Day 7. The final day.

Starting that morning, Albert began carefully preparing in his mind exactly what he would say when Kale contacted him.

"Did you have a good trip, Kale?" 

It’s way too affectionate. That’s not something you’d say to a child who’s been missing for a whole week. Rejected.

"You little brat, where have you been?!" 

Not a shred of the Crown Prince’s dignity remains. Disqualified.

"Proceed with the takeover of the Magic Tower." 

It’s too formal. Everything he’s been worrying about for a week is rendered meaningless. Eliminated.

"It’s been a while." 

It’s safe. In fact, it’s so safe that it completely obscures the fact that Albert spent a week in agony because of Kayle. I’ll put this on hold for now.

"This week sure dragged on." 

A short, weighty sentence. It doesn’t come across as overly critical, but the tone subtly points out that he’d raised such a major issue and then made them wait a whole week. Albert chose this line and stood in front of the mirror, practicing it over and over again until it rolled off his tongue.

"This week sure dragged on!" 

"This week sure dragged on." 

"This week sure dragged on, didn't it?"

"…That was a long week."

I liked the last one the best. … That blank space elegantly concealed all of Albert’s feelings.

Albert stood in front of the mirror and checked his smile. It was perfect.

Then he went to his office and sat down in front of the communication terminal.

It was 10 a.m. that morning. The communication light did not flash.

Noon. He stared at it, having skipped lunch, but the communication device didn’t blink.

3:00 p.m. A message came in from a court official to whom he had previously issued work instructions. The official had to face the Crown Prince, who was in a low mood for reasons unknown to him.

6:00 p.m. The communication port didn’t flicker again.

10:00 p.m. The communication device had stopped blinking.

11:59 p.m.

Midnight.

The week is over.

The communication device still wasn’t blinking.

Albert slowly placed both palms on the desk. Then he rested his forehead against the cold marble.

"……I told you it was a week."

Naturally, the marble did not answer.

"……I told you it was a week."

Something must have happened. Henitus is the kind of guy who always makes a big deal out of everything.

He muttered to himself, as if reciting a prayer, to comfort himself.

---

Day 8. Albert opened his eyes in the morning. Then he made a vow to himself.

There must have been some reason yesterday. Yeah. There must have been a reason. I’m sure I’ll hear from them today.

Certainly.

Today.

But the communication device didn’t blink all day.

Albert couldn’t remember a single thing he had done that day.

---

Day 9. Whenever he had a moment, Albert would turn on the communicator again to listen to the voice message Kayle had left.

[……By the way, I won’t be able to make video calls for the next week.]

Albert heard that sentence once more.

[Video calls will be unavailable for one week.]

One more time.

[One week.]

One more time.

[One week.]

Albert stared intently at the communication device.

"……He definitely said a week."

I wonder if he died somewhere? He always seemed to be teetering on the edge every time I saw him, and in the end...

Albert shook his head to clear that thought from his mind.

"……Calm down a bit."

That one thing he said to me didn’t quite register with me.

---

Day 10. Albert placed an empty chair in a corner of his office. No one asked about the chair. Albert didn’t explain it either.

However, Albert sometimes found himself staring at that empty chair and muttering something under his breath.

"……Let’s just assume for a moment that you’re sitting there."

The empty chair did not answer.

"…… What on earth are you doing?"

The empty chair still did not answer.

Albert couldn’t help but chuckle at his own pointless action. Then he put the chair back in its original place.

However, the next day, Albert moved the chair back to a corner of his office.

Day 11. While working, Albert almost called Cora “Kale” without realizing it.

Day 12. During a diplomatic conference, Albert found himself absentmindedly scribbling a note on a document he was supposed to sign: “The whereabouts of Prince Kale Henitus.”

After staring at the note for a second, Albert immediately scribbled over it with black ink. However, Albert still remembered what that single line he had written there had been.

Day 13. Albert had to fully admit that his reaction was not normal.