gulped down the liquid in the leather pouch.

“Don’t covet it. He’s probably made something weird again.”

Kaiso, who knew very well that all sorts of suspicious things were born in Hayward’s laboratory, stopped Troy.

*

Kaiso went up to the hotel room for a moment to wash off the saltiness of the seawater, then changed into light clothes. It was because the Bysar sun was hotter than he had expected.

“Are you really going to wear this outfit?”

Troy said, pouting his lips as if he didn’t approve. At the unexpected reaction, Kaiso awkwardly fidgeted with his collar.

“Why, is it not good?”

He was wearing a white poet shirt that exposed his chest and high-waisted black trousers. It was an outfit he used to wear, so it was a little loose, but he had been thinking that it didn’t look bad.

“If you go out dressed like that, I might fall for the Duke once every three seconds.”

“Who says so?”

“I do!”

Troy raised one hand high above his head with his answer. Seeing that, a playful urge came over him. Kaiso raised his fingers and began to count.

“One second… two seconds… three seconds.”

“Ugh.”

As soon as the counting was over, Troy clutched his chest and pretended to be in pain. Then, with sparkling eyes, he stared intently at Kaiso. He had an expression exactly like someone who had fallen in love at first sight. Kaiso laughed out loud at his exaggerated acting.

“You could become an actor when you grow up. Why are you so good at acting?”

“Because it’s not acting! I am always sincere.”

Troy answered with a bright smile. Kaiso was newly reminded of the fact that he was quite handsome. The friendly smiling eyes, the straight bridge of his nose, and the corners of his mouth etched with kindness were pleasant to look at. In contrast to his soft impression, his facial lines were manly and thick, and his jawline was sharp. Troy was a handsome man whom anyone would find likable.

The slightly burdensome, sparkling eyes and the soft voice were also nice. He had so much talent that he could debut on a theater stage right away. Troy would do well in anything, and would be loved wherever he went. He would probably date to his heart’s content as well. With those eyes from a moment ago, he would look at someone else and confess his love.

An emotion that was hard to describe bloomed in Kaiso’s chest.

‘What am I thinking right now. About a child.’

Kaiso hurriedly shook his head to shake off the useless thoughts. He deliberately averted his gaze far from Troy and opened his mouth.

“I’m grateful for all the nice things you do for me, but.”

Troy, who had been organizing the luggage, stopped and turned around.

“Do those things when you get a lover later.”

“But the Duke is my lover?”

Troy knelt in front of Kaiso and massaged his calves. Feeling good from the gentle touch, Kaiso playfully gave him a flick on the head.

“Who decided that I’m your lover?”

“The Duke saved me. So you have to take responsibility for me.”

Unlike Kaiso, Troy was not joking. Startled for a moment by his serious gaze, Kaiso mumbled in a small voice.

“Even if you say that, I don’t even remember.”

“It doesn’t matter because I remember.”

It was a resolute tone. Troy didn’t seem to have any intention of making an issue of the memory any further, and continued to organize the rest of the luggage. In fact, Kaiso didn’t dislike Troy’s headstrong displays of affection.

He was lonely and sad. But Troy had pushed his way into his desolate heart and was nonchalantly blowing soap bubbles. Rainbow-colored soap bubbles in a world full of gray rocks. It was so incongruous. Still, every time a soap bubble popped, Kaiso could forget his bad thoughts for a moment.

But that was all. He was too old to accept the thoughtless puppy love of a child so much younger than him.

‘He’ll get over it.’

Yes, he would get over it. For now, he might be rushing in recklessly out of youthful ignorance, but once he gets a hint of the terrible secret Kaiso held, he would run away faster than anyone else.

‘Let’s keep a moderate distance from now on.’

Since he was a guy who would leave soon anyway, giving him his heart would only be a loss for Kaiso himself. It would probably be a few months at most, or a few weeks at the shortest. Troy’s fiery first love would soon end, and he would leave these days behind as a good memory, or perhaps as an embarrassing one.

“And if you see me every day, you will surely remember someday.”

“Well, if there had only been one or two people like you.”

Kaiso replied indifferently. A slight disappointment appeared on Troy’s face, but it was the truth.

Many people regarded the day Kaiso saved them from monsters as a miracle and replayed it in their minds every day, but for Kaiso, it was just one of many days. The people he saved during the war had to be counted not in individuals, but in villages, and furthermore, the entire continent should rightfully consider Kaiso Windermere their benefactor. Therefore, it was impossible for him to remember every single person he had saved, and he didn’t remember anything about Troy either.

“But I must have been the prettiest among them? And I’m also very cute. So there’s no way you don’t remember.”

He was dumbfounded. What kind of environment does one grow up in to have such ridiculous confidence? Troy acted as if there had never been a single person in his life who disliked him, as if he had never been rejected. Indeed, with his handsome looks, everyone he met would have expressed their liking, and Troy, with his characteristic brightness, would have gladly responded to that interest. So perhaps it was natural for him to have such confidence. But Kaiso was different from those obvious people.

“What part of you is pretty?”

“…Am I not pretty? Am I not cute? That can’t be. Please look at my face more closely.”

Suddenly, Troy thrust his face right in front of Kaiso’s nose. Their eyes met, his bright blue ones. It was too close.

Kaiso leaned his body back as far as he could. After pushing Troy’s shoulder hard, he rolled his wheelchair to the window. The sunlight of Bysar was so hot that his face was all flushed.

“Yeah. Not at all.”

Although his bright blue eyes did sparkle just like the sea. Although his drooping eyes and gentle mouth did look just like an affectionate puppy…. Kaiso shook his head to come to his senses. Troy was absolutely not pretty nor cute. Such descriptions did not suit a twenty-year-old young man with a build as large as a mountain in the slightest.

“Oh, that can’t be.”

Troy’s shoulders slumped downwards. His eyebrows also drooped, and the corners of his mouth went down powerlessly. If he had a tail, it would surely have drooped downwards as well. He looked just like a baby puppy caught in the rain, but Kaiso ignored him.

As soon as the entire party returned, they prepared to leave Bysar without delay. The atmosphere was boisterous, as if everyone had had a very enjoyable time. There were people whose skin was already tanned by the sun in less than half a day, and people holding several bundles, having bought so much.

Among them, the most excited person was Troy, who grabbed everyone he saw and boasted endlessly that he had been on a date with Kaiso. It might have been annoying amidst the busyness, but not only the escort knights but also the maids happily listened to Troy’s thoughtless boasting.

“We’re camping tonight, right?”

“Yes.”

The distance from Bysar to the capital, Luxan, was ambiguous, so they had to camp for one night no matter what. Hayward wrinkled his nose, as if he was very dissatisfied with that.

“What if monsters show up?”

“This isn’t the middle of a mountain, why would monsters show up? Even if they do, we have the escort, so there’s no need to worry.”

The escort maintained by the House of Windermere boasted a skill and scale that were considered second only to the Royal Knights.

“Well, I’m not so sure I trust an escort that couldn’t even catch a forest dragon.”

Hayward grumbled, still looking displeased. Kaiso fell silent for a moment at the painful memory.

Although they were the Windermere escort, second to none on the continent, they had suffered immense damage and had to retreat after storming the forest dragon’s castle to rescue Lady Ingrid. The escort had not yet fully recovered from that wound.

The escort captain, Rachel Morgan, lost her right arm, which is as good as a knight’s life. Knight Lyle Evans developed mutism from the shock of that time. The knights who suffered major and minor injuries or who died were too numerous to list one by one.

Kaiso tried to have all the surviving knights retire with the best treatment, but they chose to remain in the escort until the end. They had united under the single-minded determination to protect Duke Windermere, even if they couldn’t save Lady Windermere.

Hayward, while knowing all these detailed circumstances, poked at Kaiso’s sore spot. But such unempathetic remarks from Hayward were not a one- or two-day affair. Kaiso shot him an indifferent look and replied.

“This isn’t a dragon’s habitat, so rest assured. At most, some trivial monsters might appear.”

Inside the running carriage, Kaiso quietly closed his eyes. Amidst the loud clatter of the carriage wheels and the sound of horse hooves, the sound of Hayward turning the pages of a book next to him cut in. Using that sound as a lullaby, Kaiso fell asleep for a while.

When he slightly opened his eyes, the sun was already setting. The party seemed to have already arrived at the campsite. While the servants were setting up tents and lighting fires, the escort was forming groups to patrol the surroundings.

“Are you awake?”

Troy, who had been hammering a stake into the ground, ran over to Kaiso. How did he know he was awake when he hadn’t made any sound?

“I can even hear the sound of the Duke blinking.”

Troy spoke first, having noticed Kaiso’s puzzled look. As he was being held in Troy’s arms and seated in his wheelchair, Kaiso muttered quietly.

“That would be a little scary if it were true.”

“Come on, just that?”

Troy knelt in front of the wheelchair and met his eyes. Looking at those shamelessly sparkling eyes, Kaiso felt something ominous.

“What else is there?”

“It’s a secret. What if you avoid me after I tell you everything?”

Kaiso reversed his wheelchair slightly.

“I’m already feeling like I want to avoid you.”

“Hehe, it’s already too late. I’m going to be by your side until I die.”

Troy stood up from his spot, took hold of the wheelchair, and slowly pushed it toward the campfire.

“I told you. I’m going to kick you out when you present.”

“I’m not going to present, so it doesn’t matter.”

“I’m telling you, it’s not something you can control, you know?”

Kaiso, feeling frustrated, briefly explained to Troy about trait presentation. Every human undergoes trait presentation in their mid to late teens and is determined to be an alpha, omega, or beta. He added that he himself presented at the age of eighteen, so Troy, being twenty, was a bit on the late side.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Fortunately, Troy nodded his head. It seemed he finally understood a little.

“Yes! Then I won’t be presenting.”

“…Let’s just not talk about it.”

It felt like he was harder to communicate with than a raccoon from the back mountain. Kaiso pressed his throbbing head.

At Kaiso’s appearance, the maids gathered in front of the campfire all bowed in greeting. As he was blankly staring at the campfire while drinking the warm tea a maid had brought, Troy abruptly held something out in front of his eyes. It was a sausage skewer dripping with grease. The sausage, sizzled over the campfire and split open in the middle, looked very appetizing.

“Duke, quickly. It’s delicious when you eat it right now.”

“I’m not eating.”

Kaiso replied without even looking at the sausage.

“Yes, here you go.”

However, Troy lightly ignored Kaiso’s reply and forcibly placed the skewer in his hand.

“I said I’m not eating…!”

“Oh oh, the grease is dripping!”

As Troy gestured and made a fuss, Kaiso, without realizing it, hurriedly put the dripping sausage in his mouth. He put it in his mouth reflexively, but he still didn’t want to eat it. But he couldn’t spit it out either. In the end, Kaiso reluctantly chewed the sausage.

‘Oh.’

With every chew, the plump meat burst open, and greasy juices flowed out. It didn’t have its characteristic smell, and it was a very excellent sausage, full of savory and delicious flavor. Without realizing it, Kaiso chewed it thoroughly and swallowed it down.

“It’s delicious, isn’t it?”

Although he didn’t reply, Kaiso finished the entire skewer in an instant. Perhaps feeling good about the clearer expression of intent than words, Troy distributed a skewer of well-grilled sausage to each of the working servants, and also packed them like a lunchbox for the escort team leaving on patrol.

“Oh my, thank you.”

“Anyway, Mr. Elliot is the only one who takes care of us.”

“I know, right? Where else in the world would you find an aide who packs snacks for the kitchen maids?”

The maids gathered on one side of the campfire, eating sausages and chattering. Everyone liked Troy. Even the grumpy kitchen maid, Coleman, relaxed her brow in front of Troy. Troy, who was like sunshine, was completely different from Kaiso, who always made his surroundings tense.

Troy seemed very accustomed to giving and receiving love. He was kind to everyone, and everyone liked him. He thought that perhaps, in his eyes, the whole world was only beautiful. He didn’t dislike that about him. When the helplessly cheerful Troy was by his side, his mind would become at ease, as if he had come to a different world.

Only after giving everyone a sausage did Troy take a bite himself.

“Wow, I thought I was going to die of hunger.”

Troy hurriedly brought the rest of the sausage to his mouth. Seeing the pile of skewers disappear in an instant, he must have been quite hungry.

“Then you should have eaten first.”

“It’s more delicious when we share and eat.”

The maids, energized by Troy’s sausage sharing, quickly finished preparing dinner. They boiled a pot of chicken stew with carrots and potatoes, and cut a large whole wheat bread dotted with pickled figs into appropriate sizes and distributed it into wooden bowls. With good quality lamb barbecue grilled over a large fire, it was a lavish spread that would not be outdone by any party.

The group gathered in a circle around the campfire and shared the food. Kaiso also got excited along with them at the boisterous meal after a long time. Usually, it was all about pecking at cold food in his dim study.

Troy sat right next to him and began to eat an amount three times larger than others. Watching him eat heartily with his cheeks full of food, Kaiso’s appetite was also stimulated, and he ended up cleaning out a whole bowl.

Throughout the meal, Troy carefully watched to see if Kaiso was eating well, and as soon as he put down his fork, he stood up. Then he returned with a cup of warm tea and a plate of tart.

“It’s a wild berry tart. Evans, who went out on patrol, picked wild berries and gave them to me.”

“Why are you even having dessert when you’re camping?”

“Duke, dessert eaten at a campsite is the most delicious.”

It was the first time in his life he had heard Troy’s assertion, but his attitude was so confident that Kaiso unknowingly nodded his head. Not missing that chance, Troy succeeded in placing the tart plate on Kaiso’s lap.

The wild berry tart, spread with vanilla cream, had a faint rose scent. Kaiso enjoyed the crispy texture of the tart, chewing as slowly as possible.

“Where did you learn something like this?”

The raspberry jam lightly spread on the tart crust was sweet, and the layers of unknown berries burst in his mouth. Even Kaiso, who was born a noble and had lived a noble life, had never had such a delicious tart.

“There was a chef who used to work in the royal palace living in my neighborhood. I went to his house every day and learned over his shoulder while helping with this and that.”

“A royal chef lived there? Didn’t you say your hometown was a mountain village?”

It was a hard-to-believe story that a royal chef would be living in a dangerous northern mountain area.

“Yes, my hometown is a place where retired people gathered to live quietly. There were all sorts of people.”

“What a peculiar village. If it’s in the mountains, there must be a lot of monsters, so to go to such trouble.”

“Mountains are originally like that. Lots of monsters, lots of wild animals, lots of raccoons…. But everyone adapted and lived. As long as you don’t go out of the village, there’s no particular danger.”

Troy shrugged his shoulders once and looked around. It seemed like he was looking for someone.

“Why?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Just a moment.”

Troy stood up and disappeared somewhere. Left alone, Kaiso, who had cleaned his plate, looked for the escort captain, Morgan.

“How are the surroundings?”

“It is safe. We have not seen any monsters or suspicious signs.”

Following that, Morgan reported without fail on the escort’s positions and shift rotations. Kaiso told Morgan not to overdo it.

As they were in the middle of their conversation, Hayward sauntered over from behind them and plopped down in the seat next to Kaiso.

“Did you sleep well last night?”

“You’re asking rather late.”

The sun had already completely set, and it was time to go to bed again.

“Because I thought the answer would be obvious anyway.”

“No, I slept well.”

Unlike usual, last night he didn’t have any nightmares and slept peacefully in bed. There was no anxiety that the ceiling would collapse, and the fear that the bed was eating him did not come. He just fell asleep to the sound of Troy calling, “Duke, Duke,” as a lullaby.

“Do you get along well with your roommate?”

Hayward covered his mouth and added with a sly smile.

“There was only one bed in that room.”

“There were two.”

“Oho, the reason for deliberately making two into one is?”

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, go away.”

“Alright, I won’t. I was just thinking of having a drink with the Duke after a long time.”

Hayward waved his hand at a maid and got two glasses of beer and some snacks. The two men lightly clinked their glasses and then gulped down the alcohol. Hayward, while peeling nutshells, mumbled as if it were a pity.

“Ah, beer is just not satisfying…. Let’s see, where is my water of life?”

He fumbled around his waist, searching for something.

“Did you lose something?”

“I must have left it in the carriage.”

Hayward left his seat, saying he would go to the carriage for a moment. Left alone, Kaiso finished one glass of beer and filled the next one.

“Aaaaaah!”

Everyone was startled by the sudden scream. The source of the sound was from the direction of the carriage. Soon after, Hayward came running with a face full of anger, stomping his feet. He held up a leather pouch and shouted in a resentful tone.

“Who drank this? Who was it!”

“What are you talking about? Who would touch your things?”

Hayward, still with his brows furrowed, opened the lid of the leather pouch and held it upside down. A few drops of a clear liquid dripped out of the pouch, drop by drop.

“Who drank my water of life!”

The people of the duchy, including Kaiso, never touched Hayward’s things. They didn’t know what might explode when and where, and he might have done some strange experiment, so they didn’t go near it if possible.