Although I hadnât done anything in particular yet, Aedis began to build an iron wall.
âEve, you need to sleep.â
âOf course I will. Iâll hear your answer.â
Thatâs what I said, but it seems itâll be hard to hear today.
I put my hand on the comb Aedis was holding.
In case my fingers touched him, Aedis put the comb down a little hastily.
Thanks to this, the comb was completely in my hands.
Itâs a bit disappointing to just let it go like this.
Shall I try combing Aedisâ hair, too?
My view slid along Aedisâ black hair. His jaw, stiffer than usual, came into view.
âWhy are you so nervous? Itâs not like Iâm going to eat you.â
He didnât even respond.
I said in a voice full of regretful feelings.
âI thought we felt the same way every time we saw each other, didnât we?â
I wrinkled my eyes playfully, but Aedisâ face hardened even more as if he had seen something he didnât want to see.
Heâs going to run away. He canât do that.
I brought the comb to Aedisâs head to lighten the mood.
Aedis did not avoid my touch.
This was a good thing.
However, the flow after that was not good.
I was going to comb his hair as prettily as Aedis did, but suddenly his hair got weird.
Ah.
Because I had a look of embarrassment on my face, Aedis called my name.
âEve?â
âWaâ¦â¦,Wait.â
I put down the comb and tried to fix it with my hands.
There was no time to admire the soft hair now.
Using both hands, his hair, which had been parted incorrectly in an instant, was messed up as naturally as possible. Then at least it was better than when I combed it.
Ugh, better than when I combed it.
I asked, trying to pretend to be calm and at the same time calculating how likely Aedis would look in a mirror before going to sleep.
âSo, wonât you give me a ring?â
Aedis readily responded to me as I rushed to change the topic.
âIf the wife wants it, Iâll have to do it.â
Oh, so meek?
âReally?â
He closed his eyes at my question, which was blatantly mixed with suspicion.
âItâs not that you donât know. Huh?
âWhat does the wife think of me?â
It must have been that he couldnât think of anything to say right away that was why his answer was a beat late.
Still, isnât it a bit sad to just say, âalrightâ and move on?
I kissed Aedisâ cheek very lightly.
âI look forward to it.â
It was a light expression of affection that could not be considered a greeting.
Obviously I did it, but the sensation was so faint that I wasnât even sure if I was actually touching him.
I think it would be nice if my hand was fluffed or rubbed against his cheek.
However, since my opponent was Aedis, I was quite satisfied with this level, so I stretched my arms and got up.
I thought that the only thing left to do was wash and sleep, but suddenly I remembered the mission I had forgotten.
âOh right. I forgot to inform the knights.â
I turned to Aedis.
âAedis, Iâm going to keep Gilbert out of the castle for the time being. It seems he will come at dawn or in the morning at the earliest, but itâs obvious who heâs going to focus his anger on.â
I could see how Gilbert would roll his head.
He was going to try to use Regen because Aedis is by my side and itâs hard to approach right away.
There is no one in the past, present, or future who will love him as much as Regen, yet he doesnât even know that.
â¦â¦ But why was there no answer?
âAedis? You heard me, right?â
I called Aedis again.
This time there was no answer.
I didnât even blink.
You donât seem to be breathing.
âAedis? You still need to breathe right?â
âI canât. This time on the lips ä¸â
âIâm done.â
I cut off his words.
His ears seemed to have turned red, but he was so wary of his wife, who was not a witch, that I couldnât check it in detail.
Iâm not really going to eat himâ¦â¦
Leaving the husband who was overly wary of his wife, I went down to the first floor and saw Procyon and Thuban, the next guards on duty, preparing to take turns.
Procyon was astonished to see my sleepy eyes.
âYour Grace! Havenât you slept yet?â
âI will sleep now. I have a favor to ask of you, is it okay for a moment?â
âSure.â
Thuban also bowed his head lightly.
I yawned hard and said patiently.
âI want Gilbert to stay out of the castle for a while.â
Procyon showed a sign of excitement and concern at the same time.
âAre you finally going to drive out the first Lord? Of course, as always, we will follow your orders with all our heart, but can we do it on our own?â
âSure. I believe in my loyal servant, Sir Procyon.â
Without an aura, Gilbert was just a man who handled the sword a little better than the others and was a little stronger.
Procyon was thrilled before I even added the reasoning.
âThankâ thank you for your trust! Even by holding on to his crotch, I will make sure that the First Lord never enters the castle!â
âJust grabbing his neck is enoughâ¦â¦â
âYes! Even if I get caught by the neck, I will not give in!â
Procyon raised his voice overly ambitiously.
I turned to Thuban. He replied briefly, indicating that he understood.
âUnderstood.â
âSir Thuban, where is the loyalty in your voice, so that Her Grace will be relieved.â
Said the boy knight who worries me the most.
âBy the way, Your Grace, does the second Lord know?â
âI will tell the Lord when the sun rises.â
I stared intently at Procyon.
Procyon did not hide his concern for Regen as a knight who became Regenâs henchman even in
.
âLord Procyon, are you worried about the Lord?â
The boy, who didnât look like a knight at all, without a uniform scratched his head.
âUm, thatâs.â
ââ¦..â
âI have really good older brothers. However, it is purely a coincidence that I was born as the younger brother of the older brothers. Itâs not because Iâve built up virtues in my past life, nor did I put any effort into it. I was just born for no reason, and I was the younger brother of my older brothers. Just like our second Lord.â
With the momentum that Procyon will knock down the floor, I sighed.
Of course he was, but it didnât suit him at all.
âSometimes I feel like that. I wondered what would have happened if our second Lord had good brothers like my brothers.â
ââ¦..â
âSorryâ¦â¦â
Thinking it was presumptuous, Procyon bowed his head and looked at his feet.
Maybe itâs because heâs not the heir to the family, Procyon didnât seem to seriously know how to frame his concerns, but I understood what he was worried about.
Procyon seemed to feel guilty for Regen for having a brother like Gilbert.
Iâm a little sleepy, but I canât help it.
I asked Procyon, giving strength to my heavy eyelids that kept falling down.
âLetâs talk a little bit more since you have been honest. In the eyes of Sir Procyon, what does Regen look like? Do you just feel sorry for him meeting his older brother the wrong way?â
Procyon, who had been seriously listening to me, was suddenly startled.
âHiikk, no way! Who else is so kind, upright and lovely as our Second Lord! Whatâs more, if you remove the one and only obstacle, the road ahead will be clear! To be honest, I often admire the second Lord!â
Instead of asking if the only stumbling block is Gilbert, I asked another question.
âAre there times when Regen is respected?â
Procyon nodded his head.
âHe thinks positively about anything. The problem is that even the First Lord thinks so as well, but thatâs not always right. Perhaps if I had had an older brother like the First Lord, I would have been upset earlierâ¦â¦â
âI wonder what it will be like if Lord Procyon gets upset.â
âUgh.â
Procyon had a bitter expression as if he didnât even want to imagine.
I smiled and squatted down.
Noticing that I wasnât going back any time soon, Thuban suddenly started looking around.
Following Tuban with his eyes as if looking for something, I murmured unaware.
âWell, maybe Regen isnât as soft-hearted as I or Sir think.â
For now, it was just speculation.
Had Regen been a person with a normal mentality, he would not have been able to become the main character in the novel.
And more than that, there was one thing that puzzled me.
It was Aedisâ attitude toward Regen.
Only when Regen went crazy, Aedis unintentionally stunned him, so he might not have helped it.
However, even when Regen regained consciousness afterward and could not control his magical powers, Aedis treated Regen as usual.
He showed no sign of reassuring or comforting him, who must have been very sensitive.
He could only help out with a word about his dream.
â Ah, Father, my brother strangled me, is it a dream? I just died, is it all a dream?
â Yes, it is a dream.
Hmm, thatâs all.
It was a voice that wouldnât be called friendly even with empty words.
Of course, he paid a lot of attention to putting magic tools on him, but there was a feeling that it was out of necessity.
Nor did his nanny, Madame Theresa, console Regen on behalf of Aedis.
At the time, I had neither the inclination nor the time to do so.
It was as if Regen had regained stability on his own.