Chapter 78. If you entered my territory (5),
Kirie would have already been outside the carriage.
After some time, Bern also came out. It wasn’t just a carriage, it went far away, breaking free from the defense shield.
Since Bern had something to say, Kirie postponed her promise to tell Relic about hearing Plantz’s voice. I ended up standing guard in front of a carriage without Bern, but he didn’t even leave his seat. So no one dared to look inside the carriage.
Thanks to this, in the carriage where Kiri and Bern were gone, there was an air flowing that was as thick and heavy as Bern’s life, but it could not be called awkwardness or tension, it just made people feel very uncomfortable.
To put it simply,
“… I’ll get out of the way.”
“It is done.”
It means that Randel and Planz are alone.
It would have been better for them to just live together without worrying about each other, but they both have half of Lemain’s blood flowing through them. If they weren’t the king’s children, it would have been better to just live as if they didn’t exist, but because they are of precious blood, they had to live as residents of the same building until they turned 20. If there were just two brothers, it would be better to live as if they were each other’s only child, but they both ended up having the same person as their youngest brother.
Although they are more than enemies, they are brothers, and no matter what, they should be brothers in the end. The brothers were sitting silently in a dark space where they could not even hear the sound of a clock.
“I know you’re uncomfortable.”
“You’re talking like you’re not.”
“He’s no better than his brother.”
In any case, if you were going to make a carriage with a different size on the outside and inside, shouldn’t you have made walls and doors instead of just the bed? It’s a lightweight carriage so you don’t have to worry about its weight, but there’s a bathroom and toilet with walls and doors inside the carriage, so they could have added at least one more wall.
It is as disappointing as it is a thoughtful blessing.
If this is the case, will I have to have the carriage repaired the next time I go?
Plantz, who had no way of knowing that the great ancestor who had lived through the ages was thinking about something like this, folded his huge wings that had covered the sky of Kairisis, and Serenti was embracing the sleeping egg, and stretched out his arms.
– Cry!
And I picked up Calian’s watch that was lying on the nightstand. I glanced at it, and since there was no Relic there, I threw aside the crumpled sheet that was covering my knees.
It’s about to go out.
Rather than lying on a carefully carved mahogany bed covered in soft duck down sheets in a temperature-regulating room, I thought it would be better to sleep in a sleeping bag roughly placed next to a campfire and smell the dirt and grass.
– Pingle…….
But just because it has been detoxified doesn’t mean that the inside of the poison has completely healed. Even if the inside is completely healed, the blood that has been shed has not been replenished, so it feels like the floor and ceiling are fighting for position. I couldn’t help but sit down on the bed and close my eyes.
It looks like Kirie is outside. Should I ask for help for a moment? Or should I tell them to call Reric? Planz, who slowly opened his eyes, thought about this and grabbed the bedpost. This is because I thought that it would not look good to outsiders for someone who couldn’t even go out alone to avoid the place and even receive support.
When the rustling sound was made again, Randel, who was sitting with his back to the bed, slightly turned his head. A voice as low as Plants was heard.
“It’s not that I’m being stubborn”
or “I’m just like my mother. I’m trying to get out because I’m suffocating.”
I cut him off and responded.
It was obvious what would be said anyway, but I wasn’t in a generous enough state to quietly listen to what I didn’t want to hear.
“… That’s what I was telling you to do when the time comes.”
But Randel added a truncated statement.
Plantz, who misunderstood what he was trying to say and felt like he had sharpened the blade on his own, kept his mouth shut. Meanwhile, the sound of clothes rubbing against Randel was heard. It was the sound of a body getting up from the sofa where it had been sitting motionlessly.
“If you’re not comfortable, there’s no difference between you and me, so I’ll leave.”
Randel turned his head to look at Plantz and said this. And without opening his mouth any further, he moved towards the door. Randel was the same because it was better to spend the night outside than to be together.
Plantz, who had no intention of apologizing for cutting off his words and getting irritated because he had been cut off so many times and had to vent his anger, looked at Randel. And after watching Randel’s hand directly touch the carriage door, he opened his mouth.
“I will pay you back.”
“The treatment fee has already been paid to my youngest child.”
“Leave it. I will pay.”
“It is done.”
They both knew that they couldn’t bite the white rose they had already received, nor could they bend Calian’s back, which had already bowed down. Nevertheless, there was a brief war of nerves between the guy who said I would pay it back and the guy who said I wouldn’t pay it back.
Soon Randel turned his head. Then he looked down at his own flesh and blood with eyes full of deep, flowless water and asked.
“It wasn’t you who healed me, so why do you want to pay for it?”
It was Kallian who saved Plants and fixed it, so he received the price from Kallian, so why did he say he would pay the price instead?
“Since you only healed me, I will pay you back.”
So I answered.
He said he only survived and couldn’t cure Kalian.
The deep abyss reflected on Planz’s words.
Plantz, who was quietly facing the scene, opened his mouth.
“Thank you.”
Finally, Kalyan had to repay the treatment fee he had already paid.
Randel, who had been looking at Planz without another word, turned his head. I moved my hand and opened the carriage door, which was as quiet as the 5th floor of Chermil Palace.
“I get it.”
I didn’t refuse the new treatment fee and went out.
Plantz, left alone in the quiet carriage, took his hand off the bedpost. Then, I pushed my legs back into the sheets and rested my head on the head of the bed. After that, he quietly closed his eyes and slightly put pressure on the hand that was holding his brother’s pocket watch.
– Click.
– Tick tock tick tock.
I quietly listened to that sound.
A person who went back in time and fell into a nightmare. This is something that can’t be fixed by giving just a few minutes of time. I began to wait for my younger brother, not knowing what I could do to fix him.
– Tick tock tick tock.
Time passes.
The time that Randel could not stop or turn back by what he had ignored, the time that did not change the flow just by Plantz’s efforts alone, and so in the end, the time that took one person from two and gave one back passed.
When will I come back?
‘I’ll be back before I disappear.’
no.
I said I would come back, so I will come back. I’m not the kind of person who can’t keep his word like that, so he’ll come.
I’ll come back again.
I remember what I heard outside the window and when I come back, I don’t want to be late this time. I don’t know the method yet, but I don’t want to miss the opportunity. So that I don’t have to experience losing it forever again.
– Tick tock tick tock.
I quietly listened to the sound, somehow dispelling the drowsiness that came with it. I held on to the watch that I had never kept close to me because my brain was prone to counting the infinite number of movements of the second hand.
‘It wasn’t an accident. ‘Not for me.’
Just as I was enduring the monotonous sound of the clock, which was connected to a brief sensation transmitted through my hands and a light sensation transmitted through my ears.
– ……Knock knock.
The knocking sound started very quietly and hesitantly, but gradually grew louder.
A knocking sound that shouldn’t be heard in a place like this.
It always starts carefully, each time tapping at a different volume, and ending with a hesitant couple of taps. Sometimes it makes four loud sounds, the next day it makes three sounds, and then on another day, it only makes one sound. Even if you think about it with a good head, it makes the same sound. A knocking sound that is difficult to match by number of days.
There was only one person who would make a sound that was completely different from what most other people made, both in sound and frequency. He was a person who had no business knocking here.
Therefore, Plantz, who was buried in the constant sound of the clock and wondered for a moment whether he was in a dream without realizing it, opened his eyes. And I quickly opened my mouth to the outside, where no other words could be heard.
“come in.”
– Sweet.
The door opened as if waiting for those words to be heard.
Round shoes with shiny white ribbons stepped up the steps of the carriage and entered. There was black dirt on the inside of the shoe. It must have been from the stirrup of a horse with the most precious name in the world.
– Shall we quit Balkan and follow the good crown prince and the kind prince? No matter how many times I tell him to be careful, he gets hurt again and again and again.
The smell of grass outside the carriage was palpable.
Just like the sound of wind rustling through young, immature leaves, the sound of fingers brushing against each other also smelled like grass. It smelled like grass, not fragrance.
I was thinking about removing the dirt from those shoes.
I couldn’t handle magic enough to pick just one small thing and erase it, so I stopped. Then, I was worried that it might erase the smell of the grass, so I just did it.
“Still, I’m a fiancé. Don’t worry, let’s get married first.”
Plantz, who now knew that those words were a favor and had learned Kyrie’s teachings not to be suspicious any more, answered like this. For a moment, I pretended not to notice that Hina’s bright-eared brother was still standing outside the carriage. I pretended not to notice the speculation that appeared and disappeared in an instant.
“How did you get here?”
– It’s sturdy.
Hina, who answered with nothing at all sincere, quickly took off the large robe she had put on. He roughly placed it on the sofa where Randel had been sitting a moment ago and walked over to the bed where Plantz was sitting.
– They scold me because I worry. I’m worried not because he’s my fiancé, but because he’s me.
“okay.”
– Why does someone who can’t even fight always get hurt in front of me?
“……Even you.”
I am the vice commander.
Like the crazy blue-haired wizard, I also have to be at the front. It’s not like you didn’t see me fighting, so why are you doing this?
Hina’s words were reflected again in her light green eyes, which were full of things to say.
– And why are you sitting instead of lying down? I would feel dizzy.
“I hope you sleep well.”
– I need to sleep because it hurts.
“… I’m afraid it will hurt more after I sleep.”
Hina sighed after hearing this.
Then, he took out the black pocket watch that seemed to be locked in Plantz’s hand and returned it to the nightstand. Instead, he took out a white bead and placed it back in his hand. Instead of the sound of the clock, which sounded like a whale’s cry, Hina’s voice, like strawberry ice cream, came into my head.
– I’ll fix it so you won’t feel any pain when you wake up, so just sleep.
Mana gathers.
Like the water scales scattered like stars on the moon-lit sea, like the rays of a lake that have caught all the sunlight that has just risen, golden, sparkling mana gathered around Hina. It seemed like that.
Originally, I could only see a bunch of light flowing from my hand, but after learning the magic, I could even see the mana gathering. Wizards who used the magic already in their hearts didn’t have anything like that, but not Hina. Because it was Hina who always collected the mana around her and used it to generate healing power.
Plantz, who had been looking at the glitter that seemed to have fallen while collecting the finest parts of sunlight and moonlight, opened his mouth.
“thank you.”
After the overwhelming smell of grass, the smell of tangerines lingered.
A servant who cared so much for a prince who loved tangerines had spent his own money to obtain a precious scent. I briefly pretended to be that prince and used the flantz that went to see Rashid. So, I said that because I was glad to see the unfamiliar situation where the scent permeated the tips of Hina’s hair.
– It was difficult for me because there were a lot of people injured this time. So, the treatment I received today will not be included in the cost of the clothes I bought you last time.
“Then how will I repay you?”
– Even if I tell you to repay by not getting hurt again, I don’t think he will keep it.
“huh.”
– I’ll think about it. It will be expensive.
“okay.”
After the pain-relieving magic disappeared, I felt like my stomach, which had been throbbing all along, was slowly getting better. Plantz, who was looking down at the light that would be difficult to express his comfort with any words, opened his mouth.
“The cats.”
– I was going to leave it at Chermil Palace, but since there are no people there, I’m not going to go there.
I didn’t know cats liked people so much.
I had no idea that so much work went into cats.
As I nodded with that thought in mind, Hina continued speaking.
– The Wilhelm Museum is very busy, and Merlin is also helping the pharmacists at the Wilhelm Museum. Lady Lin said that Lord Grace had returned and went out to meet him. So I brought him to Arpia Palace.
“…… where.”
– His Majesty said he would look after me until I return. Lucy doesn’t seem to like you very much, but Anne is having fun. Then, when I get bored, I’ll go to Commander Manasil, so don’t worry.
It’s not a joke, I really left it to Lemain.
A cat’s paw stamp was now stamped on the king’s approval documents.
Plantz, who was thinking about it, laughed.
* * *
There was chaos.
Fortunately, Hina and Demirea arrived safely, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t send them back right away. So I said that I would spend the night in the forest and see him off after daylight.
Then there was an uproar.
– Rumble!
No matter what was expected, items to build a simple barracks came pouring out of the magicians’ pockets, which were beyond imagination. For those wondering why on earth they were carrying things like that, they had brought out everything such as small magic lanterns that sparkled in all kinds of colors, beads and musical instruments that played several songs, as well as a ball the size of a human head and a huge fishing rod.
This is because wizards whose daily routine was to sleep outside with a hammock or buried in a sleeping bag, so the materials for building a barracks were stored in the deepest part of their pockets.
There is only one reason why such wizards bother to build barracks.
This is because we couldn’t have our precious healer, the Duke who brought the healer safely, and the taciturn eldest prince, who had come outside earlier and was sitting on the chair provided by Den, drinking tea without saying a word, all together.
After setting up the barracks by continuously cleaning the already clean tent since it wasn’t being used, I chose the warmest items out of the numerous bedding and spread them inside. When I was asked if anyone had any scented candles, I picked the best ones out of all the scented candles that were pouring out and put them inside the barracks.
I glanced at the guys making such a fuss and then turned my head.
“Hina, please make sure she doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Demirea too.”
“all right.”
After telling Kirie, who didn’t care what I heard, to leave the place, I entered the carriage. I thought to myself that I was lucky that my eyes weren’t swollen thanks to Hina.
And even after Hina’s treatment was over, I ambled over to Plants, who was sitting there without even lying down or falling asleep.
The peas, which looked like they had been soaked in water, boiled, pickled, and dried for a while in the sun, looked at me without saying a word and held out their hands.
“Take it. Again.”
After Hina left, he picked up the watch and handed it over. I watched it quietly and accepted it.
– Tick tock tick tock.
– Click.
– …….
If this continues, the watch is fine, but only the crown is broken.
I pushed away those empty thoughts and opened my mouth.
“……I’ve met you before.”
Instead of being the whale from a nightmare who had never met Plants other than Planz’s younger brother, he opened his mouth and returned to being the person who sat in the Heisia Palace and boasted about seeing the Great Desert Dog.
However, Plantz, who knew that this was not an announcement of what happened at Heisia Palace, answered.
“When I gave you Cinasta.”
“No. Before that. A little while before that. In fact, I think we met at Kairisis’ auction house not just a little while ago, but a long time ago, but I don’t know. I couldn’t see you, and only you saw me. I think that was probably the case. Anyway, I think you gave me Sinastar. “I met you a little while ago.”
“then when.”
“Not long after Kyrie died.”
There was the sound of Plantz quietly taking a breath.
Bern shook his head as if he didn’t say it out of resentment and continued.
“I thought that in Kairis, they only made arrows and not swords with iron. It was spectacular to see arrows raining down like that, but it wasn’t fun. I was too busy throwing them away and avoiding them.”
A voice that sounded like the anchor line of a ship after a long voyage being blown by the wind on land continued to stutter in time.
“At that time, I had no arms, and some guy was holding onto my sword and died. Then, just in time, arrows came pouring down again. I didn’t have much Auror left, my strength was gone, and my arm was sore, so I thought that was the end. That’s what I thought. “Kyrie rushed in.”
“…… okay.”
“Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been me who met you back then, but Kirie. Kirie would have died instead of me.”
Plantz nodded.
“That’s why I hate arrows flying. A lot.”
“I did not know.”
“I’m asking you to be aware. I’m not blaming you.”
“okay.”
“I don’t like it when someone jumps in front of me to protect me. Most of the people who rushed at me like that were trying to kill me, not to save me. But there was only one person who jumped in to save me, and that person happened to be the one I cared about the most. “He died because of that. That’s why I hate him. I’m afraid that if the person I’m trying to save jumps in front of me, he’ll die.”
“…… that.”
Planz, who was about to answer, closed his mouth.
Instead, Bern opened his mouth.
“Anyway, you came not long after Kirie died. I thought you would kill me, but you did that to me. I will save your life, so go.”
Slurping.
Bern, who sat at the foot of the bed where Plantz was sitting, continued.
“A bastard who has been killing everyone up until now knows what it means to save someone and says that. I was wondering why a bastard who seems to have never lived would say something about saving someone. I did that. I heard a dog barking somewhere.”
One corner of Planz’s mouth rose slightly.
“It’s the opposite.”
“It’s the opposite. You said you would save me, and I said I would bark. But.”
– …… Crank.
I looked at the pocket watch in my hand a few times.
Looking at the Kairis emblem engraved behind it. I looked at my seal engraved in front of it. I looked at the engraving as if to remind me not to forget that time has moved and I am now a different person.
I opened my mouth again.
“You said that to your brother. You want to live. I’ve heard that a lot. Several times a day. That’s probably the thing I’ve heard the most in my life. But I never once said I knew. So that’s what I said to your younger brother.”
“… I know. Now, I too. How did I hear that?”
“okay.”
Bern, who was nodding, looked at Plantz.
“Your brother had a nightmare. The person who was supposed to wake him up didn’t wake up, so he turned into a snake for a moment. So I forgot.”
– Squeak.
“I thought you were the only one who knew what it was like to lose someone. I forgot for a moment that you knew that too, so I didn’t hear you.”
– Squeak.
“I won’t.”
Nod.
“Whether you say ‘hey’, your sister, or me. It’s okay, just call me. If you do, I’ll wake up. Even if it happens again.”
Nod.
“Sorry.”
Nod.
“Let’s eat. I’m hungry.”
– Click.
– Tick tock tick tock.
“…Speak informally.”
– Tick tock tick tock.
