Chapter 227: I've Tolerated Quite a Bit (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 227: I've Tolerated Quite a Bit (1)
There were times when Calian was present, but Yan was not.
While Yan’s absence could be for any number of reasons, those who found themselves facing Calian alone in such situations often ended up in a bind. And the reason for their predicament was always the same.
It was because Calian smiled.
More specifically, they could never decipher what his smile truly meant.
Without Yan to act as an interpreter, it was utterly impossible to tell whether Calian was smiling out of joy, anger, displeasure, or even pain.
But this time was different.
Hina may not have known, but Franz, at least, immediately understood why Calian had suddenly burst out laughing.
Right now, Calian was laughing because he felt as though he had just been completely blindsided.
“Ah… Hina. I see. So it was you. It was about you.”
Calian, who had been chuckling quietly with his face in his hands, finally spoke.
“You’re right. I’m sorry for treating you like someone weak, for trying to protect you on a whim, and for assuming you couldn’t do anything without me. I’m truly sorry. I won’t do that again.”
And just like that, he apologized for the first assumption he had made.
Franz, who felt much the same, gave a slight nod, a silent gesture of agreement with Calian’s apology. If one were to translate it into words, it would have been, “Me too.” Of course, Franz had never treated Hina like a child, but he had implicitly regarded her as a helpless person who needed protecting.
He now realized that, just as Hina had said, not knowing how to fight did not make her too weak to speak for herself.
“And… I misunderstood. I’m sorry for that too, Hina.”
After offering his second apology, Calian turned to Franz and laughed again.
Recognizing that this laugh held a different meaning from the last, Franz furrowed his brow. He had already caught on to the second reason for Calian’s amusement.
‘Our Hina called you a kid, brother.’
That was exactly what Calian was thinking.
To be precise, it was more along the lines of: ‘To our Hina—who is as comforting as a blanket dried in the spring sun and as peaceful as a winter night spent reading—you’re just a greenhorn left to mind the house, Franz.’ But since the sentiment was the same, the exact wording didn’t matter.
Who on earth called the person they fancied a “kid”? Especially when she was only a year younger than Franz. Franz figured that even Sispanian, who had lived since the dawn of time, would never have called Hatsuara—who was practically a newborn in comparison—a “kid.”
—Did you… misunderstand something?
“Yes. Something like that. Anyway, I’m sorry.”
With that, Calian let out another quiet chuckle.
From the very beginning, no one—not even Franz himself—had misunderstood Hina’s words. The only exception, of course, was her older brother, Kyrie. Kyrie was the type to deliberately cherry-pick details just to misunderstand the situation, so he had to be excluded from the equation entirely.
In any case, now that Calian knew exactly what Hina meant by “good prince,” he couldn’t stop laughing. He had, it should be noted, completely forgotten that he had been called the exact same thing.
“Stop it.”
Franz’s face tightened with irritation. Calian had no idea how many times he’d taken out his anger on others after jumping to his own conclusions. The apology should have been directed at him, not Hina. A dull ache throbbed in the back of his neck, reminiscent of Gray’s bad back on a cloudy day. He shot a glare at Calian before turning his gaze to Hina, not because he had anything to say, but to see if she would add anything else.
Barely managing to stifle his laughter at Franz’s command, Calian spoke to Hina.
“Right. I understand what you mean.”
He said he understood, but that didn't mean he was agreeing. At this, Hina pressed her lips together. With an air that suggested she was about to plant her hands on her hips right in front of the two princes, she began to move her hands.
—Promise… that you won’t… go.
At that, Calian shook his head.
As Hina’s expression turned stern, Calian spoke in a soothing tone.
“Hina. Could I make a different promise instead?”
Then, with an incredibly gentle expression, he continued in a pleading voice.
“I was planning to go. I was going to go no matter what. But since both my brother and you are trying so hard to stop me… I’ll promise you something else, Hina.”
Hina nodded, as if telling him to continue.
“I’ll try to find a way where none of us, including you, have to go to Secritia. If there really is no other way, then I’ll listen to you. I promise.”
Watching this, one corner of Franz’s mouth curled into a smirk.
Forget the cat box, forget the sour tangerines, forget the nightmares—none of it was necessary. He now realized that just having Hina around was enough to break his brother’s stubbornness so easily and swiftly.
From now on, if some hopeless situation arose, he wouldn’t need to tattle to Calian’s father. He could just tell Hina.
Unaware that his clever brother had just learned a valuable new lesson, Calian looked up at Hina, who was standing beside him.
“Hmm? Hina.”
Was there anyone else in Kairis who knew how to use their own face as a weapon better than Calian? If anyone could ignore him when he looked up with eyes as round and innocent as Raven’s, it would probably only be Demirea and Franz. The most susceptible to it, of course, was Alan.
—You’re not… lying, right?
“I can’t lie. You’d be shocked at how bad I am at it.”
Even Serenti is probably shocked day after day.
If she’d known I was someone who gets caught so easily, she never would have given me this task in the first place. That’s a bit of a shame.
—Okay. I’ll trust you.
Since Calian wasn’t technically lying, Hina nodded, having received the answer she wanted.
After all, Calian might not be able to lie, but he was an excellent actor.
As Calian smiled brightly in gratitude, Franz was the only one left feeling anxious, unable to fathom what kind of scheme was brewing inside that head of his.
* * *
Once again, Calian did not contact him first.
No, he couldn’t.
—I was curious, and naturally, a bit worried.
So, Chase had no choice but to contact him first to ask about the situation.
—The more I try not to cause concern, the more everyone worries. I really don’t know what to do.
The only worry he enjoyed receiving was Yan’s; Chase’s concern only made him feel apologetic. That was why Calian replied as he did. Just as Hina had said, if he truly did nothing and stayed put, no one would worry, but that was simply not an option.
—I am fine.
Therefore, he had to find a way to keep Hina, Chase, and now the boiled pea—who had recently taken to hovering around him at every turn—from worrying. While he was racking his brain, Chase’s voice over the connection was a welcome sound.
The rain in Kairis was fierce and unavoidable, always soaking one’s clothes. But Chase’s voice was like a sweet, gentle rain—welcome, anticipated, and always missed.
—Arianne says she will never believe me again when I say I am fine. I suspect I should take Prince Calian’s words with a grain of salt as well. What do you think?
—This time, I really am fine. I’ve become fine. Because there are people who stop me and keep me grounded.
I’ve become fine, but because of me, someone else was caught in an unexpected downpour. I feel sorry for that.
It was an apology he could never convey to Franz. An apology for making him remember what he had forgotten and for making him realize things he didn’t need to know. Since he couldn’t speak of this to Chase either, he kept the thoughts to himself.
Because I didn’t know that sword carried such a meaning.
—It seems I am the only one who has become fine. Only me.
Because he had learned what he shouldn’t have, the already boiled pea had been soaked again, and Chase, too, was wandering between dreams and nightmarish realities.
—It does not matter. I am fine.
Chase, who had picked up on the part of the hidden meaning that pertained to him, replied. Then, as if to change the subject, he immediately brought up something else.
—Since we couldn’t finish our conversation yesterday, I contacted you to see if you had any further questions. The timing isn’t ideal, and I have my own schedule to keep today as well.
It was a strange thing to say—contacting him just to ask if he had questions—but Calian didn’t laugh. He knew that if Chase didn’t frame it this way, Calian would never bring himself to ask anything first.
—If there is anything left to discuss, please speak, Prince Calian.
The previous day, their conversation in the forest had been cut short by Franz’s arrival. Since then, Calian had met with Gray, had another confrontation with Franz, and spoken with Hina. His time had been divided so finely that he hadn’t been able to resume the conversation until now.
“Meow.”
When he reached out to Lucy, who had padded over to his feet, she rubbed her head against his hand. How could a cat love people this much?
He stroked her small, round, surprisingly firm head a few times, but she didn’t seem particularly pleased. Letting out a dissatisfied cry, she trotted over to the dry, aloof figure sitting across from him.
—Yes. Actually, there was one thing I wanted to tell you.
Watching Franz—who sat with his eyes closed, so still it was hard to tell if he was asleep or dead—stroke Lucy as she climbed onto his lap, Calian stood up while replying to Chase.
His brother seemed to have a lot on his mind, and since Calian needed to have a private conversation, he planned to head downstairs.
“Just stay.”
But then, Franz spoke.
Calian looked at Franz with a startled expression, much like the day he had returned from Roselita and heard him say, “Welcome back.”
He really must have eaten something that didn’t agree with him.
There’s no other explanation. Why on earth is he telling me to stay instead of kicking me out?
“Rain.”
It was raining. Since Calian still had things to say to him later, Franz didn’t want him getting soaked going downstairs only to come right back up.
“Alright.”
Replying just as dryly, Calian sat back down. Then, he spoke to Chase.
—I don’t know if this is my place to interfere, but… I wanted to ask you not to pry into His Majesty, the King of Secritia, so carelessly. He is far more dangerous than you think, so you must not provoke him. For now, I need you to act as if you know nothing and behave exactly as you usually do.
There was no response for a long time.
Just as Calian, growing anxious at the prolonged silence, was about to call out his name, Chase’s voice came through.
—Actually, I have already pried once. I couldn’t tell whether he truly remembered or if he had reached that conclusion after hearing something from someone else, so I spoke with him to confirm it.
Chase and Franz had shared the same thought and had both probed Devlan. They had mentioned the name “Bern” to see if he remembered. Of course, Chase couldn’t tell Calian how he had done it, but since he had to share the results, he spoke while concealing the details of the conversation as much as possible.
—I confirmed that he does not remember. Nothing happened, so do not worry. It is fine.
—Don’t jump to conclusions so easily. Please, never do that. You must not trust things so easily. Just because nothing happened doesn’t mean you should let it slide.
Filled with worry, Calian delivered his warning in a rushed tone. Chase, recalling how Devlan’s eyes had clouded over before returning to normal, replied.
—Yes. I will not let my guard down. So do not worry about that either.
—But how did you confirm it? What kind of conversation did you have? I’m curious.
Of all things, Calian had to ask that.
He had asked simply because he was curious about how Chase had verified it—what kind of question he had used to probe Devlan’s inner thoughts.
—That is…
But Chase’s reply trailed off.
To Calian, it was just a casual question, but to Chase, it was a topic he wanted to avoid at all costs.
When no response came, Calian raised his head and looked at Franz. He addressed the prince, who still had his eyes slightly closed.
“Crown Prince Chase says he spoke with the King of Secritia to confirm whether he had regained his memories or had just heard rumors. He said he checked and confirmed the King doesn’t remember.”
Franz’s brow furrowed.
He knew what this was about. His expression made it clear that he knew but didn’t want Calian to find out.
Calian spoke in a quiet voice.
“What was it? The method.”
What had started as casual curiosity had now turned into suspicion.
The two of them were clearly hiding something. While their intentions were undoubtedly for his sake, if the opponent was Devlan, Calian needed to know.
—I would prefer if you let this pass without asking, Prince Calian.
Such was the reply that came from Chase.
“Don’t ask.”
Franz said the exact same thing, swallowing a string of curses directed at Chase, who was truly terrible at keeping secrets.
“Brother.”
Calian’s red eyes stared intently at Franz.
“Tell me. It’s fine.”
I can’t tell if those deep red eyes are truly red, or some other color, Franz suddenly found himself thinking.