MTO C76

Chapter 76

“It wasn’t His Grace who drove the knights away!”

Michel shouted at the top of his lungs, throwing caution to the wind. At that, Jared’s hand—which had been reaching for the doorknob—hesitated. Seizing the moment, Michel rushed his words out without even taking a breath.

“That too was nothing but a misunderstanding. His Grace never dismissed the knights himself. They all returned to their hometowns of their own accord.”

Michel’s heart pounded nervously, fearing Jared might not believe him. Still, he had resolved to do everything in his power to clear away the misunderstanding.

“I already knew that as well.”

Once again, Jared’s unexpected reply left him at a loss.

“What? You knew this too?”

“I had suspected it for some time.”

Michel stared at him in bafflement. He had always thought this misunderstanding lay at the root of the conflict between Kaidan and Jared, so it was difficult to believe Jared’s words. If he knew it was a misunderstanding, why had their relationship fractured so badly? Why had Jared been so furious with Kaidan, accusing him of expelling the knights?

Why had he left Eglence Castle at all?

With a low sigh, Jared spoke.

“No one knew better than I did that those men couldn’t adapt to the new order of the knights. Most had never even undergone proper training before they became knights, so it was inevitable that they would be outdone by the younger men. Rather than struggle to adjust, they chose to run.”

“Then……”

“But even so, His Grace should not have let them go as though it were the natural course. How many of those men truly wished to leave? Most could not endure the silent pressure and laid down their swords.”

At last, Michel began to understand how things had unfolded.

When Kaidan ascended as the new Duke of Eglence, fresh winds swept through the castle. Some welcomed his reforms, but surely others had found the sudden changes impossible to adapt to.

Perhaps, when the knights banded together to confront Kaidan, they had secretly hoped he would bid them to stay—just as Jared now silently waited for his call.

“I respect His Grace and admire him greatly. He is an exceptional man. Valois grows ever better under his leadership. In time, history will remember him as a magnificent lord and sovereign.”

Jared bared his heart, at least to Michel. The solemnity in his gaze told that he spoke no falsehood. In the expression he wore as he spoke of Kaidan and Valois, Michel saw flickering traces of affection.

“But His Grace has no will to unify. To him, what is old and feeble can simply be replaced by what is young and strong.”

“That’s not……”

“In the world His Grace envisions, I seem to have no place.”

The bitter smile tugging at Jared’s lips silenced Michel completely. His chest ached. He too knew all too well how dreadful it felt to think oneself unneeded in the world.

Once, long ago, no one had told Jung-oh to give up his life as a taekwondo athlete, yet each day he felt himself pushed further outside an invisible circle. Although he said he had quit of his own will, in truth he had wished to climb higher—if only circumstances had allowed it. Yet he could not overcome the oppressive weight of that environment.

To be rejected by one’s own place, or the place one longed to belong, was to feel as if the world itself were casting you aside. Watching the knights leave, Jared must have dreaded that the same fate could befall him at any moment.

And indeed, he had left Eglence Castle. But traces of regret still clung to him, evident in the way he lingered close by. Though he said he had resigned of his own choice, perhaps it had never been fully his decision.

Michel’s desire to bring him back had grown even stronger. For Jared to believe himself no longer needed in Eglence was nothing but a misconception.

“That’s not true. Both His Grace and Valois need you, Sir Jared.”

He steadied his voice and once more tried to persuade him. Jared gave no reply, returning instead to the table, drinking down great gulps of water. To Michel, the simple fact that Jared did not cast him out, but still listened, was itself a glimmer of hope.

“Come back with me. Tell His Grace directly what you’ve just told me. Then he’ll surely understand that it was all a misunderstanding.”

“I have done nothing wrong! Why should I then bow my head and abase myself in pitiful apology?”

The conversation, so calm until now, suddenly erupted in Jared’s outburst. He raged as though merely thinking of Kaidan sent shivers of fury through him. The reaction was so like Kaidan’s own that Michel wavered.

“That’s not what I mean……”

“Unless His Grace apologizes first, it will never happen! I’ll never again so much as look toward Eglence Castle!”

While Michel floundered in desperation to calm him, he suddenly stopped short and broke into a dazzling smile that could brighten the entire room.

“Then—you mean if His Grace apologizes personally, you’ll return to the castle, right?”

Jared was silent instead of shouting again. His eyes stubbornly fixed on the wall, yet the fact he did not storm out or throw Michel out revealed his tacit agreement. Michel clapped loudly in delight.

“Alright then. I’ll go speak with His Grace again. But until then, you absolutely mustn’t leave Valois. Promise me.”

“……”

“Yes? Do you understand? You must not go before then. Promise me you’ll stay.”

“…Well, given how foul the weather’s been, I doubt I could leave far these next few days.”

Jared grimaced and muttered under his breath. His earlier threats of leaving Valois at dawn seemed long forgotten. Even so, Michel pressed him again and again not to depart, and at last Jared agreed to wait several days more. Only then was Michel satisfied.

“Then I’ll see you again soon!”

With a light step, Michel exited the room. The knights who had been pacing in nervous agitation down the corridor rushed to him at once.

“How did it go?”

Michel raised his thumb high, and their anxious faces brightened with relief.

“Does this mean Sir Jared will return?”

“Yes! He said he’ll rejoin the order if His Grace apologizes first.”

“What? But didn’t His Grace declare Sir Jared must first show contrition for his mistakes?”

Their perplexed reply made Michel blink in confusion. Then his eyes widened large as saucers.

“Ah!”

“……”

“I—I’ll try persuading His Grace again.”

Though he reassured them not to worry too much, the knights still looked visibly disappointed. They exchanged glances, forcing uneasy smiles.

“Then let’s return to the castle for now. You’ve done well.”

They couldn’t linger in front of Jared’s door forever, so they made their way back from the inn. Even as Michel trailed after the knights and insisted that if His Grace only heard what Jared had said, he would surely soften, they gave little sign of hope. Perhaps they had already resigned themselves to letting Jared go entirely.

But Michel could not give up. After speaking with both Kaidan and Jared, the matter no longer seemed so insurmountable.

Clearly, both harbored the wish to reconcile. It was only a matter of who would reach out first. With just the smallest pretext, their bond could grow stronger than before.

“Achoo!”

“Are you alright? Here, take my cloak.”

Just as they stepped outside the inn, a fierce snowstorm swept through. After Michel’s loud sneeze, Owen hastened to strip off his cloak and offer it. Michel protested that he already wore one and was fine, but Owen firmly draped it over his shoulders all the same.

It seemed wiser to hurry back to the castle than to bicker here in the cold. Michel gave in, pulled the cloak tighter, and quickened his pace.

When would spring finally come? At the turn of the year, it had seemed as though warmth were returning, yet the recent days had grown bitterly cold, making it impossible to take the children outdoors.

The footprints they had left in the snow on their way to the inn were long since buried. The novelty of treading into fresh snow wore off quickly; now, every step sank deep, delaying their return all the more. Every so often Michel lifted his feet to shake off clumps of snow from thickly coated shoes.

“Looks like spring is far off yet, seeing how heavily it still snows.”

“Not so, in fact. The harsher the cold, the clearer it seems that the spring faeries are awakening. Perhaps this year, the dragons have been stirred to jealousy.”

“Dragons?”

At his words, Michel naturally thought of the dragons he was already investigating. Did that mean everyone had some knowledge of them?

“Now that I think of it, you don’t seem a northerner, Saint. Did you come from the south?”

Owen glanced back at him curiously. Michel himself knew nothing of his body’s birthplace, nor did he care to. He hadn’t even realized until now that he didn’t seem like a northerner.

The best tactic in such awkward circumstances was a smile. And so Michel simply smiled faintly without a word.