Translator: Nox

Chapter 54

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Eventually, Roy and Bert returned from the baths together. Roy had insisted on going first, claiming his Southern upbringing made him pathetic in the cold. Bert countered that his aging, aching joints took priority, arguing that someone as young as Roy couldn’t understand the physical toll of being caught in the rain. They finally compromised by entering the washroom at the same time.

Adi retreated to her quarters, shedding her drenched attire for a set of thick, warm garments. A sudden chill had settled over the day. She considered skipping the wash entirely since her hair was already starting to dry, but she couldn’t exactly present herself to the Crown Prince looking like a disheveled mess.

While she waited for the two men to finish their bathing, Adi sat in the lounge and flipped open the Knight’s Journal.

She calculated that her best chance of encountering the Crown Prince would be right before the Duke’s scheduled audience. However, she was uncertain about the protocol; she didn’t know if the knights remained in the hallway during such meetings or accompanied their lords inside. Lacking experience in royal etiquette, she could only speculate.

“Man, that felt great.”

“……”

The pair emerged from the bathroom just then.

“Oh, you’re already changed? You still need to wash up, though,” Roy noted.

Adi stared at them. “Put some clothes on.”

“What’s the big deal? We’re all men here,” Roy shrugged.

“Bert, you too. Get dressed.”

She was aware that men often lounged around half-naked in private, but it was a sight she had no desire to witness.

“You’re far too modest,” Roy complained. “Even for a Northerner, you’re being extreme.”

“Just… get dressed…”

Adi shielded her eyes with her palms. Still muttering under his breath, Roy finally tied a towel around his hips. Bert had already ducked into his room, reappearing fully clothed and holding a comb. Instead of his hair, he began meticulously grooming his damp beard. He treated the facial hair with immense care. Glancing at Roy, Bert spoke up.

“It seems Roy isn’t actually cold at all.”

“I suppose that story about his Southern blood was just a ruse to get the hot water first,” Adi remarked, stepping up beside Roy. “Roy,” she said softly.

He jumped slightly at the sound of his name. For a second, he worried she was going to berate him for the bathroom argument, as she seemed like the sort of person who would hold a grudge over something that small.

“Your duel is tomorrow,” she reminded him.

“Uh, yeah. That’s right.”

“That man,” Adi said, her voice dropping as she looked down. Roy found himself following her gaze toward the floor.

“Break him.”

The words were so cold they sent a shiver down his spine. He instinctively recoiled as if the threat were directed at him. Adi’s eyes remained fixed on Roy’s lower half.

“Crush every part of him that can be crushed.”

Bert’s comb froze in the middle of his beard.

“Make sure he can never function as a man again. That would be ideal.”

“Whoa, isn’t that going a bit far?” Roy stammered.

“It isn’t.”

“Just do it.”

Adi reached out and gripped Roy’s shoulder. Despite her slight frame and lack of physical power, her hand felt like a vice, as if she intended to grind his bone to powder. Roy could only swallow hard, frozen in place.

“If you fail, I’ll ensure your own stones are the ones that get shattered.”

The pleasant, warm lethargy from the bath evaporated instantly. Roy broke out in a cold sweat, his skin crawling as if he were back out in the freezing rain. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to shake the sudden dread, but the feeling lingered. Adi didn’t say another word as she brushed past him and disappeared into the bathroom.

The door shut with a soft, final click.

The two men stood in silence, staring at the wood. Bert was the first to speak, resuming his beard grooming with a shaky hand. “Is she… angry?”

“You felt it too, right?” Roy whispered.

“I’m not sure what happened earlier, but whatever transpired must have really set her off.”

They both wondered what Lev Zid could have possibly said to her. They knew there was friction between them, but for her to demand such a brutal retaliation suggested a deep, serious insult.

“So that’s how she acts when she’s livid…”

Bert felt a chill. He had heard rumors about her penchant for breaking things—and people—but he hadn’t expected her to recruit others for her vendettas.

“Don’t let the quiet look fool you. She’s a dog—a vicious one.”

“Even a dog wouldn’t be that heartless,” Bert muttered.

He realized he had completely misread her character. Roy continued to stare at the bathroom door, his expression shifting into one of deep, troubled thought. Finally, he looked at Bert with a grimace.

“Well, better his than mine, I guess.”

“No question about it,” Bert agreed immediately.

*

Yuls pushed his damp hair away from his face. The length was becoming a nuisance. He had considered cutting it, but since everyone around him was against the idea, he decided to tolerate it for now.

He sighed, staring at the ceiling as his mind drifted back to Adi’s strange behavior. She had been observing Claude and Count Grimaldi earlier. Specifically, her attention seemed focused more on Claude than on the Count.

He knew Adi had no allies to turn to. Why look toward the Crown Prince? Did she honestly believe Claude would offer her protection or support?

Claude wasn’t the altruistic type. He was a man who viewed people as tools to be used. The Count was actually being pragmatic by trying to bring his son back to their lands to shield him from the Prince’s machinations. Yet Adi didn’t seem to see it that way.

Was there a hidden connection between them?

What was the meaning behind the way Adrian looked at the Prince?

He wondered if there was a secret dynamic involving the three of them that he had missed.

As he pondered this, Yuls ran a hand over his jaw. He felt a rough sensation against his skin. He checked again, making sure he wasn’t imagining it. There was definitely stubble there—short, but unmistakable. He called for his head attendant.

“Joel.”

“I am here, Your Excellency.”

“Bring me a razor.”

Joel hesitated for a moment, surprised by the request, before the realization hit him. He nodded quickly. The Duke was changing. Joel wasn’t sure what had happened between his master and Adi, but growth was occurring. It was a slow, nearly invisible process, but it was real.

Joel returned with the supplies, sat nearby, and began lathering the shaving soap. A month ago, the idea of the Duke needing a shave would have been unthinkable. The attendant felt a wave of genuine emotion.

“It’s erratic,” Yuls mused. “Sometimes there is progress, and other times, nothing.”

He thought of her trembling hands as she struggled with his cravat. She had been breathless, clearly overwhelmed by the proximity. The memory of her face flushing like a blooming flower brought an involuntary smile to his lips.

“I assumed it was just physical contact that mattered.”

He realized he was in trouble; once you start finding someone endearing, the battle is already lost. It didn’t matter if Adi was a man or woman, or even a member of the Grimaldi family. This wasn’t the path he had expected to take. He wondered about the name—Adrian versus Adrina. It was curious. Perhaps ‘love’ really was the specific catalyst required to undo the magic.

“Have you discovered a lead, sir?”

“I believe so.”

He wondered about the Witch’s true intentions.

“My mother was perhaps more of a romantic than I gave her credit for.”

The Witch had cursed her own child. She would claim it was for his protection one moment, and then declare it was out of pure spite the next. Yuls believed both were true. She was a creature of conflicting, intense passions. She was incapable of half-measures; she loved and hated with equal ferocity.

Unlike humans, her kind existed purely for the sake of love. If the previous Duke hadn’t been a liar—if he had simply been honest—she might never have withered into such bitterness. It was the fault of human corruption.

Since Yuls was half-human, he carried that same tainted blood.

“The curse was absurd enough, but it turns out the remedy isn’t as simple as a kiss.”

That had been the beginning. He had felt a spark of interest when that grown man had desperately called his name and promised a cure. It wasn’t love then; it was just a mild curiosity. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when the shift happened.

Now, however, he was certain.

“It’s about the heart.”

The solution wasn’t just Adrian himself, but the emotions involved.

“How inconvenient.”

Yuls covered his face, staring up at the rafters. He hadn’t thought himself capable of such sentiment. He hadn’t expected his heart to be so unruly.

The curse, the love, the kiss.

Witches were truly a headache.

“What’s the next step?” he whispered.

Stirring his own feelings was one thing, but he was plagued by a new question. If it was purely about the weight of his emotions, did they have to be for Adi? Or would the curse break if he felt this way for anyone else?