Wrong Genre! - Chapter 16.2
The edge of Yuri’s sword trembled slightly at Mason’s mocking laughter. Mason’s lips curled into a triumphant smile, as if thinking Yuri was about to back down.
But.
“People of low birth really don’t know their place and dare to climb higher than they should. I suppose there was nothing wrong with that saying.”
“…W-What?! Are you out of your mind?!”
As Mason, enraged, tried to lunge at Yuri. With one flick of Yuri’s wrist, in the same instant, the long sword flashed and sliced across Mason’s arm.
“Ugh!”
“That’s what happens when you rush at someone holding a weapon.”
Yuri angled the blade as if to say it would strike somewhere else if Mason made another move.
Mason glared at Yuri with murderous eyes, grinding his teeth. He clearly wanted to charge in and throw a punch, but just as Yuri said, his opponent was armed, so all he could do was hesitate.
“Damn it!”
Cursing, Mason finally turned and left.
Once that savage figure disappeared from view, Yuri turned to Rueg and asked,
“…Are you alright?”
At that, Rueg, who’d been hanging his head, slowly lifted his face. His cheek was swollen from Mason’s blow, and his expression was pale with fright. Even so, maybe trying to fight back somehow, he was holding a palm-sized stone in his hand.
His hand was clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white, and it looked like he might actually hurt himself if he kept gripping it that way.
“…He’s gone.”
Yuri gently stroked the back of Rueg’s hand as if to reassure him, and Rueg, after glancing around anxiously, quietly set the stone down.
Rueg swallowed nervously, looking at Yuri with a worried expression.
“Yuri…”
“……?”
“Are you… okay?”
“…Excuse me?”
“A, A moment ago… that man, he, he threatened you…”
At those words, for a moment, Yuri was at a loss for what to say. After all, Rueg was the one who’d just been beaten and nearly assaulted, yet he was worried about Yuri.
“…Who do you think should be worried about whom, here?”
Though it was said bluntly, for some reason Yuri’s heart wavered. Almost unconsciously, Yuri reached out and placed a hand on Rueg’s blond hair.
Wanting to comfort him, Yuri gently stroked Rueg with as casual a movement to be mustered.
It felt like touching a soft, round little animal.
Perhaps it was because of that curious sensation, but a kind tone slipped from Yuri’s lips, a tone that had never been used before.
“Is your cheek alright? It’s quite swollen.”
“It hurts… It hurts even to talk. But thanks to you, Yuri, I’m really lucky it ended with just this.”
Rueg let out a small, awkward laugh. Even that seemed to hurt, as his expression crumpled and then smoothed out again.
“Do you know that man personally?” Yuri asked.
Rueg quickly shook his head. That guy might have known Versha, but Rueg himself had never seen him before.
“So he must be someone connected to Versha Verdic.”
At Yuri’s musing, Rueg swallowed nervously.
“By any chance…”
“……?”
“By any chance, Yuri, do you know… what Versha did in the imperial palace…?”
There’s no way someone would be so hated just for being the Crown Prince’s aide. Rueg wasn’t so naïve as to believe that.
“She probably did much the same work you’re doing now. That’s what an aide’s job is, after all. You just do what your superior tells you, but it’s the subordinate who gets all the blame.”
“Does that mean… an aide is always hated?”
“That’s right.”
Really?
If all Versha had done was her job as an aide, that man wouldn’t have accused Rueg of ‘betrayal.’
And that wasn’t all.
Everyone Rueg met in the dining hall hated even seeing Versha’s face, acting as if it made them sick.
There had to be a reason. Some reason he didn’t know yet.
If he started looking into it, maybe he’d find out what kind of life Versha led in the palace, and what she’d done.
As Rueg continued to chew on his thumbnail and think, Yuri spoke slowly.
“Don’t go around alone, Verdic.”
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