RAVEN was in the dining hall, stuffing his cheeks full of their best steak. He was off-duty for now; he’d been told to take it easy after his expedition, and he was definitely going to take advantage of that.
However, in the middle of gorging himself on steak at his own leisure, he was rudely interrupted.
“There he is! It’s Sir Raven!”
A group of officials burst into the hall and surrounded where Raven sat at the table. He froze, his cheeks bulging with food. All of a sudden, he had a bad feeling he’d done something to upset someone.
“…What’s wrong?” he asked nervously, gulping down his mouthful of food.
“I-I’m ever so sorry to interrupt your meal, but we need your help, Sir Raven!” one of the officials implored him.
“We are completely powerless…” another one lamented.
“Wh-What the hell?” Raven chuckled shakily. “Seriously, what’s happened?”
Don’t tell me the Rebellion are back…
He stiffened up, putting himself on guard. However, one crying official quickly quelled his fears, tearily beginning to plead with him.
“It’s about Prince Sirius…”
“Did he do something to you? Or maybe he said something nasty to you?” Raven contemplated. He’d known Sirius for a long time, but he could barely recall any occasions where he’d been unreasonable with his attendants.
Seeing how Sirius earnestly performed all of his duties without so much of a complaint—especially when all of his many brothers did nothing but slack off and play around—Raven couldn’t help but want to stay with him. In the past, he’d been approached by one of the other princes with the promise of a pay raise, but he refused it. He believed that if this prince had the time to try to lure his younger brother’s attendant away with money, he should be spending it helping with palace duties instead. A lingering sense of rage still remained within him.
That prince was the one who completely fell for a honeytrap; by the time he’d spent one night with this beautiful woman, his body lay cold in the sheets the next morning.
“Lord Sirius has only just returned to Celaeno. He must be extremely tired from the long journey home, too. Thus, I suggested that he retire to his chambers for a while, or spend some time with Saint Marialite, but…”
“But…?”
“He won’t rest,” the official explained, looking distraught.
“He’s working nonstop?” Raven guessed.
“Yes.”
“While I’m just sitting here eating steak?”
“Yes.”
Right. I shouldn’t be here right now.
Raven stood up and let his knife and fork fall to the plate with a loud clatter.
✦ ✦ ✦
WHEN he arrived at the main office, Raven found Sirius just as he’d expected—surrounded by mountains of documents.
“Lord Sirius!” he greeted. “I can’t eat in peace with you in here. Take a break, won’tcha?”
“I’m not tired, though,” Sirius insisted. “Don’t worry about me. You’re free to go and eat as much fish and meat as you like.”
“Aw, c’mon, you!” he whined. “How can you act like you’re just doing a little bit of work after going for a stroll in the garden?! You’ve been away for months!”
He was almost killed, escaped the country, and after a long detour, he finally made his way back. No one would complain if he took some time off. In fact, everyone wanted him to take some time off. There wasn’t a soul in the country cruel enough to make him return to work immediately after coming home.
“I already rested for far too long while I was living at Lady Marialite’s house,” he harrumphed.
“That wasn’t rest,” Raven sighed. “I was the only one with any means of contacting the palace, so you couldn’t possibly have done anything before I came and found you.”
“If I really wanted, I could’ve returned home myself,” he pouted. “I was too soft on myself by waiting for you to show up. Besides, the only reason I stayed there was for my own selfish desires.”
Apparently, he wasn’t cranky because he was physically exhausted—but rather, he was wallowing in his feelings of self-hatred.
“Well yeah, I get that, but…even the Celestial Dragon needs a break every now and then.”
The Celestial Dragon was another name that had been bestowed upon Sirius. He had excelled in magic ever since he was a small child, and his abilities soon overtook his brothers’ as he got older. Plus, he lived for his work, and it was that conscientious attitude that meant he was chosen to be the crown prince.
Knowing Sirius, there was only one reason Raven could think of to explain why he had wanted to stay behind in a foreign country so badly.
“Is it because you wanted to stay with Marialite?” he winked.
“…I am a weak, weak man,” he sighed, shaking his head as he let the documents he was reading flutter down to the desk.
“Now, don’t be silly,” Raven teased. “You weren’t just playing around like a kid. You were genuinely helping an adult with grown-up work, so I think everyone would totally understand if you took a break. Now you’re free to go to Marialite and flirt with her as much as you like, y’know?”
“I’m worried about that, too,” he immediately countered. “Of course, I want to see Lady Marialite and let that smile of hers heal my heart. I also want to hear her lovely voice, and hold her hands.”
“Seeing how overcome with love you are, I’m actually surprised by how pure-hearted those desires are…” Raven chuckled. “I thought you’d be fantasizing about sucking her fingers and all sorts of other weird stuff.”
“……”
Sirius fell silent, and a bright, hopeful glimmer suddenly flickered across both eyes.
“Hey, I wasn’t trying to give you ideas!” Raven wailed. “Definitely do not do that! Nope! No siree!”
I should’ve known not to say anything—even if it was a joke.
Regret clouded his face, while Sirius turned to gaze out the window.
“However, it seems like Lady Marialite still needs some time to gather her thoughts. I think I need to leave her be for a little while.”
“Gather her thoughts? On what?”
“She looked very conflicted over whether to become my wife or not,” he admitted sorrowfully.
“If she’s not sure, shouldn’t you go and try to persuade her right away? If she changes her mind, you’ll get dumped, y’know,” he reminded him.
“I don’t want to force her into anything. The main reason I took her away from that godforsaken country was to stop her from being treated like some sort of tool, after all,” he said, his eyebrows turning up forlornly.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Raven hummed in agreement.
The way the royal family had treated Marialite was absolutely terrible. And, even though they’d sent her away for the most selfish of reasons, they’d surely turn to her for help again if anything went wrong. Knowing Marialite’s innate inclination to help others, it was easy to imagine her agreeing to save them without a second thought.
“I want her to be happy more than anyone else. If this is what Lady Marialite wants, it’s not my place to convince her otherwise. All I can do is continue to love her with all my being for the rest of my days,” he murmured tenderly.
“If you’re the future emperor, don’t you think it’s a bad idea not to marry anyone…?” Raven pointed out.
“In that case, heirship would simply be transferred to another branch of the imperial family. There are numerous ways for me to protect both this kingdom and Lady Marialite without becoming the emperor.”
It’s really not as simple as he thinks it is.
Raven was pretty sure that if the current emperor caught wind of this plan, he’d do everything he could to stop it, too.
On a personal level, I want him to live however he wants, but as his attendant, I can’t just let him abandon the empire.
“If only we could get Marialite to look at you as a potential romantic interest somehow…” he mused. He never thought he would return to the now-peaceful demon empire, only to be immediately confronted with yet another earth-shattering obstacle in Sirius’ path.
All of a sudden, Sirius sprung to his feet with a look of realization on his face and threw the door open with a slam. He moved so quickly that Raven’s eyes couldn’t even track his movements properly; for a moment, he thought he’d teleported away.
“Oh, Lord Sirius!” He heard a melodic voice from the other side of the door. “How did you know I was here? I hadn’t even knocked yet.”
It was Marialite, along with a few palace maids. Apparently, Sirius had sensed her presence and swiftly leaped into action.
“Is something the matter, Lady Marialite?” he asked sincerely.
“This maid baked some delicious cookies. If you’d like, I thought we could eat some together, and—”
“Yes. Definitely.”
He didn’t even bother waiting for her to finish her sentence before agreeing. Perhaps he’d become restless while forbidding himself from going to see her, because his movements were far too exaggerated for simply standing around talking.
“I’m overjoyed to receive such a wonderful invitation from you,” he whispered in a deep, heated tone. Most likely, it was entirely unintentional, but it certainly made an impact; the accompanying maids’ cheeks flushed bright red.
Now, that’s not fair. How can the guy be so handsome AND sound so good?
However, most crucially, it probably wouldn’t have an effect on Marialite. Raven stiffly turned to look at her, chancing a peek at her expression.
“…I’m really happy you accepted my invitation, too,” she smiled, a hint of red staining her pale cheeks.