Chapter 211, None or Once (3)

Translator: Lizzz

Editor: Hedge

 

Snake hunting.

 

You must not grab a snake by the tail, nor by its body. If you carelessly touched the wrong spot, you would find yourself meeting the chilling gaze of the creature as it twisted its entire body to coil around the arm that seized it.

 

While you hesitated, sinking into those vertically slit, pitch-black pupils, the snake opened its long jaws wide and drove its dagger-like venomous fangs into your vulnerable skin, injecting death.

 

“Your Highness.”

 

To avoid being caught, instead of rashly trying to capture a snake, you must either firmly grip or sever its head in one strike, preventing it from ever revealing the sinister teeth it kept carefully hidden. A snake never gave a second chance, so you could not afford even the slightest mistake in the hunt.

 

Therefore, hunting a snake was something that might seem easier than catching a docile deer when you thought about it, but in reality, it proved more difficult than slitting the throat of an enraged bear.

 

“Your Highness.”

 

However, he felt no reluctance whatsoever.

 

Having done it once already, why could he not do it twice?

 

“…Chase.”

 

Lost in thought, he did not respond to the call, so his name was spoken directly.

 

He should answer, but upon hearing his own name, Chase forgot even that he should respond and fell into contemplation once more.

 

White raptor, descended from sacred Bloodline.

 

Could there be any other name so distasteful yet so utterly unsuitable?

 

“A jet-black serpent inheriting the most potent of poisons would be rather more fitting.”

 

Chase let out a brief laugh as his wandering thoughts arrived at this conclusion. Arianneu, who had been sitting perched on the corner of the spire, asked with what seemed frustration or perhaps anxiety.

 

“Your Highness, what is it? Did something happen again?”

 

Only then did he turn his head, and the wind was blowing.

 

Chase, barely emerging from thoughts he felt he might never escape, shook his head gently and smiled softly.

 

“…No, just. The wind is hot. I came up because it was hot, but the hot wind is blowing, so it seems both hotter and somewhat better. I cannot quite tell which.”

 

It was difficult to gauge whether the spire was a place where escaping the heat was difficult or easy. It seemed contradictory. Should it not be hotter for being closer to the Sun, yet should not a cooler wind blow for being so high?

 

Just as there were occasional times when he could not tell whether he should avoid coming up here because the thoughts that naturally arose would make him feel strangled, or whether he should welcome it because it made him feel a yearning for life.

 

“It is dangerous, Arianneu. Come here.”

 

Arianneu, who sat with her legs dangling toward the dizzying depths below while watching Chase, seemingly unafraid, asked again as if she had not heard the word dangerous at all.

 

“What were you thinking about so deeply?”

 

Kalian mirrored Chase’s stubbornness.

 

Perhaps Chase mirrored Arianneu’s stubbornness.

 

‘If Prince Plants and Arianneu were to argue stubbornly with each other, who would win?’

 

Chase looked at Arianneu, having had yet another meaningless thought. Since she would certainly ask the same thing until he gave a proper answer, he delivered his response first.

 

“My name. I suppose I had the thought that I cannot live up to my name after all. It is somewhat amusing.”

 

Arianneu, who was not royalty and had not learned the forgotten ancient language, at least knew what meaning Chase’s name held. Therefore, she also understood that Chase’s laughter was self-mockery directed at himself for being unable to live a pure white life.

 

“What? And here I thought you were pondering something significant.”

 

She knew well why Chase, who had been nothing but white until now, could no longer be snow-white.

 

“There is no such thing as pure white in this world anyway. Even the snowfields of the northern Great Dunes are ultimately just rotting, crumbling earth at the bottom, so why would you be any different? It is not something to achieve or not achieve—it was impossible from the start. If you dislike that, just keep leaving it to me. I will handle it. If not, then do not be bound by it, since there is no one anywhere who can live only in pure white. You said you would step forward yourself, so do not pour out every thought you have and haven’t had to craft a meticulous snare only to trap yourself in it.”

 

Arianneu’s solution was always simple and clear. Chase responded to the one who had always walked ahead, illuminating the path, with frivolous words instead of an answer.

 

“It sounds strange hearing you say there is no one without sin. You said that last time too.”

 

Was Arianneu not someone who dealt with law?

 

How contradictory it was that such a person could speak so casually about there being no clean people in the world.

 

“I did not weave a snare. My worries are over, and I have decided what to do. I will not regret it either. Nothing like what you are worried about will happen.”

 

“Then why did you laugh?”

 

“I just laughed because it was amusing. It seems that in the end, not a single name turns out as intended. That is what amused me.”

 

Arianneu, about to nod without further worry at the assurance that it was not strangling him, paused to consider the meaning contained in the phrase ‘not a single name’ and asked.

 

“Are you talking about your younger brother’s name?”

 

Though Arianneu had called his name without hesitation when conversing with Kalian, she did not do so in front of Chase. It was difficult to distinguish whether the younger brother Chase thought of was Kalian or the nameless someone within him.

 

Chase, about to answer the question, extended his hand toward Arianneu, who still sat in a precarious position. He felt they could only have a proper conversation once Arianneu came down to a safe place first.

 

“I said it is dangerous. Come here, Arianneu.”

 

Arianneu, whose only method of cooling off on such a hot day was to simply remove her shoes and sit perched at the edge of the spire to catch the breeze, having learned flame magic that perfectly matched her temperament, smiled and spoke.

 

“What does your younger brother’s name mean? I think I can remember that.”

 

“I will tell you if you come over here.”

 

Chase had wondered whether there would ever be an occasion for Arianneu and Plants to argue, but even if such a day came, it seemed unlikely that Arianneu would win. In the end, Arianneu, unable to overcome her curiosity, took Chase’s hand and came to sit inside the spire.

 

Chase, looking at Arianneu with eyes that praised her for yielding her stubbornness, spoke softly.

 

“…Remnant of sunset.”

 

Arianneu, quietly rolling the unfamiliar words in her mouth, looked at Chase’s violet eyes. Imagining someone with a face just like Chase’s but with longer hair, taller height, many scars.

 

And those mysterious eyes that shone with a lighter hue than Chase’s.

 

‘Come to think of it, the long hair suited you quite well too’. Instead of bringing up such words, Arianneu glanced briefly at Chase’s nape, which still felt empty, and asked.

 

“Is that the meaning of the old name, or the current name?”

 

“Which do you think?”

 

“The current one. No matter how out of his mind His Majesty might be, I do not think he would name his son with words like ‘sunset’ or ‘remnant.’ In Cyries, where they do not know the ancient language, perhaps such a name could be given.”

 

Though Chase did not open his mouth to confirm the answer, Arianneu’s thinking was correct. What Chase had spoken was the meaning when the name Kalian was interpreted in the ancient language.

 

“Remnant of sunset… putting it that way makes it such a strange phrase. I cannot grasp what it means. In the language we use now, it has quite a nice meaning.”

 

Remnant of sunset.

 

When he thought about it, could there be a more fitting name than that? It was a phrase whose meaning could be pictured in the mind, yet was difficult to explain by opening one’s mouth.

 

“Well, there is an even stranger name.”

 

The person living on the floor above someone with a strange name meaning. Chase let out another quiet laugh as he thought of that person’s impossibly verdant, even stranger name.

 

“What? You are laughing alone again. Tell me too.”

 

“I cannot. It would be troublesome if rumors spread.”

 

“I can keep my mouth shut. You know that.”

 

“Still, I cannot. I apologize.”

 

At the sight of him firmly shaking his head with a resolute face, unable to speak the truth, Arianneu, who had decided to yield her stubbornness after all, recalled what she had just heard and spoke.

 

“You would not have laughed because that strange meaning of your younger brother’s current name was not fulfilled, so……”

 

After briefly exhaling, Arianneu continued in a light tone, as if discussing this hot weather.

 

“You must have thought of your younger brother’s real name.”

 

She spoke lightly, trying to help him feel even a little less empty, lonely, sad, and anguished, since he could not avoid thinking of his younger brother.

 

“Bern. It is Bern, Arianneu. His name was Bern.”

 

Chase spoke once more the name he had already told her dozens upon hundreds of times, hoping Arianneu would remember it.

 

A dull light momentarily appeared in Arianneu’s eyes, which had sparkled like jewels. Then Arianneu blinked briefly and asked.

 

“Your younger brother’s name did not fit either?”

 

Had the sound of the passing wind been louder than his words?

 

Was that why she could not hear?

 

So completely that she could not even retain it in her memory. So much that she did not even wonder what she had just missed.

 

[Could it be merely that it does not fit?]

 

Just as before, it was going so perfectly wrong. How could such a thing be fully explained with the simple words ‘does not fit’?

 

Chase held his breath and swallowed these words. From his expression, Arianneu realized that after Chase had spoken the name once more, he had confirmed the harsh truth again.

 

So Arianneu opened her mouth with a grumble, as if changing the subject.

 

“What on earth was His Majesty thinking, giving names side by side that do not even fit? Making my fiancé’s heart needlessly troubled.”

 

Chase smiled brightly at the clumsy words of consolation.

 

“Indeed. My father gave names as if cursing rather than blessing.”

 

Come to think of it, was not the relationship twisted from that first meeting when the names were given? Chase decided to consider it a fortunate thing rather than resent it.

 

“Let us go down now. You have work to do. I also have somewhere to go.”

 

Chase, having finished organizing his thoughts, stood up and spoke. Arianneu, curious and wanting to know everything to the end, stood up together without asking where he was going.

 

* * *

 

It seemed there were times when irritation rose within him.

 

In truth, he was rather prone to irritation to begin with, but occasionally he made that face full of rising irritation. If one were to explain it in words, it was like the feeling of freshly harvested young seaweed.

 

“What might my sensitive older brother be dissatisfied with again?”

 

“It would be nice if my little brother would just stop barking.”

 

Plants, with a face that was indeed verdant but somehow seemed a bit wilted and salty, answered immediately.

 

Kalian, briefly pondering why this pea who would not give a proper answer anyway was so thoroughly boiled, smiled silently. He had given him work while attaching various reasons: preparing for an empty position, or that his older brother would die without holding something in his hands. Still, it seemed suspicion was arising.

 

Wondering if it was all just an excuse to make him work.

 

As a result, Plants became busy every day, while Kalian did not.

 

“Have you been busy?”

 

As Kalian said, he had been busy.

 

Very busy, in fact.

 

He had taken on and completed some of the work left behind by Arsene, who had become busy escorting Hina, done the work he was originally supposed to do, and participated in various schedules he had to attend as a Prince—not merely a Prince in name only—spending his difficult day productively.

 

Standing at the entrance of Chermil Palace with such a tired face, he heard the sound of ice clinking somewhere nearby.

 

It was a mistake to unconsciously turn his head and glance over.

 

He locked eyes with crimson eyes that stared outside the terrace with a face that seemed both knowable and unknowable regarding what thoughts occupied his life.

 

He had woken up at dawn to work, attended a noble gathering, worked, worked, attended lunch, worked, worked, worked, and returned, while the owner of those red eyes had leisurely woken up, rested, attended a noble gathering, rested, rested, attended lunch, rested, rested, rested, and was now leisurely drinking tea.

 

“I am going to rest.”

 

He was not curious about what Kalian had been doing or where he had been since attending the noble gathering and lunch from dawn until now. He was simply annoyed by that face holding tea full of ice on this hot day.

 

So Plants, having spoken briefly, was about to enter Chermil Palace when Kalian, standing on the third floor, leaped off the terrace.

 

Without even thinking to put down the mint tea he was holding.

 

“Prince Kalian!”

 

Ignoring Rerik, who was still unaccustomed to such situations and cried out in surprise, Kalian, who had jumped down from the terrace without a sound, walked toward Plants. Then, still holding the tea without spilling a single drop, he smiled and asked.

 

“Have you eaten?”

 

Kalian was above, Plants was below, and since they could not converse with one side looking down and the other looking up, he simply jumped down. To ask if he had eaten.

 

“Not thinking about it.”

 

“Alright.”

 

Kalian, who had previously yapped with various phrases about eating, ‘If you are not thinking about food, you should go eat a little later’; ‘If you are not hungry, you should eat’; ‘You must be tired, so eating would be perfect’, and so on, had surprisingly obediently said ‘alright’.

 

Therefore, Kalian smiled brightly at Plants, whose face showed suspicion about what scheme this might be.

 

It was not as if Kalian did not know that ‘not thinking about food’ meant ‘I am tired to death right now, so please get lost,’ yet while saying he understood when told about not thinking of food, he showed no intention of leaving.

 

“I am tired.”

 

“That cannot be.”

 

And Kalian answered with a face that said not to be ridiculous.

 

If he would be tired from just that much work, Arsene would have already died. It meant something like that, and also conveyed the message: ‘Even so, you have Beurisen blood, so could this much really be difficult?’

 

“Since we cannot talk for long while getting along well, I will go in first. Enjoy your meal and come to the forest at an appropriate time.”

 

It meant that with their relationship split once again due to the incident of placing the tiara on Dmirea at the banquet and the matter of Freya’s elevation, it would be difficult to talk for long in front of others. Having conveyed what he wanted to say as he pleased, Kalian paused briefly as if he had forgotten something. Then he smiled brightly again and spoke.

 

“And do not forget your sword.”

 

Whether knowing or not knowing that those words sounded like an invitation message from hell to Plants, Kalian, still with his pretty face smiling, gave a light bow and went back up to his room.

 

Plants, standing still and watching his retreating figure, pondered whether there had been any recent incidents involving him and Hina, then frowned. There was nothing special.

 

“Your Highness, if you are tired, please rest today.”

 

“It is fine.”

 

“However, you do not necessarily have to listen……”

 

At Rerik’s worried words, Plants muttered with his irritated face unchanged.

 

“I decided. To learn everything.”

 

Rerik might find it difficult to understand, but in any case, had he not decided to learn everything from that bastard?

 

So whether he called to hell or across the Senu River.

 

He must go.