Chapter 42. That Heart (3)
– Kaaaang!
The dull, heavy sound of the blade echoed through the training ground.
It was the sound of a sword flying and falling, unable to withstand the force of the strike.
Someone spoke to the person who was watching the sword, which bounced and rolled several times after touching the ground, come to a stop.
“I think you’re overdoing it.”
After afternoon training, until now.
Siegfried’s Chief Knight Commander Ronansite, who had already given up counting how many times they had sparred today, stiffened his face and nodded. The voice that spoke just now was sudden, but I was not surprised because I had already known of his approach.
“I don’t know if you’re training or pushing yourself.”
Siegfried’s knight Yuran, who had been talking to Ronansite, looked ahead again. Demirea, looking exhausted, was seen summoning the next knight and making him stand in front of her.
Yuran sounded worried.
“Shouldn’t we stop it quickly? It’s very late.”
“Who can stop that person? Even Confucius would know if he came.”
Soon, the sound of blades clashing against blades once again filled the training ground.
The knights who were expected to go to the royal palace soon began to watch with bated breath the battle between Demirea and the other knights at a separate location on the edge of the training ground.
It was a sparring that lasted for a long time and several times. It was fortunate that it was difficult to find signs of boredom, but I was worried because it was time for the knights and Demirea to rest.
“I can’t help it.”
Ronansite quietly moved his arms.
She pulled back her slightly long dark brown hair and started doing simple stretching. Yuran, who saw this, smiled slightly and opened his mouth.
“Duke Little, you said there was no one to stop you, but are you planning to go yourself?”
Ronansite nodded once.
“I can’t stop him, so I have to take him down. Is there anything we can do?”
“You’re not good at defeating the Little Duke any more, aren’t you?”
“Don’t say something like that after looking at the situation. If someone hears it, they will misunderstand it.”
“I see. I almost misunderstood too.”
The last words heard were not Yuran or Ronansite.
“……!”
Ronansite, who was not surprised by Yuran’s appearance, opened his eyes when an unfamiliar voice interrupted their conversation.
Ronansite, the chief knight leader of Siegfried’s Knights. And now there is Knight Yuran, who is in charge of training the knights.
While the two were not noticing, the voice of someone who came next to them and spoke calmly continued.
“Nice to meet you. No, it’s been a while.”
Underneath the deeply pressed black hood, red lips portrayed a deep smile.
* * *
Demirea’s study was wonderful.
It was full of high-quality books, even for Kallian, who loved reading books and had considerable knowledge of books thanks to Chase.
“thank you.”
After the head butler, who was as polite as Jan, put down two cups of tea and left, Demirea opened her mouth like this. Calian tilted his head at the sudden thank you.
“What are you thankful for?”
“Because you personally made it known that there was a problem with the defense of the mansion.”
“Ah,” Kalian replied, sounding like he understood.
“Still, I confidently rode the Raven to the gate. So don’t scold the people outside and guarding the gate.”
Then he made a small noise and laughed.
It was because I felt somewhat sorry for Ronansite and Yuran, who should be running through the training ground on their own by now.
Calian, who had run away from the palace a little while ago, leisurely walked towards Siegfried’s mansion. He rode the Raven wearing a black hood, as if to hide or inform the prince of his outing.
After that, he took off his hood in front of the knights guarding the outside of the mansion and the gate, and came inside without any conflict. Before the guard knights could go to report the news of the third prince’s visit, he disappeared in a flash and stood in front of Ronansite and Yuran. He showed up and said hello.
And now I was sitting across from Demirea like this.
“Once I became a sword master, I learned how freely I could move around the place I decided to invade.”
“I’m good at hiding. It’s not because I’m a sword master, I’m just good at it. And instead of grumbling and thanking me, just say that you don’t like it when I come in and start running around.”
“You already understand, so there’s no need for me to tell you.”
Oh, I see. And Calian laughed again.
It is true that it is not common sense.
This means that the prince of a country secretly entered the ducal house where his fiancé was staying alone in the middle of the night. If you have something important to say, you can send a letter through Jan, but since you came this way, you can’t help but be suspicious of his intentions.
“If you want to completely block the prince’s marriage road, use another method. Even my road will be blocked.”
“That’s not why you came. But you won’t marry me?”
Also, I say things that I don’t mean to say.
Dmirea, who was looking at Calian with questions as to why he came to visit at night and was following his doggy brother, answered.
“I will accept it if you leave the throne behind.”
“That’s difficult. I have to pretend to be someone’s cat.”
“That’s too bad.”
“But break off the engagement later.”
“I’ll see what you do and think about it.”
“Ah… I guess I should listen carefully to what my fiancé says. I.”
He said he would completely forget about hiding the secret.
Calian grinned as he looked at Demirea, who was looking at Dmirea as if nothing had happened that day, as if nothing had happened, and he picked up the teacup and smelled the scent.
The faint scent of orchids comes from the green tea.
“Ah. Maybe this?”
Calian looked surprised as he recognized the familiar scent.
– A car given to me by a kind prince. My friend liked it so I gave it to him. sorry.
Is there anything to be sorry about?
Our Hina said she would give it to her friend, but it wouldn’t be a waste to buy her an entire tea plantation instead of just green tea.
“Yes. This is the car I received as a gift from Lord Verne.”
“I heard you gave me a friend…”
Soon, Demirea said, ‘I heard that Hina had a friend, and that turned out to be you.’ A disgusted look appeared on Calian’s face, which was filled with emotion. What on earth is that thing that shows all the years of experience?
He always makes that kind of face when he shows off his temper and puts on a show in front of nobles.
Demirea, with a barely visible smile, opened her mouth.
“What business have you come here for?”
“I was hiding a secret, but it got out.”
And Calian made a sound that poured cold water on Demirea’s slightly improved mood.
Isn’t Demirea a person who ‘doesn’t know’ that she is hiding a secret? However, since we had come here to discuss the secret, we ended up talking about it without even saying that we should not let each other know that we were hiding the secret.
In the end, Calian remembered what he had decided to cover up and smiled brightly when he saw Demirea’s eyes turn sharp.
“I leaked it long before I promised you, so don’t try to catch me.”
“… Yes. Please continue speaking.”
“Yes. Anyway, my secret is related to Secretia, so I ran into some trouble this time. So I asked Lord Siegfried to find out. But he said there were no suspicious people in Siegfried’s territory.”
While listening to Calian’s continued story, Demirea summarized Calian’s words in her own way.
Calian’s secret is related to Secretia. He is in a difficult situation because his secret has been exposed. Perhaps the secret leaked out during the Rosellita period.
and. Only Slay knew the truth.
“Your father knew.”
“Yes. I was caught right away when I went to Siegfried’s Territory.”
Don’t worry, I won’t get caught anymore.
As I do this, the bright smile on my face gives me a headache.
by the way.
This father. Even though I know everything, to me.
Demirea, unable to say anything more harsh than that, let out a long sigh. Either way, Calian’s words continued.
“But I remembered that there was another person here other than Siegfried who accompanied my Rosellita. We were a bit close to each other in our own way. Of course, Lord Siegfried would have investigated with us, but I wanted to make sure, so I came to meet him.”
Yuran.
It was said that they had come because they were suspicious of Yu-ran’s identity.
Yuran became Siegfried’s knight around the time Slayman got married, and he has been a knight who has been by the siblings’ side with unwavering loyalty ever since Jan was just starting to walk. So, to Dmirea, in a way, he was like family, closer than Sleiman.
Instead of showing her displeasure at being told that she was suspicious of such a person, Demirea asked calmly.
“What can I check?”
Because there was no need for Calian to take into account what kind of person Yuran was to Dmirea.
“No. I already looked into it when we met earlier. It seems to be okay.”
“How can you be sure of that when you’ve only seen it for a moment?”
“There is such a thing.”
I was trying to understand and overlook the hardships you put our master through, but now you’ve twisted our little duke too. You had a good time with this bastard. Now, let’s hang out with me one more time.
Calian chuckled as he thought of Yuran, who couldn’t even hide his bubbling speculation in his eyes like this.
“Something you can never hide.”
I know very well that those thorny feelings toward Kalian may have been caused by concern for someone.
Calian’s eyes looked down at the hand of the person who would become the source for a moment, then turned to Dmirea. I met blue-grey eyes, calmer than anyone else’s, with a red light that always felt as if they were burning brightly.
“Dmirea.”
“yes.”
“I entered the path of the sword at the earliest age in history.”
“I know.”
“Even originally.”
Demirea’s eyes sank once more.
“I wasn’t as young as I am now, but I was always the fastest. It had to be that way and I wanted it to be that way, so I got there the fastest way.”
Calian’s eyes now fell again on Dmirea’s scarred hands.
“Of course, I gave up a lot to make that happen. A lot.”
The words Chase asked Bern at the small beach. Calian said this, remembering the words telling him to come and rest at any time.
Demirea followed Calian’s gaze and looked at her hands, then looked at Calian’s eyes again. Calian also looked at Demirea and continued speaking.
“Is it because you are taking up the sword for your family, for Yan, because you want to surpass me, or if there is another reason? I don’t know about that, but I know very well how important that path is to people like us. So, let’s just cover it all up, don’t overdo it, and take a break. “I won’t tell you to take it easy anymore. But I’m just a little curious, Demirea.”
“……What are you curious about?”
“Do you know that there are things you are giving up? I know, but is it really okay that you raise your sword like that? Rather than worrying, I’m just curious.”
How different the situation was between Demirea now and Bern back then. How desperately Bern held the sword at that time, how many things he had no choice but to give up. Nevertheless, he did not explain why he had no choice but to push himself so hard and take the path of the sword.
I’m afraid it may sound like you don’t have that level of desperation.
Since Demirea was not Bern, she did not do it because she knew that Demirea was also desperate for something.
“I really hope you surpass me. I definitely believe that will happen. If that day comes, I will be as happy as you. I’m serious.”
Because I know better than anyone how much effort it must have taken for that day to come.
“But Demirea. I don’t want to see you running without knowing what you’re giving up. I’ve never regretted living that way, but I’ve never been okay with living that way either. It wasn’t okay at all.”
The rust-colored car smelled like orchids.
– I hope you don’t end up like me.
The day I received this car from Hina.
For a moment, I wondered what Kalyan had said when he sent him to Hina. Demirea laughed. I thought she spoke calmly without knowing what other people were thinking, but now I understand why she said that. “Of
course, you and I are different, so it may not be you. If you tell me you don’t have to worry, I won’t say things like this anymore. But have you ever thought about the things you are giving up? “I want to know that,”
said Demirea, who looked down at her teacup in silence for a while.
“I don’t think I should answer hastily. “Words are heavy.”
“Even heavy. “It’s just my foolishness.”
“As I said, I actually thought you had talent. I thought I could surpass that level of talent, so I tried not to be impatient. But when I found out what you had been hiding, I became a little angry, even though it was about my brother. I felt like I got it without any compensation. I didn’t want to lose to someone like that, so I pushed myself too hard.”
Still, looking at him at the training ground today, he felt like he was like that, so Calian nodded.
“But you said you were the fastest before… a little bit. It’s unlucky.”
Calian chuckled at the Duke’s words and actions in front of the prince.
“It’s not bad. “I’ll stop being angry because I heard he was talented and worked hard.”
“That’s good.”
“I’m a very greedy person, so it might not make much of a difference. “I won’t forget what you said.”
“Yes. Dmirea.”
“Thank you.”
Dmirea said this, feeling as if she had just finished sparring, and smiled slightly.
Calian, who finished drinking the precious tea that passed through Hina’s hands without saying anything, lightly touched his palms and stood up.
“I’ve confirmed everything I need to confirm and have something to say, so I’ll just go. I enjoyed my tea.”
Dmirea’s eyes lit up as Calian’s words reminded her of something she had forgotten during the moment of serious conversation. ”
That’s not all.”
“What?”
“Prince, the reason you came here. “I think there’s another one.”
“Does it look like that?”
“Yes. “You’re not the kind of person who can come all this way to check on someone under my command.”
I came under the pretext of coming to see Yu-ran, and while I was here, I told Dmirea what came to mind, so the ‘thing I want to say’ is the reason why I came here in the first place. It couldn’t have been. Besides, didn’t Slayman already confirm it once? Nevertheless, Yuran was too small a piece of the pie for Kalian to come here in person to say they would meet again. “Then, my wonderful fiancé
. “I can just say I came because I wanted to see you.”
“Stop saying anything weird. What are you planning?”
Calian grinned, thinking it wasn’t working again.
“Well, anyway, I like hunting, but I also like fishing.” After
saying this, Calian raised his hand and put on the black hood again and continued. .
“A fish that uses its intelligence will never bite if there is something in front of it that is clearly bait. But since there’s food in front of you, you can’t go anywhere else and just look at what’s going on. After watching the bait so anxiously, if you see something that looks like the right food next to it.” The
red eyes of the cat, which was trying to catch a mouse with great effort, hid under the black cloth.
“I didn’t think twice and shooed. Ask.”
Not knowing that it was bait.
Demirea, who had been looking at Calian talking excitedly for a while, answered quietly.
“I am not the second prince.” He
said he did not understand.
“Do you plan to catch the Marquis of Briesen by hunting or fishing? I know that. I don’t know what the explanation has to do with you coming alone at this time of night.”
“You will understand little by little, so just watch for now.”
“Prince.”
“Huh?”
“You told me not to be too hard on myself, didn’t I? As I said last time, Marquis Briesen is a dangerous person. He is strong enough to have protected Brisen with force alone, without any resourcefulness. But aren’t you trying to hunt down someone like that yourself? Why are you putting so much effort into it?”
“I told you earlier.”
A pretty smile formed once more on Calian’s lips, which completely covered his face.
“Because I have to be someone’s cat. I. “Meow, meow.” I
‘m disturbed.
Does my brother know that that person is such a great person? While
Dmirea, who was thinking about the black cat that was taken over by Plants in the banquet hall, frowned, Calian, who was ready to go, greeted her.
” I’ll come again, fiancé. Sleep well.”
After giving an ambiguous greeting, Calian walked out at a light pace.
Dmirea sighed deeply.
It was because she felt like she could hear the sound of Jan rushing to her in concern.
Of course, about a week later, that deep sigh came out. I didn’t know that it would turn into a sigh of frustration and anger. I also didn’t know that Calian, who ‘wanted to see my wonderful fiancé’, would come visit me once every two or three days. Until that day, I didn’t know
.
