Chapter 352: Wish (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 352: Wish (2)
A little while before Calian regained consciousness…
*
In a garden overflowing with the scent of flowers, there was a single spot where none grew. It was a place where one massive tree stood, its shade a stark contrast to the blossoms crowding every other corner.
Franz walked through a garden of red flowers whose name he still hadn't bothered to learn and sat on a bench beneath the great tree, whose name he also didn't know. He had lost track of how long he’d been sitting there when two cats appeared from nowhere and padded toward him.
Jingle.
One of them held a small bell in its mouth—the one Calian had brought from the elf village.
Franz had searched Calian’s pockets earlier, finding the bell and some letters. He had tucked the letters back away but left the bell out. The cat must have snatched it. Though she usually hated noise, perhaps she didn't mind this particular bell, or maybe she just found it interesting. As the cat drew near, the soft jingle-jingle of the bell filling the air, Franz called out to her.
“Lucy.”
Lucy padded over silently and dropped the bell onto the ground before letting out a soft meow in response. Just as Franz was about to ask why she’d brought it to him, the other cat—the one he hadn't called—rubbed against his ankles, demanding his attention. He quietly reached down and scooped Anne into his arms. He could always pick up the bell later.
Cradled in his arms, Anne let out a series of sweet, gentle meows.
“I told you not to wander off on your own here.”
“Meow.”
As if she understood, Anne blinked her large eyes a few times and curled into a ball. Having already forgotten the bell she’d just dropped, Lucy leaped onto the bench beside Franz. She tucked her paws beneath her body and settled down, her tail swaying gently. Placing his free hand on Lucy’s back, Franz spoke softly.
With the pleasant sunlight filtering through the abundant shade of the tree, it was the kind of day where talking to two cats didn't feel strange at all.
“Lucy. The door was closed. How did you get out?”
“Mew.”
“I thought you’d gotten too fat to squeeze through.”
“Meow!”
“Your belly is perfectly round. Just look at you.”
“Meowww!”
Whether it was Lucy, Anne, or both, they smelled faintly of savory treats, as if they had managed to charm a snack out of someone again. The thought brought a faint smile to his lips.
“Don’t just eat anything you’re given.”
“Meow.”
“Meow.”
Cats were surprisingly sensitive creatures.
Usually, they acted as if they couldn’t care less about the person beside them, casually curling up on top of documents one was reading or suddenly swatting at a pen and ruining a page. They approached only when it suited them, purring softly for a moment before abruptly sauntering off without a backward glance.
Yet on complicated days like this, they somehow sensed it and clung to your side, refusing to leave. Just as they had when he’d stood staring at Heisia Palace. And just like now.
“Bear with it for just a little longer, even if it’s frustrating.”
He paused, his hand hovering over Anne, clenching and unclenching.
His frustration wasn't with these two quiet, well-behaved cats, but with a certain black cat who was anything but—one who hissed and spat constantly.
“We’ll be going back soon.”
“Meow…”
“Yeah. Once he wakes up.”
That black cat possessed sharper claws than anyone, yet only ever used them to tear at his own flesh.
In any case, Calian never made empty promises.
He had said he would go dig up Danu's root and just drop by to meet Serenti, and it seemed he had truly intended to do just that. Franz could guess what had happened, and he understood why Calian had done it. And so, there was no one he could blame.
Step.
Just as he placed his hand back on Anne, the weight of his thoughts heavy upon it, he heard footsteps. Anne, who had been drifting off to sleep, twitched her ears. The lounging Lucy lifted her head. Franz looked up from his hand and turned to see a tall shadow stretching toward him.
It was someone who would rarely seek him out on his own. Especially at a time like this, someone who would never leave Calian’s side. It was Kyrie.
“…What is it?”
Franz raised his eyes from Anne to meet Kyrie’s. Kyrie, who approached with a small slip of paper in his hand, offered a brief bow and took another step forward.
“A letter arrived for Your Royal Highness, so I came to deliver it.”
Yan had chased Kyrie away from Calian’s bedside.
He had sent him out, telling him to rest, insisting the prince would wake up soon. Thanks to this forced break, Kyrie had just stepped out of Calian’s room when a royal servant called out to him, delivering a letter that had arrived for Franz by messenger hawk from Kairis.
Only Alan knew their group was staying at the villa rather than the Secritia Royal Palace, and Alan would never have shared that information. There was no benefit in letting others know that the Crown Prince and the prince were staying at a villa, which was less secure than the palace.
Someone who didn't know they were at the villa had sent the letter to the Secritia Royal Palace. And because Franz happened to be at the palace at that moment, he received it without much delay.
“It was sent from the Kairis Royal Palace. Since Relic is still at the villa, I inspected it myself, but I did not read the contents.”
“I see.”
Nodding, Franz reached out and took the letter.
Since the situation didn't allow for training and he did need to rest as Yan had said, Kyrie simply bowed, not offering to help with swordsmanship practice in Calian's stead. He turned and took a step away.
Jingle.
The bell Lucy had brought.
The one she had dropped on the ground to answer Franz’s call. The one he hadn’t been able to pick up because Anne was demanding to be held.
Kyrie’s foot lightly brushed against it, making it ring.
Kyrie looked down at his feet.
Franz looked at Kyrie.
Kyrie bent down and picked up the bell.
Jingle.
The sound rang out once more.
The cats stared at Kyrie. Franz looked down at the cats. Kyrie looked at Franz.
Franz’s light green eyes met Kyrie’s.
He stared for a long moment, his gaze shifting between Kyrie’s mismatched eyes—first the black, then the blue, and then the black once more.
“Kyrie.”
Franz called his name, deciding to say what he had resolved not to speak of until he was certain.
What Brissen had done to Kyrie and Hina’s parents. In truth, he had been certain for a long time. He had merely been delaying the matter under the meaningless pretext of wanting to hear it from Siona’s own mouth.
Jingle, jingle.
Kyrie took two steps closer.
The bell jingled twice.
Clack!
Kyrie set it down on the bench. Recognizing the familiar object, Lucy reached out with a paw, but Franz’s hand was slightly faster.
Picking up the bell, Franz blinked slowly—once, twice, three times—before speaking.
“This…”
“I do not know.”
At that same moment, Calian, who did not see Kyrie visit Franz, remained unaware that Hina, sitting beside him, was saying, “I know.”
“I do not know. Not anymore.”
Kyrie gave his answer first, claiming he didn't know what that bell was either.
*
‘Sparkling.’
The sunlight sparkled, and the clothes looked like flower petals.
‘Hina. Is the sunlight sparkling?’
‘No, the people. They look sparkling and happy.’
On a day that had finally grown warm after a long winter, the view of the street from their window was the very picture of spring.
‘Will there be blueberry ice cream, too?’
‘There will be blueberry ice cream, too.’
‘Then what color will it be? I’m curious.’
‘It’ll be sky-blue, Hina. Because blueberries are blue.’
‘Right. If we go to the palace, we can see things like that, right? Even if we can’t eat them. Right?’
‘Yes.’
The day they looked down at the laundry hung out to dry on a beautiful day. The day they were able to eat their second-ever strawberry ice cream.
That was Hina’s first spring.
That was why he didn’t tell her. He couldn’t bring himself to speak of it, not wanting to ruin her sparkling spring.
After meeting Calian and entering the palace with Hina, excited by the promise that she would have proper work and he would learn swordsmanship, even Kyrie himself hadn’t thought deeply about it.
Whose son Calian was.
And whose brother he was.
He did not tell her that he only realized the connection after Calian returned—a connection he hadn't made himself at first. He didn’t tell her whose son that “drunk, wicked bastard” was, whose bloodline he belonged to, and what that family had done.
So, he had intended to never speak of it.
‘Today, while you and the kind prince went hunting, something almost bad happened.’
‘Why? What happened?’
‘A cat went into the rose garden. I went in to get her because I didn’t want her to get lost, but the scary prince was there.’
‘Why did you go in there? You should have waited.’
‘I couldn’t help it. Even the strict maid was away.’
‘So what happened? Did you get scolded?’
‘The second prince helped me.’
‘…Why?’
‘I don’t know. He suddenly appeared out of nowhere and helped.’
‘I see.’
‘He’s not a bad person.’
‘Hina.’
‘The kind prince said he was a bad person. But he’s not. He’s a good person.’
He decided he had to tell her that couldn't be the case. Not to stop her from forming a friendship, but out of fear that she might get hurt if she gave her trust too easily.
‘Hina. There’s something I need to tell you.’
The letter left by Kyrie’s mother.
The letter containing words to be passed on to him when he grew a bit older.
The letter delivered by an elf, who said he had been asked to pass it on by someone very beautiful. The stories written within it.
Jingle…
The object hanging from the tip of that elf’s sword.
Even the sound of the bell, which the sharp-eared Kyrie could never forget.
He told Hina everything.
‘I see.’
And Hina,
‘That must be why he became such a good person,’
she had said, and smiled.
*
Only now did Calian understand.
He understood why Kyrie had been at that gambling den.
Because if he stayed there, he would eventually cross paths with Evan. If he endured in that place, he would one day be able to draw his sword against him.
He also understood why Kyrie had shown a murderous intent toward Franz that could hardly be explained by loyalty to Calian alone. Kyrie, too, knew what Evan had done to Whitrin, and what he had done to Whitrin’s husband.
“I didn’t know. Again. I failed to see it.”
Once again, he had been blind.
Even though he had deeply regretted not knowing how Kyrie’s heart was being torn apart like the palace forest, he had still been blind. He hadn't realized that Kyrie was suppressing something even greater.
Both Kyrie and Hina.
—I wanted the kind prince and the good crown prince not to know. Even if you did find out, I wanted it to be much later. After a long time, when we all became a bit more like adults, I wanted you to know then. That’s why I didn’t say anything. I told my brother not to show it, either.
Calian nodded quietly.
Hina’s words continued.
—I have always lived my life to the absolute fullest. I don’t want to look back now, assume things that never happened, and conclude that the life I lived was more miserable, or feel resentful and regretful. Of course, if my parents had been alive, I might have lived more happily. I might have faced fewer hardships, cried less, grown taller, and maybe I wouldn’t have forgotten how to use my voice.
Hina was right.
If not for what Evan did, Hina would have lived a slightly different life. Perhaps a very different one. A life where so many things were different.
—But since we don’t know, we don’t know. Because it never happened. To look at something that never happened and blindly assume the present is more miserable—that itself is too miserable. I think I lived really hard and well. I want to keep living just like this.
Hina was, in herself, a complete life.
She was Calian’s life, his light, and his reason, but even putting that aside, even excluding the warmth she gave him, she was already…
—The kind prince is just the kind prince, the good crown prince is just the good crown prince, I am just me, and my brother is just my brother. I want to live thinking only like that. I hope you two don’t drag that matter into the present and force yourselves to live miserably, either.
Hina was already a whole, complete person.
“Our Hina is all grown up,” Calian said without realizing it.
Having grown accustomed to being treated like a precious child or grandchild, Hina nodded along without thinking. Then, she suddenly snapped her head up, her brows furrowing. An “uh-oh” expression crossed Calian’s face.
—I’m going to grow more.
Ah.
It seemed that wasn’t the issue. She didn’t mind being treated like a child. She was so used to it that she had let it slide entirely.
Amused, Calian burst into laughter again. It was a long while before he spoke.
“Alright. Go rest now. Eat something delicious, get some sleep, and take a good rest. You worked hard.”
Nodding, Hina stood up. She strictly warned him that bananas, tangerines, strawberries, milk, and especially meat were absolutely forbidden. She didn't just tell Calian; she grabbed Yan, who had just entered the room, and gave him the same stern warning. Then, she ruthlessly snatched a single banana Yan had been hiding behind his back, gave him a thorough scolding as well, and left the room.
Letting out a deep sigh, Calian’s gaze drifted out the window.
He saw a spruce tree that looked uncannily like the one planted in front of Senyu Hall at the Kairis Royal Palace. Beneath it sat one person, two cats, and a tall figure standing nearby. As he watched them, seemingly in conversation, he heard Yan’s voice.
“It got taken away.”
Speaking in a tone that held no trace of regret, Yan drew Calian’s attention back as he walked over to the bed. He smoothed out the creases in the blanket covering Calian.
“You had absolutely no intention of bringing it to me secretly, did you?”
He had deliberately entered while Hina was still there, even though he could have waited until she left. Thanks to that, Calian couldn't even ask him to sneak in a single banana anymore.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
His tone was blunt.
Normally, he would have been weeping and wailing about how “our prince” was hurt again, lamenting that he couldn’t give him the banana the prince had asked for the moment he opened his eyes, and promising to go back out and sneak one in somehow. But this time was different.
Because Calian had gotten hurt again.
Even though Yan had repeatedly begged him to be careful and not get hurt.
“Yan.”
“What is it?”
He was starving, yet he couldn't eat a banana, and he was being scolded by Yan immediately after being scolded by Hina.
If Franz hadn’t kept things reasonably quiet—warning that they absolutely had to keep it a secret from his “dad,” Alan, otherwise the Danu's root would literally be pulled out, and if the Danu's root was pulled out, Kairis’s farming would be ruined—Calian would have been scolded by Alan as well.
“Ah… what should I do?” Calian groaned, cradling his forehead.
Since he was indeed in the wrong, he couldn't even complain about it being unfair. His worries only grew.
“Yan.”
“Yes.”
“My pocket, please.”
“Yes. Please wait a moment.”
Answering readily, Yan left the room instead of opening Calian’s wardrobe. Before long, he returned holding a black mage’s pocket.
Dismissing the thought that Franz must have taken it to his room to examine while he was asleep, Calian took the pocket. He rummaged through it unhurriedly, pulled something out, and handed it to Yan.
“Here.”
“What is this?”
“A present.”
“What kind of present?”
It was something he had bought when he stopped by a shop on his way to eat cod. A hairpin for Eila, and a gift for Yan. It might not be as grand as the one he gave to Randel, but he had intended to wrap it nicely and give it to him on the actual day. However, seeing no other way to cheer Yan up right now, he had pulled it out early.
“It’s your birthday soon,” Calian said again to Yan, who was staring down at the silver, rectangular object in his hand. “Do you know what it is?”
“A harmonica…”
It was a harmonica.
Breathing in, breathing out. An instrument that produced notes and made music simply by breathing—by nothing more than that. An instrument that lent a melody to one’s breath.
He had learned it because he liked that he didn't need to practice how to produce notes or learn fingerings; he only had to breathe. It was the only instrument Bern knew how to play properly.
“You recognize it. Do you happen to know how to play?”
“No. It’s my first time holding one.”
“I’ll teach you. I’ll teach you until you’ve learned it all and can play it well.”
Pointing at the harmonica, Calian continued in a soft voice, “I’m sorry for making you worry. I won’t go anywhere and leave you behind. I’ll stay right here and teach you everything.”
The hand Yan used to hold the harmonica dropped to his side.
Tears that had pooled in his large eyes began to spill over, falling in heavy drops. They fell as much as he had worried, as much as his heart had burned with anxiety.
“…I’m only going to learn one thing a day.”
“Alright.”
“I’ll only learn to play one song a year. I won’t fully master it for the rest of my life.”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
Round tears dripped onto the harmonica, which hadn’t even touched his lips yet. Smiling at the sight, Calian gently patted the back of Yan, who was older than him.
“I haven’t forgotten our bet about our height, either. I’ll stay safe and sound until I grow taller than you.”
“I’m going to keep growing for the rest of my life.”
“Sure. Do that too.”
He had no idea how massive a baby elephant that grew for its entire life would end up being, but he patted Yan’s back as many times as the tears fell, silently telling him that anything was fine, and to do as he pleased.
“By the way, is this also made of mithril?”
“…No. I just bought it on the way to eat cod.”
“Your Highness, you’re too much. I built a villa for you in Whitrin Territory for your birthday.”
“…Sorry.”
“I’m disappointed.”
“I’ll buy you something better when we go back.”
“Next year.”
“Yes, next year.”
“And something even better the year after that.”
“Yes.”
“And the year after that, too.”
“Alright. I will.”
He seriously worried whether, in about eighty years, he would end up as a king who had bought an entire country for his chief attendant.