TGBAP 38

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I’m asking if you think there are ghosts.”

Dio ran a strange gaze up and down Lucian.

He’d wondered what was up, for him to come over to hang out again today after yesterday, and now he was suddenly saying something like that.

From how he was forcing strength into his eyes like never before, to how he had his lips pressed tight, to how he’d made a walnut on his chin.

It didn’t seem like something he said just to joke around…….

“You have to explain it properly for me to know what you’re trying to say, don’t you?”

He couldn’t read Lucian’s intentions at all.

Maybe he thought that wasn’t wrong, because Lucian flinched and started turning his head.

Even when I first saw him, I felt it, but this kid really shows his thoughts on his face.

He’s the type that’s easy to take advantage of, but he also isn’t the kind that easily lets you close, so it’s not like he’s just plainly worrying, either.

‘He doesn’t make friends other than me, either.’

Among the village kids, there were tons who wanted to be friends with Lucian.

Of course, he talks well and gets along fine when everyone plays together, but if you ask whether they’re the same kind of relationship as him and me, then that’s not it either.

‘Lucian always just plays with you. If you’re not there, he doesn’t really talk.’

I’d heard that from other kids more than once. Every time I heard it, it made me swell with pride like I’d become someone special.

But that’s that. Why is he suddenly saying something so out of left field?

Just then, Lucian looked around.

Since they were in Dio’s room, there was no one, but he looked like he was being cautious in case someone might hear.

“Dio.”

“What.”

“Can you promise you won’t go telling what I’m about to say anywhere?”

“What are you trying to say.”

“Promise me first. You absolutely can’t tell Mr. Bill or ma’am either.”

His face was so grave that Dio was thrown off.

If this airhead was saying it like this, it must be a really big secret.

Dio sat up straight and looked Lucian in the eyes seriously.

“I swear on my sword. I won’t tell anyone.”

Lucian’s face lit up. He was about to open his mouth, but then shut it again.

‘If I tell everything, I shouldn’t, right?’

That he’s actually a prince, or that he’s in a position where he was kicked out by the imperial family.

‘Ria told me that I must never reveal that I’m a prince.’

And he could explain it well enough without bringing that up.

After finishing organizing his thoughts, Lucian opened his mouth with a solemn face.

“……Actually, I live alone.”

“Huh?”

“I’m saying I live alone, without parents.”

Dio’s indifferent expression changed. His eyes shook like an earthquake, and he couldn’t hide his fluster.

But he quickly managed his expression. His gaze became far more serious than before.

“And?”

“And…… I live with just Ria, the two of us.”

“Your bride?”

“Yeah.”

Dio crossed his arms and fell into thought. There was a high chance Lucian was telling the truth.

Because it explained the sense of incongruity he’d felt while being with him.

Lucian talked about Ria every day. But words like mom or dad never came up at all.

He’d thought it was just because he liked his bride that much, but to think there were circumstances like this.

“Wait, you said you got married two years ago. From the start, I did think it was weird that it wasn’t an engagement but a marriage at that age…… did your parents arrange it before they died?”

“Huh? ……Umm, yeah?”

His parents are alive and well, but since he held the spirit marriage ceremony on the Emperor’s order, it isn’t a lie.

Still, feeling uneasy about lying to Dio even a little, Lucian watched his face.

But for some reason, Dio was looking at him with sad eyes.

“……That must’ve been hard.”

“…….”

Without realizing it, Lucian’s hand flinched.

It was a strange sensation—like something was surging up inside him, and like his toes were tickling. And more than anything, just from that one line, the corner of his mouth twitched on its own.

“No. I’m used to it now, so it’s okay.”

A friend’s heart, truly caring for him. It was better than he’d expected.

‘See, Ria. Dio is this kind of kid.’

He could have suspected it was a lie, but instead he believed it as it was and even comforted him.

If you can’t trust a friend like this, then who in the world can you trust?

“If you say you’ve been living alone without adults, there are a lot of people who’ll look at it weird, so that’s why you couldn’t invite me over until now.”

“Ah, so that’s why…….”

“You’ll keep the secret, right?”

“Of course! Even if a blade is held to my eyes, I won’t say it!”

The way he snorted and even pounded his chest looked so reliable.

“Then…… how have you been getting by all this time? If two kids live without adults, what about living expenses? How do you eat?”

“Ah, someone who knows us supplies materials regularly. They give ingredients and daily necessities too, so we don’t really need a lot of money, and a close hyung comes and stays sometimes too.”

“A close hyung?”

“Yeah, you’ve probably seen him once too. That really handsome hyung with red hair.”

“Ah!”

Dio recalled when he first met Lucian, and around this time last year.

Back then, Lucian had been walking around the village casually with some man who looked like a noble.

Lucian had introduced him once, and since his eyes were so cold when he looked at people, Dio still remembered.

“Pretty sure…… Kaiser…….”

“Yeah, that hyung.”

“……You’re not, like, a fallen noble or something, are you?”

“No way, I’m not a noble.”

Not a noble—royalty.

“Hm…… well, you look like you want to hide it, so I’ll let it go.”

He’d been worried what if he kept pressing, but he could finally relax.

Lucian let out a sigh in his heart and looked for the timing to say the most important thing.

“Dio, so what I want to say is……!”

“Thanks for telling me something you wanted to hide that much.”

Because their words overlapped, Dio didn’t hear everything.

“What did you say?”

“Ah, that is—!”

“You said it because you want to invite me to your house, right?”

Lucian flinched, his pupils shaking like an earthquake.

With an expression like, ‘How did you know?’ Dio burst into laughter.

“I’ve known you for two years—this much is easy. And more than anything, do you know your thoughts show on your face?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s fine when you’re with me, but you should fix that expression. You’re the type that’s easy to take advantage of.”

“……Tch. It’s not like I do that with just anyone.”

Lucian grumbled that he wasn’t that easy, and Dio, snickering at him, continued.

“But what does what you said just now have to do with asking at the start whether I believe in ghosts?”

Lucian flinched. He moved his lips for a moment, then finally said it.

“There’s…… a ghost in our house.”

“……?”

For a moment, Dio was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even be startled, only tilting his head.

“It’s not a scary ghost! That ghost teaches me writing, teaches me swordsmanship, and cooks for me too! It’s a good ghost!”

Lucian couldn’t bring himself to say that his bride, Ria, is a ghost. If he told even that, it felt like Dio would think he was strange.

Silence fell. While Lucian was tense about how Dio would react, Dio’s lips lifted.

“No way. There aren’t ghosts in the world.”

Lucian flinched.

“Kids these days have been going around talking about ghosts and monsters because it’s summer. Are you doing that too?”

“N-no, not that! It’s real!”

Seeing Lucian’s desperate expression, Dio puckered his lips.

“Then what—your story is real?”

“I’m telling you it is.”

“Fine, say you saw a ghost. But how does a ghost cook and teach you writing? What, is it like a servant at your house?”

“It’s not a servant, it’s my br— mmph!”

“Br— what?”

“Ah, anyway, it’s true there’s a ghost! If you come to our house, you’ll have no choice but to believe it!”

“If you just don’t want to invite me, just say you don’t want to invite me. It feels worse when you lay the ground to make it so I can’t come with something like that.”

“I’m telling you it’s not like that!”

Aaaagh! This is so frustrating!

Lucian cried out in frustration. Even so, Dio remained indifferent.

Lucian finally understood what Kaiser and Ria had meant when he saw Dio’s face, which absolutely wouldn’t believe him.

‘The key is getting him to believe there’s a ghost in the first place.’

Lucian pondered how he could persuade Dio.

After turning his brain hard, Lucian decided to redraw the plan for now and retreated.

“Anyway! I told you the truth! You’re the one who didn’t believe it!”

“You’re saying ridiculous things, so of course I do.”

“Ggh—! I’ll come again tomorrow. Until then, think carefully about what I said.”

“Hey, you really don’t have to invite me.”

“No! If I don’t, you’ll think I’m a liar. Until you believe me, I’m absolutely not taking you to my house.”

I’m telling you that you don’t have to invite me.

Dio couldn’t understand why Lucian was being this stubborn.

But it was the first time he’d ever seen mild Lucian seething like that.

Lucian left the room without even saying goodbye. But footsteps went patter-patter, and then he poked his head out from outside the door.

“Today, what I said—absolutely, absolutely don’t tell other people. Mr. and ma’am too! If you tell…….”

Then I’m cutting ties with you!

Lucian snorted strongly. Soon he left Dio’s house, being seen off by Bill downstairs.

Dio let out a hollow laugh.

“He really is weird. Like I’d go around telling this.”

Since Lucian is good-looking and always wanders alone, there are quite a few people who find it suspicious, so if it gets out that he lives without parents, someone might harm him.

So he has absolutely no intention of telling anyone his story.

“But…… is there really a ghost?”

When he recalled Lucian getting angry and complaining that he was frustrated, Dio’s thoughts began to waver little by little.

* * *

“Today, I’ll persuade Dio no matter what!”

While eating breakfast, Lucian declared his bold resolve.

It really didn’t suit him—his eyes were sharp, yet his lips kept squirming.

[You know today is already the third day, right?]

“How about you just give up? He said you don’t even have to invite him to your house, didn’t he?”

“No! I don’t want to be a liar!”

“Good grief, you stubborn mule.”

I know Lucian failed to persuade Dio.

It would be better for them if he didn’t believe and come to the mansion than if he believed it and came, but maybe his pride got pricked or something—he kept trying to persuade Dio.

[Lucian, persuading Dio is fine, but if you go every day and talk about ghosts, won’t Dio dislike it?]

“Ugh, that…….”

[And how are you going to persuade him when the person himself says he can’t believe it?]

“If I bring him to the house, he’ll believe there’s a ghost!”

[I told you, didn’t I? We said you’d bring him only when Dio understands everything. I can’t allow you to bring him to the mansion just to make him believe in ghosts.]

“But……!”

[And above all, Dio can’t see me. If knives suddenly move, and food floats around in the air, wouldn’t Dio be really startled?]

It seems he hadn’t thought that far, because Lucian’s shoulders drooped.

[You’re not trying to scare Dio.]

“……Right.”

[Yeah. So let’s make today the last day you try to persuade Dio. Instead, if you still can’t persuade him today, then you’re never bringing this up again.]

“Yes.”

Ria soothed Lucian and helped him get ready to go to the village.

She felt sorry, like she was deceiving Lucian, so she packed him more snacks than usual.

[Go safely.]

His shoulders were droopier than usual, but even so, Lucian slowly headed toward the village.

After seeing him off and turning around, Kaiser was standing there as if he’d been waiting.

“You know today is the full moon, right?”

[Of course.]

“We have no choice but to wait until the full moon reaches its highest point, but we can’t just sit still with the time we have left.”

[You’re saying we should prepare in advance for any possible situation.]

At last, tonight. The many problems shrouded in mystery will rise to the surface.

It would be good if Ria could dig into it too, but since it’s the period when her consciousness will disappear completely, she has no choice but to leave it entirely to Kaiser.

There’s nothing in it for him at all, and yet he stepped up on his own—she was grateful.

She can’t just let her hands hang at her sides, so she has to help him even a little.