Chapter 5: I Haven't Grown That Much (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 5: I Haven't Grown That Much (1)
The royalty of Kairis were descendants of a dragon.
To be precise, they were the descendants of Hatsuara and Sispanian, two of the eight heroes who had sealed the Evil God during the War of the Two Gods.
Sigmund Khan Sispanian.
An ancient dragon said to have existed since the beginning of time, Sispanian had not married Hatsuara as a mere amusement, but as a small part of her millennia-long existence. In other words, it was not Hatsuara who took Sispanian as his queen, but Sispanian who chose Hatsuara as her dragon’s consort.
Sispanian had wished for her and Hatsuara’s descendants to be just a little special. Thus, she gifted them a power of the bloodline, bestowed only upon the king of Kairis and his direct children.
The power of healing and a talent for magic.
This was the ‘Blessing of Sispanian.’
“The wound is still there.”
With the power of the blessing, Calian’s injury should have been almost healed by now.
But the hand that had been cut by the knife Franz threw had not mended in the slightest, even as evening approached. He wondered for a moment if he wasn’t King Lemain’s biological son, but then he recalled memories of his wounds healing normally in the past.
This meant the symptom had appeared suddenly.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
“Calian… was a mage?”
Bern had been a knight.
Not just any knight, but one of only six Sword Masters on the entire continent. In contrast, the old Calian had a slender body that looked as if it had never known a day of exercise. This made him wonder, Can a body like this even manifest aura?
So he had focused on his mana, and only then did he realize the astonishing fact that there were three mana circles near his heart. A strange yet vast wealth of knowledge about magic flooded his mind.
He let out a dry laugh, realizing this crucial fact—that the old Calian was a mage—a full two days late. But as he tried to wield his mana, a sharp pain shot through his heart.
“My heart ached when I tried to use mana…”
In fact, he had felt a pain in his chest when he’d caught the knife Franz had thrown as well. It had happened when he unconsciously tried to envelop his body in aura to catch the blade. The sudden pain had made him clench his fist instinctively, which was how the dull blade had managed to injure him in the first place.
Just in case, he tried to wield his mana once more.
Without fail, his heart ached. Calian clutched his chest.
A wound that wouldn’t heal and a pain in his heart.
Faced with two things that shouldn’t be happening, Calian frowned.
The frustrating part was that he had no memory of these symptoms. It seemed to be a problem that had arisen after Bern entered Calian’s body, or at least very recently.
“This is a huge problem. I can’t use aura or magic like this.”
This was troublesome. No, it was extremely dangerous.
Realizing this wasn’t something he could just ignore, Calian fell into deep thought.
He needed someone he could ask about this situation.
It went without saying that there was no one in the Kairis Royal Palace who could offer him advice. He carefully sifted through his memories, trying to think of anyone who might be of help.
– Whirrr!
The water must have cooled, as the temperature-regulating magic device hummed to life, heating the bath. Hearing it, Calian’s eyes lit up.
“A mage… Yes, a mage.”
Without thinking, Calian flicked the bathwater. A cheerful splash echoed in the room.
“Alan Manasil.”
Archmage Alan Manasil.
The current Alan was one of only three 7th Circle mages on the continent.
Among them, he was the youngest and most talented, practically an idol to most mages.
Ten years ago from Bern’s perspective—which was to say, right now—Alan had been invited to the festival for King Lemain’s birthday and had visited Kairis. Due to some incident, he was denied entry to the palace and turned away at the gates, after which he returned to the Libern Kingdom. Ten years later, Alan became the continent’s sole 8th Circle Archmage.
“They said no one on the continent could match his knowledge of mana,” Calian murmured softly.
He was certain Alan could help with this problem.
It would be even better if I could take this chance to make him one of my people.
The support mages gave to a capable mage was equivalent to the loyalty of a knight. Therefore, if Alan sided with Calian, every mage in Kairis would stand with him in that instant.
If that happens, the risk of dying a dog’s death without a sound will decrease.
The reason no one dared to trifle with the Second Prince Franz’s life was because of the power of the knightly factions that Queen Silike controlled. And the First Prince Randel? His mother, the former Queen Aisha, who had died of illness, was a princess of the Holy Kingdom of Tensil. As such, Randel, who was also royalty of Tensil, was not someone whose life could be threatened carelessly.
The power of a faction—something Calian lacked.
If he could win over Alan, Calian too would gain such power.
Of course, the biggest change Alan would bring was something else entirely.
Calian’s eyes narrowed.
“My name would be added to the list of candidates for the throne.”
Despite being a nation ruled by the descendants of a dragon, Kairis treated its mages very poorly. This was the influence of Silike, who held the knightly houses in her grasp. Because of this, the mages yearned for a crown prince who would free them from their current situation.
If he could get Alan on his side, those mages would support him. It was clear that no matter what noble house Calian might get to back him from now on, he would never gain a faction as powerful as that.
Calian tried to wield his mana once more.
Throb. A distinct pain pierced his heart.
“First, I have to meet Alan Manasil.”
Only then could he move on to the next step.
The next step Calian had in mind was to find a certain child. If Alan was someone who could save Calian, then that child was someone Calian had to save. He had to rescue him and make him his ‘sword.’
One month until Lemain’s birthday celebration.
Calian’s scheduled date of death was also around that time, if it came early.
The timing was amusingly coincidental.
– Splash.
Calian flicked the water once more.
* * *
– Thud!
Upon seeing Calian, the measuring tape in the hands of the tailor, Satin Slake, fell to the floor. Startled, Satin quickly picked it up and then took out a new one, as something that had touched the floor could not be used on a member of the royal family.
Turning her head to look at Calian again, Satin’s eyes grew distant for a moment, lost in reminiscence, before her gaze returned to him.
As Yan began to show an anxious expression for some reason, Satin’s lips parted.
“Seeing you, Your Highness, reminds me of the Royal Concubine Freya—”
“Slake.”
The anxious Yan immediately cut Satin off. As if just realizing her mistake, a startled Satin bowed deeply to Calian.
“My apologies, Your Highness.”
Calian was, naturally, even more surprised by the sudden change in atmosphere. When he glanced at Yan, he saw that the attendant, too, had bowed his head.
“My apologies. I will have someone else brought in at once.”
Calian’s expression grew complicated.
He didn’t know why they were apologizing.
Feeling intensely frustrated, Calian hurriedly searched his old memories.
Why do I only remember these things when I force myself to think about them!
Before long, memories related to the incident surfaced in his mind. Skimming through them quickly, as if flipping through a picture book, Calian let out a low groan.
“Ah…”
The old Calian had loathed being told he resembled Freya. He even hated looking at his own face in the mirror. He had been tormented for so long by being told he looked like someone he had never even met.
He now understood why the maid had gone outside to fetch a mirror when he first entered this body and asked for one, and why Yan had been so flustered.
He had lived his life without looking at his own face, and then he had suddenly demanded to see it.
It’s a wonder I haven’t been found out.
Letting out a short sigh, Calian chose his words carefully.
Of course, he had no feelings about Freya now, but if he claimed to have overcome such a trauma overnight, it would arouse suspicion. He had to show a reaction that was better than before, but still indicated some reluctance.
Soon, having found a suitable response, Calian opened his mouth to address Satin.
“Continue what you were doing. And you don’t need to say what you were about to. I’m well aware that I resemble my ‘mother.’”
“Yes, yes. I’ll begin at once.”
Both of them looked surprised by Calian’s words, but their expressions didn’t seem suspicious.
Satin, who had been on the verge of being dismissed, straightened up awkwardly and began to carefully measure Calian’s body. An attendant who seemed to have come with her busily jotted down the measurements Satin called out.
A short while later, after all the measurements were taken, Satin spoke cautiously.
“You must eat more, Your Highness. You are so slender, it worries me.”
Calian smiled.
There was no reason to be offended by her calling him slender, as she said it out of concern. He wasn’t short, but it was true that he was thin.
“Alright.”
The measuring had finished sooner than expected, so he was thinking he could rest a bit before dinner, when the attendant brought over several thick books. Satin took them, placed them on the table, and began to open them one by one.
“…What is this?”
One book was a collection of drawings of various formal attires, and another was a compilation of fabric samples in all different materials and colors. A bundle of assorted laces and a book filled with drawings of all kinds of accessories were added to the pile. There was also a book with countless buttons that all looked the same dangling from it, and another with hundreds of pairs of shoes drawn in it caught his eye.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
He glanced at the attendant and saw him bringing two more books.
As Calian stared blankly with a “what is all this” expression, Satin spoke as if the real work was just beginning.
“Now we must decide on the designs, Your Highness. You will need to choose a total of four outfits.”
“How many?”
As he wore an expression of utter exhaustion, the answer came from his memories.
He had to prepare a total of five outfits. The fifth was the prince’s formal attire, so there was no need to choose it.
Calian’s face went pale.
I have to choose from all of that?
This was something Bern had never experienced in his life.
When he was young, Bern’s mother, the queen, had done it for him, and after becoming a knight, he had only ever worn a knight’s uniform, so there was no need to choose clothes. Besides, Secritia didn’t have any grand events that required preparing five outfits at once. No event was ever celebrated so lavishly.
In any case, there was no one to choose his clothes for him now, and there was no uniform. As he stood there with a helpless look on his face, Yan spoke up from the side.
“You have changed a great deal recently, Your Highness. However, due to the preparations for this month’s events, there are no scheduled meetings with the nobility. Therefore, the King’s birthday celebration will be the first time you appear before others with this new image, will it not?”
“I know what you mean. You’re saying I should dress up nicely and make a proper new first impression.”
“Yes. That is correct, Your Highness.”
“Right. I understand, but…”
Calian stared at the books that completely covered the table. Just looking at them made him feel tired. How could he possibly care about clothes when his body couldn’t even use mana?
“I don’t have the confidence to rummage through all that. You guys pick instead.”
By ‘you guys,’ he meant Yan and the maids. He had said it to give up, but Yan’s face lit up.
“Are you truly alright with that?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
Calian nodded and went to sit on the sofa.
And so, the war began.
They were fired up.
The maids, who had followed Calian around for two days without saying a single word in his presence, began to speak up, each trying to make him stand out.
Unintentionally overhearing their back-and-forth, Calian occasionally interjected with his own opinions.
“No giant ribbons. No small ribbons, either.”
A brief wave of disappointment washed over them before another idea emerged.
Calian spoke again.
“No excessive frills.”
They did not give up.
“…You think lace is okay?”
What on earth are you trying to make? What’s with the bells?
Eventually, Calian also jumped into their midst and started arguing with them.
To hell with mana and everything else, he had to stop the ‘excessive frills’ first.