Chapter 18. (2)
Kalian opened his mouth with a slightly stiff expression.
“Why are you saying that now?”
Kirie told her that Arsene swore at her only when she passed the walkway surrounding the Senyu Pavilion. Therefore, Kyrie answered Calian in a quiet but clear voice when he asked this question.
“Lord Hertz is a capable man, my prince.”
“Are you saying that I couldn’t tell you on the spot because I was afraid I would send a talented person I didn’t like to the other side of the Seneu River?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s a bit unfair. It’s just that I can’t retrieve the sword I threw away, but it’s not like I know when it will disappear.”
It was unfair for Kalian.
“I wonder if I threw it without knowing how to do it.”
Calian, who attacked after making sure the distance was exactly enough to give Arsene, who seemed to have blind faith in the shield, an appropriate warning, grunted like this.
But at that moment, Yan, who had been walking silently until now, suddenly opened his mouth with an expression on his face that said something had occurred to him.
“By the way. I heard that Prince Randel has a lot on his schedule today. The time is a bit vague, so I think you two may run into each other on the way back and forth.”
Hearing those words, Calian’s feet stopped for a moment.
Calian scratched his cheek and spoke to Jan.
“Why are you saying that now?”
Then, Yan’s face became as if he was sorry, but I guess I had my own reasons. So, when I looked at him to ask what the reason was, Yan confidently gave a truly Yan-like answer.
“You should have had time to think about other things. Do you know how surprised I was to see Lord Hertz training so hard? What if you really get hurt?”
“According to what Kirie said, let alone whether I’m really hurt, shouldn’t you be worried about whether I’m really going to kill Lord Hertz?”
really. This guy or that guy.
One person looks at me too harshly and the other looks at me too soft, what should I do?
Anyway, if you say you forgot because you were so surprised, what else can you say?
“I understand. As long as we don’t run into each other, it’s okay.”
In the end, Calian could not say anything more to Kirie or Jan and just answered like this.
‘It’s Brother Randel.’
After Silike became like that, Randel never came to breakfast. He seemed very uncomfortable with the fact that his true feelings were revealed at the spot where Plantz was injured and that Calian joined hands with Plantz.
Therefore, we did not meet by chance at Chermil Palace.
The only way Randel would normally go out was to go to the rose garden, so Calian just avoided it. When we went to other events together, we didn’t say a single word. He said he was uncomfortable, but he didn’t have any intention of getting close to him.
“Prince Planz doesn’t seem to think anything of you just leaving like that that day, but I wonder why Prince Randel is like that.”
So, in front of Calian, Jan, who did not particularly gossip about other princes, said this.
“Brother Planz, who is so annoying about everything in this world, it’s not that he doesn’t care. He just doesn’t have any thoughts.”
Calian answered and entered the Senyu Pavilion where Evan was waiting.
* * *
Margrave Gray Brisen was the Third Sword of the Continent.
Marquis Evan Briesen entered the path of the sword before him.
So Evan, who became a sword master at a time when he was at least within three fingers, raised his eyes. I had just seen Calian come in.
‘How did this happen?’
Evan even closed the front door and practiced all winter.
Thinking that this was enough, I opened the door and came out.
However, Calian still could not sense the power of the Auror.
He was a young boy who had only been on the path of the sword for less than a year, but on the outside, he was nothing more than an ordinary person. As Slayman said, he was like a quiet prince who couldn’t even go near a sword.
Even though I was very prepared, it was not easy to keep my facial expression from distorting.
Of course, Evan’s true intentions were all revealed to Calian. Since this was the intended situation, Calian was not embarrassed and quietly walked to stand in front of Evan.
Even then, Evan was deep in thought. Therefore, Jan, who was standing behind Calian, opened his mouth.
“Marquis Briesen. Stand up and show an example.”
It must be something that runs in the family.
First of all, I have never seen anyone show any courtesy.
Kalian, who greeted Evan by bowing down like that, sat down. And as soon as Evan placed his butt on the chair across from him, he opened his mouth.
“Why did you ask to see me and not my brother?”
Evan’s eyebrows twitched at the words he said without taking a sip of tea.
It was no different from when Calian and Evan met for the first time. However, during the process of ousting Silike, we had contact through Arsene. Therefore, Evan had come to the palace using that incident as an excuse to talk about Calian and Brisen joining hands.
However, Calian was clearly showing that time was a waste.
However, the person in front of him was not someone who could lose his temper like Allen did. That’s why Evan said with a sad expression on his face.
“Congratulations on entering the path of the sword, prince.”
“Thank you.”
Calian answered briefly.
Then I looked intently at Evan’s face.
Calian was still unable to feel Evan’s aura, so he was seeing it that way, but how could Evan know? It was only taken as an encouragement to quickly say the next thing and break up.
‘I came here for no reason.’
In the end, Evan put aside the story of the ‘alliance between Calian and Briesen’, which was clearly going to be a loss, and came up with a plausible reason for his visit.
“Actually, I wanted to check how Prince Planz is doing. I thought he might be reluctant to see me in person.”
Calian, who heard those words, let out a short laugh.
He openly laughed at it.
Evan’s eyebrows twitched again when he saw that, and Calian opened his mouth in a cold voice.
“The sound of the river that freezes and thaws for a season can be heard in my ears.”
It was a reprimand that he asked about Plantz’s well-being only after enough time had passed for the Seigne River to freeze and thaw, and it was also a remark that he was watching Evan’s every scheming move.
In any case, it was clear that Evan’s true intentions were discovered, and Evan’s face froze like the Seneu River in the middle of winter.
* * *
Same time.
Alan, who visited Lemain to report on the evaluation results of the 20 newly added Vulcan members, held up a letter and said.
“It came out of the palace, stopped by Ratran, and then came back to the palace. It looks like there are still people left.”
This was because the letter for Alan had to be received after returning to the royal palace via the County of Latran.
Lemain, who was looking at the report handed to him by Alan, looked up and saw the letter. And then he gave an answer that was a little better than telling us how many people would be working at Kyris.
“It looks like the shipment has been completed. I see that it has reached the Count.”
Alan, who was now somewhat accustomed to the new title, nodded without much resistance. Then he looked back at the letter he was holding and opened his mouth.
“This is my second invitation. It’s amazing how quickly time passes.”
The letter, richly decorated with gold leaf, included an invitation to a festival to celebrate Lemain’s 39th birthday, along with all kinds of rhetoric.
Lemain’s birthday was in May. Therefore, invitations to Secretia and Riverne Tensil were already sent out at the beginning of the new year. Next, it was sent to the nobles of Cairis living in distant places, and finally to the nobles staying in the vicinity of Cairis.
So, it could be considered that Alan received the invitation that was sent last.
“This time, don’t throw it away like last year.”
A smile came to Alan’s lips as he pointed out something he had been trying to find fault with. This is because it reminded me of Calian’s bold appearance, who had made Alan his teacher when he asked for a new invitation.
“Don’t worry. I can’t throw away the invitation I received even if Sispanian comes and tells me to throw it away.”
After saying that, Alan picked up a chocolate bar from the box on the table and put it in his mouth. Then, an unfamiliar yet familiar sweet and sour taste spread in my mouth.
“I think it’s tangerine jam. It won’t be easy to come across tangerines in Kairisis. Is it from Rivern?”
“Secritia.”
Lemain responded by shaking his head and pushed the box of chocolates towards Alan.
“The count likes sweets, so take them and eat them. The newly sealed baron sent me some, saying he got them from Secretia, but he’s not very good at it.”
After hearing those words, Alan smiled a strange smile that Lemain couldn’t see.
Secretia’s tangerines.
Isn’t there just one person who will like you several times more than Alan?
Lemaine, I know that Calian only had the memories of the Secretia knight, so he wouldn’t have remembered it, but it wasn’t Alan. Therefore, without eating any more, Alan picked up the box and asked, with the intention of handing it over to his pretty student.
“Has there been any reply as to who is coming from Secretia to Your Highness’s birthday celebration?”
“Not yet. It will take some time to get an answer.”
Will someone as welcome as Tangerine come to Kalian?
Alan nodded with expectant eyes.
* * *
Is there anything more embarrassing than encountering someone you are reluctant to meet?
On my way back to Chermil after a short conversation with Evan, I ended up running into Randel.
Across the three stairs leading to Chermil, Calian bowed his head towards Randel, who was standing on the stairs.
“See you, Brother Randel.”
In the past, Randel would have passed by with the words ‘Okay’ but stopped and looked down at Calian.
If it had been Planz, he would have said hello and left, saying he had nothing to say and would go first. However, Calian, who could not bear to follow such a plan, could only hope that the mysterious first prince would quickly stop paying attention to him and go his own way.
“I’m sorry I didn’t respond to you that day.”
Only after a really long time had passed did Randel say these words while still standing on the stairs.
There is only one day that Randel, who is indifferent to everything, remembers and refers to as ‘that day’. The day I last met Randel. It was the very day that Silike was driven out.
Randel sensed that Calian knew that he could use healing powers. In that situation where Plantz was bleeding, rather than looking for a healer, he called Randel, so if you don’t notice, it’s literally Jan.
Calian frowned.
Before Hina came, I remembered Kalian, who was looking for a healer, making eye contact, then getting up and leaving. I also understood that he was now apologizing for not responding to his request for help that day.
However, Calian did not make that expression because he was uneasy about the incident.
‘On the stairs… it’s rude.’
Standing on the stairs and looking down at a prince of the same rank was something Calian should not have done, even if Randel was the eldest son.
Calian glanced up at his eldest brother, who was apologizing but showing the exact opposite. Randel was looking at Calian with the same face and expression.
The blue eyes are still deep and dark.
Calian laughed, feeling as if he had stuck his head into the mouth of a blue beast.
“Are you showing your true feelings with only three stairs?”
Calian, who was still standing below, looked up at Randel and opened his mouth. After that, I slowly walked up the stairs. The sound of steps on the stairs and Calian’s voice rang out in the quiet Chermil Palace.
“That little rose that had bloomed for a long time. Now I understand what it meant.”
“Did you see that?”
– Ta-bak-ta-bak.
“Yes. I saw it. However, I didn’t know why he took it out like that, but I guess he meant to make it bloom properly and look good instead of drying out and wilting. It’s just that it looks good.”
– Bruises.
“……Under Brother Randel’s feet.”
Calian, who had climbed the last stairs, looked into the eyes of Randel, who was at the same level. Randel looked into Calian’s gaze. A voice with no pitch was heard quietly.
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”
“I am.”
A voice full of hostility flowed from Calian’s mouth.
“I don’t like it.”
Bern was already a capable and obedient kind brother once.
So Kalyan won’t do it.
