Chapter 63

“…Your Highness.”

Cecil, who returned to his residence in the crown prince’s palace, opened his eyes when he noticed the uneasiness on Rowena’s face. Even though it wasn’t obvious, there was a hint of it on her smiling face.

Cecil was tongue-tied when he heard that Rowena had already met Louis. It was even reported that Louis’ face had been beaten.

Those scumbags…

Although he was big, from Cecil’s point of view, Louis was still a child. He wouldn’t have felt worthy of protection if he had been a bastard, but Louis wasn’t that.

“I heard you met your brother. Did something happen to your brother?”

Cecil withdrew his servants and maids and sat on the sofa alongside Rowena. Rowena confided in him about Louis’ situation there.

It may be a better situation than hers, but Louis’s situation was not good either.

“I want to protect Louis if he says it’s okay. I know it’s a shameless thing to ask for when I’m already under your protection, but…”

“Rowena.”

Rowena gave herself up in his arms. Her heart was pounding, but she felt more relieved.

“I think you forgot that you’re already my family and my wife. I’m sure you’re worried because he’s young. Feel free to bring him to the palace if you want. I’d be happy to be his guardian.”

Cecil had no younger brother or another family, but he vaguely understood Rowena’s feelings. It was the duty of the royal family to protect the people anyway, so it was natural to protect his brother-in-law.

“…Thank you, Your Highness.”

Cecil pressed his lips on Rowena’s forehead, leaning her head on his chest in relief.

“Didn’t I tell you? I mean, I’ll make a lot of things for you to be thankful for. When will Lord Adelia be brought? It’s possible right now.”

“Now? Is that possible?”

Cecil grinned as she stared wide open.

“It’s enough to make excuses. Even if the prospective crown princess wants to see her little brother, I’m okay with it, and I can make him stay on the pretext of getting a good education. If any disturbance comes in, he can be sent abroad to study.”

Studying abroad…

It was something she didn’t even think about. Matthias abused Louis because he thought he was weaker than him, so it was a good idea to send him to study abroad.

By the time he came back, Louis would have grown as big as Theo and would be able to fight Matthias.

“I see. At 16, many young people go abroad to study…”

“I could send him to a private school. Louis Adelia could go to knighthood school because I heard he wanted to be a knight.”

There was a knight school that Louis wanted to go to. Matthias and Theo also wanted to go, but they failed to go because they failed the test.

Louis also wanted to take the test there, but Matthias went on a rampage and objected. If he’s going to fail anyway, why is he embarrassing himself by taking the test? Louis protested against it, causing a big fight.

“There’s a school that Louis wanted to go to, but it’s a place where he can only enter if he takes a test…”

Rowena, who is not interested in fencing, did not know whether Louis was good or not. Only Cecil, who wielded power, smoothed his chin.

“Once he gets in, he will have to have a separate teacher at the palace.”

Cecil never went to school separately. It was not because of lack of grades, but because he was too noble as the only crown prince of the empire. The emperor refused to allow Cecil to do so because something happened to Cecil when he had his eyes away from him.

However, there was a case where the teacher was forced to teach Cecil.

The teachers, who were brought to the palace full of dissatisfaction, were said to have witnessed Cecil’s excellence and fell in love at a glance, but only he knew the truth.

“I’ll think about it a bit more.”

“Alright.”

Cecil grinned and kissed Rowena on the forehead.

* * *

Most of the people who were close went to the palace, so Kian was able to quietly leave the count. All the luggage was in a big backpack. The knights’ conquests and armor, which were paid by the count, had to be left behind, and the small monthly salary was rarely used.

He wanted to buy a ring for Lyria, but all he did was buy a cheap bracelet because the marquis’ eyes were scary.

Thanks to this, he saved enough money to escape with Lyria.

But that’s about it.

It wasn’t enough to settle down. So Kian was going to make money by working as a mercenary until the date he was supposed to meet Lyria.

“Can’t you reconsider? Count Adelia is indeed treated less well than anywhere else, but as soon as the lady marries the crown prince, the count’s livelihood will be better.”

Is that really true?

Rumor had it that the crown prince was an unusual figure. No matter how much he was distracted by Rowena, he didn’t think he’d be nice to the house.

Was the count ever nice to Miss Rowena?