Chapter 46. It’s a prince (4)
There may not be as many as you think.
I wasn’t particularly curious anymore, but this thought just occurred to me. I had some expectations because I had seen what he did, but I was a little more confident.
He said he might not be as old as he thought.
I didn’t know how far back in time I had gone, and I didn’t know how old I was with Chase, so I just took a guess and just turned my head and looked at the moonlit sea.
What the prince of the neighboring country who lived on this day would have been doing, thinking, or suffering from. I just took a reasonable guess and only looked at the sea.
I heard crying while looking at the sea.
I listened until the smell of salt no longer felt unfamiliar. The sea water that had been soaking my feet reached up to my ankles. So that the shimmering moonlight is engraved in my mind, the cries of a 16-year-old person are now just that.
I listened to it for a while.
“Calian.”
“yes.”
okay.
In the end, I came to the sea and heard the cries of whales.
“Let go.”
“yes.”
And in the end, I had a younger sibling.
* * *
Truly beautiful Secretia.
Calian introduced Secretia like that.
“I don’t know much about Kairis because I haven’t been to many places, but I think wherever I went in Secretia was good.”
Just now.
As soon as Calian removed his hand from the collar without a word, the smell of blood disappeared. Because I was leaning on the hand holding my collar and lowering my head, the black back of my head that was covering my clothes was removed, and all I could see was my clean white clothes.
Since his ankles were still submerged in the water, he could have just gotten out of the water to get rid of them, but he thought to himself when he saw him walk out to get the blood off and sit down on the sand.
He says he’s really embarrassed right now.
So I just went and sat down next to him without saying another word. Then, remembering that Calian had left nothing in the uniform he was still wearing, he took out a handkerchief and handed it to him.
After that, I just started listening to Calian, who took the handkerchief and held it in his fist, spewing out another random word. I thought I would have to wait until those bright red eyes returned to their original red eyes.
“Of course, my favorite thing is the sea.”
“I guess so.”
“Oh, now that I think about it, this is my second time going into the sea. I thought I wouldn’t go in twice.”
“……It seemed like you missed it so much.”
He said that it was only twice that he went into the sea he wanted to go to.
As I was wondering if this was the second time I had gotten my ankles wet, maybe he had not even come near the waves, I remembered that even after coming here, Calian kept standing far away and never came in front of the waves.
“why.”
“I’m suffocating.”
Plantz looked at Calian blankly.
Calian raised his hand and pointed to the horizon where the moon was waning.
“There was a day when I went on a ship somewhere out there, and I couldn’t forget being thrown overboard. At that time, Prince Chase jumped in with me and suffered for quite a long time, but that memory couldn’t be erased, so I couldn’t go in.”
“You mean I was almost assassinated?”
“no.”
He shook his head and tightened his fists.
“I don’t know if I should call it a test of its own, but it was confirmed.”
Planz, who was looking at the scene for a moment and thinking about the meaning of Calian’s words, let out a startled laugh.
“… Forget it. It will be gone soon.”
“Yes. You should forget about him. He will soon disappear.”
“Speak informally.”
“I thought you left it alone earlier.”
“also.”
“We’re still the same age, brother.”
“Bark.”
Calian let out a small laugh.
Then he pushed the sand with his toes a few times and continued speaking.
“Anyway. During the year I was away from Secreta, I only visited places as far away from Secreta as possible that I would not be able to visit twice, and they were all good.”
In Secretia there was no period during which the royal family had to be away from the palace. Coming-of-age ceremonies such as Rosellita were also held only in Cairis, so for royals who spent their entire lives in the royal palace, there was no special event that required them to leave the capital, Secreta.
So Plantz, who thought it was unexpected, looked to the side. Instead of a voice containing a question, the sound of waves was heard and the wind blew.
“I was kicked out. Out of the palace. So I went on a trip.”
Calian, feeling Plantz’s gaze, shrugged his shoulders and then laughed. It was because I remembered the unfair, sad, and absurd memories I felt on the day I was kicked out of the palace.
“who.”
“Prince Chase has kicked you out and told you not to enter the palace.”
“why.”
A short sigh came from Calian’s mouth.
“After I became king from prince, I couldn’t sleep well. That was probably the most uptight time in my life. In fact, more so than before.”
Plantz, who listened to the sound of the waves for a moment, nodded.
I know what the reason might have been.
“Because I didn’t have a cat.”
“okay.”
It may be a very different reason than Plantz, but I understand.
It was probably because he thought Devlan would come back alive. It was clear that the shadow of the person who had put the king in hell while alive would not have disappeared even after death.
Chase, who didn’t know what his younger brother was doing, would have been out of his mind after ascending to the throne, had there not been a white cat and a black cat that casually destroyed a 500-year-old building.
It must have collapsed.
Unable to escape the hell created by the already dead.
“After three years like that, Prince Chase banished me from the palace.”
Calian, who ignored Plantz’s gaze at him as if he had been living like a piece of shattered glass for Chase to have lived like that, continued.
“I didn’t have anywhere to go, so I just drank for a few days, then went out to Secreta and wandered around randomly for about a year. So I went to a lot of places. As the things I kept inside me increased, the things I had seen before were little by little pushed back.”
Calian let go of the handkerchief he was holding.
“I just thought it would be nice for you to do the same.”
Before I knew it, the wound that had stopped bleeding was visible. After taking a look at the long scar that still remained, Calian closed his mouth for a moment and looked at Plants.
It’s certainly not that Planz can’t do that because he’s too lazy to talk.
At one point, I thought I didn’t swear, but now that I think about it, I swear well. I think I only know two or three swear words, but I use them well when necessary. Still, I think swearing should not be taught any more. If I teach it, the only person who will listen to that curse is Kalian.
anyway.
Calian, who had heard and seen everything that a person who found it annoying to speak but was not afraid to say, did not bother to say, opened his mouth.
“Instead of looking at the flames of the lake from the embers of a bonfire, listen to the sound of trees cracking. Instead of feeling relieved when you see that you are not dyed by a rainbow, feel how cool the water mist is on your fingertips. Instead of standing at the end of the waves thinking about sounds you cannot hear, try reaching all the way to Chermil. “Just walk around like that, smelling the sea.”
– Shoot…
The cool breeze was filled with the sound of waves.
“I know that you are someone who cannot forget, so just put it off a little bit and live your life.”
Plantz, who was too lazy to talk, sat without saying another word. I could see the moon slowly disappearing beyond the horizon, as if sinking into the sea.
“I hoped so. The day I woke up from the dock and fell asleep.”
The light green eyes finally closed.
Because I understood that it was someone’s last story.
* * *
A variety of colors were placed on the round table.
Bread with eggs and milk was placed on the side of Kalian and Planz. Two well-cooked fried eggs. Likewise, it was located only on the Kalian and Planz sides. It was their own consideration for visitors from outside.
And that consideration ends there.
Well-grilled bell peppers and asparagus, various kinds of stir-fried mushrooms, a sandwich filled with figs and avocado, a grilled banana, a salad that you don’t even think you need, and purple grape juice.
no meat
Yes, I understand, but there is no meat. Of course, there is no meat. I appreciate it with eggs and milk, but no meat.
“Excuse me for a moment, brother.”
Since I don’t have an attendant, I have no choice but to move it myself.
Calian, who looked at the table and looked sullen for a moment, stretched out his arm toward the mulberry jam next to Plantz. Calian’s arm passed in front of Plantz’s eyes as he looked down at the yellow and red fragrant flowers floating on the transparent water bowl where he had been washing his hands before eating.
And then I saw that the flower had disappeared.
Plantz chuckled as he saw his younger brother, the Sword Master, who had wasted his skills by taking the flowers floating on the water to wash his hands and placing them in front of him, starting to eat. Then, after washing my hands in the bowl of water that had been cleared of the flowers, I ate a meal that would have been perfect if it weren’t for the green peppers.
“I am truly sorry for what happened to Elder Jer.”
At the end of the meal, Narzan, who was sitting across from me, said this. Calian, who had been wondering if Narzan was testing his temperament after seeing him laughing like that the day before, nodded without being overly surprised.
“I hope you reconsider moving to Secretia.”
And Calian’s own negotiations finally began.
“Whether it’s grapes or wheat, we know that there are many benefits thanks to the power of the mother tree. So, without further ado, just tell us if there’s anything uncomfortable.”
A type of tax paid in return for allowing elves to reside in the large forests of most southern regions and preserving the trees in those forests. It was the power of the mother tree.
Thanks to the mother tree, which is exceptional in its ability to grow plants, there was almost no crop damage that could be called a bad harvest even in severe droughts or floods. There may be damage from things like locust swarms or already cultivated crops being submerged in water, but the crops themselves have always grown well. In addition, there have been no earthquakes in Kairis, and although there are hot springs, there have been no volcanic eruptions.
Although they do not provide any visible compensation, if the mother tree disappears, Kairis will not be very comfortable, so the day before, Narzan had also said something along the lines of ‘This is why I am thinking about moving.’
“Rather than saying it’s inconvenient, it’s a bit more embarrassing.”
“I think I met King Secretia.”
Narzan nodded.
I don’t know why, but he looked like King Secretia and seemed to dislike being called a resemblance. For a moment, Narzan felt the murderous energy pouring out of Calian. I also knew that the second prince stopped Kalyan by spilling tea on his lap.
Thanks to this, Narzan answered with a much softer voice than yesterday.
“There was a request to send an elf healer, but as you know, we refused because we do not treat anyone other than our own kind.”
“It’s not like they had anything to do with the elves anyway, so it would be okay to just refuse, but I don’t understand why that’s so embarrassing.”
Narzan paused for a moment after hearing this, and Calian waited for an answer without another word. Meanwhile, Planz, who had finished eating, took a sip of tea with dried rosemary and lemon and put it down.
“Actually, there is a forest on the Secretia side where elves live. However, Secretia found out about this, and the elves are demanding that we send a healer in return for living there for so long, so we are in a difficult situation.”
It must be Brigid Forest.
Calian frowned slightly as he recalled the name of a forest he had recently remembered. He frowned.
“It’s a place where elves and half-elves are exiled for various reasons. I think you probably know too.”
“How do I know that there was an elven forest in Secretia?”
At these words, a question appeared on Narzan’s face.
Narzan looked at Plantz and asked,
“Your brother was so young. Is that why you didn’t hear the story? Or is it possible that you and your king do not know the truth?”
“What?”
Narzan looked at Calian again after hearing the low voice of Plantz, who was still calm but seemed to have swallowed the tea he had just drunk with courtesy. “Brigit Forest. Queen
Freya is from there.”
Calian’s brow furrowed a little more.
