Chapter 203: Because I Can't Lie (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 203: Because I Can't Lie (3)
The command to bow and show respect.
Upon hearing those words, the nobles’ minds turned to others—friends, family, or their grown children. The one thing these people had in common was their absence from the banquet. A pang of regret struck the nobles that their loved ones couldn't witness the thrilling spectacle unfolding before their very eyes. They immediately began plotting how best to relay the story, to make it sound as vivid as possible.
Whether they sided with Evan or not, the first thought that crossed their minds was a quintessentially noble one.
‘What on earth was said in that brief moment for the Prince to say such a thing?’
Prince Calian and Marquis Evan Brissen. Hadn’t they once joined forces to oust Silike? To the nobles, Calian had seemed to be on excellent terms with Franz until just moments ago. What kind of conversation could have possibly transpired between Calian and Evan for the prince to demand the marquis show him respect?
‘Still, to a Marquis… isn’t that far too arrogant?’
At the end of these musings, the nobles on Evan’s side had another thought.
Although Evan was a marquis, a rank below a prince, he was one of the three most powerful figures in the hall. A prince commanding such a man to bow was more than just an entertaining spectacle.
‘What if I were in his shoes?’
They imagined how they would react if a prince who had yet to even become Crown Prince spoke to them in such a manner. And another thought followed.
‘If Prince Calian ascends the throne, won’t things get even worse?’
If a prince who dared to speak to a marquis like that were to take the throne, how would he treat nobles of a much lower rank? Anxiety and resentment began to brew.
“Marquis Brissen.”
Calian called out to Evan once more, his voice cutting through a silence so profound one could almost hear the frantic shifting of countless eyes.
Out of the corner of his eye, Calian saw Lennon standing in the distance, desperately trying to comprehend the situation.
This whole thing had become quite a nuisance. He had gone to the trouble of quietly tucking Lennon away, only for the boy to be dragged back out. Now, he would have to sweep him aside once more.
Annoyed, Calian’s smile deepened. Conversely, Evan’s brow furrowed even further.
‘He’s smiling?’
Evan had been constantly bothered by the absence of Calian’s Aura, but now even that concern vanished. His only desire was to gouge out those blood-red eyes. If he had offered even a passing nod earlier, he could have used it as an excuse, but thinking back, he truly hadn’t greeted the prince. Yet if he bowed his head now, as Calian demanded, too many nobles would take it as a signal to abandon House Brissen.
Suppressing the killing intent that threatened to flare, Evan desperately tried to calm his boiling rage. He forced his mind to work, frantically calculating the best way to handle the situation. He could not, under any circumstances, lose his temper. If even a shred of killing intent slipped out, it would be the end of him. The problem wasn’t just Calian; the knights of Kaera guarding King Lemain would notice instantly, and then Lemain himself…
‘Wait. Lemain is here.’
The Prince was daring to demand respect from a noble right in front of the King.
‘Unless he completely disregards Lemain, how can a mere prince tell me whether to show respect or not?’
Having found a clever way out, the deep furrows on Evan’s brow smoothed out conspicuously.
As if he had been waiting for Evan to finish his petty calculations, Calian slowly wiped the flawless smile from his face. He shifted his body slightly, positioning himself so that King Lemain was just a short distance behind him. Then, in a voice so clear and stern that everyone in the silent Siegfried Hall could hear, he spoke.
“Must I teach you how to show respect to His Majesty as well? Has House Brissen decided to abandon even its basic reverence for the King?”
He was like a cat watching a mouse scurry for an escape route. A cat that had left a single exit open, amused to see how quickly its prey would find it, only to leisurely place its paw right in front of the newfound escape, letting out a satisfied purr.
Grit!
The grating sound of Evan grinding his teeth reached Calian’s ears, but he merely stared back, the picture of a man who had heard nothing.
Calian had provoked him, speaking down to him without a shred of respect for his title. He had clearly implied that Evan should bow to him. He had acted with supreme arrogance, as if Lemain didn’t matter and Evan should kneel before him alone.
And yet, now he was using Lemain as a shield.
He was demanding respect not for himself, but for the King.
‘Why isn’t Franz here at a time like this!’
Franz, who should have been here to take his side, was absent. And Lemain remained silent, quietly observing the exchange with a completely expressionless face.
There was no reason for Lemain to intervene. A prince was reprimanding a noble for failing to show respect to the King; the King had no reason to stop him. Lemain surely knew that staying out of it was the wisest course. He also likely knew this wasn't truly about him, which was why he remained silent even as Calian stood between them, demanding a bow.
‘There is no way out.’
Once the King was brought into it, Evan had no escape. The nobles, who had briefly questioned Calian’s arrogance, now wore expressions of understanding. If the Prince was angry because the Marquis had disrespected the King, who could possibly argue?
Ultimately, Evan turned toward Lemain. Then, slowly, he bowed.
“Though late… I offer my greetings… to Your Majesty.”
Lemain gave a silent nod.
Having blocked the single escape route he had left open, Calian, who received Evan’s bow alongside the King, curled his fingers in satisfaction.
Once again, he smiled with his fingertips.
Slowly straightening, Evan turned his head toward Calian. His eyes, a deeper green than Franz’s, glared into blood-red depths filled with a predator’s satisfaction.
Meeting his gaze, Calian’s lips curved into a soft smile. With the gentle benevolence of a ruler, he spoke slowly.
“There is no need to greet me separately. You may return to your seat, Marquis.”
His voice was filled with the generous heart of a royal who, despite his humble bloodline, was more noble and benevolent than anyone.
*
Staring at the hand glowing with a bright blue light, Kyrie spoke quietly.
“Don’t do it.”
Kyrie was tense. He had no idea what would happen if the ice mage before him lost his mind, nor was he sure he could stop him.
“Why…” Arsen began, meeting Kyrie’s gaze with a chilly look. A voice thick with suppressed emotion slipped through his parted lips. “Why should I hold back?”
“Yes, you have a reason,” Kyrie said with a low sigh. In truth, he was holding back his own urge to storm out, which was why his face looked so irritated. “Fried chicken doesn’t taste good when it’s frozen.”
With that, he slid the plate Arsen was about to freeze far out of reach.
Having rescued the freshly fried, steaming, golden-brown chicken and placed it safely away from the two plates already filled with rock-solid frozen pieces, Kyrie spoke again.
“If you freeze it one more time, I’m leaving.”
“Ah, that won’t do. Drinking alone is boring.”
If he thought drinking alone was boring, he shouldn’t have frozen the chicken. He should have stopped at three glasses of beer. But no, he’d made some baseless claim that his condition was fine and only his mood was bad, then promptly ordered another.
If Kyrie was at fault for anything, it was for only now learning Arsen’s limit for beer, and for discovering that Arsen really, really liked hot fried chicken—which, apparently, looked very pretty when frozen.
Unaware of Kyrie’s sorrowful thoughts, Arsen gulped down his fourth glass and spoke again.
“You know, Sir Bern…”
“You’ve already said six times how nice it would be to stand by Prince Calian’s side in your white robe on a day like this.” So shut up before I actually snap your neck.
At those words, delivered through gritted teeth and loaded with that exact meaning, Arsen just grinned and shook his head.
“No, no. That’s not what I mean. You see, Sir Bern…”
Kyrie clenched his fists. If not for Calian’s advice—“Try to get along with him. He takes care of his own business without much supervision and isn’t actually that crazy when you get to know him”—Kyrie would have neatly snapped that neck long ago.
Realizing only now that “not that crazy” was strictly from Calian’s perspective, Kyrie nodded in resignation, a sign for Arsen to just say whatever he wanted.
“I am the Vice-Commander of Valkan, Sir Bern. If someone like me had been by the Prince’s side today, we wouldn’t have to worry about that marquis fellow—who looks like a half-chewed mugwort bread—climbing all over our Prince, would we? So, Sir Bern, the reason I endure sharing an office with the Prince, who is the Vice-Commander, and serving under the Commander who only uses pretty words in front of our Prince, swallowing all my sorrow… isn’t it all so I can stand right next to our Prince on a day like today?”
Do you have any idea that because of you, I can’t stand by the Prince’s side either and am stuck here guarding fried chicken?
Wearing that exact expression, Kyrie finally raised his hand. He’d already heard that rant four times; it was time to put him to sleep. Surely he had fulfilled his duty as a drinking companion.
But Arsen opened his mouth again. “My master used to say, Sir Bern, that a mage just needs to follow someone slightly crazier than themselves. I thought about it carefully, and I really think I found the right person, Sir Bern. But I can’t just follow him as I please. And yet, the Prince who is the Vice-Commander tells me to go back to our Prince, so I can’t help but wonder what on earth is going on, Sir Bern.”
In other words, he wanted nothing more than to follow Calian, but couldn't because of Calian's concern for Franz. Meanwhile, Franz was trying to send him back to Calian, leaving Arsen frustrated and upset.
“So, I’ve been thinking, Sir Bern.” Arsen flashed a good-natured smile. “I think I should go to the Marquis’s mansion today and…”
Thwack!
Ah, it really couldn’t be helped.
He had no idea what the Valkan Vice-Commander planned to do at the Marquis’s mansion, but it was clearly something terrifying. What else could he do when this was the only way to shut him up?
After confirming that Arsen, struck on the back of the neck, was soundly knocked out, Kyrie picked up a piece of slightly cooled chicken and spoke calmly.
“Just go to sleep.”
If he’d put a bit more force into it than necessary, it was purely an accident. There was nothing to be done about that.
At least his neck didn’t snap.
*
She was, in herself, Calian’s very life.
Her smile, warmer than sunlight, put his mind at ease, and the warmth of her tiny fingertips seemed to melt his frozen heart. Hina’s mere existence was a precious gift, the very reason Calian had to keep breathing.
But what on earth is that cloak, so clearly folded by our precious Hina? That cute, rolled-up shape, folded at a perfect angle without a single loose thread, is unmistakably her handiwork. Why did our Hina have to fold your cloak, which looks like something Raven would love to chew on? And come to think of it, do you know that starting today, you and I are temporarily the same age? I really shouldn’t let you off easy this time.
He barely, barely managed to suppress the urge to say all of that. He didn’t challenge him to a duel, nor did he swear.
“Blue stars are falling,” Calian said, feeling briefly proud of himself for all he had endured today.
He had come to Wilhelm Hall to see Arsen, but instead of the mage, a single pea that looked like it had been boiled for two days was standing by the window. Calian had simply sat on the sofa, staring at the cloak on the opposite couch, before suddenly speaking his mind.
Just because.
He thought of a child who truly deserved to be congratulated.
He thought of the day that truly deserved to be celebrated.
Just because of that.
“Though it is a very brief time, there is a day more beautiful than any other in the world. Sometimes it comes, and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes you receive congratulations, and sometimes you don’t. That’s how it was.”
Though it was as abrupt as ever, Franz knew of Serenti’s Time. He understood what Calian meant. He quietly turned to look at the person sitting behind him, wondering what guise his brother was wearing to speak such words.
“Waking up in the morning like this, receiving red flowers, congratulations, and celebratory drinks… Welcoming a day like this feels a little strange, and somehow undeserved.”
Hearing this, Franz silently put on the jacket hanging on the coat rack. He had left all other complicated matters aside, but he couldn’t walk out of Wilhelm Hall in just his shirt while nobles were still wandering about.
Then, he spoke briefly to his younger brother, who occasionally said things that made him feel not just an age gap, but a generational one.
“I’m hungry.”
At the suggestion to stop talking nonsense and eat, Calian grinned and stood up.
“Yes.”
*
Wake up, my lovely child.
A blue star has bloomed in the night sky.
Since you were born on such a beautiful day,
You, and you alone, are special.
Look how so many stars rejoice for your birthday, which remains nowhere else.