Then he told me to leave because he’d said all he had to say.
“But just one last thing,” I asked right before leaving. “Why did you want me to have this ring so badly? You hate me, don’t you?”
He’d made me take it, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to resist hearing information about Ana if all I had to do was simply accept the ring. He used such a forceful method to give it to me, so there must have been some kind of reason.
“I know what kind of person you are. You’ll never be able to toss away that ring so long as you live, right? That’s why I gave it to you. You’re going to carry that ring around for the rest of your life and regret the fact that you killed me, and in that way, it will give my life meaning.”
He was making me carry the burden of his cross. That was why he was so willing to part with this important ring of his instead of asking to be buried with it.
“I never intended to forget you, even without this,” I said.
I pulled the ring out of my pocket by the chain, showing it to Hugo as it swayed. Seeing this, his face turned into a very satisfied but terribly amused smile. I wasn’t lying, though. Even without this ring, there was no way I’d forget about him so easily.
After leaving the room, I gazed down at the ring as I walked. What a burdensome present. I knew he didn’t like me, but I didn’t think he hated me this much. I was already pretty down in the dumps after learning that my former classmate had wanted to kill me, but now he was awaiting execution. And now I knew how much he hated me. All of this made my heart hurt.
This plot against me hadn’t been stopped before it’d been enacted. They set the wheels in motion and now had no way of getting out of the consequent mess they’d made. In order to root out both Marquess Burton and Count Fibass, no effort had been made to stop them at all.
Both of them were a part of the first prince’s faction. In fact, many who supported the first prince were middle or lesser nobles, but among them were Marquess Burton and Count Fibass. The two of them made up the core of the faction. With them removed, the first prince’s power drastically dropped, and so did the chances of him becoming heir apparent.
“Sorry, Gino. I feel bad for what I’ve put both you and Ana through, but it was all necessary. If the first prince became the king through a normal route, somewhere down the road, our family would come into conflict with the royal family. I’m sure it’s a price that you and Ana would have to pay.”
My mother-in-law had apologized to me for leading my former classmate to ruin. But honestly, I didn’t feel that she needed to apologize. I didn’t think she was in the wrong whatsoever. Though we weren’t able to establish a clear connection between the plot to kill me and the first prince, we were able to stop the plan. It was almost certain that the first prince had been the one pulling the strings.
Most likely, the one who’d given me the sabotaged sword during the swordsmanship tournament had been a covert operative of the first prince. After some research, I’d also found that the group that had tried to kill me in the Simon territory worked for the first prince as well. And now, there was this attempt on my life.
The first prince was the type of person who would do anything he could to attack us. There was no way that we could allow him to become king. We needed to chip away at his strength, which was why it was necessary to destroy both House Burton and House Fibass.
“This was a plan that involved your former classmate being sentenced to death. It was too early for you to be making that kind of decision, which is why I did it instead,” my mother-in-law had also said.
She’d been right. There was no way I could’ve made that choice, which left me depressed. This had nothing to do with whether or not I had the talent to lead this house—at this point, I didn’t even meet the necessary mental criteria.
As I walked down the hall of the palace, I heard someone call out to me.
“Sir Gino.”
It’s Ana! The way she trotted toward me was so cute. She’s so cute! Just seeing her face made all the negative feelings inside me go away.
“What are you doing at the palace?”
“It’s not just me,” Ana said, looking back toward a girl and a pair of guys.
“Hey, Ginorious!”
“It’s been a while.”
Down the hall, I saw Justin and Anthony waving.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Sir Ginorious. It’s been some time since the time we met during my visit to the Simon territory,” Lady Byron said, walking over to greet me.
Though Anthony and Justin, who were knights, had loud enough voices to hail me from afar, she needed to come close and greet me elegantly, as befitting of a greater noble. When we were still students, she’d called me Sir Valvalier, but after I married Ana, she’d begun calling me by my first name.
On the other hand, I still called her by her family name. I should’ve changed the way I addressed her when she did, but I didn’t have the courage to do that. Calling someone by their first name was a sign of your closeness with them. It was a big challenge for me. For the record, with the exception of myself, all the people in my class now called each other by their first names.
“What’re you all doing here? I know Justin’s here because of his job, but what about the rest of you?”
“I was called by Young Madam Anastasia,” Anthony said.
“Yes, me as well. Lady Anastasia called me here.”
Oh, Ana did? She must have done it knowing I’d be sad after speaking with Hugo. She’s so considerate... She did this all for my sake...to cheer me up...
“Ana! You’re so kind! How are you so cute?!”
“That’s as far as you go, Sir Ginorious!” Just as I flew to hug Ana, I was stopped by Bridgette. “Do you know where you are, right now?! This is the palace—the strictest place in the country! Please refrain from doing anything shameless like that from now on, otherwise you will ruin the young madam’s reputation!” Bridgette glared while verbally whipping me.
“You haven’t changed a bit.” Anthony burst out laughing.
I messed up again. Ana’s cuteness is dangerous. It’s next to impossible to keep my sanity.
After meeting up, we decided to go to a café. After all, I hadn’t seen these guys in a while. I wanted to talk with them. At our school, the status of one’s house didn’t matter; all that mattered was one’s skill in school. However, after graduating and entering the real world, we were supposed to abide by the statuses of our houses. But that didn’t seem to bother Anthony since he acted and spoke with us the same way he’d always done, and even Justin, who was the son of a count, wasn’t speaking overly politely to Lady Byron or Ana.
It seemed the school’s meritocracy system had even affected the rest of polite society. Even in public places like evening parties at the royal palace, I’d seen former classmates of mine speaking informally to each other more often than not, regardless of their difference in status. To them, this kind of relationship was incredibly important and not something they wanted to change. I was of the same opinion. It felt very nice being able to speak like I had in school.
“Congrats on becoming House Treves’ heir, by the way,” I said to Anthony.
Usually only the eldest son could inherit his family’s title, but for the Treves family, their custom was to hold a battle when they became adults and the one who won would become the heir. It was a tradition completely unique to their family. Anthony had won the fight and the right to inherit the title of count.
“I suppose next is marriage. Have you already found a partner?” Lady Byron asked.
“No, not at all. I don’t even know what qualities I should look for. Do you have any advice for me, Lady Ekatarina?”
Lady Byron laughed at his question. For House Treves, the search for a fiancée only happened after the battle for heir, since it was hard to arrange political marriages before then. The strategy changed for each person depending on whether they were going to be leaving the family or succeeding to it. Political marriages were a very inconvenient custom of this country, but as one of the most powerful families, House Treves couldn’t ignore it.