Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: All Colors Too Deep to Tell Apart
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Even inside the carriage rattling along moonlit roads all through the night, Barg and the Eisen Baron discussed the issues we needed to resolve ahead amid the constant jolts.
"Once we've met with the Grand Duke, the matter of the princess's letter of recommendation should be settled. But... the dormitories remain a problem."
The baron furrowed his brow and stroked his chin.
"Even if Young Lord Karl pulls strings with the faculty, securing unprecedented special treatment for a couple to share a room won't be easy. The headmaster's stubbornness is no joke."
"I imagine so."
I agreed with a wry smile.
The academy was a conservative place.
No matter how much influence the Grand Duke's family wielded, bending the rules wouldn't come easily.
Especially for an outsider from a barbarian tribe with no prominent lineage—admission itself was already a special favor.
Out of pride, the academy couldn't grant any more privileges.
Not unless a precedent was set.
The baron ventured a cautious suggestion.
"If sharing a room as a couple proves impossible... as a fallback, how about having Her Highness the princess room with Miss Kara?"
"......Pardon?"
"Your status is verified, and you've already gotten acquainted with Miss Kara, so she's trustworthy, isn't she? Being both women, there'd be less discomfort too."
My expression soured instantly at the baron's words.
"Of course... the best option would be for the two of you to stay together. I was just thinking that Her Highness, who already draws so much attention, and Miss Kara together might actually put them in danger...."
'Danger doesn't even begin to cover it.'
I screamed internally.
Elicia was a walking disaster.
Article 1 of the original novel's laws:
"Events follow the heroine wherever she goes."
Anyone near her was guaranteed to get dragged into every incident and accident from the original story.
And then there was her Sun God's authority, "Radiance."
Putting a pregnant Kara in the same room as that uncontrolled power, which could go berserk at any moment...
Absolutely not.
"Let's... keep that as an absolute last resort."
I drew a firm line.
"I won't have Kara caught up in unnecessary trouble. I'd rather pitch a tent against the faculty dorm wall myself."
"Haha, very well. If that's your wish, Barg."
The baron didn't press further.
And so, in heavy silence, as the carriage sped on and the Northguard Grand Duchy castle drew near...
Someone stood by the roadside.
A man in a white mask.
Even in the darkness, his golden eyes gleamed through the mask's slits, catching the moonlight.
"......?"
Spotting our approaching carriage, the man waved with elegant audacity.
Like a drunk hailing a taxi.
Barg and the baron both peered out the window simultaneously.
'That man...'
The baron's eyes narrowed.
The masked man from the plaza who'd provided the kidnappers' intel before vanishing... the ally who made no effort to hide his imperial prince status.
The one he'd planned to scold next time about covering his eyes too.
'Radians...?'
The empire's Fourth Prince.
'In the original story, he was some tall mysterious guy, but in reality, he's just a showboat waving on a midnight road.'
"Ignore him and keep going."
The baron said firmly.
"Agreed. He looks like a headache waiting to happen."
I nodded immediately.
"He's the one who helped rescue Alina, so I'm grateful, but... that brazen attitude now makes me want nothing to do with him...."
Even the baron, who wasn't one to slight a benefactor, found the prince's shamelessness excessive.
'Wondered where Elicia got that airhead personality... turns out she learned it from this guy.'
Even though the mask hid his face and this was my first time seeing him in person, imagining the expression beneath turned my stomach.
The carriage didn't slow.
Whoosh!
It blew right past the man.
A faint cry of "Hey, you lot! So stingy!" trailed from behind, but we coolly ignored it.
A short while later.
The grand majesty of Northguard Grand Duchy castle finally came into view.
Spired towers piercing the night sky, sturdy walls.
The massive gates swung open, and our carriage procession entered.
"We've arrived."
The baron straightened his attire and said.
"From here on, it's official business, so let's formalize our address. Shall we, Lord Wintersword?"
"Understood, Baron."
We stepped down from the carriage.
The Grand Duke's guard captain approached and bowed politely.
"Welcome, Baron Eisen. Lord Wintersword, you've come as well."
"Is His Grace the Grand Duke in?"
"Well... His Grace hasn't returned from his patrol yet. Likely not until dawn."
"I see."
The baron looked troubled.
"Then, would you wait in a guest room? I'll prepare some tea."
"Very well. If you could guide us..."
Bang!
The door of the second carriage—the one I'd left empty for Karl's ambulance—flew open.
"......Hm?"
It was supposed to be empty.
Not just me and the baron—every guard's gaze snapped there.
And from inside the carriage...
A golden-haired beauty of a man stepped out with utmost grace, mask now removed.
The same guy who'd waved from the roadside earlier.
Fourth Prince Radians von Croatina...
"Ah~ What luck, Baron Eisen!"
He approached with the same airhead grin as Elicia, overflowing with carefree charm.
"I was on my way to see my friend Karl, and turns out you were heading to him about the Wintersword couple too! Perfect timing!"
"......Pardon?!"
"So we bumped into each other on the way and decided to travel together. Gotta pay my fare for the ride, right? Hahaha!"
He even winked at the guards.
The baron and I gaped.
'When the hell did that guy climb aboard?'
We'd clearly ignored and passed him.
And what was with that brazen lie?
We were dumbfounded by Radians's gall as he smoothly spun a backstory of our "meeting" to the guards, making it sound like a planned trip from the start.
"P-Prince Your Highness?!"
The guard captain paled and shouted.
An imperial visit without notice was a grave matter.
Especially sneaking into someone else's carriage.
"To arrive without warning...!"
"Shh."
Radians pressed a finger to his lips and winked.
"It's a secret. I'm not here on official business. Just visiting my academy classmate Karl, so no need to be so formal. Even Father's in the dark."
He shamelessly upended the castle's strict atmosphere.
The baron's brow twitched.
'That man... prince or not, hitching a free ride in my carriage...!'
He'd been prickly from the first encounter, but now it was beyond willful.
Even the baron, favorable toward me, Kara, and Elicia, found Radians—the type who ignored etiquette and protocol like breathing—the hardest sort to handle.
We and Kara were in positions to learn manners going forward, while Radians had been fully trained in them and was meant to set an example.
I clicked my tongue inwardly too.
'That airhead... he's the spitting image of Elicia.'
Elicia's face overlapped with Radians's sly smile.
'Ah, so that's where Elicia gets her personality... her one doting royal brother was this guy, and she learned from the best.'
Getting tangled with siblings like that was a recipe for exhaustion.
We decided to draw a line before getting swept into the prince's pace.
"Haha... we can't interfere with Your Highness's private visit. We'll take our leave then..."
The baron edged backward stealthily.
"We must pay our respects to Young Lord Kairun first. Where might he be?"
I asked the guard.
"Ah, Young Lord Kairun is currently in the annex... Young Lord Karl's office."
"...Ah."
The baron and I sighed in unison.
"Oh! Perfect!"
Radians beamed and cut in.
"That's where I'm headed too. See my friend Karl and cute little brother Kairun! Let's go together!"
Grab.
He threw his arms around our shoulders without a care.
"Onward, Lord Wintersword! Baron! The three of us cozy-like!"
We recoiled and stepped back, but with the beaming prince trailing behind, we had no choice but to head to the annex.
And so, nursing headaches, as we reached the annex entrance...
Bang!
The door flew open, and someone burst out.
Kairun.
As if he'd been waiting for us.
"Master!"
Kairun shouted the moment he saw the baron.
"You've come! I've been waiting!"
Then he spotted me.
"Barg... you're here too. You've... really come at the perfect time."
Kairun smiled in greeting.
But his condition...
Hardly normal.
Forehead slick with cold sweat.
Eyes unfocused.
Hands trembling.
He looked precarious somehow.
Grab.
Kairun urgently clutched the baron's lapel.
"I have urgent matters to discuss. Please come with me just a moment. This way..."
The baron and I exchanged glances.
'He's not okay.'
He was smiling, but his eyes shook with anxiety, and the hand gripping his master's lapel trembled visibly.
Desperate, like a drowning man clutching at straws.
'What happened? Could it be the letter...?'
We tensed and moved to follow Kairun.
"Um... Young Lord Kairun...?"
Radians poked his head from behind me.
"I'm here too...?"
He waved with a grin.
"Won't you greet your brother's friend a bit? This is upsetting. Treating a prince like he's invisible."
But Kairun's eyes were only on the baron and me.
As if he hadn't heard Radians at all, he led us hurriedly inside.
Slam.
The annex door shut.
Left alone in the hall, Radians shrugged at the closed door.
"Hm... seems my master and the barbarian are more welcome than I am, the prince."
His playful expression sobered instantly.
"He's grown a lot, but... still too soon."
Radians muttered under his breath, unheard by any.
That look on Kairun's face.
It resembled.
His own self, around Kairun's age.
'Has Karl burdened his little brother with too heavy a load...?'
Radians turned with a bitter smile.
He glanced up at Karl's office window.
"Well then, time to visit my friend."
Kairun strode down the hall before ducking into the first room he saw.
A dusty storage room.
A squalid place unfit for a Grand Duke's son, but none of that mattered to Kairun now.
Bang!
He slammed the door shut.
Then slumped against it, gasping ragged breaths.
"Young Lord? What on earth is the matter? Calm down..."
As the baron approached, Kairun's body gave way.
Thud.
He dropped to his knees on the floor with an audible smack.
"Master... Barg...."
"......!"
Back turned, Kairun clutched his face with both hands.
And then.
"Hic... sob...."
His shoulders heaved as he began to sob.
Emotions long suppressed poured out, heedless of who might hear.
"It's... too much. Too heavy for me to bear...."
"What do you—"
"Today... I learned so many truths. And I... have to hide them all."
His mother's assassination attempt on his brother.
Slokina, who orchestrated it.
The brutal imperial politics that even forced such a mother to act.
And above all, the root of every tragedy...
Himself.
"Facts I must hide... truths I must tell... I can't distinguish them."
Kairun turned his head.
His tear-streaked face laid bare, hyperventilating.
"Mother's love, brother's sacrifice... all the colors... too deep...."
Kairun slipped a trembling hand into his pocket.
And pulled something out.
A glass vial.
The poison bottle his mother had dropped, his brother had reached for.
The son offered his mother's shame to his master.
Admitting he couldn't resolve it alone.
The baron took the vial without a word.
Instead, he sank to the floor and pulled his disciple into a gentle embrace.
Though Kairun had outgrown fitting fully in his arms, he could still bury his face there.
"You've done well, young lord. Truly... you've endured so much."
"Waaah...!"
Clasped in the baron's arms, Kairun wailed like a child.
I approached silently and placed a hand on Kairun's shoulder.
The future had changed, at least.
Thanks to that one belated line in the letter.
But at the cost of shredding a boy's heart.
Not the worst outcome, but far from the best.
Even though we'd rescued kidnapped Alina early, we'd still been briefly blind.
Just as Kairun had seen the truth today, only to play the blind man for a day.