Chapter 6: The Hot Spring, the Men, and a Bit of Booze (Siraiya’s Perspective)
PRINCE Adelberd sneezed quietly after we finished dinner.
“Big Brother! Are you sick after all?!”
Prince Rutherford’s dramatic reaction told me how worried he was. I had an older brother, too, but our relationship didn’t look anything like this.
“It was only a sneeze. Don’t get so frightened, Rutherford.”
“But…”
I watched the brothers converse, but Cynthia and Cynthia alone occupied my mind. I recalled something she said to me one time, when I had sneezed.
“They say you sneeze when someone else is talking about you,” I shared with the princes.
“Hmm, interesting. If that’s true, Estellise must be singing my praises to Lady Cynthia right about now.”
Prince Adelberd seemed pretty pleased with his theory. His mind was just as occupied as mine, only with Lady Gridimore instead of Cynthia. He’d bring her up every five minutes since she arrived.
Prince Rutherford listened intently to his brother, but I’d only suggested it on a whim after remembering what Cynthia once told me. Prince Adelberd probably saw right through me, bringing up her name as a way to boast about Lady Gridimore’s love for him. He knew I would listen to him earnestly if he was talking about Cynthia. Sheesh. He knows how to get attention, all right.
“That sounds like nonsense to me. What will you do if Big Brother really is sick, Siraiya?”
Prince Rutherford had changed tunes when it came to Cynthia, but he was just as nasty to me as ever. It wasn’t just because of the incident that afternoon. Last night and all throughout today, he’d been looking at Cynthia with an expression of undeniable longing. But I was her fiancé, so I was nothing but a nuisance to the second-born prince and his intentions.
Cynthia was an attractive woman. Anyone in this world could fall in love with her, and it wouldn’t take me by surprise. As well as I understood Prince Rutherford’s feelings, I would never allow him to take my place as Cynthia’s fiancé.
“I apologize. I only wanted to repeat a cute saying that Cynthia once shared with me.”
“What?! Lady Cynthia said that?! Th-Then maybe…it’s not nonsense after all.”
Prince Rutherford suddenly mumbled under his breath, uncertainly. I could sense how young he was. He’d grown to the size of an adult, but this was exactly why Cynthia didn’t see him as a man yet. That was a huge relief, but children grow into adults eventually, so there was no reason to let my guard down around him. At the very least, he was a more formidable foe than the likes of Eddie, who threw away Cynthia’s love like it was worthless.
“I’m so glad to see you two getting along. All right, we should warm up in the hot spring before we all catch colds.” With a sarcastic remark, Prince Adelberd pulled his hood up and rose to his feet.
Prince Adelberd had decided only to bathe in the hot spring at night, when it would be harder to spot his animal ears. He even asked the employees and his guards to stay away and to finish any nearby business they had before this point in the evening.
Prince Rutherford and I were exceptions, of course. His Royal Highness gave us permission to bathe alongside him.
The three of us reached the hot spring, but when Prince Adelberd started to undress, I couldn’t contain my surprise.
“…I see you have a tail too.”
“Unfortunately. The ears are fine, but this tail has proven to be a big problem.”
“I can imagine if you’ve been hiding it in your clothes all this time. I’m sure it’s hard to sleep with it, too.”
“No, that’s not what I mean…” Prince Adelberd’s tail drooped and smacked Prince Rutherford, who was undressing beside him. “I can’t hide my emotions with this thing. That’s a fatal flaw for a crown prince.”
I see. He’s always smiling, even when he’s displeased on the inside.
“…Your tail is so soft, Big Brother.”
Prince Adelberd’s tail whipped Prince Rutherford angrily, but by the time we finished washing up and finally entered the hot spring, his tail was perked up, showing that he felt comfortable and pleased.
Prince Adelberd submerged his body first, followed by Prince Rutherford and me.
“This is splendid. The Rhuddlans make excellent use of their territory’s natural resources.”
Once His Royal Highness closed his eyes, expressing his praise for the hot bath, Prince Rutherford gave a pleased response as well.
“It’s not just the hot spring. The entire resort is really interesting, don’t you think? Lady Cynthia said it’s a recreation of a faraway culture. She’s so well-read, compassionate…and she practically glows under the moonlight… Maybe the angels they speak of in Sanctoria really do exist…”
I agreed with him, of course, but I hated hearing him talk about Cynthia that way. I cut him off before he could say anything else.
“She told me she prepared this inn for the two of us to vacation at.”
He sucked in a breath between his teeth. “…Right, she likes to take good care of others. I’m sure she’d do the same for me if I were her fiancé.”
“I’d appreciate it if you could keep such hypotheticals to yourself. Cynthia is my fiancée, after all.”
“What if it’s not a hypothetical? I know she called off an engagement once before, so you never know what might happen.”
“Cynthia would never end our engagement. I’m certain of it.”
Suddenly, Prince Rutherford stood up, creating a big splash. “There’s no such thing as certainties in this world!”
I stood up too. I wasn’t going to let him get the better of me. “There are when it comes to Cynthia!”
Prince Rutherford and I glared at each other. We stood firm underneath the moonlight, neither one of us willing to back down.
“…What a delightful hot spring,” Prince Adelberd murmured to himself, closing his eyes to shut us out of his world.
Prince Rutherford and I were hardly in the mood to enjoy the hot spring, but once we’d finished bathing, Prince Adelberd’s tail was just as perked up as it had been before.