A World Turned Kind

As he was an unexpected figure, Ensi observed the opponent for a moment. For what matter did he call him to a halt. A person who could not waste time in vain due to the title of Duke.

Of course, there was naturally only one reason why the Duke had to make time to meet him even during this busy period.

Thanks to that, it did not take a very long time for Ensi to recall the Duke’s business. Having finished assessing the situation, he intended to roll his eyes and look around.

“There is no one.”

“Is that so.”

How fast. True, it was a combination that had nothing good about it if it caught the eyes of others.

“It seems I cannot give you a lot of time, though.”

“It does not matter.”

“Then.”

Since Agniele, who he thought would follow out quickly, also showed no sign of coming, Ensi readily complied with the conversation with the Duke. Since they were in a relationship where they had to meet at least once anyway, there was no reason to purposely avoid the spot.

Because it didn’t look like they had to go far, Ensi headed toward a nearby terrace. He also drew the curtains meticulously so that a drunk person would not mistake it and enter.

“What is the word you wish to say?”

Ensi, who stood with his back to the terrace door, urged the Duke to bring up his business right away. Whether he ended up caught by others, he couldn’t follow right away, but…… if it were Agniele, he would quickly shake them off and search for him. As long as he knew that, there was no time to share a conversation peacefully.

The Duke, who was observing Ensi, who cared excessively about the outside while resting his hand on his chin, with an interested gaze, soon hung a gentle smile on his lips.

“Agniele, it is the first time that child has forsaken his duty.”

“…….”

He forsook his duty. The shoulders of Ensi, who was no different from the cause, flinched unconsciously and trembled. It hurt his conscience a little to pretend not to know. Although it was a decision Agniele made by himself, it meant his own influence wouldn’t be absent there.

“It is not a story brought up to blame him. It is not that Agniele’s change is necessarily bad either.”

Although he feigned calmness, the Duke, who noticed that Ensi was rolling his eyes to read his countenance while pretending not to, waved his hand lightly.

“Is that so.”

“Yes. Since Agniele’s role is also not important yet, there is nothing to care about.”

Although Agniele was the successor, since he was in a state where he hadn’t even graduated from the Academy, it was a period when his influence wasn’t that big yet. It was a level that could be sufficiently substituted if the Duke and his wife moved more diligently than usual. It was exactly that level.

Of course, it was true that they spent a busy period thanks to that. However, because he could catch a glimpse of Agniele’s sincerity in exchange for that, the Duke considered this not a bad exchange.

“More than that, while Agniele was staying at your mansion, he sent a letter once. When I checked it, I could feel anger from those simple words.”

When was the letter sent, and furthermore, that Agniele got angry. At what on earth?

As it was a matter he didn’t know at all, confusion crept in. Whether Ensi unintentionally fell silent or not, the Duke continued the story unconcerned.

Seeing that he did not require Ensi’s answer, it seemed he didn’t intend to share a conversation from the beginning. Rather than that, it appeared he had a story he wished to convey without Agniele’s knowledge.

“Only after seeing that content did I realize the mistake. It seems one does not become wise merely by watching the flow of years, a human being.”

At the time he put forward the condition, Agniele certainly accepted it readily. That he got angry only now would mean his feelings toward the opponent became deeper.

To the extent that he could look into parts he couldn’t consider at first.

When looking at the situation under the premise that he was an existence his only son cherished, the Duke also naturally realized that the part Agniele pointed out was wrong. Although it could be called selfish, the Duke also bound to react insensitively to matters that had no close relationship.

At the feeling that the story kept going round and round, Ensi twitched his eyebrows. So what on earth did he want to say. Even at Ensi’s expression where a faint dissatisfaction was felt, the Duke merely let out a clearing of his throat. After doing that for a long time, the Duke finally opened his mouth.

“I am sorry.”

“……Pardon?”

Hearing the somewhat muffled voice that came after the awkward silence, Ensi formed a blank expression. Since among the countless scenarios drawn up in his head while the Duke’s lengthy introduction continued, there was no content where the Duke apologized to him, it was a natural reaction for Ensi.

As the flustered Ensi hesitated and stepped back, the Duke cleared his throat once again.

“Whether it was a word spoken out of worry for Agniele, or because the future of the family was important. Regardless of the reason, are there not words that should be said and words that should not be said.”

Ensi, who was calculating the meaning of the sudden apology, stopped his thinking at the words that followed.

So that it was neither too light nor too heavy. The prudent voice admitted that he failed to consider that the ‘condition’ Ensi had only heard through Donovan would become a wound to Ensi.

Although it was gentle, as much as there was an authority the opponent possessed, it was a quite heavy admission. Ensi managed to find words to reply only after spending a long time. The hesitating he barely parted his lips.

“……There is no need to apologize like this, is there. It wasn’t even a word you spoke directly to me.”

Most of all, whatever form it had, that was eventually no different from an opportunity created under the Duke’s mercy. Not to mention granting a whole time, though not abundant, the Duke also acquiesced no matter what choice Agniele made.

“Even if that is the case, did it not enter your ears as a result. If there is a wrong done, one must point it out and pass over it.”

At the language that was nothing short of transparent, Ensi somehow felt hollowed out. He felt like he knew the reason Agniele grew up so straight for some reason. And because of that, a sense of distance was felt.

It felt like meeting an excessively ideal person. Ensi, who lost his words, lowered his head and avoided the gaze.

As if expressing his complicated state of mind, the Duke, who saw the lips pressed down by this, fell silent for a moment to give Ensi time. Within the intentional quiet, Ensi, who quickly controlled his emotions, looked at the Duke once again.

Although he intended to erase it cleanly, he could not completely manage the agitation remaining at the base. The Duke, who read that emotion, purposely maintained a light attitude.

“If you are fine, I intend to set the date as soon as the marriage ban is lifted. No matter how much it is a command that is only a semblance, it is right to follow it after all. Therefore, it would be good to postpone the detailed story until later.”

“But…… I could not give any guarantee.”

To want to honestly keep a command that a majority of nobles openly broke was also like that person’s parent. Agniele learned by watching this side of the Duke, while thinking so, at the faint doubt still remaining, Ensi inadvertently showed a negative reaction.

That was understandable, because while the Duke termed what he did as wrong, he did not show a sign of regretting the matter of that time. In reality, since the Duke also considered it a matter he had to do even if it was a wrong matter, Ensi’s worry was also not an empty one.

However, even so, the reason the Duke thought he must set the date was—.

“Did I not say so. That Agniele flung away his duty for the first time. Since it means you are that precious to him…… we must do as he wishes.”

The phrase commonly heard in his past life, that there is no parent who wins against their child, came to mind. Even though it was a phrase he had never once realized while living his present life, to think that phrase would hit home like this while conversing with another person.

The inside of his mouth was bitter. Count Allemier, whom he came to regard as a person no different from a stranger now by shaking off all lingering attachments, also came to mind.

Since it was in front of the Duke of Lacius, even while thinking he should show a confident appearance, he kept getting agitated. Controlling his emotions was burdensome. For Ensi, it was a moment rare enough to be counted on fingers.

Ensi, who repeatedly clenched and opened his fist, let out a shallow breath and made a voice.

“Will you be alright?”

“Where is the reason to be alright or not.”

“Even so…….”

Doesn’t the matter untangle too easily. That too, in the direction he wanted. Since he was Ensi, for whom a matter he wanted to do never once flowed conveniently, he could not fully shake off the anxiety.

It was a state where the confusion had still not fully cleared to express it in refined language. Ensi, who was moving his lips, slightly furrowed his brow.

“……Ensius?”

Then, hearing Agniele’s voice calling him from the hallway, Ensi turned his head reflexively.

Because he was sharing a conversation with the Duke, he had forgotten Agniele. Even though the one who led him outside the banquet hall was himself. Ensi, who realized his mistake, continuously looked beyond the terrace door, and the Duke smiled readily and conveyed the meaning for Ensi to go first.

It was the moment when the hesitating Ensi finally turned around and was about to draw the draped curtains. The Duke, as if he had clean forgotten, suddenly added words.

“Ah, and also. It seems better not to drag in the Imperial Family.”

……You have already found out that far. As expected, the power of the family isn’t in vain.

Ensi, who flinched reflexively, nodded his head slowly at the Duke’s caution. Since he had also received the permission of the Lacius family anyway, there was no reason to purposely drag in the Imperial Family.

Click, when the business truly ended, Ensi opened the terrace door and went out to the hallway. At the distinct presence, Agniele, who was standing in front of the door leading to the garden, turned his back straight away.

“Ensi?”

The joy of Agniele, who discovered the one he was searching for hard, was brief. Agniele discovered that Ensi was forming an expression that looked as if his soul had left for some reason.

Agniele, surprised by the expression seen for the first time, hurried to Ensi’s side and wrapped his arm around his waist. Ensi, who noticed the intention to support him, leaned his body as it was and leaned against Agniele.

“I feel like I had a dream.”

“A dream?”

“It’s strange.”

From one to ten, everything was strange. Was it because he experienced a matter that couldn’t exist within his common sense. At the feeling that a sense of reality couldn’t possibly return, Ensi rubbed his cheek against Agniele’s chest and threw a tantrum.

“What is so strange?”

Agniele, who reflexively stroked his back, asked back with a gentle voice and placed his hand on the cheek of the half-dazed Ensi. It was an action done out of a heart wondering if it was because his body was not good.

However, contrary to Agniele’s expectation, Ensi’s body temperature didn’t have a big difference from what he felt in the banquet hall.

“I feel as if the world has suddenly become kind. ……There is no way that’s true, though.”

This time too, a speech of unknown reason followed. Thanks to that, Agniele could guess that something had happened to Ensi during the short interval they were apart. However, rather than prying into what exactly happened, he chose to soothe Ensi, who had a somehow hazy face.

“That is a relief then.”

“—What is?”

“That it feels like the world has suddenly become kind. Because I wish the world would become very gentle to you.”

In Agniele’s view, the life Ensi had walked had an excessively harsh corner. Therefore, hoping that someday Ensi would accept a kind world as a matter of course instead of doubting it like right now, he put strength into the arm hugging the opponent.