Chapter 70: Unexpected Encounters at the Palace

“Damn it, what is it with the Moore family’s Esper Guard training? It’s utterly barbaric!”

Maxon’s bare torso, as he grumbled and winced, was covered in an elaborate network of medical tape. These specialized Esper tapes typically contained pain-relieving compounds, reserved solely for the kind of brutal, high-intensity training that regular individuals couldn’t even fathom.

Usually, post-training fatigue dissipated with proper guiding, making this the first time Ethan had ever witnessed someone wearing such tape during ordinary hours.

“I assumed it would be fine, given you’re an Esper who doesn’t strictly require a Guide, but it appears I was mistaken.”

Maxon’s eyes narrowed into sharp triangles, a surge of exasperation rising within him at Ethan’s unconcerned curiosity.

“Whose fault is this, I ask?! Even Lord Bliss! If Liam’s assignment to the south is too much, they could simply assign another guard. Why insist on training a mere rookie like me to be *your* guard?!”

Ethan yawned, stretching as he rose to his feet.

Maxon’s incessant grumbling during his dawn training had prompted Ethan to rise earlier than usual, yet the situation seemed far less dire than he had anticipated.

“Even at the Academy, Maxon, you’re the Esper I spend the most time with these days. And didn’t they promise you’d get to train twice a week, disguised as unit visits, if you finished your guard training quickly? That means I’d have to go meet Bliss then. You’re the one who owes me, Maxon, so why should I bother?”

‘Ugh.’

Ethan’s quiet yet incisive remarks, cutting straight to the facts, left Maxon utterly speechless, forcing him to abruptly change the subject.

“Given there isn’t much of an age difference between us, perhaps you could drop the honorifics.”

“Weren’t you rather fond of being treated with proper deference?”

“For someone so particular about respect, you certainly didn’t hesitate to call me ‘this bastard’ and ‘that bastard’ when your temper flared.”

This time, it was Ethan who found himself at a loss for words.

He couldn’t deny it, for he had indeed lost his temper when they first met.

“Ah, well… then I suppose ‘Hyung’ will suffice?”

“……V-Very well then.”

Maxon, momentarily stunned by the honorific ‘Hyung’, finally responded after a prolonged silence, prompting Ethan to immediately adopt informal speech.

“Hyung, let’s go eat. We have to enter the palace today, don’t we?”

“….Oh, r-right. I’ll go, I’ll go wash up first!”

Feeling an inexplicable flush creeping up his face, a flustered Maxon spun around and practically bolted away.

“…What was that about? He just said he’d already washed.”

‘Didn’t he just re-tape because of that?’ Ethan grumbled, his expression sullen as he gathered the discarded tape and the warm compress towel.

****

‘From the moment I was bestowed the title ‘Flower of the Empire’, I had anticipated an increase in public engagements. However, I never imagined I would be required to visit the royal palace with such frequency.’

‘The task of selecting the design for the enormous floral crown and the specific blooms for the event was already rather embarrassing. Yet, with the event itself being of such grand scale that it would be reported by foreign media, the palace’s Department of Etiquette was slated to provide training on the necessary ceremonies.’

‘As the ‘Flower of the Empire’ — the very centerpiece of the event — I could hardly refuse a summons to the palace for such a grand occasion, even if it wasn’t a personal request.’

Ethan exhaled a long, drawn-out sigh of resignation.

Lately, he couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling that everything was unfolding in direct opposition to his desires.

He cast a glance behind him, only to find Maxon, annoyingly, still gaping in awe at the sheer scale of the palace he was experiencing for the first time.

“I’ve only ever seen it from the outside, but the royal palace itself is practically a small city.”

As Maxon, clad in the formal uniform bearing the Moore family’s crest, gawked at his surroundings, Kyle’s expression tightened, prompting him to issue a stern warning.

“Mr. Maxon, it is Lord Ethan who has been formally invited. Do not forget that you are entering the palace as an official guard, wearing the Moore family’s uniform, not merely as Lord Ethan’s friend from the Academy.”

Maxon flinched, quickly straightening his posture.

Ethan chuckled, playfully teasing Maxon, whose eyes now appeared a light brown hue, thanks to special contact lenses.

“Hyung, being a guard isn’t as easy as it looks, is it?”

Maxon, still unaccustomed to Ethan’s informal address, flushed with embarrassment once more.

Kyle let out a soft sigh, then gave his instructions.

“I will register our visit with the event department and retrieve our hall passes. Please wait here for a moment. Mr. Maxon, ensure you do not stray far from Lord Ethan.”

Access to the hall, situated in the left wing of the main palace, was restricted solely to personnel involved in the event’s preparations.

While Ethan was already registered, his guards were not, necessitating their separate registration.

Ethan and Maxon decided to get coffee at the open-air cafeteria just outside the hall.

They were fortunate enough to secure a spot on the terrace, enjoying the increasingly warm spring air. Just as an alert signaled their coffee was ready, Maxon rose to fetch it, only to freeze mid-motion.

[Ethan, it’s him.]

A strikingly handsome man, impeccably dressed yet with a hint of fatigue in his cool demeanor, entered the terrace carrying a coffee and consulting a tablet chart. He stopped abruptly, creating an unspoken standoff.

“…Oh, bother. I had hoped to find a quieter spot, but it seems I’ve encountered a face I least expected.”

Huey Cloud, seemingly caught off guard himself, acknowledged them a beat later.

“…Hello.”

With a noble initiating the greeting, Ethan, a commoner, could hardly ignore him.

As Ethan reluctantly offered his reply, Huey approached them, effortlessly claiming an empty chair.

“There are quite a number of empty tables, you know.”

Ethan gestured around them, emphasizing his point, but Huey simply placed his coffee and tablet chart on the table, then raised his gloved hands in a placating gesture.

“There’s no need to be so wary, I think. There are people at other tables, and at this table alone, there are three of us, myself included. I am an Esper utterly incapable of doing anything in such a bustling environment.”

“It would be a lie to claim I’m not wary, but that’s less due to Lord Huey Cloud’s inherent abilities and more a natural consequence of our differing political alignments.”

In truth, Ethan had no particular reason to fear him.

Crow Oweol’s shield, a manifestation of a gwi’s power, excelled at deflecting psychic attacks, a stark contrast to the Esper shields that primarily blocked physical assaults.

In other words, while Huey might be able to strike him or employ some other ability to physically affect Ethan, he would be utterly incapable of reading his thoughts.

Huey Cloud, entirely unaware of this fact, chuckled at Ethan’s reply as if he had just heard a particularly amusing joke.

“That sounds rather similar to the flowery words often uttered by those who seek to curry my favor and gain something. They claim it’s not fear of my presence, but rather the dread of having their thoughts laid bare before they can even refine their opinions or make adjustments, thus eliminating any chance for change.”

Ethan couldn’t help but let out a soft snort of amusement, scoffing inwardly at such ignorance.

“Things are unlikely to go well with people who resort to such defensive rhetoric from the outset. If one wishes to gain something, shouldn’t they arrive with a thorough understanding of psychometry? Or, at the very least, with an equivalent level of resolve?”

“……Shouldn’t someone go retrieve the coffee?”

Huey, who had remained silent for some time, finally spoke, gesturing to the persistently chiming alarm still clutched in Maxon’s hand. In response, Maxon, as if to spite him, simply settled back into his seat.

“Though this may be an open space, what guard in their right mind would leave Lord Huey Cloud alone with their charge?”

Instead of addressing Maxon, Huey turned his gaze to Ethan, remarking pointedly,

“Normally, this is precisely how things would unfold.”

“Is it because my guard has no intention of gaining anything from you, Lord Huey?”

“……Indeed, that is true.”

“Did you also come to the palace for the Spring Flower Festival, Lord Huey?”

“…Given it’s a major festival, I’m here concerning the temporary emergency center to be established.”

“Ah, I suppose with such a large crowd, accidents are bound to happen. So Cloud Corp is preparing the necessary medications and injectables for the emergency medical team.”

“……”

Huey Cloud’s responses, which had been delayed by a beat throughout their conversation, finally ceased altogether, lacking even a grunt of agreement.

He regarded Ethan with a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

“You… why don’t you…”

“Kyle! Could you grab our coffees on your way in?!”

Huey, who had been on the verge of speaking, paused as Ethan’s shout, upon spotting Kyle, cut him off. A useless, pointless question, one that would yield no valuable answer, had almost slipped out.

‘Why do you not look at me like a monster?’

Watching Kyle, who floated the coffees with psychokinesis while openly displaying sharp vigilance toward him, Huey was suddenly reminded of someone else. This person, despite being lauded as the Empire’s finest Esper, was nonetheless subtly treated as a monster, much like himself.

“I think I might be starting to understand.”

“Pardon?”

Ethan, not quite catching Huey’s muttered words, questioned him, but Huey simply picked up his coffee and rose.

“It’s too chaotic; I can’t focus. I’ll have to request a suitable office space from the administrative department.”

“It seems your business with the Department of Etiquette isn’t quite finished?”

As Ethan sipped his coffee and inquired, his bright eyes and jet-black hair created a striking contrast.

Huey paused, appreciating the striking contrast, before offering his reply.

“……We’ll meet again.”

With those words, he turned and departed. As he walked away, acknowledging the greetings of those who recognized him — people who averted their gazes and saluted from a discreet distance — a murmur of nagging voices drifted through the closing terrace doors: ‘Are you out of your mind, or does Huey Cloud simply appear as an ordinary person to you?’

“……He is quite a peculiar one.”

Treating Ethan as nothing more than an oddity, he calmly rode the moving walk to the administrative office.

“I need a space to organize data and meeting notes.”

“Welcome, Lord Huey Cloud. The weather is truly lovely. I shall provide you with a room overlooking the central garden. Is there good news?”

Huey tilted his head at the administrative officer’s words.

“Good news?”

“My apologies. Your expression seems softer than usual.”

“…Well, I don’t believe there is any such thing.”

“I see. Room T-6 is on the fifth floor of the main palace. If you require tea or refreshments…”

Huey considered requesting refreshments for the first time in a long while, but then his tablet suddenly rang, causing him to frown as he pulled it out. Devon Green’s dog, Victor Frankl, was incessantly calling him.

‘How impertinent.’

Allowing the tablet to ring, he signed the electronic application form presented by the officer, then turned away with his usual cold expression.