Chapter 75

Good grief. Am I about to be struck by lightning again for my insolence?

Isaac’s anxiety proved unnecessary. Kaiyan remained silent, turning his gaze toward the descending sun before rising to his feet, a clear signal that their rest was over. Isaac quickly followed suit. Glancing back, he saw his horse had finally lifted its head from the stream, licking the lingering water from its muzzle.

“Come here. We are moving out.” Isaac took the reins and guided his horse away from the riverbank. Kaiyan, preparing to mount, shot him a sideways glance.

“Did you not stop because you needed a rest?”

“I did, but… you are leaving now, aren’t you?” Isaac countered.

“You cannot keep up with me anyway. There is no need to force yourself.”

Kaiyan mounted his horse in one smooth, graceful motion. Isaac scratched his head and hauled himself into his own saddle with a grunt of effort. Gripping the leather reins, Kaiyan looked back at the guard determined to accompany him.

“The distance between us will open again soon, but it would be nice to ride together, even if just for a short while.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to be near you.”

Isaac struggled to articulate the words clearly, and a fresh jolt of pain pierced his wounded tongue. His facial muscles tightened. Only after the confession escaped his lips did he freeze. Something heavy dropped into the pit of his chest with a dull thud, as though a hidden truth he had not even consciously recognized had slipped out before he could catch it.

What? What did I just say?

Isaac remained motionless, blinking rapidly before rubbing his face in sheer, mounting confusion. When he looked up, Kaiyan was watching him with an expressionless stare, as though he were a baffling, inexplicable anomaly.

“No. My apologies, I did not mean anything particular by it,” Isaac rushed to clarify, his mind scrambling for suitable words. Another thought struck him, leaving him even more flustered. Perhaps Kaiyan thought he was attempting some shameless, pathetic form of flattery.

“I truly meant nothing beyond the literal words, my Lord…” Isaac’s face burned with increasing embarrassment. By now, Kaiyan’s gaze should have dismissed him with its usual indifference. Instead, the prince continued to watch him in heavy, contemplative silence, as though genuinely waiting to hear what nonsense Isaac might spout next.

“…Forgive me. Please, go on ahead,” Isaac murmured, ducking his head and rubbing his face in a desperate attempt to hide his discomfort.

Kaiyan lingered for a moment, his gaze unreadable, before finally pulling his focus away. He flicked the reins, his heels digging into the white steed’s flanks. The animal surged forward like an arrow, carrying its master with effortless grace over the uneven terrain and past the brush. Within seconds, horse and rider had dwindled to a mere speck on the horizon.

Isaac watched until the rhythmic thrum of hoofbeats faded entirely, only then allowing his tense shoulders to slump.

“He really just left.”

A strange, turbulent mix of relief and disappointment washed over him, clashing in his chest. Pressing a palm over his heart, Isaac felt the frantic rhythm hammering against his ribs. He stood there for a long moment, shielding the restless beat, before finally shaking his head and releasing a long, shuddering sigh.

He needed to stop this. He had to stop thinking. If he allowed these thoughts to unfold, some realization he dared not name might claw its way into his consciousness. The prospect terrified him, leaving an unbearable sadness in its wake.

“Let’s go. Come on.” Isaac patted his horse twice and nudged its belly with his heel.

Neigh!

The animal let out a sharp whinny and sprang forward. As the saddle shifted rhythmically beneath him, Isaac glanced up at the sun hanging high overhead. They had covered roughly half the distance to Haylen. At this pace, he would arrive by evening, whereas Kaiyan would surely reach it hours before him. The journey usually took a full day, meaning they must have been riding at a breakneck speed to make such good time.

Before long, Isaac emerged from the woodland, rejoining the main road that carved through the vast, open plains. Then…

“…Ah.”

Far ahead, he spotted the pale hindquarters of a horse, its tail streaming in the wind. Isaac’s heart leaped, and he urged his mount faster. Even after a long while, the distance between them neither shrank nor widened. Kaiyan continued ahead, keeping the gap perfectly consistent. From Isaac’s perspective, maintaining that distance required riding as if his life depended on it. Kaiyan, meanwhile, must have throttled his horse down to what he considered a leisurely trot.

For some inexplicable reason, that realization delighted him. The distance never narrowed, yet Kaiyan remained visible, and the mere sight of the prince filled Isaac with a quiet, grounding contentment. He laughed, knowing the sound could not possibly carry that far, yet Kaiyan glanced back all the same.

That was all. The prince neither slowed down nor waited. He simply maintained his pace, and Isaac followed in his wake.

***

Isaac had heard nobility and royals alike heap praise upon the chief steward of Haylen Palace. The rumors, it seemed, were entirely accurate. Kaiyan had only decided to leave during the previous evening’s banquet, yet he had arrived less than a full day later.

An express courier had galloped through the night directly following dinner to announce the prince’s arrival. Mere hours after that message, the man himself had appeared at the gates. There had likely never been another royal journey arranged with such jarring speed.

From the perspective of the palace staff, they had been enjoying a perfectly uneventful day until their master descended upon them like a bolt from the clear sky. They must have spent several frantic hours scouring, scrubbing, and furnishing the entire estate. Normally, a household required weeks to prepare for a distinguished guest, but Haylen’s chief steward had been forced to compress that entire endeavor into half a day.

“And yet everything is flawless,” Isaac murmured to himself, shoveling a spoonful of rich meat stew into his mouth. “I heard Haylen’s chief steward was exceptionally capable, and it seems the rumors were true.”

Kaiyan had arrived well before sunset. A rider departing the capital in the morning would usually spend a full day in the saddle, arriving the following morning, yet Kaiyan had reached Haylen while the sun was still high. Isaac had staggered in soon afterward, looking ready to collapse.

The other servants had ridden themselves to the brink, falling far behind and only reaching the palace in the dead of night.

The palace staff had been visibly shaken by Kaiyan’s early arrival, yet the chief steward lived up to his legendary reputation. He greeted the party with icy composure, revealing not a hint of panic. Nothing was missing. Even the room adjacent to the prince’s bedchamber, reserved for his personal guard, had been scrubbed until not a speck of dust remained.

They had even laid out fresh clothing and necessities for a lowly guard who had arrived with next to nothing. If they had taken such exquisite care with Isaac’s quarters, the preparations for Kaiyan himself required no explanation.

“The things they prepared for a guard are even better than what I normally own,” Isaac said, running his hands over the quality fabric of the guard uniform hanging in the wardrobe. “Mm. Excellent. Truly excellent.”

It was brand new, far cleaner and sharper than his own worn attire. The first uniform he had tried on the previous night had been ill-fitting, so they had fetched another this morning. This one fit perfectly, and his nightclothes, toiletries, and personal effects were likewise finer than anything he had ever owned.

Everything was exquisite. Haylen itself was a lovely place, and Isaac now understood why everyone who visited sang its praises. Unlike the capital, where biting winds already whipped through the mornings and evenings, Haylen remained temperate year-round, with barely any fluctuation between day and night. The climate remained pleasantly balanced.

Isaac had only arrived yesterday and had not met everyone yet, but every person he encountered had been kind and gentle. The common wisdom held that the temperament of Haylen’s inhabitants was as mild as the weather, and so far, that seemed entirely accurate.

Rumors of Prince Kaiyan had spread even to this remote corner. Isaac occasionally caught tense, apprehensive glances directed at the prince, but because the locals had only heard stories and never witnessed Kaiyan’s presence firsthand, their expressions held more reverence than raw terror. That, at least, eased Isaac’s mind.

Forests and lakes hugged the borders of Haylen, granting the region extraordinary natural beauty. This same wilderness meant it remained underdeveloped, leading some in the capital to dismiss it as a remote backwater. Even so, the royals who sought solace in nature treasured this place. Its quiet atmosphere suited Isaac far better than the crowded, chaotic capital.

Yes. Everything about Haylen is wonderful. If I were forced, absolutely forced, to identify a single complaint, however…

“Does the stew suit your taste?”

A young servant had appeared out of nowhere, standing beside Isaac with a broad, beaming smile. He held a tray bearing a glass filled with a green liquid that looked suspiciously healthy and undeniably vile. Green vegetable juice.

Isaac stared bleakly at the glass while chewing another mouthful of stew. “Yes. It’s delicious. I’ve never eaten stew this rich and greasy before.”

He had also never eaten meat stew as a mid-morning snack only two hours after breakfast, nor had anyone ever served him a basin-sized bowl filled to the brim with the stuff. At this rate, I’m going to grow fat before the sun sets. Isaac wondered where he was expected to cram the green juice when he possessed only one stomach. He tentatively accepted the glass, hoping to set it aside for later.

The servant kept smiling, but his tone shifted to one of solemn firmness. “I was ordered to make certain you finish it properly.”

“…”

“I had heard that Lord Kaiyan was an exceedingly frightening man, but he must actually be very kind,” the servant chattered. “To think he pays such close attention to even the smallest details concerning a subordinate. I was deeply moved.” He tilted his head in thought. “He even ordered us to prepare snacks because you need to build your stamina. Or perhaps he said vitality. Something along those lines.”

Isaac could only offer an ambiguous, pained smile. Since arriving in Haylen, he had received an extraordinary degree of consideration. It was consideration so excessive that his stomach might give out before his vitality actually improved.

When Isaac arrived around sunset the previous afternoon, Kaiyan had been preparing to enter the palace under the formal welcome of the chief steward and the entire household staff. Isaac had reached them in a cloud of road dust, so utterly spent that he nearly slid from his horse rather than dismounting. While everyone else stared in confusion, Isaac had seen Kaiyan regarding him with indifference and offered the prince a faint, weary smile that resembled a sigh. After trailing the prince all day, he had simply felt a profound relief to face him again.

Kaiyan’s brow had twitched, an almost imperceptible reaction, before settling into its usual mask.

— Excuse me, but…

The chief steward had stepped forward. Only then did Isaac notice the surrounding crowd and straighten his posture.

— It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Isaac, and I serve as Lord Kaiyan’s personal guard.

— I see. It is a pleasure to meet you as well. You have endured a difficult journey. Welcome to Haylen. But where are the others…?

— Ah. They will probably be somewhat late. Perhaps tonight, or possibly tomorrow…

While Isaac and the chief steward exchanged greetings, Kaiyan watched him without comment, then turned away. The steward immediately returned to the prince’s side. As Kaiyan entered the palace under the man’s guidance, he gestured lightly toward Isaac with his chin.

— Give him something to eat first. He cannot chew anything hard, so serve him something soft.

Isaac must have looked remarkably gaunt and exhausted. He had been startled and deeply moved that Kaiyan would show such delicate, unspoken consideration. The chief steward obeyed without question.

The moment Isaac reached his assigned room, the servants presented him with a complete meal: steaming potage, soft white bread, tender steamed fish, and wine. His memory of that day ended there. Warm, delicious food entered his exhausted body, and sleep crashed over him. He went to bed full and satisfied, waking the following morning feeling entirely refreshed.

However…

“We are preparing lunch with particular care,” the servant announced. “It will consist entirely of soft, nutritious foods. Please tell us at any time if there is anything else you wish to eat.”

“…”

Isaac swallowed another reluctant mouthful of stew and rubbed his aching stomach. The mere word lunch made his insides knot with dread. It had begun the instant he woke, with a three-tiered tray piled high with food awaiting him. Bewildered, Isaac asked whether he was expected to eat breakfast there with the others, only for the servant to offer a pleasant smile.

“No. These are for you, Sir Guard. Prince Kaiyan ordered them.”