Chapter 52. Be patient, brother (6)
Black Butterfly.
I remember a butterfly that looked like a collection of black stars or pieces of the black night sky.
When I remembered that, I thought of Sispanian and the strange comfort I received from Sispanian. Thanks to this, Calian laughed for a moment.
A black butterfly praying for death. Because I think that it is not easy for someone who has lived with one thing as comfort to deal with someone who cannot accept that one thing. Because of the thought that that person was the one who raised him like this.
If he hadn’t grown up poisonous as a child of a snake, he would have already lived a different life the year he woke up as the prince of Kairis. If it was thanks to Devlan that he survived until now and came here, what more can he say since the person who could have said it was thanks to him got caught in a trap while trying to deal with Devlan?
“It looks like my brother is very unwell.”
The voice of Plantz, who was quietly looking at Calian, who was silent. Plantz crossed his legs and spoke for the first time in a long time.
“I see that you can’t bark with words, but you bark in your head.”
“I didn’t think much of it.”
“I’d rather wait for bananas to grow from Renicita’s down than believe that.”
If you’re going to lie, make me believe it.
Calian let out a small sigh when he saw his face just like this.
“I won’t.”
After that, Calian looked in silence at the sea in the distance beyond the wide window, and then turned his gaze back into the room. Arsene and Arianne are seen.
I couldn’t say a word to Arsene, who ran to help me, thanking him for his hard work. I couldn’t even say a hello to Arianne, whom I hadn’t seen in a really long time. As soon as I opened my eyes, I had to listen to what Plantz said first.
So Calian, who was about to say something to the two, immediately closed his mouth. This is because a translucent film was spread between them and Kalian. Arsene, who did not completely trust Arianne, spread silence around Calian and Plantz. There was going to be a conversation to decide what to do in response to Devlan’s move, but the reason was that they were worried that Arianne might do something else after hearing about it.
“The Marquis of Manasil.”
“I asked you to come, so you will come later today.”
“After that.”
“It would be nice if you could come.”
“not.”
“Well, what should I do when Master comes? Shall I send Master to Devlan’s bedroom right away? I was planning on informing Kirie soon, but I don’t think it will make much of a difference if Master finds out as well.”
“Now you’re barking at me again.”
Calian smiled slightly and tried to lean back against the head of the bed, but stopped breathing very briefly. And I just gave up on putting my back, which had been deeply cut by the knife containing the fake Auror, on the hard wood and looked at Planz.
“Brother, are you good at hunting?”
“If it’s a bow.”
“Have you ever seen a trap set?”
“doesn’t exist.”
A small sound came out of Calian’s mouth as he sat with his back a little straighter.
“The thing called a trap is a little funny. To catch a deer, you set a trap in the deer’s path. To catch a fox, you set a trap in the fox’s path. But you really don’t know what will be caught in that trap. Anything can be caught in a trap that is laid out, but deer. “Sometimes a fox gets caught in a trap along the way, and on a really lucky day, a deer and a fox can get caught together.”
Just as Lennon was caught in a trap created to catch the count who was secretly selling new items and trying to sell Kairis information as well.
“This is a trap that Devlan set to catch Brother Chase. You and I were caught in it as well. I thought you and I had attracted enough attention from Devlan, but it seems we haven’t yet.”
Devlan was still trying to drag Chase down.
Instead of Calian or Plantz, who are immediately curious, he has not yet changed his mind to catch Chase, who is completely blocking the way to extend his lifeline. Then, he decided to kill Calian and deceived everyone by pretending to be curious about Plantz.
To make it seem like Chase, who colluded with the nobles, killed Calian and the two wizards and then tried to blame Devlan for the crime.
“If Brother Chase joins hands with you and makes up the attack on me, then I can use that as an excuse to threaten Brother Chase. Blame this incident on the Marquis Lin or whoever the noble doesn’t like and cut off everyone’s heads. “If you abandon me and show a sincere apology, Your Highness will not be able to make up his mind to go to war. Because you have Vulcan in your hands.”
Chase, backed by the power of the nobles, joins forces with Plantz to drive out Calian. Even if that happens, Lemain cannot start a war. One of the accomplices is his second son, and he owns Balkan. In a situation where it is not known whether Planz, who is going to war, will attack Secretia or his own father, Lemain has no choice but to go quietly.
When war breaks out, it is the nobles with private armies and those with military authority who gain power. So, starting a war in the current situation will only increase the barely reduced power of Brisen and increase the power of Plants, which has an army. Devlan knows that. Knowing this, I thought he would have calculated that he could preserve his country and his life even if he eliminated Kalian.
Devlan doesn’t know how much Alan, who does not act as Calian’s teacher but sits at the head of the army, can do for Calian. Devlan will never understand what kind of personality Plantz actually has. Therefore, Devlan created a trap to eliminate Calian, put Chase on his hands, and extend his life. Kalian and Plantz were really caught up in it.
“I thought so. I guess not.”
I thought so at first.
However, there was something unclear.
A little different than before finding the villa, the two brothers had a proper conversation.
“If only one dies.”
“That’s right. If it was a trap that would allow my brother to survive without dying, it would have been right to act with that in mind.”
Kalian said this and lowered his eyes for a moment.
Calian gathered his thoughts by tapping the black blanket on his legs with his fingertips and opened his mouth again.
“Actually, I was a little puzzled. Why did they bother sending Zeon’s warriors and swordsmen separately? The fact that they used poison on me means that they definitely wanted me to die, so why did they send Zeon’s warriors separately? Why did Zeon’s warriors send them so that all the swordsmen would die? “I wonder if he wasn’t intervening.”
Because he was thirsty after speaking for a long time, Kalyan poured water from the cup that was placed next to the bed and drank it all. Although he didn’t know if it was okay to drink water, Plants frowned at his willingness to drink without even suspecting what was in the cup. Calian didn’t pay much attention to that appearance and just stopped breathing for a moment and then rested again.
“Even though my brother attacked first, I thought it was strange that the prosecutors tried to kill him right away. If they had expected it, they should have rushed to the end, but they treated the second prince, who was trying to join hands, as a card to be thrown away too easily. It was strange. I should have noticed at that time. Both you and I were short-thinking.”
There was no time to think about anything else because they barely mentioned the color of peas and fainted, but for now, Kalian blamed their own carelessness.
Calian looked at the chandelier on the ceiling and out the window for a while, then opened his mouth.
“Xeon. What do you think?”
“I think Devlan was also tricked.”
“It seems true that Xeon’s behavior is a variable.”
“maybe.”
Calian nodded and opened his mouth, but then stopped breathing for a moment and opened his mouth.
“When the warriors appeared on the beach, the knight who was talking to you didn’t show any reaction, so what Devlan prepared was probably… the four warriors of Zeon that he encountered first. And then he sent them to Brigitte Forest. I think these were all.”
“I don’t think Devlan knew how well my brother ignored me. I guess so.”
Calian chuckled as he was still treated like a puppy.
“It is true that in order to eliminate the inconvenience caused by my death, I must deal with Lord Siren first, so I would have sent members of Zeon to Bridget Forest as well. In fact, it would be good if both of them died, and even if they did not die, there would be a means of entrapping Brother Chase. “I think they thought it wouldn’t matter because it would work out.”
“…… second.”
“Yes. The swordsmen and two other Zeons targeted not only me, but my brother as well. They were not sent by Devlan. Judging by the fact that the warriors waited until all the swordsmen were dead, they are not entirely on the same side.”
Devlan set a trap to catch Chase.
They also set a trap to catch Kalyan.
But someone intervened.
“If two princes die side by side in this land, it is Devlan who loses the most.”
Even if Calian dies, it doesn’t really matter to Devlan, but Plantz shouldn’t die either.
Of course, the fact that the two brothers both died while fighting would provide an excuse. But if that happens, wouldn’t the force that would restrain Lemain’s movements in the Balkans disappear? If Plantz dies, Lemain will take control of Balkan, and a war must be started to keep Briesen on guard. The situation is completely reversed.
Plantz’s eyes softened as he recalled the worries about war that came to mind when the sword was flying at him.
“Because there will really be war.”
Knock knock knock.
Calian’s fingertips made a small sound.
“There is no trust.”
“That’s right. I don’t know how they manipulated Zeon, but Devlan was also stabbed in the back.”
So who will benefit from the war between Kairis and Secretia?
“When war breaks out, the power of the nobles becomes stronger.”
Plantz nodded.
“If a war breaks out between Kairis and Secretia, the ones who benefit will be the rest of the countries.”
A war wanted by the nobles of Secretia on the inside and the two countries on the outside, excluding the two countries. It means that someone wants that war.
“Even if Zeon is spread all over the continent, there must be a leader, and the biggest thing is that he wanted war and orchestrated this incident by placating the nobles here. On one hand, he pretended to join hands with Devlan. On the other, he fell for the appeasement. By attracting the nobles. But it looks like the plan has failed… What should we do about this…”
It is true that we fell into Devlan’s trap.
Devlan also almost fell into the trap of Zeon and the nobles. The reason Devlan didn’t fall into the trap was purely because Calian survived.
So, Calian is caught in Devlan’s trap and Devlan is caught in Zeon’s trap.
“That’s fun.”
Knock knock knock.
“Are Kyrie and the knights still at the palace?”
“I heard you were told to keep an eye on Marquis Lin.”
As Plantz said that, his eyes briefly looked outside the Silent Screen.
“Isn’t that why you ordered your brother’s new subordinate to secretly bring Devlan in?”
Kalian went out of the palace expecting to be attacked. Even though it wasn’t accurate, I expected that there would be some among the nobles who had different feelings.
I never thought about moving Zeon, but if nobles gather together, who will be at the center? After thinking about it, I first entrusted the surveillance to Marquis Lin. Because he is closest to Chase, the person who can best understand Chase’s situation is Marquis Lin. Even though you’re in prison, that doesn’t mean your ears and mouth are closed.
And, just in case, Marquis Lin was doing something stupid, he sent Eila.
“Hey, you two princes. If you captured someone, you should treat them well. Why are you talking so long?”
Arianne, who noticed that Calian and Plantz were looking at her, asked a question out loud. Kalian, seeing that, burst out laughing and then held his breath again.
“You are the most carefree hostage in the world.”
If Calian could not return to the palace, Aela easily carried out her first order to capture Arianne and bring her to him. Marquis Lin’s daughter, who had been captured, pointed to her boat.
Rather than saying hello to an old friend I don’t remember, I wanted to solve my hunger first rather than the situation where my mother is suspected of being behind this incident.
“Please come back after eating. If I can get in touch with Brother Chase…”
Calian, who was saying this, closed his mouth.
Plantz saw the same thing.
– Prince Calian. Are you sure this is correct?
A ring that shines as if it has been waiting for you.
It wasn’t Chase’s voice that came through.
– …… Talk about it. Lord Castrin.
Calian held his breath again.
* * *
Sweet on the outside and savory on the inside.
Cover well-roasted almonds with a thin layer of chocolate and repeat hardening. A piece of almond the size of a fingernail is coated with chocolate several times until it becomes the size of a small finger. Doing so creates sweet, savory chocolate that is crunchy and soft without damaging the hardness of the almonds.
“The chef’s skills have improved.”
I slowly chewed the almond chocolate, which could have been covered with several layers of bitter chocolate, but was made by covering it with soft chocolate filled with milk and sugar. And Alan, who swallowed all the almond pieces in his mouth with coffee full of milk foam and cinnamon, looked quite happy.
LeMaine, who still didn’t understand why he was eating something so sweet, thought it would be okay to eat some grapefruit jelly or something, and put down a bundle of papers in front of Alan. Afterwards, he praised someone else instead of the chef, who had been diligently improving his skills in making sweets since Alan arrived.
“The Balkans are returning to normal faster than expected. I thought there might be confusion due to the sudden increase in size.”
“You were worried for no reason.”
“I thought it would be difficult to improve the relationship between the Wizards and the Knights.”
“Did the person who thought of gathering wizards to create an army have such prejudice?”
“I heard that their personalities are very different.”
Alan’s fingers pointed towards the almond chocolate he had been eating just moments ago.
“If you put the one that melts and disappears and the one that is extremely hard together, they taste so good. Is there any difference if they are humans?”
Alan, who said this, took another sip of coffee and then opened his mouth.
“Even those who live in the royal carriage thinking about raising ducklings are not of bad nature. There is no reason why such wizards and knights raised by someone who thinks of himself as a rye cookie cannot get along well.”
Balkan wizards are skilled in fighting.
They were not foolish people who would stand there as if nailed to one spot and try to cast spells only to be cut down by the knight’s sword.
If you put one wizard and one knight together, the wizard would have the upper hand in more than nine cases out of ten. Count Eisen Eifrin never envied the difference. Of course, there would be differences in individual power, but I also knew that knights were not inferior in terms of mobility and numbers. In this way, knights raised by being taught the exact difference between wizards and knights came to Balkan. The existing knights of Briseen had their minds improved under the hands of Plantz.
So there is no reason why they can’t get along with each other.
“You don’t have to worry, just keep watching. Since it has become a worthy army, it will grow well in the future.”
Are you worried for no reason when you don’t even know who is responsible for the success of the Balkans? Your Majesty doesn’t seem to have the ability to worry, so I guess you’ll just watch it quietly. I expected something like this to come out, but he came to visit me in the morning, grabbed some chocolate, ate it, and accepted my words without a single bitter word.
LeMaine looked at Alan for a moment because it was strange again, then took off the glasses he was wearing, put them down, and opened his mouth.
“I guess something happened again.”
“Do you see it that way?”
“You are a great person who treats me differently every time something happens to the three princes. There must be a reason why you speak so sweetly.”
Alan smiled and continued.
“I’m glad to see that you don’t bow down like a cow even though you sent two of your children to another country.”
“…What do you need?”
“It’s all about your highness.”
“I thought it was always there. Maybe it was needed again.”
“Something I need again has come up.”
“Let’s talk.”
“Give all authority in the Balkans to Prince Planz. The authority to lead Prince Planz is in your hands.”
Originally, Alan had the authority to move the Balkan Wizards and Knights, as well as the authority to command the two vice-corps commanders. He was saying that he would hand it over to the 2nd Prince and the King of Kairis, who are now in Secretia.
“The Duke will be arriving soon to have a quick chat with my fiancé’s father. He offers to introduce the distinguished guests to the mansion as well, so instead of refusing, he asks them to stay at the palace for a few days and learn about the Balkan knights’ swordsmanship.”
I didn’t know who was staying at Siegfried’s mansion. So, of course I knew that the distinguished guest staying at the duke’s residence was not Lirie Brisen.
Siona Hill.
The situation was such that the sword master, who was said to be at a similar level to Calian, should be kept in the palace, and the position of commander of the Balkan corps should be handed over to Plantz, and Lemain should have the authority to move Plantz himself.
Lemain, who was deep in thought while gently pressing his forehead, asked a question instead of answering.
“I relieved Hertz of his position as Vice Commander. Are you asking me to do the same?”
“I’m talking about dismissal. Those guys over there will do their job even if the corps commander is gone for a while, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to trust them.”
“Is it a temporary dismissal or a permanent dismissal?”
“If Secretia’s leadership had to change, it would mean permanent dismissal. That’s not what I want.”
“…Is there a problem with the princes’ safety?”
“That’s right.”
“Then what is needed is war, not your dismissal.”
“If your Majesty starts a war with Secretia, your son will never be able to see you again. You will just be content with not seeing him through the winter.”
After answering this, Alan checked the time and opened his mouth again.
“And I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Let’s talk.”
“How about lowering the crown prince’s position now?”
Lemain took a deep breath.
* * *
He wore a white shirt.
He wore a black jacket with a neck collar that covered half of his neck and black pants. After looking at the golden embroidered coat of arms of Kairis for a moment, I put on a long coat with golden buttons. And he wore a red cloak with black fur decoration.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
The ones who welcomed Calian inside the palace were the knights of Kairis and Kyrie, who had been staying in the palace.
Planz, who was no less than Calian with a pale complexion, returned to the palace of Secretia. After assessing the situation and thinking about taking a moment to calm down, I decided to come first.
“are you okay.”
Euria and Rachel were still staying within the Wizards’ Association, and Arsene remained in the villa with Arianne. It was a request from Chase to temporarily protect Arianne, who was being held hostage.
“…Brother Chase.”
“He’s inside.”
“Mother.”
There was no answer to the subsequent questions.
Calian nodded quietly and stepped into the palace.
At the same time, Secretia’s knights swarmed in and surrounded Kalian, Planz Kyrie, and the knights of Kyris who stood beside them as if they were guarding them.
“The movement of seditious forces within the royal palace has been confirmed, so this is Your Highness’s order to take the Prince of Kairis and his party to a safer place.”
“… I don’t think this is an action to keep you safe.”
“I’m sorry, Prince Calian. I’ll take you straight to the annex.”
Calian’s eyes narrowed.
When Kalian opened his mouth to say something.
– Ugh!
A huge movement of magical energy was felt in front of the palace.
A look of joy flashed through Calian’s eyes, and Plantz took a step back.
Then, a cluster of red lights gathered in the empty air, creating the shape of a person.
“Master.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Prince Calian.”
Alan, wrapped in a red robe, walked quietly towards me.
“And…”
Allen greeted with a soft smile, and his eyes turned to Plantz.
“Your Majesty the Crown Prince.”
