Chapter 80. Meow (3)
I happened to intercept the first request.
“Relic.”
It was in the morning, a few hours before Calian showed off his fancy clothes and performed his specialty in front of the nobles of Whitlin.
“Your Majesty.”
“I have a favor to ask you.”
It was Plantz who decided to call Relic and ask him for various things. But somehow, Kalian ended up taking over that role. Of course, neither Calian nor Reric knew that Planz had thought that way.
“Please… Yes, my Majesty. Please tell me.”
After finishing their early morning meal, Kalian and Planz disguised themselves again for some reason. Therefore, Kalian continued to imitate Planz even after returning to the crown prince’s room. As if he had never revealed his disguise to Navia and Freyr.
Thanks to this, Reric, who was momentarily agitated by the word ‘please’ given through Plantz’s face and tone, quickly answered, remembering that the person in front of him was not the real Plantz. Calian reasonably guessed why Relic was reacting this way, but opened his mouth without showing any sign of it.
“What ‘my brother’ wore during Queen Freya’s memorial service.”
“Are you talking about Prince Calian’s outfit?”
“Okay. Do you remember?”
The clothes Calian wore at Freya’s memorial service.
It refers to a robe that reminded me of Freya’s dress. A white shirt full of pearl-colored frills, an apricot-colored jacket, white pants, and even a cape decorated with red jewels. How can we forget the clothes that instantly brought Freya back from the dead in front of the eyes of countless nobles?
“Yes, my Majesty. It is taken from Queen Freya’s dress in the portrait. I remember it too.”
“I need clothes similar to those. Except the cape.”
At the same time as he said that, sparks fell on Relic’s feet.
I turned over the wizard’s bag and frantically searched through the fifty or so clothes I had prepared for the fifteen-day inspection schedule. At least there were fewer of them than Calian’s clothes that Merlin had given to Jan, but that didn’t mean it was easy to look through them all. Still, I did find an apricot-colored jacket and white pants among them.
However, there were clothes that were missing.
It was a shirt with lots of frills.
Unless it was a formal attire, it wasn’t a planz to wear cumbersome clothes with frills.
“I went to Jan…”
“Nothing. There.”
“Then at least to Den”
“No.”
Calian stopped Reric, who was overflowing with passion.
No matter how much he is called Kallian, he is still a Planz wearing Randel’s clothes. Isn’t it obvious that both Landel and Planz would be equally disgusted? I was quite curious about the reactions, but I put it off until later.
“Don’t borrow it.”
The shirt in question that Kalyan wore at the memorial service. Calian, who recalled the enormous frills that seemed to have been created out of the wishes of Shatin and Merlin, who were in charge of costumes, to add more rose petals than all of them, answered firmly.
“You don’t need frills. You don’t have to follow that.”
okay.
No need for frills.
Actually, it’s all because of Arianne.
When Arianne was younger, she was taller and stronger than Verne or Chase. Arianne brought a dress with enormous decorations that I don’t know where she got it from, and quickly put it on Bern. I also braided my hair. In addition, they tied a ribbon as big as Bern’s head. After decorating it in his own way, he went out dragging Verne with him to brag to Louise.
Then we ran into each other.
Chase.
The expression Chase made then was one he had made only once in his long life.
‘Yeah… it suits you… yes.’
The expression on his face that says he saw something he couldn’t see.
I still can’t forget it.
… So, the frills are fine.
Anyway, it was the clothes I found and wore after all the fuss.
Just like during the Chuseok Ceremony, it was clothes that would remind us of Freya, but the intention behind wearing them was completely different. That day he wore it to let Brisen know that he was Freya’s son, but today it was the opposite.
I don’t know why people in Whitlin follow Freya so much. We don’t know what kind of person Freya was in Brigid’s Forest. However, Calian clearly felt that way. They have just been waiting for the day when they would meet Freya’s son, not Calian.
‘Are you following Kalyan? Or is he Freya’s son?’
That’s why he wore those clothes and appeared in front of nobles. They showed Freya, whom they had longed for so much. He told me to choose one of the two.
Are you looking for Kalyan?
Do you want the son of the dead Freya?
Should we see Randel and Planz?
Will we see the poisoned son of Aisha and the poisoned son of Silike?
“I ask you whether you want to follow me or remain as my mother’s shadow. I don’t know.”
“Prince. After you take that form away….”
The look in the eyes, the expression, and the mood.
Everything about them resembles Freya.
Calian never saw Freyja, but the nobles of Whitlin thought so. No matter how thin Calian’s voice was, it could never be the same as Freya’s, but everyone recognized that voice and replaced it with Freya’s. Just as Alan was mistaken when he encountered the fake Ronil.
“Is this a cruel prank? Is my trick cruel?”
Freya, a red-eyed woman with long bright red hair, asked that question.
The nobles of Whitlin kept their mouths shut.
Freyr, facing his dead brother, closed his eyes for a moment.
“That’s right. Please take it away.”
“why.”
‘Freyja’ laughs.
Calian knew it was a cruel joke. I didn’t know that it was a cruel trick. Calian also knew that they were doing the same thing as those who sent such shadows to Ronil to Allen and to Chase Calian.
But they were the ones who started it first.
They are the ones who put Freyja on Calian and Silike on Plantz.
“I know it is cruel and harsh. Why did you send such malice towards ‘me’ who was at dinner yesterday? Why can’t I recognize who was in it? If it had been the nobles of Kairisis, I am sure they would have recognized it before long.”
No matter how much we point fingers at Planz and call him Brisen’s wolf cub, it’s somehow strange that Plantz looks more like a silique than a silique. It is said that his actions of gaining momentum and putting pressure on the crowd resemble Kalyan. Those who saw Calian and Planz in Kairisis would certainly have thought that and felt strange.
They were so different that even Randel had different thoughts, so there was no way he would have recognized them if he had seen them even once. Nevertheless, none of the nobles here recognized him.
“What we didn’t know was the prince.”
“Well, it’s natural that you don’t recognize me.”
It’s natural.
“Because he has never visited me in person to check on me.”
Because I just admired it and didn’t look at it.
I sent money to Kalyan. He sent medicine and gifts. I took care of it regularly, but I didn’t know how Calian was doing. Never came to visit. Even the baby elephant who met Kalyan for the first time did not know the child’s dryness, which he recognized at a glance. Calian sent him congratulatory money for taking the sword path, but he didn’t even think it was strange. They were just happy about something that even Devlan had doubts about.
Perhaps Lemain prevented them from visiting the capital?
no. Lemain is not that type of person.
Did Silike stop it?
no. Silike didn’t even care about them. They must have known very well that their ‘support’ would not be of any help to Calian. If he had come to Calian several times in Whitlin to say hello and show interest before he tried to stop them, he was not an idle person who would have prevented them from coming from the beginning.
So they themselves were not interested.
“Queen Freya’s son. That was the only thing that mattered.”
To them, it didn’t matter who Calian and Plantz actually were.
Freyr definitely said that. Regardless of whether they saw Silike in person or not, everyone saw Silike in ‘Planz’. Didn’t he create an imaginary silique and put that mask on Plantz at will?
Just as Freyja was placed on Calian, who was unable to resemble Freya.
“So, you are complaining that it is harsh and cruel to bring out the person you wanted to see so much and show it to them with your own hands. How selfish of you to be so…”
So I answered.
I am only Freya’s son.
If only Planz was Silike’s son.
If you want to see it that way.
“How. You look just like Danu.”
You are Danu’s bastards who cannot escape.
It was returned to Freya’s face.
Just as Freyja, who was abandoned by Danu, vomits in disgust at the children who were neglected by Danu. As if he was shackling me and whispering.
I just can’t stand it anymore.
* * *
– What was my brother thinking when he wore those clothes?
– I met some nobles at the luncheon and I need to fix something.
– Are you saying you are changing your mind about attacking me?
– no. Anyway, I won’t raise a knife against you right now.
– You’re making a joke.
– It is true that Freyr tried to protect his brother in advance because he was afraid that other nobles would try to harm him. Elves may not be able to lie, but when I saw it, it wasn’t a lie.
– however.
– Even if Freyr hadn’t stepped forward, there really wouldn’t have been an accident today. If they were really reckless enough to raise a sword against the crown prince, or short-thinking like Evan or Gray, they wouldn’t have been able to remain calm even when faced with the brother I made at dinner.
– Then that’s it.
– What are you saying happened?
– Just like you said, you won’t have the heart to take out the knife anymore. So, I guess I can live here well now, but what are you going to fix?
– They are not looking at me and my brother properly right now. Even though they aren’t people who can’t think. If you truly resemble Silike, His Majesty would not have given you the title of crown prince, and if that were the case, then there is no way I would have gotten hurt fighting a harpy with you behind my back, and there is no way Brother Randel would have asked you to bow your head in front of him. I’m not even thinking about anything.
– know.
– yes. They are just supporting Queen Freyja’s son and not understanding that former queen Aisha’s son is supporting Silike’s son, so they are just rejecting Silike’s son. Without even thinking about any other facts.
– so.
– That’s why. Nevertheless, these guys know how to think enough not to pull out a knife. I need to fix it. I need to fix it.
– Is there any need to fix it?
– In the past, my brother. I wouldn’t have bothered to fix it either. Because it’s safer if there are no people who need to be fixed.
– what do you mean.
– I heard that I was probably the only one who walked out of the banquet hall after dinner yesterday.
– …… you.
– No matter what Rashid Brissen was trying to make up. It doesn’t matter whether they plan to attack in the future or not. The moment you didn’t bow your head in front of me with your brother’s face, I would have killed them all. Because I am that kind of person by nature.
– Kalyan.
– I won’t kill you. Now for that reason. Instead of quietly biting from behind like before, I now come out front and meow. Still, I can’t just sit there. I can’t even smile and accept loyalty given to me based on my superficial appearance. So, I will no longer ignore the hostility shown to me based on my brother’s facade.
– It doesn’t matter. Anyway, the nobles move for profit, and it’s not like I’m making them support me.
– So you’re going to endure it again? Just like they sent Gray Briesen away. The person who touched the teacup only after listening to Brother Randel last morning.
– …… okay.
– Isn’t it unfair?
– It’s unfair.
– By the way.
– He said he would listen. It sounds unfair.
– So.
– therefore. Be patient. Since the Rashid Briesen issue is more urgent, just listen to the complaints and leave it at that. Don’t touch it for no reason.
– Nope. I am.
– you. also.
– I guess it was okay to say it was a snake cub because it was a snake cub. You are not. That’s why I don’t like it.
– hey.
– …… I don’t like it. I am.
* * *
Embarrassment, injustice, humiliation, anger, grief, betrayal.
or.
shame.
The nobles looked at Calian with expressions that could be called anything. Those gazes were directed at Navia and Freyr. Freyr still had his eyes closed and Navia said nothing. Because of this, many of the eyes that were struggling with nowhere to go passed through Randel and reached Plantz.
And it was taken away.
Every time I turned my head towards Randel and Planz, I felt suffocated by the gaze of Freya who was following me, so I couldn’t dare to stare for a long time and looked away.
Calian moved his eyes. I stared at each of their faces, which were filled with various emotions that could not be captured. It wasn’t long before I used the power of the bracelet.
– Slurp.
The bright red hair turns dark.
Long black hair becomes shorter.
The face didn’t change much. However, the shoulders became a little wider and the waist a little thicker. Only now has Kalyan returned to his true form. And moved his hand.
– …… Tuk!
Something light was thrown into the middle of the round table.
The eyes of everyone who was having a hard time finding a place to go fell on it as if they had been waiting. And he had a face full of doubts.
A feather of light that starts off white and becomes redder toward the end. It was definitely a beautiful light, but the feathers were too large and sharp to be considered a bird’s. This is because something that was difficult to determine its identity caught my eye.
“It’s a harpy. We were attacked by a harpy just before we arrived here.”
A ripple as big as Freya came to visit them a little while ago.
Calian, who had thrown down the harpy’s feather in front of everyone as if he expected to see that level of agitation, looked around again. After scanning their faces one by one, I turned my head towards Freyr. And then he spoke in a low, subdued voice.
“It was me that the harpy targeted, and the person who was injured was not me, but my brother. It was Crown Prince Plants.”
Why did the weak crown prince, who had no one to trust, get injured alone while being guarded by two awesome wizards and a hundred powerful troops, leaving behind his sword master younger brother? How could I have gotten hurt alone? It wasn’t explained in detail.
I just kept quiet and gave them time to think. The son of Silike that they had pictured in their minds would not have been someone who got injured while participating in battle.
– Sweet.
But at that time, the sound of the teacup being put down rang quite loudly in the quiet banquet hall. Everyone’s eyes moved as naturally as when they saw the harpy’s feathers.
A person who kept his mouth shut without saying anything. It was Randel.
okay.
Randel is fine, isn’t he?
The reason Randel was fine was probably because he was in a very safe royal carriage. However, Plantz, who should have been protected more diligently than Randel, was injured. It wasn’t in the carriage.
That’s what I thought.
I created a flow to think like that. Landel.
– Ugh.
Kalian’s fingertips, which were touching the back of the chair, draw an arc again. Even though he didn’t tell Randel what he was going to do here and now, Cornbeard decided to help Calian well and did his job on his own.
“…… so I.”
Calian’s voice was heard.
The nobles who knew how to change their minds turned their heads because he was no longer Danu’s child, much less Brisen’s.
Planz’s face now comes into view again.
Because we had decided not to copy each other’s tastes in desserts, I can see the Crown Prince fixating his gaze on my plate, which only had two crackers missing. I finally think about the difference between ‘that crown prince’ who has been acting like he has the nobles’ breathing pipes in his palm all this time, and that crown prince who is just staring at my dessert plate.
Calian, who laid out Plantz’s true appearance in front of them without saying a single word, ‘Look at Plantz properly,’ continued.
“I would like to find out about the force that sent the harpies to me and seriously injured my brother, with all the help you give me. Isn’t that difficult?”
The answer was an unnecessary question.
After checking the faces of the nobles, Calian nodded and turned around. I walked around the banquet hall again and walked out without a sound.
We hear Plantz stand up and Randel leave his seat. I heard Jan hurrying after me.
“yarn.”
I called Jan like that.
“Yes, my prince.”
“The third seat next to Freyr across from me, and the second seat next to him. Do you know who those three are?”
In response to Calian’s question, Yan, who was briefly thinking back to the banquet seat from before, nodded.
“Yes. I remember.”
“Inform Kyrie. Tell her to investigate.”
“Are you related to the harpies?”
“maybe.”
Calian responded briefly and continued walking.
The three guys recognized the harpy’s feather.
Keeping those guys engraved in my memory.
