52 The Funeral XIII (2/2)

With a dispassionate feeling, he'd wondered whether or not the proud Lord would claim the same for himself and for his remaining son. As if sensing what Leal had been thinking, the Lord General had been the first to avert his eyes.

That should have been the end of that episode, as far as the Lysean Prince was concerned.

With Lothar's brother gone from his post, the forces pushing and pulling the bier at both sides had become uneven. There were only the two Prince's Guards on the left. On the right, aside from the two others, there was the Lord General and – much to Leal's surprise the moment he realized it – his daughter.

As a result, the bier's forward direction had listed sideways. As he was observing this with a knotted forehead, Leal had sensed a gaze land on him and was compelled to look up. Once again, he had met the Lord General's eyes, and in them, he'd seen it clearly written: ”You wish to honor my son?”

Keeping his sigh to himself, the younger man had promptly stepped forward and taken up the position Lothar's brother had vacated.

'I know they want me dead,' he'd lamented as, despite his complaints, he'd earnestly set about the task of pushing his rival's bier towards his final resting place. 'Why couldn't they be subtle about it at least?'

He could have sworn, when they had finally reached this hill earlier, people had looked at his back and saw in there a big target painted in red.

Presently, Leal heard someone nearby clear his throat, breaking him out of a reverie that had led to his eyes becoming half-closed.

An interesting development had also been taking place on the scene near the tree, which he had been following closely despite his preoccupation. It had left him in a much better mood than before, so – without taking his gaze away from the front – he said pleasantly to Viscount Renard, ”My lord?”

Tone wry, the Viscount replied, ”I swear, Your Highness, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're doing that on purpose.”

”Doing what?”

Leal had no choice but to check what the much older and, after their secret had gotten out earlier, much-resigned man was talking about. His intent had been to examine himself or whatever he was doing that had caused such a comment, but then he caught the hungry look a random older woman was throwing him. He soon discovered that many faces from various other directions echoed it.

Sitting up straighter and reinforcing his mask of deep disinterest, his mood deflated again. ”Oh.”