The Forner estate was located in a remote part of the Duchy.
If a public notice had reached even this far, didn’t that mean there was nowhere the news hadn’t spread?
It was practically saying that the entire Duchy had been turned upside down by this rumor.
Is this speed even possible?
Ash couldn’t understand it.
Owen’s meticulousness was always astonishing, but now it was infuriating.
“If I hadn’t said I’d accompany you, such a scandal wouldn’t have attached to your name…”
“Why are you acting like that? It’s scary. Just act normal!”
“See, Lord Ash, didn’t I advise you? That your name would be cheapened. While commoners who know nothing might just think ‘Oh, I see,’ what will nobles who know Lord Ash think?”
“That I’m too charming?”
Ash guessed. Tyllian looked at him as if bewildered.
Is that the expression you make at someone who just confessed to you?
“No… Keep talking.”
“Won’t they think that Lord Ash abandoned his duties and went off to enjoy another escapade?”
“Being kidnapped isn’t an escapade!”
“Because they’ll believe it was something that happened with mutual consent… Or that it was Lord Ash’s command. Am I the kind of person to kidnap you?”
“You’re awfully confident about your reputation, aren’t you?!”
“It’s thanks to His Grace the Duke’s benevolence. I’m grateful.”
Tyllian sighed. Duke Mills, who loved entertainment, held many festivals, and one thing he never missed was a tournament.
The Duke greatly enjoyed watching lancers charge, so Tyllian, after being knighted, had to participate in numerous matches as Sir Mainor.
And he won every single tournament.
That was why he was the most renowned knight in the Duchy.
“So, you’re not even angry? That Owen bastard dragged your perfectly good reputation through the mud!”
Ash was indignant. It’s easy to ruin a reputation but hard to build a good one.
Ash also knew why he was angry.
It was because he knew what a upright person Tyllian was.
He had strived to be different from his father.
Ash, who had witnessed that effort by his side, was so upset, so Tyllian himself must be even more so.
Moreover, this wasn’t Tyllian’s fault, was it?
If it hadn’t been for Ash…
Tyllian’s name would still have been the epitome of a knight.
However, Tyllian’s own attitude was calm.
“How could I possibly be angry?”
“Why can’t you be angry?”
“The rumors are true, aren’t they?”
Ash couldn’t understand.
“When did you kidnap me?”
“Whether you wanted to or not, a wedding was being prepared for you. I spirited away a bride confined to a castle and fled… Isn’t that not wrong?”
His matter-of-fact tone made Ash even more agitated.
“You just said ‘confined to a castle’! It’s not kidnapping, it’s rescue. The two are completely different! Did you even take rhetoric class with me? What are you going to do letting Owen’s glib talk manipulate you!”
“I cannot say things that go against my conscience. The fact that I admired you and wished to prevent the marriage remains unchanged.”
Tyllian said something so cringeworthy without batting an eye.
Even the notoriously brazen Ash felt his mind reel at those words.
‘Admired?’
Is this Tyllian in front of me? It feels like someone else is wearing Tyllian’s skin.
After saying something that would make anyone lose their mind, Tyllian looked at his teacher as if nothing had happened.
“But couldn’t this be a bad move? If Lord Ash publicly executes me and blames Lord Owen for failing to protect himself? I don’t know much about politics, but I do know the duty of protection. Can a young Duke who can’t even protect his own fiancée protect his subjects? If that happens, Lord Owen would be in a difficult position. Wouldn’t it actually give Lord Ash a justification?”
“Oh… So Tyllian is willing to be executed by Ash?”
“Protecting Lord Ash has been my duty since birth.”
The conversation proceeding without Ash was quite a spectacle.
How could someone make such grim jokes?
Ash felt like he could never keep up with Tyllian’s sense of humor.
‘What would he do for a living if he wasn’t a knight?’
No, he definitely can’t be left alone. Tyllian needs to clear his name.
Well, even if Ash considered his own situation his own doing.
He couldn’t just stand by.
‘Wait.’
His own doing?
The moment that phrase came to mind, a face flashed like lightning through his brain.
Ash’s head shot up.
“I have a way.”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s go to the capital!”
What are friends for?
That guy could restore Tyllian’s honor.
Because he had immense power.
Whether he was trustworthy was highly questionable, but…
Ash wasn’t in a position to be picky.
“Surely you’re not thinking of appealing your injustice to His Majesty?”
“Of course not! I’d get scolded! And if I asked the Emperor to judge whose share the Duchy was, he’d happily divide it into about twelve pieces!”
“Then…”
“Let’s go to Karl.”
“His Royal Highness, the Second Prince?”
Tyllian’s face instantly became sour.
“Who’s that?”
His master, clueless about the ways of the world, asked.
Ash didn’t want to explain that he was “the most infamous scoundrel in the Empire.”
But what else could he call him besides that?
Instead of Ash, who was rolling his eyes, Tyllian answered.
“He is Lord Ash’s… friend.”
He still wore a displeased expression.
Ash nodded confidently.
“Best friend, actually. He’ll take us in.”
If they shared dozens of weaknesses, couldn’t they pretty much call themselves best friends?
Maybe not.
***
Carlos Orlante was the Second Prince of the Empire.
With melting golden hair and lake-blue eyes, he looked as if an angel from a holy painting had grown into a young man.
If he just kept his mouth shut, he would appear almost divine.
That is… if he didn’t say a word.
Carlos woke up as the sun was setting.
The omega he had spent the dawn with was in his arms.
Carlos recoiled in disgust.
“Ugh, why is she still here? Butler! Butler!”
“Your butler’s busy working.”
“Ah. He must be busy. Who in my house isn’t busy besides me? Still, when I call, he should come, right? I’m the master.”
Carlos inadvertently replied, then turned his head.
He thought there was only one person who shouldn’t be in his bedroom, but there was one more.
And that person was even awake.
He sat on the sofa, holding a teacup leisurely in one hand and flipping through a newspaper with the other.
The sight was surprisingly ill-fitting.
Carlos gasped in horror.
“Why are you here?!”
“The butler opened the door for me, didn’t he? He even escorted me to your bedroom. He must’ve thought I was your new lover. Or your twelfth lover… Is there a difference?”
Ash tilted his head.
Carlos messed up his hair wildly.
“No… Weren’t you kidnapped?!”
“That rumor reached even here?!”
“It was in the newspaper!”
“Crazy, what crazy reporter would write that down?”
Ashton Mills, who had been feigning composure, threw down the newspaper.
“Unless a reporter was crazy, they’d happily write it down as a scoop!”
“It wasn’t in the newspaper I read.”
“That’s an economics paper. You didn’t read the paper, did you? Just pretended to.”
Carlos grilled his friend.
Ash grumbled.
“What do I care? Why do you subscribe to an economics paper? Since when were you interested in economics?”
“Hey, I need to make money. Do you think I’m a carefree idler like you?”
“You are carefree.”
“That’s true.”
The two friends chuckled at each other.
Then Carlos snapped back to reality.
No, this wasn’t the time to be laughing, was it?
Why on earth was this guy, who was supposedly kidnapped from the Ducal Castle, here?
Of course, Carlos hadn’t believed the story since the moment he confirmed the kidnapper’s name was Tyllian Mainor.
It seemed Ashton Mills was up to some crazy stunt again…
But it was surprising that it had become a nationwide incident.
The Ash he knew was someone who quietly played only within the Duchy.
Because once he left the Duchy, the Duke would no longer tolerate his escapades.
It was the same principle as Carlos not causing trouble outside the Empire.
“Surely you haven’t decided to make history in the Empire to celebrate your newfound freedom?”
Carlos asked, just in case. Ash’s face flushed crimson.
“Hey! How can you say ‘celebrate newfound freedom’ when someone’s father has passed away?!”