Chapter 128: If Such a Day Comes (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 128: If Such a Day Comes (5)
Calian was human, after all.
And that meant he could be hurt.
For instance, he felt it when a certain look crossed the face of the attendant who had always doted on him—treating him like a fragile treasure that might blow away with a breath or crumble at a touch.
—Did a dog just bark somewhere?
Even though Calian was used to Franz telling him he was barking every other day, seeing that unspoken thought written so clearly on Yan’s face cut deep to the bone.
Regardless of his feelings, Yan mulled over Calian’s threat to blow the roof off Heisia Palace. His expression was a perfect fifty-fifty split between Shiroian, heir to a duchy, and Yan, the prince's attendant.
“Please finish your meal.”
It was his polite way of saying, shut up and eat.
Calian, who was far better at breaking things than he was at lying, let out a dry chuckle. Then he spoke again.
“Kyrie.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You go.”
Yan’s expression soured.
He didn’t even need to hear Kyrie’s response to know what was coming.
“Yes.”
Just like that.
Kyrie was the type of man who would give that same flat response even if Calian ordered him to draw his sword on the King. A message to Arsen about a measly roof was child’s play in comparison.
And another thing.
Arsen, who would relay Calian’s words without adding or subtracting a single syllable, was precisely the kind of man to casually lob a fireball at Heisia Palace on his way over. Seriously.
Was this not the ultimate combination of a blindly loyal subordinate and a completely unhinged one?
“Wait, just a moment.”
Yan, the only one present who seemed to care about living to see tomorrow, quickly blocked Kyrie’s path.
“Your Highness,” he pleaded with Calian. “This isn’t something you can just break on a whim. Sir Hertz will die. And you won’t get off scot-free either.”
Calian chuckled for a moment before replying.
“It’s fine.”
He gestured to Kyrie with his eyes.
Taking the gesture as his cue to hurry, Kyrie leaned his sword against the wall and stepped outside to find Arsen.
“You don’t have to worry,” Calian said.
“But, Your Highness…”
“It’s fine, so go tell Hina to come here.”
Yan, looking like he was on the verge of tears, tried to say more, but Calian cut him off with a bright smile.
“Kids my age are supposed to cause a little trouble as they grow up.”
I’ll take the blame, and His Majesty will clean up the mess.
So what?
* * *
Demirea’s brow furrowed.
Normally, her mother, Serie, managed the Siegfried mansion in Kairisis. But with Serie away in the Siegfried territory with Suleiman, Demirea had been unexpectedly left to shoulder all the mansion’s affairs.
Still, she could handle that much. It was her duty, after all.
“How many is that now?” Demirea asked, closing her book. Her voice was heavily subdued.
The head butler standing before her replied calmly, “This is the eighth, my lady.”
On the tray he held lay a single letter. It was, of course, from Marquis Evan Brissen. It was undoubtedly another demand for a formal apology regarding the Brissen family’s tarnished honor from the incidents involving Calian and Franz.
“Should I have this one burned as well?” the butler asked cautiously.
Demirea shook her head and held out her palm. The head butler quickly handed over the letter.
Rustle!
It was two pages long.
After a quick scan of its contents, Demirea handed the letter back.
“How should we handle this?”
“Did Prince Franz damage anything while he was here?”
“No, Young Lady. Neither Prince Calian nor Prince Franz left their rooms for almost the entire duration of their stay.”
There was no way someone cooped up in his room could have broken anything. Nodding briefly, Demirea looked at the head butler and spoke.
“Then tell them we don’t need compensation. However, if they don’t shut their mouths, we will bill Prince Franz for his room and board.”
“Room and board, you say?”
“Yes. The threat of framing this as a voluntary stay, rather than a forced detention, will be enough to silence them.”
If Demirea billed him, Franz would likely pay without a word. The moment he did, the situation would shift from detention to a voluntary visit. After all, one does not charge a prisoner for room and board, nor does a prisoner pay it.
In any case, Calian’s purpose for hiding in the mansion had been achieved. There was no need for Siegfried to continue bearing the stigma of having “detained” Franz. Having instructed the butler to threaten them with a bill, Demirea spoke in a relaxed tone.
“Since we’re already infamous, why not make the most of it?”
People didn’t know Calian had been at the Siegfried mansion. All they knew was that Franz had secretly visited the mansion where the Young Duchess was “alone” in the middle of the night and stayed for a week. Meanwhile, the Young Duchess was rumored to be Calian’s fiancée.
The Second Prince, the Third Prince, and the Young Duchess.
Since all three were adults, the gossiping nobles would surely spin countless interesting stories from such a tangled web.
“But would that not harm you, Young Lady?”
“No matter how severe the scandal, my position as Young Duchess won’t vanish, nor will the ducal house disappear. The Marquis will have to judge for himself who stands to lose more.”
No matter what rumors circulated, anyone could see that Franz would be the only one to suffer.
“Yes, Young Lady. I will reply immediately as you have instructed.”
A hint of amusement slipped into the head butler’s voice as he left Demirea’s study with a much lighter step.
Demirea reopened her book and began reading again as if nothing had happened.
* * *
Hina was holding a cat in her arms.
Calian took the creature, which looked quite heavy now, from her. She wouldn’t be able to use sign language while holding the cat.
He had Hina sit on the opposite sofa and spoke.
“Hina. I have something to ask you.”
Hina nodded. Calian gently stroked the cat as it let out a soft meow.
“Would you be interested in working for Valkan?”
Hina’s eyes widened at the unexpected question.
Valkan was an army of mages, wasn’t it? The only non-mage there was Prince Franz, whose sole qualification, specialty, and skill was being a prince.
After a moment of thought, Hina’s mouth formed an “Ah!” of realization, and her hands began to move.
—Are they short on maids there?
Calian let out a short chuckle. With a very gentle expression, he replied, “Do you really think I would send you there just to clean another building?”
—Then is it for my healing abilities?
“Yes. He hasn’t said so explicitly, but my brother will likely merge the Karen and Raon Royal Knight Orders into Valkan.”
Franz hadn’t spoken of his concrete plans, but Calian knew it was the most peaceful way for Franz to gain control of the two knight orders. Corps Commander Alan Manasil would be at the center, Arsen would handle the magic corps, and Franz would manage the knight orders. That was how the new Valkan would be structured.
“If that happens, the training methods will change. When mages and knights train together, injuries are bound to increase. It would be good to have a healer on hand.”
Of course, this was mostly just an excuse.
He couldn’t keep using Hina, who possessed such a precious ability, as a maid forever. She had never complained, but he wanted to offer her another path in case she desired one. That was, of course, only if Hina agreed.
—I’ll do it.
Hina nodded immediately as she signed, but Calian shook his head with a slight smile.
“You seem to be answering without much thought, Hina. Valkan is an army. Right now, they’re peacefully stationed in the royal palace, but depending on the situation, you might have to accompany them into battle.”
—I know.
Staring for a moment into Hina’s black eyes, Calian spoke in a low voice.
“Hina, I’m not ordering you; I’m asking if you want to do this. Don’t agree just because of me.”
Hina’s eyes widened once more. It was a rare thing. Calian seldom asked for anyone’s opinion before giving an order. Only with Kyrie and Hina did he ever ask if they “wanted to” or “could” do something.
“Think about it carefully. Talk to Kyrie, too. I’m telling you this so you know there are other things you can do in the palace. The choice is yours. If there’s something else you want to do, you can tell me. Or if you like what you’re doing now, you can say that as well.”
Hearing this, Hina gave a bright smile and replied.
—Yes. I will do that. Kind Prince.
As Calian nodded, the cat, as if sensing the conversation was over, began to meow again.
‘I am Prince Calian’s cat, who likes Prince Franz more.’
Suddenly, the long name engraved on its collar caught his eye.
Staring down at it blankly, Calian spoke.
“Change this.”
—Did it upset you? I guess I was being too playful.
“No. It’s not that I don’t like it,” Calian said, his expression urging her not to misunderstand. “Just put my brother’s name on it. Take mine off.”
The cat truly did like Franz more. To anyone looking, wouldn’t that make Franz its real owner?
Hina did not reply immediately.
Instead, she stared into Calian’s red eyes for a long moment, then moved her hands very slowly.
—No.
Calian smiled quietly.
* * *
And Arsen…
“Thank you.”
…was thrilled.
The moment he heard Kyrie’s message, Arsen replied in a perfectly calm voice. His tone betrayed no excitement, but Arsen was definitely thrilled. To Kyrie’s ears, it sounded less like gratitude for his trouble and more like pure, unadulterated thanks for the opportunity to finally run wild.
In any case, the message was delivered, so Kyrie immediately departed. Arsen would do the deed and Calian would take the fall. Kyrie had no intention of getting caught in the crossfire.
After Kyrie left, Arsen walked briskly down to the training ground and addressed the Valkan mages, who were taking a brief rest.
“We will be conducting practical training. Everyone, follow me.”
The mages stood, puzzled. Practical training? Out of the blue? For them, “practical training” was just another word for Franz showing up, which was synonymous with hell. But since they couldn’t say that out loud, they simply did as they were told and followed Arsen out of the Wilhelm Hall training ground.
Wilhelm Hall was located very close to Heisia Palace.
While only the roof of Heisia Palace could be seen from Chermil Palace, the entire building was visible from here. Only a few roadside trees obstructed the view between them.
Standing directly facing Heisia Palace, Arsen erected an ice barrier between his mages and the building.
“It’s a target,” he announced.
Aside from being outdoors, it was no different from their usual training. Arsen always set up ice barriers for fireball practice.
The mages nodded, and Arsen raised his index finger.
“Just one shot.”
His finger pointed at the ice barrier.
“Squeeze out every last drop of your mana and fire a single shot, all at once. If that barrier breaks, training ends for the day, and I’ll buy you all a drink.”
There was no need to ask if they were interested.
Hadn’t even Calian once wondered why on earth mages were so combative? And Valkan was, if anything, even more so than the average mage.
Their eyes were already burning with competitive fire.
“Fire on three,” Arsen said, a bright red fireball forming before him. It swelled to a massive size, so enormous that one might doubt if his primary attribute was truly ice.
Seeing this, fireballs materialized in front of the other mages.
“One.”
Their concentration was absolute.
They failed to notice that Arsen was simultaneously maintaining the ice barrier while creating his fireball.
“Two.”
Fire and ice.
They didn’t stop to consider how difficult it was to control two opposing forces at once. Nor did they realize how weak an ice barrier created under such strain would be.
“Three.”
Naturally, that thought never crossed their minds either.
CRACK!
The ice barrier shattered and vanished before the first fireball could even touch it. With their target gone, fifty-one massive fireballs sailed onward unimpeded. It was a spectacular sight.
And in their path stood a lonely, empty palace.
KABOOM!
The earth shook. The surrounding trees swayed.
Alan’s desk vibrated.
The windows of Chermil Palace rattled.
An explosion echoed in Demirea’s ears.
After the firestorm and the thick dust cleared…
Arsen, checking the results of his handiwork, muttered, “Oops.”
Calian had told him to break the roof. Arsen had indeed broken the roof—among other things.
“I didn’t calculate that the barrier wouldn’t hold.”
It was, strictly speaking, a training accident.
* * *
A short time later, Lemain, having received the full story from Alan, replied that he wanted to be left alone for a moment.