Chapter 80. Meow (5)
Scary Prince.
When using sign language, Hina called Randel that way. A caring prince, a good prince, just a good brother, an awkward vice-captain, a mature younger brother, etc. In general, Hina used nice words to call him, but it wasn’t just about Randel. Otherwise, they could have just called him Prince 1, but they called him a scary person.
However, there was someone who evaluated Randel quite differently from Hina.
“He is not a scary person, but someone who has survived somehow.”
At first, Randel was more scared than Planz, but it was Den who responded this way to Reric’s words that his thoughts were gradually changing. As a senior servant who had watched Randel for a long time from closer than anyone else, he said these words, so they were not nonsense.
– Squeak…
Listening to Den’s words, Yan holding the teapot tilted his arm. Then, I slowly poured tea little by little into the tea cup I had prepared.
I can feel a refreshing scent.
It was mint tea.
“You’re all similar.”
Jan, who was watching the tea water fill the third cup, reacted a little late. From Den’s perspective, Randel may be the most unfortunate, but from Reric’s perspective, wouldn’t Plantz be the same as Jan’s?
“Prince Randel is not the only one who has endured.”
I didn’t mean to start an argument because I felt uncomfortable. He said he was trying to think that Calian’s two brothers might have had their own circumstances, but he couldn’t just feel sorry for Randel from Jan’s perspective, so he left it out.
He couldn’t bear to gossip about the royal family, and he said to the servants who were not involved, ‘Still, Randel was not despised by the other brothers. I lived with my head held high. Did Randel ever think about how Calian felt after receiving the poisoned tea and how he changed so much overnight?’ I can’t express my resentment by saying things like that, but isn’t it a bit unfair to just nod my head?
“It’s not just our prince’s problem… I guess so.”
“It’s no different if he’s our prince.”
“yes.”
“yes.”
Den said, nodding obediently, and Jan added.
There is silence at the end of the short conversation.
“Ah… that…”
The person who became restless thanks to this was Relic.
After Calian and Plants left the lord’s castle, Randel, who was sitting as far away as possible from Vulkan’s vice-captain, who entered the room and greeted him and started making an image of his youngest brother, opened the book.
Yan, who promised himself that he would make tea that was delicious because it was delicious, not tea that was delicious because it was not tasty, entered the refreshment room of the Lord’s Castle with Relic. Then, I bumped into Den, who was cleaning up after pulling up to Randel’s room.
‘Do you all want to have a cup of tea together?’
‘Reric.’
‘… Of course.’
And like this.
Reric grabbed Den, who was about to pass by after exchanging a simple bow. Since this was a position created for him, there was no way Relic would feel at ease.
‘I prepared the tea…’
‘No. I will do it. ‘I came here to practice anyway.’
‘All right.’
To be honest, Reric had no idea that Jan and Den had such an awkward relationship. Jan and Den had never said this or that about each other.
In fact, before Relic came, Jan and Den had no interaction with each other at all. At least the senior servants couldn’t get along like that. It was the same as Plantz’s senior servant before Reric. Even when we saw each other at breakfast every morning, we barely exchanged a bow, and even when we saw each other in the tea room, we just took care of each other’s business without much conversation.
Rather than saying it can’t be helped, it’s something that should be done as a matter of course.
It is the senior servant who represents the position of the person serving and has the authority to interfere the most with the prince’s affairs. Isn’t it customary for Lemain to convey what he wants to say to Calian through Jan and to contact Yan first to meet Calian? Therefore, the relationship between princes must be the relationship between high-ranking servants.
Besides, eventually two of the three princes and their attendants will have to leave the palace. Even if you decide not to follow the prince you serve outside the capital or to the tower, you will not be able to remain inside the palace.
Princes in a relationship that is nothing more or less than rivals with a forced end approaching. It is unlikely that their senior servants would have been able to become friendly with each other.
“sorry.”
Reric, who felt regret and felt the rapidly freezing atmosphere, apologized.
“no.”
“Still… I guess I brought up something too heavy.”
“Don’t worry about it, just drink tea.”
“Yes, Thank you.”
The order of servants also follows the one served.
So now Relic’s position is the highest. Even though he was the last of the three to become a high-ranking servant, it didn’t matter that he was older than Jan but clearly younger than Den.
Even though Relic was acting in such a low-key manner, even in private, the other two servants did not make any comments. Although the other nobles didn’t know that the crown prince’s position would change someday, everyone in this place knew.
“As I said before, it won’t taste good. It hasn’t been a long time since I made my own tea.”
“It’s okay. Me too…”
Reric, who was saying this, stopped talking.
This is because I found Den, who took a sip of Yan’s tea without saying another word, then put it down and took his hand away, showing that he agreed with Yan’s words. With a face that seemed to indicate that Jan’s words were not humble.
That attitude is so similar to Randel.
Yan smiled without knowing and opened his mouth.
“The only person who enjoys my tea is our prince.”
I could tell at a glance that it was not a lie.
Jan also doesn’t touch his car twice.
So, on the day Jan left the car, Plantz left the car behind.
Relic finally found out about that fact.
In the meantime, when I drank tea with Jan, Rerick mostly brewed the tea. Sometimes, the tea that Yan served was made from fruit syrup rather than tea leaves or flower petals. In particular, we didn’t know about tea leaves because it didn’t require any technology.
“Then why did you
make the tea yourself?” Reric, who was trying to take another sip of the tea that had a nice scent but couldn’t tell if it was bitter or astringent, closed his mouth while saying this.
“I’m sorry. Another useless question…”
“No.”
After Silike’s tea was delivered, Jan realized too late that he could no longer trust anyone and could no longer entrust the tea making job to anyone.
“I have a notebook in Chermil. I wrote down the rules for serving tea in case another servant serves tea while I am away. I will show you it when I return to the palace. It will be helpful.”
Those were Den’s words.
Those words were quite surprising, so Jan’s eyes widened.
Den opened his mouth. And he continued, looking at Jan’s face, where the question as to why he was showing favor was clearly revealed.
“That’s because I’ve been providing tea myself for some time now.”
Silence comes again.
This time it wasn’t created because it was awkward. The silence is caused by the fact that Den is not one of those people who does not know the reason for bringing out the tea himself.
Calian wasn’t the only one who suffered from Renieri’s poison.
“… Thank you. I will take a good look at it if you give it to me.”
“yes.”
Sweet.
After taking three sips of Jan’s tasteless tea, Relic put down the teacup.
As I drink it, I feel like this isn’t that bad. I think I understand why Kalyan says Jan’s tea is delicious.
– Crying!
The wind blows through the open window.
The silver rod decoration swaying in the wind makes a beautiful sound.
Den, who had been quietly listening to the sound, opened his mouth.
“Our prince said that the sound was good.”
Jan and Reric’s eyes turned to Den.
Den, who was once again listening to the sound the wind made, said.
“The violin.”
“Ah yes.”
A few days ago, Jan was fiddling with the violin that came from the wizards’ luggage in the forest. The knights who saw it asked to hear the sound. Thanks to Slayman and Dmirea who frequently visited Wilhelm’s pavilion, the people of Balkan now knew Jan’s ‘real identity’.
Jan, who was not stubborn enough to refuse several times, eventually took up the violin. And I played Siegfried’s lullaby that I had sung to Kalian. To stop talking and grow up now.
Randel said that was good to hear.
Yan, who listened to those words for a moment, let out a short but refreshing sigh. Then he turned his head towards Den and opened his mouth.
“Would you like me to teach you?”
“… Do you mean Siegfried’s violin?”
Den, who had already known Jan’s origins thanks to Randel, who had a better eye for reading the surroundings than Plants, asked. Yan nodded, casually passing over the name of the family that was no longer a secret and did not need to be a secret anymore.
“It’s like exchanging tea for a note with the law written on it. I’m also learning to play the harmonica from the prince, and it’s fun.”
“If you can teach me, I will be grateful to learn.”
“yes.”
Relic, whose eyes were sparkling for a moment, bit his shoulder for a moment. This is why I had to swallow the words I said, ‘I want to learn too.’ I don’t think I have anything special to teach Jan.
Jan, who laughed because the thought was obvious, looked at Relic and said.
“I’ll even pay you for helping me practice my car.”
“Ah… Can I learn too?”
“If you have any ideas.”
oh my god.
Siegfried’s violin.
“Of course. I will learn, too.”
Reric, who had become familiar with something as famous as Siegfried’s sword, nodded eagerly and smiled.
I didn’t have the money to build a fancy villa in such a nice place, and I couldn’t afford to search the entire beach to find a large conch shell, but I was able to buy a violin with the servant’s salary that I had saved up.
So, I should practice hard and play at least a birthday song for Emperor Plantz next November.
“Den.”
“yes.”
“Did you give Prince Randel a gift for his birthday?”
“I didn’t.”
“Ah yes.”
… I really have to do it.
* * *
A bar that was alone and bright on a rainy day.
The beautiful blue warbler I saw when I walked inside.
Headless bodies were scattered behind them.
This is exactly the scene from that day. The difference is that the wind blows instead of raining here now, and instead of the spicy smell of alcohol, there is a fishy smell of blood mixed in with the wind.
“That mango-colored haired man. He was sneaking away, so I followed him and ended up here. He had been riding for a while in an open area, so I followed the horse’s hoofprints so as not to be caught. But when I got there, someone was already there. “He died. So I looked around and people came rushing out from the mansion. I had no choice but to kill them all.”
Calian stopped walking while listening to Aila’s explanation and turned his back. Then he looked at Planz who was following behind him and opened his mouth.
“If it seems too difficult, I will find a place where you can wait for a while.”
“are you okay.”
Did you know that when I went to pick you up after breaking your leg, the conditions of the bodies I encountered at the bottom of the valley were several times more terrible?
Calian smiled slightly at the short answer he gave instead of saying those words.
“yes.”
I wonder if the peas, which are truly sensitive, have been pickled or wilted. After confirming this, Kalian looked around.
The garden of the villa comes into view.
To be precise, it looks like a war has taken place.
“My hands are spicy, Aila.”
“Wasn’t I always like that?”
“I never used the knife this deep.”
“The white suri taught me to kill like this. It’s not my fault.”
“okay.”
“… It’s not the prince’s fault.”
“know.”
“yes.”
“I didn’t say it because I didn’t want to see it.”
“I know. Me too.”
“huh.”
Eila said she learned swordsmanship from Teilan and killing from White Suri.
Of course, both were taught by Bern in the past.
Because of this, there is a difference in the way Aela ends people’s lives then and now. It wasn’t Aela’s fault or Calian’s fault.
Another person’s head is seen rolling around with a shocked expression on its face.
“If I had known it was the prince’s villa, I wouldn’t have done it this way, but I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. It’s my first time here too.”
“Clean it up well and use it.”
Calian, whose eyes seemed to regard the small stone next to him as if it were a human head, let out a small laugh.
“Okay. I’ll clean it up, so don’t tell Jan. He’ll be upset.”
“all right.”
It was Aila who eliminated all those outside the villa and in the garden.
However, the villa was quiet so that the place could be cleaned up. No reinforcements came out, no lights were turned on or there was any confusion.
That’s why I was about to call Kalian.
If a place that should be noisy is quiet, wouldn’t that be a suspicious and dangerous situation? But just then Kalian arrived.
– Ja-bak, jap-a-bak.
The path to the front gate passes by a long garden where nothing has been planted yet. Calian extended his hand towards Aela who was standing next to him.
“Just one dagger. Eila.”
“Is there a harpy?”
“Yes. I thought it would stop my sword from working. It absorbs the aura.”
There wasn’t even a silent curtain around it.
Nevertheless, their voices did not weaken one bit.
If there was someone inside, there was no way they would have known what was going on outside, so they were just chatting comfortably.
“My sword will break if the prince uses it. Would you like me to give you a hairpin? That’s the strongest one.”
“Is it just iron?”
“It’s just iron. It’s not something I would use as an Auror.”
“You gave me money to buy expensive equipment.”
“I thought you were telling me to buy expensive clothes.”
“I guess you have enough to buy expensive clothes and expensive equipment?”
“I bought expensive clothes and still had a lot left over, so I bought an expensive house.”
“…Okay. Well done.”
Haha.
Plantz sighed as he listened to the carefree conversation between my brother’s former fiancé, who did not know that he was betrothed to my brother.
“Then why didn’t you prepare when you came here?”
“I forgot.”
I’m proud.
– Bang!
Plantz sighed once again and pulled out Sinasta. He then divided it in half and handed the gray sword side to Calian.
Calian smiled brightly when he saw that.
“I won’t accept your life, brother.”
When the harpy appears, all you have to do is pull out the Aila hairpin and use it.
How else could I use half of a pea sword?
– Ugh!
An aura forms at the tip of Calian’s finger.
Just like Sinastar’s gray sword, the black light aura completely immersed in darkness takes the shape of a long sword.
When Plantz caught sight of it.
– Sreuk.
Calian’s new form disappeared like the flame of a scented candle in a glass bottle.
Plantz, unable to see where his younger brother had gone, took a step forward. But Aila raised her arm and blocked Plantz.
“You just have to wait. Since you went in there, maybe…”
The fingertips from that arm were pointing to a window in one of the villas. Before I knew it, I could see that one of the windows that had been completely closed was slightly open.
– Sweet.
As if what Eila had said was right, the door to the villa opened with a small sound. Calian’s red eyes peeked through the dark door.
“Like that. Because you will open the door.”
The words continue after a pause.
Although they may have never fought together, Kalian and Aela’s hands and feet work well together. Plantz, who had distracted himself from thinking of another vice-corps commander, saying that it was clear that the result would be completely different from those two, took a step forward.
A villa that was completely built in July of last year.
The scent of fruit fills the air from inside the villa, which was painstakingly completed.
“I heard cats don’t like the smell of tangerines, so I guess I shouldn’t bring Lucy and Anne with me in the future.”
Calian’s voice, which smelled the same scent, was filled with laughter. Isn’t it truly Jan-like to fill the entire house with the scent of tangerines for the owner who might come visit at any time?
Kalian, who had taken his first steps into his villa by climbing through the window, looked around. The gray wallpaper, brightly colored furniture, and white curtains catch my eye. It looked very different from the third floor of Chermil Palace.
It’s not that he doesn’t know Kalian’s tastes, but he probably just made it up with a little more of Jan’s wishes.
– Jabak.
Calian made the sound of footsteps again.
I forgot why I came here for a moment, looked around as if I was just observing, and opened my mouth without realizing it.
“It would have been better if the villa had been built a little sooner.”
Until the villa was completed, Jan never spoke about this place. Even after it was finished, we didn’t speak. I was informed last year on the evening of Kalyan’s birthday, which was one day away. He said he had built a villa so you can go there later when you have time.
Even though it was Kalian a little while ago who said he wanted to rest in a place like this.
“I didn’t like it very much, but when I go back, I have to say that I liked every single thing about it. I really like it.”
“…… okay.”
“ah.”
Calian, who made a sound as if he had discovered something, left Planz’s answer behind and took a step further.
A purring voice comes from between bright red lips.
“Except that….”
Feathers dotted on the floor.
The same feather that Calian brought with him.
The feathers were scattered here and there in the moonlight streaming in through the window.
– Jabak.
I walked along the feather that had fallen proudly. Since it was probably a trap aimed at Calian, I had no choice but to follow what was dropped so openly. Rather, I am grateful that it helped me avoid having to wander around for a long time.
The trail of feathers continues steadily.
It soon led the three up a flight of stairs and into the largest room created at the very end of the hallway.
Calian walked while making deliberate footsteps and placed his hand on the door handle. And then he opened the door as if there was nothing to worry about.
In a dark room without moonlight.
Calian, who was examining the wall, turned on the light.
– Woe!
There is light and I can see my surroundings.
It may have been designed to be used as a spacious study, but there were numerous bookshelves, books shelved there, a sofa, a table, and a large desk neatly arranged.
Calian walked towards the desk and frowned.
– this. It’s a disaster.
Unfamiliar handwriting.
However, with just the first sentence, this letter already lets you know who it is.
– I heard that the prince’s servant was planning something dangerous in this place, so I came here and found some interesting things. So I’m taking a few things with me.
he had come
From here, he went ‘with evidence of Siegfried’s plotting treason.’
“……Rashid Briesen.”
Rashid Briesen.
A long smile appeared on Calian’s lips when he realized that it was not Calian that he was targeting, but Siegfried, including Jan.
