"Are you going to break off our engagement?"
Richard looked Cailus straight in the eye.
He struggled to maintain a composed expression, but his heart was racing.
In one quiet corner of the execution grounds, the cold air settled heavily around them.
"......."
Cailus said nothing for a long moment. His crimson eyes were cold as ice.
The wind swept across the execution grounds, stirring the dust from the stone floor, while the faint sound of hoofbeats echoed in the distance. Then─
"Isn't that the obvious outcome?"
His low, oppressive voice settled over the silent execution grounds.
His expression rigid, Cailus slowly advanced toward Richard.
Each footstep struck the stone floor, ringing sharply through the silence.
"His Majesty forced this engagement upon me in the first place. Do you see any reason for me to maintain it?"
Cailus stopped directly in front of Richard.
Up close, his crimson eyes were colder than anyone's.
"I don't love you."
"......."
Richard drew a small breath.
Biting down hard on his lip, he barely managed to speak.
"...I cannot end this engagement."
Keeping his lips firmly pressed together, Richard concealed the trembling of his fingertips and continued.
"...As you said, this engagement was His Majesty the Emperor's will."
Cailus's eyes shifted almost imperceptibly.
Richard did not miss it.
"The last thing His late Majesty... left to you was me."
He had to persuade him. Somehow.
Even if it meant exploiting the dead Emperor.
"Are you saying you intend to cast me aside like this? Breaking off our engagement would mean defying His Majesty's will."
The wind blew again. Cold air passed between them.
Richard forced himself to hold Cailus's gaze. He had to persuade him. By any means necessary. If he lost ground here, every possibility would vanish.
"......."
A long silence descended.
Cailus stared at Richard without moving, his eyes devoid of emotion.
...Damn it.
Was it... not working at all?
The gaze looking down at Richard was glacial, and the heavy silence pressed down upon the air.
After a moment, Cailus spoke in a low voice.
"...You truly are remarkable."
"......."
"His Majesty's corpse has not even grown cold, and all you can bring yourself to discuss is maintaining our engagement."
"......!"
"Yes, your argument had a certain logic to it. In any case, you are probably the only person capable of saying such a thing here and now."
Cailus quietly narrowed his eyes.
"But it is not nearly compelling enough to persuade me."
"......."
"There is no longer any reason for you to remain at my side. I have no need for a pretext that barely endured only because His Majesty was alive."
"......."
Richard's eyes trembled.
"Surely you knew how meaningless this engagement would become without the Emperor's authority behind it."
A sneer tinged the end of his words.
"I expected you to have something remarkable to say. How disappointing."
Cailus turned away.
As if the conversation was no longer worth continuing.
"That is enough."
"...Wait."
Richard stepped forward. He had to stop him. If his engagement to Cailus fell through like this...
Lady Daphne would...
Just then—
"Kh, pfft... Hahaha."
A sudden burst of laughter came from one side of the execution grounds.
"......!"
It was faint, but Richard recognized it immediately and snapped his head up.
The sound had come from the spectator stands above. Several noblemen lurked like shadows in the place he had assumed would be empty after everyone left. They were positioned where Cailus could not see them.
Damn it. Someone was listening?
Richard clenched his teeth.
No, no. First...
It made the situation somewhat more troublesome, but what mattered more right now was...
I have to persuade Cailus...!
But when Richard turned back—
"......."
Cailus had already left.
At the upper end of the execution grounds, part of the stone seating built for spectators remained empty beneath the shade, sheltered from the sun.
Most of the nobles had already departed, but a few noblemen intrigued by the situation had remained behind.
"...You saw that just now, didn't you?"
A young nobleman with a prominent bridge to his nose smirked.
Beside him, another man with a gaunt complexion snickered.
"Pfft, exactly. That just now... They were fighting, weren't they? Aren't the two of them engaged?"
"A lovers' quarrel, I suppose. Though His Highness the Crown Prince did seem rather harsh."
"I don't know about that. His Highness said he doesn't love Young Lord Friedrich, didn't he? And that the engagement was forced upon him."
A heavyset man spoke without bothering to hide his amusement.
"More importantly, Young Lord Friedrich admitted it himself, didn't he?"
His voice dripped with mockery.
"Then again, it was a strange engagement from the beginning. How can a man become His Highness the Crown Prince's fiancé?"
"From the looks of it, Young Lord Friedrich plotted something with His Majesty the Emperor from the start. Doesn't it seem as though his plan has fallen apart?"
The young nobleman peered over the marble railing and looked down.
In one corner of the execution grounds far below, Richard stood alone on a dusty path. They could not see his expression, but they could make out the faint trembling of his fingertips.
"Tsk. I could never stand seeing a bastard like him strutting around, claiming to be the Crown Prince's fiancé..."
"Do you think this is our chance?"
The noblemen snickered and traded jeers.
"A scrawny-looking bastard like that... One punch and he'd go flying."
"Wait. Better yet..."
One of them rose with a cold smile.
"He's got a pretty enough face, doesn't he? So..."
The man grinned obscenely.
"Why don't we have some fun with him?"
The outskirts of the execution grounds had fallen silent now that everyone had left.
Richard slowly steadied his breathing. The wind brushing against his collar was cold, but the sensation creeping down his spine was deeply unpleasant.
Damn it. Fuck...
He had failed to persuade Cailus.
What... am I supposed to do now?
What can I possibly...
Just then—
"His Highness the Crown Prince seems to have left."
An unfamiliar man's voice came from behind him.
"......."
Richard slowly turned his head.
Several men had just emerged at the foot of the stairs.
They were the ones who had been murmuring in the stands earlier. The man at the front curled his lips into a vicious smile.
The gaunt man followed behind him and spoke.
"Hah. The Crown Prince's fiancé, abandoned here all alone. Your security is more lax than I expected."
Richard took a step back, but the way behind him was blocked as well. His back naturally came up against a protruding stone pillar.
"Serves you right. You acted so high and mighty before."
Another man continued. Their gazes roamed over Richard's body.
"You used the Emperor's favor to stand beside the Crown Prince, and now there isn't anyone left to protect you."
"......."
Richard said nothing. His entire body tensed as he pressed his lips firmly together.
Damn it. Are these the bastards from earlier?
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
They were no one worth worrying about, but it would be troublesome if word spread that Cailus and I were at odds...
"Cat got your tongue? Then why don't we have a little talk?"
One of the men suddenly reached for him. Richard instinctively raised an arm to resist, but the man roughly seized his wrist.
Bang!
He was mercilessly driven against the wall and forced into a secluded corner beyond anyone else's sight. His back struck the stone with such force that a breathless gasp escaped him, as though the air had been knocked from his lungs.
"Ugh...! What are you—"
Damn it. They were nothing, but he could not do anything when it might spread rumors that he and Cailus were on bad terms.
The man with the prominent nose clamped a hand around Richard's wrist and thrust his face close.
"You."
His foul breath washed over Richard's face.
"You've got some nerve. You don't even know what we might do to you."
The hand that had been clutching his collar began undoing the buttons of Richard's shirt one by one.
"...Ha."
A chill crawled down his spine, and Richard let out a disbelieving laugh.
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