Hmm.
therefore.
âI think I heard something about the secret of birth or something.â
Calian muttered as if to himself and looked at Plantz for a moment.
Plantz shook his head after seeing the expression on his face that asked, Brother, do you know anything? If Hagisa Plantz knew something, Calian should have known as well, but even when I searched through my memories, I couldnât remember anything other than a brief visit to the forest while I was in Bern, remembering Kyrieâs words. I only remembered returning to the elf village in the forest without even seeing the elf shadow.
âThis is something Iâve never heard of. Was my mother a half-elf?â
âNot a half-elf. Queen Freya was born between an elf and an elf.â
âThatâs a bit strange to say. If you were born between an elf and an elf, why are you explaining that youâre an elfâ¦â Knock knock
knock.
Calian stopped speaking and his fingertips tapped the table. This is because I noticed that Narzan was focusing his gaze on Kalian with meaningful eyes. To be exact, I was looking at red eyes that looked exactly like Freyaâs.
Calian, who had been thinking about Freyjaâs portrait for a moment, looked at Narzan again.
Even though Lemain is Lemain, his eyes are not so blind that he cannot recognize his cut off ear. Even if Lemain tried to hide it, it was difficult to hide the severed ear in that narrow palace. impossible. Thatâs right.
âNo wayâ¦â
âThey didnât have any of the external characteristics that elves have, and their growth rate was the same as that of humans.â
Freya was born between an elf and an elf, but was born without pointy ears and grew up at the same speed as a human. Freya was born with red eyes that no one other than Sispanians had. so.
âThatâs why he was exiled. Because he was a mutant elf born with a human body and dragon eyes.â
âYou did something lousy.â
Plantzâs voice was heard and the pounding on the table stopped.
Brother, I wonât forget what you said about me with my eyes until I die. Calian looked at Planz with a look that asked why you curse at them, then looked at Narzan.
âIf I had to make one excuse, it was a problem with the leader of my squadron. Before and now, I donât kick out my own people for that reason.â
âWhere is the elf called the squadron leader?â
âFor causing that and other problems, he received the harshest punishment.â
There are rules even among elves.
The strongest punishment they say is, of course, execution. An executed elf cannot return to the mother tree. Therefore, Kalian knew that for those people for whom the mother tree was the source of life, execution was a strong punishment that was completely different from the death penalty for humans.
âDo you know anything else about my mother?â
âThatâs all I know.â
After gathering his thoughts as he rummaged through the untouched mulberry jam, Kalian put down his utensils and looked at Narzan.
âOK got it.â
As Calian quietly passed over, Narzan looked at Calian as if he was strange. Plantz calmly took another sip of tea, as if he had expected that kind of reaction.
âI thought you would get angry again or say something harsh.â
âIâm tired of blaming someone who has already been punished. I donât think my mother would necessarily be unhappy just because she was expelled from here.â
Didnât Silike do that?
Freya said she fell in love with Calian after giving birth to him.
It is difficult to imagine whether it was motherly love, a desire for power like Silique, but it was love for Lemain, or something else. Freya said she liked it.
âImagining what it would be like if you continued to live here is honestly a meaningless fantasy. So thatâs enough.â
What happened after that wasnât the elvesâ problem. Those who wronged Freya have already died at the hands of Calian.
âJust keep talking about what you were saying.â
After finishing the story about Freya like this, Calian took a sip of grape juice and put it down and said.
âSecritia found out that outcasts were living in Bridget Forest and asked them to provide a healer in return. I have a question. Why didnât you pay âpriceâ to Secretia?â
While Narzan was thinking about what to say in response, Calian continued to ask questions.
âElves never accept help without compensation. But I donât know why they didnât pay anything to Secretia for living in the Forest of Secretia and not in Kyris. If you know that my mother is from there, you know the existence of that place. âItâs not like I didnât know.â
âArenât they people who are not recognized as their own people? The reason they were exiled is different from Queen Freya.â
âAre you saying that because they were elves and half-elves who committed a crime and were exiled, we knew where they lived, but we didnât manage them or provide them with help?â
âyes.â
Kalian tapped his finger briefly on the table. It was an expression of feeling uncomfortable rather than having something to think about.
âI donât think itâs very palatable behavior to treat a half-elf like that.â
âItâs for the preservation of the ever-diminishing species. Just because youâre an elder doesnât mean you can always do what you like.â
âIf you are the ones who ignored them anyway, there is no need for you to pay the price.â
âThey said that if things go wrong, they will execute all the elves there. I want to prevent them from being executed there.â
âBecause they are not completely of the same race, I have ignored them no matter where and how they live, but they say they do not want to be executed.â
Narzan nodded.
In any case, it is difficult to empathize with the elvesâ way of thinking. What on earth is this something that Lemain would have said two years ago?
When I turned my head, I saw one corner of Planzâs mouth turn up. I donât know, but Iâm sure heâs thinking similar things to Calian right now.
Suddenly, I remembered how Plantz had laughed at a noble meeting a long time ago. As Calian pondered for a moment whether he had told him not to do that or not, he heard Narzanâs voice again.
âAs the Grand Elder, I do not allow them to live here, but as the elf Narzan, I cannot allow them to be executed.â
Kalian laughed.
âYou finally say something you like.â
âSo I went directly to their king and said I would pay in another way, but it didnât work.â
I guess so.
It must have been a pod that I managed to find in order to call a healer, but no matter what I gave it, it wouldnât have worked.
There was a sound of tapping on the table to make me think. Calian, who had been silent for a while, stopped with his fingertips. I finished thinking.
âThey said this was an unclaimed land.â
âI see.â
âOkay, letâs think about it and talk about it tomorrow.â
However, instead of making a decision, Kalian just said this. The shy Planz, who had been sitting quietly without saying anything unnecessary, turned his head to see Calian.
* * *
Arianne, who opened the door to her office, paused.
ââ¦â¦ Itâs a surprise.â
It was because there was someone who couldnât be here at this time.
Arianne asked, taking off the glasses she was wearing as she sat down on the sofa after putting down the documents she was holding in both arms on the desk.
âWhatâs going on here? Youâve been in the palace the whole time.â
âjust because I got bored.â
âItâs strange. Thereâs no way you could be bored, my fiancé.â
âReally. Itâs been a while since I had time. I just wanted to rest, not work.â
Arianne smiled, unable to hide how happy she was to meet purple eyes after a long time.
âOkay. Take a rest and go.â
Soon, Arianne, who had several coconut cookies, a cup of cool mint tea, and a cup of cream-filled coffee in front of her, asked while swirling the cream on top of the coffee.
âThe death of Marquis Kairis is not something to be trifled with.â
Then he asked, âIs this also about work?â, making Chase laugh.
âIâll pretend itâs not about work. Itâs not a three-step thing.â
When Secretia Sejak was caught trying to assassinate the second prince of Kairis, Marquis Evan Briesen was killed and the third prince was seriously injured by the Sejacs. Thatâs what Kairis said. Devlan asked for an explanation and apology for the incident.
It was quite a long time ago, but Arianne and Chase havenât been seeing each other for a while. We had to avoid Devlanâs eyes, and we were all busy with things, so we were only asking now.
âHeâs Prince Calian. Heâs not weak enough to get hurt by birds.â
âI heard you got hurt a lot?â
âYes. They said you were hurt a lot, but I think itâs all healed now.â
Chase, who didnât know that not only was Calian now fully healed, but he couldnât stand the bird and ran away from home to live in his motherâs tree, answered like this.
âYou must have been worried.â
âI was worried, but I was relieved because this was the first time she said she was sick. I was like that, Arianne.â
Arianne looked at Chase for a while and nodded. And he said, pointing to the mint tea in front of Chase.
âYour younger brother is taking steps like that, and you should do the same. You are the older brother. So donât hesitate and be honest. Why are you here?â
Chase laughed without answering.
The laugh was so ambiguous that when Arianne was about to ask again, Chase spoke up.
âYour mother, Marquis Lin.â
âhuh.â
âYou will be arrested today.â
Arianneâs hand, which was about to take the coffee, stopped for a moment. Soon, Arianne reached out again and lifted the coffee.
âDid you not stop it or not?â
âI didnât stop it.â
âokay.â
Arianne took a sip of coffee with a nonchalant expression and put down her cup. Then he looked at Chase and opened his mouth.
âTell me. What should the Marquisâ agent do starting tomorrow?â
Knowing that Chaseâs attitude stemmed from the belief that he would somehow save her life even if his mother was arrested, Chase just nodded without saying another word and began talking.
* * *
It was difficult to estimate the height of the mother tree of the elves.
Itâs amazing that elves are living in layers in a hollow, transparent tree, and itâs also quite strange when you think about it. As a human being, isnât it no different from living in Serentiâs body?
A garden located on the middle level of the Mother Tree, which appears to be made of crystal walls on all sides. All kinds of plants were planted on one side, and the sea was overlooked through a wall that could not be called a window or the outer bark of the mother tree.
â Fondantâ¦!
Calian, who was sitting on a bench next to the fountain in the garden, threw a small chunk of Auror at the mermaid statue in the fountain.
âIt doesnât matter. Even if itâs a harp.â
Plantz, who was standing next to the bench, opened his mouth.
I thought he was acting like that because he had complicated feelings.
âAh, yes. I decided not to worry too much since I was just like a normal person. But I am concerned about something else. How did someone from Secretia come to Kairis and meet someone like Your Highness?â
After hearing this, Plantz turned his head and looked at Calian.
It was like Calianâs expression after hearing what Arsene said after revealing the secret he had been hiding. He said, âWhatâs hard to believe is not the fact that I came back in time, but the fact that you worked for your brother.â
ââ¦â¦ okay.â
However, unfortunately, Plantz, who felt a strange sense of kinship between brothers because he understood very well why Calian was questioning it, nodded.
Soon, Planz handed what he was holding to Calian.
Calian, who was staring at something that was suddenly presented before his eyes without saying a word, stretched out his hand and took it. And when he saw what was inside, he burst into laughter.
It was jerky.
âIâm not Lucy.â
âYou bark instead.â
Jerky included in the dry food provided by Siegfriedâs command. As expected, it was left intact in the shape prepared by the market, as if it had not been touched.
âDo what you think. Donât worry.â
Calian raised his head and looked up at Planz, who was still standing.
âSecritia. Donât worry about whatâs going on and just follow your plan.â
âDo you know what Iâm thinking?â
âYouâre trying to call the snake here. You lied and said you would treat it if it came. Itâs an unclaimed land, so no matter what you hunt here, it wonât have anything to do with Kairis.â
â⦠My older brother is so perceptive.â
Planz, who had put Calianâs barking to a certain extent, pointed at the beef jerky in Calianâs hand.
âYou can eat whatever meat you like. I will take care of it.â
Calian, who was looking at the beef jerky, chuckled.
It was because I really felt like I was being treated like Lucy.