Chapter 49: Small Jealousy and the Approaching Dissonance

Faustina knelt on the seat and gazed outside through the carriage window, thinking how refreshing it felt to travel the same road she had passed three days ago with people who were not her family.
The breakfast the maid had packed consisted of several kinds of sandwiches.
The simple sandwiches, with nothing more than lettuce and ham tucked inside, were delicious in their simplicity, allowing the flavors of the ingredients themselves to shine.

“Faustina.”

There was also a teapot tightly wrapped in cloth, so after the meal, tea was poured into cups for everyone.
Faustina sat properly again and accepted the teacup from Ciel.

The seating order from the innermost side was Faustina, Bernhard, and Ciel.
Vered sat alone across from them.
Taking advantage of having a whole seat to himself, he leaned back against the wall and slept.

“He didn’t get enough sleep because the priest woke him up.”
“I’ve been waking Vered up since long ago, you know.
He complains, but he still keeps me company.”

Even if his mother was a commoner, his father had been the pinnacle of royalty.
Very few people would dare complain to the second prince who carried royal blood.
And considering that Vered was an orphan from the slums, disobeying Ciel could even be seen as disrespect worthy of punishment.

But Ciel did not care.
No matter what kind of personality or appearance someone had, if Ciel found them interesting and enjoyable, that was all that mattered to him.

“……”

Bernhard, sitting in the middle, hid his face behind his teacup, but his expression was clearly displeased.

Unlike Sirius, who was always difficult, cold, and aloof, his uncle Ciel had a gentle demeanor and wore an amiable smile toward anyone, making him easy to be around.
Bernhard also found it more relaxing to talk with Ciel than with Sirius, and whenever he visited the church once a year on his birthday, he would try to speak with Ciel even if only briefly.
Bernhard did not know much about Ciel’s past, aside from having heard that special circumstances had led him to serve in place of the former head priest.
If anything, that was all he knew.

Bernhard had once asked Sirius why Ciel was staying at the church.

At that time, Sirius had worn an expression like someone chewing on something bitter.
A heavy atmosphere, as if a long stretch of time had passed, filled the air before Sirius finally spoke in a heavy voice—

“…There’s no need for you to know.”

The nurses and those around him said that something had happened long before Bernhard was born, but no one would tell him the details.
They simply fell silent.

Even as a child, Bernhard understood that it was something he was not yet meant to know.

With Bernhard between them, Ciel and Faustina continued their conversation.
Ciel would prompt her, and Faustina would answer—nothing more than that.
And yet… their conversation flowed more smoothly than when she spoke with him, which irked him slightly.
On top of that, hearing that the three of them had been up early drinking tea together made him feel left out.
He had not been woken simply because he was asleep.
That was all.
(Though one person had been forcibly woken.)

“So you don’t get startled even if you see insects, Faustina.”
“Yes.
But I can’t handle larvae or insects with lots of legs.
Oh, but I’m fine with earthworms.”

Since Faustina often spent time staring intently at flowers, she encountered insects fairly often.
She was fine with commonly seen ones like bees collecting nectar, cicadas in trees, or butterflies always found in flower fields.
But larvae and multi-legged insects were still a no-go.
It was unusual that she was fine with earthworms despite their rather grotesque appearance, and Bernhard, listening nearby, raised his face from his teacup.

“If you can look at earthworms, shouldn’t you be able to look at larvae too?”
“The first time I saw one, my legs gave out.
But later my brother told me that earthworms are beneficial insects that improve the soil for farmers, so since then I’ve been fine seeing them.
In fact, I even think it might be good to have lots of them in our garden to improve the soil.”
“That would probably just shock more people…”
“That’s true.
Not earthworms, but last year, my brother and I collected a lot of cicada shells in the garden and showed them to Mother, and she fainted.
So people who dislike insects really can’t handle it.”

Citrin, who had been with them, gave a wry smile and said, “Take it easy, you two.”
If Elvira had been there as well, she would have burst into tears and made things even more troublesome.

She also talked about how, without noticing, a ladybug had once clung to her dress like an accent, or how she had been startled when a small spider descended from the ceiling on a thread while she was hiding in a shed during a game of hide-and-seek.

“They say spiders eat pests, and that killing them brings bad luck, so it’s better to leave them alone.”
“Yes.
You’re fine with insect stories, Your Highness.”
“Since Neige stays in his room all the time, I thought it would be a shame for him to only see insects in books.
So I’d catch butterflies I found in the garden and show them to him.
I’ve also collected cicada shells like you before.”

Bernhard too had once gathered many cicada shells to show Neige.
At the time, Queen Sierra had been in Neige’s room, and upon seeing the pile of cicada shells, she fainted just like Lyudmila.
After waking up, Sierra did not scold Bernhard, but smiled wryly and said, “Some people dislike these things, so be careful next time.”
Incidentally, Neige himself had been delighted.

“The Queen?”
“Most people dislike them, after all.”

“They’re practically the archetype of what noble ladies dislike,” Ciel said elegantly as he sipped his tea.
Even among young noblemen, some disliked them too.
In the end, it was simply a matter of personal preference.

Tilting the teapot toward his cup, Ciel said, “Oh, it’s empty already,” and set the empty teapot on the small table between the seats.
There was also a jar of cookies there.

“Shall we stop along the way and have more tea made?”
“B-But isn’t Father waiting?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.
His Majesty likes waiting.”

Was it really fine?
If the king’s brother said it was, then maybe it was.

Just as he declared, they stopped at a tea shop in town, had fresh tea brewed, and then set off again.

“You really like tea, don’t you, Sir Priest.”

As Faustina had Ciel pour her the new tea, Vered—who had been sleeping until just moments ago—woke up at some point and denied it.
With a small yawn, he fixed his sleepy rose-colored eyes on Ciel.

“He’s just enjoying himself.”
“That sounds bad.
I do like tea.”
“Then I’ll interpret it as twenty percent tea and eighty percent enjoyment.”
“Enjoyment?”

When Bernhard echoed the word suspiciously, the two fell silent.
Ciel drank his tea with a smile, while Vered yawned again, pulled the jar on the small table toward himself, and took out a cookie.
He chewed the hard cookie, enjoying its texture.
After swallowing, he took another.

Faced with the unspoken atmosphere emanating from the two, both Bernhard and Faustina fell silent as well, holding their teacups to their lips.

Suddenly, Faustina looked out the window and let out a small gasp.
Bernhard followed her gaze.

The familiar royal capital was coming into view.

They would be home soon.
And yet, she still could not quite feel the reality of having been kidnapped.
Perhaps because she had been rescued fairly quickly after waking up, and because he had been so calm and composed.
If she had been alone, she would have been crushed by anxiety and fear, clutching her head in despair.

Hiding her mouth behind her teacup, Faustina stole a glance at Vered.

He ate cookies with a sleepy face and occasionally glared at Ciel.
Noticing Faustina’s gaze, he shot her a glance, so she smiled at him.

“……”

He looked away without reacting and yawned.

“……”

Somehow, it stung a little.

“Faustina?”

Seeing her expression change behind the teacup, Bernhard looked suspicious.
She hurriedly brushed it off, saying it was nothing.

The carriage entered the royal capital.
They would arrive at the royal castle shortly.
Gradually, Bernhard’s expression grew tense and stiff.

“Your Highness…?
Are you all right?”
“Yes… I’m fine.
You don’t need to worry, Faustina.”

Once they returned and met Sirius, he would apologize right away.
If asked whether he truly had the awareness befitting royalty and the crown prince, he had already prepared his answer.
Even if it was not something praiseworthy, he could not lie to Sirius.

He wanted to see that Faustina was safe.
Even if he did not know why Ciel had found her whereabouts faster than anyone else, he had been certain that if he followed Ciel, he would be able to see her—so he had forced his way along.

While Bernhard wrestled with his tension, the carriage stopped at the carriage stand within the royal castle.

The coachman opened the door.

Outside stood many knights and maids who had come after hearing the news, as well as a young man dressed in fine clothes.
Peering outside from the innermost seat, Faustina recognized him.
He was someone she had barely interacted with before.
Maim Hume, the kingdom’s chancellor.
Maim bowed his head to Ciel, who had stepped down first.

“It has been some time, Prince Ciel.”
“Hey there, Chancellor.
Can I call you Maim-Maim like the old days?”
“That is the name of a foreign dance.”
“Then I’ll call you Mr. Snail.”
“Please don’t.
I refuse.”
“That’s true.
There’s no snail here.”
“……”

The irritation made Maim’s brow twitch.
Raised from childhood to serve as the right hand of the future king Sirius, Maim had suffered collateral damage from the rift between the half-brothers Sirius and Ciel.
Sirius, wanting to reach out to Ciel, would send Maim as his messenger.
Ciel, in turn, would harass him by pairing him with snails and saying things like, “You and snails are close, right?”
And every time, he would be driven away.
Snails were said to be a sign of summer, but that brought him no joy.

The reason Maim was thought to be close with snails was that whenever he went to see flowers in summer, he would encounter snails with high probability.
And Ciel had often witnessed him shrieking upon seeing them.

Clearing his throat as if to reset himself, Maim spoke.

“His Majesty awaits in the study.
He has instructed me to bring the Crown Prince and the young duchess.”
“Is that so.”

The curt reply seemed to symbolize their relationship.

Ciel helped Bernhard and Faustina down from the carriage as they waited.

“Hey, Vered.
You’re getting down too.”

He called out from outside to Vered, who had not yet gotten down.
With a reluctant look, Vered descended, then blurted out “Geh,” upon seeing Maim.
Maim’s face twitched as well.
There had been a time when Ciel, having picked Vered up from the slums, temporarily housed him in a corner of the inner palace.
Whenever Maim went to see Ciel as Sirius’s messenger, Vered had been there too.
He had been introduced under a false name as “Maim-Maim,” and on that occasion as well, a snail had appeared, so he had been introduced together with it.
To this day, in Vered’s mind, Maim’s name was still Mr. Snail.

“Hey, can I go home?
We’re just going to the king with the kids, right?”
“No.”

With a smile full of hidden meaning, Ciel declared,

“The ones going to His Majesty are just me and you.
Let the Crown Prince and Faustina rest.”

Grabbing Vered by the scruff of the neck, he began walking away.
Maim, who had been ordered by Sirius to bring Bernhard and Faustina as well, opened his mouth to protest—

“I want to settle the adults’ discussion first.
…You understand what I mean, don’t you, Maim?”

“…!”

He sucked in a breath as he was pierced by merciless blue eyes devoid of warmth.
Ciel’s voice and expression had not changed—only the color of his eyes had, and yet the shift was terrifying.

Though he appeared gentle on the surface, Maim immediately realized that Ciel was deeply furious.
It was because Faustina had been kidnapped by a blind devotee of Arva, and because of his anger toward both the ducal house and the royal family for failing to keep their “promise from eight years ago.”

After finishing his discussion with Sirius, he would likely meet with Duke Wittgenstein next.
He seemed even angrier in that direction than toward Sirius.

“…Understood.”

With a hoarse voice, Maim bowed to Ciel, then turned toward Bernhard and Faustina, who stood frozen in shock, faces pale.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Lady Wittgenstein.
I shall escort you to your rooms.”

“……”

Being dragged away, Vered let out a heavy sigh as he sensed the inevitable storm drawing closer.