again (4) .
The long, black eyelashes slowly fell and then lifted a little more slowly. Underneath the eyelids that closed and opened, red eyes that could not be imitated by any jewel on the continent of Cysterra were repeatedly hidden and revealed.
Glitter.
Drops of water that had not yet completely dried formed on the tips of her jet-black hair, which did not lose its color even under the redness of the sun. Instead of hair that is unstained by the sunâs light, and eyes that are redder than the sun, the sunlight is captured in those tiny water droplets.
But even for a moment.
The red eyes closed again and then opened. The long, beautifully curled eyelashes moved together as if they were pieces of a moon halo.
The hair slightly touching the eyelashes bends. Due to the wind, the water droplets that briefly sparkled in the sunlight lost their grip and fell.
â â¦â¦Talk.
The whole world seems to move slowly.
Even the water droplets seem to fall slowly. You can almost hear the sound of it hitting the floor.
âSoâ¦â
A thin voice flowed from between the bright red lips of the person who was trying to get rid of that slow feeling.
Oh, of course, it only means the voice.
This does not mean that the feeling inside is beautiful.
A beautiful voice full of dissatisfaction continued.
âWhere are you looking?â
âWherever you look.â
Whether your eyelashes are long or short. Whether the snow inside looks more precious than jewels or not. Whether the hair is black or not.
Plantz, who didnât even have the slightest sign of welcoming the face of his younger brother after seeing him for the first time in a long time, answered quietly.
Likewise, Calian, who had no time to check the pretty face that had returned after a long time, tried hard to use his magic power. I managed to create a small silent barrier and opened my mouth again. The words, dripping from sleep, were directed at the green-faced brothers standing in front of them.
âWhy is this a draw? I definitely won.â
âwhy.â
âI caught all eighty-seven of you.â
âThe reason the Vulcan crew wanted to fight is not what my brother looks like now.â
Blink⦠Blink.
I donât know if I was sleepy or frustrated, but my eyes closed for a long time and then opened again. Shaking his head and taking a moment to sleep, Calian lifted his finger. And he pointed at the Balkan crazy guys who were still standing at a distance, unable to tell if the fight was over.
âIn front of those guys, didnât he always look like his old self? Besides, he was broken after the fight. Why do you say he lost the right to fight? Itâs clear. It was clearly his old self, and the bracelet was broken after he cut your brotherâs neck.â
âI didnât tell you that I lost. Besides.â
âBesides, what?â
âJust because your throat is cut a little doesnât mean you canât fight any longer.â
â⦠You canât cut off his head just to make him unable to fight.â
âyou.â
A fierce edge appeared in Planzâs eyes.
Plantz let out a low voice, as if he couldnât bear that irritating behavior any longer.
âSpeak informally.â
â¦â¦ ah.
Cutting it off doesnât seem to be a big deal.
The standards are strange. Well, anyway.
âAnyway, I⦠won.â
âtie.â
âwhy.â
âSpeak informally.â
ââ¦â¦ under.â
Sleep is flooding in, Peas canât communicate, Iâm so wet that I donât even have the energy to move a single finger, let alone clean myself. The aftereffects of using too much force in a temporary borrowed form remained. Just maintaining the Silence that was just unfolded is already difficult. My whole body aches and my bones ache. More than anything, Iâm sleepy. Iâm feeling sleepy to death.
But if I sleep like this, I canât sleep because I feel like that pea will arbitrarily end this fight in a draw.
âArenât you tired, brother? Your elbow is out of alignment, your neck is bleeding, and your back is bleeding a lot.â
âI wonât die.â
âI guess so. Because I didnât kill him carelessly.â
Plantz nodded once.
It means that you know that you are alive because you did not kill it. I admit that again. But that doesnât mean we lost.
Ah⦠thatâs really strange.
Why does it seem like there are so many things to be excited about these days?
âI think Iâm going to die, not you.â
âtherefore.â
âSo what?â
âagain.â
âWhat.â
âbet.â
âwhy.â
âBecause it was a draw.â
âI said no.â
âYou keep doing this.â
âyo. this.â
When I told him that I won because I cut down the Danu root in the first hunting bet, he meekly lost, but this time he showed no signs of backing down. They are insisting that they did not lose by pulling out all kinds of pressures. okay. I taught him that he shouldnât lose a bet like that. I used to teach.
â¦â¦ Thatâs right.
I taught that too. These are the words I said. Why did I tell you so much unnecessary information? Anyway, he learned it from me and uses it only for me every day.
-Slap!
Plantz frowned, then sighed, then furrowed his eyebrows, then raised his hand and looked at his younger brother slapping his mouth. Then, he opened his mouth.
âIâm saying that because I think Iâll have to fight again to use it again. Why?â
âWhat.â
âbracelet.â
ââ¦Did you like seeing my old self that much?â
âNo. After you changed like that, you didnât even look in the mirror. Thatâs why I asked you to fight.â
Calian quietly looked at Planz.
âThe scent of flowers is still strong for me. I donât think youâve gotten over it yet.â
Even though I poured it on once, the smell of perfume still felt strong. Calian also thought that he would not have been able to escape from the gates by winning once.
âOkay then. I donât think Iâve been able to calm my stomach after this one fight. Letâs call this a draw. Are you saying weâll fight again?â
âSo, try to win. Keep going. Iâll keep fighting. Until you break free.â
The Balkans who felt aggrieved for not being able to participate in this fight were widely criticized. Having a lot of practice catching one Kalyan is good for them anyway. So what Iâm saying is letâs fight until we feel relieved. This bet ends in a draw, and the Knightâs Oath, which both of them still donât want to give up, is staked again.
A long sigh escaped Calianâs mouth.
Plantz saw Kalyan like that. Perhaps due to overexertion, I looked at my face, which was turning white, and my clothes soaked in ice water for a while before opening my mouth.
But no words came out of his mouth.
Instead, a different sound came out.
[Clean]
The magic power of refreshing energy surrounds Kalian and passes by.
Then, to my surprise, my wet hair dried. The moisture from loose, cold clothes and shoes dries. My hands, which were dripping with water, are dry. The dust disappears and the mud falls away.
The blood stains on black clothes are erased.
â â¦â¦ dream.
weird.
Looks like the peas just did some magic.
âAm I dreamingâ¦â
Calian, unable to understand the sudden situation, muttered as if he were drooling. Planz turned around as if he had no intention of answering and slowly walked towards Estina.
Calian opened his eyes wide, which had fluttered shut again, and tapped my cheek a few times. Then, with great difficulty, he bent down and picked up Ailaâs bracelet and the pieces of Sinasta that had fallen on the floor. After putting them in his pocket, he quickly moved his feet and caught up with Plants.
âDid you learn magic, brother?â
âI didnât learn it.â
âItâs not. I learned it. Itâs magic. Itâs clean. I didnât use it.â
âKeep speaking informally.â
âYou asked me to teach you clean. Did you learn it on your own?â
âI never learned it.â
âClean is a magic that requires two circles to use. When did you create the circles?â
He pretends that it wouldnât be strange if he lays down and falls asleep right away, but then he follows me and continues to bother me like this. The corners of Planzâs eyes furrowed slightly.
âYouâre saying something I donât understand.â
âThen what are you writing now?â
âAre you very tired? You keep getting confused.â
âFoolish.â
âSpeech habits.â
âHave you really not learned anything?â
âI didnât learn.â
âlie.â
âyou.â
âThen when are you going to learn how to clean?â
âIn about 30 or 50 years.â
ââ¦Until then, you will keep asking me to remove cat hair. I will continue to remove cat hair from your clothes until you get older.â
âMy brother promised so.â
Plantz, who walked away without looking back, refused the hand of the Vulcan members who approached him after realizing that the fight was over. Then, with his healthy right hand, he climbed on top of Estina.
Calian, who was standing looking at the green, green back of his head, burst out laughing.
I used Clean, but I didnât learn it.
I plan to learn about it in about 30 or 50 years.
By then, Iâll be busy being king, and Iâll even have to get the cat hair off my brotherâs clothes.
âIâm going crazy. I really am.â
So I laughed. He burst out laughing as he removed the silent curtain that had been in place so far. He laughed until tears came to his eyes, not even feeling the awe-filled gaze of the crazy people looking at him.
By the time the laughter that had lasted for a long time had barely subsided.
â Multi-faceted, multi-faceted!
Just as I heard Calianâs laughter, I heard very familiar footsteps, as if I knew it was okay to approach now. When I turn my head, I see Raven approaching quickly and Kirie walking behind her.
Calian waved his arms in joy and looked at Plantz. I held back the yawn that was about to burst out and opened my mouth.
âI brushed off more than you think. Iâm going to fix my bracelet and look in the mirror.â
Plantz, who was looking down at Estinaâs saddle, nodded.
ââ¦â¦ okay.â
I feel drowsy.
They are coming in so hard that they can no longer be driven out.
âStill. I canât lose the bet. Letâs do it again next time. This time, I conceded a lot⦠so Iâll count it as a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a draw.â
âokay.â
Calian opened his arms towards Raven who was approaching. Ravenâs slightly bowed head touched his arms. He hugged Ravenâs head tightly. He leaned his head on it.
âNext time⦠I will never back down.â
âokay.â
âyes.â
Calian let out a mumbling voice. Then.
With his face buried in Ravenâs forehead.
While holding his big head tightly. Leaning with your entire long body.
âI wonâ¦â
I fell asleep just like that.
* * *
The tea was brewed well.
I first learned how to brew tea from Merlin after coming to the palace, and I quickly became good at it. I tried making tea myself a few times and it was really good.
I was good at sewing.
This was largely due to the fact that Kirieâs clothes had been prone to tearing and fraying since she was young. In fact, both siblings were not very skilled, but they were better than Kirie and did the job. Additionally, after examining Kirieâs wounds several times, I became good at sewing. Nowadays, it was a skill that was only used for embroidering long names on cat collars or occasionally making cat clothes.
There was no other dexterity.
I couldnât cook and I wasnât very good at writing. I always liked Kalian, saying it was the cutest font in the world, but it wasnât a very nice looking font. Not only had I never lived in a place where I could cook, but it was better to write quickly than to write well.
â Is it that messed up?
I was thinking of Arianneâs half-up hair, which had her hair thinly braided on both sides, pulled back, and secured with a pretty orange ribbon. I also thought of Ailaâs hair, beautifully styled up with a hairpin with pretty beads dangling from it. As a result, there are some days when I donât like my hair, which I always tied up.
So I tried acting on a whim, but it seemed really strange. Serie, who stood in front of Hina who asked the question awkwardly, chuckled.
âI donât know if youâve ever looked in the mirror.â
â Iâve had the kind division commander and the stern maid braid me a few times, but this is the first time Iâve done it on my own.
After saying this, Hina took out a notebook from her pocket. Then, I wrote down the name âNeedlen Zeia Merlin Fiatâ and showed it to Serie who was standing behind me.
âIs that so.â
Hina nodded.
And when I followed Calian to Rosellita, I once again remembered all the things I had not yet noticed.
The blunt voice and tone of voice coming from behind really resembled Demirea. They are so similar that there is no need to worry about who Demirea resembles.
Isnât she the dukeâs wife and the minor dukeâs mother? Regardless of her position, she was just looking at her personality of speaking up, whether when she was Calianâs maid or now as Viscount. It must have been Serie who taught Dmirea and Jan like that.
â Sarak Sarak.
After arbitrarily dividing her hair, Serie loosely took off her braids and combed Hinaâs hair with her hands.
Hina, who was still not used to letting someone else do her hair, raised her hand for no reason. I tried to explain my poor skills, saying I wasnât very good at it since I had never decorated my hair before.
But Serie grabbed her hand and placed it on Hinaâs hair, which was divided into three parts. Then, I had them feel how much hair they had divided.
âYou can divide the hair like this and braid it like this. You can apply the same amount of force whether you apply it strongly or lightly.â
Nod.
Hina nodded quietly. He then looked at his braided hair and moved his hands.
â I think itâs much prettier. Thank you. Iâll do better next time.
Hina smiled brightly as she learned a method that Kirie could not tell her. Lirie, who had been watching with curious eyes from the side, looked at Serrie.
âSerieâs mom. I want to learn too.â
Seeing the short green-colored hair that left only a fistful of hair after it was tied up, Serie smiled slightly. And he answered by pointing to the tail-like tail of a sparrow.
âDo you want to grow more? Iâll let you know when you grow taller and your hair grows longer.â
âThen, can I just grow up to be as big as Dmirea?ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âYou can grow as much as Leah, you can grow more, or you can grow less.â
Lily smiled and nodded. Then, led by the dog Yan, we walked ahead along the small path in the garden.
Hina and Serie, who had finished tying their hair, followed suit.
âAnyway, Iâm worried that you may have been unable to rest because of our fourth child.â
â no. I was just about to get up and get ready.
âEven though it will only be a few days, my second son has been requesting that I rest comfortably during my stay and that the knights should not visit me if I am slightly injured.â
Hina laughed, making a sound like a spring breeze.
Even though he may not have met Calian, it seems that Jan, who already knows well what Calian cares about, relayed that message.
â are you okay. Please let me know if you need anything. I have to pay the price for staying here.
âYes. Butâ¦â
Lirie started to walk faster and then run at a trotting pace, following Yan the dog. Serie, who was watching this for a moment, looked at Hina. And then he continued speaking.
âAccording to the stories of our knights, there was a fire burning in the palace forest all morning last morning. Before that, His Majesty asked the Duke whether he could send 100 knights who were scheduled to be reinforced next week by today or tomorrow. Hill. âThe Lord said that Prince Calianâs fierceness could be felt even here. I am worried that something may have happened overnight.â
He must have been worried that if Calian was involved, Yan would also be involved.
Hinaâs expression changed strangely.
Hina nodded and answered while looking at Serie.
â No, the kind prince. I think the Third Prince and His Excellency the Good Crown Prince made a strange fight bet. It is said that the third prince was dealt with by Balkan wizards and knights. And I got a call from my brother a little while ago and he said the bet was over. The therapists are probably very busy right now.
Serie looked at Hina, who was talking while pointing to the pink earrings.
âIs it okay if I donât go?â
â The Third Prince is not the kind of person who would hurt me so badly that I need to. And even if I get hurt and go through a hard time, I wonât make that bet again.
Hina, who said this, continued speaking with a light gesture.
â Because there are people who will reject my treatment anyway because they say it wonât cause scars. Itâs okay if you donât go.
Hina, who had already become a Balkan healer, smiled as warmly as the sunlight.
* * *
The sun rises and the sky is blue.
It was unusually windy all day.
Either out of frustration or pleasure.
â Jump and jump.
Chase, who had been unable to control his mind until the middle of the night, finally left the office suddenly.
Then I left the main palace and walked a little, leaving behind a steady sound of footsteps. I moved to the highest point in this royal palace. I placed Surveyin in the form of Teilan at the entrance of the round stairs and went up alone.
From the beginning to the top of the stairs.
I went upward without being distracted by my steps or my breath.
â Sweet.
I stood in front of a place that I have come to visit often recently.
I opened the door to an unlit room without hesitation. I stepped forward, turned around, and closed the door I had just opened again. And then I raised my head.
spire.
It was always a windy place.
There was a hot wind blowing on a hot summer day and a cool wind blowing on a cool winter day. It was that kind of place.
However, that day is something I have encountered over and over again in my dreams. On that day.
It was a cool day, but a hot wind blew.
It was a hot day, but a cool breeze blew.
For Chase, the steeple was a place remembered for that wind.
â Saaaaâ¦â¦.
It was the same this time too. But it was a little different.
The wind blew.
The moonlight fell.
The wind blew.
âYou must not call the driver for coming without permission.â
Someone was already standing there.
It was so strange. It was so sad. I missed it so much.
The starlight fluttered like a rainbow.
âolder brother.â
Chase lowered his head at the low voice. But I couldnât do that for a long time and raised my head.
Even after tying it all up, I took in the sight of my hair blowing uncontrollably here and there, and then closed my eyes for a moment. But I couldnât do that for long before I opened my eyes.
Calian grinned and gestured toward Chase.
I held out the glass of alcohol in my hand.
âI wonder if youâll come. Itâs okay if you come, but it wouldnât be a bad idea if you donât. I came here for a while with that thought in mind.â
Chase didnât answer. I couldnât answer.
âI made a bet with the Balkan guys this time.â
Kalianâs low voice followed as he poured a strong basilika into Chaseâs glass of wine. Bernâs words flowed out.
âEighty-six⦠No, I dealt with eighty-seven guys. I was fine like this, but they were all lying down.â
Bern patted his intact left arm and looked at Chase. I took one step forward. He put a glass of wine in his hand.
âI won. Because it felt good. Here I am.â
Chase opened his mouth.
I couldnât think of anything to say in response, so I closed my mouth again.
âI won.â
Bern said.
â⦠I won.â
Chase nodded.
I received a drink from Bern.
âYes⦠yes, yes.â
Strange, unfamiliar, nostalgic, and sad.
But willing.
That wind blew.