Leon wasn’t long in coming to my office. His sparkling amber eyes and broad grin told me work wasn’t on his mind just yet.
“Finished whatever you needed to with Ivetta?”
“Yes,” I replied coolly. “Sit.”
He dropped into the chair across from my desk. “She really enjoyed visiting Freedom, didn’t she?”
“Gilbert knows,” I said shortly, ignoring Leon's attempt at initiating small talk. “Or suspects.”
Leon’s expression fell, his eyes hardening. “Oh, he knows. He asked me straight out last night.”
“What did you tell him?”
Leon shrugged. “The truth. It’s going to come out anyway sooner or later. I just pointed out that I wasn’t telling everyone he’s king of Obsidian, so I would appreciate him keeping my secret until I’m ready to spill it.”
I leaned back in my chair, considering. “We need to call a round table.”
Leon winced. “Yeah, I suppose so. Can’t say I’m looking forward to telling our brothers that I’ve been lying to them all this time.”
“Better that they hear it from you than from rumors.”
My office door burst open, and Clavis, Nokto, and Luke poured in.
“Hey, Chev, what did we miss?” Clavis asked.
Leon stood to go. “What time?”
“Noon.”
“Making us skip lunch?” he asked jokingly.
“What about skipping lunch?” Luke asked, slightly panicked.
“That will encourage us to conclude business quickly,” I replied coolly.
Clavis sat down on my desk; Nokto took his seat by the wall; Luke was too fidgety to sit. He needed to propose already. I turned my attention to the stack of paperwork on my desk and tried to ignore them all.
“Thought you and Ivetta would at least join us for dinner last night, but I guess you were a little preoccupied,” Nokto commented.
“Here,” I said, handing him some papers. “Trade deals with Benitoite.”
“Hey, Luke, show us the ring,” Clavis said, noting the way Luke’s hand strayed toward his pocket.
“Not a chance. King Highness didn’t show us Ivetta’s before he proposed.”
The door flew open again before he had finished speaking, and Silvio stood in the doorway, his sea-blue eyes wide.
“You’re proposing to her?” he snapped. He stormed up to Luke and shoved him back into a chair, standing over him with his arms crossed over his chest. “What makes you think you’re good enough for her?”
Clavis laughed. “I thought you couldn’t stand her.”
“She’s still my cousin, and I’m not lettin’ her marry just anybody.”
“Don’t worry, she has standards. She turned me down because I’m a twin,” Nokto said bitingly.
Silvio rolled his eyes. “She turned you down because I told her you were just tryin’ to get in bed with her, you idiot. And you,” he said, turning his cold gaze back on Luke. “I can’t believe I’m lettin’ her sleep with you.”
“We haven’t slept together,” Luke said emphatically.
That sent Clavis into another round of laughter. “Yeah, right. What are you two doing when you go off alone all the time?”
“Talking,” Luke said firmly.
“Just talking?” Nokto pressed, his crimson eyes glittering.
“Well, we kiss, too, but we decided to take it slow after I talked to King Highness about it.”
“Chev, are you giving out relationship advice now?” Clavis asked, grinning slyly.
“Everybody out,” I snapped.
“Don’t move,” Silvio snapped at Luke. “We’re not done.”
“I already got permission from her father,” Luke retorted. “What else do you want?”
“Get out,” I repeated.
Silvio shot me a glare. Nokto held up his stack of papers. “What about these?”
“Come back when you’re ready to work,” I said firmly.
He dropped the stack of papers on my desk unceremoniously and grinned. “Guess I’m taking today off.”
“Round table at noon.”
Everybody stopped en route to the door and turned back to face me.
“Round table? What about?” Luke asked.
“Just get out.”
The silence when the door finally closed was much appreciated. I added Nokto’s stack of paperwork to mine and got back to work. Requisitions, business affairs in the Michel family territory, maintenance requests for the chateau, trade agreements with Benitoite - it was all the usual. Nokto had done most of the work setting up the trade agreements, so I just scanned each document and signed at the bottom. I didn’t see anything worth changing. Maybe he would have angled for a little more of this or that, but what I saw was sufficient. This was all just busy work to keep me occupied until the round table. Leon would have the floor then. The rest of my day would be coordinating with Sariel to head off the backlash and rumors that were sure to filter through Rhodolite when the news came out.
I had to tell Ivetta, too, before she heard it in one of her social engagements.
The clock ticked slowly along, and it was finally time. I got up and headed back to the round table room. Leon was already there, as were most of our brothers, and servants were setting the table with food. I shot a glare at Leon. He shrugged.
“You really think they’re gonna listen when their stomachs are empty?” he asked, pouring himself a glass of wine.
“There’s food? Great!” Luke exclaimed, heading to his seat.
“Did you get Silvio off your back?” Clavis asked.
Luke nodded as he piled food on his plate. “I'm gonna see Arianna right after this.”
“Wait, are you proposing?” Jin asked, his burgundy eyes wide with surprise.
“Sure am,” Luke replied, his green eyes dancing to match his boyish smile. “So can we keep it short?”
“It’s like a disease,” Nokto mumbled.
Leon laughed. “And it’s going through your faction pretty quickly. Are you gonna be the next to get married?”
Nokto smirked, swirling the wine in his glass. “I would disappoint far too many women if I did that.”
“Looks like we’re the last to arrive,” Yves announced, walking in with Licht.
“Not quite,” I replied. “Sariel is coming.”
“Sariel? Ugh, this is serious, isn’t it?” Clavis moaned.
“Round tables are always serious, Clavis,” Leon reminded him. “Thought you would be happy about any drama.”
“Normally, yes, but the drama in the gardens promises to be more entertaining. The foreign princes are having lunch out there, and Silvio was looking for Ivetta the last time I saw him,” Clavis replied, glancing sideways at me. “And then, of course, she’s having tea with Arianna.”
“Don’t say her name like that,” Luke protested.
Clavis waved Luke’s words away like an annoying gnat. “So whatever it is, can we just get it over quickly?”
“That is the plan,” I said dryly.
The door opened one last time, and Sariel walked in, taking his seat at the table.
“Okay, he’s here. Let’s get started,” Luke said urgently, looking pointedly at me.
I met his vibrant green eyes impassively and spoke a single word: “Leon.”
“Right.” Leon drained his wine glass in a single gulp and topped it off again. “By now, you’ve all heard about Freedom, right?”
Everybody nodded.
“That ex-slave community up north. Is this where you tell us how you pulled that off?” Jin asked.
“Something like that.” Leon took a deep breath. “Guess there’s no easy way of saying it. I’m not Leon Dompteur, and I’m an ex-slave.”
Clavis burst out laughing. “How much have you had to drink?”
Nokto shot Clavis a glare. “Explain,” he said to Leon.
“You were probably too young to remember, Nokto, but when Leon was six years old, he got sick and was locked away in his room for a long time,” Leon continued.
Jin nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “I remember that. Can’t say I’m liking how you’re talking in the third person, though.”
“Just listen,” Leon said firmly. “He was dying of a heart condition. His mother was afraid of losing her standing in the palace, so she sent one of her knights to find an identical replacement before he died. That’s where I come in.”
Clavis narrowed his golden eyes at Leon. “You’re serious.”
“You think I’d make this up?” Leon retorted. “I was a slave in Obsidian. The knight found me and bought me, and then I was locked in Leon’s room until he died, learning to be him.”
“Do you have any proof of this?” Sariel asked quietly.
“Yeah, I do.” Leon stood up, removing his cloak, jacket, and shirt, and turning his back to us. “That proof enough?” he asked as we took in the scars across his back.
“What happened?” Yves asked, frowning.
Leon pulled his shirt on and shrugged as he buttoned it up. “Slaves get whipped, Yves. I was actually getting what would have been my last beating when that knight found me.”
Licht and Nokto exchanged a glance. Even Licht’s normally impassive face wore a thin line between his brows, marking how upset he was.
“So anyway, when Leon died, his mother had everybody who knew about the switch killed, and then she died not long after from guilt,” Leon continued, fastening his cloak in place and taking his seat again. “I didn’t tell anyone until Belle last year. Figured she should know, since she was trying to figure all of us out so she could name the best king.”
“But you knew about this, King Highness,” Nokto said quietly.
“Not until he told me last year,” I replied.
“It’s how I convinced him to let me try something different with the ex-slaves,” Leon explained.
“And they know, which means the rest of Rhodolite is going to find out,” Jin summarized.
“This is treason,” Sariel interjected. His lavender eyes were narrowed more than usual behind his thin glasses. “Impersonating a member of the royal family is a crime punishable by death.”
“But you’re not going to kill him, are you, Chevalier?” Yves asked, his blue eyes wide with panic.
Leon laughed. “Calm down, Yves. He didn’t kill me when I first told him. Why would he kill me now?”
“It’s not like he had a choice at first. He was just a kid,” Licht added.
“Come to think of it, you were different when you finally left that room,” Jin commented. “Guess I thought it was because you’d been sick for so long.”
“What’s your real name?” Clavis asked.
“I didn’t have one,” Leon replied.
Yves scowled. “You didn’t even have a name? What about your parents?”
“Didn’t have those either.”
“While I understand there are a lot of questions you may have, the larger issue remains that Leon, as we know him, is an imposter, and the kingdom is about to find that out,” Sariel said thoughtfully, tapping his chin with his finger.
“Which is why you are here,” I replied. “I have unofficially pardoned Leon. It's time for me to do so officially, before it comes out through rumors and hearsay..”
Sariel nodded, studying Leon. “An official proclamation would be best. A very carefully worded official proclamation.”
“So…are we done here?” Luke asked. He had been eating in silence the entire time.
Clavis laughed. “Have you heard a single thing we said?”
“Yeah. Leon’s a fake, but it’s all okay, and nothing’s changing. Right?” Luke summarized.
Leon laughed. “The last part’s up to all of you, but, yeah, the rest is about right.”
“Well, it’s only because of you and Chevalier that I survived Bloodstained Rose Day, and I’m not going to treat you any differently because you’re not technically my brother,” Yves said firmly.
“Same,” Licht agreed.
“You’re the best drinking buddy I’ve got, and I practically raised you. No getting away from that,” Jin added with a wink.
“Great. Alcohol is thicker than blood,” Leon said, laughing.
All eyes turned to Clavis and Nokto. Clavis shrugged. “I don’t really care. Nokto?”
Nokto smirked. “Does this mean I get all the women who are always fawning over Leon?”
“Nokto,” Yves said reproachfully.
“I’m serious,” Nokto said, although his crimson eyes said otherwise. “What happens when they find out he’s not technically a prince of Rhodolite?”
“He still is,” I replied firmly.
Nokto shrugged and sipped his wine. “There will still be those who are crushed by this revelation. Don’t worry, Leon, I’ll be around to comfort them for you.”
Yves rolled his eyes. “You’re disgusting.”
“Hey, that means more for me, too!” Jin said excitedly.
“Then we’re all in agreement,” I cut in.
Luke jumped to his feet. “Great. Talk to you later, Leon.”
“Don’t forget she has tea with Ivetta at two thirty,” Clavis said as Luke reached the door.
Luke’s shoulders slumped, and he turned back to the table. “Guess I’ll have more pie.”
“She? Meaning Arianna?” Yves asked.
“Our cuddly teddy bear is going to propose to his sunny honeybee,” Nokto said in a sickly-sweet voice.
Luke took his seat and threw a spoon at Nokto. “You’re just jealous I got to her first.”
“You’re delusional,” Nokto shot back.
Sariel and I exchanged glances and stood up.
“Leaving so soon?” Clavis asked. “You haven’t even eaten.”
“I have work to do,” I replied coolly. “Leon, my office when you’re done.”
“You got it,” he replied, draining another glass of wine.
That went as I expected. My brothers weren’t the problem; they just needed to know before the rest of Rhodolite found out. The rest of my day would be spent in conference with Sariel, writing the official proclamation and determining what else needed to be done to ensure this news came out as smoothly as possible. An image of Ivetta flickered through my mind, eating lunch with the foreign princes, but I dismissed it before the irritation rose in my stomach. Her guards were with her, and she could handle herself. Besides, she was sitting down and eating lunch. She had a tendency to forget about meals when she was busy. She would be fine, and I needed to focus on work. If I finished early enough, I could tell her about Leon tonight.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xJziSvddt
