An Eye for Beautiful Things

"As you are no doubt aware, I have come because I wish to ask about what happened on the day Prince Atar died."

"Ah, yes. Please, ask freely."

Now that it had come to this, the wisest course was to answer quickly and bring the conversation to an end. Noah turned upon Fenrik the friendliest expression he could manage.

"I am told that while you were exchanging greetings with Lady Presepe, Prince Atar drove you out."

"Yes. I said as much to His Majesty on the night of the banquet. I was, after all, one of the last to see Prince Atar."

Noah hurried on.

"But that was the whole of it. I went straight back to the banquet hall, so I know nothing of what followed. If anyone does, it would be Lady Presepe, not I."

"…"

"Of course, I told His Majesty this as well…."

Fenrik looked at the man using Presepe as a shield, and his face held nothing but cold.

"I already know that. I came only in the hope of hearing a more detailed account."

"Yes. Of course. I understand."

"There seems to be nothing further worth hearing. You say you know so little."

"I am sorry, but that is the truth."

Noah put on the most apologetic look he could summon and kept talking.

"There was, however, something a little strange. I am not certain I ought to mention it…."

"Something strange?"

"Prince Atar and Lady Presepe seemed already acquainted. He said he had a prior engagement with her, and she showed no particular sign of refusing."

"…"

"This is only my own thought, but I cannot help wondering whether something had passed between them. Affairs between a man and a woman are known only to those involved, so one can do nothing but speculate."

"…So what you are saying is that Lady Presepe is connected to Prince Atar's death?"

Noah, who had been prattling on without end, realized too late that the crimson eyes fixed on him burned even more fiercely than before.

"No… no. I was only recounting what happened."

"…"

"Well, it must have been an assassin's work. I am truly relieved Lady Presepe was unharmed."

Disgusting wretch.

Fenrik barely swallowed the curse pressing up between his lips. Then, forcing the stiffness from his face as best he could, he spoke.

"The official business is finished. Your honest answers have been a great help."

"Then I am glad…."

"I hear, however, that Your Grace's passion for collecting is remarkable."

"Pardon?"

"I am told you display every sort of rare taxidermy and celebrated painting in your townhouse."

Fenrik's gaze drifted, all at once, past the corridor.

"I have taken an interest in that sort of thing of late, and I have been looking for a friend of refined eye with whom I might share the hobby."

"A friend, you say…."

"I mean it quite literally. As you know, there are no nobles with whom I keep company."

That much was true. Even after claiming the title of grand duke, Fenrik had not so much as associated with the nobility, let alone moved in society.

"But hearing of your pastime, I thought we might suit each other remarkably well."

For Noah, this was a very fine opportunity.

House Debern was a family that had served the imperial house with loyalty for a very long time. When Dietrich killed the second prince—the heir apparent, his own younger brother—and seized the throne, the house might well have been endangered. But Noah, once he became its head, had neither the loyalty to protect that brother nor any wish to be swept into a needless affair, and so his family survived.

They had been of no particular help in Dietrich's accession, however, and unlike the years before, House Debern failed to take any certain power into its hands. Noah resented that. If only he had lacked even a hunger for power like Atar's, his life might have been an easy one; unfortunately, fool though he was, he was the sort who wanted a great many things in his grasp. And if he could become friends with Fenrik, the emperor's closest confidant….

"As it happens, I have had no friend with whom to enjoy this hobby, and I have been dreadfully bored."

The line of Noah's mouth drew a graceful curve.

"For the Grand Duke to extend his hand first, I can only be grateful."

Fenrik smiled instead of answering.

The smile was sinister beyond measure, but there was no way the delighted Noah could have noticed.

"Since you have come all this way, shall I show you my treasures?"

Noah sprang up from his seat as he spoke.

"Paintings, of course, and taxidermied animals, jewels—I have everything. The rarest and most beautiful of them are the taxidermy."

Fenrik needed no such explanation. He knew well enough.

Noah Debern's twisted lust to collect.

And he knew, as well, how that lust had destroyed Presepe in Noah's route.

Noah had imprisoned her, and not long after he began to toy with her, he found a new plaything. Denied even food until nothing remained of her but bone and hide, Presepe—worn through by loneliness, pain, and hunger—had hanged herself among the taxidermied beasts.

That was the ending of Noah's route.

"…Since you are kind enough to show me, shall we look together?"

Fenrik rose slowly from his seat. Then, beside Noah, he began to walk the dark corridor at an unhurried pace.

"I am confident there will be something to the Grand Duke's liking. There are a great many pieces."

"…"

"If anything catches your eye, please say so freely. I should like to give it to you, to mark our becoming friends."

"To be looked after so…."

Fenrik's mouth, hidden in the dark, twisted upward.

"I can only be grateful."

"Not at all."

"With so many rare things, you must have a great many visitors as well."

"Ah, no. There are a few nobles I associate with, but I do not admit them here. They do not have a refined eye, as Grand Duke Fenrik does."

"Then are you always alone in this place?"

"There are maids, but they arrive late in the morning and leave around afternoon. I worry they might lay hands on my rare collection. And I have granted the servants leave starting the day after tomorrow, so from tomorrow afternoon I expect to be alone for several days."

"And your family?"

"I have no siblings. My parents are always at the northern estate. I cannot imagine what they find so pleasing about that quiet, barren place."

"Pardon?"

"Until tomorrow morning, at least."

At words he could not readily understand, a chill prickled the nape of Noah's neck. Confusion plain on his face, he turned toward Fenrik on reflex.

But the Fenrik looking back at him wore an utterly ordinary expression. He was even smiling.

"You keep so many rare things gathered in a townhouse. An intruder might appear, might he not?"

"…"

"You ought to be careful at all times. There is no one who would notice at once if something happened, so I wonder whether the guard ought to be stricter."

"Ah, that… yes, I suppose?"

Only then did Noah relax. He nodded, wearing a foolish smile.

"Hearing the Grand Duke, it really does seem so. In truth there are men standing guard even now, but, well…."

He went on.

"How shall I put it. I am not the sort who likes a great many people clustering around the things I hold dear. You understand?"

"Yes."

Fenrik answered in a very low voice.

"Truly. Far too well."

"Just as I thought, Grand Duke Fenrik and I have a great deal in common. I am overjoyed to have gained so precious a friend on so fine an occasion."

Fenrik gave no answer. He only followed Noah, his steps quiet.

Before long, the two of them entered the room at the innermost reach of the townhouse. Noah fussed as he lit the lamps, and light soon settled over the darkness.

His claim of many rare things did not seem an idle boast. The impossibly vast room was filled with luxuries of every kind: famous paintings whose titles could not be named, yet which were plainly expensive; dozens of jewels flaunting their brilliance inside glass cases; and even the animal taxidermy he had boasted was the most beautiful and precious of all. To have arranged so many ornaments of pure extravagance in a place this large was a talent, if one wished to call it that.

"This is the place I like best. I hope it pleases the Grand Duke as well."

Fenrik moved deeper with heavy steps while Noah launched into an account of the paintings and jewels on display—what fortunes he had paid for them, and how many people had coveted them.

And then—

"The finest of all, of course, are these taxidermy pieces."

"…"

"Truly beautiful, are they not?"

The variety was wide. Lions, deer, dogs…. On his face there was not the slightest trace of guilt or pity for the wretched animals. All that could be felt, vivid and clear, was a nauseating possessiveness and a lust to collect, reeking as if it gave off a stench.

Just as he had shown it to Presepe, in his own capture route.