ITMWG 50

Chapter 50…

What are you going to do if you don’t like it?

The conversation was one-sided. Every time Prince Orca smiled and brought up a topic, Altair answered curtly, and silence ensued. Normally, it was the basis of social conversation for the person who answered to bring up a new topic, but Altair was not particularly interested in such rules. This was even more so when he didn’t like the other person, and Prince Orca was definitely someone unpleasant to him. But ironically, such blunt responses stimulated Orca’s interest. Even though he was not favoured by the emperor, he was still a prince. The power that status held was so great that people always tried to make a positive impression on him. Perhaps because of the thought that being close to him might help them one day, there were few people who rejected him as openly as Altair.

At this point, I’m impressed that he doesn’t act rude or disrespectful.

Another way those under him tried to draw his attention was to show disrespect.

Being able to shut someone out moderately while protecting what you must protect…

It meant he was by no means an ordinary being.

Both of the spouses stand out.

He wondered why were these interesting people not known in social circles.

No, no.

I’ve never heard of that young lady being this interesting.

Orca touched his teacup as he was in deep thought. Out of the blue, a large bird flew high over their heads. He looked up and saw a large bird hovering in place, announcing its presence with a long cry, as if it was enjoying the attention. Having recognised the bird right away, Orca asked with confidence.

“Is it a Girard Hawk?”

“…That’s right.”

This time, Altair asked, slightly raising his eyebrows as if he was a little surprised.

“You recognised it right away?”

“Because its sound is unique, and its whole body is black like a crow.”

However, compared to crows, they were much larger. Prince Orca narrowed his eyes as he watched the hawk slowly descend and land on Altair’s outstretched arm.

“They are smart, but as stubborn as they are, they are hard to tame.”

In fact, the virtue of a messenger bird was its moderate cleverness. Messenger birds could only carry out orders if they were just about intelligent enough to understand the instructions. But for those smarter than that and had the brains to judge the situation on their own…There would be times when they disobeyed instructions and did what they thought was right.

Thus, if it’s a situation where you’re in charge, it’s better for them to be moderately smart.

This was the same whether it was a messenger bird or a person.

Though of course, it cannot be denied that beings who are smarter than necessary are attractive.

While Altair unwrapped the small letter tied to the hawk’s leg, Prince Orca tried to access the message, not knowing to whom it was addressed. Even though others were watching, Altair had no hesitation in his actions. It was as if he was declaring, ‘I’m not doing anything shady, so there’s nothing I must be afraid of.’

“Aylesford has had the Girard hawk as a messenger bird for a long time.”

As Altair scanned the content of the letter, he spoke calmly.

“Like you said, they are smart and difficult to tame… So isn’t it even more thrilling when you have it under control? Those who get what they want easily can only do trivial things, but those who chose the hard way can achieve difficult things with much less effort.”

“…indeed.”

The smile on Orca’s lips faded at Altair’s words. His face, which was always smiling sweetly, had a solemn look to it. The moment Orca’s amber eyes and Altair’s crimson eyes collided in the air, Orca opened his mouth again.

“Baron Aylesford, you used me to get rid of your political enemies, right?”

“I thought you were someone who would speak in a more rounded way.”

“I definitely prefer it that way. But I don’t think it will work on the Baron.”

The gazes of the two men clashed with tension. Pavel, sensing the unusual atmosphere, raised his hand to block the maid’s steps as she approached to refill the warm water. He then slowly took a step back, increasing the distance so that they could not be heard. After a while of silence, Altair spoke first.

“You’re right. I used you.”

Altair openly admitted that he had taken advantage of the prince. There was little point in feigning ignorance in front of someone who fully understood the situation.

“But I don’t think it would have been such a bad thing for you, Your Highness.”

“It certainly wasn’t. Thanks to the assassination case against me, His Majesty the Emperor was able to show off his authority, so I also gained points with him. It’s not completely useless.”

No matter how far he fell from the emperor’s favour, a prince was still a prince. The reason Altair was not afraid of using such a person was because he knew that even if he found out the truth, the prince himself would not reveal it. Rather, he guessed that the prince would not want disclosure, and like the emperor, he would want to let things unfold as they were, and Altair’s prediction turned out to be exactly right. If his prediction was wrong, he had also envisioned a case where the prince would expose the truth. But he still thought it wouldn’t be much of a problem.

From the perspective of Prince Orca, who had been taken advantage of, it was like falling into a trap from which he could not escape.

“Perhaps the Baron had calculated all of these complicated situations?”

“If I have dared to involve the imperial family, how could I not?”

Of course, there were parts where his prediction was wrong. It was a variation of a person called ‘Prince Orca’. Altair had heard about the Third Prince only through rumors. A sickly prince. A prince who fell out of favour with the emperor and moved from place to place under the pretext of recuperation. Based on that, he thought Orca might be a weak prince who was thirsty for his father’s affection. However, the Orca he met in person was completely different from what Altair had imagined.

It looks like I’ve messed with a troublesome human being.

If he had known the prince was like this, he would have thought of another way. But it was already too late to regret it. Altair carefully folded the letter he was reading, put it in his pocket, and then sent the Girard hawk away. The hawk flapped its wings and flew towards the spire of Aylesford Castle. There was food ready to be given to the creature who had completed his mission.

“I apologise for unilaterally involving you in the situation.”

He bowed with an apology, but he didn’t look sorry at all. Seeing that, Prince Orca smiled.

“If apologising with words alone could do the work, then the world would be a beautiful place. If you’ve used someone, I think you need to compensate them accordingly.”

“Compensate, you say.”

Altair smiled and stood up.

“What if I can’t give you that?”

‘What are you going to do about it?’ That was what Altair meant. Orca narrowed his eyes at his confident attitude, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway. Altair looked at Orca, who remained silent, and gestured at Pavel with his characteristic stoic expression.

“His Highness seems to like this tea, so make sure to give him plenty on the day he leaves.”

“Pardon? Ah yes…”

This meant that he would not see Orca again until the day he left, so Pavel lowered his head while observing Orca. Fortunately, he didn’t look particularly upset…

But he’s still a prince!

Pavel secretly poked Altair’s side, but he didn’t budge a all. After all, was there really a need to treat each other politely when they had already known each other’s true nature? Altair completely ignored Pavel’s intent gaze and lowered his head to Orca.

“Then may you rest comfortably until the day you must return.”

“…I will.”

After tea time ended, Pavel quickly followed Altair.

“My lord! He is still a prince, how could you act like that-…”

“This is a letter from the capital.”

Altair stopped Pavel’s endless nagging just with some simple words.

“A letter from the capital?”

“The letter the messenger bird brought me a little while ago. It came from the capital.”

“Then…”

Altair’s intention worked. Pavel completely forgot what he was going to say and quickly became serious.

“Was Balhail executed?”

Altair shook his head lightly.

“He was sentenced to life imprisonment. He will rot in the dark prison for the rest of his life.”

Perhaps it was a much crueler punishment than the death penalty. It was even more so with guys brimming with arrogance like Balhail.

“… I didn’t expect that bastard to be sent away like this.”

“Do you not like the fact that Balhail was framed and dealt with?”

“That’s not it. If I didn’t like that method, I would have stopped you long ago.”

But Pavel didn’t do that.

“It’s just, in the end, I think the fundamental problem has not been resolved.”

“The fundamental problem?”

“Yes. Though Balhail has disappeared, won’t another successor appear now?”

The family’s lawyer would find the next heir after Balhail and inform him of the situation, and it was unknown what the new heir would be like. If they were unlucky, someone even worse than Balhail could emerge as the next successor.

That’s why I kept an eye on the situation while leaving the annoying Balhail aside.

The situation changed so quickly that they eventually had to figure out how to deal with it.

“That said, you need to quickly solve the fundamental problem. Aylesford needs a young successor.”

Pavel advised with all seriousness, adjusting his glasses.

“Miss Marie said you haven’t spent a single night with the madame since you came back to Aylesford…”

At Pavel’s calm words, Altair’s face turned red and he quickly covered it with his large hand.

“Do you guys share everything with each other like that?”

His voice was threatening, like a wild beast growling, but Pavel shrugged his shoulders, as he was already used to it, and naturally pushed his hand away.

“Why wouldn’t we? That is part of the servants’ duty after all.”

“I’ll take care of that! So do not concern yourself!”

“For someone who claims to take care of things, you…I can’t help but be worried, can I? I don’t suppose there is a problem, right, my lord?”

Pavel lowered his gaze as if he was genuinely worried. Seeing his gaze directed towards a strange place, Altair became upset and turned his body around.

“What problem?! There is no problem at all!”

Altair grumbled and walked away. Pavel quickly followed suit.

“If there is no problem, then why don’t you do it?”

“She is a frail person. She hasn’t recovered yet! I don’t have the confidence to control myself if I go wild and end up hurting her…”

“Who’s getting hurt?”

“That…When did you get here…”

“Since Altair said he wasn’t confident enough to retrain himself. What are you holding back from?”

“That…is not something you need to know.”

Altair, who was choosing what to say, eventually gave up on explaining and sighed.

“Why are you roaming around when you haven’t even recovered yet?”

“How can I rest when there are guests here? I’m going to work again starting tomorrow.”

“…what?”

As Nadia clenched her fists in determination, Altair’s face became stiff.