#010

“There will be a lot of people at the evening banquet, right?”

Relying on the lie that he had lost all his memories, Andrea asked without hesitation.

“Among the nobles who have entered the palace, all those with the qualifications will attend.”

Andrea made a disgusted face as he recalled the enormous number of nobles who had come to greet him.

Before coming here, the only noble he had ever met in his entire life was Kiel, who was presumably a noble’s child. But to not only face so many nobles for the first time, but also have to eat a meal with them. He felt like he would get indigestion before even taking a bite.

“Since it has already become known that your majesty was unconscious for nearly ten days, Duke Fernan strongly urged that you attend tonight’s banquet no matter what and show that you are in good health.”

Seeing Andrea’s expression turn sour, the chief attendant said as if persuading him in a calm voice.

“Understood.”

If even Duke Fernan was being brought up, there was no way he could refuse. Of course, since he would have to live as “your majesty” from now on, showing his face at events like this and quickly getting used to the new environment would also be good for Andrea.

As he slowly emptied his teacup, he suddenly heard a commotion outside the door, and before long it turned into a noisy racket. The chief attendant hardened his face and sent a look to the attendant guarding the door inside the room. The attendant who received the look slightly opened the door and checked the situation outside.

“Your majesty! This is Ron! I must see your majesty! Why can you not report this at once?!”

A man’s voice flowed in through the crack in the opened door.

Was it all right to disturb the emperor’s rest like that?

Andrea looked at the chief attendant with puzzled eyes. The attendant closed the door and quietly came over, whispering a short message into the chief attendant’s ear.

Andrea asked after seeing the chief attendant gesture for the attendant to withdraw.

“Are nobles normally allowed to do things like this?”

“No, your majesty. To dare disturb your majesty’s rest and cause a commotion in the imperial palace, it is something that would warrant immediate imprisonment.”

“Then?”

“However, the one causing the commotion is someone your majesty was so fond of.... Unless it is by your majesty’s order, it is difficult to restrain him at will....”

The chief attendant trailed off with a troubled look.

“Fond of?”

Andrea frowned.

“Was he a subject I especially cherished, I, I mean, I?”

For a moment after asking in confusion, Andrea soon felt the atmosphere among the attendants, who had always hidden their presence like shadows, become strangely stiff. The chief attendant was the same.

“Chief attendant?”

Andrea called the chief attendant as if urging him on.

“Since my memories are not intact, is it not your important duty to tell me about my usual affairs?”

When Andrea urged him again, the chief attendant cautiously opened his mouth with a troubled expression.

“The one who just caused the commotion is Count Almir. He is the second son of a border viscount family, and... he is the one your majesty especially cherished... a lover.”

“A lo... ver?”

Andrea muttered, widening his eyes.

Lover.

Even if Andrea was completely ignorant about the world, he knew what that word meant.

“But... the voice I heard outside just now was clearly a man’s voice?”

When Andrea asked in a slightly dazed voice, the chief attendant pressed his lips shut and sent him a troubled look.

“Mi, no. You mean I was a homosexual?”

Andrea almost said Michael’s name without realizing it, but barely cut off the word and asked. The chief attendant simply came closer in silence and refilled the nearly empty teacup with warm tea.

Andrea stared at the steaming teacup.

It was not that he had never seen homosexuals. Of course, he had experienced it firsthand too.

In the monastery, which was filled only with men, homosexual acts were often carried out among the monks. Most of the monks who engaged in such acts took a deep interest in Andrea. From subtle seduction to blatant contact, there had been quite a few incidents that made him uncomfortable, and just before coming here, he had even nearly been violated by Johan.

Andrea frowned. It was one thing in the monastery, where everyone he could come into contact with was only men, but that was not the case here. Among the people who had come to greet Andrea earlier, there had been quite a number of noble women dressed in gowns.

And yet, leaving those women aside, Michael had deliberately chosen homosexuality? Just as Andrea had fallen in love with Kiel, had Michael also fallen in love with a man? Did identical twins resemble each other even in that?

“Then what should I do now?”

Andrea asked, staring at the teacup.

“Count Almir is someone your majesty has cherished greatly for nearly a year, but there is no need to forcibly bestow favor on someone from whom you have withdrawn your interest. Unless your majesty looks upon him, no one may speak to your majesty first or have a private audience with your majesty. If you dislike him, you may simply ignore him.”

“May I do that?”

“Of course. Do everything according to your majesty’s will.”

At the chief attendant’s firm answer, his heart immediately felt at ease. Andrea lightly brought a delicately shaped snack to his mouth. At the sweet, soft taste he had never tasted before, even his heart turned sweet for an instant.

***

“I hear Count Almir was driven out without even getting to enter your majesty’s bedroom.”

“Then does that mean it is true that your majesty lost his memory?”

“Since that has been announced, it is probably true. What benefit would there be in pretending to have lost his memory in this situation?”

“It is truly unfortunate that your majesty lost his memory in an accident, but it is nothing short of gratifying that ‘that’ Count Almir ended up like that.”

“Indeed. How vulgar was it for him, born as nothing more than the second son of a viscount family, to strut about relying on your majesty’s favor. Now that your majesty’s favor has disappeared, I wonder whether he will be able to keep that flimsy count title.”

“Still, he stayed by your majesty’s side for more than a year, so wouldn’t he be given something like compensation?”

“Hmph. He already received so much property from your majesty, and now compensation on top of that?”

As a rule, every move of the emperor spread like lightning. In particular, Count Almir, who had enjoyed your majesty’s special favor for a year and had roamed all over the imperial palace, was the protagonist of the most talked-about scandal in the imperial palace.

Born as the useless second son of a small viscounty, Count Almir had had his life turned around after accidentally catching the emperor’s eye, and he was a target of envy and jealousy even among the nobles.

Count Almir was the only person to whom the emperor, who was famous for having a difficult personality, showed almost any generosity. Count Almir, riding on the emperor’s favor, roamed the imperial palace as if it were his own home.

Above all, he was, so to speak, an expert in pillow talk.

Because the emperor granted almost any request Count Almir made, many high-ranking nobles hated him, yet secretly submitted all kinds of petitions through him. Even while fully aware that Count Almir was using him however he pleased, the emperor instead found that brazen behavior cute and left him alone.

Count Almir was the kind of man who, on the strength of the emperor’s favor, wielded power so close to absolute that it was almost unchecked. But because of the emperor’s unexpected accident, he had fallen to the bottom in an instant, had he not?

It was not that he had lost favor, but that he had been completely forgotten in a single moment. It was a situation that would make Count Almir go mad.

“Look, the subject of the rumors has appeared.”

A noblewoman whispered with her fan covering her mouth. The gazes of those scattered around near the emperor’s bedroom all turned at once to one person. It was Count Almir.

As if it were not a lie that he had been roughly driven away in front of the bedroom, he was walking briskly, his clothes slightly disheveled, shooting fierce looks one by one at the nobles who were mocking him.

“Still... as for that face... I can understand your majesty’s favor.”

The fans of the noblewomen, who were scanning Count Almir’s excellent build and beautiful face, fluttered faster.

What the nobles envied Count Almir for, while still acknowledging it, was his splendid appearance. A rare tall height, and a solid body shaped by long training to become a knight. Hair black as the night sky, and handsome features. He was a man who was beautiful, yet overflowing with masculine appeal.

“Hmph. So what if he is? In the end, Count Almir was only a substitute for Duke Valdek to your majesty anyway.”

As Count Almir passed by, a haughty marchioness sneered as if for him to hear.