Theodor Joachim Lef (3)

Reichardt looked at Alicia in amazement and slowly shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

Alicia, who had been regaining her composure, tilted her head.

“It’s strange.”

Reichardt said with a gloomy face.

Alicia could understand his worry and fear. She patted the guilt-stricken Reichardt and tried to lift his spirits.

“Rei….”

“It’s strange. I only gained a special ability after I became the Grand Duke of Tessen. After I signed the Grand Duke of Tessen’s oath, I gained a special ability along with a shock.”

Reichardt looked at Theodor with eyes wavering in anxiety.

“…….”

At what was not quite a confession but still a confession, Alicia stopped moving.

“Since it’s hearing sounds that ordinary people can’t hear, it takes an adjustment period to distinguish everyday sounds from faraway sounds. If many sounds are mixed together, it can get confusing sometimes, but….”

The child, sleeping while breathing softly, looked peaceful.

He did not seem to be suffering from hearing sounds he should not hear.

“If he has the ability to control his hearing, there’s not much to worry about.”

“That’s a relief.”

At Reichardt’s words, Alicia smiled in relief.

“From now on, we’ll have to teach him how to pretend he didn’t hear things that are better left unheard.”

Reichardt said with a face that truly looked like he hated it.

It seemed that when he gained his special ability, he had heard many things he did not want to hear.

“We can do it well.”

Alicia comforted Reichardt with a smile.

Seeing that smile, Reichardt erased some of the gloomy expression he had been wearing the whole time.

Carefully, he spoke to Alicia, who looked lightened.

“Our son is watching us.”

Alicia, who had been giving Theodor an especially attentive gaze, sharply turned to Reichardt.

“What?”

Alicia’s expression crumpled oddly. Reichardt felt slightly guilty, and a little dissatisfied.

“This kid tracks my voice and Alicia’s voice at regular intervals. If he can’t hear your voice or mine, he cries, like he’s checking with sound whether we’re here, whether we’re okay, what we’re doing.”

Reichardt said calmly to the stare fixed on him.

“I thought he took after me, but he didn’t.”

Alicia threw a glance at the sleeping Theodor, then looked back at Reichardt.

“No matter who sees him, he took after me.”

Reichardt said with a look that seemed to say to look at Theodor’s sleeping face.

“He has my eyes. But he’s monitoring Mom and Dad. He’s Rei’s mini version.”

“He’s not monitoring.”

Reichardt said with an aggrieved face.

The expression carried hurt, as if asking whether she had thought of him that way.

“It’s similar.”

“It’s completely different. I just know, and Theodor watches. This kid is probably doing it because he’s curious whether you and I are okay. When he grows up, I’ll stop him from doing it.”

Reichardt said firmly.

“You two aren’t going to whisper together later without me, right?”

Alicia voiced her sense of being left out.

Reichardt, who had never thought of that, looked up at Alicia with a face like he had realized something.

He had only seen people who feared or avoided his strange ability.

It was still far in the future, but thinking that if he called “Theodor” from a room, Theodor with good ears would hear and answer, his anticipation swelled.

“I love you.”

Reichardt confessed to Alicia, delighted at the birth of a being who shared something in common with him.

At the confession filled with gratitude and love, Alicia let out a light laugh.

“I love you too.”

Amid the sweet confessions, the sound of a baby’s lips smacking rang out.

Seeing the young face tasting with a satisfied expression, Alicia and Reichardt met each other’s eyes and smiled.

Alicia Rain, and Reichardt

Tessen’s winter was harsh and relentless.

Abruptly waking at dawn, Reichardt startled at the ice-cold air drawn in through his nose and woke from sleep.

He reflexively pulled the blanket up as far as it would go and wrapped the slender body held in his arms.

As Reichardt turned to look at the fireplace, the crackling sound of flying sparks told him that was not the problem.

One of the two blankets covering them had flown down to the foot of the bed.

Having grasped the situation, he smiled with eyes still heavy with sleep.

Then, with a familiar motion, he pulled up the thin, cozy blanket that had been pushed far away.

Reichardt, who thought he had woken early, realized he had not awakened that early.

Before he knew it, the sky had spread a bluish dusk-like dimness.

Reichardt slowly blinked, waiting for the sleep clinging thickly to the corners of his eyes to clear, and looked at Alicia sleeping beside him.

At the dawn air that felt especially chilly, Reichardt sank into thought.

It had only been a few years, yet he suddenly recalled a time that felt like a distant past.

In the Rune Empire, Rain at the far northern tip of the east was as cold as Tessen.

Even in midsummer, knife-like winds blew at dawn and at night.

However, Rain did not have sandstorms that blocked one’s view like Tessen, nor did it have a rainy season where rain poured until the ground sank.

Aside from the cold lasting longer than elsewhere, it was a good place to live.

It was by chance that twenty-eight-year-old Reichardt visited Rain.

“Your Highness, we’ll soon be in the Marquessate of Rain.”

Roderick, having received a report from the advance party, relayed the situation.

The two were moving slowly on horseback.

Behind them, the Grand Duke of Tessen’s escort maintained a set distance as they followed.

“Where is the baron?”

“Baron Deonseu is waiting at the baron’s manor. However, it seems several of the Marquess of Rain’s retainers are going in and out of the barony.”

“What’s going on at the barony?”

Listening to Roderick, Reichardt turned to the side with a puzzled face.

“The Marquess of Rain’s retainers are not standing guard there. It seems there is a party at Baron Deonseu’s house today. And it happens to be the Rain marquessate lady’s social debut. It seems quite a few guests came from the imperial capital as well, and it looks like the ladies from families with influence within the Marquessate of Rain have all turned out. So there are more eyes watching as people come and go.”

Roderick conveyed that it was not a major concern, but it had become a nuisance.

“Send a messenger to the Marquess of Rain. Say we’ll be passing through the marquessate, and ask for understanding—that should be enough.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“And tell Baron Deonseu that since this is an unofficial visit, we’ll meet where there are no eyes.”

Having finished what he had to say, Reichardt urged his horse and rode on.

“Yes, Your Highness. …And you’re ignoring Lady Josephina’s request to procure the Aengkeo flower as expected. Naturally, you would. They say the Aengkeo flower is that special, but it’s not that I want to see it or anything….”

Roderick chattered toward the empty space ahead, then turned his horse’s head.

A royal aide had many things to do.

When Reichardt and his party arrived at Baron Deonseu’s house, the sun had already set.

Rain’s lands were vast.

It seemed the messenger who had gone to the Rain marquessate to deliver word would only rejoin them deep into the night.

Since it was at least five days from Rain to the imperial capital, exchanging a single letter would consume nearly ten days.

Even while taking on such a troublesome matter, neither Reichardt nor the Grand Duke of Tessen’s party showed it at all.

“Please, come in.”

Roderick opened the door to the room the baron’s attendant had guided them to and checked his superior’s face.

Not even the smallest emotion showed on Reichardt’s face.

They had traveled without rest for days, and from dawn until now he had not stopped for even a moment, yet no trace of fatigue could be found.

“You may stand down.”

Before entering the room, Reichardt said briefly.

It meant to clear the area and withdraw.

“Your Highness. Have you forgotten you are of the imperial blood?”

Roderick voiced his concern. He spoke gently with a smiling face.

“How many people here would recognize me? Withdraw and rest.”

Reichardt said firmly once again.

“I obey.”

Roderick gave up on speaking again, pulled back the guard unit that had been accompanying them, and slowly backed away.

Reichardt ignored the aide’s lingering gaze and entered the room.

He did not even forget to close the door with a sharp thud.

As he went inside, the host who had been sitting where a few lamps were lit rose to his feet.

“I pay my respects to Your Highness, Grand Duke.”

At Baron Deonseu’s greeting, Reichardt replied curtly.

“Baron.”

Though the space was thick with darkness, Baron Deonseu was smiling broadly.

The baron, who had a strict-looking impression, seemed genuinely pleased by the royal visit.

“Your Highness, Grand Duke. Though this is not an official visit, I apologize for being unable to observe proper formality. If I could have welcomed you properly, it would have been the greatest honor.”

“I would prefer it if my visit were not known.”

Reichardt replied curtly as he handed the baron the Emperor’s letter he carried within his breast.

Baron Deonseu respectfully received it, then handed Reichardt a prepared letter.

Their unofficial business ended there.

“Your Highness, though this is not an official visit, I would like to show you around the manor. Since it has grown dark, how would it be to stay and depart later? If you permit it, it would be a great honor for House Deonseu.”

Baron Deonseu bowed with full decorum. Reichardt noticed the baron had practiced many times before meeting him.

“I appreciate the kindness, but it will be difficult to stay, Baron. On the way, I saw that your family’s manor is excellent. May I ask for an introduction that avoids people’s eyes?”

Even if the Grand Duke Reichardt rejected the proposal, Baron Deonseu would not suffer harm, but it was not good to cut off every word of someone who kept insisting.

He was tired just from carrying out the Emperor’s work, but Reichardt had a disposition to fulfill his duties as imperial kin as best as possible.