The Weight of an Oath

“Finally!”

Louis practically lunged forward to snatch the contract. Having exhausted years’ worth of courage in a single moment, Aiden slumped onto the table like a piece of waterlogged cloth.

“I assume it’s better to fill in the specific details in front of the Prince?” Louis asked.

Aiden, who had barely survived the signing, was horrified at the mention of going to see Erkel. Before his brain could even process the thought, his head was already shaking in a frantic no. Of course, neither Elliot nor Louis paid the slightest bit of attention to his protest.

“Better to settle this while the busiest guy among us is actually here,” Elliot said.

“Wait… don’t tell me you still didn’t know we were working on Erkel’s side?” Louis teased.

“I only just got back to the Capital, and even then, I was cooped up in the castle. I only saw his face for the first time a few days ago,” Elliot countered.

“The brothers are as overprotective as ever, I see…” Louis clicked his tongue.

The Edwill brothers’ extreme devotion to their youngest was legendary. But while that was a cute story when he was a child, Llewellyn was now on the cusp of his coming-of-age ceremony, and the eldest, Cale, was well past marriageable age.

If they were still acting like that, it started to become a problem. Or rather, it created room for “problematic” interpretations.

It had been seven years since the Count announced his retirement. No matter how much of a “beast of the Chancellor’s Office” he had once been—and despite the fact that he still held a seat on the Advisory Council—everyone knew that Cale Edwill was the one truly running the family.

Cale’s rapid promotion to Secretary of the Chancellor’s Office wasn’t just due to his father’s talent, but also his position. In such a situation, it was crucial to solidify the successor’s standing. The fastest, surest way to do that was to gain stability through marriage into a powerful family. Producing an heir early was even better.

But with him constantly chasing after his little brother, marriage seemed out of the question.

Louis handed the contract back to its owner with a complicated expression. Elliot tucked the masterpiece of Dancia Poel into his coat, letting out a sigh. Louis recognized that exaggerated gesture; it was the one Elliot used to use back in the day to make a situation feel more dramatic.

“Runcandel is quite far away, isn’t it? Haven’t you heard the news about the Edwill and Rosevel engagement?”

Louis blinked in shock before shouting, “What?!” He quickly lowered his voice. “Rosevel? You don’t mean Isabelle Rosevel? Your brother’s former—no, anyway. That Rosevel?”

Cale getting engaged was shocking enough, but the partner was even more so. Seeing Louis’s shock, Elliot clicked his tongue, likely thinking of his own brother. A pathetic man in so many ways.

“If Izzy heard you, she’d strangle you. But yes, it’s the same Isabelle Rosevel who was engaged to that idiot.”

“Good grief.”

No matter how far Runcandel was from the Capital, the exchange between the two cities wasn’t small, especially since the railway opened. Louis felt a bit cheated that he had to hear such explosive news from Elliot, who had no knack for storytelling. If Llewellyn had told him, the sentences would have been longer and far more colorful.

“How? It’s not like they’re in love. And for a political marriage, it’s a bit…”

If it were a business deal between families, the person behind Rosevel would effectively be Duke Suenil. Setting everything else aside, the Duke and Count Edwill were hardly on good terms. While it’s not hard to hide personal grudges, there was no pressing need for them to put those aside for an engagement. Neither Suenil nor Edwill lacked anything the other had.

“Surprisingly, I hear it was a passionate romance.”

“No way.”

Leaving a shell-shocked Louis behind, Elliot jerked his chin toward Aiden.

“Aiden, pull yourself together and let’s go.”

“I… I should…”

“Even I couldn’t get my hands on two of these contracts. I nearly lost my hair trying to smuggle this one out.”

If Elliot Dylan said something was hard to smuggle, it meant it was worth an astronomical price. Aiden stood up, feeling as though his left foot was bound by the price tag and his right foot by the signature. As the heartless Dylan heir prepared to leave the room, the perpetual second-place student of the Magic Department caught him.

“Wait, wait! But… those two… they’re alone in that room. Is it okay for us to just burst in?”

Louis covered his cheeks with his hands and looked down, feigning bashfulness. Elliot recoiled in disgust at the sight of him writhing in mock embarrassment. He understood that a hot-blooded seventeen-year-old would be interested in romance, but there were limits. Elliot didn’t have a single grain of interest in being arrested for insulting the Imperial Family.

“Are you still stuck in that romance novel narrative?”

“But still!”

“No more ‘but stills’! That’s banned. I’m putting that in the contract, too.”

Louis stood up abruptly and cleared his throat with a series of hem, hems. He seemed quite embarrassed about being caught sprawled on the floor; despite his “it’s nothing” act, his face and neck were flushed deep red.

“Llewellyn, Your Highness. I…”

“Get inside first, inside.”

Elliot pushed Louis and Aiden into the room and shut the door. A heavy silence fell between the three who looked grimly determined, the one who already knew the situation, and me—who was just bewildered by the whole scene.

It was Erkel who broke the suffocating silence that made even a cough feel impossible. He patted the hunched shoulders of the trembling Aiden, asked if he was alright, and stepped forward.

“Louis and Elliot are my allies.”

“What?”

“Seeing as they came together, it seems Aiden has decided to help as well.”

“What…?”

I was surprised, but not because of the revelation itself. I had guessed it the moment the three appeared at the door—or more accurately, the moment Erkel pulled out the papers. The handwriting that detailed the information I had dug up was too familiar to ignore.

What surprised me was that others had joined the secret conversations we always held in private, and that Erkel was relaying this so calmly.

It felt strange and awkward. My stomach churned. I looked at Erkel’s allies, faces that were both familiar and unfamiliar.

They were only in their early teens. Their association hadn’t even been their own choice, but rather a result of their parents’ intersecting interests. Even if that’s an age where people make friends easily, it was a young friendship to trust for the long haul. Yet, citing that childhood bond, they had come here to help with expressions of grim resolve. Not just the habitually indifferent Elliot, but even the trembling Aiden had eyes that shone with firm determination.

As I looked at their unyielding will, I hesitated, unable to speak.

Erkel and I share a common goal. We have to survive, we have to save, and we have to escape. We know each other’s secrets. We can tell each other things we could never tell anyone else in this world. We have every reason to be together.

But what about them? Louis and Aiden came to the Academy with Erkel, but they are in different departments. In an Academy so large it occupies an entire city, how often could they have actually met?

Which was more likely: that they would risk everything for a Prince they barely had the chance to bond with, or that they were pretending to help for some other motive? Could I really trust them based on a brief childhood friendship?

Elliot was even more of a puzzle. His case was the most logical, yet the hardest to truly understand.

Since we all hung out as kids, there was some context, even if he had been busy with successor training in the distant Capital. Even then, me, Erkel, and Elliot had debated topics far beyond our years and handpicked our associates for political gain.

But when I consider what a cold calculator of profit Elliot Dylan is, doubts arise. Since his early teens, Elliot was the kind of person who managed his life in minute-by-minute increments. He might say he endured Kyle Berinen for my sake back in Robenus, but that was ultimately because he believed what I needed from Robenus was something political, not something related to the original story.

Should I really not doubt the intentions of a man so thorough who is now so actively trying to help?

I know Elliot takes better care of his people than he lets on, and I believe there is friendship between us. I also think Louis and Aiden are good people.

But is it enough to risk their lives? If the Holy Relic of Sarbazan truly exists, and if it possesses great power, the mere fact that Erkel—a Prince—is searching for it is dangerous. If anyone found out, they could be branded as traitors without a word of defense. It’s a matter too grave to even plead innocence.

This risk makes sense for Erkel and me. For us, who have the goal of taking it back with us, it has meaning. But not for them. The fact that my first thought regarding people I call “friends” is whether or not I can trust them… a sudden wave of guilt left a bitter taste in my mouth.

In fact, even if they are sincere, it’s still a problem. They are still young, and their futures are bright.