Episode 11. Addie's Weakness
Before entering the grand hall, the chamberlain mentioned Gray's seat. Front row, right next to the prince.
Quite the flashy spot for a latecomer. Something to brag about to all the officials: 'I've got the prince as my dazzling white knight.'
Gray let out a hollow laugh and sent the chamberlain away just before entering the hall. He leisurely passed the front doors and slipped in through the slightly open back entrance.
Fortunately, he wasn't too late. On the front podium, Knox's report-cum-speech was in full swing.
The guy droning on about key palace affairs in a low voice looked utterly mismatched with nobility no matter how many times Gray saw him. Tanned, sturdy build, a masculine face sharply chiseled with thick lines. A touch of wildness, perhaps.
And yet, how solemn he was. So solemn he was thoroughly bewildering the hall full of officials right now.
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had them fighting sleep so fiercely. His lethality was growing by the day.
Gray chuckled softly as he walked along the back of the hall and shoved both hands into his pants pockets.
He'd grown a lot. Just a scrawny kid before Gray left for studies abroad.
Nox Gregory.
One day, Gray's older brother Hudson had suddenly brought the pitiful orphan from an orphanage.
"Noblesse oblige is exactly that—our duty. Help your brother fulfill his by supporting this."
The Valoneck Duke had one day forced this random sponsorship on his youngest studying in Hallock. Even giving him a palm-sized fief he'd never asked for.
It pissed him off, but what could he do? Father, after all.
Anyway, that's how Gray ended up funding Nox's academy tuition without knowing much about him.
But in the end, it wasn't a bad noblesse oblige. He'd grown that much and snagged a chief clerk position.
Gray quietly sat in an audience chair at the wall corner. The hall interior was a mess worth seeing—utterly silent chaos.
Officials seated at tables by department were mostly twisting uncomfortably or dozing off with heads bowed. Who knew who'd partied all night.
Then Gray spotted her. Adel Nora, across diagonally, watching the podium.
Amid the drowsy, lax scene, she alone sat ramrod straight. Just like her.
Languid yet diligent posture, drab maroon dress, long hair neatly half-bound, sharply glinting tinted glasses.
At a glance, she seemed bored too, but she was one of the very few actually focusing on Knox's speech.
He'd sensed it from their last conversation: she took court clerk work seriously. So she gave her all even to this.
If so, worthy of applause. Up against the mighty Knox.
Gray chuckled again and sprawled in his chair. He focused too—in his own way. Not on Knox Gregory, but on Adel Nora.
How long had he watched? Around then, Gray realized it. His gaze had been pinned on Adel Nora unusually long.
And another thing: during that entire time, those glasses had stayed fixed on the podium. Precisely, on Knox Gregory atop it.
Gray slowly scanned the surroundings. His eyes passed the now openly dozing officials, passed and passed, finally reaching the podium again.
There, predictably, was Knox. The thick-lined face still flatly reciting his prepared text in that gruff voice.
Gray's gaze returned to the black glasses and half-bound hair. She remained the same. Languid-looking but diligently listening to Knox. Seeming distracted like the others yet never actually so.
Gray felt an odd sensation. Near intuition. She wasn't listening to the speech. She was watching Knox Gregory. Obsessively, while pretending otherwise.
Why?
What did Knox have? Sure, Knox was handsome. But had she ever shown interest in men's looks?
Gray recalled first meeting Adel. The impassive eyes in those black lenses looking at him. No admiration or shyness like others—just that languid face.
She'd definitely been that way. Like counting pebbles on the street, suddenly wondering why bother with such nonsense, then kicking them aside indifferently.
Even soaked to the skin on the boat, even when he'd untangled her ankle underwater and their eyes met.
Even at Hawks House, scribbling in her ledger and glancing down at him.
Even right before provocation in the pier's narrow alley.
Looking at me like that.
Treating this Gray Roer Valoneck like a pebble.
And yet... why Knox?
Gray's blue eyes narrowed.
Knox's speech ended, followed by another chief clerk's. Then the prince's closing remarks.
After Knox stepped down, Adel no longer fixed her gaze on the podium. Like the others, she stretched or jotted notes. Pretending to half-listen, exactly that.
But occasionally glanced at Knox, seated far below the podium, away from the prince's spot.
Sly glances like sometimes, but Gray sensed it clearly. She peeked at Knox quite often.
Because during that time, he'd only watched her.
Gray's lips curled slyly. He had good instincts, and his hunches were right nine times out of ten. And this animal sense usually worked in his favor.
A faint laugh slipped between Gray's red lips.
Found it—Addie's weakness.
Gray was on his way out after his cozy meeting with the prince.
He gently brushed off the chamberlain offering to guide him again. And strolled the palace grounds leisurely.
The innermost palace, the royal private quarters, was always serene. Neat like a historic garden in a painting.
But step just beyond, and sudden opulence unfolded. The corridors leading to the central palace were already plastered with flashy displays of the current regime's wealth.
Intricate reliefs, gleaming gold paintings on lavish pillars.
After Hallock's refined national style, Karl's gold-drenched palace seemed comical. Late learners steal crudely, they say. Shielded by northern powerhouse Hallock, Karl indulged its mild southern nation's perks—its pride like this. Sated abundance.
Though clueless fools blind to how this abundance hindered grasping industrialization and commercialization trends.
Finally exiting the central palace, Gray headed for the entrance where his carriage waited. Then, as planned, naturally turned his steps.
Where was it? The west wing where court clerks worked.
He'd roamed every corner of Karl Palace with Prince Harold—Harry—as a kid, but entering the central palace outskirts as an adult was rare.
Maids and ladies-in-waiting he passed blushed and greeted. Gray responded lightly. Shy faces and admiring eyes were everyday scenery.
"Excuse me, do you know where the west wing is?"
"Over there, turn that way. If you're not sure, shall I guide you?"
Such excessive kindness was standard too.
"How kind. But no need. Just enjoying a quiet solo stroll."
"Ah, yes. Have a pleasant walk then."
"Thank you, lady."
Winking lightly drew deep dimples on their lips. Cute, forcing down twitching smiles.
To Gray, the world was always this amiable. He turned without hesitation toward the direction they pointed.
Not lying about a solo stroll. Even he felt his steps refreshingly pleasant. Expectation for the upcoming negotiation made the breeze invigorating.
Entering the west wing, Gray scanned the interior. For a hub of national stewards, it was dingy compared to the central palace. Not his concern, though.
Gray opened the door marked 'Treasury' naturally, as if he'd always belonged.
"Hello, Mensha."
"Huh? Gray?!"
The guy, still reeling from last night's Full Moon all-nighter, had a half-dead face that went wide-eyed.
"What brings you here?"
To Mensha's question, Gray nearly turned to someone with black glasses and hair, but laughed instead.
"Came for Knox's speech, thought I'd drop by a friend's workplace."
"Ah, right. Chief Clerk Knox."
That Knox was Valoneck-sponsored was known to most Karl nobles.
Mensha shambled up and led Gray to a clean table. Gray deliberately spoke loudly.
"Seeing him nobly debate state affairs here, different from home—fresh. So this is parenting pride."
"Crazy. How old's the chief clerk from you?"
"Heart-adopted kids feel more dear."
Of course, said loudly for someone unable to look away from Knox.
Gray sidelong-glanced the neatly half-bound black hair nape. And the small hand below, pausing from busy ledger scribbles.
Oh, this is thrilling for real?
Gray calmly quelled his rising excitement.
1)Sandman: Sleep demon
