They said the King had suffered from a long illness.
Though the royal physicians and many others had made every effort to prolong his life as long as possible,
His condition had rapidly deteriorated over the past few days and he finally passed away in the morning.
Unfortunately, the Queen was said to have been unable to be by the King's side when he closed his eyes.
She who had been handling state affairs had rushed over upon hearing the news, but it was already too late.
The King's death was certainly a tragic matter and important enough to greatly impact Aquilonia.
However, for Yurik, the timing was poor in many ways.
To think such tragic news of the King's death would occur just as he and his companions had defeated the eastern demons and returned.
And if that happened, it was obvious they wouldn't achieve the effects he had originally expected when making the prophecy.
What to do about this? The timing was really bad.
He knew the King hadn't deliberately died at this exact moment...
If Yurik and his companions didn't see results matching their efforts, everyone's morale might plummet.
In that regard, his mind overflowed with various worries.
"Adonis, are you crazy? No matter what, touching the Queen's body?"
"No, Cellinne. That's not what's important. What's strange is that you became close enough to touch the Queen's body while we were away."
"In my opinion, being alone must have made his head a bit strange. I'm certain of it."
"That might be it. Don't exchange more than two words with the Queen from now on! Did you meet with her alone before? Answer yes or no. Did you meet? You didn't meet, right? Say you didn't!"
"If we use His Highness the 3rd Prince's black painkiller powder on Yesung, would he return to his senses?"
"Is there any left? Bring it, Eva. Bring all of it!"
...These mindless people seemed to have no such worries.
A few minutes earlier, supporting the Queen who was swaying with grief in the main castle had been a reflexive action.
It wasn't that he particularly cherished her. She was Yurik's adoptive mother, and since she was with child, he thought he should be careful.
Still, he hadn't expected her to lean on him and cry. What he had done there was simply take 'actions that should be performed for a sad person.'
But when the servants supported the Queen and left the audience chamber, Cellinne and Eva, as if by arrangement, each slipped their hands under his arms and dragged him away. Literally like 'arresting' him.
-What, what are you doing? Why?
-Be quiet. We're in crisis right now.
-Crisis? What crisis? Did some demon appear?
Since Cellinne's expression looked like a real crisis, he had asked that just in case.
Valter looked at him pitifully and lifted his legs up.
The place he was transported to with his limbs held was the now very familiar 3rd Prince's palace, the reception room attached to Yurik's bedroom.
After seating him on the sofa, Cellinne, Eva, and Valter began interrogating him persistently.
Why had he become so friendly with the Queen, what had happened while they were away? What on earth had caused the Queen to lean on him and cry!
Eventually, watching Eva begin searching for the black lotus powder that Yurik had supposedly obtained from snake-people, he turned his head to Yurik and Dardin who were standing there.
Dardin spat out without even looking at him.
"You haven't become involved with Her Majesty the Queen in that way, have you, Yesung."
"It's not like that. The Queen and I have no relationship at all."
"But then shouldn't you have paid sufficient attention to your behavior? Anyone who saw would really think."
Dardin glanced at Yurik and added.
"That Yesung had turned to the Queen's side."
"That's impossible. I only had tea with the Queen to begin with. What kind of friendship was I supposed to build in the meantime?"
The Queen had sent her lady-in-waiting to invite him for tea, and he had lightly suggested taking walks for a change of mood, which he had responded to a couple times.
After that, he had even made excuses about conducting magical research because he found it bothersome to go out.
Wasn't this enough to be sufficiently courteous while not damaging the pride of either Yurik or the Queen?
...Looking at Dardin's reaction, it seemed that wasn't the case. Was it because he hadn't learned profound court etiquette? What did people usually do in such cases?
When he was wracking his brains, he heard Yurik's low voice.
"What Dardin means is that Yesung appears to be courting the Queen."
"C-courting?"
A word he had never expected came out!
He stammered without realizing it, but Yurik calmly nodded.
"Considering the Queen's age, it's quite credible."
"Me? With the Queen? Me?"
Did this country perhaps have customs where sharing tea was understood as dating?
Would they think you were engaged if you even took walks together?
Seeing his expression asking if he was serious, Yurik waved his hand.
"I know Yesung didn't have such intentions. Normally, I would have thought it was a very appropriate response."
"But?"
"The Queen's atmosphere wasn't like that. Let's leave it at this much."
Having said that, Yurik disappeared into another room with Dardin.
If those two were having a conversation, it would surely be important.
But he absolutely couldn't follow them because of Cellinne and Eva, who were pressing down on his shoulders right in front of him with flashing eyes.
Valter, sitting over there, was just watching while adding commentary like 'Oh my, this young man.'
He felt like he had made some big mistake, but he wasn't sure exactly what it was. No one would tell him either.
Where had it gone wrong?
But there was no time for his questions to be resolved.
Perhaps because the King had been bedridden for a long time, the atmosphere within the royal palace was deeply subdued.
They didn't seem shocked by the King's death.
Rather, as if they had prepared for this time in advance, the funeral within the royal palace was proceeding smoothly and orderly.
During this period, there wasn't much for their side to do, so Cellinne, Eva, and Valter were either getting some rest or killing time aimlessly.
Even Dardin was at best observing the movements within the royal castle.
Conversely, work was gradually piling up for Yurik.
It was physically impossible for the Queen to handle both existing state affairs and funeral preparations simultaneously.
Thanks to this, excluding the Queen, work came to Yurik, who had relatively high rank within the royal family.
It was difficult to see Yurik, who spent most of the day in the main castle and was buried in his personal study working even when he returned.
As a result, he too idled around like the others except Yurik,
Sitting in the bedroom assigned to him and leafing through Eibon-style grimoires that Eibon had supposedly created by following his grimoire.
[Eibon's handwriting? Always been bad. Long-standing.]
"Eibon always made vertices here when drawing curves. Remember?"
[Acheron Empire. Human mage, following Eibon! Handwriting. Fraud. Eibon angry. Swung staff. This body, remembers.]
"You were quite hot-tempered when I wasn't around. You were young then, young."
[How old is Eibon?]
"That's young. The blood in her head wouldn't have dried yet."
The magic Eibon had recorded in her grimoire was full of interesting things.
Summoning, dimensions, celestial bodies, time, monsters of unknown identity now called demons, weather, and various other practical magic for daily life.
It was a part where he could understand how extensively the living Eibon had explored magic across vast fields.
Aphoom-Zhah, who had been lying down beside him, rolled his round body and sat up.
[Believer. Bored? Reading Eibon book? Many other books.]
"I'm not reading Eibon's book because I'm bored. Just, I think it might be helpful someday."
[Help? Believer, use magic? No. Believer impossible. Constitution.]
"I know I can't use magic. You said my body isn't mage material. But I really want to know something."
[What?]
"How to go back."
He didn't know where he should go. It was unclear whether there was even a place for him to return to,
But anyway, the thought that he had to 'go back' with his sibling remained unchanged.
But unfortunately, he wasn't a mage. At best, he was just more familiar with demonic beasts than others.
That's why he wanted to know theoretically, if possible, about methods of returning.
If he could grasp even a clue to methods of going to another world, another place he didn't know,
Finding mages to execute it wouldn't be too big a problem.
Having heard his answer, Aphoom-Zhah hit the book pages with his short hands.
[Believer, stupid. Many books. Much content. Eibon is mage. Believer, mage? No. Believer cannot do, understand.]
"Is that so?"
Still, what did it matter? Practice and theory were different things.
Even if it was hard to understand now, wouldn't he be able to learn something by studying slowly and steadily over time?
With an immortal body, time was what he had in abundance.
When he turned another page, Aphoom-Zhah climbed right onto the book and lay down.
"Hey. What are you doing? Won't you move?"
[Believer, isolated! No human interaction. Believer stupid. Hikikomori? Terrible! Terrible!]
"What are you talking about? There's no one to play with me anyway right now."
[Believer goes out! Takes walks! Plays! This body stays alone!]
"What would you do alone on a book! Move, I said! If you melt, the book will get all wet!"
[Believer goes out! Goes out!]
Why was he suddenly being stubborn?
He tried pulling at the page Aphoom-Zhah was lying on, but since it was such an old book, he couldn't apply proper force for fear of damaging it.
Since there was no way to appease the tantrum-throwing Aphoom-Zhah, he was eventually driven outside.
Coming outside his room felt unfamiliar since it had been so long. The bright daytime corridor was empty, making it even more so.
Having lost his pastime, he wandered around and then began walking wherever his feet led him.
Was this the right place he was trying to go? Without particularly knocking on the mahogany-colored door at the end of the corridor, he threw it open.
"Hyung."
The 3rd Prince's personal study.
Yurik, wearing glasses, was sitting at his desk.
When he roughly pulled over an empty chair and placed it beside the desk, Yurik cleared away the documents piled on top to make space.
"You haven't come out of your room for days, so what change of heart brought you here today?"
"How do you know I haven't left my room? Weren't you busy?"
"This is my palace, and I know everything that happens inside it. Something to drink?"
"No thanks. I just came because I was bored. I didn't mean to disturb you... Keep working. I'll just sit here."
"In that case."
Yurik must have been really busy, as that was the last he paid attention to him.
He was more comfortable with that too.
The scratching sound of the quill pen moving across paper, the sound of wind blowing through the window and the sunlight filtering in.
Feeling such things while watching dust slowly dancing in the light,
He felt as if time had stopped only in this room.
After being there for quite a while, he became curious and asked.
"The King?"
"If you mean the funeral, it's the day after tomorrow."
"You'll naturally attend."
"Are you planning to come too, Yesung?"
"No... not really. I don't like such events. Where is it held?"
"The royal family has a separate institution and building that oversees funerals. It's where the bodies of past kings are enshrined."
"Do you come back right after?"
"There's a mourning ceremony, a meal-like gathering where all the nobles and royal family who attended the funeral come together. We'll give memorial speeches and return after a brief mourning period."
"There are quite a few procedures."
"Yesung wouldn't hear good things if he came. Stay here. The others probably can't go anyway."
Hmm. Was that because of the issue between the Queen and him that Dardin had pointed out?
"Because of the Queen?"
Yurik didn't answer, but he could see his lips move as if smiling carelessly before returning to normal.
He could consider that an answer close to affirmation.
"Should I just not appear in front of people?"
"What's the reason for suddenly saying that?"
"I think I'm oblivious. Should I say I'm rather insensitive? I know about such things, but since they don't hit home, I seem to make mistakes often."
Yurik stopped the hand that had been writing something and began staring at him intently.
Why was he looking like that?
Just when he was beginning to feel uneasy, Yurik asked in puzzlement.
"You're realizing that now?"
"It's true that I'm only thinking this now, but why do I feel like I'm being scolded?"
"I tried saying something unpleasant for once. Of course, hyung is oblivious. But I don't think that's such a serious problem."
"Really?"
"The reason I could blend in among people was because I was awake longer than hyung. And hyung unintentionally provided me with the foundation to accumulate such experiences. But hyung."
Yurik thought hard for a moment before continuing.
"...Hyung just didn't have anyone to teach him such things."
"Mm."
"But it doesn't matter, does it? Cellinne, Eva, Valter, and Dardin already think quite fondly of hyung. I think hyung will gradually get better if he stays a little longer."
"I think you're overestimating me."
"It's an objective judgment. And even if there are things hyung can't understand, I can teach you. Isn't that what family is?"
Having said that, Yurik turned his gaze back and began moving his previously stopped hand.
Somehow feeling like he had been hit on the head, he looked carefully at Yurik, who was concentrating on his work.
He still vividly remembered the child who couldn't even speak properly and used to sleep on his arm in the wasteland,
But now that child was telling him it was okay if he didn't know things.
He could teach him, and things would gradually get better.
So he shouldn't worry too much right now.
He had thought only a hyung could say such things to his younger sibling, but apparently that wasn't the case.
Actually, could younger siblings also give encouragement to their hyung that he was doing well? Could they say they would help their hyung if there were things hyung couldn't do?
Yurik had also changed a lot. No, perhaps that was natural. That fact was bewildering and strangely joyful.
He got up from his seat and went to the side of Yurik, who was concentrating intently.
-Rub rub rub.
"...What are you doing?"
"Praise."
When he scratched his platinum hair with both hands as if messing it up, Yurik looked up at him with a subtle expression.
Then he resumed his work with his tousled hair tilted slightly toward him.
Thanks to this, he could stand there and scratch Yurik's head to his heart's content.
Having spent time that was neither completely playing nor working, they finally left the study in the late afternoon.
And what awaited them when they returned to the bedroom was:
A letter on a silver tray, handed over by a servant with an expression that said he'd rather die.
It was the Queen's handwritten letter hoping that 'Eibon's teacher' would please attend the funeral to express his condolences.
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