After descending quite a distance from the mountain peak, Adeus finally stopped. Sweat was pouring down his forehead like rain, and his arms that held me were trembling slightly.
"Let's take a break here."
Breathing heavily, Adeus gently placed me on the ground, seemingly exhausted.
"Are you okay?"
Adeus turned away without a word. I had a mountain of questions I wanted to ask.
"Adeus, what's going on? Why were you there...?"
Instead of answering, he roughly tore off the robe he was wearing, as if discarding it.
"Alright, let's get this out of the way first. ...Are you really a rebel?"
Adeus neatly spread the robe he had taken off on a large rock, swept the area a few times with his bare hands to clear the dust, and blew on it before turning to me.
"Your Highness, the Duchess."
The tight black top he wore looked a bit different from his usual attire.
"I've prepared it. Although it's not clean, please sit and rest for a moment."
"...Why should I trust you? Answer my question first. Are you really a rebel?"
"Of course not."
As I glared at him, Adeus shook his head and laughed. I took off the cumbersome robe and narrowed my eyes as I scanned him.
"If you were really a rebel, you would have done something to me by now. You wouldn't have risked your life to save me."
"Then why did you say that...?"
"When you shouted that rebels had come in the temple, I just went along with it."
Adeus extended his hand, gently pulled me to sit on the rock by holding my wrist.
"So don't worry, just rest. The fire seems to be under control, but the princess might follow to kill us, so we'll rest for a bit and then get down the mountain. It's getting dark, too."
"...Why did you bring me here? The carriage was waiting for me. It would have been much more comfortable and faster to come down in the carriage."
"I just thought you were in danger and needed to be rescued quickly."
"...Why did you save me?"
"You shared a cake with me last time. Consider it repaying that debt."
"But you already repaid it when you saved me then."
Adeus remained silent and just smiled. He's such an irresponsible man. I sighed and scanned him. The tight top made his muscles stand out even more.
"Are you thirsty? I'll check if there's a stream nearby."
"...Bandages."
I thought you were fully healed after carrying me around the mountain. The silhouette of bandages was still visible on his upper body.
"Are you not fully healed yet?"
Adeus's wrist, which was trembling slightly, had a support bandage wrapped around it, as if it was meant to be left alone.
"You remembered I was injured."
Adeus laughed playfully and placed his hands on either side of my thighs, leaning forward to meet my eyes.
"I thought you might have forgotten since you never came to visit."
"...I was planning to visit soon."
"But you didn't come."
You're still as stubborn as ever.
"From what I can see, you don't seem to be in good shape."
Now that I look closer, your legs don't seem normal either. The way you carried me so quickly seems almost miraculous given your condition.
"...I have two legs. You could have told me to walk."
"The mountain is rugged. What if you twisted your ankle?"
"I have two eyes."
"What if you tripped, bumped into something, or got hurt? Climbing up and down a mountain is different from walking on flat ground. You'll have severe muscle pain tomorrow, and how will you deal with that...?"
"I'm not a child, Adeus."
It's like talking to the people of Laphreon. I firmly told the overprotective Adeus, who laughed heartily.
"If you were a child, I would have scolded you harshly and carried you down."
That's true. I sighed and pushed Adeus away, who was too close.
"Why are you here?"
"Just out of curiosity. I heard the princess formed a cult and wanted to see how far the royal authority has declined. ...But I think I should be the one asking that question. Why are you here, Your Highness, and alone at that?"
"...I followed someone."
Adeus scolded me as if I was being unreasonable.
"You set boundaries with me, but you followed someone so easily."
"I knew where I was going and had something to confirm."
"Do you realize what could have happened just now?"
I was speechless and closed my mouth. The silence was filled with the chirping of mountain birds.
"What would you have done if I hadn't been there?"
His voice, unlike the playful one earlier, was low and chilling.
"You could have been injured or even lost your life. ...A person's life is only one. Once you die, there's no next, Your Highness."
"I know. I just acted emotionally because I was too excited."
"Every time I see you, you're in danger. When you tried to eat the poisoned pill, the fire incident, and today."
It wasn't always like that. I wanted to argue but closed my mouth when I saw his cold expression. Seeing me comply, Adeus took a deep breath to calm down.
"...Well, thanks to the madman who set the mountain and the temple on fire, today's gathering was disrupted, and we managed to escape safely."
Ouch.
"Who in their right mind would set a fire here? What could they possibly gain? At best, it would just disrupt today's gathering..."
Adeus stopped speaking and looked at me in shock, fidgeting his fingers. He laughed awkwardly and whispered, "Surely not...?"
"Surely not... what?"
"The person who set the fire... it wasn't you, Your Highness, was it?"
"Of course not! ..."
I was about to deny it confidently, but my conscience pricked me, and I couldn't shout it out. I heard Adeus's exasperated laugh from above.
"Ha!"
He ran his hand through his hair and barely managed to suppress his anger.
"What were you planning to do if you couldn't escape without me? Didn't you learn anything from the last fire incident?"
"This time was different. There was an escape route, and people were helping. It was just smoke, not a big fire. I just set up devices in visible places and planned to extinguish the fire once everyone was out."
I pointed to the mountain peak.
"See, the fire is already under control."
Adeus bit his lip and pressed his forehead, as if dizzy.
"Can you control natural disasters as you wish?"
"...No, but..."
"Every time you don't take care of yourself, things go differently from my plans!"
Adeus stopped speaking and turned his head sharply. I knew his anger was worry for me.
"I'm sorry for worrying you, Adeus."
"...Who's worried? Me? About who? About Your Highness?"
"You're angry because I almost got hurt."
"Who! ..."
Caught off guard, Adeus couldn't refute and tightly closed his lips. His furrowed brow was different from usual.
'But it's unfair.'
I scanned Adeus and sneered.
"You're not one to talk. It looks like your injuries haven't fully healed yet."
Adeus's body twitched.
"Don't just lecture me; take care of yourself too."
"...My body?"
"Yes, your body. You don't seem to take care of yourself. You're still wearing bandages, and you have a support on your wrist."
Adeus, who had been shouting earlier, now cleared his throat and turned his head.
"Are you trying to kill yourself? I remember you injured your ankle last time. Don't overdo it."
"...Did you... worry about me?"
Adeus's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at me blankly. Despite his suspicious approach, he saved me twice. During the last fire incident and this one, he was the first to desperately stop me from taking the pill with Ailett's blood.
"Since you got hurt because of me, do you think I'd throw a party and celebrate?"
We can doubt each other after we get down the mountain. Adeus, looking flustered, spoke slowly.
"...I didn't expect Your Highness to worry about me. No, to have someone worry about my body... it's been a long time..."
"Alright, when we go down, I'll go down alone. If the mountain is rugged, we can support each other."
"...Support each other?"
"Yes. If it hurts to walk, lean on me. I'll help you."
I made a gesture of supporting him, and Adeus stared at me. He looked as if he had never heard such words before, neither laughing nor moving.
"Why, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
"...Are you still suspicious of me, Your Highness?"
"Huh?"
"You asked me about my reasons for approaching you. It sounded like you found me suspicious from the start."
I hadn't forgotten the question I asked.
"...Yes, that's true. You were suspicious from the start. I still think so. You appeared when I needed you today and saved me."
"But can you really rely on someone you suspect?"
"Normally, it would be impossible, but you've saved me twice. If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have saved me. You said you only thought about saving me. As long as you're not a threat, we can rely on each other until we get down the mountain."