Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: Wind and Sand # 2
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Turki's prince, Kasim.
No, now he's the king's brother, I suppose.
When I think back on that man, all that comes to mind is that he was noisy, boisterous, and utterly frivolous.
I'd only met him once in person, but he was so flashily unforgettable that even if I tried to forget him, I couldn't.
To describe him properly, it might be best to start with the Kingdom of Turki.
In short, the Angmar family, former royals of the Angmar Kingdom, and the Tanak family, royals of the Kingdom of Turki, were actually distant relatives.
They shared a single common ancestor, you could say.
Thanks to that, even though Turki was a minor power—and sometimes an enemy state—they still received invitations to events at the Angmar palace.
Yes, invitations.
When was it again?
Victory Day, celebrating the anniversary of driving out the Demon King Angmar—sometime in June, I think.
It was right after I'd become Aira's advisor and was struggling through it all, when a grand celebration party was held at the Monarch City court.
Turki's king at the time, the Tiger King Suleiman—who had repelled Demon King Solomon in sieges several times—was also invited, as I recall.
But the aged King Suleiman lacked the energy, so instead, Turki's young prince and brilliant mage, Kasim, visited the court in his place.
"Behold, and pay homage! Kasim Tanak, the sole son of the great Tiger King—!"
I still vividly remember the moment countless elephants, tigers, camels laden with treasures, and slaves adorned in ornate gold leaf crossed the city gates.
"Good heavens, look at those things. What kind of beasts are that big?"
"That's an elephant. But decking out an elephant with all those jewels is something else."
"Yeah, they're sparkling like crazy. Was the Kingdom of Turki that rich?"
"I heard they found some amazing oil in the last war. What was it called? Clear Oil?"
The young prince astride a tiger, with a sword and staff adorned in jewels and gold leaf at his waist. Indeed, I thought, that's the prince of sand and oases for you.
And that was still the case now.
Ssshh.
In the opulent banquet hall set up in Gracia's grand cathedral, the city's holy site.
The man entering through the doors had a jewel-encrusted turban sparkling in place of a crown.
His half-unbuttoned white silk robes, the rings on his neck, arms, and fingers—they were unmistakably expensive without needing explanation.
Red skin, red hair. But his rippling blue eyes were sharp like a bird of prey's. His age was probably early to mid-twenties now?
He was effortlessly handsome, brimming with youth. The king's brother, who seemed never to have known failure, spread his arms wide as he entered the banquet hall.
"Oh, noble Queen Tarantella! On this fine day, we must give thanks to our god for granting us this precious meeting!"
It was theatrical, exaggerated gestures and speech like an actor's—and the moment Aira saw it, her previously relaxed demeanor vanished as she clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Frivolous as ever, Kasim. Even after getting thoroughly dressed down that day, you still haven't quit playing the clown?"
"You still sting as sharply as ever. But beautiful flowers come with thorns, don't they?"
The prince of the sands, Kasim, pulled out a chair and sat down.
"So, the rumors about you being at Ark were true, it seems. Unbelievable."
He seemed incredulous that Queen Aira had left Monarch City's court to seek teachings at a foreign institution.
But his attention quickly shifted from the queen to me, sitting beside her.
"Theo, it's been a while. You look much better than last time we met. How's the elephant I gifted you? White ones are rare, you know."
"That white elephant..., anyway, I hope you've been well, Prince Kasim."
At my greeting, Kasim held up a single finger.
"Thanks for the greeting, but there's a correction to make. Not prince—king's brother now. I'm no longer the king's son, but his sibling."
So the rumors were true.
Saladin had two children.
The eldest, the famously wise Sherazade. And the second, the extravagant and arrogant Kasim.
But if Kasim was now king's brother, that meant Sherazade had taken the throne. In Turki, a patriarchal, macho traditional nation, a princess becoming empress?
It was hard to believe, but Kasim's attitude made it seem certain.
Aira mocked him.
"You lost the throne to your sister, didn't you, Kasim?"
"Queen Aira, had you and I married, I'd be on the throne right now instead. But what's done is done. Feels liberating, actually."
According to the spies I'd planted in the Turki court, Kasim had originally been very ambitious for the throne. That's why he'd persistently courted Aira.
Marrying Angmar's queen would naturally boost his influence, allowing him to surpass his clever sister Sherazade and claim the crown.
Kasim let out a wistful sigh.
"Aira, you could have proudly taken the position of chief consort among my five wives."
"Hmm—."
Aira let out a long nasal hum, then leaned back against her chair and closed her eyes. She was starting to get irritated just looking at him and couldn't bear it anymore.
"I'm stepping out for a bit."
Swoosh.
Aira rose from her seat and vanished somewhere. That left just Kasim and me at the table.
* * *
Chatter chatter.
"So, this time Vermis—oh, Vermis is my seventh concubine. She's Angmaran, with golden hair and such lovely white skin. Anyway, Vermis asked to see a white tiger."
Kasim rattled on endlessly. Mostly bragging about himself.
How pretty his wives were, how many lovers he had, how he'd gifted them pearls as big as eyeballs—gossipy nonsense like that.
Is this how harem men are supposed to cherish and love their wives? As someone with a harem myself, it was somewhat helpful, but—
If I stayed like this, I'd be listening to his boasts all day, so I cleared my throat with a polite cough to interrupt his rhythm.
"Anyway, glad to see you're doing well."
"Of course I am. What, you think my sister would kill me now that I'm off the throne? Half-siblings or not, we share our father's blood."
"I see."
"I'm the one who's surprised. Who'd have thought that queen would leave her court for a humble life in a foreign land like this? Your doing?"
"I didn't do anything special."
"So humble. A virtue I lack. Calling me here must be your idea, then. Probably some request?"
Indeed, Kasim wasn't a complete fool. Sure, he seemed like a frivolous, clownish playboy, but at his core, he was a grand mage at the 5th Circle. Magic demands brains.
"The queen despises me. She'd never summon me for any problem. Even if the world ended and only two people remained, she'd bite her tongue and die before choosing me."
He knew her well. Yeah, probably. But flat-out agreeing seemed rude, so I denied it once for courtesy.
"Nah, no way."
"No, it's the truth. For such a queen to call me—it means someone else did. And as far as I know, you're the only one who could."
Kasim was more self-aware and sharp than expected.
At the Angmar court, he'd seemed like an arrogant, insolent wastrel, but up close, he was quite wise.
"Then why does a man as clever as you keep humbling himself to Aira and getting rejected?"
It was a somewhat rude question. But Kasim chuckled as if it were an amusing tale.
"It might get a bit political. I don't want to bore you, my friend, on such a fine day. But if you insist, I'll tell you."
He glanced around, then cupped his hand over his mouth, whispering conspiratorially to me alone.
"Play it right, and I might claim Angmar's throne."
"Angmar's throne?"
"Yes. Our Tanak house and the Angmar family share a common ancestor. With Angmar wiped out, who has the right to their legacy?"
So that's how it was.
Kasim seemed deeply interested in the Angmar dynasty's legacy and relics, all tied to the same Ibrahim lineage. It was a plausible claim.
"Fathers' inheritances go to the eldest sons by tradition. Our Tanak ancestor, Ismail, was Ibrahim's firstborn. Don't you think he deserves the good stuff?"
"But wasn't Isaac the rightful heir of Ibrahim? Ismail was..."
"The son of a concubine, so illegitimate? Some say that, sure. But values depend on perspective. He was the first wife's firstborn—that's fact."
"True enough."
In summary, it was a courtship tangled in political views. No wonder Aira loathed and recoiled from someone with such hidden agendas.
It was natural she'd rebuff him so coldly.
After much talk, his throat parched, Kasim gulped down the hot tea from his cup.
"Whoa, scalding hot. Why drink something this hot?"
"Because... it's freshly boiled."
"Anyway, now that I've been thoroughly beaten by my sister, I've let go of all that. No more clowning to court your queen."
"I see."
"So, may I ask what I'm curious about now? It's been bugging me."
"Sure."
I figured he'd ask how Aira ended up at Ark—but what Kasim said was unexpectedly different.
* * *
The Kingdom of Turki was famed for having three things in abundance.
First, sand.
Turki's Highland Wasteland was vast but mostly barren. Full of sand and rocks, scorched under a blazing sun, the world a uniform yellowish gold.
Turki's people loved the desert's beauty, but it remained harsh and desolate.
Second in abundance: jewels.
Beneath the barren sands lay countless rock caves.
There, mana-infused ores were mined, meticulously processed, and sold to foreign nations.
Neighboring Angmar had even gone to war over Turki's jewels.
And third, the most plentiful: beauties.
Jingling anklets on bare waists and ankles of dancers; emerald-eyed beauties mysteriously veiled in colorful silks—
Women draped in lovely veils, exuding enigma.
Men needed imagination to envision faces hidden by thin fabric.
Only high royalty, married women, or wives before husbands could unveiled freely.
Marrying after seeing a face was strictly forbidden.
In that sense, Prince Kasim of the sands had a keen eye.
For spotting raw gems in sand. Polishing them into jewels. Finding beauties among the veiled—
Essential for ruling barren Turki.
Though he didn't boast, his foresight surpassed even his sister Sherazade's.
So when he arrived at Angmar's banquet hall, he was honestly astonished.
The vast nation brimmed with gem-worthy talents.
Part of him envied how Turki and Angmar's positions could have been reversed.
'Had Ismail inherited everything, this country would have been ours.'
Naturally, what caught his eye was the queen dubbed the flower of evil.
"Her Majesty Queen Aira von Tarantella arrives—! All bow your heads...!"
She was every bit as stunning as rumored.
Not a raw gem, but a perfectly cut black diamond. Seated on her throne, she was a finished masterpiece.
An exotic beauty.
Rumored to be a skilled mage too.
Kasim had many lovers already, but Aira could well be his principal wife.
But that was it. Beautiful, yet somehow ephemeral. She'd surely walk the path to ruin.
He could plainly see suspicion demons—the most fearsome spirits haunting her mind.
'So Angmar's long history ends here. Now, how Turki responds to their fracture matters.'
The mage-politician Kasim quietly foresaw his neighbor's fall.
The biggest shock came when he spotted the man trailing faithfully at Queen Aira's side.
"All bow your heads...!"
A bizarre figure unfit for Angmar's court. Not quite man, boy, or youth—precariously balanced between.
Fairy blood?
A half-fairy, in the flesh. Even for Kasim, a first, sparking curiosity.
'An intriguing raw gem.'
If Aira was a perfectly polished jewel, this one was untouched ore. That fascinated him.
Even without magic, it was clear this one would rise importantly here someday.
The shrewd Kasim decided to extend goodwill—for personal interest and political gain.
"Do you like elephants, by chance?"
"Elephants...?"
Gifting his cherished white elephant stemmed from that.
'No one hates elephants.'
Meeting that man again in distant Gracia's Ark, Kasim was startled by the honed, tempered half-fairy.
Could a person change so much in so short a time?
Compared to his hesitant days, his demeanor was poised, his mana transformed. His once-mannequin-stiff, frail body now glowed with healthy color.
'Impressive.'
A talent worth coveting. But after losing the throne race, did gathering talents even matter now?
Yet Kasim was a mage first.
He sensed the key to breaking past his 5th Circle stagnation might lie in this rapidly growing gem.
"Mind if I ask something I'm curious about? How did you grow so fast? In magic circles, I mean. You're at 4th now, maybe edging into 5th."
"Oh."
The half-fairy jolted in surprise at Kasim's words.
"You have a good eye."
"I'm confident in spotting talent. So, what method? Lessons from Queen Aira?"
"No, from High Nexus of the Sage Council."
The Sage Council, huh. Kasim had met the white-bearded High Nexus earlier.
An old, wise mage teaching him explained some, but not such explosive growth.
"I also cleared dungeons around Ark."
"Ah."
Kasim finally understood. He'd heard Ark vicinity had many dungeons for some reason.
Heroes delving them grew like nutrient-fed trees.
"Indeed, thanks to Solomon's legacy."
Dungeons were Grand Mage Solomon's bequest.
People couldn't fathom why Solomon made so many, but Kasim got it somewhat.
To polish raw gems like the one before him. Why polish them? He didn't know.
Soon, Kasim rose from his chair.
"My friend Theo. Ever sparred with another mage? Nothing deepens understanding like it."