Chapter 14. It’s been a while (4)
It’s been a while.
It wasn’t particularly low rank, but it wasn’t honorable either.
Even if it was in front of Lemain, and no matter how much it was in front of Landel and Planz, it was impossible to give Silike any higher praise.
There was no one here who did not know the reason, so no one could blame Kalian. Of course, Silike was one of them.
Silike, who was sitting on a chair pulled out by an attendant, immediately opened her mouth.
“Okay. It’s been a while.”
As he continued to treat Calian poorly, Silike also showed no courtesy. Calian, who did not expect much respect, paid no attention and continued eating.
“What’s going on?”
Lemaine asked Silike, who was looking at Calian. It was a dry voice.
Silike did not care about this neglect. You must have already prepared yourself from the moment you show up to a dinner party uninvited. Silike said, looking at Lemain.
“Your face has improved a lot, Your Highness.”
“Because I stopped seeing what I used to see.”
Lemain nodded and answered as if there was no need to hide it.
“But now I can see it again.”
These were such hostile words that it was hard to believe they came from Lemain.
Silike, who had become invisible to Lemain, did not show much of a reaction to those words, which clearly revealed his discomfort. He nodded as if he was listening to someone else’s story. Then he looked at Calian and spoke.
“I came because I was curious to know if the Third Prince had a good trip.”
And then he showed a smiling face towards Calian.
Lemain spoke as if he had intercepted Silike’s gaze directed at Calian.
“Did you really come to check that?”
“Because he was a child who had a lot of trouble.”
I heard you had a lot of trouble.
The tips of Calian’s eyebrows, who were quietly listening to the fight between his biological father and stepmother, moved for a moment.
It wasn’t that I felt bad about that level of slander. This is because it was difficult to determine which was more common: those committed throughout one’s life or those committed during the short time one was outside the palace.
‘If you knew that the two brothers you tried to control both disappeared because of me, would you still be able to say that?’
While Calian was thinking this, Lemain sent a warning in a quiet but dignified voice.
“Silike. Be careful what you say about the prince.”
Silike laughed as if it had been a minor slip of the tongue. Calian responded with a slight nod, as if he had just heard a routine greeting.
“As you can see, I had a good time.”
“It looks like that.”
“The cold I was suffering from was so severe that there was nothing outside that could hurt me that much.”
At the mention of Silike’s poison, Lemain’s face stiffened somewhat.
A moment passed before anyone could speak. After that, Silike spoke again.
“That’s right. I’m glad.”
“Thank you. You care so much about me.”
Calian nodded with a smile.
At Calian’s answer, Plantz could be heard laughing softly. And Silike erased her smile for a moment.
The words rose up in Kalian’s throat, asking him to leave as he didn’t want to argue anymore. Therefore, Kalian picked up the glass of water and swallowed the water and words together. It was Lemain who told him to come in, so Calian could not tell him to leave.
Silike, perhaps aware of Calian’s feelings, opened her mouth this time, looking towards Lemain.
“By the way, Your Highness.”
Calian gave an expression of boredom.
A sigh was heard from Randel’s direction. It seemed like he was slowly reaching the limits of his patience. Of course, Silike didn’t care.
“They say something amazing happened in Siegfried’s land. Have you heard?”
Lemain looked at Silique without answering.
Silike looked at Calian with a look like that of a caring mother.
“It is truly surprising and joyful that people’s praise for something auspicious has reached the Heysia Palace.”
“I’m glad you’re happy.”
Calian laughed in his heart. I had no idea what he was going to say with such a grand compliment. Silike’s eyes turned to Lemain again.
“But there is something I heard along with it, so I’d like to ask about it.”
There was only one rumor tied to what happened in Sispanian’s nest. Silike, who was moderately upset, looked at Lemain’s blue eyes as if glaring and said something that should not have been said.
“Are you really thinking of Kalyan as the next crown prince? Please let me know.”
Calian’s eyes narrowed.
Because it was exactly what Calian expected.
‘Now there is nothing to see. Silike.’
Crown prince.
In this place with three princes, that word was like a taboo word. Silike brought it out. And that happened while I was tripping while wearing Calian.
Lemain looked at Silique without saying anything.
What answer would Lemain give to that statement?
You can’t say yes, you can’t say no, and you can’t even throw Silike out without an answer. Because it will be taken as a positive sign.
Kalian turned his head to stop the question at this point. But unexpectedly, a leisurely answer flowed from Lemain.
“Lord Manasil said that a while ago.”
‘Master?’
When an unexpected name came up, Calian held back from stepping forward and waited for Lemaine’s next words.
“Send the one you don’t like the most to Camilon first. If you do that, they will disappear on their own. However, they are all my precious sons. That is why I was deeply troubled.”
As Lemain said that, his eyes glanced at the princes one by one.
Soon Lemain’s blue eyes gazed deeply at Silique. LeMaine concluded his speech in a voice devoid of any emotion.
“Now you are trying to ease my worries. Thank you.”
Silike lowered her head.
This was because there was no fan to hide the distorted face.
Calian also bowed his head.
It was because I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
‘iced coffee.’
May the glory of Serenti be upon the lips of Alan Manasil!
* * *
I came this way with the intention of putting Lemain in a corner.
If he said he would put Kalyan on the throne, he tried to protest, asking if he was showing favoritism, and if he said he would not put Kalyan on the throne, he tried to ask him to promise that he would do so. If I delayed answering, I was going to ask about the reason for moving Knights Kaera.
However, Lemain threatened Silike by saying that he would simply put Planz on the throne. How ironic this situation is.
“If you don’t have anything more to say, please leave. Before I really make a decision.”
Lemain, who said so, gestured toward the servants standing near the door, and the servants opened the door. There was no way that staying in place any longer would help Sillike. Silike, who had started to walk for no reason, got up from his seat.
“I don’t know how long your arrogance will last, but there will come a day when you regret treating me like this. I’m sure.”
Lemaine did not bother to tell her that he had already been regretting the day he had taken Silike as his queen in order to gain Brisen’s power after the death of his former queen, Aisha.
Lemain, who still had the same attitude, left behind and Silike went out again, making a loud noise.
‘I’m glad you sent Margrave Briesen back.’
Calian, who was looking at Silike’s back, had this thought.
If Gray had entered the capital in this situation, it would not have been surprising if a civil war broke out immediately.
In any case, Lemain, who dismissed Silique with a phrase he had learned well from Alan Manasil, turned his head and looked at Plantz. And he opened his mouth in a serious voice that was completely different from when he spoke to Silike.
“I didn’t say this out of malice toward you. I don’t see the queen and you on the same level, so don’t misunderstand.”
He was concerned that Plantz might pay attention to what he had told Sillike. Plantz calmly accepted the words.
“I know.”
Lemain nodded in response, his eyes seeming to look around at the calm atmosphere.
“Everyone will know how your uncle is doing.”
Calian’s uncle meant Lemaine’s older brother. It seemed like everyone except Calian knew how he was doing now. The expressions on both of their faces were not very good.
Bern had no need to be interested in what happened to the brother of another king. And since old Calian never dreamed that he would become king, he deliberately paid no attention to how Lemaine came to the throne or what became of his remaining brothers. If you pay attention, you will only find out about your dark future in advance.
‘I’ll have to ask Jan.’
And now Calian knew that Lemaine had an older brother, but he wasn’t leisurely enough to pay attention to how that person was living now.
“I don’t want any of you to have to live like that. I don’t want the same thing to happen again.”
After saying that, Lemain stood up first and went outside. Since they were in no mood to continue eating, the princes also stood up.
* * *
While waiting outside the banquet hall, Jan realized that Silike had entered and approached him with a worried face.
“Did you enjoy dinner?”
“Yes. Nothing happened, don’t worry.”
Kalian smiled as he looked at Jan, who felt relieved after hearing this.
After a while, Kalian, who was the last to arrive at Chermil, spoke.
“Let’s walk for a while. I can’t digest it.”
Jan was well aware of how much Kalian was eating and digesting as he started to grow taller. Still, instead of looking like he was saying something nonsense, Yan just said that he understood and walked next to Calian.
While walking by the lake for the second time today, Calian told me what Lemaine had said earlier.
“Do you know what happened to Your Highness’s older brother?”
“That’s…”
Jan, with a slightly complicated expression, continued his answer.
“Originally, princes who were pushed out of the Crown Prince leave Kairisis when they turn 20. They are given their own fiefdom and stay there. Except that they cannot have private soldiers, the royal family sends soldiers, and they cannot stay in Kairisis for more than five days. “There are no particular restrictions.”
It was about other princes who did not receive the crown without a fight.
“I know that. But if you really said it, I think it means that the result was a little different this time.”
“Yes, I did.”
As expected, Yan opened his mouth again and continued his explanation.
“Actually, there were not many princes who lived the rest of their lives like that in the past. Most of them had renicita leaves spread in the square after their brothers became kings…” This means they were beheaded
or hanged.
It was a difficult topic to broach, so Jan paused for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“You spend your whole life locked away in a remote place.”
“It’s a remote place.”
“It is said that the late king suffered from an illness that could not be cured even with Sispanian’s blessings. That is why he decided on the crown prince from early on, and that person should now pass the word.”
“It did.”
“Immediately after the crown prince’s decision was made, Your Majesty’s older brother, Asnan, rebelled against it, and Asnan is now in a tower built deep in the Berekah Gorge, further south than Siegfried’s Territory.”
Calian heard those words and nodded quietly.
Jan seemed to be worried about the future and said with a smile.
“Do not worry. If the prince cannot enter Camilon, I plan to take him to my house.”
Calian burst out laughing at Jan’s boldly announced plan.
“For that to happen, Siegfried would have to become a kingdom, not a duchy.”
To Kairis . Unless you declare independence and start a war, you won’t be able to live with the prince who was pushed out of the Crown Prince’s throne. “Is there anything you can’t do?” “Aren’t you
saying
this too casually?”
This is said without any malice and only thinking of Calian. Calian finally burst out laughing.
“Anyway, His Highness probably meant that brothers should get along well instead of dying or being imprisoned in bloody fights.” “Is it possible?”
Calian,
who had been considering it for a moment, shook his head. He stirred.
“That kind of peaceful thing will never happen.”
Getting along with those two right now
is something that would be difficult to achieve even in a dream.
That was when Calian was lost in thought for a while.
“…Prince. ”
Yan’s quiet voice called Calian to him.
When he looked at Yan, his eyes were on Calian’s waist.
Calian’s eyes became sharp as he followed Yan’s gaze. A red light leaked from Calian’s waist, to be exact, from inside the pocket of his jacket. It was coming out.
Calian knew very well what was inside.
It was a black pebble that he had received from the elf Luca. Sispanian had told him to keep it with him, so he always kept it in his pocket as a habit, but it was shining like it is now. I had never seen this before.
[Shield]
Calian got nervous at the sudden situation and created a shield in front of Yan. He was worried that something like an explosion might happen. Soon, Calian tried to take out the pebble with a careful hand. I frowned again.
A small flower branch growing under a rose tree in a corner of the garden. A
red rose blooming alone caught my eye on this chilly day. If
it had been a simple flower, I would have thought it strange and passed it over.
What a small flower . You would have passed by thinking that it had bloomed late,
but since it wasn’t, a voice full of doubts came out of Calian’s mouth.
“……why?”
The rose was emitting light of the same color as the pebble.
A blood-red color similar to Calian’s eyes.
