Chapter 141: The Cornerstone of Understanding (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 141: The Cornerstone of Understanding (8)
Barely acknowledging the greetings of the passing servants, Calian walked with a swift yet perfectly composed stride. He paused upon entering the annex of Rubia Hall.
With every step, his swirling thoughts grew heavier, forcing him to stop and press a hand to his forehead. He was glad he had left Yan behind to wait in the main building.
He was trapped—his head spun when he tried to move, and his feet wouldn't budge when he tried to think.
He had laid down all the burdens he carried in front of the spruce tree.
The memory left him just as breathless now as the act had then. He was just so incredibly sorry.
Get a grip.
Only yesterday, he had told the original Calian, I want to live, too. Now, as if in response—as if challenging him to go on and try—another daunting task had been piled onto his shoulders.
The red power Randel possessed—he had to find out what it was. He had to make Randel talk, to obtain the missing pieces of the puzzle. But to do that, he had to break the binding of the Seal of Oath. His thoughts were a tangled mess he couldn't begin to unravel. That was why he had come here.
To Chase.
"Ha."
He had to see him.
If he was being challenged to survive, then survive he would.
Lowering his hand from his forehead, Calian resumed his walk. Without pausing again, he made his way directly to the room where Chase was staying.
No one was guarding the door. Sir Teilan was either inside or away. Taking another deep breath, Calian raised his pale hand. He was about to do something he hadn't done once since waking in this body: knock.
"Come in."
But before his fingertips could touch the wood, a voice drifted from within.
"Prince Calian."
He had been waiting for him this time, too.
A soft, self-deprecating chuckle escaped him. He didn't even need to ask for permission. Taking a shallow breath, Calian opened the door.
With a quiet click, the door opened and closed behind him.
Sir Teilan was not inside; Chase was alone. The realization made Calian speak before he could stop himself.
"Why did you dismiss your guard?"
He had only encountered palace staff on his way here. Even if Chase was the only guest in the annex, it was far too dangerous for him to be left completely unattended.
Standing by the window, Chase offered a calm smile. He had likely watched Calian approach from there.
"It's fine."
Chase gestured toward a chair. Only then did Calian realize he had spoken first, completely bypassing the formal etiquette owed to a crown prince, and he hesitated. As if reading his mind, Chase smiled again.
"That's fine as well. Please, have a seat."
Instead of apologizing, Calian gave a slight nod and took a seat. Chase watched his back for a moment before bringing over two cups of coffee and setting them on the table.
Coffee.
A faint smile touched Calian's lips.
Bern had loved coffee. Chase had never cared for it. The original Calian had actively avoided it.
The irony of it all was almost amusing.
"Thank you."
Without another word, Calian took a sip of the fragrant coffee—a drink that neither of the souls currently occupying their bodies actually favored. Chase watched him quietly before speaking.
"I wasn't sure if it was wise to offer you coffee when you haven't fully recovered, but I couldn't think of anything else."
Chase made no effort to hide his memories of Bern. He knew that being open about it would make things easier for Calian.
Calian nodded slowly.
"There were no major complications. I'm fully recovered now, so you don't need to worry."
He set his cup down, stared at it for a moment, and then spoke.
"Thank you for the tangerines. I enjoyed them."
He deliberately omitted any thanks for Chase's help during the ambush. Operating Secritian spies in Kairis and sending Sir Teilan to his side were dangerous acts. If Calian thanked him, Chase might act just as recklessly the next time.
So, he only thanked him for the tangerines, which had been so sour most people wouldn't have dared to eat them.
Chase nodded.
He understood everything Calian meant, both spoken and unspoken.
Come to think of it… he probably hates sour things.
The realization suddenly struck Calian.
Franz had eaten those tangerines that day.
Amused by the memory, Calian looked up at Chase.
"I came because there is something I need to know."
"Yes. Tell me."
Calian began to speak of Randel. He laid out everything before Chase, including the conversation they had just shared in the garden.
"I don't know much about Tensil. I was hoping you, Crown Prince Chase, might remember something about it."
Chase listened in silence, nodding slowly when Calian finished.
"I have no information on what that organization is. I can't determine if it existed in the past or if this is a change to the future."
Calian had already suspected as much.
Unless Franz's or Arsen's memories returned, even Chase would have no way of knowing. If his birds could have gathered such information, he would have known about it in the past.
"However, regarding Tensil…" Chase paused, searching his memory. Since it wasn't something he had experienced firsthand, it took him a moment to recall the details. "I do know how Prince Randel became its king, and what became of him."
"You mean the accident with the broken carriage axle."
Chase smiled faintly at his response. He had asked Alan to pass the information along, but it seemed Calian hadn't heard it from him yet.
However, Chase didn't mention that Alan had withheld the information. He assumed Alan either hadn't had the chance to meet Calian or had a good reason for keeping it to himself.
Chase began his explanation.
"I don't believe it was an accident."
Clack.
Calian, who had been reaching for his coffee, set the cup back down. He lowered his eyes in silence. Seeing his old habit resurface, a faint smile touched Chase's eyes, and he fell silent, giving him time to think.
His reason for sharing this was simple.
He wanted to warn Calian to be cautious. Randel had not merely been keeping his head down before fleeing to Tensil.
After a long silence, Calian spoke.
"Do you happen to know when that event took place?"
Chase nodded, his response again slightly delayed.
"September of next year. I don't know the exact date."
Franz was slated to become Crown Prince in November of next year, following his eighteenth birthday. Six years after that, their father would die under mysterious circumstances, and Franz would ascend the throne.
Calian weighed the timeline.
"Even if Brother Randel had remained, the position of Crown Prince would have naturally gone to Brother Franz. Silike controlled the forces inside the palace, Marquis Brissen held the military power outside, Lennon dominated the commercial sector, and the major Margraves were united under Gray."
Furthermore, the region Gray defended bordered Tensil. This meant that even if something were to happen to Randel, Tensil would not be able to send immediate military aid. Gray would block them.
Thus, Randel could never have become the Crown Prince of Kairis.
"In that case, Brother Randel… either he wanted to become the king of Tensil himself, or the person he shared the Seal of Oath with desired it. Or…"
"Or he simply wished to survive."
Calian nodded slowly.
"Brother Randel has hinted at his desire to become king before."
He had demonstrated that ambition through the metaphor of climbing two or three steps at a time. He certainly wasn't devoid of royal ambition.
"But that's an option available to the current Brother Randel, who is operating under the assumption that he can use me. In the past, he would have abandoned any hope of ascending the throne long ago. He would have known it was impossible as long as the Brissen family stood."
"Yes. I believe your assessment is correct, Prince Calian."
"I recall that relations between Kairis and Tensil were relatively stable after Brother Randel's ascension. Because of that, I assumed he was ignorant of how Former Queen Aisha died. But contrary to my expectations, he knew exactly how she met her end. He likely knew in the past, too."
Randel already possessed this knowledge, and Calian's regression had changed nothing in that regard. The Randel of the past must have also known that Silike had murdered Aisha.
"Brother Randel is emotional enough to bind himself to a Seal of Oath to get what he wants, yet he is also fiercely rational. It seems highly unlikely that someone like him would maintain amicable relations with Kairis while knowing they were responsible for Former Queen Aisha's death."
Calian looked at Chase as if seeking his opinion, but Chase remained silent. Calian continued.
"Knowing he couldn't exact revenge on Kairis even as the king of Tensil, would Brother Randel really have gone all that way just to claim a throne? Did he simply desire to be a 'king,' regardless of the nation? My conclusion is no. He's not the type of person to orchestrate such a plot merely for a crown. Realistically, it would have been impossible for him to pull off anyway."
Although his predictions regarding Randel had missed the mark once before, Calian was confident this time.
Randel was the type to bide his time in Kairis until the bitter end, waiting for a chance to plunge a blade into Franz's heart. He was not someone who would covet the throne of a weak nation and plot the assassination of Tensil's king. Even if he had, who would have traveled all the way to Tensil to execute such a plan on his behalf? He doubted such an ally existed.
As his thoughts reached this point, Calian suddenly looked up at Chase, realization dawning on his face.
"But why are you so certain it wasn't an accident?"
"Because every single bird I sent to investigate the matter died."
Naturally, this was something Bern had never known.
Chase had always been the one managing intelligence on Tensil.
After sitting in silence for a moment, Calian spoke.
"To break a Seal of Oath, the other party to the contract must disappear."
"Yes. I am aware."
The moment Silike died, Calian had felt the constriction around his heart vanish. That was the only way to escape the Seal of Oath. Thus, Calian was left with only two choices.
"I must either hunt down and kill everyone bound to that Seal of Oath or give up on ever hearing Brother Randel's secrets. It comes down to one of those two options."
"There is likely a faction opposing the current King of Tensil. Someone who lured Prince Randel in with promises of helping him exact revenge on Kairis, intending to use him as a puppet once he ascended Tensil's throne. Much like the Brissen family here in Kairis."
Chase opened the drawer of the side table and pulled out a thick stack of papers, handing them to Calian.
The handwriting was clean and unpretentious, yet possessed a remarkable, flowing elegance.
It was written by Chase's own hand.
"Unlike Kairis, the political factions in Tensil are highly fragmented. Use this as a reference if you need to."
Calian flipped through the pages, his brow furrowing.
It was a detailed record of the noble factions that had vanished one by one following Randel's coronation.
Calian murmured softly.
"…Pruning."
Randel had fled to Tensil alone, yet he had ascended the throne almost immediately and systematically purged the nobility.
"Which means someone was backing him."
"Either the party bound to the Seal of Oath aided him, or Randel allied with a new faction to eliminate them. It must be one of the two."
Looking like a man who had just been handed a brand-new puzzle, Calian spoke.
"Thank you."
Chase watched him quietly before speaking.
"I will be returning tomorrow."
He had confirmed what he came to confirm and had offered what help he could. There was no longer any reason for him to remain.
Nor was it a luxury he could afford.
Calian fell silent at the sudden, deceptively casual announcement. Watching him, Chase spoke again.
"I plan to gather mages early next year as well."
The sudden news of his departure was surprising enough, but this was even more unexpected. The Chase Calian knew would never have made such a move.
Chase offered a gentle smile.
"Someone paid me a visit earlier and spent quite some time nagging me not to pile any more burdens onto you. I take it you were unaware, Prince Calian?"
Calian let out a soft, "Ah."
Who else could it be but Franz?
Calian chuckled, unable to picture Franz nagging anyone for 'quite some time.' Chase's voice softened as he addressed him.
"Prince Calian. If, by some chance, history repeats itself… you do not have to protect Secritia."
Calian did not answer.
"You have already done more than enough."
It was an absolution for Bern, granted by the man who had been both his brother and his king.