Chapter 32. My Sword (4)
Lemain, who quietly took off his glasses and put them down, looked up.
Those eyes, which were usually submerged like deep water in which it was difficult to feel the flow, contained quite a few words today. It was a look that looked like anger, then annoyance, and then a lot of annoyance, but then there was regret.
To explain, it would be anger at why I have to listen to these words, frustration at not being able to refute these words, annoyance at how long I have to deal with this, and regret for the past time I was friendly with this guy.
– I have heard the news that spring will indeed come to Kairis, who always waits for spring. How can I put into words the joy that fills my heart…. A letter full of incongruous rhetoric
.
‘Send your third son down quickly, who is said to be betrothed to my son. I’m bored.’
The letter, with the contents elegantly rewritten, was being sent every day without a single change. It was clear that he intended to send it until he received a reply.
Since it was a letter from the only duke in the country, Lemain could not bear to burn it, tear it up, or even crumple it to his heart’s content, so he folded it up again and handed it to Chamberlain Raoul and sighed deeply.
Alan, who was sitting on a sofa far away and staring with interest as if watching a fight between wizards, opened his mouth.
“After taking advantage of someone else’s child, I ended up sending the youngest prince away.”
After saying this with an expression that seemed to indicate how far the fire across the river would spread, he picked up the apricots on the tart and ate them. The apricots, gently stewed and filled with sugar, suited Alan’s taste very well.
In any case, rather than really intending to take Calian as his son-in-law, Sleiman was probably criticizing Lemaine’s attitude in selling Dmirea’s precious name. Whether or not he knows that Lemaine has already promised to compensate Dmirea appropriately, Sleiman is making fun of Lemaine, just like Sleiman did.
Even though he knew it was just a prank without any other meaning, Lemain was truly troubled. No matter how innocuous the letters may be, isn’t this an affair between the royal family and the dukedom? Even if it were Slayman, Lemain could not have lightly ignored these letters, nor could he have responded to them blindly and seriously.
“Now that I think about it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to send the prince.”
The message is to send Calian to Siegfried.
A little while ago, Alan came to us with a directory saying that he would increase the number of wizards in Balkan, and while he was increasing the number of wizards, he asked that one of Calian’s bodyguards be knighted.
As the identities of Kirie and Hina could not be confirmed, wasn’t it Lemain who forged them as ‘Kyrie Bern’, a commoner of the Whitlin Estate? That came to mind and I expressed my concerns about whether I could really trust that servant as Calian’s bodyguard, but I was told not to worry because he took care of Calian better than you. So Lemain was a bit depressed.
But now they just send Calian to Siegfried. Of course it was a joke, but Lemain, who was depressed, was a little annoyed.
“It seems like this is just a fun spectacle for Count Manasil.”
Alan smiled slightly and picked up his fork again. After eating a few more apricots on top of the tart, I drank tea filled with the scent of lime and mint.
“It’s fun, so I’m taking time out of my busy schedule to look at it.”
When will we ever again see Lemaine being tormented like this by Slayman because he ignored the rumor of Calian and Dmirea’s betrothal and made it a fait accompli, saying he wanted to benefit from the rumors?
Lemain let out a small sigh as he picked at the apricots on top of the tart and wondered who could stop his mouth from saying a single word.
“Besides, if Prince Calian were to go to Siegfried, wouldn’t I be the one to welcome him? The backyard of Duke Siegfried’s residence would be many times more comfortable and safer than taking over the paper chair where His Highness is sitting.”
At one point, he said he came to Kairis to give Kalyan a crown jewel, but now it’s all over. I drink one more drink and then hold a national wedding ceremony.
Not long ago, people were so worried about what would happen after Kalian was lowered from his position as crown prince, but now they are telling him to send him down again. The tone of voice was such that you couldn’t even tell whether it was funny or not.
Lemain sighed again.
Alan, who saw this, said after picking up the last apricot from the battered tart and eating it.
“If you just send me a few bottles of alcohol, you’ll be quiet, aren’t you? Don’t try to explain it to me by saying you’ll at least apologize.”
Alan finally gave the right advice.
This means just send the drink without adding any further explanation. Lemain was also told to just stay still so that Slayman could interpret the meaning of the drink.
In any case, wouldn’t a national marriage between the two be difficult to achieve even if it lasted a lifetime? There was no way Calian would give up the crown and go to Siegfried, but there was no way Demirea would give up the dukedom to become queen.
However, rather than stepping forward and confirming the facts, they were just saying that they should just ignore it and see what they each benefit from. The parties have already agreed to stay that way.
“Shouldn’t you maintain a reasonable relationship now so that the nobles don’t turn their heads when they find out that Prince Calian is a penniless man with nothing in hand?”
Lemaine, who was about to talk about why Demirea’s father was being swayed into something like this because he was called Sleiman, closed his mouth.
I had a reasonable expectation of what kind of harsh response the wizard, who would never say a wrong thing, would give in response after hearing such a story, so I just nodded without saying anything else.
* * *
Is it okay to continue to call it a dream?
Or should I say it’s a thing of the past. Or should I say that it is another memory of me that lived somewhere.
Chase quietly opened his eyes as he remembered things that were difficult to even name. Bright sunlight was streaming in through the curtains I had pulled down before going to sleep.
In the past, I couldn’t sleep until dawn, so I barely opened my eyes until late in the morning, but not recently. My sleep lasted longer because I literally continued to dream. Instead of trying to force myself to wake up, I kept dreaming like that, remembering everything I saw.
Soon Chase sat up, careful not to make another sound. And then he opened his mouth in a very quiet voice.
“I dreamed something unexpected.”
I wanted to dream in more detail about what Calian had asked for, but perhaps because the dream was long, new memories that I had not thought about came to mind.
Because of this, Chase made a small sound that could not be heard outside, and his eyes turned to the door in the distance.
Teylan Castrin.
Now Chase’s mentor and guard knight. And in the past, he was Bern’s teacher and Devlan’s guard knight, the strongest sword master on the continent.
Since he had been told not to touch Chase while he was asleep, Knight Teylan would remain outside until he heard movement inside Chase’s room. So Chase stood up silently so that Teilan wouldn’t notice that he had woken up.
It was because he didn’t want Teylan to see the confused look in Chase’s purple eyes as he leaned against the head of the bed.
A small voice came out again.
“Is it fact or imagination?”
Sometimes Chase had doubts about something.
I was wondering if what I saw in the dream were just facts that really happened or if it was a mixture of Chase’s imagination.
Some of it was too harsh to believe it was true, so I wanted to think it was just an imagination, and some of it was too good a memory to be considered a mere imagination, so I hoped it was true.
In general, that was the story about Bern.
It was too harsh to believe it was true, and the memories were too happy and good to be dismissed as imagination. Therefore, every time I dreamed about Bern, I felt like some things were just my imagination and some things were true.
But today was a little different.
Even though it wasn’t about Bern, I had a dream that was harsh to believe to be true, but at the same time felt fortunate.
– Bern.
Chase, who couldn’t even bring himself to say it out loud and just opened his mouth to say the name, continued talking to himself.
“… I guess you weren’t the only one who hid it.”
There was something I didn’t tell you too.
There was one thing I didn’t know until now.
Chase laughed quietly as he recalled a hidden story that he only learned today.
After that, I moved my head and looked at the thin silver bracelet on my wrist for a long time. It felt like it had a coffee scent and a mint scent as well. I also got the feeling that there was a strong fishy smell from the sea or something else.
If he continued to be immersed in that memory, it would feel like he was lost in the deep sea together like in a dream, so Chase opened his mouth as if he was coughing and letting out a blocked breath.
“Lord Castrin.”
Immediately after that, the door opened and a tall Thaylan entered the room. Even though he tried not to make a sound, he seemed to have noticed that he had gotten up from his seat, so he reacted quite quickly. Tailan, who was standing at the foot of the bed and examining Chase’s complexion for a moment, asked with a worried look on his face.
“Did you have another nightmare?”
Things seemed to be a little better recently, but there was a lot of concern about whether I was dreaming again.
Every time he heard the word nightmare, Chase always corrected himself by saying, ‘It wasn’t a nightmare.’ But today, Chase stared into Teylan’s eyes for a long time without even giving such an explanation.
I didn’t know how much time had passed. Chase continued to look at Teilan like that and spoke in a low voice.
“Lord Castrin.”
In this way, I called out to Teylan once again.
“Your Majesty.”
Instead of asking what was going on, Teilan answered quietly.
And once again silence came.
Still sitting on the bed, with confused eyes, I had just woken up to what felt like a dream.
“Are you my sword? Or are you your father’s sword?”
I asked a question.
Has Chase ever called Devlan ‘father’?
Teilan put aside the question that came to mind for a moment at the unfamiliar title and lowered his head. And then, unlike Chase’s, he gave his answer with eyes that did not waver in the slightest.
“In the past, it was Your Majesty’s bodyguard, but now it is Your Majesty’s sword.”
For Devlan, it was a simple escort, but for Chase, it would be different. Chase laughed lightly at Teylan’s honest words about changing the object of his loyalty.
I didn’t laugh because I doubted whether I could trust the driver who had once changed hands. He laughed because the word ‘past’ mentioned by Tailan sounded a little different to Chase.
“In the past, it was ultimately my sword.”
Chase, who had said something that was difficult for Tailan to fully understand, opened his mouth while staring into Tailan’s eyes.
“I guess I’ll have to stay here one more day.”
After hearing that they should postpone the journey to Secretia for just one day, Teylan looked at Chase with a worried look again. It was clear that he wanted to ask whether it had been such a bad nightmare.
Chase shook his head as if to tell me not to worry and said with a grin.
“I’m thinking of telling you a long story.”
The ridiculous truth.
The truth is harder to believe than a lie.
Now I will tell you the truth that is more hellish than hell. So this time, live with my sword, not Devlan’s. I want you to do that.
It was a story told with that meaning in mind.
* * *
In the end, brothers are bound to resemble each other.
Although I told him that there was no need to bring any more, the very considerate chef once again served lamb mixed with bell peppers.
No matter how bad they get along, brothers are still brothers.
“You two are the same.”
Yan opened his mouth as if grumbling, looking at the plate that was the only one that had not been touched at all even though he had eaten all the other dishes. Saying that Calian and Planz are the same was a very harsh statement to Jan. Of course, it wasn’t something a servant would say, so Reric’s face turned pale, but Jan didn’t care. I was just looking at Calian with a face that asked me what on earth he was doing.
“I don’t know. I don’t even want to smell it.”
Calian, who had been scolded by Yan more than once, gave a light response and looked ahead with a smile. Somewhere in the royal palace, which was the culprit, there was a light green guy sitting motionless like a sprout of grass, stroking a cat.
It wasn’t long before Jan and Reric went outside and Calian spoke up.
“Lord Aprin’s knights arrived yesterday. Demirea decided to check on my behalf to see if they are trustworthy. As I said, they will all join Vulcan before August passes. Before that, Kyrie will be ordained a knight. “I’d like to receive it and help you with your work, would you mind?”
It wasn’t like there was anything in particular to object to, and he had already decided everything and asked if it was okay, so how could he say no? Therefore, Plantz just nodded his head once.
“Healers too.”
Then, after saying this, he looked at Calian.
Calian looked at Planz for a while and frowned slightly. That’s why I lost what I wanted to say when I looked at that face that said I was done with what I wanted to say.
“Aren’t you planning on speaking a little longer?”
The words are too short.
No matter how well Calian understands what I say, there are many times when my words are too brief to the point where I feel like it’s a bit too much.
“Healer of Tensil. I wonder if Hina needs it. She doesn’t know anything.”
The healing methods are different, but the healing process is the same, so before there are more people to treat, it would be a good idea to call Tensil’s healer and ask if he could teach Hina something. Although Hina had healing powers, she did not have any knowledge about them.
Veronica remembered hearing that she was studying herbal medicine using materials her father, Ronil, had left behind. When I thought about it, Hina didn’t have anything like that. At least I didn’t know how to properly apply a bandage.
But why is it that our Hina, who is so kind, kind, and talented, is also Hina to you? Kalian, who was looking at Plants for a moment with eyes that said he would not leave her alone if he said that precious name one more time, opened his mouth.
“Brother, let’s go.”
“no.”
He was saying that if he wanted to ask the healer for Hina, he had to go through Randel. Plantz, who immediately said no when the person who spoke to Kalian told him to go up and ask for it, once again stopped moving like a wisp of grass and looked out the window. .
When Calian finally went to visit Randel once again, he let out a soft sigh.
– Prince Calian.
A voice as welcoming as sunshine rang in my head.
– I thought about the axis of time a little more.
And like this.
I was told that I was grateful and sorry.
