Chapter 236, That Heart (4)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

Arsene gifted Euria a pure white egg.

 

After receiving it, Euria began learning how to incubate eggs by asking around here and there.

 

Kalian gifted Plants a gray kitten.

 

Plants, who had brought both Luci and the kitten to Wilhelm Hall and placed them on his lap, worked hard thinking of a name for the new cat to forget something he could not express.

 

Hina gifted Plants a kitten collar.

 

Plants chuckled softly upon seeing the inscription on the collar that read, ‘I am Prince Plants’ cat, who likes Prince Plants.’

 

And Kalian also gifted something to Rmain.

 

“You must have had many things to worry about lately, so how about regaining some leisure time by watching an equestrian performance that you always enjoy?”

 

After training with Kyrie all day, he visited Rmain in the late evening and said these words.

 

Grateful and proud of Kalian’s thoughtful gift-like words showing concern for him, Rmain answered without much hesitation that he would do so. Around the time Rmain was telling this story to Allan, who had come to give a work report after meeting with Kalian, feeling pleased about it, the very one who had just been so admirable ran away.

 

Even upon hearing such news, Rmain, finding himself more surprised that he was no longer surprised, held his forehead.

 

“To do one admirable thing and then one headache-inducing thing. Surely Majesty Highness never acts in a way that tips the scales to one side. How remarkably fair your conduct is. How remarkably consistent as well.”

 

“That does not sound like words from the heart, but rather the Count’s keen intent on teasing me.”

 

“If you are that curious, I shall tell you.”

 

“No. I do not wish to know.”

 

Letting the Mage’s commentary go in one ear and out the other, he considered simply lifting the confinement order but decided to leave it as it was. If the Prince had no guilty conscience about breaking the rules, it seemed he would simply regard the Royal Palace as merely a place with a bed and wander about like a fledgling magpie exploring the world.

 

So, Rmain would leave the confinement order in place.

 

When he returns this time, he really must scold him properly!

 

Of course, do so when that Mage was not around.

 

* * *

 

Thus, the day after many people exchanged warm gifts, Kalian entered the office of the Valkan Deputy Commanders and briefly narrowed his eyes.

 

“Hmm.”

 

It was after he had returned from visiting his fiancée’s home, slept for a while, and then been scolded more by Ian than by Rmain once morning came. He did not mention that he planned to continue sneaking out of the Royal Palace to meet Dmirea for some time to come, thinking he would be scolded even more if he did.

 

After being thoroughly scolded and climbing up to the fourth floor to be scolded and eating as much as his sorrowful heart desired, he summoned Kyrie to train again. After that, he had come to Wilhelm Hall like this.

 

“Deputy Commander Hertz went to meet Commander Manasil together with Prince Plants. If he returns, I will tell him to visit you at Chermil Palace, Prince Kalian.”

 

“I cannot summon someone busier than myself. I will go in and wait.”

 

“Yes, I understand.”

 

He finished a brief conversation with Nidlen, whom he encountered along the way, and entered the empty office. And then he saw something. No, he ‘smelled’ something.

 

“So that is why he was thoroughly pickled all morning.”

 

Unable to bear watching him nibble away looking like pickled cabbage in vinegar again, Kalian had fed him by saying, “If you finish all of that, I will teach you one sword technique.” But he found the reason why the fellow had been that way.

 

Minesia.

 

A single purple flower that looked like a fist-sized bell set upside down was placed on Arsene’s desk.

 

Kalian, who had been staring at it for a moment, smiled slightly.

 

“It smells lovely.”

 

Though he did not know when it had been placed there, a very pleasant flower fragrance was wafting throughout the entire office.

 

To think that Arsene would place flowers at his own station.

 

Soon Kalian, who had erased his smile, walked over and picked up the flower.

 

“What should I do with this…”

 

It would be strange to ask for it, and even stranger to tell him to remove it. He felt sorry to burn it and it was too wasteful to throw it away. [But what flower is this anyway? Could it be that he is dating someone? Well, it is certainly a good age to be dating and enjoying oneself. But who could it be? It seems I should let them know just how crazy this fellow is before they get too involved. But for him to be really dating someone? Hmm…]

 

While he was contemplating such things, another set of footsteps that were not Kalian’s approached, and someone who entered through the door he had left open spoke briefly.

 

“Leave it.”

 

It was Plants.

 

Kalian turned his head, showed simple courtesy, and spoke.

 

“Since when has this been here?”

 

Plants simply spread out his documents first without replying. Since he said to leave it alone, it also meant to drop any interest in this matter.

 

As Kalian, who had not the slightest intention of dropping such an interesting matter, continued looking at Plants with a beaming face, an answer finally came.

 

“Yesterday.”

 

[So, he had worked all day while smelling this fragrance. Unable to say those words, asking to have it removed. Judging by his actions, he must have stopped Rerik from telling Arsene as well.]

 

“How overflowing with consideration my older brother is.”

 

Kalian, who let out a short sigh, opened the office window wide. Then he raised a wind to send the Minesia fragrance filling the office far, far away.

 

Seeing this, Plants made a displeased face. Knowing well what he was thinking, Kalian spoke first before Plants could.

 

“It is not consideration.”

 

He knows that flowers are not simply a matter of preference for Plants.

 

“If you had been fine, you would not have had that face this morning.”

 

Feeling that the fragrance had blown away appropriately, Kalian opened Arsene’s desk drawer and placed the flower inside. Then he looked at the open window for a moment and spoke.

 

“Anyway, I met older brother Randel yesterday.”

 

“So.”

 

“He served me grapefruit tea.”

 

Thinking that another out-of-the-blue story was beginning, Plants no longer replied and turned the page of his documents.

 

“First it was grapefruit cake, then grapefruit sorbet. Yesterday it was grapefruit tea. While looking at it, I suddenly came to dislike grapefruit. All of a sudden. The sour, bitter taste that I could not tell whether it was astringent or sweet suddenly became disagreeable.”

 

It was Randel who served richly melted chocolate drinks when meeting with him. Toward Plants, who was thinking about Randel’s behavior of paying such close attention to what his siblings disliked, Kalian asked.

 

“What do you think I said?”

 

“You must have told him to bring out different tea.”

 

Kalian smiled at the answer that came out as if it were obvious and spoke.

 

“Have you ever told anyone else that you cannot bear flower fragrances, older brother?”

 

Other than Kalian noticing, Allan finding out, and Rmain hearing about it, had he ever directly stated with his own mouth that he disliked them?

 

After a long period without an answer, Plants opened his mouth.

 

“The fragrance is still strong.”

 

The fragrance of someone for whom speaking of dislike would have been useless was still strong. He answered that he had never directly brought up that he disliked flowers.

 

“It is all right for you to do so.”

 

He knew that Plants was trying to improve.

 

He knew that he was getting better little by little.

 

But that does not mean it was all right to forcibly endure it, does it?

 

“Forcibly enduring until you become numb is not getting better, it is just bearing with it. There is no need for you to do so.”

 

Like Luci teaching a kitten, everything from one to ten requires attention. He does not grow on his own like Kyrie, nor does he stand properly with just a word or two like Dmirea. He goes around unable to even say he dislikes something.

 

And yet he insists on playing the role of the older brother, which was the maddening and frustrating part.

 

Kalian, who had been staring at the ambiguously bright gray-purple jacket that resided somewhere between white and dark gray, spoke with a small sigh mixed in.

 

“If there is something I have forgotten, please tell me that as well.”

 

He feels as if a breeze carrying spring energy is blowing.

 

Plants, who noticed that the Clean Magic and Kalian’s Mana, which he had now become able to sense just a little, had brushed past, answered in a low voice.

 

“Alright.”

 

Still, it is fortunate that at least when it comes to things being taught, he obediently and gently says he understands.

 

“Why is Lord Hertz not coming?”

 

“Meal.”

 

“Ah. Could you perhaps tell him to come see me when he returns?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“By the way, what about your lunch, older brother?”

 

“Not yet.”

 

“Then with me…”

 

“No.”

 

“Fine.”

 

In the cool breeze blowing through the wide open window, Kalian nodded his head refreshingly and smiled brightly.

 

* * *

 

Still, it was not as if he had no sense at all.

 

When he returned from eating, the window was open, the flower was placed in the drawer, and he heard that Kalian had come and gone. So Arsene took the flower from the drawer and went to Hina’s office. Then, after presenting it to the two advisors who had told him where to buy eggs as a gift of gratitude, he then came to find Kalian.

 

A pungent yet sweet fragrance rose from the black tea infused with ginger and peach.

 

“They say it is good for recovering from fatigue, so drink it all.”

 

When Kalian said the exact same words to Arsene as Hina had, Arsene smiled brightly and conveyed his answer.

 

“Thank you for your concern. Still, since Lady Jelia arrived, I have been leaving work on time without fail.”

 

“That is fortunate.”

 

Knowing that the time Plants returned to Chermil Palace had become earlier, Kalian had also gauged that Arsene would have time to catch his breath. So, Kalian nodded with a smile.

 

It remained unspoken whose arrangement for whom it had been that two major tasks overlapped, causing him to become so busy.

 

“Is there other work you would like to assign?”

 

The person who was paying attention to Hina’s escort in addition to Valkan’s affairs occasionally asked if there was other work. Kalian’s smile seems to have an apologetic feeling to it.

 

“Actually there are two things, but I will do one later, and there is something urgent first.”

 

He knew it was time to change the command system and overhaul the operational methods as Valkan’s personnel have increased, but if he mentions it now, Arsene seems likely to write a will, so he postponed it for now. Once reinforcements were complete, Arsene too would feel the necessity of this change, so Kalian decided to either wait until then or entrust it to the relatively energetic pea.

 

*Thud!*

 

However, something related to the remainder that he could never entrust to that pea was placed on the table. Seeing it, Arsene unconsciously frowned.

 

The black pebble he wanted to forget but could not.

 

His fully healed shoulder seemed to ache for a moment, but he could not say such things to Kalian. If Arsene’s shoulder throbs from seeing the pebble, how much more must Kalian’s, who was looking at Arsene?

 

“No useless thoughts. Lord Hertz.”

 

“You were with His Highness Deputy Commander and have picked up on my emotions?”

 

“I am originally quick-witted. It is just that older brother has even better senses.”

 

Kalian was about to ask when that long title would be sorted out, but thinking it was not a matter for him to interfere in, he postponed that as well. If the pea does not like hearing it, he will handle it himself.

 

“Late this afternoon or around tomorrow, Count Gray Beurisen will come to meet older brother Randel. At that time, I would like Lord Hertz to meet the Count once more and convey a message.”

 

“I understand.”

 

“Ah, of course. I am not forcing you, so if you feel reluctant, feel free to say so. It is really all right.”

 

[After forcing yourself to do the assigned work, and then getting drunk… Do not accept when you are going to get hit again after causing trouble like that.]

 

“Did you not say you would not assign work I dislike? Since it will not be work I dislike, I will do whatever it is.”

 

Kalian, who chuckled at that groundless trust, picked up his teacup. The fragrance of ginger, always unfamiliar but not unpleasant, rose strongly.

 

Soon a Silent barrier was erected with a subtle movement of Mana, and Kalian, looking down at the teacup in his hand, quietly opened his mouth.

 

“That’s right. This time you do not have to pretend to betray me. Instead, no one in the Royal Palace must catch you meeting the Count. I would like to meet him myself, but I am not yet accustomed to the Spell for erasing my presence.”

 

Was it not Arsene who could endure for hours while using the Invisibility Spell without strain? So, this was a request to meet Gray while in that state.

 

“Yes. No problem.”

 

“Older brother Randel will convey my words to Count Beurisen. That the Royal Family will soon leave the Royal Palace, so he should create evidence that Evan tried to attack me at that time.”

 

At the word attack, Arsene’s expression changed in a complex way. However, Kalian’s words were not yet finished.

 

“He will convey those words.”

 

*Tap tap tap…*

 

The sound of tapping the teacup rang out for a moment.

 

To Arsene, it sounded like the sorting through of an already laid out complex plan.

 

“Tell him one more thing that even older brother  Randel must not know. Before creating the evidence, first meet Marquis Evan Beurisen once. And tell him to show this.”

 

Kalian, pointing to the black pebble, grinned.

 

“I plan to capture Marquis Beurisen. Directly with my own hands.”

 

“Your Highness, that is…”

 

“Master tried to stop me, and yesterday I was lectured by the Lesser Duchess, but I am continuing to be stubborn, so do not say anything. There is a reason for this, but I think I should not tell you what it is, so I would like you not to be curious either.”

 

The plan to see Evan’s swordsmanship with his own eyes and teach it to Plants.

 

He plans to fleece Gray later, but was it not because Kalian made a plan to personally extract Evan’s swordsmanship, which Evan would absolutely never teach Plants with his own hands, that things were being set in motion like this?

 

It was a decision made with the heart of a Knight hoping that Beurisen’s swordsmanship would not be severed. It was with the intention of enabling Plants to properly control Beurisen and gain the power to help Kalian.

 

Allan, who heard such thoughts, clicked his tongue and worried but did not oppose. However, it was obvious as fire that Arsene would oppose. So, he did not tell Arsene the reason.

 

“Anyway. Marquis Beurisen will mistakenly think that the Count has joined hands with older brother Randel. He must quickly elevate the Second Prince to become the Crown Prince, but even older brother Randel has stepped forward and I have been causing such a commotion, so his heart will be anxious. He will want to eliminate me somehow, but he is also quite cowardly.”

 

Kalian, who shook his head from side to side, continued speaking.

 

“When he hears the news that the Royal Family has left the Royal Palace, he will consider attacking me at this opportunity. But contrary to his thoughts, he will absolutely never execute it. Everyone knows that there is no one in Cyriesus capable of capturing me other than the Marquis, and even if he frames the Count, he will think it would be useless since my side knows well that the Count’s skills are nothing special.”

 

Kalian’s finger pointed to the pebble.

 

“Who attacked me before, how seriously I was injured when I disappeared, and that I hid myself in the Ducal Family residence to keep it a secret. Please inform the Count of all of this. So that the Marquis, picking up the story the Count pretends to accidentally let slip, will learn that there is another person with the skills to attack me.”

 

To make Evan, who attacked Kalian, think of a plan to frame Zeon…

 

“If an escape route appears, the small prey moving back and forth beside the bait will look very delicious.”

 

A single Prince who was so excited about ascending to become the Crown Prince that he comes and goes to his fiancée’s house every other day would look delicious enough to think he could be caught at any time.

 

“I…”

 

Having heard all of Kalian’s plan that followed in detail, Arsene quietly opened his mouth. Then, looking at Kalian savoring the tea fragrance with a relaxed face, he spoke as if making a vow.

 

“I will be Your Highness’s subordinate for life.”

 

[How frightening. But I’m pledging this not because I am afraid.]

 

“Of course, as you should.”

 

As if to say, ‘why are you making your mouth hurt by saying such things?’

 

Looking at the underling who would continue to be busy buying flowers and working, Kalian smiled.