Chapter 81#
Chaise a la ReineChapter 81#
“If such places exist, they are likely not within the capital. There is no location in the city where so many foreigners could gather without being noticed. If there were, I would have heard something already,”
Hunter said with certainty. Eugène looked at him with a curious gaze.
“Would those who must conceal their identities truly expose themselves so openly as members of the Confederation?”
“Even if they do not wish to reveal it, what choice do they have? They would not know the language. You probably do not realize it because it is your native tongue, but do you have any idea how fucking difficult Eneca is? If we were dealing with just one or two spies, perhaps, but we are likely talking about thousands. There is no way they could have taught Eneca to all of them.”
It was true enough. Eugène nodded at the memory, remembering how he had taught Hunter the imperial language while he was being smuggled into the empire, hiding in his cabin under the captain’s orders.
The people of the Confederation struggled greatly with Eneca’s complex vowel structure compared to their native language. Even getting to a basic conversational level took time, and fixing the language’s harsh double consonant accent took even longer.
“Then they must be somewhere out of sight, on the outskirts. A place where large numbers can stay isolated without drawing attention.”
Eugène narrowed his eyes as he suddenly recalled how the Emperor had spoken of the possibility of rebellion.
“According to Sir Jersen’s conjecture, their superiors may well be linked to high-ranking nobles of the empire. They could have received help from them. Just in case, begin by searching the monasteries backed by noble patronage, especially those with many monks who have taken a vow of silence.”
“Sounds plausible. A vow of silence, you say.”
This is what made collaboration with clever men so enjoyable. Hunter, pleased that Eugène’s deduction had provided a lead for their investigation, patted Eugène’s thigh in praise. That damned habit of his acting up again was a sure sign that his mood had greatly improved.
“It is at times like this that I regret that you are not a woman. My late mother used to say that if your wife is wise, the household is at peace.”
Taking it a step further, Hunter even slid his hand playfully up Eugène’s thigh as he made his ridiculous joke.
“Get your hand off me.”
Eugène sternly warned, but Hunter did not listen. Ignoring the frown forming between Eugène’s brows in annoyance, he began to pester him even more mischievously, as if to tease him.
“Did you not hear me tell you to get your hand off?”
This kind of bickering between Eugène and Hunter was a familiar sight to both of them.
They had known each other far too jong, and Eugène knew wejj that Hunter’s fjirtation was just a habit, utterjy devoid of any reaj intent.
But unfortunately, this time, there was another gaze watching the scene unfold.
“Do not touch him.”
A voice as cold as ice fell between the two of them, who sat together as close as if clinging to each other. The tone, firm enough to be called a command, made Hunter instinctively lift his head, and he found himself locking eyes with a man whose very presence already felt overwhelming.
Expressionjess gojden eyes stared back at him with chijjing indifference. He had not outwardjy dispjayed emotion, yet precisejy because of that, the gaze fejt even more menacing, eerijy so.
“… Sir Jersen?”
“Just who do you think you are trifling with right now? Rumors are rampant throughout the empire, and yet you, who claim to be an information trader, would have me believe you have never heard them?”
The voice, sharp as a blade, was so cutting that it felt as though it could slice through flesh with sound alone. Hunter, caught completely off guard, felt a stunned sense of indignation, as though he had been struck across the face without warning. He turned to Eugène in disbelief.
What on earth is that person going on about? He shot Eugène a questioning look, but Eugène could not bring himself to reveal the truth.
“Sir Jersen, please stop. These words are unbefitting of the setting.”
“You have the gall to say that after engaging in such conduct before my very eyes?”
“Sir Jersen!”
“It seems you have yet to grasp what you are. Your name is already so deeply entwined with the Emperor’s that it can no longer be separated. Yet such a man allows another’s hand to wander freely over his body in plain view? Have you no sense of how reckless your conduct appears?”
The realization came too late. Eugène, attempting to recover what was already lost, could do nothing to stem the tide of fury that now threatened to engulf him.
He was lashed with a reprimand, so severe in tone that anyone hearing it might have assumed that they had been caught engaging in an orgy in the middle of a public square.
Eugène’s ears flushed red with humiliation and frustration. That such a disgrace had unfolded before Hunter of all people wounded his pride more deeply than he cared to admit.
Worse still was the risk that if this continued, the sharp-eyed Hunter might figure out Sir Jersen’s true identity.
“Please, that is enough, Sir. You are putting Baron Amieux in a difficult position.”
Even Victor, no longer able to endure the sight, stepped in to intervene, but it was in vain. The Emperor was blinded by jealousy and had long since lost the capacity for rational conversation.
“Difficult, you say? While this is the same man who wandered alone through the heart of the red-light district, even after an incident that nearly claimed his life, and still dares to act as if nothing can touch him?”
As if unable to suppress his rage any longer, the Emperor struck the armrest beside him and ground his teeth, glaring at Eugène with unveiled fury. But the moment those words reached him, Eugène too felt his fury rise. What did he just say? Who is he to speak of such things?
From the instant he had discovered the Emperor lurking in that seedy third-rate burlesque theater, a simmering anger had been bubbling beneath his skin. Now, the Emperor’s words struck the final nerve. Eugène could no longer contain himself and rose abruptly to his feet.
“Stand up.”
Eugène spoke to the Emperor in a voice so cold it seemed carved from ice, his words bitten off and swallowed like venom.
“Baron Amieux?”
Victor, startled by such insolence, looked up at Eugène with eyes wide as lanterns. But Eugène, like the Emperor, was completely unfazed by his demeanor.
“What did you say?”
“I told you to rise from your seat. I would rather not disrespect you in front of others.”
Eugène quietly growled, making no secret of his intentions to drag the Emperor out of his seat if he did not get up. The Emperor stared back in disbelief, as if wondering whether Eugène truly expected to intimidate him like this, but then stood up confidently.
Eugène barely held himself back from seizing the Emperor by the wrist and dragging him out, and did not even glance at Hunter as he spoke curtly.
“Well, it seems things have turned out this way. I shall take my leave. I know you are busy, but I would appreciate it if you gave my request particular attention. It may, after all, be related to this incident.”
“Oh, sure. Okay. Take care on your way… ?”
“I will stop by again.”
What… what is this atmosphere? The two grown men were staring each other down like rivals, yet for some reason it felt like watching a lovers’ quarrel. Hunter responded halfheartedly, a strange hunch tightening in his chest, and before he could even finish his goodbye, Eugène snatched his hat from the rack and strode out of the box.
Ha! What is with the attitude? After all he has done, now he dares to be angry at Us?!’
The Emperor glared fiercely at Eugène’s retreating back, as he showed not even a hint of remorse, before following after him.
“We have much to discuss between us, but perhaps today is not the time. I, too, shall take my leave. I will return another day.”
The astonished Victor hurriedly got up as Eugène and the Emperor departed, leaving him alone. Hunter, still unsettled by the bizarre atmosphere, barely acknowledged Victor’s farewell as his eyes remained fixed on the door through which Eugène had disappeared, a storm of suspicion swirling in his mind.
Could it be…?
There was no way he could have witnessed everything up to this point and still remained oblivious. Slowly, piece by piece, Hunter began assembling the fragments of the puzzle into a coherent whole.
Come to think of it, it was odd from the very start that the guests in the opposite box had suddenly come to see him unannounced.
He had already declined once, suggesting they speak after the play was over, and at the time, they had backed down without protest. So why had they abruptly changed their minds and come looking for him midway through the performance? Moreover, it now struck him as strange that although they clearly knew each other, they had initially pretended not to.
To be precise, the mysterious gentleman had merely ignored him, but it had been Eugène alone who had gone out of his way to act as if they were strangers.
What lingered most in his mind was the man’s furious reaction, how he had lunged as though ready to devour someone, all because another man’s thigh had been touched. No matter how he looked at it, that was not the expression of someone merely concerned for an acquaintance’s honour.
Eugène too, and even that Adelphe fellow known to be the Emperor’s close aide… they were oddly deferential around him… TfOXiA
The clues that had been drifting in his mind finally clicked into place, drawing a complete picture that led to a singular conclusion.
Hah? Hahaha… ha!
Finally realizing the identity of the dignified gentleman, Hunter first laughed in disbelief, then slapped his knee and began to laugh hysterically.
Good heavens, the rumors were true! That gentleman had been none other than His Imperial Majesty himself, and the argument he’d witnessed between him and Eugène had, astonishingly, been a lovers’ quarrel! Hunter, now aware that he had just witnessed the greatest comedy of his life unfold before his very eyes, could no longer contain his laughter and rolled on the floor, helpless with mirth.
Absurd as it had seemed, the rumor that Eugène was the Emperor’s favorite had been real all along! Even that ridiculous portrait was real!!