“What are you planning to do by going alone?”
To be honest, Jedrier had not thought that far ahead. If he did not go downstairs, the uninvited nighttime visitor would eventually come upstairs. And if that happened, the chances of being able to protect Henry were slim. It would be far better to go down alone and confront them.
“…Talk?”
“What if it’s someone you can’t talk to?”
If it was someone he could not reason with, then there was even less chance he could take Henry with him. It was dangerous.
“How could a servant let his master go alone?”
Henry rose to his feet as well, his expression firm. Jedrier shook his head and told him no, but the boy remained resolute.
“If you leave me here, I’ll follow you no matter what I have to do.”
“Henry!”
“If you punish me for disobeying your order, I’ll accept it willingly.”
Jedrier realized Henry meant every word. If he left Henry here and went alone, the boy would definitely follow him. Even knowing perfectly well that it was dangerous. But at the same time, he could not bring Henry along when he had no idea what variables might arise.
What should he do? What was the right decision?
Since Henry had already said he would come with him no matter what, Jedrier crossed off the option of going downstairs and confronting the intruder directly.
“…Then should we hide together?”
Henry had his back to the moonlight, so Jedrier could not clearly make out his expression. But somehow, it seemed like the corners of his lips had curved upward. There was no way Henry would be smiling in such an urgent situation, so Jedrier was probably imagining things.
“Let’s hide. What do you think? If we stay hidden until morning, won’t they eventually leave?”
“Where should we hide?”
The bathroom? Too obvious.
The wardrobe? It was a little too small for Henry. And the wardrobe was obvious too. If Jedrier were the intruder, he would open the wardrobe first.
Under the bed? It was possible, of course….
Jedrier’s gaze landed on the bed that was practically falling apart. The bed frame was barely holding up the mattress.
Hide underneath that?
The bed would collapse.
He could not afford to lose one of the few pieces of furniture that still had something resembling a proper shape.
‘Hmm.’
If possible, somewhere with a weapon would be best, right?
But in this old palace, what could even be called a weapon—
Wait.
Jedrier nearly clapped his hands, forgetting that they were supposed to stay quiet. Instead, he leaned toward Henry’s ear and whispered.
“I put an axe in the storage room where I keep the food.”
“…An axe?”
“Yeah. You chopped firewood with it, remember?”
He had put it in the food storage room because he was worried the Emperor might come by and start swinging the axe around.
Who would have thought that had been foresight?
All the trouble he had gone through to put it away had been worth it. The axe was missing most of its edge, but having it was still better than having nothing. They knew the blade was dull, but since the surroundings were dark, the other person would not be able to tell whether the axe was sharp or chipped.
For once, it was fortunate that this palace was too poor to keep candles lit in the corridors.
“There’s a weapon there too, so how about we hide there?”
“…All right.”
“Can we go downstairs quietly?”
“Yes.”
Jedrier immediately grabbed Henry’s hand. It seemed better than holding onto his sleeve if something dangerous happened. It would also make it easier to run.
“Then let’s go.”
“…Yes.”
Henry looked tense.
Jedrier’s face flushed slightly as he looked at the nervous Henry and pulled up the corners of his lips. He was probably worried.
Henry must think he would be the one who had to swing the axe hidden in the food storage room.
There was no way Jedrier would let him do something like that.
“If things go wrong, I’ll swing the axe, so don’t worry.”
“…Pardon?”
Henry had only ever used an axe to split firewood. He had probably never hit a person with one….
Of course, Jedrier had never done that either.
Still, if one of the two of them had to pick up the axe, Jedrier thought it should obviously be him.
‘I can’t make our boy hold something like that.’
As though agreeing with his own thoughts, Jedrier nodded to himself and carefully began walking while holding Henry’s hand.
“Let’s go down now.”
“…Yes.”
He opened the door as quietly as possible and cautiously stuck his head out.
There was nothing but chilly air. He still could not hear any sign of another person.
Just in case, he counted twenty seconds in his head before stepping outside.
Fortunately, the intruder who had entered the palace seemed not to have noticed anything.
“There are stairs ahead. Be careful.”
Creeeeak—
Jedrier tried to descend as quietly as possible, but the moment he stepped on the old staircase, it shrieked as if it had been waiting for him.
The sound was loud enough that even whoever had secretly entered this place must have heard it.
With one foot on the stairs, Jedrier froze in place, unable to go forward or back.
‘I’m screwed.’
There was no helping it now.
They would have to fight hand-to-hand.
Jedrier let go of Henry’s hand.
But instead, Henry caught the hand he had released and laced their fingers together.
‘Huh?’
Wouldn’t that leave them one hand short for fighting?
Jedrier blinked and looked up at Henry before opening his mouth.
“I’ll hit them hard once, so run while I’m doing that.”
“They seem to have left.”
“Huh?”
“Pardon?”
Jedrier stared at Henry with wide eyes.
What had Henry just said?
“You said you’d hit someone?”
“You said they seem to have left?”
Their words overlapped again.
Jedrier nodded toward Henry, indicating that he should speak first. Normally—no, Henry usually would have told Jedrier to go first instead, but this time he spoke.
There was the faintest trace of irritation in his voice.
“If we have to fight someone, wouldn’t I have an advantage over you, Jeri? Then why are you telling me to run? Do you trust me that little?”
“Huh? No….”
That was absolutely not what Jedrier meant.
Not once since coming here had he ever thought Henry was unreliable. He had always thought Henry was dependable, trustworthy, and diligent.
“I’m worried about you…. And I might be stronger, you know? You don’t know which one is stronger until you compare them.”
“…….”
Do you really need to compare them to know which one is stronger? Just looking at you two, doesn’t Henry obviously look stronger than you?
Jedrier ignored the voice in his head whispering at him.
Shamelessly, he looked at Henry and blinked.
“You don’t have to worry about anything. I can take care of it all myself.”
Jedrier proudly puffed out his chest.
When judging a person, you should never judge based on size.
Of course, Henry had big hands, broad shoulders, and was strong enough to split firewood over and over with a chipped axe….
But his heart was too soft. Obviously, he would not be able to hit another person.
Compared to that, Jedrier….
If a dangerous situation came up, he could throw punches and kick as much as necessary.
So it made more sense for him to step in.
Henry might think differently, though.
“So there’s no one here anymore?”
Jedrier quickly changed the subject.
“Yes. I can’t sense anyone anymore.”
“Did they hear us come out and run away?”
“That’s possible.”
Jedrier wondered whether they should go downstairs and check or just return to the bedroom, lock the door, and wait until morning.
After thinking it over, he spoke.
“Should we just go back to the bedroom for now? Even if something’s missing… there’s nothing we can do about it right now. Let’s check in the morning.”
“Yes.”
“You were scared, weren’t you, Henry?”
“…A little.”
Henry remained standing there, as though he had something more to say.
It looked like there was something on his mind.
“So….”
“Yeah.”
“May I hold your hand while we sleep?”
“Of course!”
What kind of difficult request was that?
Jedrier could not help smiling at Henry’s innocence.
So that was what he had hesitated so long to say.
Cute.
“Let’s hold hands tightly while we sleep.”
Jedrier did not know why the intruder had come here in the middle of the night, but fortunately, they had left without doing anything.
* * *
When Jedrier opened his eyes, he realized his face was pressed against Henry’s chest.
He also realized Henry had his arm wrapped tightly around his back.
He was sure they had only been holding hands when they fell asleep….
So why had this happened again?
Jedrier’s eyes darted around.
Surely he had not been the one to rub his face all over Henry’s chest first, right?
Seeing Henry’s hand resting against his back, it was obvious Henry had been the one to pull him into an embrace.
‘Of course I wouldn’t do that again. Obviously.’
It felt like an incredibly petty thought, but he could not help it!
Now that he was awake, he should move, but his eyelids kept sinking shut.
In the end, Jedrier lost to his body’s temptation to sleep just a little longer and closed his eyes again.
“Jeri.”
“Mmm?”
Jedrier opened his eyes at the careful touch shaking his shoulder. The moment he saw Henry sitting on the edge of the bed, he shot upright.
“You need to wake up.”
He had clearly meant to close his eyes for only a moment, but he must have fallen deeply asleep.
Which meant….
Henry had seen him like that.
How was he supposed to explain himself?
His mind went completely blank.
“Mmm.”
Explain himself?
He could not.
It really was his fault.
Seeing that kind Henry did not mention it at all, it seemed he was simply going to let it slide.
Then Jedrier had no choice but to seize the opportunity!
As expected, Henry was far too kind.
“Would you like to wash? I heated some water for you.”
“Should we wash together?”