The knight riding a saddled chestnut horse was imposing by anyone's eyes, but the knight himself was puffing out his cheeks in a sulk.
Why on earth did he have to go fetch half a prince?
Since the distant past his house had sworn loyalty to Loegria's royal family. His father Eghon, of course, and his grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather all lived honorable lives as Loegria's shield or sword.
As Eghon had taught him, Estan too had believed it only natural to devote his life to Loegria.
But starting with the current king, Calhog, things had gradually gone wrong somehow.
A current king who'd killed his eldest brother and taken the throne himself, and the Queen's family who, greedy for power, had backed that king. His own father, who still hadn't withdrawn his loyalty to the royal house despite such unsavory events.
On top of that, below them, one illegitimate child prince the king had fathered outside. When that prince grew up and Eghon stepped down, he'd have to serve that illegitimate child.
Since when had the royal blood grown so dirty? Tendons stood out on the forearm gripping the reins.
"Hyah!"
Tearing through the dark air, the horse whinnied long. Estan had no intention of going easy on half a prince who'd run from the royal castle. Spurring mercilessly, he went over the last witness's testimony.
-Blond? I can't really say, but times are so grim these days that I've never seen children going about alone. As for children...... ah. I did see one blond child. Traveling with his cousins, he said.
-Where did they go?
-They went straight down that road. Night's coming soon, so they won't have gotten far.
It would be the prince, no doubt. Golden hair wasn't a color commonly seen among commoners. Guessing as he pleased, Estan began the pursuit down that road right away, and just as the result was about to appear before his eyes.
In the middle of the dark road, a boy stood.
Even seeing a warhorse bigger than his own body charging at him, the boy neither feared nor fled. Instead he only stood there looking straight at Estan.
Pulling the reins to barely turn the horse's head, Estan soothed the excited horse stamping its hooves in place and looked down at the boy. A calm face. Upturned pale green eyes. Long ivory hair.
"You wretch."
"Did you come looking for Prince Erman?"
"How did you...... ......You, you're Prince Erman's attendant."
"I don't remember running into you inside the castle. You're quicker than you look."
"I heard it from Commander Eghon. That when Prince Erman disappeared, the commoner attendant at his side vanished too. Do you know where the prince is?"
"I do."
The boy answered flatly.
"I'm the one who took him out."
"What?"
"Your ears blocked? I said I took Erman out. Not on purpose, but that's how it turned out. So you came all the way here looking for Erman?"
Had he lost his mind? Before anger, Estan looked down at the boy as if at some unknown creature.
Seeing the royal castle crest embroidered on the saddle, he must have realized Estan had come from the royal castle, and yet what insolence. Because he was a commoner? No, even a commoner ought to show respect or fear before a knight, shouldn't he?
Estan finally got down from his horse. His pride was too great to put on airs of dignity facing one tiny boy.
"Bring the prince. If you do that, I'll send you out of the castle with your life intact."
"You're conveniently leaving out that you might cut my tongue out. Well, as long as I don't bleed to death that still counts as alive, so it's not exactly a lie."
"I'll say it again. Prince Erman—"
"Here's my answer. 'No.' Good enough?"
Once again he was speechless. The boy waved his hand as if shooing a gnat.
"Erman's not going back to Puil. No, he'll go back someday, but he's got somewhere to go first, so he won't go right now. So either go quietly back to the castle, or wait around here until Erman and I finish our business and come back, whichever."
"Are you daring to order me right now? You, a commoner servant, a knight of Loegria?"
"Order? I've got no power to force anything. I'm just making a suggestion, and you sure take it sourly. Well...... think what you like. I'm off then."
The boy turned away without hesitation. A mere servant casually insulting a knight and showing no trace of remorse.
At that fact, veins bulged on Estan's jaw. Before any rational judgment, his pride couldn't allow it. The sound of the drawn sword was especially short and fast, and Estan leveling his blade at the boy's neck and the boy turning toward Estan happened almost at the same time.
The moment blazing purple eyes met a chilly pale green gaze,
"-Wait! Stop, both of you stop!"
A lump letting out a desperate scream rolled out of the bushes. Roll, roll.
***
Erman was curled up beneath Pidrin and Daren.
Back in the old house, Albion, who'd been shouting Titania this and that into empty air, had abruptly pushed him by the back.
-Hide, all of you hide for now. I'll handle that somehow.
-How are you going to handle it alone, Albion?! If someone really came from the royal castle, I'll go out with you. If I apologize first and say I'll go back right away, it'll somehow be smoothed over......
-Stop talking nonsense and just get out already!
In the end Erman was dragged out by Pidrin and Daren, his heart pounding the whole time.
What if Albion gets into trouble because of me again? Surely a frightening person came, so what's he going to say in front of someone from the royal castle? Is Albion trying to take all the blame himself? Or trying to step up first and negotiate? What if that doesn't go well?
Bad imaginings swelled wildly in his head by habit. The small frame helplessly dragged away, scenes of being whipped or thrown in prison, scenes that hadn't really happened played out.
And beyond the bushes, the moment the knight with the royal castle's seal set into his saddle finally drew his sword.
Erman ran out, overlooking the fact that Albion also had his hand inside his clothes. He was so desperate that not even Pidrin and Daren could stop him.
So Erman, who'd been rolling on the ground empty-handed, sprang up.
"Don't fight because of me! Stop, both of you!"
"Eli?"
"My prince?"
Estan stopped short. Half a prince or not, he was still a prince. He couldn't carelessly show a sword in front of him. Sheathing his sword, Estan bowed his head.
"Prince Erman. You've come out this far without a word of notice. The Queen and His Majesty are very worried as well."
"H, His Majesty too? He's worried about me?"
"Yes. So please, let's go back now."
It was a lie. No one in the royal castle worried about Erman. Would the one person with any concern for the prince's safety be his own father, Commander Eghon, who'd volunteered to be the prince's teacher?
But Erman's eyes wavered for a moment. Having left the royal castle, for the first time he was told someone had worried about him. That they should go back. Looking at Estan's hand, Erman fidgeted his fingers, then shook his head.
Instead, taking the sleeve of Albion behind him, Erman spoke firmly.
"I have business outside the castle. So I cannot go back just now. Because I made a promise to Albion."
"There's no need to keep a promise made to a commoner attendant, my prince."
"The weight of a promise does not change according to the other party's rank."
Estan's eyebrow twitched. It was his habit when he saw someone he disliked.
"This is troublesome, my prince. To cause so many people difficulty over this one attendant. Something unthinkable for the Prince of Loegria."
"I am clearly the Prince of Loegria, recognized by His Majesty King Calhog. I feel plenty of regret toward the people in Puil. But if I easily break a promise I made of my own will, no one will take my promises seriously from now on. I have no intention of taking back a single word said as a member of Loegria's royal house."
Even under a chilly gaze, Erman spoke clearly. With things having come to this, it was Estan who found it bothersome.
Normally he'd go back meekly, but seeing him dig in this far, the attendants must have fawned over him quite a bit. Rumor in the castle said he was an abandoned prince, but that didn't seem quite right either.
On top of that, the way he brought up royal honor and promises was the most cumbersome. It wasn't as if he'd sworn a Geis, yet for someone so ignorant of the world he was this stubborn.
In his heart, he wanted to tuck Erman under his arm whether he resisted or not and go straight back to the royal castle, but Estan's honor and pride as a knight wouldn't allow it. As he wondered for a moment how to persuade half a prince.
Behind Erman, Albion spoke quietly.
"Erman, get out of the way. One look and I can see him scheming when he can't even manage it. I'm telling you I'll handle it, okay?"
"Ah, Albion. With him right in front of you, if you say it so he can hear everything."
"Was I wrong? Do guys whose brains are made of muscle even have anything to think with? So move. I'll take care of it before he spouts something weird again."
At the whispering with no need to hide, the back of Estan's neck grew stiff. Brains of muscle? Take care of me? That insolent rat bastard dares?
Finally unable to bear it, Estan again put his hand on his sword hilt. This time other uninvited guests crawled out of the bushes. Two of them, no less.
A woman with a shabby look and a nasty face raised her hand first.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but we're here too."
"Why'd you two come out? I told you to hold on to Eli, can't you even do something that simple? What on earth is the meaning of your existence? Lending money? Getting kicked? Pretending to be guardians and being useless when you're actually needed?"
"If we're acting as guardians, isn't that pretty useful......?"
"Shut up, Daren. More importantly, from over there we could hear everything you said. Are you guys seriously that? Prince something? This isn't a joke right now?"
"You people really can't read a room."
"Aah."
Estan groaned before he knew it and wiped his face. Besides the commoner attendant, two more witnesses.
At this rate it wasn't something that would easily end with persuading Erman. What should he do about the witnesses? Kill them? In front of the prince? Or sweet-talk them and take them to Puil?
No, then if other people saw, it'd get even more troublesome. What would the Queen say if the kingdom's people all saw a country's prince sneak out and return to the royal castle trailing a string of commoners?
To the sighing Estan, Albion, who'd been glaring at Pidrin and Daren, poked his head out from behind Erman.
"You're fucked if you go back like this, aren't you?"
"......What?"
"You'll get chewed out first by the Queen, then get called in by His Majesty King Calhog too, won't you? If you go like this, you'd have to quietly get rid of those two and stuff me and Erman in a sack to take us to Puil, wouldn't you? But would we just follow you meekly? It doesn't look like we would, does it?"
"A wretch like you is threatening me? A mere commoner?"
"Is a guy with relatively low intelligence going to keep saying commoner, commoner? Makes this commoner feel filthy hearing it. If you want to prove you're smart, shouldn't you think about how to negotiate instead of taking us?"
"You little—"
"Erman, what do you want to do? You going to follow this guy?"
At the sudden question, Erman's eyes went round, then he hurriedly shook his head.
"No. We agreed to go to Tintagel and see the dragon, you and me, and I'll keep my promise. Definitely."
"There you have it, milord knight. Wait here quietly for about a month."
"My prince! Have you no thought for the feelings of those waiting at the castle?!"
Finally Estan shouted. By instinct, Erman's thin shoulders flinched. For a very brief moment Albion's eyes sharpened, but he quickly recovered and proposed in a peaceful tone.
"If you hate waiting that much, how about coming along?"
"What?"
"If you drag Erman back by force now, you'd have to shut the witnesses up and deal with me too. And what if Erman gets hurt somewhere resisting on the way? Wouldn't the Queen or King give you a hefty scolding?"
"So you want me to accompany you and escort the prince back to the castle as safely as possible?"
"It's not bad for you either. Think it over."
It wasn't even worth reconsidering. Estan was about to refuse at once, when he suddenly recalled the Queen's lady-in-waiting Eghon had run into.
Two knights to look for the prince. If Eghon hadn't stepped up to send him personally, what kind of guy would've taken on the prince's search mission? Half a prince with no base of support. No one would look hard for someone the Queen considered a thorn in her eye.
Maybe the Queen wasn't looking for Erman, but wanted news of his death more.
Then bringing Erman back safely meant trouble, and failing to bring him back meant trouble too; the road of hardship was plain either way. The former meant torment from the Queen, the latter from his father. As Estan's expression soured, Albion snorted.
"See. Staying out of the castle for a while and thinking about what to do isn't such a bad choice."
"......"
"If you want to pick the rough road for your pride, I won't stop you, but I'll do my best to get in your way. What'll it be? Coming along, or fighting here right now?"
Damned commoner wretch.
Estan gritted his teeth. Rationally speaking it would be better to stay out of the castle a while longer, but Albion's tone nearly evaporated even the thought of wanting to.
Just then.
A tiny hand covered the back of Estan's hand.
"Sir. I know my stubbornness is causing others trouble."
"My prince."
"But as I said before, young as I may be, my promises are not light. I promise to hurry as fast as I can, so I would be glad if I could borrow your strength as far as Tintagel, Sir."
Blue eyes looked up at Estan. Only then did Estan loosen his fist and let out a sigh, as if he had no choice.
"......There is no law forbidding a prince from traveling incognito, after all. The way may be dangerous, so please allow me to serve you, my prince."
"If you say so, I'm glad. I'll be counting on you from now on, Sir."
Erman smiled brightly. A young prince who'd inherited Calhog's eyes and yet didn't resemble him. Estan nodded. He'd knocked around since his squire days; attending one gentle prince for a little while would be nothing.
But at that point Estan was still completely in the dark.
About the fact that being at Erman's side meant having to clean up after Albion, Pidrin and Daren as well.
TL Notes:
TL Note: Geis - a binding vow of honor.