While Jusha Lale might have said that he wasn’t angry, Susha Unhuor was not so sure about that. Going over and sitting down opposite him, he felt quite awkward. He couldn’t help but feel that maybe he should explain himself some more but he also didn’t know what to say. Staying quiet didn’t feel right though. It made things even more awkward. Back when they had been traveling, there had at least been something around them that he could focus on but now, it was just the two of them and he had just asked the other person’s aunt about his life, making him feel guilty.
He hemmed and hawed for a while but this time, Shunche had to get the person from somewhere else in the city. Who knew how long it would be until he returned with that servant girl? He couldn’t wait until then.
His gaze roved through the room and he finally cleared his throat. If he couldn’t stay quiet but also couldn’t talk about the elephant in the room, he should at least talk about something else. "So … are you worried about what she said?"
Jusha Lale slightly raised his brows. "Which part?"
"That if something were to happen to you, there would not be a successor to the throne. I mean you’re still young so you might not have paid too much thought to that? With what is happening right now, maybe you should have."
Jusha Lale gave a faint hum, his expression pensive.
Susha Unhuor waited but it didn’t seem as if the dan really wanted to say anything about it. The warrior turned to the window, looking outside, hoping that the servant girl would soon be brought over. Otherwise, things would once again turn awkward. Had he really offended him deeply? But he also didn’t feel that Jusha Lale was somebody who just paid lip service. If he was angry, he likely would have admitted to that before.
Just then, the king finally spoke up. "It isn’t that I did not think about it. It is rather that I did not find anyone to marry."
This time, Susha Unhuor turned back with some surprise written in his features. "Is that so? I thought it wouldn’t be difficult for a king. I mean you could just choose anyone, couldn’t you?" Also … it couldn’t be denied that Jusha Lale was beautiful. If he asked, there would be few people willing to reject him even if he wasn’t of high status but a commoner instead.
Jusha Lale smiled at that suggestion, not knowing what else was going through Susha Unhuor’s head. "If I just pointed at someone and told them to marry me, you would probably be right. But what way of getting married is that?" He sighed and looked at the window, blinking against the light outside. There was a faint shimmer of nostalgia in his gaze. "I do remember my mother and I do remember how close she was to my father. And even after her death, he would often talk about her. In fact, I think what he finally died of was a broken heart because he could not stomach life without her.
"I have always hoped that I would find the same thing. But … the longer I am king and the longer I try to look for somebody, the more I realize that maybe I am different. I’ve never met any woman that would elicit the wish in me to get closer to her."
Susha Unhuor awkwardly straightened up. This was definitely not the kind of conversation he wanted to start with the king. But he was the one who had brought it up in the first place. How could he now say that he minded it? "Maybe … women just are the wrong thing to look at." He awkwardly wanted to drop the subject after saying so but Jusha Lale’s expression became even more thoughtful as if he was really considering it.
"To be honest, I thought about that. I do think that maybe the thought is a little more bearable. But I still can’t deny that it isn’t much better with men. A look from afar is one thing but to actually get close …" He seemed a little lost when he said so as if he couldn’t quite understand it himself.
This time, Susha Unhuor’s attention finally snapped back to the young king. "You mean to say … that whether it is men or women you …" He stopped, looking at him in silence. He had understood that right, hadn’t he? Somehow, his heart couldn’t help but speed up a little when he realized this. This was precisely the thing he had told him the day they met in the temple. It was precisely the kind of feeling he had when he thought about settling down. He could very well imagine having that kind of life but he just couldn’t imagine what kind of person he would like to have at his side when he did so.
Jusha Lale raised his gaze to him as if he was only now coming out of his thoughts. He hurriedly shook his head. "I’m sorry. Why am I even telling you this? It will not help you find the demon, will it?"
"No, it will not." And yet, he really would’ve liked to hear more about that. Before he could make up his mind whether he should ask about it or not, steps sounded outside and the two of them had to fall silent. It seemed that Shunche had brought the maid over.
A moment later, the guard’s voice sounded from the room next door. "Wait here for a moment. I will go and get the zhireng."
There was the quiet answer of a female voice and then, Shunche came over, motioning for Susha Unhuor to go over while his gaze brushed over Jusha Lale as if to make sure that he had not been attacked while he had left him alone.
Susha Unhuor ignored his disrespect, got up, and then left the room but not without giving Jusha Lale a lasting look. To think that there was something they were so similar in … it still astonished him to think about it. Unfortunately, he would have to wait before he could ask about it again.
He went over to the other room and once again knocked and introduced himself before going inside. Even if she was just a servant girl, he still felt that he should go about this the same way he had done with Madam Shaun.
The servant girl was obviously nervous, completely different from Madam Shaun who had still been composed despite recently losing her husband.
Susha Unhuor sat down opposite her but didn’t speak up immediately. He looked around the room, giving her a bit of time to get used to the new situation. Most likely, someone like her would be worried if she was suddenly told to go somewhere and meet with a zhireng. She might fear repercussions for what she said.
After a moment, he nodded as if he had taken in his surroundings, and then turned to her. "I hope I am not keeping you from any tasks. It is probably difficult right now for everyone with suddenly having to relocate here and then with your master dead … You are probably very busy."
The girl hurriedly shook her head. "It’s not a problem."
"Well, that’s good then." He was sure that she was lying but he didn’t need to worry about that. It was only important that she said the truth later on when they were talking about what exactly her master had been keeping secret. "Well, the reason I wanted to talk to you is that I need some more information to go and vanquish that demon. From what we know right now, there seems to be some special reason why that thing chose to attack your master of all people. We are not quite sure yet what this reason is though but we do think that it might have something to do with his family."
The girl still looked at him worriedly. "I wouldn’t know anything about that."
Susha Unhuor had feared that she would react like this. He didn’t simply give up though. "Well, it is likely that you wouldn’t know exactly what is going on. But maybe you could tell me some other things that will help us with finding out what the reason was. For one, I wonder if you have noticed that he was a little different on the day when he died or maybe the time leading up to that?"
The girl hurriedly shook her head, not saying anything.
Susha Unhuor didn’t know how to continue. He hadn’t come up with a plan in case something like this happened. He could only try to patiently make clear to her that she wouldn’t be in trouble no matter what she said. "Are you sure about this? You don’t need to know anything specific. I just want to know what your general impression of him was at that time."
"I really don’t know anything. He was like always."
Susha Unhuor nodded and fell quiet for a moment but then spoke up again. "You know, no matter what you say here, I will not tell anyone else. So if there is something that you are unsure about or that you worry your Madam might not be happy with you sharing, then you can be sure that I will not tell her anything. This whole exchange is solely between us. It is just to make sure that I can go and avenge your master."
Unfortunately, the girl still shook her head despite his reassurance. "No, there really isn’t anything. He was just like always."
Susha Unhuor sighed. In that case, there wasn’t much she could do, was there? "Then, was there anything else that you noticed about him? Not his behavior but … I don’t know, somebody he met with? Or something that he hadn’t done before?"
The girl once again shook her head. "No, nothing."
Susha Unhuor slowly nodded. "So it was like that. Well, that is a pity. It really would’ve helped us if we knew."
She looked at him but still shook her head, slightly furrowing her brows in worry. "I am sorry. I really don’t know anything."
"Of course. I’m not suspecting you or anything. It really is just a pity." It was indeed. Because now, he had no idea where to go from here. He could probably talk to the other servants but if even she hadn’t noticed anything despite working directly at his side, how would others that spent less time with him know? It was almost impossible.
He thought for a moment longer and then just tried to make sure of the things he had already heard. "Say, then if his behavior didn’t change, how would you describe him in general? Unfortunately, I never had the luck to meet your master. But I heard that he was with the military. He must’ve been pretty imposing, right?"
The girl pondered for a moment and then nodded. "Yes, I think you could say it like this. But that was more of a first impression one would get from seeing him. When interacting with him, he was actually a very gentle person. He would almost never scold the servants unless we did something very wrong. And he was always very considerate of his wife."
Susha Unhuor gave a hum. It seemed that no matter whom he asked, everybody was sure that this Shaun Reng was a perfect person without any faults. Definitely greater than everybody around him, with no flaws to be seen.
That definitely couldn’t be the case. That type of person … he would’ve long died from being taken advantage of. And anyway, being that type of person was very rare. He didn’t believe that somebody that was so close to the king of Alo and came from a family good enough to have their daughter marry the late king would actually be this flawless.
No, there had to be something somewhere. And the more people said that he was a good person, the more Susha Unhuor felt that whatever it was had to be something terrible, something that he had done a lot to hide from each and every person around him.
Yes, most likely, this man had been pretending quite a bit. He had done it so much that when he actually summoned the demon to have it do his bidding, nothing in his behavior changed. He wouldn’t get nervous, he wouldn’t worry, because he had perfect his pretension long ago. That was why nobody was able to perceive anything different about his behavior.
It really was a pity that there seemingly wasn’t anybody who had been able to get a glimpse at what that secret actually was. Even if it was just a hint, vanquishing this demon would already be much easier if it became known. After all, different demons were summoned for different wishes. And different demons would also be fought in different ways. Without such information … he would have to go in blindly and could only try his best. He would really like to avoid that.
Susha Unhuor couldn’t help but think back to his talk with Agur Suhi and felt that maybe this friend of the king’s uncle would still be his best bet. While he had refused to say anything before, he felt that he might have some more knowledge than he had admitted to. After all, a friend had less to lose than the person’s actual family or servants. Also, between Shaun Reng’s wife, and his best friend, his best friend actually knew him longer. The likelihood of him knowing something would be much higher as well. The only question was what to do to make him spill the beans. Because obviously, this man was more than just a little reluctant to do so.
He sighed to himself. Well, finding out how to make him say the truth would be much easier if he actually knew what this was about. After all, if he knew the reason why he didn’t want to talk, he would be able to find a way to work against that belief. But without any clue whatsoever … No, he was in a bad situation. It could very well be that he would not be able to figure it out before he had to go and contend against the demon.
Realizing this, Susha Unhuor bid farewell to the servant girl and walked back to the room next door. Seeing Jusha Lale sit there at the table, he gave him a long look, some thoughts swirling in his mind.
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