Like a moth to a flame. I almost found myself acting the villain, but I stopped just in time before bowing my head deeply. “Forgive me, father.”
“What were you thinking, bringing His Majesty to such a place?!”
“I didn’t, father. I was looking for something, and...”
“That can wait! Take His Majesty and the others back to the ballroom at once!”
“Wait,” Siegfried’s voice rang out. The calm yet severe tone made Albert freeze once again. “I want to know what this place is.”
“Oh, Your Majesty, there’s no need for you to stay in this dusty little room! If you wish, we can return to the—”
“Don’t tell me this is Kreis’s room?”
I wasn’t surprised he’d figured it out. Of course he would. My spare clothes hung on a rack in the corner, and a small shelf nearby displayed the souvenirs Siegfried had given me from various domains he’d visited.
“This is a bedroom?”
“Even my servants have nicer quarters than this...”
I could hear the nobles behind Siegfried begin to murmur.
Yeah, this could work. It hadn’t played out the way I’d imagined, but there was no way Albert could brush this off with so many witnesses present.
“Your Majesty, I’m so sorry to have brought you to somewhere so disgraceful,” I said.
“You haven’t answered my question. Is this your bedroom?”
“Yes...”
Gasps spread through the gathered crowd of nobles.
“Why, that’s unbelievable! Lord Kreis is the eldest son and heir! And yet that younger son is the one who’s so spoiled! It’s appalling!”
“No wonder the younger one has grown so arrogant, speaking so rudely to His Majesty! Marquess Louboutin has spoiled him rotten!”
You can say that again.
No matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t normal. This room was too shabby for even the lowest servant. I felt a twinge of guilt on Kreis’s behalf. He’d probably be embarrassed knowing everyone saw his bedroom, but I had to harden my resolve. This was necessary if I wanted anything to change.
“Y-Your Majesty, I have a perfectly good explanation for all this!” Albert began, but Siegfried silenced him with a glare.
Seeing the usually gentle king now looking so angry made the air thick with tension.
“That’s not true, Your Majesty.”
Albert looked temporarily relieved when I stepped in, like he thought I was about to defend him. But he couldn’t have been more wrong.
“Father loves Gilles more, and...”
“There you are!”
Claude shoved his way through the crowd with Gilles trailing behind him. He looked like he was about to explode, but in contrast, the color had drained from Gilles’s face; he was clearly aware the tide had turned.
The whole cast has been assembled, and I didn’t even need to call them.
“Gilles told me everything! You tried to lock him up!”
“C-Claude, please stop. I’m fine now.”
“What are you saying, Gilles? You’re too kind for your own good!”
He’d already dropped “Your Highness” and was on a first-name basis now? That was awfully fast. With skills like that, he could be the number one host in Ginza or Shinjuku by the end of the week.
And as for Claude, wasn’t he a little too easy? I was disappointed in myself for being such a crappy writer that I made him the hero.
“Gilles came out of this room in tears! I tried to catch him when he ran off, and he told me you deliberately threw yourself out the window! He was so shaken he had an attack and coughed up blood! If you’re that desperate to be loved by your father, you’re just plain sick!”
Ah, so that’s why he looks so pale. He had an attack, which means he didn’t have the time to properly come up with a cover story.
“Claude,” Siegfried said, his tone warning.
“Your Majesty! I know you two are old friends, but surely you can’t just stand by and say nothing! Don’t tell me you’re going to defend this man!”
“Calm down, Claude.”
“But Your Majesty!”
“I said to calm yourself. Did you not hear me?” Siegfried raised his voice slightly, shutting Claude up. “Continue, Kreis.”
“Prince Claude, I did fall out the window, and it wasn’t because Gilles pushed me.”
“I knew it! You’re trying to pin everything on h—what did you just say?”
“I jumped out the window of my own accord, not because Gilles pushed me,” I repeated.
“And why would you do that?” Siegfried asked. He was the only one who always let me speak until I was finished. That alone gave me the composure to reply.
“I had to get the stone back.”
“Why would you jump for a stone?”
“I’m so sorry, Your Majesty. This is all my fault. I never would’ve brought it back to my room if I’d known things would turn out like this,” I said.
I couldn’t say it right away.
“Kreis,” he said quietly, and I finally told him the whole thing.
“He smashed it on the floor and threw the pieces out the window. I didn’t even think. I just had to get it back.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re telling me you jumped out the window for a rock?! You seriously expect us to believe that?!” Claude shouted.
“Please stop, Claude! Kreis only did it out of concern for me! He didn’t mean any harm!” Gilles only jumped in to save face—I could tell he wanted this mess resolved as quickly as possible before the truth came out.
After all, there had been multiple witnesses to my fall, Siegfried being one of them. There might’ve even been someone who saw Gilles looking down from the window. That was why he’d brought Claude into this. No doubt he’d tearfully fed him some made-up story that I’d tried to lock him up and he’d tried to resist or other such nonsense.
But what Gilles hadn’t counted on was that Claude was a reckless idiot. He must’ve expected the prince to settle this smoothly on his behalf, but instead Claude had just charged in without a plan.
“It’s not just a rock. It’s an irreplaceable treasure. So please give it back, Gilles.”
The other half of the stone was gone, and Claude said he saw Gilles running from the room, then he had an attack. So either Gilles still had it on him, or it was somewhere nearby. And even if I didn’t find it, talking about it had served its purpose.
“It may have been worthless to you, but it’s precious to me, even if it’s broken. I have one half, and I want the other one back now,” I said.
“That’s enough, Kreis! Who cares about some stupid rock?!” Albert said, but Siegfried raised a hand to silence him.
“The stone was broken?”
“Yes, and I’m truly sorry, Your Majesty. Gilles didn’t mean any harm. He just got jealous. It’s all my fault.”
I turned what Gilles said earlier right back around on him. I bet his blood was boiling right now, but this was only the beginning.
“And Gilles was the one who broke it?”
I didn’t answer. I just glanced away and slightly shook my head. Some nobles whispered, “How kind to protect his younger brother...” and I couldn’t help but think, No wonder Gilles is addicted to the innocent act.
“Gilles, give the stone back,” I said.
“I don’t know anything about a stone. Why do you hate me so much, Kreis?”
The sheer nerve it took to smash it right in front of me, then look at me with teary eyes and play the victim was unbelievable.
But the seeds of doubt had already been planted in everyone present. Gilles’s pathetic “poor me” act wouldn’t be enough to undo that now.
“Don’t blame Gilles! You probably smashed it yourself and then jumped after it, didn’t you?!” Claude said.
Honestly, I deserved a medal for not laughing out loud. What possible reason would I have to destroy my own stone? It didn’t even make sense. What kind of idiot wrote this guy as the romantic lead? Oh, right. That would be me, the worst author ever.
I simply shook my head. “I’d never throw that stone away, Prince Claude. I know its value better than anyone, because it was a gift from His Majesty.”
“What...?”
Up until now, I’d just referred to it as a stone, so Gilles had assumed it was some useless rock. But some of the nobles here had seen Siegfried give it to me, not to mention the king himself was here. So just let him try and say I was lying now.