“Oho, the Fae, you say…”

  The Duke chuckled mirthfully as his hand came up to stroke at his long goatee.

  “You spoke the truth. It is indeed a topic that I enjoy speaking of.”

  Sien’s reaction to both the subject matter and Ritt’s pcating hadn’t gone amiss to the Duke’s eyes. He’d witnessed his unfilial nephew throw all kinds of fits in the past when someone had brought up the topic of the Fae in front of him. The fact that this unknown pet of Sien’s was actually able to sooth the rotten brat into listening to his most hated discussion spoke volumes to the Duke about the truth of the retionship between them.

  He deemed that having witnessed such a thing would suffice as his payment.

  Now it was just a matter of seeing how long his nephew would be able to be patient under his pet’s request.

  “Yes, I suppose I could tell you what I know about their kind. But you’ll have to promise to protect me from this immature chartan next to you should my words wound his pride too greatly, boy.”

  Ritt’s hand tightened around Sien’s both in excitement as well as reassurance to the both of them.

  “...Sien wouldn’t hurt you, My Lord. But yes, of course I promise to protect you.”

  Although Ritt knew better than to think he could provide a perfect protection against the very same Sien who had sounded defeatedly him in his st life, he firmly believed that Sien held the Duke somewhere inside of his heart. Perhaps Sien often readily turned to violence, but Ritt trusted from what he’d seen so far that Sien wouldn’t hurt the ones he held dear.

  Hopefully he, too, had made it to Sien’s short list of ‘dear’ people.

  The thought of it perhaps being the case brought a small tingle to Ritt’s heart.

  The Duke ughed at Ritt’s words, knowing how many times he’d come close to having to fight against his nephew for survival. Still, the thought of someone putting so much trust into Sien for the first time made a small smile appear on the Duke’s face.

  “Thank you for your protection, boy. I must warn you, though, hearing about such a subject might just change the way that you feel towards the Fae, and by extension this d. Are you sure you’ll be able to think the same way about him afterwards?”

  Sien, who’d still been in his sulky position ying against the back of the couch, flinched for a moment at those words, and his eyes quickly darted towards Ritt to check for his reaction. This was the very thing that he’d always feared, that someone would learn about this inhuman side of him and scorn him for it. It had happened many times in his past, and continued to be shoved in his face every time he was forced to face the nobles. If Ritt also changed how he treated him when he learned about such things, then Sien didn’t know what he would do with himself.

  But contrary to Sien’s fears, Ritt didn’t look apprehensive or bothered in the slightest.

  If anything, he seemed to radiate an unhurried calm, like nothing could ever possibly shake him.

  “Mmm… Yes, I don’t think it’ll change things very much. I’m here to learn and understand, but no matter what you say, it won’t change who Sien is to me.”

  “Oho, are you sure? But the Fae are quite a bit more ghastly than any person might think. Perhaps if you hear more about them, you might-”

  “I’m sorry, My Lord, but I’m sure that won’t be the case. Sien is Sien, not the Fae. It may be a part of him, one that I want to know more about, but that won’t change who the Sien that I know is.”

  Ritt had already witnessed so very many kind and wonderful sides of Sien, enough for him to not care at all what monstrous sides of him might have been hiding in the shadows. He was sure that nothing he could learn about Sien’s ancestry would be scarier than witnessing Sien brutally murder him in his previous timeline. If he could get over such things and still live such a happy life with Sien, then Ritt was convinced that he could get over anything, so long as this peaceful happiness could continue. No matter what, he was resolved to continue to be by Sien’s side.

  The Duke scanned over Ritt’s face, looking for false bravado. He’d heard plenty of people make such lofty cims about their lovers in the early stages of their retionships, only to have them easily break those words once they learned a little bit too much. Ritt didn’t give off such a flimsy and fky feeling, however. For some reason, the Duke wanted to believe in the boy. Perhaps he only felt such a way because of the changes he’d witnessed in his nephew for the first time in decades; For all that he might have a vendetta against the Fae race, he couldn’t help but wish for the unfortunate Sien to finally find happiness, even if it stemmed from something that he abhorred.

  “...Fine then. I’ll tell you what it is that you want.”

  The Duke lowered his eyes and picked up the cup of tea that had been resting in front of him on the table, cradling it close as if to comfort himself as he began to talk.

  “The Fae-folk… There are a number of ways that they differ from humans. Their forms, their mentalities, their abilities… They’re much more diverse than the humanoid races. But what is it that allows for this wide range of difference, when they all come from the same root race of Fae?”

  The Duke took a short sip from his cup, his eyes peering into the remainder of the liquid for a while before coming up to look piercingly into Ritt’s eyes.

  “It’s because of how differently the Fae fall in love from us. There is no limit to who or what the Fae can fall in love with, from leaves to horses to even the sea; They can find love with just about anything, and sometimes they love whatever it is so much that they make offspring with those things. It's just the way that they work. But it's not allowed for them to create offspring with humans. They might kidnap a few that they find interesting now and then and have their fun with them, but so long as they know better, they'll never give their hearts away to them.”

  Ritt’s eyes quickly peeked next to him towards Sien in worry and confusion. He’d been told by Sien before that both sides hated mixed blood children like him, and that Sien was supposedly the only one alive because he’d been too strong to kill, but hearing it said like this somehow made it all seem much more distressing.

  “They’re… not ‘allowed’ to do it? But why-”

  Sien huffed loudly, interrupting Ritt’s crawling words. He crossed his arms, looking perturbed, and he trained his vision away from Ritt as he impatiently spoke, unwilling to see what Ritt’s reaction to his words might be.

  “There was a pact or a prophecy or something? I don't know, but someone told the Fae that having children with the humans would bring about ill omens or whatever one day, and they believed it.”

  Ritt frowned as he watched Sien, seeing how vastly uncomfortable the topic seemed to have made him. Although he found such things important to learn about, he didn’t like seeing Sien feel this way. And so, Ritt decided that learning more about this particur subject could wait. Not sure how to naturally change the topic, however, Ritt attempted to backtrack to a different matter instead.

  “Um… You said that the Fae kidnap humans, correct? Is that what being a Fae’s ‘pet’ is?”

  The Duke, who’d been alternating his gaze between the pair, let out a hearty chuckle and put his tea down. He crossed his legs and csped his hands together, looking the pinnacle of elegance, even as his eyes squinted slightly in an almost teasing way.

  “Hmm, no, not quite, boy. There are those who get kidnapped, yes, but there are also plenty of humans who let themselves get taken away by the Fae. They get attracted in by their exotic appearances or whimsical natures, and let themselves believe that the Fae who spirit them away really care for them. For a time they feel like what they have with their Fae is true, until the Fae, years ter, finally tires of them. Those are the pets, of which people refer to.”

  “Ah… I see.”

  If that were the case, then he certainly couldn’t refute anyone referring to him as Sien’s pet. It would seem that such a thing were 100% true about him after all. He didn’t feel bad at all about being called anything, especially if it was technically the truth. But Ritt could indeed feel a tingle in his heart at the thought that being a ‘pet’ meant that he’d get thrown away someday. He wanted to believe that Sien, being half human, and having shown him such kindness and care during their time together, wouldn’t just toss him aside like that, but the fact that Sien had easily admitted that Ritt was indeed his pet when asked was starting to concern Ritt.

  The Duke observed Ritt, watching the slightly defted looking young man stare wistfully at his nephew for a short while. Now that he’d completely spelled out Ritt’s situation to him, and the truth of it all had been acknowledged, the Duke had every expectation that things would fizzle out as they normally would, seeing the mencholic look on Ritt’s face. It would certainly be quite hard to separate the d from his new toy, especially with how monstrously powerful Sien was, but with the Emperor’s help-

  “Mmm… And is there anything else I should be aware of?”

  Ritt’s gaze turned back towards the Duke with a crystal clearness that the old noble would have never expected, as if the sad look that he’d just witnessed had been wiped away clean. He looked quite dutiful, like he would stay and listen to every st bit of information that the Duke would give him, no matter what.

  The Duke, who’d been sure of the couple's defeat, suddenly broke into pleasant ughter.