Chapter 182: My Person (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 182: My Person (4)
Arsen didn't trust people easily.
Therefore, he didn't believe Calian and Franz for a second when they claimed they knew how to bandage wounds. In fact, no one in the world would believe them. Royalty, who relied on servants and maids for something as simple as changing their clothes, wrapping bandages?
Even if he bent over backward to believe Franz, his doubts wouldn't vanish. Learning how to do something, being able to do it, and being skilled at it were entirely different matters.
"Is that so?"
That was why Arsen replied as he did.
He understood that Franz's absurdly shameless lie wasn't meant to be believed. Franz was simply giving Arsen a pretext to drop his own suspicions. It was a clear signal: Calian was hiding something, Franz knew what it was, and Arsen should just play along and let it go.
"I understand."
In truth, Arsen had sensed for a long time that Calian was no ordinary person. He didn't know the reason, but since he was being told to let it go, he had no choice but to comply. He simply had to trust that Calian would tell him when the time was right.
"Then, may I ask one more thing?"
"What now?"
Since Arsen was asking another question despite clearly understanding the situation, Franz replied without hiding his annoyance. Arsen looked ready to pass out at any moment, but his mouth, which refused to stay shut, opened once more.
"That robe… why are you holding it, Vice-Commander?"
As he spoke, Arsen’s gaze drifted to the white robe in the prince’s hand. Franz had run into Arsen right after getting out of the carriage, before he’d had a chance to return it to Hina.
Franz stared at Arsen for a moment before speaking.
"Do I have to explain myself, mage?"
"I'm just curious, Vice-Commander."
He should have been too injured to speak, yet he babbled on so casually.
A flicker of irritation crossed Franz's face again. He knew the title 'Vice-Commander' wasn't being used out of goodwill. He didn't want to waste his energy explaining himself or correcting the title, so Franz simply walked over to a nearby sofa, crossed his legs, and sat down.
He had to suppress the urge to learn spells like Silent, Clean, or Sleep—and the idle thought of whether he could even cast them.
Besides, he had been told not to fight.
Knock, knock.
Right on cue, Hina entered after a soft knock.
Watching Hina patter over to check Arsen's wounds again, Franz shifted his gaze to the robe resting on his lap. It was a thoughtless action. He had been told Arsen's shoulder was fine and the bleeding had stopped; he had nothing left to do here.
That was why he found himself examining the white embroidery again, noting the number of Lariciums and the shape of the flowers. The room was much brighter than the carriage had been.
And that was why he saw it.
‘Bern.’
Tucked away, almost invisibly small among the white flowers embroidered where a name should be, a word caught his eye.
"Sir Bern. I'm sorry for making you come out at this hour. Your brother must have been worried."
Arsen's voice drifted over just then.
Like the mages of Valkan, Hina was addressed as 'Sir' now that she was a member. Franz was aware of this.
The problem lay elsewhere.
"Come to think of it, since you both share the name Bern, it's hard to tell you apart. When I meet your brother, I should ask if I can call him Kyrie."
Servants and maids in the royal palace didn't use their last names. Often, even their given names weren't their real ones.
Furthermore, it had been Alan and Arsen who brought Hina into Valkan. Franz had been too preoccupied with the knight order to pay attention to such details. Therefore, Franz hadn't known that his younger brother's servant and maid were siblings who shared a last name, nor had he known what that last name was. No one had told him, and he’d had no reason to find out.
‘Bern.’
Letting Arsen's words wash over him, Franz repeated the name embroidered in white thread in his mind.
‘It felt familiar.’
It was definitely familiar, yet he couldn't place it.
—No matter the reason, the Franz of that day can never be forgiven by—
It was what Chase had said, telling him to help instead of trying to pay him back.
Even though he had promised to take those words to heart.
*
As always.
"You were out here?"
Calian said nothing more. It was somewhat unexpected that Franz had come all the way out of the palace, but it wasn't particularly surprising.
Alan and Euria had decided to check the forest perimeter one more time. Having slipped out of the palace in the middle of the night, Calian couldn't afford to be gone for long, so he had returned first.
And so, just as Calian arrived at the teleportation circle, he ran into Franz, who was stepping out after having tended to Arsen's wound.
Franz merely nodded at Calian's brief greeting. No words of gratitude, no other conversation. As always.
"Let's return to the palace."
Calian walked ahead, then burst into laughter when he saw the carriage parked outside the teleportation circle.
A black mother-of-pearl carriage.
There was only one such carriage in all of Kairis. Naturally, Franz couldn't have gotten permission to borrow it beforehand, which meant he had taken Alan's carriage without asking.
"You did well."
Calian stopped laughing and looked at Franz.
Franz knew his own life wasn't entirely safe. In a situation where he couldn't bring guards or use a royal carriage, what could be safer than Alan's? Taking it had been the most appropriate choice he could have made.
Despite Calian's praise, Franz remained silent. Chuckling at his reaction, Calian helped Hina and Arsen into the carriage. Then, he handed Franz the reins of the horse Arsen had been riding. The spare horse meant he was expected to ride back.
"Or you can ride in the carriage if you prefer."
Since Arsen needed continued treatment, there was no reason for Franz to be in the carriage with him. He accepted the reins without objection. Calian's eyes lingered for a moment on Hina's robe, still in Franz's hand, but he said nothing.
Seated on the incredibly comfortable sofa inside the magnificent carriage, Arsen fell asleep almost instantly. Perhaps his tension had dissolved upon seeing Calian, but he couldn't even manage a greeting before drifting off. It was hard to tell whether he had fallen asleep or fainted, but Calian merely let out a short sigh instead of worrying. Arsen was with Hina, and he had been assured he would be fine.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
Soon, the carriage and the two horses set off toward the palace.
Although the bleeding had been stopped, the treatment was far from over. They needed to return as quickly as possible, and the sound of hooves was loud once again.
As Franz listened quietly to the sound, Calian spoke.
"You didn't have to come out. You must be tired."
He said it casually, despite having accepted Franz's presence without question just moments before.
Hearing that he must be tired, Franz's expression soured. He knew Calian was treating him like a delicate greenhouse plant.
"I'm not tired."
Still, he couldn't bring himself to snap at his younger brother, who had returned reeking of blood. So, he gave a brief reply.
"And you?" Franz asked.
He was asking if Calian wasn't the one who was truly tired. It was likely the first time Franz had ever asked about someone else's well-being.
Whether he realized this or not, Calian simply shrugged.
"I'm fine."
"I see."
That was all.
They weren't close enough to ask what had happened or if anyone was hurt. Their brief exchange finished, the two rode their horses in silence behind the carriage.
Once again, clip-clop, clip-clop.
Only the steady sound of hooves echoed through the wide streets of Kairisis.
Then, out of nowhere, Franz spoke.
"Are they siblings?"
"Kyrie and Hina?"
Franz nodded.
"Yes. They are."
He knew Hina and Kyrie had entered the palace together and were close, but the bloodthirsty Kyrie and the gentle Hina were so different that he had never imagined they were related. Of course, Franz knew that the scar on Hina's ear and her healing abilities stemmed from her being a half-elf. That much was impossible to hide.
But Kyrie was different.
He hadn't suspected a thing. Now that he knew they were siblings, it seemed strange that he had never questioned why Kyrie's hearing was so exceptionally sharp. Perhaps it was because thinking of Kyrie brought other things to mind, making him avoid digging too deep.
It was hard to say.
"Is that why you…"
Franz was about to ask if Calian cared for Hina so much because she was Kyrie's sister, but he closed his mouth. He remembered that the reason Calian cherished Kyrie—and the reason Kyrie was wary of him—stemmed from something far from pleasant.
"Are they from Secritia?" he asked instead.
Calian stared at Franz for a moment. "Are you curious?"
"I'd rather not make assumptions."
Whether his curiosity was about Hina, Kyrie, or Calian himself, neither of them knew for sure. But what was certain was that, just like last time, Franz had voiced his question.
At that, Calian smiled.
"They were born and raised here."
Then, he cast Silent. He was about to speak of things that neither Arsen nor Hina should hear.
"There was an accident. Something that should never have happened, though even I don't know the full details. That's why only Kyrie came to Secritia."
Was this Bern's story?
Or was it Calian's?
A story about the Axis of Time, about the war, about countless deaths—Bern's story. Perhaps Calian didn't see it that way, or perhaps he considered it unrelated to the war. Either way, he was readily speaking of things Franz had thought he would never share again after that rainy day.
"I taught him the sword, and he learned well. We were very close, so he was the first person I looked for after I opened my eyes again. Hina was with him."
It was a disjointed story, weaving between the past and present.
Having already guessed a fair amount about Kyrie, Franz understood the fragmented words perfectly. He also understood why Calian cherished Hina so deeply.
"…I'm glad."
And so, he echoed the same words Calian had once said to him.
I'm glad.
He had already decided not to harbor any more guilt over what happened with Bern. He was simply glad that someone who knew of the scentless flower was still alive.
Of course, Calian would never know the exact meaning behind those words, but they were spoken with that sentiment.
"Yes. I am glad as well," Calian replied.
The name of someone who had to be forgotten. A name that could no longer be passed on by anyone else who remembered.
He smiled, thinking of Hina, who had inherited that name.
After all, wasn't she Hina, living in Bern's stead?
Could any life be more precious?
Calian smiled from the bottom of his heart, happy that there was now one more person who agreed.