The Order That Crossed the Line

He had been wondering why he hadn’t brought it up.
Eren removed the finger from his mouth and bowed his head deeply.

“Did Harold make you so bold?”

“No, Your Grace.”

“Then, am I easier to handle compared to His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Harold had done the inviting, and Eren had tried to refuse, but Kazen had rashly pushed him to accept.
Though Eren had defiantly answered in a moment of frustration that he would attend.
Was it really such a big deal to get this angry over?

But whether the situation was unfair or unreasonable, Eren’s circumstances didn’t matter.
If Kazen was displeased, he had to apologize unconditionally.

“That’s absolutely not the case.
It was my mistake.
I will tell His Highness that I will not attend the party.”

“Forget it.
He’s probably already added you to the list by now.
Canceling at this point will only cause trouble for Harold.”

Kazen, with his summer-sky blue eyes, stared intently at Eren and slowly opened his mouth.

“If you’re truly sorry, then grant me one request.
If you handle it well, I’ll cleanly forgive your mistake.”

“Yes, I would do anything for Your Grace.
Just tell me what it is.”

Seeing Kazen having to open his mouth like this, it clearly wasn’t a simple request.
But Eren was prepared to do his best no matter what order he gave.

“Since you’ll be attending that party anyway, I want you to get close to someone for me.”

‘Getting close’ probably meant approaching them under a friendly pretext to extract information.
So that’s why he let him attend the party—to make this request.

Even if it felt uneasy, there was no choice.
Eren could never refuse Kazen’s words.

“Who is this person, Your Grace?”

“It’s someone you know well.
His name is Arnold Harrison.
You’ve heard of him, right?”

“Yes, I am well aware of him.”

The Harrison name was one Eren knew well.
After all, there was Harrison Railway, Harrison Hotels, Harrison Restaurants, and so on—the Harrison name was attached to various places throughout the capital.
There probably wasn’t a single person in the empire who hadn’t heard the name.

Hearing Eren’s answer, Kazen held a deep, somewhat strange smile.
That expression gave Eren an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
He never brought up pleasant topics when he smiled like that.

“From what I’ve heard, that guy has a particular interest in people of low birth, just like you.
Not just interest, but a downright, raging passion for them…”

At the explicit word, Eren’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
Kazen, as if enjoying his reaction, didn’t avert his gaze and finished his sentence definitively.

“I want you to seduce him for me.”

Even without a detailed explanation, he could guess.
He was to get physically close to this Arnold Harrison and seduce him.

“Can I… do that?”

To be honest, Eren had never properly formed a relationship with anyone other than Kazen.
That was also why he didn’t get along well with the other servants.

But to seduce someone else?
Beyond wanting or not wanting to, he wasn’t confident he could pull it off.

Hearing Eren’s sullen answer, Kazen suddenly burst out laughing.
At his bewildered reaction, Eren, still not understanding what was happening, could only blink his eyes rapidly.

“You were really going to try?”

“For Your Grace, I can do anything.”

As if Eren’s answer was highly amusing, Kazen let out a hearty laugh.

Though perplexed by the turn of events, seeing Kazen laugh so joyfully for the first time in a long while, Eren simply stayed still.

“I know as well as anyone that you don’t know how to seduce a man.”

Unlike the flustered Eren, Kazen seemed to find the situation amusing, grinning broadly.
He looked perfectly fine, to the point it was hard to believe he had been on the verge of a breakdown moments ago.

Smoothing his clothes, Kazen got off the bed and headed to the cabinet.
He took out a bottle of brandy, poured it into a crystal glass, and walked to the window.
Since the floor was littered with broken items, Eren followed him with an anxious gaze.

“Harold didn’t specifically invite just you to this party.
The nobles’ social gatherings are becoming polluted with lowborn blood, so to speak.
And the root cause of that is precisely that Arnold.”

Kazen looked out the window and let out a long sigh.

“Is that so?”

To show he was paying attention, Eren rose and approached the window.

“The Harrison family has grown too large, and their influence has begun to affect even the imperial family.
You can tell just by seeing how Harold is swayed by him.”

For Kazen, who had no interest in politics, to speak like this meant the situation was quite serious.

“So, you want me to get close to this Arnold Harrison, Your Grace?”

“Yes.
Arnold Harrison is the youngest son of the Harrison family and until recently was in the Pelosia Kingdom.
But for some reason, he returned to the Espel Empire and has been getting very close to Harold.”

Kazen, who had been looking at Eren’s reflection in the window, turned his body.
Facing Eren, Kazen extended the glass he was holding and tilted his head slightly, as if telling him to drink.

“I’m curious about what Harold is scheming, so I’d like you to find out for me.
I want to know if his unusually frequent meddling in family affairs lately is related to that.”

Eren politely extended both hands to accept the glass.
Not being much of a drinker, he only took a small sip to wet his lips.
Kazen, watching him blankly, continued his instructions in a low voice.

“Approach Arnold as if you have no ulterior motives, purely and innocently.
And become friends with him.
Do you understand what I’m saying?
You’ll be better at lowering his guard than I would.”

“Yes, I understand, Your Grace.”

Kazen slowly reached out a hand and gently stroked Eren’s hair, a soft smile on his face.

“If you handle this well, I’ll give you any reward you want.
You can do that for me, can’t you?”

Kazen would fly into a fiery rage at Eren one moment, then change his attitude completely and smile like an angel the next.
Eren would tremble when scolded but melt away the moment he was shown the slightest smile.

“If it is Your Grace’s command, I would gladly leap into fire.”

Even if Kazen offered no reward, Eren couldn’t refuse his request.
No matter how unjust or immoral it might be.
For Kazen’s sake, he was prepared to do anything.

“Good.
That’s what my Eren should say.”

Speaking in an unusually gentle voice, Kazen tapped Eren’s cheek a couple of times.
Startled by the unfamiliar gesture, Eren instinctively took a step back.

“Y-you should rest, so I will tidy the room.”

“Forget it.
I’ll sleep like this; have it cleaned tomorrow morning.
You can go now.”

Whether it was fortunate or not, Kazen had returned to his usual aloof self.
Eren watched him wave his hand dismissively and bowed his head.

“Goodnight, Your Grace.”

Bidding farewell as if nothing had happened, Eren hurriedly left the bedroom.
Once in the corridor, he leaned against the wall, clutching his chest.

‘You startled me, suddenly doing that….’

The moment Kazen’s fingertips touched his cheek, a ticklish sensation rose from his stomach, and it felt as if his whole body was boiling with heat, making him flustered.
Pressing his palm hard against his wildly beating chest, Eren let out a long breath.

What on earth was that feeling?
Was it just surprise?
Or perhaps it was fear.

Rubbing his solar plexus, where he felt an inexplicable churning, Eren looked around the dark corridor.
He had been so flustered he even forgot to bring a light.

“Let’s go back to my room.”

Muttering to himself to hide his awkward feelings, he lifted his foot.
Walking down the dark corridor, his mood was strangely complex.
To make matters worse, the moon was a thin sliver, leaving the corridor in near-total darkness.

Walking while looking down at the floor to avoid tripping over furniture or decorations, he was suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness as if struck on the head.

“Huh?”

Then, as if a light had been switched off, his vision instantly darkened.
Panicked, Eren hurriedly braced himself against the corridor wall, leaning his shoulder on it.
All strength drained from his body, leaving him without the energy to move a single finger.

As he struggled to regain his senses, he suddenly felt a warm liquid trickling from his nose.
With great effort, Eren moved his arm and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

“A nosebleed…?”

Bright red blood was smeared all over it.
Horrified, Eren hastily pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it against his nose.
Standing still for a moment to catch his breath, the dizziness subsided, but the bleeding wouldn’t stop easily.

‘Surely this nosebleed isn’t because of what Kazen just said, is it?’