* * *
“Kaindel, let’s have a quick chat.”
“……”
Kaindel, who had been walking hurriedly, stopped when he heard Sehir call his name.
He had just left the banquet, having stayed until it finished.
Since the coachman hired by Sehir wouldn’t leave him, he would likely still be waiting down below.
This meant Isa, who had fallen asleep in the carriage, was still there.
Though Kaindel felt somewhat guilty about not being able to go to him right away, he felt a bit more at ease knowing Isa would be waiting for him in his domain.
Even though his mind was at ease, the urgency hadn’t disappeared.
“What’s going on?”
Kaindel glanced at his pocket watch before asking.
Seeing Sehir’s serious expression as he tried to start the conversation, Kaindel decided to hear him out first.
Turning around with a calm expression, Kaindel unconsciously tapped his finger, rhythmically tapping against his elbow.
“It’s nothing major.”
Sehir glanced around, then shook his head.
His voice, lowered to avoid being overheard, cracked slightly.
“Hmm.”
“No, it’s actually something important.”
Kaindel’s eyes seemed to question why such a small thing was being brought up now, and Sehir clenched his fist.
“Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Why did you proceed without Isa? You know, when things like this are left for later, they just end up looking odd. Besides, what you told His Majesty… you knew how it would play out. That’s why you brought Isa here. But why?”
“Is it that important?”
“……We’re friends, right? Kaindel, Isa is of course your lover, but he’s also my close friend.”
“Ha, fine. You want to know why I went ahead without Isa? Because being recognized as a companion of the hero could have been done later, too. If it couldn’t be done now, we could always create another opportunity.”
“But you know it’ll look off if you do that. Especially if the rumors about Isa being your person are true. The fact that he wasn’t here today is going to be a problem.”
“So, what should I have done?”
Kaindel frowned, his patience wearing thin. He had tried to listen calmly, but couldn’t hold back any longer.
Everything Sehir was saying had been something Kaindel had already considered.
If Isa, unlike the other companions, were to gain recognition later, there would certainly be nonsense circulating.
The fact that he wasn’t here today on personal grounds would become a point of contention.
But the reason he hadn’t brought Isa along was because he couldn’t.
The reason he had proceeded without him was because they had been talking about Isa in a way that made Kaindel uncomfortable.
He hated that Isa’s name was being tossed around like that.
So, he had suggested delaying the conversation regarding Isa, and the king had agreed.
And if the gossip about Isa being a man wh*re was truly spreading, then identifying the source was the first priority.
They had to find out where the rumors started and correct the false perceptions before everyone knew his name—before he was recognized as a companion of the hero.
“Kaindel, Isa…”
“He was drugged.”
Kaindel cut Sehir off mid-sentence.
He hadn’t wanted to speak about it, but if Sehir truly cared as his close friend, it seemed okay to tell him.
And honestly, if he didn’t, Sehir might never understand the whole picture.
“Drugged?”
Sehir blinked, clearly shocked, his amber eyes filled with disbelief.
“Yes, drugged. It seems like someone gave it to him with bad intentions.”
“Then the man who wasn’t in the lounge…”
“Exactly, I saw a stranger taking Isa away. He wasn’t someone I recognized, so he wasn’t from any well-known family.”
“Why Isa, though? I mean, why would Isa take the drug? How did they make him drink it? He usually doesn’t take anything from others.”
“They probably mixed it in something like water. I don’t know for sure, but I’m certain it was a drug, not magic. There was no magical feeling when he was with the man.”
“Ha.”
If Kaindel hadn’t felt magic, then it was clear that the intoxication wasn’t caused by magic.
Sehir seemed to grasp this too, and he let out a heavy sigh.
His neatly arranged brown hair was slightly tousled by his rough hand.
Sehir checked the empty hallway again before speaking slowly, as if each word weighed heavily on him.
“Why would someone do that to Isa?”
“…Because of the rumors.”
“Rumors?”
“There’s a rumor that Isa is a man wh*re.”
“What?”
“That he’s a man wh*re, so they thought they could treat him however they wanted.”
Sehir, with a look of disbelief, asked again, and Kaindel muttered quietly, feeling the same helplessness he had felt at the banquet.
The same helpless feeling washed over him again, overwhelming him.
Sehir, who had been silently watching Kaindel, finally spoke up.
“But Kaindel.”
“Yeah.”
“This is the palace, you know. Even the most l*stful man wouldn’t act purely on instinct here.”
“……”
“That man didn’t just do that because of instinct. You understand, right?”
Kaindel froze for a moment, his tongue pressing against the inside of his cheek.
It felt like the darkness around him lifted in an instant.
Sehir had pinpointed the very thing Kaindel had been overlooking.
Right.
So that was what felt off.
Could there be someone else behind this?
Kaindel visualized the man he had seen in the hallway and clenched his fists.
He shouldn’t have let it go.
He should have stopped him and made him reveal who was behind it.
The regret lingered bitterly in his mouth.
“Anyway, about today…”
“I’ll handle it.”
“When will you tell him?”
“When everything is settled.”
Kaindel looked away from Sehir, who was taking off his jacket.
He glanced out the window, where the faint light of the gas lamps flickered in the darkening night.
But even from a distance, he could see Heron and Kerelona standing in the palace garden, as clearly as if it were noon.
Kerelona seemed to notice Kaindel’s gaze and smiled faintly, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.
“For now, I’ll find out where the rumor about Isa being a man wh*re started.”
The rumor that Isa was a man wh*re might have spread with malicious intent.
Nobles despised commoners, and those who believed in the gods considered the color gray ominous.
But somehow, Kaindel didn’t think the reason behind the rumor was that simple.
There was something more to it.
Perhaps Kerelona had spread it to draw him in.
“So, just stay quiet.”
“……”
If that was her goal, then he would do what he needed to do.
Whether his presence would quell the rumor or not was uncertain, but it was better to know the source.
…He’d been a step behind.
It was revolting.
Kaindel struggled to calm the raw emotions swirling inside him.
The inappropriate impulse made his neck stiff.
Thinking of Isa, drugged and asleep in the carriage, his mind slowly cleared.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Kaindel turned his gaze away from Kerelona.
As expected, Isa had completely forgotten the events of that day.
Even the morning after the banquet, as soon as he woke up, he seemed to have no recollection of how he had returned to the mansion, as if everything had slipped from his mind.
It was probably for the best, as unpleasant memories only bring discomfort.
However, there were moments when an inexplicable chill ran down his spine, and his face would pale before returning to its usual color.
Kaindel, who had stayed by Isa’s side until his condition improved, only left him to visit Kerelona a few days after the banquet, when Isa had started to feel better.
There was something she needed to confirm with Kerelona: whether or not she was behind the rumors surrounding Isa.
Kerelona, who had been enjoying tea in the royal garden, was not particularly surprised by his unexpected visit.
Asking Sir Heron to excuse her for a moment, she greeted him not with the flustered expression one might expect, but with a calm smile.
“I’ve been waiting.”
* * *
