"These eyes are also proof of my father's blood.... when I was a kid, I wanted to get rid of both eyes."
"... Your Highness"
Arnold looks at Riesch and spins it in a quiet voice.
With unseen sincerity, telling the truth for him.
"This is not a beautiful thing worth pointing at you like that"
……
The words Arnold told me made my chest bitter.
He looks away from Riesch towards the Imperial Capital, beyond the night when the fluorescence flies.
In the daytime, the view of the city from the balcony is just silent.
"You said you wanted this country the day you first came to this castle."
"--yes, it was a wonderful place to actually carry your feet to the castle."
"I can't feel the same way about what you respect. The light of the bugs looks like a war fire, and the view of the Imperial Capital overlooking from here feels disgusting."
Arnold exhaled a short breath into his mouth.
"Because I have the same eyes as my father. Or maybe it's because of the same thing as the root. --Either way, it's not like it's ugly."
His side that speaks can feel his usual face without expression.
However, I felt that Riesch saw the slight scale of Arnold's feelings behind it.
That's why Riesch opens her mouth.
"... do you remember thanking me for detoxifying the knights on my way to Garchain?
When asked, Arnold looks after Riesch again.
"His Highness taught me the strengths of the knights. Does His Highness know their virtues because he has seen them immediately? I know what else you can see."
Riesch spinned his words little by little.
"Do the distant lights look like war fire or beautiful fluorescent light? The values are not immutable inherited from parents, but are derived from what they have seen and heard up to now."
……
"If so, you should know. The beauty of this country and the wonderful creatures in the future."
She looked at Arnold's blue eyes and said so. Try to smile brightly and hide the pain in your chest.
Richie tells him that she wants to touch him on the spot and stroke his head like a little child.
"I'm sure you'll see a lot of beautiful things and important things."
"What?"
Arnold said with a self-taunting smile.
"I don't need such a thing. All you need to have is what you can use for your purpose. Just eliminate what you don't need and round it up."
"Lord Arnold."
"I've killed someone I cared about with my own hands.... if this is how you get in here, I'll cut you loose."
Riesch remembers. Theodore told me before that Arnold killed his mother. Is it possible that he is talking about that time?
"I don't know what you're thinking about what happened with Coyol."
There is dark light in the blue eyes.
With a ruthless expression, Arnold cut to pieces.
Don't let me get rid of you.
……
Rieschew tied her lips tightly.
That was never because his orders were frightening.
(--It's like begging)
Why is that?
If you were only going to leave what you needed for your purpose, you wouldn't be able to make such a wish on Riesch.
"... I can't promise you."
Prepare yourself and open your mouth.
"Whether I'm your wife or not, I move for what I want. Even if it's truncated from you, you can't give up your way of life. But..."
Riesch braced herself and told Arnold:
"Then I'll be back here."
"... what?
"Even if you throw me out now and tell me to break my engagement. Next time, I'll interview the maid and come back to this castle."
Arnold glances at me a little.
I felt like the joke had succeeded, and continued to say with a smile.
"If that doesn't work, dress up as a man and be a knight. If it's still no good, you can call me a pharmacist. I will learn how to dive into this castle and come to see you many times."
When I first came to this country, I thought I might get divorced and kicked out someday.
Even so, we have taken several measures to ensure that we can live without any problems.
But what Richie wants to do now is to be in this castle, next to Arnold.
"So rest assured. I will not be ruled out by His Highness Arnold."
…………
At the same time as the declaration, conclusions emerged in Riesch.
(Now I understand. What should I do for His Highness Arnold?)
Change your perspective and learn about new aspects of the world.
For that reason, there is something Riesch should show him. No, I'm sure it wasn't just Arnold.
I'm sorry, Your Highness.
Riesch reached out to Arnold.
He nodded his cheeks with both hands and stared gently. I thought it impolite to touch it, but in the end I couldn't bear it.
"I don't know your father. For me, these eyes are the colour of His Highness's eyes, not of your father.... I want to repeat it over and over again, even though it is abominable to you."
Looking at the frozen sea colored eyes, Riesch smiles.
"I think the color of your eyes is the most beautiful thing in the world."
――……
Arnold raised his eyebrows slightly.
Of course I do not intend to impose values. I don't think he wants to deny the feeling of evading his own eyes.
But I really wanted to tell her.
……
How did this word resonate with Arnold?
He lays his hand over Riesch's hand with his eyes down and his emotionally indifferent expression.
And I felt like I was about to say something.
However, such signs will soon disappear. Arnold continued without heart or gentle glances.
"... it's too late. Rest today."
That said, I gently let go of Riesch's hand, which was twisting Arnold's cheek.
Reescher told her to whisper in a small voice when she pulled her hand down gently. I really feel a shame, but the emotions are deceiving me.
Good night, Lord Arnold.
"... ahh"
Careful, I can't see the fluorescent light.
When Riesch returned to his room balcony and looked gently back, Arnold had already returned to his room.
The wind blows through the balcony at night, shaking the hem of the nightdress.
The view of the night by yourself is much more lonely than before.
(... I can't believe I wanted to close my eyes.)
Arnold's words made him feel repugnant and averse to his father.
However, I don't think that the simple father-son stubbornness is responsible for such a reluctance to color his own eyes. As she entered her room, Riesch headed straight towards the bedside.
Then, the paper hidden under the pillow was removed.
This is a design drawing of a ring that is to be given to Arnold. Richie looked at the pictorial drawings with beautiful designs many times before she went to bed.
This ring is supposed to have the same color of jewelry as Arnold's eyes.
……
Riesch finishes the design painting again, and as she gets off the bed, she turns to the desk.
Then he looked at the pocket watch he borrowed from Arnold and took a pen made of wings.
(The bedtime promised to His Highness is almost over. --By then, we have to do everything we can.)
"--I 'm sorry for the night, my lord."
Oliver, Arnold's servant, lowered his head in his office.
A large number of reports have already been piled up on the desk, which is a shallow place to start. Nevertheless, the document Arnold has was given to him by Oliver earlier.
"I don't mind. I'm going to call you in on this, too."
"Hello, can you move quickly?
Oliver frowned on your master's unexpected orders.
"I understand the need, but it is premature."
It makes sense because he thinks so too.
Arnold said this with cold eyes.
"--Besides, some damage is in the calculation."