voice.
â Where are you?
I didnât know when it would happen, so the communication bracelet I borrowed from Jan started to light up. It was a faint light that was hidden under the sleeves of a dark purple shirt and not visible from the outside.
Plantz, who could not see the light but heard the voice, gave the answer.
â you.
â It happened.
-â¦â¦Conference hall.
â yes.
â when.
â I heard you were there a little while ago and then left. Why do you have to ask? It just happened a while ago.
â okay.
â I was only planning to sleep for one day, but three days have passed.
â My brother doesnât keep his promises.
â May I apologize?
â what.
â Breaking a promise.
â itâs okay.
â sorry.
â Thatâs it.
â Because Iâm worried.
As always, we had a very dry conversation.
Not much time passed after that. As soon as I opened my eyes, my younger brother came to the conference room and caused a commotion.
In fact, there were many times when Planz threw something. But I never hit anything. Iâve never been pushed. Of course, there has never been a time when the door to the conference room made such a noise that I couldnât tell if it had been pushed or kicked.
â â¦You are opening a new horizon for my fame. My brother.
Planzâs dissatisfied red eyes gave off a strange glow. It was a similar sentiment as when I saw Lucy bringing in a huge bee she had hunted at the lakeside and releasing it in her room, or Anne putting down a chicken that had only eaten one bite.
Itâs good that my younger brother, who had been sleeping all day and night and thought he was really going to die this time, made a grand reappearance by slamming open the door of the conference room and entering, but itâs embarrassing to welcome this situation where the thing heâs covering up right now is my face. The fact that I was reluctant meant that I felt willing.
I guess itâs hard to just look at what my little brother, that bastard, is doing with my face in a positive light, as I am just happy to see a guy who was sleeping without knowing anything about the world until he came to the conference room and suddenly wakes up and comes dressed neatly. I said I would take responsibility for my brotherâs resentment on my own, but I have been diligently creating things for him to be criticized for with my own hands.
âI heard they were whispering about my younger brother⦠Even though my younger brother asked you about the rumor, I didnât think you would really believe it. Iâm disappointed.â
âSir. Weâre not believing a rumor. Weâre not saying weâre going to reveal the matter even if possible. Weâre just saying, âWeâre
going to cover it up.â
âYes, thatâs right.â
âThen doesnât that mean you believed that nonsense? Stupidly.â
Plantz quietly took a deep breath.
Randel, who was sitting next to him and watching what Calian was doing, opened his mouth to Plantz.
âI guess that will ease your worries. You seem to have regained your health.â
ââ¦â¦ yes.â
âIt seems like weâve regained too much.â
ââ¦â¦ yes.â
Plantz, who was irritated by the fact that he was a resident of the upper room, was the one who understood my current mood well and answered without even turning his head towards Randel.
In the meantime, the barking sound that seemed to fill in what was left unfinished while he was sleeping rang again in Plantzâs head.
â Have you ever been this noisy?
â doesnât exist.
â ah. this.
Calian, who didnât really like the idea of Plantz being treated like an asshole, but seemed to have no hesitation in using Plantzâs external publicity persona, walked in hurriedly.
The walk is a little different from Kalyanâs, which is always perfectly straight without any error. A step that becomes completely straight only when it is soaked, but is usually slightly wider in front. I walked across the conference hall, imitating Plantzâs gait.
â I misunderstood. I thought you would have done at least this much.
â Because he wasnât as great a bastard as that king.
â ah. Actually, I never kicked in the door in front of nobles.
ah. You said so.
You didnât push the door with your hand, you kicked it.
-â¦â¦ I canât believe I didnât do it. Surprisingly.
â There was a time when nobles praised my father in front of Brother Chase by saying, âWhat did the King do in times like this?â so he broke the pillars of the special banquet hall. I donât use Auror.
ah. You said so.
Even though you didnât kick in the door, you did break a pillar. I donât even use aurors.
â I thought you would have tried this at least before throwing knives without hesitation during meals.
Calian paused for a moment and said these words. Because of this, Plantz once again made a shocked face.
okay. There was a time when I threw a sharp knife. But thatâs it.
â Then why did you throw it at Jan?
â If I had thrown it at you, I would have pretended I hit it by accident.
â Did you throw it to Jan so that I could catch it properly so I couldnât pretend it was a coincidence? I want to check if the contents of my brother and sister have changed.
â okay.
â I hope I donât catch it.
-You got it.
â What if I didnât catch it?
â Are you starting a fight as soon as you open your eyes? Or are you scolding me?
â I was suddenly curious.
â what.
â How did you feel at that time?
When I knew it was already too late to keep it.
â suddenly. why.
â Just suddenly. Just suddenly.
-â¦â¦Speak informally.
-Suddenly I got worried.
widely!
Plantz put down his water cup with a little loud noise and turned his head. I looked into Calianâs light green eyes that made me feel like I was looking into a mirror.
â You keep speaking short.
â I think you felt the same way as I did when I lost Aila.
â Kalyan.
â Thatâs right, Kalyan. I am not someone who will forget who I am just because I have slept for a long time.
â however. why.
â Iâm just asking. Isnât that usually the case? If you lose it without being able to do anything about it⦠like my brother or me.
After answering this, Kalian raised his eyes. Then he looked around at the nobles sitting around him and opened his mouth.
âBaron Hazel kept a harpy at my brotherâs villa⦠and someone let it loose, and I almost lost my life. Twice. Youâre asking me to cover it up.â
Those eyes were different again.
He was different from the âSon of Silikeâ who first came to this lordâs castle and silenced all the nobles. This is because I was playing a slightly different role this time. Not the planz that Bern had experienced, not the real planz that Calian knew, but the âthat damnâ planz that Planz had worked so hard to make.
âWere you worried that false rumors about my brother might reach your ears?â
This is not a simple raid.
It was an attempt to murder the crown prince, who was not even a prince.
Therefore, if the instigator of this incident is revealed to be Freyr, Elazar, the knights under Lemainâs direct command, will directly interrogate Freyr face-to-face. However, in the process, Freyre was afraid that Lemaine would hear the strange rumors about Calian because he spoke incorrectly, so he told them to cover it up.
As I was quietly listening to this conversation outside the conference room, a question suddenly occurred to me. Aside from Freyr, what do the other nobles think of Calian? About him.
â Even after hearing that I was a fake, I was curious about my intention to keep this matter buried. Is it because I donât believe itâs fake, or is it because I actually believe it to be true? That.
â So you bothered the door?
â yes.
So I got angry first.
I made him realize that Planz was not an appendage to Silike, but that didnât mean he corrected the rumor that Planz was âeasy to angerâ.
â Just because he was looking down at the dessert plate while I was getting angry, he wouldnât be able to tell that I have a gentle personality⦠â He talks well, but suddenly he barks
.
â Because of the external publicity persona that your brother worked so hard to create, they probably think that you are ânot like Silike, but have a personality that gets angry quicklyâ. How did you know that and create something perfect to use in times like this?
â Are you not allowed to bark while you sleep?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
â Because I donât dream while I sleep. There was no chance to bark. Anyway, I treated them like âthose who believed Freyrâs absurd wordsâ, and no one objected.
â Danu.
â â¦â¦Why are you suddenly talking about Danu?
â I think Danu informed me.
Jerk.
Calian took another step. Power went into the tips of those feet.
-Why do you think so?
Plantz closed his big red eyes for a moment.
Three days ago.
* * *
Planz suddenly had this thought. I was wondering if I could stop by the elf city for a while.
There was no new reason to meet their elder, nor did I have the courage to meet Danu again, who only did things that were completely incomprehensible by human standards. There was no need to visit their city. But just.
â Saaaaaâ¦â¦.
I wanted to see the sea.
Iâm listening to the sound of the wind. Suddenly.
To be exact, I wanted to see the sea that I saw all last winter, but I couldnât go there. It would be a place he could secretly go to if he pestered Alan, but Plantz, who was not just anyone else, could not go in and out of Secretia without even a proper justification. So what I came up with instead was a city of elves.
I just suddenly wanted to see the sea. Not the sound of the mountains, not the sound of the valley water, not the screams of the harpies. The sound of waves quietly rolling in and then receding away made my ears hungry for no reason.
âYou chase after the youngest so much that you start to resemble him.â
And above all.
If you go to the sea, you wonât have to meet that person.
Plantz frowned at the voice he heard as soon as he entered, wearing Calianâs face and Calianâs clothes. Landel, who would not pay any attention to such things, continued.
âDid your watch do the same?â
I beat up Plants, who came again after midnight. Even though he immediately recognized that Kalyan was upset, he didnât even wonder what was going on and said something uncomfortable first.
âI thought you would open your closed eyes and close your open mouth.â
âI was glad that the etiquette teacher didnât come anymore. Itâs going to be noisy again when I go back.â
âI was glad to have fewer classes with my brother. When I return, I will have to be patient again.â
Now that I was able to face the situation, I thought I would refrain from saying that I resembled someone else, but now I was saying that I resembled Calian, not Silike. The scent of Renieri had disappeared from Randelâs words, but that didnât mean they didnât sound like nagging, so he talked back. Then they said they would bring back the etiquette teacher who had completed the course.
So Plantz fought back without losing.
I said you should take that etiquette training too, brother.
â â¦â¦ Palak.
Landel, who had turned a page of a book that seemed like he had been reading it all day, just lifted his gaze and looked at Plantz. He opened his mouth as he looked into the red eyes of his second brother, who was looking directly at him through the not-so-strong scent of tea.
âThis time, I thought the youngest would show up with your face to stop the fight. But he didnât come.â
âThe youngest who was supposed to stop the fight is not feeling well again.â
âSo you decorated it like that?â
âyes.â
âThey say thereâs no one to stop themâ¦â
â Tak!
âTalk to me.â
What should I do when the resident on the 3rd floor, who was supposed to stop the fight between the residents on the 4th and 5th floors of Chermil Palace, is sick? We need to stop fighting and start talking. About the reason why he came disguised as Kalian again.
So Randel closed the book he was reading and pointed to the chair across from him. Plantz walked slowly and sat down, leaning against the back of the chair. And now, I moved my mouth again and spat out the words I really wanted to give me a break.
I explained what I experienced at Calianâs villa a little while ago. I recalled the story Arsene told me when he came to visit me as soon as I laid Calian down in the crown princeâs room.
âI have something to tell you.â
âThe one lying down is my brother. âAre you mistaken?â
âI was not mistaken, Sir Plantz.â
ââ¦â¦ What.â
âFreyr and Zeon are related. Iâm telling you this because I think everyone needs to know right now.â
âI canât believe itâs related.â
âZeonâs warriors came to assassinate Freyr and they all died.â
âWhy are they saying it was related to the attack?â
âIt seems like Freyr was involved in what brought the prince to this point.â
âwhy.â
âActually, today, as part of the princeâs errand, I carved an image of Queen Freya and the prince as a child and presented it to Freyr. It was meant as an apology.â
ââ¦â¦ okay.â
âI thought that since they were elves, the way they felt emotion might be different from that of humans. Freyr saw the two of you with the same eyes. So, already⦠I mean.â
âItâs like seeing someone who isnât here.â
â⦠Yes. That reaction seemed a little unclear, so I asked a question just in case. Your nephew would help you if you told me what was going on.â
âhowever.â
âIt was only for a moment, but I saw the bodies of the dead Xeons. And I hid my confusion.â
I couldnât ask Calian, who was lying down, how to accept Freyrâs actions that Arsene had told me about, so I thought to myself. Even so, I couldnât come up with an answer, so I ended up getting up. Then, Randel came out of the room of the crown prince, who was lying injured. After heading to the room, he told the story.
Landel, who heard everything Plantz said, put down his teacup.
A quiet voice turned to Plantz.
âThey say elves canât tell lies.â
âThatâs right.â
âItâs an elf named Freyr . If the elf hid his confusion in front of the youngest, wouldnât I have been able to recognize it?â â
No.â
âIf that means that the elf didnât know what the youngest was hiding until he treated the youngest alone.â âI
think so . âI
found out the truth before I met Vice Commander Hertz.â
âYes.â
âI heard about the youngestâs secret within a day and immediately believed it and was confused. That would be the story.â
Plantz remained silent.
This was because he wondered whether someone who had never seen Calian could so easily believe that Calianâs soul had changed. â
Just pretend to be smart. âDid you come to me because you didnât know the answer?â
âYou acted like I was on top of my own head, pretending to be smart.â â
I would believe it if Danu said it.â
Instead of continuing the argument, Randel said this.
âWhat the Mother of Elves said. âIs
there something else?â
Yes, it was just one possibility. If Danu had told him what Calian had hidden, Freyr would have no choice but to believe it.
But Danu.
âDanu.â
âThe youngest said. Didnât you? âWho do the nobles here resemble?â
said Randel, who was sitting quietly watching Plantz.
Whether they were abandoned or ignored, they are ultimately Danuâs children who cannot escape. Didnât Calian say that? He
remembered those words . Plantz frowned.
âI will believe what Danu says. But Danu clearly seemed to care about Kalyan. You know that arbitrarily revealing Calianâs identity wonât help him.â
âDid you care about it or did you need it?â
Plantz didnât answer.
Landel, who put down the teacup with a click, spoke softly. He said,
âIf a dog does not recognize its owner and shows its teeth, it will be put on a leash and locked up. But. If a dog that I thought would treat me as its owner shows its teeth only to me and wags its tail to people other than me, what can I do to teach such a dog who his owner is?â Plantzâs eyes narrowed. Randel continued. âPut on a
leash
. Lock them up⦠and theyâll do the same thing. However, if you force it like that, wouldnât the people following the dog ask questions? Why do you treat a gentle dog like that? In that case, what will the dog owner do?â
The wind blew.
Plantz said,
âIâll show you the spot where the bite occurred.â
âYes. Iâll show you where the bite occurred. This dog is not what you think. My nature is not as gentle as I thought. Thatâs what they would say. Then, they will obediently agree, and the owner will finally get his hands on the dog that he thought was his.â
Danu tried to get his hands on Kalyan.
Then, he rebelled against Danu. Kalyan.
His foot in the middle. He stopped, but was clearly trying to turn to Danu. He said he would kill all the elves. Calian said this in the forest, where Danu could not have seen it. So Danu informed Freyr of the truth. It was a warning. It continued to go astray like
that
. If so, I would rather let everyone know your identity and isolate you.
â⦠Because I must protect my cause. First, after inspecting all the territoriesâ¦â
Planz took a long breath and opened his mouth.
Then, he faced the abyss of Randel and continued.
âBrother, do you want to go see the sea?â
The elf said . The city.
Blue eyes that seemed to capture the deep sea of that place.
There was a light with life in those eyes.
âIt wonât be bad.â
The wind blew and an answer was heard.
* * *
There.
Calian took a step forward. â
I guess thatâs why Danu hates you. Heâs already holding on to the leash that heâs never let go of.
â My brother barks so much. Shouldnât he be holding on to it well? He looked at me for a
moment as if thinking about something in front of the nobles. Calian, who had caught the wind, sent a message again:
â Actually, there are a lot of people who know my secret.
â I know.
â But most of them donât really care who I am. Not only have they never met me before, but they donât care who the person who will ascend to the throne is. Arenât they people I wonât use? Even if you and Brother Randel are an exception.
â Yes.
â Then Freyr. The nobles here. Donât they care too? Even if Danu made them believe what my secret was, I wouldnât care. Could it be?
â It shouldnât have been.
â Right. Because they were the people who wanted me to be my motherâs son. Still, they say letâs keep quiet. I donât know what Freyr thinks of it, but at least thatâs how they feel. Plantz didnât answer. He cherished me so
much
. I lost âKalianâ without my help⦠If I had known that fact, I should have been sad, resented the person I am now, kicked him out, or tried to reveal the truth, but I donât. Why is that? â Doesnât matter
. â¦â¦ I donât have one.
â Yes. I guess thatâs what it is.
â Yes.
â When I said not to see me as your motherâs son, I didnât mean that you shouldnât care who I am. Itâs bitter.
One corner of Kalianâs mouth twitches. I was wrong.
âIt wasnât Whitlin who protected my brother. It wasnât your yearning. It wasnât the estate profits and gifts you guys were sending me.â
He said again the words that would never be uttered from this current appearance and face.
âIt was me.â
Calian looked at Navia with his light green eyes hardened. Here. He looked around at the nobles sitting on the table and continued,
âPlease donât criticize me as an incompetent person who doesnât even recognize Brother Randel and His Highness. âIf you ever show any doubt about my brother again⦠Whitlin will have a new name.â
Whatever Danu thought,
Calian delivered a warning to the elves.