I Start with a Bad Hand!

‘I didn’t know a person’s face could look so variously displeased.’

It was unclear whether walking with his brother was itself unpleasant or if there was a third reason. What was certain was that Elius’s face, though unwrinkled and smooth, was curiously filled with anger and annoyance.

‘That’s quite a talent.’

Regardless of my personal dislike for him, meeting the Crown Prince meant I had to show proper respect. I, having become quite accustomed to the ways of the empire, was just about to bow and greet him formally.

“…Your High—”

“I wasn’t informed of your return, Icarus.”

My words were cut off, and I ended up addressing Elius bluntly. I lifted my bowed head. Elius’s gaze had never been on me from the start; it was fixed on his brother. His question, tinged with a peculiar fatigue, was met with a mere shrug from Icarus.

“I’m not a child. I handled the tasks as scheduled and delivered the report through the aide, so check it.”

“I will.”

Elius, with a tired expression, ran a hand through his hair and then, as if noticing for the first time, glanced at his brother’s bare feet and sighed, frowning. That sigh, oddly enough, seemed less like reproach or disdain and more… familiar. Like the kind of sigh Irene would make when Klaus brought up some unresolved issue. It was the kind of sigh an elder lets out when they’re exasperated.

“You do realize your behavior right now is worse than a child’s.”

“Of course. I went barefoot when I was eight, too.”

“Maintaining that until you’re eighteen is not… no, are you aware you belong to the imperial family?”

Starting with words I felt I’d heard somewhere before, Elius placed his hands on his hips and launched into a nagging tirade.

‘Wouldn’t a conversation between siblings be better without a third party…?’

Listening to the barrage of scolding, I found myself thinking absently. Despite everything, I always felt that the relationship between these two was better than it appeared considering how Icarus was treated. Their relationship didn’t necessarily need to be bad; in fact, Irene and Klaus’s relationship had its own cold edges.

Elius’s seemingly endless scolding finally came to a halt as he shifted topics.

“And… I believe I’ve mentioned this several times already.”

“…?”

“It is also a duty of the imperial family to keep company with people of appropriate standing.”

Even without him specifying, it was clear who he meant. I raised my head, having been counting the patterns on the marble floor. While there were aspects of Elius’s statement that I agreed with, I felt that whether I bowed or stood straight, whether I raised or lowered my head, these gestures no longer held any significant meaning to him.

‘How ridiculous. A person who supposedly maintains decorum interferes in kids’ games to rig the outcome?’

If my manner of speaking were a bit less coarse, I could have found appropriate words to express my thoughts. But the habits of my lowborn upbringing were not so easily cast off.

“The standards of the imperial family truly differ from common sense. I, in my inadequacy, will take my leave.”

“It’s because of lowly blood like yours that some people act so wantonly.”

“So, did you change the course of the wind to give such a noble lesson to someone as lowly as me? Not everyone present was as ‘lowly’ as I am.”

It was Icarus who pushed Elius away from me as he approached. A derisive laugh escaped from Elius. Unlike his brother, Icarus spoke with a blank expression, changing the subject.

“I can handle such things on my own. I’m not a child. Besides, if it’s a duty, I’m already performing it well.”

…And you already know that, don’t you? At Icarus’s odd tone, Elius’s expression softened strangely. What? Why is he softening? As I looked on in confusion at the incomprehensible exchange between the two, Icarus merely raised and lowered his eyebrows as if to say not to worry. Elius, who had been prodded by Icarus, suddenly wore a look of surprise. Icarus, who had shoved his brother away from me, now spoke in a slightly mocking voice.

“But it seems ‘that’ plan didn’t go as expected?”

I could see Elius’s jaw clench tightly at those words. Thinking how similar even their habits were as siblings, I watched their interaction.

“I don’t want to meddle, but dealing with my brother’s fiancée who comes crying to me is also quite a task.”

“…What? Roxanne came to you?”

“I think making someone you care about cry is a pretty childish thing to do. Try harder.”

Icarus’s hand moved from Elius’s chest to his shoulder. The touch seemed to carry some emotion, and Elius, now completely agitated, pushed his hand away irritably. Elius walked past Icarus, raising his hands as if in surrender, but his steps were filled with anger.

Only after his brother had completely left did I finally voice the question I’d been holding back.

“You and your brother seem close.”

“Huh?”

“I always thought that, listening to you two talk, you seem pretty close.”

Icarus, who had been smiling smugly as if he had won against his brother, now looked a bit troubled at my words.

“…Yes, we are on good terms.”

“That’s remarkable.”

“Is that something to find remarkable?”

“Well, it’s just that. When I look at you and Agnes, it never seemed particularly great. Ah, Agnes is a bit different. Her older siblings take great care of her, but she doesn’t seem to care as much. Maybe she’s used to their unconditional love?”

Listening to my mumbling analysis of the two examples of sibling relationships around me, Icarus seemed to think for a moment before speaking in a casual tone.

“The feelings my brother has for me are less about unconditional love and more… something else.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to mention, and it’s kind of ridiculous to bring it up.”

Then what feelings does he have? I wondered if my lack of experience with brothers or younger siblings made it hard for me to understand. However, my confusion was soon dispelled by Icarus’s following words.

“Anyway, my brother worries too much about unnecessary things. That’s why she gets tired of him.”

“What? Who gets tired of him?”

He looked at me as if he hadn’t expected that question and replied,

“His fiancée. I think his recent proposal might have failed too.”

“What?”

No way. The incredulous look on my face must have been evident as I asked again. It made no sense. According to the original story, those two were supposed to confirm their feelings and make a firm decision about their future today, at the cherry blossom hill we walked through last year. So, his casual yet confident statement baffled me.

“How do you know that?”

When I asked, Icarus, who had been toying with the decorations on my dress, casually pressed his chest and said,

“The square box was still in his pocket.”

“Box?”

“The proposal ring box.”

Only then did I understand the oddly subdued mood of Elius today. There had been strange parts indeed. It wasn’t the first time I’d spent time with his brother, so there was no reason for Elius to react so sensitively to seeing us together. 

“Did he really fail to propose?”

I stopped in my tracks for a moment. Failed? The proposal? Elius, proposing to Roxanne? Those two, who were already engaged, were supposed to solidify their future together today, not start their relationship. This proposal was supposed to be a leap forward, not a beginning. The shock of such an immutable rule of this world being disrupted made me stop in my tracks. 

Seeing me stop, Icarus asked, “Are your feet hurting?” only then did I regain my senses and start walking again.

Why?

‘I can’t say I haven’t interfered with this world’s flow at all, but at least I haven’t meddled in their relationship. So what on earth happened between those two?’ Even earlier, they were holding hands and dancing happily. So why? Unlike before, I couldn’t understand the direction their hearts were taking. More precisely, I couldn’t understand Roxanne’s heart.

‘Considering Elius is in such a foul mood, it seems like Roxanne’s decision played a big part…’

Even I, who thought I’d rather jump in front of a moving carriage than get involved in their romance, couldn’t help but be puzzled by this situation. But no one could resolve my doubts, so I pushed those thoughts far into the back of my mind.

‘They’ll probably get back to bickering and getting along as usual anyway,’ I thought with a slightly cynical attitude.

Icarus didn’t ask me to keep the matter a secret, but I had no desire to share it with anyone either.

‘I wouldn’t mind if I ended up being the subject of rumors, but I don’t want to drag anyone else into it.’

Even if it involved someone I didn’t particularly like, such as Elius, I knew how tiring it was to be the topic of gossip and didn’t want to contribute to it.

Despite my efforts, the rumor somehow began to spread through the academy. The story that “the Lady of Elexion rejected the Crown Prince” started to circulate.

“Hey, did you hear? Roxanne turned him down…”

The rumor had reached even the outskirts of the social sphere, to people like Agnes and me who were barely involved in socializing. This meant the rumor had spread far and wide, leaving only remnants of the original story. What started as a simple “Roxanne rejected the Crown Prince” had now evolved into tales of their engagement being broken off and Roxanne having feelings for someone else. The distortion was further fueled by the fact that Elius no longer appeared at the archery range to see Roxanne.

Despite the rumors, the two seemed to act as if they were completely unaffected, continuing their lives as usual. Reports of them having pleasant conversations in the greenhouse often followed these rumors as if to counter them.

“Yeah, I heard. But we don’t have time to worry about them right now.”

Just as the ocean doesn’t concern itself with the flow of a lake, no matter how their lives turned out, we had our own matters to attend to.

“Are we really going to do this?”

“Yes. We can’t turn back now.”

Nodding at Agnes, who was holding a piece of paper, I continued hammering nails into the gondola. Agnes mumbled, seemingly distressed.

“This could really get us into trouble…”

Despite our worries, we had no choice but to forge ahead with our plan.