“Oh? Prince. Over there, isn’t that Prince Thierry and Princess Deborah?”
Miguel tilted his head because there was an unusual combination of people in the Epsilon main gallery corridor.
‘They don’t seem to be on bad terms.’
They were both handsome with a certain delinquent feeling to them, so they were a good match.
‘They’re glamorous troublemakers, just like they look.’
Princess Deborah had been known for being a ruffian since she was younger, and everyone knew Sir Thierry was a loafer.
‘Thanks to Princess Deborah, Sir Thierry has been buried a lot.’
“What is this?”
He heard Isidor’s cold voice.
When the atmosphere next to him suddenly became unusual, Miguel looked up at his master.
‘Ugh.’
He didn’t show his foul personality when he was in his original appearance, but his master was looking at the place where the Princess and Thierry were standing with a disgruntled face.
Meanwhile, Thierry was having a conversation with Deborah that felt somewhat out of place.
“Are you really coming to the music room to meet me?”
He smirked and spoke in a light tone that was unique to him.
“What kind of music do you like? Thanks to you, I managed to survive being killed by my Father’s sword. I’ll play anything you ask. I usually play nocturne songs, but I can play minuet as well.”
(T/N: A nocturne is a musical composition that reflects the moods and feelings of nighttime.)
Deborah’s eyes widened as he rambled with a little excitement.
She paused for a moment and then opened her mouth.
“I came here because I had something to ask, not because of your piano performance.”
She seemed to be interested in the performance for a moment, but he must have been mistaken.
“What is it?”
“Sir Diera doesn’t happen to have more holy beast eggs, does he?”
It was a trivial question, so Thierry was somehow disappointed and scratched his chin.
He looked so disgraceful the last time that he wanted to make up for it a little this time.
“If he had, I would have taken it.”
“… Ahh.”
“Diera is not interested in anything other than swords. That fossil is probably the only thing he got when he was a kid.”
“I see.”
“Stop by the music room when you’re free. I’m the only one in the Music Club, but I think that’s even better. It’s better than listening to crappy performances.”
“Can it be called a club if there is only one member?”
“I know there are only two people in the Mana Research Club, even with the 5th Princess.”
“… Three people.”
“Michelle Granbert is a ghost member.”
While they were grinning and having a conversation that had no purpose, he saw a familiar person.
‘Sir Isidor is more handsome every time I see him.’
He walked their way with neat gestures.
The moment their eyes met, Thierry tilted his head as Isidor seemed to be looking at him with a cold expression.
‘No way, I must have seen it wrong.’
The Isidor he knew was a gentleman and kind to everyone. He was so patient that he was never angry for no reason.
“Princess Deborah, what are you doing here?”
Isidor, who naturally interrupted them, gave a sweet eye smile at Princess Deborah and asked her kindly.
‘Wow, he looks extremely handsome.’
Thierry was secretly astonished.
Until now, only admiration came out when he looked at his face, as if he were looking at an outstanding work of art, but a subtle annoyance started to surge.
‘Why does this guy suddenly look like a fox? He definitely glared at me earlier.’
“Sir Isidor, why are you treating me like a ghost? I’m disappointed.”
“Princess, what were you and Sir Thierry talking about?”
“Hey. I’m standing here.”
Princess Deborah blinked slowly at Isidor, then opened her mouth.
“It’s no b-big deal. You two can talk. I have to go because I have a class soon.”
She quickly slipped out of the conversation.
As soon as Princess Deborah disappeared, Isidor’s expression turned somewhat cold, and Thierry flinched his shoulders.
‘As I thought, he did glare at me.’
“Sir Thierry. Why are you suddenly talking so comfortably to her like she was a fellow knight? Weren’t the two of you indifferent to each other?”
“Why do I feel like you’re interrogating me? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’m asking you very kindly right now. Do you want me to show you what interrogating is like?”
“Wow. It’s not a big deal as the Princess said, so you don’t have to worry about it. Why is someone who has a lot to care about other than these trivial things doing this to me?”
“Did you forget that I’m one of the vice-captains of the White Knights? If I make a three-year report on your training attitude and send it to Duke Orgo, he’ll be very pleased, right? Now, this is interrogating.”
“How dare you threaten me with something like that! That’s too much. You’re telling me to die.”
“What do you mean, threaten? I have been doing a good job at hiding your bad attitude. If I do so, please describe it as a favor.”
“Wow! I can’t beat you with words. You were this kind of person?”
“So, it’s easier to just tell me what happened. I can’t handle being curious very well.”
Thierry frowned slightly seeing Isidor’s persistent attitude, which was unlike him.
‘That’s strange.’
The relationship between Princess Deborah and Prince Isidor seemed to be quite different from the rumors that circulated.
Most were speculating that Princess Deborah was blackmailing Isidor, or that there was some kind of deal and arrangement between the families.
The former was unfounded and exaggerated, but the latter was quite credible.
Both Seymour and Visconti were long-established imperialist families.
‘But now I see that Isidor is the one that is much more interested in her.’
Thierry pondered for a moment as he kept forcing him to answer.
‘What should I do?’
However, he could not confess that he forged a holy beast fossil and sold the genuine to the Princess, and that they all went to the racetrack with the money after that.
He quickly made up a plausible excuse.
“I told Princess Deborah to come to Epsilon’s clubroom if she wanted to hear a piano performance.”
It was also true.
In fact, she came to listen to him play last time.
“Performance?”
Isidor raised his eyebrows.
“I’m pretty good at playing the piano. The Princess likes to listen to lyrical music. We have similar tastes in music.”
“…”
“Did you understand? Then, I’m going to train. I thought you were the most generous, but it turned out you were the most terrifying person.”
Thierry grunted and walked towards the main building exit, and Isidor roughly swept his hair up in a confused mood.
‘Why is that bastard so annoying?’
He wasn’t feeling good already, but when Thierry smiled gently and spoke comfortably to the Princess, his insides were completely twisted.
In addition, he was secretly angry that Thierry was getting close to the Princess with only his piano.
What? They have similar tastes in music?
What kind of music preference does the Princess have for him to be saying that?
When he thought that they might get closer together in the future through the common denominator of playing the piano, his judgement became more and more distorted.
He looked irritated and approached Miguel, who was waiting at the entrance, with big strides.
“Miguel.”
“Yes, Prince.”
“I’m going to learn how to play the piano.”
“…”
“Find a grand piano made by a famous craftsman with the most excellent tone.”
“… Yes, Prince. I will prepare it.”
He immediately stopped by the largest music shop in the Yones District that day.
Then, he returned to the mansion with a bunch of nocturne musical scores with a lyrical atmosphere.
***
“Ahh.”
I turned the white stone around and let out a deep sigh.
“Hey, why aren’t you reacting?”
All circumstances said that I had acquired both the holy beast egg and the magic tool, but there was no change even after I tapped it and rubbed it with the sword thousands of times.
I even put the sword and the egg together in a blanket to give it a cozy feeling like a mother’s embrace.
It didn’t react, of course.
‘Is there any other way that I am unaware of?’
The knowledgeable Arin, who has read many books, may know something about ancient hatching artifacts.
I took the tea leaves and headed to the annex where Arin’s lab was located.
