Tales walked alone through the corridors of Revival Palace, the Eternal Lamps sweeping past him one after another and casting his face in shifting light and shadow.
Along the way, every guard and servant who saw him wore a complicated expression and avoided him from afar.
But Tales did not care.
He simply took a step, pressed a floor tile beneath his foot, dragged it behind him, then took another step and repeated the motion.
Darkness, cold, and narrowness lay ahead.
But where was he going?
Where should he go?
Where?
"Your Highness?"
A familiar voice reached him, and Tales came to a halt.
He turned around, looking back from the darkness and cold. A gentle smile appeared on his face as he gave a slight nod.
"Gilbert, I thought you had left first."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs came before Tales, leaning on his cane. He bowed respectfully and meticulously to the Prince.
Just as he had when they first met.
"You know I would never leave."
Gilbert gazed at him, his words carrying both relief and daze:
"Before you and His Majesty..."
Tales said nothing, merely smiling faintly.
Gilbert's and Tales' gazes met in the air—one side filled with complicated emotions, the other with subtle feelings.
They stood facing each other in silence for a full three seconds.
Guy Stilianiades, the deputy archbishop of the Sunset Church who had been accompanying Gilbert, smiled at the sight. Tactfully, he fell several steps behind and left the space to them.
Gilbert gave his friend an apologetic smile, then turned back, hesitating:
"So, His Majesty..."
Tales nodded. His voice held not the slightest ripple. "He let me go."
"Just like that?"
Gilbert showed a flicker of surprise. "Forgive my bluntness, but His Majesty didn't, didn't the Royal Guard..."
"They didn't."
Tales