Chapter 132: If Such a Day Comes (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 132: If Such a Day Comes (9)
Calian landed silently in his room and glanced around.
Unlike his own all-black room, Franz's was quite bright. The curtains, the carpet, and even the bedding visible deeper inside the bedroom were all in light shades.
It was undoubtedly because of the cat.
With a cat that shed a terrifying amount of fur roaming the entire room, there was no other choice. Just as Franz only wore light-colored clothes, his room was likely decorated in light colors for the same reason.
Lost in thought, Calian spoke to Yan, who had just entered.
"From now on, don't serve mint tea when I'm on the fourth floor."
He recalled the pained look on Franz's face as he forced himself to finish the mint tea, his distaste obvious. Knowing Franz’s personality—he was someone who would even accommodate a cat—he would never outright say he disliked the tea. That was precisely why Calian was giving the order.
"Will you be going up there for every meal?"
"For the time being."
Calian nodded as he answered, and to his surprise, Yan complied without much resistance.
"Understood. I will see to it. Also, you asked me to call for Sir Hertz, but it seems it will be difficult for him to come today."
"Why? Did something happen?" Calian asked, worried that Arsen might have suffered some disadvantage from the recent incident.
Yan replied with a faint smile. "I hear he is helping clear the debris of Heisia Palace."
So, nothing bad had happened, but Arsen was too busy to see him. At Alan's insistence that there was no point in having powerful mages if they weren't put to use, Valkan had been deployed to clear the ruins of Heisia Palace. The punishment had come not from Lemain, but from Alan himself, Valkan's commander.
Picturing Arsen grumbling as he worked, Calian couldn't hold back his laughter. After a moment, he said, "Alright. Send them some money so they can at least have a proper meal later."
"Yes, Your Highness."
After answering, Yan did not leave. Sensing he had more to say, Calian looked at him expectantly.
"The Young Duchess of Siegfried is waiting outside," Yan reported.
No matter who was waiting, reporting on his assigned tasks and conveying necessary information always came first for Yan. He only mentioned the visitor after everything else was done.
Calian nodded. "Let her in."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Yan gave a short reply and stepped out. A moment later, Demirea entered. Seeing her, Calian smirked.
This is why I like Demirea.
She was wearing a dark navy pantsuit. When she had visited the palace before the ball, she had worn a light dress, but she had clearly decided there was no need for such formalities now.
Demirea offered a polite, brief bow and sat across from him. Soon, Yan returned, silently set down two cups of tea, and turned to leave. Even knowing the conversation would involve his sister and family matters, he showed no intention of intruding.
"Yan. You sit, too."
There was no reason Yan shouldn't hear this; he was family, after all.
Bowing his head slightly, Yan sat a short distance away from Demirea. It was a silent gesture indicating that while he would listen, he would not interfere. Calian smiled inwardly, understanding why Yan was drawing such a line. It reminded him of Bern, who always took a step back out of respect whenever Chase was present.
Deciding to respect Yan's wishes, Calian turned his attention back to Demirea and greeted her.
"It's been a while, my fiancée."
At the playful greeting, Yan remained impassive, while Demirea let out a dry laugh and nodded. She then addressed the rumor head-on.
"I'll consider that rumor payment for the bananas. I plan to make good use of it."
She was saying she would use the fiancé rumor to offset the cost of the bananas he had devoured at her estate. While Calian had accepted the rumor out of necessity, Demirea was clearly benefiting from it as well.
"It seems I've sold my name for two bunches of bananas."
"Considering how many you ate, I believe it's a fair price."
Calian chuckled for a good while before asking, "Right. Has Marquis Brissen shown any other reaction?"
"No. He isn't showing any particular reaction." She didn't bother to mention what she had done to silence Marquis Evan Brissen. In any case, he had indeed fallen silent. "So, why did you call for me?"
Since Demirea had gotten straight to the point, Calian did the same.
"I'm going to form a knight order soon. To that end, I'm planning to temporarily house Count Aprin's knights at the Siegfried estate."
"Yes. My father already told me."
"Ah, then this will be quick."
"I heard they are meant to replace the Royal Knights. Is that correct?"
"That was the original plan, but I've changed my mind. I'm going to raise them as a new knight order that will remain outside the palace."
Demirea frowned slightly. She couldn't tell if an order outside the palace was meant to be his private army or an assault force.
"If these knights are intended to attack the palace, I will not help."
"Do you really think I would hide knights meant for such a thing in the elephant house?"
"Then it is Your Highness's private army?"
"Something like that. They will be the ones to become my strength."
Calling it "housing" was just a polite term; in reality, it was no different from raising a knight order within their walls. After a moment of thought, Demirea spoke.
"We cannot give you the Siegfried name."
At her sharp, clear boundary, Calian nodded as if it were only natural.
"I know. As long as you hide them, I will handle their management. We will establish them as Count Aprin's knight order, so I won't be asking for your name. You don't need to worry about that."
"Then you mean they are Count Aprin's knights, not yours?" Only now did she fully understand why he had answered "something like that" when she asked if they were his private army. "I can't tell if you mean to keep your name out of it just in case, or if you intend to raise the Aprin family into a martial house that rivals the Brissens."
"As I said, they are people I will raise as my own knight order. It doesn't need to bear my name, so I'm just borrowing the Count's."
"Your Highness," Demirea said immediately, her tone serious. "A knight order isn't like a trading company or an academy. Leaving a knight order without a designated master is dangerous. It's also different from Valkan. The faith of a mage and the loyalty of a knight are two very different things. You must not assume that everyone who holds a sword will be like Kyrie."
She said this because she knew very well what kind of people knights were. "This isn't as simple as just trusting Count Aprin."
"I know." There was no way she knew knights better than he did. Calian smiled faintly and looked at her. "That's why I'm asking—could you perhaps keep an eye on the knights for me?"
Demirea fell silent. As she took a sip of her tea, weighing his intentions, Calian continued.
"As you said, it will be different from having them under my watchful eye inside the palace. I'm not entirely sure if I can fully trust Count Aprin's knights yet, either. So, I plan to use this as an opportunity to see how far I can trust the Count. After that, I'll decide whether to make them an independent knight order or find another way."
"So, what you're saying is that you want me to act as an 'observer' to help you decide how to use them?"
"Yes. Exactly."
"You certainly find many ways to put me to work."
"Putting people to work is my job," Calian beamed.
Demirea, who was not the least bit swayed by his smile, muttered softly, "And you're shameless, too."
"Or we could just call it a fiancée's privilege?"
Demirea's face crumpled spectacularly. Sensing she was about to declare the engagement rumor a complete fabrication right then and there, Calian quickly held up his hands to placate her.
"Please, Demirea."
After staring at him for a moment, she nodded. "Very well. I will help you."
"Thank you."
"I still haven't received the lodging fee from last time. I intend to collect payment for this as well, so don't think you can just brush it off."
"I paid off the banana debt, didn't I? I'll pay you back in full, I promise."
At the words of the prince who had only settled a tiny fraction of his massive debt—and for bananas, no less—Demirea finally let out a chuckle.
"By the way, do you know that you've become quite famous? The talk is that you've caused an incident on a whole new level, as if to shout, 'If you're going to make a mess, make it a big one!'"
"Ah, Heisia Palace," Calian replied with a shamelessly innocent face, as if he knew nothing about it. "That wasn't me. It was a mistake made by Valkan."
"Is there anyone who doesn't know Valkan belongs to Your Highness?"
Calian offered no response. After watching him for a moment, Demirea spoke again. "Anyway, it's understood. Let me know once the date for the knights' arrival is set."
"Ah, Demirea." Calian stopped her as she was about to rise, then demonstrated the exact sign language Hina had shown him earlier. "This. Do you happen to know what it means?"
Though his gestures were clumsy, the word wasn't hard to recognize. Demirea's expression turned peculiar.
A spanking?
"You let your maid say things like that to you?"
"I knew it was a scolding." He glanced at Yan, who was sitting nearby. "No one will tell me what it means. Even Yan is keeping his lips sealed."
"What on earth did you do to deserve that?"
Calian chuckled softly. "Well, the things I do wrong aren't just one or two."
Demirea swallowed the last of her tea and set down her cup. Then, she replied in a quiet voice, "Just try to live more carefully, so you don't have to hear it again."
With that, she stood, offered her respects, and walked out, leaving without ever telling him what Hina's sign meant.
"What on earth does it mean that even Demirea won't tell me?"
Calian's curiosity only grew.
*
After Demirea left, Calian remained seated for the better part of the day. Her advice to "live more carefully" had tangled with Franz's words from that morning, but it was also partly because he simply had nothing else to do. He couldn't go to the training ground, visit the Wilhelm Pavilion where Valkan was, or even go for a walk.
Besides, live more carefully?
"…As if they know anything."
As he sat slumped in his chair, muttering to himself, Yan approached, sat across from him, and set down a cup of chilled mint tea. It was his second cup of the day. Unless specifically requested, Yan never served the same tea twice, but Calian picked it up and brought it to his lips without a word.
"You always ask for mint tea when you're deep in thought."
Calian smiled faintly and thanked him.
"I told Count Manasil that you would likely keep going up to the fourth floor for meals," Yan said.
Calian's eyes widened. "You told him that?"
"Yes. I told him that since you were going to move around anyway, he might as well let you do it comfortably. Count Manasil will handle getting permission from His Majesty, so starting tomorrow, you should be able to move freely within Chermil Palace. You won't have to take dangerous routes to the fourth floor, nor will you have to sit around wallowing in boredom."
"I see."
Calian was about to express his gratitude for Yan's thoughtfulness, but Yan spoke first.
"So, please don't do that."
Sign language can be seen from a distance. When Yan had gone outside to return Raven after his exercise, he had seen Hina's gestures. Setting aside her light-blue ice cream, Hina's hands had moved rapidly, and while it was difficult for Yan to catch everything, he understood the gist of what she was saying.
And once he understood, he was reminded of his older brother, who had gathered all his belongings and burned them exactly one week before he stopped breathing.
"A void is only there because you once lived. How can you erase that? So please, instead of worrying about leaving an empty space, just live."
Pausing for a moment, Yan looked out the window before his gaze returned to Calian. It drifted to the mint tea, then back to the prince's face.
A voice that stood in stark contrast to the refreshing scent of mint drifted through the room.
"Please… don't make me go through that again."
The reassurances he could have offered—that he was only preparing for the worst, that he wasn't planning to die just yet, that he, too, wanted to live—went unsaid.
"Alright. I understand." Instead of all that, Calian simply smiled.
He felt that with hands like these holding him back, he couldn't die even if he wanted to.