“Let’s go back now.”
“Mm, let’s go.”
“To our home.”
…Our home.
Not once had he ever thought of that crumbling palace building as his home.
Of course he hadn’t. He was going to leave soon anyway. That was why he had never grown attached to it. He had never complained about how old and worn-down everything was, either. After all, it wasn’t his.
He had definitely thought that way, and yet hearing the words ‘our home’ come from Henry’s mouth made him feel strangely unsettled.
“Mm.”
Ignoring the emotions he could not put into words as they churned inside his chest, Jedrier slowly followed Henry.
He had been worrying about what they were going to do for meals from now on when something unbelievable happened.
The storage room, which had been completely empty, was now filled with food supplies.
It was as though they had simply fallen from the sky.
If he had only just possessed this body, he probably would have happily accepted the windfall without thinking twice, but unfortunately, that was no longer the case.
Who had brought all of this here, and with what intention?
One suspicion led to another, stretching endlessly.
Perhaps realizing that Jedrier was glaring suspiciously at the food supplies, Henry softly whispered into his ear.
There was no one around to hear them, so why was he whispering?
But Jedrier liked the feeling of Henry’s breath against his ear, so he did not question it.
Wait, could it be because of that?
He suddenly remembered how he had repeatedly warned Henry that the imperial palace had ears in the walls and even in the ground, so he needed to be careful.
‘As expected.’
Henry was changing little by little.
In a positive direction.
“I asked a friend of mine for help. Fortunately, it seems he brought everything over.”
“You have a friend?”
“…….”
Jedrier became curious about Henry’s friend.
No, if your friend was so kind, naïve, and innocent that no one could compare, shouldn’t you stop people from bullying him and protect him?
How could you let things go so far that Henry could say being hit was something he was ‘used to’?!
“Introduce me sometime.”
He was curious what the man looked like.
He was only going to have a conversation with him.
Really!
Of course, depending on how that conversation went, he might end up giving him a little lecture.
“…Yes.”
Looking at the fully stocked storage room made Jedrier feel as though all of his worries had disappeared at once.
His heart felt much lighter, and some of his gloom faded away.
Of course, it was not something he had accomplished himself. He had received Henry’s help.
‘I really haven’t done anything for him.’
A place to sleep?
It was cold and miserable. Every time the bed moved, it made a horrifying creeeak, and there was no softness to be found anywhere. There was no blanket, and the pillow was barely holding its shape, much less serving any actual purpose.
Meals?
Well, lately they had at least eaten some meat….
Still, it was true that Jedrier had mostly fed him meals full of weeds.
Money?
He had none, so he had borrowed some.
Clothes?
All he had were rags or clothes completely unsuited to the season.
Even that much was already terrible.
And on top of it all, someone had even stolen the ingredients they had bought with borrowed money.
His anger toward the shameless bastard whose face he had never even seen began boiling up again.
Jedrier steadied his increasingly rough breathing.
For now, they should eat.
He had not eaten anything since morning….
And he needed to comfort Henry after all the shock he had gone through.
The food supplies were of fairly good quality.
The vegetables were fresh, and the meat gleamed a vivid red. There were also hardy staple crops that could be stored and eaten for a long time.
At least there was one fortunate thing among all the misfortune.
Jedrier watched the meat browning nicely over the grill, then raised his gaze toward Henry, who was cooking with his sleeves rolled all the way up to his forearms.
“I could cook it….”
“I want to make it for you today.”
Was he going to have to eat burnt meat again?
Jedrier pressed his lips tightly together.
But the meat was already on the grill.
Henry had even rolled up his sleeves.
Jedrier steeled himself.
If our boy wants to cook, then I’ll let him cook as much as he wants.
Later, once they escaped from the palace, if the day naturally came when Henry was no longer by his side….
He would surely miss this moment.
Even if the meat tasted awful and was burned black, he could happily eat as much as Henry made for him.
“Haven’t you always made meals for me?”
Once again, Henry’s kind heart made the tip of Jedrier’s nose sting.
Of course, it was not Jedrier’s fault that a thief had completely cleaned out the food storage….
Even so, he felt a certain sense of responsibility.
He was supposed to be the master, yet he could not even properly provide a single meal for the person under him.
And in the first place, if Henry had not been there, they would never have gotten these ingredients.
“Here you are.”
“Wow.”
Jedrier had thoroughly prepared himself, but the result was completely different from what he had expected.
Instead of the lump of charcoal from last time, there was a piece of meat glistening beautifully with a rich brown sheen.
Jedrier stared at Henry with his eyes wide.
“Please eat.”
“Mmm.”
As if he knew exactly what Jedrier had been thinking, Henry placed the appetizingly grilled meat onto his plate.
He seemed proud of himself.
Jedrier had said it was fine, but it seemed turning the meat into charcoal last time had bothered Henry after all.
“Go on.”
“What about you?”
“I will eat after you do, Jeri.”
At those words, Jedrier quickly cut into the meat.
It was tender enough to be sliced even with the old knife.
And it tasted every bit as good as it looked.
He had barely chewed a few times before it seemed to melt in his mouth.
“Is it good?”
Just as Jedrier was about to answer, Mm, the fork slipped from his hand.
Clang.
Even the sharp sound striking his ears left his mind blank.
Huh?
What was wrong with him?
He could barely put any strength into his hand.
“Jeri?”
The voice calling his name grew louder, then quieter again.
Jedrier shook his head, trying to clear his senses.
He could not tell whether his vision was swaying or the entire world was.
Everything before his eyes spun.
Jedrier reached out.
Was what his hand touched the table?
Or was it Henry’s hand?
Something hot surged violently up from inside him.
“Jeri?”
Ugh—
Jedrier clamped both hands over his mouth to hold back the rising nausea.
Why?
Why was this happening?
He needed to lower his hands and tell Henry that he was all right.
He needed to apologize for worrying him.
But before he could even pull his hands away from his mouth, a metallic-tasting liquid forced its way up his throat.
Dark red blood trickled between his fingers.
Did I just cough up blood?
Why?
He had felt that this body was somewhat weak, but not weak enough to start coughing up blood like this.
His sense of reality gradually began to fade.
“He-Henry.”
“Do not speak.”
He knew he should not jump to conclusions, but it seemed the food had been poisoned.
He had no idea who would poison the food or why.
Who would gain something from killing me?
But if someone truly wanted him dead, there had been countless opportunities before now.
They could have sent an assassin and disguised it as suicide, or broken into the palace in the middle of the night and set the place on fire.
Wouldn’t either of those have been easier?
Why go to such elaborate lengths just to kill him?
Jedrier grabbed hold of the thread of consciousness that was slipping away from him.
Think.
He had to think.
‘Count Olson will be happy.’
He did not care what sort of deal that man made with the Emperor because of his death.
As long as the consequences did not fall on Henry.
‘Can a fate of death really never be changed?’
He needed to tell Henry to run.
To leave him here and live as though he had never come to this place in the first place.
But no words would come out.
Every time he opened his mouth to speak, another mouthful of blood rose in his throat.
There was no strength left in his collapsing body.
He only blinked once, and somehow he was already in Henry’s arms.
Henry’s snow-white shirt was stained with the blood Jedrier had coughed up.
Ah.
This was what he should have said first.
“He-Henry.”
“Yes.”
“You… d-didn’t eat, right?”
“…Pardon?”
“Don’t… don’t eat it.”
His chest burned as though he had swallowed a ball of fire.
He wanted to claw at it with his hand, but he no longer had enough strength even to lift his arm.
Jedrier forcibly swallowed another surge of blood.
He had to speak properly and clearly so Henry would not worry.
His vision was too blurred for him to see what expression our boy was making.
“I’m sorry.”
His heart hurt at the thought that innocent Henry had gotten caught up in his problems.
He should have sent Henry away the moment he arrived.
He should have coldly pushed him out….
Regret came crashing over him like a flood.
“Because… because of me….”
Jedrier forced strength into his eyelids as they grew heavier and heavier.
“You have… to run.”
Henry had done nothing wrong, but the people trying to kill Jedrier would surely make Henry their scapegoat.
No.
They definitely would.
To them, Henry would be easy prey.
“…Got… it?”
Henry had to listen to him.
Jedrier wanted to hold on to consciousness until Henry nodded or gave him some kind of answer.
But each time his eyelids closed, they stayed shut longer than before.
“An-answer me….”
“I told you not to speak.”
Henry seemed to answer him with something else as well, but before that answer could reach Jedrier’s ears, his eyelids fell shut first.