Chapter 150, Not a Difficult Task (1)

Translator: Lizzz

Editor: Hedge

 

*Knock, knock.*

 

In truth, every time she knocked, she had a small dilemma.

 

If someone inside asked ‘Who is it?’, she wouldn’t be able to answer. But today she knew there would be no one inside, so she didn’t have such worries.

 

Of course, one might ask why she would knock if no one was there, but even if a place was empty, it was Hina’s firm belief that one shouldn’t carelessly enter a Prince’s room.

 

As expected, there was no sound responding to her knock.

 

Therefore, Hina quietly opened the door and entered, then turned on the light.

 

*Click!*

 

And then quickly came back outside. With an extremely bewildered expression on her face. Hina looked around frantically, unable to hide her confusion as she silently exclaimed.

 

[That’s not right? But it is right?]

 

It was her last day as a maid, and this was the last task she had to do.

 

She had entered to check the sheets and clean the room before Kalian went to bed.

 

Since Kalian wouldn’t be there anyway, she thought she could clean at a more leisurely pace. After today, she would not be cleaning with her own hands anymore, so she had planned to be even more thorough.

 

But.

 

[Why is that person here?]

 

The reason she didn’t scream wasn’t because she wasn’t surprised by this situation, but because Hina couldn’t scream. Hina was truly very shocked. Even though she had clearly seen that the room she entered was completely black, she was so startled that she hurriedly came back out.

 

With eyes as wide as oil lamps, Hina looked around once more. She had gone up and down between the third and fourth floors so many times that she was double-checking whether she had gotten the floor confused.

 

“It’s the third floor.”

 

Hina’s shoulders flinched.

 

It was because an answer to her silent question came from inside the room.

 

Hina carefully opened the door and stepped inside. Dark-colored curtains, carpet, and sofa. The black sheets and black furniture visible in the bedroom beyond. The completely black interior, which didn’t suit the owner’s usual appearance at all, confirmed once again that this was indeed Kalian’s room.

 

But what was that green prince doing, sitting between a white cat and a black sofa with his eyes closed?

 

At the sound of Hina entering, Plants, who had once again entered Kalian’s room without permission and was lost in thought, opened his eyes and looked at Hina. He needed to do so to be able to see what Hina was saying.

 

Under Plants’s gaze, Hina quickly began to speak.

 

‘I made a mistake. Really…’

 

It seemed she was trying to apologize for being so shocked at seeing Plants sitting in Kalian’s room that she had left without even showing proper courtesy.

 

“It’s fine.”

 

Plants cut off Hina’s words like this. After all, it was Plants who had entered someone else’s room. So there was no reason to accept an apology.

 

Plants, who showed no intention of explaining why he had come here, was addressed again by Hina’s hand movements.

 

‘I came to clean. The Kind Prince is not here right now. He went to the forest.’

 

Plants, who didn’t understand a few words in Hina’s message, looked at Hina silently for a moment without responding. Knowing that he showed such reactions when there were words he didn’t understand, Hina took out her notebook and wrote the character for ‘forest’ to show him.

 

Learning that Kalian had gone to an unexpected place, Plants’s eyes narrowed slightly. However, since he wasn’t the type to ask why Kalian had gone there, Plants just nodded.

 

Soon the cat on Plants’s lap made a meowing sound. Seeing this, Plants stroked the cat’s chin a few times and said.

 

“You can bring it. To Wilhelm. There’s no one. To look after it.”

 

The cat.

 

Cyries was like a place where only crazy people gathered together, but it wasn’t so messed up that a single cat couldn’t live there.

 

Hina, who made an ‘ah’ expression, busily moved her hands.

 

‘Thank you, Good Prince.’

 

[Good Prince again?]

 

Even when mentioning Kalian, there was an unrecognizable sign language gesture attached. It seemed that since Hina found it difficult to say names, she used these as distinguishing titles, which Plants had noticed.

 

However, because that title didn’t suit him at all, Plants quietly looked at Hina and opened his mouth.

 

“… The strawberries were good.”

 

Though there were too many.

 

Five days had already passed since finishing that enormous dinner spread. Since then, Hina had been busy preparing various things for going to Wilhelm Hall, so there had been no occasion to encounter Plants. Therefore, Plants was only now saying those words.

 

Words meaning ‘thank you’, which was probably the first time he had ever said such a thing in his life.

 

Hina, who showed a surprised expression once again at Plants’s words, smiled silently and nodded.

 

‘Next time, I’ll just bring ice cream.’

 

All the people here were strange.

 

They said it was okay even when you make mistakes. They understood everything.

 

“Alright.”

 

And there was even a really Good Prince who said thank you.

 

* * *

 

The wind filled with moonlight is refreshing.

 

In the Royal Forest connected to the rear gate of Cyries Royal Palace, there was the scent of deep green grass. From a waterway too large to call a stream but not quite fitting to call a valley came cool sounds. There was certainly a decent artificial stream in the rear garden of Arpia Palace, but how could it compare to the real thing?

 

Listening to the sound of water flowing toward the always quiet Senu River, Kalian thought this was somewhat unexpected. He hadn’t known the forest would be this large, nor had he known it would be this nice. Neither Bern nor the old Kalian had known this.

 

The forest was truly unimaginably large, as large as Cyries Royal Palace itself. Kalian had definitely heard that this place was not such a large forest. But seeing it directly, unless one were Syspanian, no one would feel this forest was small. Just how generous were the Cyries people’s standards regarding size to evaluate this forest as such?

 

“It seems His Majesty had never come here either.”

 

There was a different forest they visited for hunting competitions.

 

This forest was a place touched by Syspanian’s hand, just like the Royal Family, so there were no beasts. Therefore, Rmain, who only sat at his desk and occasionally held hunting competitions, would have had no reason to come here.

 

“If he had, he probably wouldn’t have told me I could come here.”

 

If Rmain had been to this forest, he would know that this place was perfect for getting lost while wandering around. He would never have given permission for Kalian to come here.

 

“Anyway, I trust you.”

 

Kalian, who looked around the dim surroundings and spoke in a quiet voice, patted Raven’s neck. Raven, excited about the long-awaited walk, a night walk into a forest full of green, made a purring sound as something like a response.

 

As long as Raven was there, no matter how dark this place became or how deep they went, there was nothing to worry about. Even if Kalian fell asleep leaning against Raven’s back right now, wouldn’t Raven take him back to Chermil Palace on his own?

 

“If I had known it was a place like this, I would have come to see it sooner.”

 

As silence settled in, his soliloquizing increased.

 

That too was Kalian’s habit.

 

*Clip-clop, clip-clop.*

 

The small sound of Raven’s feet stepping on the firm, dried dirt path harmonized well with the sound of water.

 

Soon, Raven stopped in front of a wide area that received moonlight directly. He had found the location Kalian wanted with uncanny accuracy.

 

Kalian, who had been enjoying the wind while sitting on Raven, jumped down lightly. Then he stood for a moment looking up at the sky.

 

“Can you see it, Raven?”

 

As if Raven truly understood Kalian’s words, Raven slightly raised his head. Kalian laughed, thinking it really seemed like he was trying to look at the sky.

 

“All the stars are blue. I don’t know if you can see them, but I hope you can if it’s possible.”

 

He spoke, whether to Raven or merely to himself, he couldn’t quite tell.

 

In the sky suspended between spring and summer, an unusual number of blue stars shimmered. He’d once heard that a star’s color revealed its age, but with so many blue ones scattered across the heavens tonight, that notion felt strangely disconnected from reality.

 

As if calling forth ‘Serenty’s Time,’ which came only to Secritia, not on earth but in the sky.

 

A time when it looked as if blue fireflies had descended upon the entire world. Kalian, who briefly recalled in his mind that special moment, which was also the time when Bern was born, had a bitter smile cross his lips.

 

It was because he thought that probably he was the only one in this Royal Palace who knew how beautiful that time was. Though there would be no meaning in recalling it now.

 

“Go far away. Don’t come until I call you. It’s dangerous.”

 

Kalian said this to Raven.

 

Raven, who could be considered the most precious among the various things taken from Plants, made another purring sound and went back the way they had come. He would stay in a distant place on his own until Kalian called him.

 

Watching that retreating figure, Kalian gracefully settled down and sat on a small rock. It looked exactly like he was waiting for someone.

 

Kalian had been wrestling with documents for several days.

 

They were documents that Chase had left behind, detailing ‘how the Noble forces changed after Randel’s accession to the throne of Tansyll.’ It was truly something to be grateful for that he had not only recalled all of this but had personally written down such an amount and handed it over.

 

He understood and memorized the entire bundle of papers that was about two finger joints thick. And as soon as he confirmed that he had memorized all the contents, he burned it all. It was information that should not exist in this world. No matter how well it was stored in Kalian’s safe, one never knew what might happen with human affairs.

 

‘I’m departing today, Your Highness.’

 

When he had spent several days like this, Arsene left the Royal Palace. It was to meet Count Gray Beurisen and probe his intentions.

 

It happened that Euria, the Head of the Arcane Enclave, had business to attend to there regarding the Teleportation Magic Circle under construction, so they sent her along with Arsene. Even if she only accompanied him partway, it would be better than Arsene going alone.

 

Anyway, having sent Arsene off like that, it was time for Kalian to do what could be called preparation. For that, first there needed to be no people or buildings nearby. If someone or something was there, it would definitely be broken.

 

So, he had come to this forest where there was nothing to break.

 

How much time had passed after that?

 

*Step, step.*

 

As he sat blankly just looking up at the sky, Kalian heard footsteps that weren’t very loud approaching him.

 

“Did you wait long?”

 

The one person who would absolutely not break even if present in this place approached Kalian and spoke to him. Kalian opened his mouth with a pleased expression.

 

“Master.”

 

It was Allan.

 

Kalian bowed his head slightly toward Allan, who had gladly walked all the way here to help his lovely Disciple’s ‘preparation.’ And immediately created a transparent Aura Blade.

 

*Swish!*

 

A sharp sound of cutting through air sliced the atmosphere.

 

Kalian had launched a sword strike filled with Mana and Aura toward Allan.

 

Even faced with this tremendous speed attack without hesitation, Allan, who didn’t panic, created a red barrier from his fingertips.

 

Along with that, Kalian’s form disappeared as if hiding in shadows,

 

*CRASH!*

 

An explosion-like roar shook the quiet forest.