Chapter 275: I Am Quite Good at Setting Traps (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 275: I Am Quite Good at Setting Traps (4)
The teacup made almost no sound as he set it down.
The habits of a servant, ingrained over many years, were not easily discarded, even in front of his only sister.
"The color is beautiful. The scent is lovely, too."
There was always a clear reason for such a comment after a sip of tea. Either the tea was truly exceptional, there was nothing else to say, or the real topic was too difficult to broach.
"It's evening primrose."
A flower that kept its petals tightly folded during the day, as if treasuring them, only to bloom under the moonlight. Yan simply nodded at the explanation that the tea was made from those tiny, bright yellow blossoms.
In truth, he already knew.
After all, wasn't Yan the one who prepared tea several times a day for Calian, who enjoyed it so much? Ever since the poisoned tea incident, Calian's tea had been prepared strictly by Yan's own hands. Though Yan didn't know the prince's elegant tea habit stemmed from quitting his beloved alcohol, every flower and fruit that could be dried, steeped, and drunk was neatly cataloged in his mind.
"It's been a while since I've had floral tea, though. His Highness enjoys tea, but he's been avoiding flower teas lately. He's just so fond of mint."
Now, Demirea was certain.
Yan had come with a topic that was difficult to bring up.
"Have you still not heard from Prince Calian?" she asked, deciding to break the ice first.
As soon as the words left her mouth, a heavy cloud of worry settled into his round, blue-gray eyes.
"Lea. I think the Prince has forgotten about me."
"Brother, I think he's more likely to forget the elves exist than to forget you."
"Prince Franz apparently told Relic everything, but our Prince just ran away. I checked, and he even took money from the safe before leaving, but he didn't say a word to me."
He clearly hadn't heard a single thing Demirea had just said.
Her fiancé had run away from home, yet it was her brother, not her, who was losing sleep over it. Accepting this absurd situation with calm resignation, Demirea took another sip of her tea. Then she picked up a few of the caramels Yan had brought and ate them.
She waited for the baby elephant in the room to quiet down—the one who had been whining for some time, fretting over what he would do if their flower-like prince got scratched somewhere, or if his fragile heart was hurt by some rude stranger's harsh words.
"He will return safely, so please don't worry too much."
It would be useless to point out that if the prince got scratched or heard harsh words, her brother would simply need to prepare an Annerusia flower for the offending party. So, she offered a simple reassurance and continued to eat caramels. She figured a sweet taste in her mouth would make his whining easier to bear.
Then again, the prince did have a history of slipping away only to return with a torn flank or a hole in his stomach, so Yan's anxiety wasn't entirely baseless.
"Still, I feel a bit better after talking to you," Yan said, his bout of worrying finally over.
"Did you not say these things to Sir Bern or the Second Prince's servant?"
"They refused to listen to me anymore."
"..."
Demirea let out a soft chuckle, imagining just how much they must have been tormented by his fretting.
"Ah, Lea. But I didn't come just to talk about the Prince."
Demirea looked at Yan, who pulled a letter from his breast pocket and handed it to her. Taking and unfolding it, her eyes fell upon handwriting so elegant it was hard to associate with the man who had penned it.
—To our beloved Young Duchess.
It was a letter from Suleiman.
Demirea folded the letter back up the moment she saw the first line.
"He sent this to the royal palace?"
"Not the palace. To Marquis Manasil's estate. He said you must write back."
"I'd rather he ask about my change of allegiance; at least then I'd have something to say," Demirea sighed. "He doesn't ask a single thing about my decision to help Prince Calian, yet he's curious about everything else, leaving me with nothing to write."
Suleiman had asked nothing about the matters involving Evan. The moment he entrusted her with the affairs of the capital, he had handed over all authority regarding her conduct there. Furthermore, since Demirea had not yet taken an official stance to 'support' Calian's ascension, he simply left her be.
—I heard a daughter has joined our family, but I cannot seem to recall her.
Instead, he was relentlessly curious about Ririe. He surely knew whose blood ran in Ririe's veins, yet rather than worrying, he was genuinely intrigued. When are you going to bring her to show me? Is she my daughter or your daughter? If she's my daughter, she becomes the younger sister of my puppy, Yan, which seems a bit strange, so I've been losing sleep trying to figure it out. By the way, does she need anything? Should I send clothes? Cookies? A tutor? And so on.
"Lea."
"Yes."
Yan called out to Demirea, who was skimming the letter filled with the same old questions. He glanced back and forth between her eyes and the paper in her hands.
The estate's butler, the knights Yuran and Ronansite, and even Arsen—everyone had been worried about Ririe. Expecting Yan to say the same, Demirea looked at him with a tired expression.
"Thank you," Yan said instead.
"Thank you for growing up to be someone who takes care of a young child without letting other things get in the way. Even though I've just been staying here all this time."
Setting aside Calian's position for a moment, he spoke simply as the eldest son of Siegfried, and as the older brother of Demirea—who had once been his younger sister—offering his heartfelt gratitude.
Demirea smiled silently and nodded. She decided she would write a reply: Ririe is not Father's daughter; I am just going to make her my younger sister, so you do not need to worry. She likes walnut and almond cookies, so please send some of those instead.
*
The path he had walked without forgetting for a single moment.
—Now, it is merely a story of the distant past.
The very path he had told another to put aside, yet had personally relived and engraved in his mind without pause.
At the words of the Mother Tree, who had laid out that path before his eyes and revealed a side of it he had never seen, Calian raised his head.
A quiet smile graced his lips. He could understand everything else, but the elves remained utterly incomprehensible. He could only laugh.
"If you're going to worry about me, you could at least do it a little more gently..."
The red gemstone dust floating in the sky trembled. Like sparks from a bonfire, they flickered into red embers and vanished one by one.
Sparks also drifted from the end of the long path Calian had walked. As if burning everything away, they rose from the distance, slowly but relentlessly, turning into tiny flames that ascended toward the sky.
The Bern of the past.
The Calian of the past.
All the painful things they could never forget rose up, one by one.
He looked back at the spire standing in the distance. He thought about climbing it, but decided against it.
He looked into the light green eyes of the person standing before him. He thought about speaking to them, but decided against it.
Knowing that they, too, were stories of the past that should now be left alone, he did not act. Instead, he watched as flames larger than any other rose silently from the spire and from before his very eyes.
Calian reached out once more.
He brushed his hand over Sinasta, which rested upon the remaining memories of the one who must be forgotten.
"You've... been through a lot."
He caressed the face of the now-vanished person one last time.
"You did well. You held on. Everything is fine now."
Even if it had been a tragedy.
Even if it was the final chapter that those who couldn't let go of their lingering regrets had failed to close.
Because it hadn't been entirely unhappy in the end. They had lived well.
"Bern."
He offered his consolation.
The flames became stars.
And left behind yet another star.
*
There was no explosion, nor was there any swordplay as feared.
Instead, unexpected news arrived.
"He left?"
"He went out of the city, into the forest. Just moments ago."
Franz closed his eyes briefly, then opened them.
"Stay close to the elf."
Hearing this, Needlen was about to ask if he meant, 'Take the squad and hang out nicely with Dame Hill until the Vice-Commander brings Prince Calian back,' but Franz had already strode out. Thus, Needlen assumed his interpretation was correct and began managing the squad accordingly. Which is to say, they started hanging out together. While drinking sparkling water.
Leaving the Valkan behind, Franz mounted his horse. He set off toward the forest where Calian was said to have gone.
Finding him wasn't difficult.
Boom!
He just had to follow the roaring sound.
The moment he crossed the boundary of the elven city, Franz entered the dense forest, taking a moment to adjust to the cooler air. As he turned his head to gauge Calian's direction, a loud crack echoed through the trees as if something had been violently struck.
Patting his horse, which merely pricked its ears without being startled, Franz approached the source of the sound.
There was a valley, likely the stream that fed the waterfall where they had seen the rainbow. Calian was sitting on a boulder by the water.
"What is it this time?"
Perhaps from spending so much time on sandy beaches, even a large boulder now looked like a simple chair to Franz. He sat down a short distance from Calian and asked the question.
"You've arrived."
Calian wasn't even surprised. He greeted him naturally, bowing his head as if he had known Franz would come, or perhaps had been waiting for him.
"I came out to check on something."
Glancing at the shattered rock fragments scattered in the distance, Franz furrowed his brow.
"Looks less like checking and more like venting."
"I don't have such violent habits."
With that, Calian stared at the flowing stream for a long while before speaking.
"Fathoming Sispanian's intentions was hard enough, but the Mother Tree is even worse."
"What did she say this time?"
"Are you worried?"
"No."
At the immediate reply, Calian nodded with a bright smile.
"First, I've finished talking with the Grand Elder. They agreed to stop whining about migrating to Secritia, and they will send a letter to Devlan stating that if he wants treatment, he must come directly to where the Grand Elder is. They promised to let me know when a reply arrives, so I think we can return to the palace for now."
Franz stared at Calian for a moment.
He was well aware that the title 'King of Secritia' had been subtly downgraded to just 'Devlan', but Calian simply pretended not to notice and continued.
"I heard the Mother Tree didn't open the Forest Path toward Bridget Forest, and somehow, I think that was because of me. By keeping the path closed, she ensured Devlan would demand negotiations with the elves over it, which ultimately forced me to come here. I didn't have a direct conversation with her, so I don't know if that was the real reason or if she saw some other causality, but that's the feeling I got."
Plop.
A small clump of aura dropped into the stream.
Because Franz hadn't looked away from Calian, he didn't see it happen, but Calian's voice continued.
"I asked her to open the Forest Path in time to evacuate the residents if Devlan ever causes trouble in that forest, and she agreed. That forest is a place I'm a bit concerned about, so I meddled a little."
"I see."
"And..."
Calian trailed off, holding out his palm.
Hum—
With a low vibration, a small sword of aura formed over his hand. Seeing it, Franz let out a smirk.
"I guess that chicken-eating elf wasn't wrong."
It seemed the Mother Tree, who was said to see through many things, had peered into Calian's very soul.
Floating before them was a transparent red sword that no longer evoked any unpleasantness, but rather brought to mind something other than death.
"Right."
Without asking what Calian had cast off to regain such a light, Franz simply nodded. He watched the light for a moment before Calian dispersed the sword.
"Is that why you came out?" Franz asked. "To check the change in your aura."
"No. This was just a bonus. I came out to check on something else."
"What kind of check?"
Calian grinned.
Then, pointing toward the area connected to the elven forest, he spoke.
"Elves are quite meticulous when it comes to settling debts. Even if it was just meddling from my perspective, they must have considered it help. They gave me a reward."
Franz stared at Calian.
Calian turned his torso slightly and reached down behind the boulder he was sitting on. Then, he lifted something and held it out to Franz.
"Since a star remained where everything else vanished, I decided to accept it."
In Calian's hand was a cold, silver sword that seemed to shimmer with a faint blue light.
Thinking briefly of the Mother Tree, who had restored the remnants of the burned star to its original form and returned it, Calian spoke.
"You use it, Brother."
Once again, he was offering a sword.
Holding the unexpected gift, Franz's eyes locked onto a single spot.
—Sinasta
His finger, placed unconsciously over the black lettering, did not move for a long time.
"And don't go leaving it behind somewhere. This time."
A quiet voice delivered a single request.