Arian's Unknown Night
David would not be staying here.
It was as if a dog and a cat had somehow ended up sharing the same roof. Damien and David had started watching each other like rival wolves.
Knight versus mage. Son versus heir. People who had no reason to understand one another. The only thing they shared was the fiery temperament of the “Danier” name.
They had come close to throwing down a gauntlet more than once.
“Just fight. Both of you know how to starve.”
But lately, with my cooking potential finally bursting open, sharing new dishes had become the greatest joy of life for them. In the end they simply glared at each other and kept their fists to themselves.
The weather at the peak of the Mount of Light—**Grand Hall**—was notoriously fickle. One moment it would be a blizzard, the next it would break into brilliant sunshine.
Artisans who had clawed their way up here from the lowlands worked rain or shine. Outside tasks were done only on clear days. When the weather turned foul, they repaired the internal facilities instead.
Artisans were rare visitors, so every temple on the Mount of Light—Demia’s temple included—had summoned them. The artisans, for their part, were determined to make the most of the climb and head back down as soon as possible.
“Coming down here means I’ll never taste the young lady’s cooking again. That would be the greatest loss.”
The head artisan chuckled, the man who had been practically glued to our temple the entire time he was here, fixing things and turning every corner into something more comfortable.
I had clearly hinted more than once that I would not pay him, yet he still smiled that empty smile.
“How can we accept coin when the Saintess has already blessed us?”
He had stayed long enough that he now shared our lunches. Every time he tasted a new dish he would stare in amazement.
“What is this food called?”
“Pizza.”
“Why is it called pizza?”
It was called pizza because that was what I called it. Why ask why it was pizza…?
“My heart.”
“It has a simple name and is truly delicious.”
Thin, crisp dough topped with cheese and salt-cured ham sliced from the mountain sheep, saffron oil, thinly sliced onions, a variety of herbs, and a generous pat of butter.
Without tomatoes it could never truly become pizza in my mouth, but everyone else ate it with open wonder.
“Is this a northern dish?”
David shook his head at the question.
“We don’t eat that in the north. This is just my sister’s invention. He’s a genius with food.”
“Ah, truly remarkable.”
David, Bertrand, and my gentle, kind older brothers had all fallen hard for their little sister. I shook my head.
“You can eat it in Amain.”
Amain was roughly the same as the Earth I once lived on—Italy, or close enough. We could eat pizza there. Still, without tomatoes, the result would have been the same.
Of course, they would never prepare food with such extravagant ingredients. Saffron oil and fresh herbs alone would cost a small fortune.
If we kept making meals like this, we might burn through our gold reserves in no time.
Was it even reasonable for the royal household’s entire yearly operating budget to be spent on food alone? As a modern person, I felt the excess.
I was about to start feeling guilty when I realized something unexpected.
Wait a minute—this unexpected expense was for two people! Two sturdy mountain men at that.
I needed to deduct something. Starting with the least useful person.
“David, talk to me.”
David rose with a face that clearly said he had been summoned.
In this tiny temple there was nowhere suitable for two people to speak alone.
When Arian spoke, David swallowed hard and stood. The others followed suit.
The head artisan said he had to check another site and left outside. Damien vanished without a word into his own room. Pythia patted Arian’s shoulder and whispered,
“Be gentle. He’s your brother.”
She gave David a look full of pity and slowly walked away.
The moment Arian said she wanted to talk, the room cleared out as if it were the most natural thing in the world. David suddenly felt a little fear of his own sister.
Of course we respected our blood family. But how exactly had Arian trained these strangers?
“Sit. I’ll make you some honey tea. Do you like it?”
“Yeah. I like it.”
He liked it yet the offer felt like a final warning…?
David sat in silence.
He had been with Arian for twelve years now. Judging by the way he kept watching his sister, he was seriously considering trimming his teeth.
Why was I a glutton? I was doing fine!
He was aggrieved, but deep down he understood. Here, on this mountain peak, what need would a knight have to protect anything?
Even if trouble came, with the Eternal title holder Damien Hamilcar present, no one would dare touch this temple.
Arian poured the honey tea, then sipped her own herb tea and nodded.
“How long do you plan to stay?”
David had already drained about half his cup. Arian had the habit of stealing honey tea from anyone who displeased her.
“My father told me to bring you here.”
“I already sent the letter. You can take my word for it. When he sees the letter, he’ll tell you to stay. No need to worry. Just deliver it and go.”
David’s gaze darted around as he asked carefully.
“Why aren’t you coming with us? Because of Prince Hamilcar?”
In David’s eyes, Damien and Arian had already gone far past the line of propriety.
To outsiders, Arian had become far too close to Damien. She would never marry anyone else.
Damien would eat whatever Arian left on her plate, and he had even drunk the water she had been drinking.
It was only natural that he stayed by her side.
The strangest part was that David wondered,
Why isn’t he going back to the Magic Tower?
He was a member of the tower.
Of course he would return to Hamilcar and become lord when he grew older, but before that there would be plenty of tower duties.
Even his brother Bertrand had to balance education in the Danier lands with studies at the Magic Tower.
Living two lives was hard enough. Yet Damien, successor to the vastly larger Hamilcar, a master mage with the Eternal title, lived so effortlessly here.
“What does Damien have to do with anything? I have work to do here.”
“What kind of work?”
“Of course I am here to assist the temple chief. Brother, I came to receive proper instruction. I am not the kind of person who would quit after one season and run home. Even if I am not as strong as my brother, I still have the pride and will to refuse to become weak.”
David would have bet his life on the fact that Arian’s reason for being here had nothing to do with pride or will.
She moved only in reality. Pride and will were things she could snap with one finger.
“Arian.”
David used his sister’s nickname. It was both a warning not to lie and a plea to remember they were family.
“If you don’t want to hear it, don’t. But you should know this. Father sent me to bring you because Count Serpino asked for you as his daughter-in-law.”
Arian’s face twisted inside, yet outwardly she showed nothing.
Ever since David arrived, she had thought, *He’s finally done something stupid.*
The count had openly said he would speak with her father in front of her.
Raymond Danier, Arian’s father, was truly gentle and kind to his daughter—unusual among medieval nobles.
Still, he hated the thought of her being exposed to the eyes of strangers. He believed any daughter who allowed herself to be discussed or stared at became unclean.
Raymond’s protectiveness was not strange; it was simply the way of the world.
Arian frowned.
“As I said in the letter to Father, you should also tell him. I am usually alone on the mountain peak when I am not assisting the temple chief.”
David remembered how Damien had stood openly beside Arian, guarding her from every approaching human.
The supervisor of the lower village and the serfs who came every day to hand her work or food.
The young priests from other temples who seemed so clean and proper circling the area.
What nonsense was she talking?
David wanted to point it all out but swallowed the words.
Arian did not fully understand the eyes around her. It was not just because her brother was dull. It was…
“This is our family secret alone. Father has no intention of marrying you. And I think he made the right decision. So, David.”
One night, Bertrand had whispered into David’s ear while half-hidden in the darkness.
“Get rid of every person who comes near Arian.”