It's the First Prince again.
Come to think of it, the reason I became involved began with talk of him attacking and making his younger brother cry.
And now it's the attempted assassination of the Fourth Prince.
Because I know he behaves quietly and tries not to stand out, I want to ask how this could have happened.
Moreover, it had grown even more complicated with ridiculous talk of curses.
The trigger was the First Prince's statement, but it was Duke Lucaios's entourage who spread it around.
Duke Lucaios himself, suspecting collusion with the gardeners—thinking they might be able to obtain poison independently—pursued the matter strictly.
That backfired, and the gardeners united to give testimony protecting the First Prince.
"Testimony protecting the First Prince came from some gardeners, and a considerable number of nobles who moved independently to investigate the situation have heard of it. The day said to be the attempted assassination was a day scheduled to meet with gardeners to receive plants to be discarded—not an outing intended for assassination."
I too was aware of that schedule, so I know there is no lie in the gardeners' testimony.
Moreover, it was the day I moved Levan to watch directly at Duke Eurasion's request.
Unintentionally, I have taken action that proves the First Prince's innocence.
"Duke Lucaios probably can't press this matter to completion this time. The Fourth Prince has recovered, there's no trace of poison, and the curse was uncertain from the start. That's insufficient to make an impression. Among the gardeners' rebuttals are also condemnations of those who lost sight of the Third and Fourth Princes."
If that happens, someone around Duke Lucaios will end up taking the blame.
Because they are the Empress's birth family, they've surrounded the princes with their own people.
Most importantly, the First Prince saw that the Empress herself seemed to realize there was a solution.
The reason the slander spread so well regarding making the Second Prince cry was that too few people were involved, so even the parties couldn't grasp the actual situation.
This time, too many people are involved, and the gardeners moved immediately after the incident occurred.
I was surprised at how accurately they had narrowed down who was where and when, based on eyewitness information and testimony from those in the gardens at that time.
"He probably thought he could handle it as well as last time, but they would take countermeasures against something that had already happened. When it was the Second Prince, the gardener who maintained the section where it happened was forced to resign. Hating to get caught in the crossfire... Levan?"
After hearing from the First Prince, I had returned to the office.
I noticed the man who usually interjects was remaining silent, so I called out to him.
Unlike before, it didn't require going the long way around, so he shouldn't be tired.
"Do you think the First Prince knew about my relationship with you, Marquis?"
"What? ...Surely not."
What comes to mind is the question asking about Levan by name.
It was about whether Levan would prioritize his own feelings knowing it would cause me trouble.
He brought it up as an analogy for the relationship between His Majesty and the First Prince.
"That question was about whether I'd hold back a father of high status, wasn't it?"
"You could take it that way... but he wasn't talking about us, was he?"
"Of course. Or rather, he never asked about me personally. That's exactly why I thought he might have known."
I face Levan, who laughs as if to hide his unease.
Looking at him again, his face looks nothing like mine.
Nor does he particularly resemble his mother, for that matter.
Even so, his personality shows his mother's influence, and sometimes makes me think he has my blood.
"...When there is no other way, you need not worry about causing me trouble."
Come to think of it, we never acknowledged each other publicly.
Levan's mother was my lover in Lukiusaria.
We had promised to marry, and preparations for the engagement were underway.
Then came the talk of marrying into the Marquis family—an order from my family, so to speak—that interfered.
The groundwork had been laid before I was even told.
Her family backed down, unable to oppose them, and if I resisted, it would interfere with my younger siblings' marriages.
My lover too concluded that we could not be together if it harmed her family and country.
At that time, we discussed it and parted ways.
"My mother, you see, she says things like, 'I knew I couldn't get married, so I stole your father's first time.'"
"Gofh!? Wh-what!?"
My face grows hot despite my age.
Because it's an undeniable fact.
In truth, she said she wanted to have a physical relationship because she was preserving her chastity, and I too, thinking of marriage as a duty of those born to noble houses, agreed to cut ties cleanly.
Swearing that my heart would never leave Lukiusaria, I shared her bed.
And from that single time, Levan was born.
"Even when told I'd been abandoned by my lover, or that she chose some high-and-mighty noble, she'd smile and say she'd come to get me. There was a time when I thought as a child that even if I met my father, I'd never acknowledge him."
I can say nothing to Levan, who speaks as the memories come to him.
I made promises, I swore oaths, and even now I think of serving as Marquis Strateg as merely a duty.
Even so, there is no one waiting anymore.
Because I didn't make it in time.
"...I'm sorry."
"No, when I saw you rushing in with your hair disheveled just before she died, crying and screaming 'don't die, don't die,' I realized my mother was right about something."
Should I apologize for that too?
Honestly, my eyes were fixed only on my beloved lying on her deathbed.
I had even forgotten to speak to my son whom I was meeting for the first time.
"So, it's a bit irritating, but as the First Prince said, I have no intention of causing you trouble, and I'm not dissatisfied with the current situation."
Apparently, he was dissatisfied that the First Prince had guessed his feelings.
I feel he is the same as me in hating to have his inner self exposed like that.
I loved someone whom I felt I could expose myself to, someone I could lay bare before.
I was probably fortunate just to have met such a person.
If Levan were to meet such a person, I have decided to surely push him forward with all my strength when that time comes.
"Since I'm already asking, why didn't you elope when you were crying your eyes out even at the funeral?"
Levan asks as if it's nothing, but this is the first time he's cut to the heart of the matter like this.
I had noticed that despite acting rudely, there was a line he wouldn't cross.
Whatever the trigger, now that he's laid himself bare like this, I intend to speak honestly as well.
"The day I learned she was carrying you, I proposed eloping and was refused."
"Huh?"
"She refused immediately, saying she had no intention of letting her unborn child suffer hardship. Moreover, she interrogated me about where we would elope to, how we would live, how we would care for those left behind, and all manner of life plans for after you were born."
The endless stream of questions spoke to how deeply my beloved had worried from the bottom of her heart.
She couldn't make everything work out perfectly.
So she had decided not to elope.
"She sent me away, saying 'I'll wait for you, so make a proper proposal after you've cleaned up your affairs.'"
Finish my service at House Strateg, divorce, return, and marry her properly.
"She also taunted me, saying if I took too long, I'd be welcomed back only after your son or daughter was gone."
Levan started to say something but stopped.
In the end, I took too long, and my beloved passed away from illness, leaving only our son.
If the King of Lukiusaria hadn't ignored her wish never to inform me, I probably would never have met him again.
She was very angry that I might have regrets.
"...What is the right answer, I wonder. Do the people of the Marquis's house know about me?"
Levan asked as if reading my mind.
I still don't know what the right answer is.
Still, I proceed thinking it is for the better; if I still don't know, I persist in my way.
I must persist, push through, and carry through, holding my head high that it is right, or I cannot face those I did not choose.
"The previous generation probably knows. My wife is aware."
"Huh, really? Then what about the Marquis's children?"
They are Levan's younger siblings, so to speak.
Two daughters were born before the heir son.
"They shouldn't know."
When they do find out, I am prepared to be reviled.
So I deliberately don't approach the children, show them no kindness, and have simply acted as the Marquis.
Because there was only one person I could always call my child.
But even with that only son, I cannot call him that to his face.
I still don't know what is right.
But the right answer is a trivial matter before these uncontrollable emotions.
In that sense, the First Prince and Levan, who spoke of suppressing their feelings for someone else's sake, are probably children more capable than I.It's the First Prince again.
Come to think of it, the reason I became involved began with talk of him attacking and making his younger brother cry.
And now it's the attempted assassination of the Fourth Prince.
Because I know he behaves quietly and tries not to stand out, I want to ask how this could have happened.
Moreover, it had grown even more complicated with ridiculous talk of curses.
The trigger was the First Prince's statement, but it was Duke Lucaios's entourage who spread it around.
Duke Lucaios himself, suspecting collusion with the gardeners—thinking they might be able to obtain poison independently—pursued the matter strictly.
That backfired, and the gardeners united to give testimony protecting the First Prince.
"Testimony protecting the First Prince came from some gardeners, and a considerable number of nobles who moved independently to investigate the situation have heard of it. The day said to be the attempted assassination was a day scheduled to meet with gardeners to receive plants to be discarded—not an outing intended for assassination."
I too was aware of that schedule, so I know there is no lie in the gardeners' testimony.
Moreover, it was the day I moved Levan to watch directly at Duke Eurasion's request.
Unintentionally, I have taken action that proves the First Prince's innocence.
"Duke Lucaios probably can't press this matter to completion this time. The Fourth Prince has recovered, there's no trace of poison, and the curse was uncertain from the start. That's insufficient to make an impression. Among the gardeners' rebuttals are also condemnations of those who lost sight of the Third and Fourth Princes."
If that happens, someone around Duke Lucaios will end up taking the blame.
Because they are the Empress's birth family, they've surrounded the princes with their own people.
Most importantly, the First Prince saw that the Empress herself seemed to realize there was a solution.
The reason the slander spread so well regarding making the Second Prince cry was that too few people were involved, so even the parties couldn't grasp the actual situation.
This time, too many people are involved, and the gardeners moved immediately after the incident occurred.
I was surprised at how accurately they had narrowed down who was where and when, based on eyewitness information and testimony from those in the gardens at that time.
"He probably thought he could handle it as well as last time, but they would take countermeasures against something that had already happened. When it was the Second Prince, the gardener who maintained the section where it happened was forced to resign. Hating to get caught in the crossfire... Levan?"
After hearing from the First Prince, I had returned to the office.
I noticed the man who usually interjects was remaining silent, so I called out to him.
Unlike before, it didn't require going the long way around, so he shouldn't be tired.
"Do you think the First Prince knew about my relationship with you, Marquis?"
"What? ...Surely not."
What comes to mind is the question asking about Levan by name.
It was about whether Levan would prioritize his own feelings knowing it would cause me trouble.
He brought it up as an analogy for the relationship between His Majesty and the First Prince.
"That question was about whether I'd hold back a father of high status, wasn't it?"
"You could take it that way... but he wasn't talking about us, was he?"
"Of course. Or rather, he never asked about me personally. That's exactly why I thought he might have known."
I face Levan, who laughs as if to hide his unease.
Looking at him again, his face looks nothing like mine.
Nor does he particularly resemble his mother, for that matter.
Even so, his personality shows his mother's influence, and sometimes makes me think he has my blood.
"...When there is no other way, you need not worry about causing me trouble."
Come to think of it, we never acknowledged each other publicly.
Levan's mother was my lover in Lukiusaria.
We had promised to marry, and preparations for the engagement were underway.
Then came the talk of marrying into the Marquis family—an order from my family, so to speak—that interfered.
The groundwork had been laid before I was even told.
Her family backed down, unable to oppose them, and if I resisted, it would interfere with my younger siblings' marriages.
My lover too concluded that we could not be together if it harmed her family and country.
At that time, we discussed it and parted ways.
"My mother, you see, she says things like, 'I knew I couldn't get married, so I stole your father's first time.'"
"Gofh!? Wh-what!?"
My face grows hot despite my age.
Because it's an undeniable fact.
In truth, she said she wanted to have a physical relationship because she was preserving her chastity, and I too, thinking of marriage as a duty of those born to noble houses, agreed to cut ties cleanly.
Swearing that my heart would never leave Lukiusaria, I shared her bed.
And from that single time, Levan was born.
"Even when told I'd been abandoned by my lover, or that she chose some high-and-mighty noble, she'd smile and say she'd come to get me. There was a time when I thought as a child that even if I met my father, I'd never acknowledge him."
I can say nothing to Levan, who speaks as the memories come to him.
I made promises, I swore oaths, and even now I think of serving as Marquis Strateg as merely a duty.
Even so, there is no one waiting anymore.
Because I didn't make it in time.
"...I'm sorry."
"No, when I saw you rushing in with your hair disheveled just before she died, crying and screaming 'don't die, don't die,' I realized my mother was right about something."
Should I apologize for that too?
Honestly, my eyes were fixed only on my beloved lying on her deathbed.
I had even forgotten to speak to my son whom I was meeting for the first time.
"So, it's a bit irritating, but as the First Prince said, I have no intention of causing you trouble, and I'm not dissatisfied with the current situation."
Apparently, he was dissatisfied that the First Prince had guessed his feelings.
I feel he is the same as me in hating to have his inner self exposed like that.
I loved someone whom I felt I could expose myself to, someone I could lay bare before.
I was probably fortunate just to have met such a person.
If Levan were to meet such a person, I have decided to surely push him forward with all my strength when that time comes.
"Since I'm already asking, why didn't you elope when you were crying your eyes out even at the funeral?"
Levan asks as if it's nothing, but this is the first time he's cut to the heart of the matter like this.
I had noticed that despite acting rudely, there was a line he wouldn't cross.
Whatever the trigger, now that he's laid himself bare like this, I intend to speak honestly as well.
"The day I learned she was carrying you, I proposed eloping and was refused."
"Huh?"
"She refused immediately, saying she had no intention of letting her unborn child suffer hardship. Moreover, she interrogated me about where we would elope to, how we would live, how we would care for those left behind, and all manner of life plans for after you were born."
The endless stream of questions spoke to how deeply my beloved had worried from the bottom of her heart.
She couldn't make everything work out perfectly.
So she had decided not to elope.
"She sent me away, saying 'I'll wait for you, so make a proper proposal after you've cleaned up your affairs.'"
Finish my service at House Strateg, divorce, return, and marry her properly.
"She also taunted me, saying if I took too long, I'd be welcomed back only after your son or daughter was gone."
Levan started to say something but stopped.
In the end, I took too long, and my beloved passed away from illness, leaving only our son.
If the King of Lukiusaria hadn't ignored her wish never to inform me, I probably would never have met him again.
She was very angry that I might have regrets.
"...What is the right answer, I wonder. Do the people of the Marquis's house know about me?"
Levan asked as if reading my mind.
I still don't know what the right answer is.
Still, I proceed thinking it is for the better; if I still don't know, I persist in my way.
I must persist, push through, and carry through, holding my head high that it is right, or I cannot face those I did not choose.
"The previous generation probably knows. My wife is aware."
"Huh, really? Then what about the Marquis's children?"
They are Levan's younger siblings, so to speak.
Two daughters were born before the heir son.
"They shouldn't know."
When they do find out, I am prepared to be reviled.
So I deliberately don't approach the children, show them no kindness, and have simply acted as the Marquis.
Because there was only one person I could always call my child.
But even with that only son, I cannot call him that to his face.
I still don't know what is right.
But the right answer is a trivial matter before these uncontrollable emotions.
In that sense, the First Prince and Levan, who spoke of suppressing their feelings for someone else's sake, are probably children more capable than I.