The highest-quality accommodations were in the special class car at the rear of the train, where there was only a single room in the whole carriage. That room had been assigned to Filiel. As one would expect, it was spacious enough to make one doubt that they were on a train; the bed and the couch were very comfortable, and the paintings on the walls were high quality.
Also inside were Luca and Zeke, Filiel’s exclusive bodyguards. In addition to them, royal guards dispatched from the palace stood watch outside on either side of the door. Normally, soldiers of the royal guard never entered the grounds of the academy, but as they were headed to an event that was taking place outside the academy, they were permitted to accompany Filiel. After all, it could be dangerous with only Luca and Zeke. Besides the guards at the door, there were several others there with the duty of escorting Filiel while he was on the train.
As Filiel quietly read in his room to kill time, there was a knock on the door. Luca quickly responded, opening the door, and one of the guards from out front appeared.
“Yes, what is it?” Luca asked.
“There are two friends of His Highness who wish to meet with him,” the guard said. “What would you have us do?”
“Friends?”
“Yes. They introduced themselves as Lords Cecil and Carlo O’Brian.”
“Oh, the twins?” Luca said. He looked back, seeking Filiel’s permission. The prince nodded, so Luca told the guard to let them in. Immediately after that, Cecil and Carlo showed up.
“Hey, Filiel, how’s it going?” Carlo said cheerily, entering first.
Filiel ignored Carlo’s happy greeting. His mood clearly worsened when he saw them. “What is it?” he asked curtly. Cecil seemed to think it strange, but Carlo was completely unfazed.
“What? Someone’s cranky,” Carlo said, sitting down on the couch next to Filiel. Then he put his arm around Filiel, resting it on his shoulder.
Filiel was completely stunned—Luca and Zeke gawked at them, eyes wide open.
“Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you doing?!”
“Ahhh! You idiot!”
Ignoring his guards’ panicked shouting, Filiel quickly regained his composure. “Did Yui cast that spell on you?” he asked, irritated.
“That’s right.” In sharp contrast to Filiel, Carlo was smiling gleefully like a child who had just pulled off a successful prank.
Luca and Zeke both looked at the twins when they heard Filiel say Yui’s name. “Yui? Could you perhaps be referring to Prime Minister Curtis’s daughter?” Luca asked.
“How do you two know her?” Zeke asked.
“She’s our sister,” Cecil answered matter-of-factly. This was Luca and Zeke’s second surprise of the day.
“Huh?! What are you saying? She’s the prime minister’s daughter!” Zeke said.
“You know that both of our parents divorced then remarried, don’t you? Our mom took Yui, then married His Excellency after that.”
“I had no idea...” Luca murmured. Neither he nor Zeke would have ever thought that the twins they knew so well had any link to Yui. At the same time, it also resolved their long-standing doubts as to why Filiel—who tended to stay cooped up in the palace, hardly ever attended parties or other events, and had very few friends—had hit it off so well with the twins as soon as they’d been admitted to the academy. At this point, it was impossible to perceive the difference in status between them. “So, she cast that spell on you, which means you can touch His Highness.”
“What, are you jealous?” Carlo asked. He got closer to Filiel, as if he was showing off.
A vein in Luca’s temple twitched. If he had to give an answer, he would admit that he was jealous. In addition to guard duties, he and Zeke also served Filiel by taking care of his everyday needs. Despite that, they couldn’t touch him, which meant there were few things they could actually do for Filiel. Luca didn’t know how many times he had keenly felt his own lack of power and thought, If only I could touch him, then I could do so much more. He and Zeke were proud to be Filiel’s guards, and the ability to touch him was their greatest and most desperate desire. As Carlo agitated him with his clear display of that ability, Luca glared back at him silently.
Because of this unproductive exchange, no one had noticed the change in Filiel’s expression.
“So that means it’s not an issue if I touch you guys,” Filiel mumbled quietly. He gripped Carlo’s arm that was resting on his shoulder. Suddenly, he twisted it, then positioned himself behind Carlo’s back, hooked his right arm around Carlo’s neck, and put him in a choke hold.
“Gehk.” The grunt that came out of Carlo’s mouth sounded like a frog being squashed.
At first, Luca and Zeke idly spectated, thinking that Filiel was just joking around, but when they noticed his deathly calm eyes and saw that Carlo’s face was turning deep red, they realized he was serious. They quickly intervened.
“Filiel, no more!” Cecil shouted.
“Carlo’s gonna die! He’ll diiiiie!” Zeke yelled, panicking.
“Please let gooooo!” Luca shouted.
Luca and Zeke couldn’t touch Filiel, so Cecil tore Filiel away from Carlo and pinned his arms behind his back.
“I...” Carlo gasped for breath. “I thought that would be the end of me...” After his unexpected glimpse of the other side, Carlo steadied his rough breathing, thankful to have fresh air again.
“Filiel, what were you even thinking?” Cecil asked. Everyone was baffled by the normally mild-mannered Filiel’s sudden deranged behavior.
Filiel paused. “It was just a joke.”
You liar! Everyone’s thoughts synchronized. Even then, Filiel’s eyes still looked glazed over.
Filiel sat back down on the couch, and after composing himself slightly, he spoke what he was thinking. “Yui dumped me. She said she couldn’t return my feelings,” he said, irritated.
“Ahh,” Cecil said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Carlo said. He and Cecil looked at Filiel with compassion, and they tenderly patted him on either shoulder. “But that doesn’t mean you should take it out on me. You almost killed me.”
“When I saw that stupid expression on your face, I couldn’t help but get angry.”
“It’s because you aren’t trying hard enough to win her over.”
Unable to argue back, Filiel just stared at Carlo.
Cecil sensed that Filiel was about to jump on Carlo again, and he interrupted, consoling him. “Now, now, Filiel, you make Yui aware of your feelings, so that’s an improvement, right?”
“Except she rejected me.”
Cecil couldn’t say anything in response, and he quietly averted his eyes. Even his backup bargaining was ineffective against Filiel’s sulking. An awkward mood settled over the room. However, Carlo’s next words made Filiel’s expression completely change.
“But isn’t it fine? She used to think of you as just one of her brothers’ friends, and now she sees you as a member of the opposite sex. She turned you down once—so what? That doesn’t mean you’re just going to meekly give up, right?”
“Of course not,” Filiel said. If his feelings had been so flimsy, he never would’ve held them close for so many years. He had absolutely no intention of giving up. He would persistently cling to her, not so much that she would come to hate him, but until she gave in.
However, Cecil’s next statement instantly blew away that renewed sense of resolve.
“Oh, by the way, our dad also knows you confessed to Yui.”
“Just you two was bad enough, but out of all people, him?!” Filiel’s face stiffened. He had recently learned how frightening Layce’s infatuation for Yui was.
After that, until they arrived in Bahal, Filiel agonized over how he should best deal with the Prince of Darkness.