Chapter 204, Please Bear With It, Master (1)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

Plants briefly stopped walking. He needed to properly slip his arms through the light sky-blue thin jacket decorated with white ribbon embroidery and buttons. Rerik, who had followed to help him with this, somehow spotted two strands of Luci’s fur that had attached themselves at some point and quickly removed them with uncanny precision.

 

Having tidied his appearance in this manner, Plants resumed walking and entered Arpia Palace.

 

Though he did not want to admit it, whenever he came to this place, he was always tense, wondering if he might run into someone. Still, there had been considerable distance between them until now.

 

Leaving behind the Caera Knights who recognized him and offered greetings, Plants had just entered the long corridor on the top floor of Arpia Palace and was letting out a short sigh when—

 

“Plants.”

 

The person who made him want to meet yet hesitate to face, feel glad yet hold back, understand yet resent, feel sorry for yet frustrated. That person called out to Plants.

 

It was Rmain, who had just emerged from his office for a schedule at Senu Hall.

 

Plants, having forcibly suppressed the thought that whoever had arranged the offices facing each other created this source of contemplation every time he came here, that this person never did anything quite to his satisfaction, first offered his respects.

 

“I greet Your Majesty the King.”

 

Come to think of it, was it not rather absurd? The child of a Duke living in the grandest mansion on Einansha Street where Nobles gathered, and the children of nameless people living in the slums outside the inner fortress. They would all call their fathers ‘Father’. Yet this person alone could absolutely never be addressed that way.

 

It was that suffocating.

 

The Royal Palace prevented seeing a person as just a person, no matter how large and splendid it was, it inevitably felt stifling and cramped.

 

“What brings you here? You should have been at the Noble Council Meeting by now.”

 

Plants, who had been contemplating the most useless and inefficient thoughts among the endlessly conscious stream of his many thoughts, raised his head to look at Rmain as he voiced his concern.

 

Deep blue eyes with the color of light, looking exactly like someone from upstairs whom he disliked. It was as if they had gathered only the things he hated to create them. Those pair of eyes were now examining Plants.

 

Not looking down, not gazing, not staring, but examining him.

 

Plants, for whom the day when he would grow accustomed to such a gaze filled with obvious worry seemed distant, briefly considered what response he should give. He could not exactly say that his younger brother seemed to have gotten involved in another strange matter and he had come to meet the Mage of a ‘stepfather’, who could prevent it.

 

“Ah…”

 

Therefore, seeing Plants not answer immediately, Rmain, who had briefly recalled something, hurriedly added more words.

 

“Since you came without prior notice, I asked out of concern whether something had happened. It’s not that I’m busy and troubled. If it’s urgent, I was asking whether I should postpone my schedule for a while…”

 

He seemed well aware of how many times he had said ‘I’m busy now,’ ‘That’s difficult at the moment.’ How much must he have done so to add such words based on his own assumptions?

 

Naturally, he had not learned this on his own.

 

Allan must have told him that every single word Rmain uttered, every breath he exhaled, only sounded like thorns to Randel and Plants.

 

At this rate, one could not tell whether Allan had raised Kalian’s faction or Rmain had done it by pushing all his sons away.

 

“It is not urgent. And I don’t think I’ll be able to attend the meeting today. I apologize.”

 

Thanks to this, Plants answered only moderately like this, unable to say ‘I didn’t come to see you.’

 

Rmain, who had been looking at his son a bit longer, opened his mouth again.

 

“I see. If it’s something you can discuss here, please tell me.”

 

In short, he was making Plants explicitly state that he had come to see the Mage in the office opposite, not him?

 

Plants, suppressing the sigh that flowed out habitually at the thought of how one could be so utterly oblivious, spoke.

 

“…You don’t give flowers without life as birthday gifts, Your Majesty.”

 

So, he just said whatever came to mind.

 

To this cow-like man who stubbornly believed, or wanted to believe, that Plants had come to see him rather than Allan, Plants stated whatever purpose came to mind.

 

That he had made another mistake.

 

Whatever skill of accidentally stumbling upon the wrong thing he had learned and used it thinking he was right, he had truly caught something off-target this time once more.

 

“I’m grateful you thought of me, but it does not give a good meaning to Kalian.”

 

The sigh that Plants had suppressed flowed from Rmain’s mouth. He had already been scolded about it earlier.

 

From the Mage with a bad mouth but whom he could not keep at a distance because there was much to learn from him and much to be scolded about… Rmain had been thoroughly chastised for quite a while about whether he even knew what he had done to his third son on his birthday while supposedly thinking of his second son.

 

Then, after pondering for a long time about what to do for the second son’s upcoming birthday, when he asked whether he should make lantern decorations containing flames since flames were also flowers, he was told to just take those flames and cross the Senu River altogether with them.

 

Anyway, for that reason, Rmain, who had been planning to properly apologize to his third son, was nodding and about to respond when Plants continued speaking. Because he could now clearly see what Rmain would worry about next.

 

“You needn’t worry about me, so just give as you have been giving.”

 

For Plants, this was a lengthy statement he had made with utmost sincerity and effort, and Rmain understood the meaning of those words after quite a while. It was saying to just give him living flowers on his own birthday.

 

“I’ve learned that not all flowers in the world have the same scent, so it’s fine.”

 

He could not avoid all flowers in the world forever, and he had learned from Hina that not all flowers in the world gave off the scent of Reunieri Flower. So instead of placing a stone on his heart while recalling past wounds from flower fragrance that would bloom in the coming spring, he was now trying to feel somewhat pleased that winter had finally passed.

 

To do that, he would need to start welcoming the red flowers celebrating his birthday, so this was also saying he would gradually practice and become accustomed to it. Of course, that did not mean he could drink lavender tea right away, but still.

 

“…Very well. I shall do so.”

 

Though he could not know whether Rmain had understood all of those words with their meanings, in any case, he answered carefully.

 

“Thank you, Plants.”

 

Of course, Rmain once again said ‘thank you’ instead of ‘I’m sorry.’

 

* * *

 

At the time when Kalian had just sent Hina back, and Plants was having a conversation with Rmain—

 

A far greater number of Nobles than had attended the dinner at Siegfried Hall recently had come to Senu Hall. The reason why an unprecedented number of Nobles had gathered for this unremarkable Central Noble Council meeting where the same number of agenda items as always would be discussed with the same conversations as always was exactly one.

 

“So then, Lady Dmirea. It seems I must discuss the events of that day with the Third Prince. Though he will surely refuse, aren’t you the Third Prince’s fiancée, Lady Dmirea?”

 

They had flocked here after hearing that both Marquis Evan Beurisen, who had politely tucked his tail and fled from Kalian’s birthday celebration, and Lesser Duchess Dmirea Siegfried would both attend the Noble Council Meeting at Senu Hall.

 

They could not miss such a good show.

 

“…So after today’s meeting ends, I’m asking you to convey a message to the Third Prince.”

 

The one conveying this story to Dmirea while maintaining a semblance of courtesy, was none other than Marquis Evan Beurisen himself.

 

Dmirea, who had been looking at Evan for a moment, opened her mouth.

 

“I shall not.”

 

It was informal speech.

 

The moment informal speech came from Dmirea’s mouth, the Nobles felt great joy once again about being present at this occasion. And Evan’s eyebrows shot up.

 

Evan, who was about to clearly protest what he had just heard, looked around. This was a place where there were many of his faction, but also many Nobles who were not. There would be nothing good about responding to this discourtesy of young Dmirea speaking down to him by behaving the same way.

 

“Lady Dmirea. How can you show such discourteous behavior in a public setting—”

 

“I am the Lesser Duchess of Siegfried. I cannot fathom where you learned such a disrespectful form of address.”

 

Sleiman, who could not come to the Capital, had temporarily transferred his full authority to her. Moreover, Dmirea was clearly the acting head of Siegfried.

 

At this moment, only within this Senu Hall, she held the rank of Duke Sleiman. Therefore, clearly here and now, Dmirea ranked higher than Evan.

 

“Disrespectful form of address? If the way I addressed you with added respect, hoping we could get along better, was not to your liking, couldn’t we discuss it amicably? No matter how young you are.”

 

“It might be respect in your head that’s attached as decoration without thought.”

 

Having said that, Dmirea showed undisguised killing intent toward Evan and spoke with a growling tone.

 

“If you address me that way one more time, I will regard it as dishonor to me, my family, Duke Siegfried, and my fiancé Prince Kalian, and respond accordingly, Marquis Evan. Beurisen.”

 

At the low voice that seemed to fear nothing, Evan, who had lost his words, slowly closed his mouth.

 

* * *

 

Even if one becomes accustomed to something, there are things that could not be forgotten. Shouldn’t you now return to your original place and protect it again? Before that pathetic new father of yours get curious about you.

 

It didn’t take long to realize that hidden in the phrase ‘protect’ meant ‘protect your older brother, from me.’

 

Allan, apparently deeming it unnecessary to review the content, eliminated the letter right there. The paper did not burn, crumple, or tear. It literally turned to powder before Plants’ eyes and disappeared without a trace. Though he was not curious about how it was done, nor was it an important matter at this moment. There was a different truly important matter.

 

“The King of Secritia seems a bit…”

 

Plants, who was about to add ‘out of his mind’, closed his mouth midway. Even so, he was the biological father of his younger brother’s former older brother, after all.

 

He could not believe that Chase had truly sent that letter. To begin with, Chase did not have the personality to speak in such a manner, and judging from stories gathered here and there, the only one who could make such demands of Kalian was Debeullan.

 

After intercepting a letter sent by the Debeullan, who created the essence of the current Kalian, who was so irritating that it would be hard to find anyone else like him in the world, whom Plants truly loved to hate, Plants encountering their father. Rmain, who created Kalian’s outer appearance on the way here. Yet now he was discussing about that younger brother, sitting before the ‘real father’ who would protect that younger brother.

 

Whether Allan knew or not Plants’ complicated state of mind was another question though.

 

“Thank you for letting me know.”

 

Allan simply answered like this.

 

The usual playful eye-smile and the constantly gentle smile he always wore were nowhere to be seen. It was complete expressionlessness. It looked like a carefree face as if he did not care what the sender had said, yet it also looked like a face that would not be satisfied even if he went to Secritia right now and ground someone down.

 

Because Plants did not fail to understand that state of mind, he simply faced Allan with a calm expression and spoke in a low voice.

 

“I don’t know if he sent it truly remembering my little brother’s past appearance, but there clearly seems to be something happening over there.”

 

From the way he spoke, it was clearly as if he knew all of Kalian’s secrets. However, that did not necessarily mean he had regained his memories. After all, weren’t they all people who leaked secrets well here and there?

 

So it wouldn’t be strange if he had pieced together these unbelievable stories that had leaked out unknowingly from various places, constructed one more unbelievable hypothesis, and sent this letter to subtly test Kalian.

 

In any case, Debeullan was telling Kalian to return to Secritia before he would reveal his secret to Rmain. Allan, suppressing his rage at that shameless tone that truly seemed to treat the Prince of another country as his own son, brought his hand to his temple and said.

 

“I’ll go visit soon.”

 

‘To kill him.’

 

That was the meaning contained in those words.

 

[Now that snake-like bastard who is no different from that of a beast, has reached out, I will kill him with my own hands and eliminate him. I will kill him, preventing him from dying properly, yet leaving not even bone dust behind, in the most horrific and cruel method in the world.]

 

“That seems to be my matter though.”

 

A voice that shouldn’t have been heard here gave a brief response to Allan’s words.

 

The one who had deliberately hidden his presence even from Allan, came to this place, and interjected into their conversation was, naturally, Kalian.

 

Kalian, who had arrived silently and entered Allan’s office, looked at Plants and Allan once each.

 

“It seems my messenger bird took the wrong path.”

 

A Secritia spy who had been observing Plants from afar, worried after Plants had torn open and read on the spot, a letter that should have been delivered to Kalian before heading to Arpia Palace, had conveyed the content to Arsene.

 

Arsene, who had decided to clear Kalian’s path, had not taken the words the Secritia bird conveyed lightly, though he did not know what the matter was. After hearing from Arsene, who had come with such content about what was happening now, Kalian, who had followed Plants’ trail to come here, slowly spoke.

 

“I came with a suspicion in mind…”

 

It was a voice thoroughly angered. A voice more furious than ever about them interfering in his affairs without permission.

 

“You’re together. Talking about me—”

 

Plants, hearing that voice, had missed the opportunity to be angry that Kalian had just called him ‘my messenger bird.’

 

“Without me.”

 

A voice like water resembling moonlight flowing silently beneath the thick ice of the northern Great Dunes. A voice so bitterly cold it seemed it would extinguish even the flames contained in his own eyes.

 

To Plants, it sounded like a whale’s cry.

 

Like the cry of a whale trapped beneath thick ice with nowhere to go. That was why he could not get angry.