Chapter 3: What a Foolish Way to Live (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 3: What a Foolish Way to Live (2)
Franz hadn’t even bothered to change. His shirt was unfastened, revealing the bare skin beneath. Regardless of the country, a member of the royal family should never present himself in such a manner.
The only thing stopping Calian from plunging a knife into Franz’s neck was his sheer shock at the man’s disrespect.
Calian let out a short, imperceptible sigh.
Randel frowned slightly at Franz's appearance, but he quickly turned his head as if he had seen nothing. Calian didn't miss it.
The 1st Prince can’t touch the 2nd Prince.
He could guess the reason.
All three princes were half-brothers, and the current queen, Silike, was the mother of the 2nd Prince, Franz. That was why Randel, despite being the 1st Prince, couldn’t act as Franz's superior.
The queen’s family must wield truly immense power.
As he was thinking this, clicking his tongue inaudibly, servers began to place an array of well-made dishes before them.
Aromatic soup, fragrant baked bread, scrambled eggs perfect for the morning, and thinly sliced ham. In addition, there was a salad full of fresh vegetables and an assortment of fruits.
To Bern, who had been worn down by a sudden war, it was a magnificent meal. If he had been alone, he would have devoured every last bite.
But he couldn’t bring himself to touch the food.
Worry for Chase was the first reason. Sitting across from Franz, the mortal enemy of his past life, was the second. The frigid atmosphere of the dining hall didn't help, either.
It’s like walking on thin ice.
The three princes of Kairis were brothers, yet not a single word was exchanged between them. Even for half-brothers, that alone couldn’t explain this silence.
After all, Chase and Bern had also been half-brothers.
And yet, the two of them had always been so busy laughing and talking that the cooks often had to reheat their food. The sound of Chase’s voice, always looking out for Bern, echoed in his ears.
– You want to be a knight. Just hearing you say it makes me feel proud.
– Bern. Don’t worry. Don’t you worry about a thing.
He desperately missed Chase—the King of Secritia, the brother for whom he would have gladly given his life.
But here, he couldn’t ask anyone for news of him. That only made him more worried, more homesick. He wanted to run to him this very instant.
At that thought, his rage toward Franz surged once more. Calian picked up his water glass—an innocent bystander to his anger—and drained it in one gulp. Then, a voice laced with ridicule cut through the silence.
"How vulgar."
Of all people, it was Franz.
He looked at the bastard, who was so disheveled it was impossible to tell if he was halfway through getting dressed or undressed. Franz curled one side of his lip and added, "Just like his mother. Not a shred of dignity to be found."
It was a jab at Calian’s mother, who had been a commoner.
At that, Calian’s eyes turned to ice.
Franz saw the undisguised hatred in Calian’s red eyes, and in an instant, his own eyes turned sharp.
Even in this situation, Randel didn’t spare them a single glance, focusing entirely on his meal.
The perfect bystander.
Calian turned his head to look at Randel. His expression was unchanged.
Just then, a threatening voice slipped from Franz's lips.
"How dare you…"
Calian’s gaze snapped back to Franz.
Their eyes met, and neither looked away. Only then did Randel finally speak, his voice quiet.
"That’s enough."
Franz, his eyes still fixed on Calian, spoke.
"These damned blood-red eyes have made me lose my appetite. I’ll be leaving first."
Randel had not given his permission.
Nevertheless, Franz shot up from his seat and stormed out.
It was for the best. Calian’s patience wasn’t great enough to endure facing that bastard for long.
"Mind your conduct. The celebration for His Majesty’s birthday is not far off."
But then another voice spoke, chipping away at what little patience Calian had left.
It was Randel who said this, his expression impassive. He didn’t even look at Calian.
So I’m the problem? What about the state of the bastard who just left?
The words were so absurd that Calian let out a humorless laugh.
If it weren’t for this ridiculous situation—waking up in another body the day after his death—Calian certainly wouldn’t have held back.
Of course, Randel had no idea how much effort his younger brother was putting into concealing his killing intent. And so, without a thought to gauging Calian’s reaction, Randel rose from his seat and walked out.
"Not a single day goes by peacefully…"
He heard Yan, who was standing behind him, mutter to himself.
Calian leaned back in his chair and let out a long, slow breath, calming his anger. Perhaps it sounded like the sorrowful sigh of a mistreated youngest child, because he could feel Yan’s pity from behind him.
Soon, Calian rose silently.
Yan immediately approached, pulling the chair back the rest of the way and meticulously straightening his disheveled clothes. Even though he must witness this kind of disregard every day, his touch was careful and respectful. Calian had clearly seen that the attendants of the other two princes were not nearly as attentive.
He saw the deep nail marks in Yan’s palm.
If anything, Yan’s expression was more contorted than Calian’s had been. Seeing this in the attendant, who was slightly older than him, Calian’s boiling anger slowly began to cool.
"Thank you."
Startled by the words, Yan looked at Calian, his eyes wide. It was because Calian wasn’t crying, nor was he wearing a somber expression.
That wasn’t all.
There was even a small smile on his face.
Before Yan could even figure out how to respond to the first words of gratitude he had ever received from Calian, Calian spoke again.
"What’s next on the schedule?"
"In an hour, you have a lesson on the War of the Two Gods."
"I’ll be alone until then."
With a worried look, Yan replied, "As you wish."
The original Calian’s memories served their purpose faithfully. Thanks to them, Calian was able to walk out of the building without getting lost and make his way to the path beside the artificial lake.
There was no one else around. Just Calian, and Yan, who followed at a considerable distance.
"Hah."
Walking to the lake’s edge, Calian looked down at the water below and exhaled the breath he had been holding. His gaze fell upon a small statue set in the middle of the lake.
A black dragon, its wings spread toward the sky. In the dragon’s eyes were embedded red jewels.
Sispanian, I presume.
It was a statue of the ancient dragon Sispanian, who was said to have also been the first queen of Kairis.
He recalled the stories that she had hair as black as the quiet night and red eyes that held a sacred fire.
Black hair, red eyes. Calian was the same.
Damned blood-red eyes.
Franz's voice echoed in his mind again.
Had his mind grown weaker now that his body was younger? Calian gave a dry laugh at himself for being stirred by such a petty remark.
Just yesterday, hadn't he been swinging his sword with countless arrows embedded in his body, his severed arm crudely staunched? Bern had been a knight and a royal brother who had died holding the castle gates alone, enduring until the very end.
He had to keep his wits about him.
The immediate priority wasn’t whether to kill Franz or not. He first had to figure out how this had happened.
And so, Calian briefly closed his eyes, pushing away the thoughts that filled his mind. Steeling himself once more, he recalled what he believed to be the cause of all this.
…The Axis of Time.
The Axis of Time.
The object that had suddenly appeared in the Secritia Royal Palace one day. It looked like a giant hourglass and was said to possess the power to turn back time once, and only once.
That had to be the cause. The war between Secritia and Kairis had broken out over the Axis of Time.
Before the war began, Kairis had demanded the Axis of Time. Secritia had refused. It was clearly a dangerous object, so King Chase had stood firm. How could he hand it over, not knowing what that madman Franz would use it for?
The moment they conveyed their refusal, a massive army invaded as if they had been waiting for it.
They had skipped not only negotiations but even a declaration of war.
Franz’s sense of scale was truly in a league of its own.
In the war that followed, Secritia was ultimately defeated. The result was his current state.
My brother must have watched me die.
Chase would have witnessed the death of Bern, the last surviving knight. That was why Calian believed Chase had turned back time. He probably never imagined this would be the result, but he was sure Chase would have tried to save Bern.
Calian spoke softly, as if in lament.
"If the cause is the Axis of Time… then there’s no way to go back."
The Axis of Time could only be used once. If time had already been twisted, there was no way to return to how things were.
"What should I do, then?" Calian muttered to himself.
If this truly wasn’t a dream and his recollections were correct, then this was undoubtedly a second life.
He couldn’t waste the chance Chase had given him. And so, Calian shifted his thinking from finding a way back to finding a way to live. He had to survive first if he was to find another path.
Calian sank back into his thoughts.
* * *
The fourteen-year-old Calian would die soon.
He had tried to poison Queen Silike, failed, and, fearing punishment, had hanged himself.
Of course, no one believed that was the truth.
Everyone who heard the story, which was passed off as a ‘suicide,’ knew it was an ‘assassination.’ Silike was more than capable of killing Calian.
It was all because of Freya.
Calian’s biological mother.
The royal concubine Freya was famous for her beautiful appearance, but she was a commoner. She won the king’s affection and gave birth to Calian, but died not long after from the ‘aftereffects of childbirth.’
The kind of 'aftereffects' where one drinks tea sent by the queen, only to vomit up bubbling black blood and die.
That was how Calian lost his mother.
Thus, it was unimaginable that Calian would have had any allies. It was absurd to think that a prince who would have had difficulty obtaining even a common poisonous herb would try to kill a queen who held more power than the king.
Moreover, Calian had lived his entire life under the scorn of Queen Silike and the 2nd Prince, Franz. The old Calian, having grown up in such a situation, would have barely been able to breathe properly.
Even a wild beast raised on milk from birth will lick its master’s feet and show its belly. The original Calian must have grown up so weak he couldn't even imagine killing someone.
Calian gave a bitter smile.
"She just wanted to get rid of something she didn’t like looking at."
He had heard that, aside from his hair color, Calian was the spitting image of Freya.
The queen must have hated being reminded of the dead Freya every time she saw Calian’s face. So she would have murdered Calian, fabricated a story, and the king would have tacitly approved.
After all, of the Royal Guard, the queen held sway over three of the knight orders, leaving only one directly under the king’s command.
Calian was said to have died two or three months before his fifteenth birthday.
"My fifteenth birthday is in four months… which means someone will be coming to kill me soon."
The time left until he was supposed to meet his end—a death by hanging—was one to two months.
Calian’s red eyes, reflected in the water, glinted with a sharp light.
He had no intention of dying meekly at their hands. Not in the slightest.