The Uninvited Guest in the Imperial Bushes

I stood up, averting my gaze from eyes that looked as if they needed sparkling special effects added to them.

“Aiden, what are you looking at so intently?”

“Oh, that… I’m just…”

Startled, Aiden bit his tongue. Louis, sitting next to him, rested his chin on a hunched shoulder and peered into the book Aiden was reading.

From my spot across from them, the title was visible: Concerning All the Treasures of the Imperial Palace and the Hidden Things. It was one of the books Aniglan—who was finally getting the hang of handling children—used to grab our attention during lessons. However, when Louis looked up again, his eyes were sparkling with a worrisome intensity.

“Look at this. It’s about treasures secretly hidden in the Imperial Palace, and there’s a law saying whoever finds them becomes the owner.”

“Wow. Incredible.”

Despite my deadpan response, Louis was undeterred.

“Friends, what do you think about a treasure hunt?”

“I hate it,” Elliot replied.

“Whaaaay?”

“It’s a hassle, we have a lot to do, and out of all of us, you haven’t written a single thing on your assignment except your name.”

Elliot, resting his chin on his hand with a face that screamed terminal boredom, flipped through The History of Capital as he answered. This little rascal. At first, he’d back down if I said a firm “No,” but now that he’s gotten comfortable, he’s started throwing these unreasonable tantrums.

“Just one hour—no, thirty minutes. We need a break anyway.”

“What ‘break’? You haven’t done anything yet.”

I try to let things slide whenever possible, but I keep finding myself nagged into scolding them. This is how one becomes an old fogey.

I gave him a long lecture to the effect of: How can I show you my assignment if you’re like this? What’s the point of working hard on Ancient Languages if you ignore History? After listening, Louis pouted.

“But… the assignment topic is open-ended anyway. Wouldn’t ‘Treasures of a Forgotten Era’ be enough for a submission?”

Aiden, who apparently secretly wanted to hunt for treasure too, nodded and then hid behind his book when our eyes met. When the most proactive kid and the most timid one agreed for once, the only choice left for the two “old souls” was surrender.

Louis suggested that since we were doing it, we should add some thrill. His idea was a mix of hide-and-seek: while one “seeker” searched for the three others, those three would frantically scour the library and its surroundings. Elliot and I, having already given up, told him to do whatever he wanted. Louis carefully stroked the map on the final page of Concerning All the Treasures of the Imperial Palace and the Hidden Things.

Elliot volunteered to be the seeker, but he was immediately rejected. “You won’t even bother looking for us!” Louis shouted, and Elliot couldn’t deny it. In the end, excluding Louis and Aiden—who wanted to bolt immediately—and Elliot—who was on the verge of sagging into his chair—I was the only one left.

“Then I’ll come find you in a bit.”

Elliot, being dragged away by Louis’s hand, called out to me desperately, telling me I must come find them. I waved with a smile and stepped out of the library.

The weather had fully transitioned into autumn. Even with a jacket on, the wind felt quite chilly. I shivered and took a deep breath. I’ll just do a quick lap and head back in. If I have a cup of cocoa inside and then start looking, the timing should be perfect.

If I wander around for too long, I might add a cold to this already useless physical stamina. If that happens, Cale will immediately wrap me in a coat, and Abel will be over-the-top about it. I didn’t want to be bundled up prematurely when all I did was travel to the Imperial City by carriage.

Hide-and-seek and a treasure hunt. For a game chosen by teenage boys, it was remarkably wholesome and educational.

They say that during the banquet season, they open the palace by the castle-load and decorate the whole thing. In the Imperial City, any place that looks remotely decorated always has a spot to rest. Unable to resist the temptation, I sat down on a bench. It was lamentable how my body grew tired after just a short walk. I really ought to exercise. Living peacefully while eating only delicious things in warm places has lowered my sense of crisis. The “I’ll do it in the evening, tomorrow, the day after” excuses have now turned into “just a little later” or “after winter passes.”

Sitting still like that, thoughts began to drift in.

To be honest, after the Crown Prince’s appearance, I was tense, expecting some spectacular development to happen immediately. But one day passed, then two, and it remained quiet. Perhaps the Crown Prince had truly just visited out of curiosity, as I hadn’t run into him since, and Annette was quiet too. With the two most significant people being still, daily life rolled on like a treadmill. It was still far too early for the other characters to show up.

It was a daily life so peaceful and quiet that I started to suspect Erkel might have gotten something wrong. If things could just keep flowing like this, I’d have nothing left to wish for. If I can just get through ages twelve to twenty-three, then I’ll be free.

But.

I tilted my head back to look at the sky. Clouds drifted peacefully.

Even in this peace, I couldn’t feel at ease. Rather, the stillness made me more anxious. It felt like something was about to explode at any moment, but since nothing was happening, it felt like I had fallen into a thick fog—constantly looking around because I didn’t know what would pop out from where. I’d rather something just start so I could at least pick a target. Right now, I didn’t even have a clue where to focus.

At 그 moment, a bush not far from the bench moved. I thought to myself that something might as well pop out, and now something actually is. What could possibly be crawling out of a bush in the Imperial Palace? It was obvious. It hadn’t been that long since they left to scout the interior.

I slowly stood up from the bench. If it was Louis, I’d have to listen to him whine about being caught the whole time; if it was Aiden, he’d probably sniffle clumsily. If it was Elliot, he would have appeared before me on purpose so there’d be no need to “catch” him, but if it were him, he’d have just shown himself instead of hiding like that.

“Wow. What’s that? I was just about to head back in.”

It’s hard acting like I’m bad at acting. I turned my back and pretended to be distracted to give them time to get away, when I heard a rustle. Something seemed to have come out of the bush, but the sound was far too light, even for a child.

I turned around, but there was nothing at the expected eye level. My gaze slowly lowered. What sat much lower than expected was an unforeseen sight. Tufts of fur, pointed ears, and round blue eyes.

Meow.

“…A cat?”

Why is there a cat here?

“Go away.”

Naturally, the beast that couldn’t understand human speech paid no heed to my urging. It approached my shoes and rubbed its body against my leg; it didn’t seem like a stray, but rather one used to human hands. Then again, there was no way a stray cat could get into the Imperial City.

If it’s a cat with an owner, that’s more of a problem. What kind of madman brings a pet into the Imperial Palace? It obviously means it’s a pet belonging to the Imperial Family.

“I said, go away.”

Mya-ak.

The cat let out a less-than-cute cry and kept rubbing against me. I couldn’t exactly push it away coldly and leave.

I should have just stayed quietly indoors. Or I should have turned around immediately and pretended I saw nothing when I felt something was off. While I was having these late regrets, I noticed the cat’s condition was strange. The way it kept licking its front paw was unnatural. Leaning down to inspect it closely, I saw the cat was limping as if it had injured its leg.

“Where did you go and get yourself hurt…”

With a heavy heart, I picked up the not-so-small body. Had I not seen the injury, it might have been different, but I couldn’t ignore it after seeing it. It was even so thin I could feel its ribs—it must have been starving. Everything in the Imperial Palace belongs to the Imperial Family. Even if I felt sorry for it, I couldn’t take it outside.

For now, it was best to go back to the library. The longer I held onto it, the higher the chance of a troublesome situation occurring. If I handed it to the librarian, they would either take care of it or find the owner. It was a relief the other kids weren’t here. If Louis or Aiden saw this, there’s no telling what kind of fuss they’d make.

The Imperial Palace was so stupidly, needlessly vast that the way back felt daunting. I was already tired from walking this far; I didn’t know if this frail body could handle carrying a cat all the way back.

“That doesn’t make any sense!”

Startled by a shout heard from not far away, I crouched down while still holding the cat. Scared the crap out of me, dammit. As soon as I hid beneath the bushes, the owner of the voice appeared. A boy walking with an arrogant gait, followed by a group of people. Even at a glance, they were followers of a boy of superior status.

My mouth hung open as I identified the boy throwing a fit at the front. He looked to be about ten or so. Above a pretty face that looked younger than the Crown Prince’s, his sky-blue hair was vivid. Even for a fantasy novel, it was such an uncommon color that I could deduce his identity instantly.

There are only two people in the capital with sky-blue hair.

One is Viscount Nobelin, the brother of Lady Elisha, the concubine. The other is Elisha’s son, the Second Prince, Tethion Akareon. And a teenage boy with sky-blue hair who roams the Imperial Palace like it’s his own home could only be the Second Prince, for whom the palace is actually home.

My head throbbed at the terrible timing and the character involved.

The Second Prince was famous for many things, and every single one of them was negative. They said he dragged around kids his age and acted however he pleased, that he made unwanted advances toward young ladies, and that he even flipped up the skirts of maidservants. Even though he was only thirteen, he was already a piece of work.

He was also someone Erkel and I had judged as not worth our time. Even if the Second Prince was arrogant and rude, he wasn’t the type to go seeking out his siblings to pick a fight. I didn’t know how he’d turn out when he grew older, but so far, we had no point of contact. Furthermore, considering the formidable personalities of Annette and the Crown Prince who would compete later, a guy like him would likely fall away on his own even if left alone.