“The organization exists, just as Your Highness said, but…”
“Lord Zephal! Do you truly intend to bring such ruffians into our circle?”
*They are destined to become your allies.*
Soichiro smiled gently and asked Laila to prepare two additional servings of lunch.
“We may require their assistance one day. You both worked hard, so let us eat first.”
Soichiro had assigned Lude and Raficel a special task that day.
He sent them to make contact with the resistance organization that played a major role in the source novel. Several years later, it would become the “rebel army” that aided Raficel when he returned to the royal capital.
Since the present king had not yet died, the organization should still be small. This was the ideal time to draw it into their camp as a movement opposing corrupt nobles rather than one opposing the monarchy itself.
In the source novel, the self-serving rule of the nobles led by Zephal caused public resentment to accumulate, allowing the resistance to expand.
*For now, they are probably little more than a gathering of people dissatisfied with those in power.*
More importantly, Soichiro took another long look at Lude and Raficel, who had only just returned.
They were disguised as common travelers in outfits that had appeared in the source novel’s illustrations and cover art—their official covert attire.
Raficel would not wear it in the original timeline until he was somewhat older, but Lude looked as though he had stepped directly out of an illustration.
*Would it be disrespectful to say it suits him? He is a member of the Royal Guard, after all. But…*
Soichiro remained a devoted fan of the source novel.
His gaze followed Lude, and he failed to notice that Melia was offering him bread.
“Bread!”
“Ah, forgive me. Thank you, Melia.”
“Your Highness? Is something wrong?”
Soichiro must have stared too openly, because Lude questioned him.
Raficel and Gilbert were looking at him with equal curiosity. He could no longer claim that nothing was amiss.
“No. I was merely thinking that you look very handsome, Lude.”
A chair crashed to the floor.
Lude froze where he stood, his face scarlet. Raficel was the one who had knocked the chair over in his shock.
Trembling violently, the boy threw himself at Soichiro.
“Only Lude? You say that only to Lude? What about me?!”
“Ah… You look adorable today as well, Raficel.”
“I am happy to hear that, but it is not the same, Lord Zephal!”
Raficel clung to Soichiro’s knees and wailed, while Melia regarded him as an inconvenience.
At a loss, Soichiro raised his head and discovered that Lude had turned to stone.
Had the compliment sounded too childish?
“Lude, I meant nothing improper by it.”
“Y-Yes. I…”
“You have an excellent build, and that sort of clothing makes an impressive sight.”
“……”
“Perhaps calling you strong would be insulting to a professional knight. Reassuring, then?”
“……”
“I simply found myself admiring you for a moment.”
“Your Highness, please—say no more!”
Lude cried out as though on the verge of death and fled the room in a thunder of footsteps.
In the corridor, Laila stood holding plates of food, staring after him in astonishment.
*What did I say wrong?*
Soichiro tilted his head. Melia tugged upon his sleeve until he looked down.
“Uncle, bad. Lude gets embarrassed.”
“I see. I will apologize later.”
“I do not believe that is the problem,” Gilbert said.
His narrow eyes became even thinner as he sighed and shrugged.
“One might think familiarity would offer some protection, but apparently not. Your Highness remains as charming and dangerous as ever.”
Still clutching Soichiro’s knees, Raficel muttered to himself.
“Muscles… I must grow taller. Muscles. Muscles solve everything…”
* * *
Soichiro was the one who proposed meeting Leonard, the de facto leader of the resistance, in person.
He had, after all, once worked in Human Resources. Even after becoming general affairs manager, he continued interviewing numerous new graduates and mid-career applicants.
*The source novel taught me what sort of man he is, but the real person will probably differ in some ways.*
Gilbert, Raficel, and Lude all gave impressions quite unlike the versions of them that Soichiro had known from the novel.
Yet he believed that the foundations of their personalities remained unchanged.
Calling it a weakness would be unkind. Rather, Soichiro knew the one thing Leonard valued above all else—the thing upon which he would never compromise.
His preparations were complete.
There came a knock, and Laila announced from beyond the door, “Your guest has arrived.”
“Thank you. Please show him in.”
The enormous man who entered had to stoop to pass through the doorway. He wore an eyepatch over one eye, and even beneath his clothing, the rocklike muscles of his arms were plain to see. He must have stood well over two meters tall.
He fixed Soichiro with a fearsome glare—
Then his entire face melted in an instant.
“A white kitty!”
『Ugh! Gross! What is wrong with that man?』
Lulu’s fur stood on end upon Soichiro’s lap.
Leonard, the leader of the future rebel army, was an incorrigible lover of cats.
