so should I congratulate you?
Or should we do it from above?
What should I say first when I meet Kirie? Iâve been thinking about it for quite some time.
â brother. long time no see.
âHow are you feeling? Are you okay?â
â It has become stronger. are you okay.
Didnât Kirie leave for the city of elves immediately after informing Hina that Whitlin was alive? Hina came later and met Whitlin separately. The two had finally met again.
Accordingly, they could have congratulated each other on receiving the earldom for their contribution in stopping Zeon from visiting Kairisis, or suggested that they should do something from above about Whitlin. But Hina asked something else.
-Why didnât the kind prince come?
It was so natural that I asked about Calianâs well-being first, as if I had been worrying about it for so long.
âSomething happened briefly, Hina.â
â What happened?
But in fact, Hina wasnât just worried about what to say to Kirie.
After Kalian returns, Hina will naturally be worried, so I should tell her about my plan to get revenge for the âbetrayal of her fiancésâ by holding hands with Kalian and going to Astrisha Street and eating ice cream.
When Calian hears that, he will put aside all his worries and start laughing, so we should talk about it then. I should say that meeting Whitlin is okay now, and falling down wasnât a big deal.
I used to think like this.
But he also couldnât do what he wanted.
â Has the caring prince been captured by the dragon of the great desert?
Hina, who had heard Kirieâs explanation of the situation, asked with wide eyes. Then Kirie nodded and answered.
âYou said it was probably like that. I guess you were in touch with him for a while.â
â Iâve heard a lot of stories like that.
âWhat are you talking about?â
â About being kidnapped.
Suddenly, I remember the stories Riri told me.
Itâs a story about a pretty, delicate, kind-hearted person who gets caught somewhere and disappears, only to be rescued by a hero who suddenly appears from somewhere.
â They say he was kidnapped in the capital, here too, and captured by the mother tree of the elves. If the dragon of the Great Desert is the culprit this timeâ¦
As soon as we solve the problem so that Danu will no longer interfere, it is now the dragon of the Great Desert.
â Then, next is the evil demon lord?
A person who is said to be prettier than most people in most stories, but who fights better than most warriors and is several times more bad-tempered than most bad guys, somehow ended up being captured like that.
âThere will be no next time, Hina.â
â Anyway, the problem is that the caring prince likes people too much. No matter who I meet, I trust everyone, so I always end up in trouble. Anyway, when you come back, you will be scolded by the corps commander this time. That way, as you said, it wonât happen next time.
Hina said this with an indifferent expression, as if she had heard that something happened on the way and that she would stop by somewhere. As if there was no assumption that Calian might not be able to return.
Thanks to this, Kirie, who had calmed down her anxiety a bit, stood up. Hina saw that and moved her hand.
-Where are you going?
âIâm going to tell the story to the Prince and the Duke and then go to the Marquis of Manasil. I have to go out again if necessary.â
Hina shook her head at these words.
And then he grabbed Kirieâs arm, who had just woken up, and made her sit down.
â Drink all the tea and go.
âHina, I have time for that nowâ¦.â
â I have time for that. The story must have already been relayed by the vice-corps commander or other members. You too, rest until you find out where your kind prince is. If you need me, the corps commander will come find you. So stay with me. Donât make excuses to avoid me.
âYouâre avoiding me. Why am I avoiding you?â
â Iâm saying that because Iâm sorry. The fact that my mom is alive doesnât mean my brother should feel sorry for me.
Kirie, who had been looking at Hina for a while, lowered her gaze to her teacup. The tea water that has cooled down without even a single sip comes into view.
Hina was not wrong. I talked to Hina the whole time we were away, but we never said a single word about Whitlin. As if we had made a promise.
âHina. The reason Iâm sorry isnât because that person is alive. Iâm sorry because the difficult path I chose on my own turned out to be useless.â
â brother.
âhuh.â
â When I came here, I also asked your majesty for the cats.
These were words that were far removed from Kyrieâs feelings of apology. At those words, Kirie quietly nodded.
â The cats may roam around as they please, but you should check to see if they eat properly and go home properly at night. Thatâs what I asked your Majesty for. Then, do you know what His Highness said?
âNo. I donât know.â
â Lucy asked what I like. Anne said that she was fine, but Lucy hated you very much, and asked if I knew what she liked because Lucy was my cat.
âSo what did you say?â
â I told her that Lucy likes the sunlight, a hammock hanging high up, a cozy cushion, and a good lap on the Crown Princeâs lap, and His Majesty thanked me for telling her. And he said he would contact me if he gets sick.
Hinaâs hands keep moving.
Toward Kyrie, who will never take her eyes off me while the words at my fingertips continue.
â Itâs okay to leave your cat with His Majesty the King, and when someone is sick, Iâm the person His Majesty thinks of before the royal healer. The strongest people in this country learned sign language because of me. The Duke of this country ate cake with me, and the only Grand Wizard on the continent brought me tea. My fiancé, the Crown Prince, is nagging me and the Third Prince is wondering what gift to give me for my birthday. That person is me. Thatâs my brother and sister.
â⦠Yes, thatâs right. I know.â
â I like it now. I like who I am now. Itâs the same with my brother. You know that if we had come and lived here then, we would not have met the kind prince. Thanks to the difficult times we had as children, we have become such great people today.
âhuh.â
â It was my mother who was at fault, not my brother or me. I donât even think itâs unfair. So donât be sorry, brother.
I wonder if I might hear Hinaâs resentment. If that happens, what should I say? Kirie, who had deliberately avoided Hina as questions that were difficult to answer came to mind, answered slowly.
âOkay, Hina.â
â Letâs only worry about the caring prince, not me. Donât worry about not being able to come, just worry about whether youâll get hurt.
Then Hina said this.
Letâs not be anxious and just worry about Kalyan, who has helped us more than anyone else in living the ânowâ that we love so much.
âOkay. Just worry about it.â
Kirie nodded once again.
Because I followed Hinaâs words and the results were never bad.
âI think we should be more worried about the other side.â
But then a sudden voice came.
Surprised by the visit without any footsteps or knocking, Kirie jumped up from her seat and turned around. And after checking the light blue hair of the owner of the voice, he took his hand off the handle of the sword.
It was Arsene.
âI think we should worry about the Great Desert instead of the prince.â
âWhat do you mean by that?â
Kirie asked Arsene, who held out his palms as if apologizing for coming to see him via teleportation. Then Arsene responded with a look on his face that made him feel glad that there were so many exciting things happening in the world.
âWhat theyâre saying is that we need to quickly go and block the path ahead of the corps commander.â
Kyrie, whose expression hardened at Arseneâs words, was about to say something, when Arsene opened his mouth again.
âThe commander has gone to the Great Desert. If we leave him like that, he will burn down the entire Silestian nest and from now on, he will live with dazzling blonde hair that resembles a Silestian, so we must quickly go and stop him.â
âCommander, didnât you go to the prison? Did you find out where the Celestianâs nest is?â
âIt seems so.â
âThe movement magic circle does not reach the Great Desert. Even if Sir Manasil went to the Great Desert, how can he follow him?â
âInstead, it doesnât reach Siegfried Territory.â
ââ¦â¦ no way.â
Arsene grinned as if he had come up with a great plan. Then he raised his hand and pointed to the sky and said:
âIt is said that the Vice Commander, who seems to have a solid path to the throne thanks to the good care of his younger brother, is going to Sispanianâs nest. Together with the Little Duke.â
âYour Majesty the Crown Prince and the Duke of Siegfried?â
âYes. However, if I trusted only one Duke and sent him away, I would feel uncomfortable if something happened where His Majesty the Crown Prince passed the crown to his younger brother, Prince Calian, in a very dramatic way, so I am asking you to come with me. Itâs okay.â
Alan went to the Great Desert right away.
Plantz announced to Siegfried that he would prevent it. To find Sispanian. However, if there was an attack by Plants on the way, there might be a big problem, so Kirie asked them to accompany him as an escort.
It would be too risky for Arsene or the Balkan wizards, who may be restricted in their use of magic, to step forward, and Kyrie would be far superior to the Balkan knights.
âAll right.â
Kirie, who thought that far, nodded and stood up.
âWill you do me a favor now?â
âI listen, Lord Hertz, as it concerns the prince.â
Kyrie, who never listens to anyone other than Calian, gave a light answer and turned around. And then he set out to follow Plants and Demirea.
â Have a nice trip, brother.
Kyrieâs bracelet, which she received back from Plants, glowed for a moment. Hina waved her hand at Kirie, who turned back at the words she heard in her head. After that, Hina smiled and spoke to Arsene, who remained by her side.
â Vice Commander, would you like some tea?
Since Planz went out with Dmirea, I held Calianâs hand tightly and thought about which ice cream shop I should eat when I got to Astricia Street. Instead, I tried not to feel anxious about Kalyan.
Kalian wonât be leaving after showing his suffocating face in the deep water that he saw right before he lost consciousness. Because nothing will happen that will prevent Calian from returning.
* * *
First of all, my father.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
And my older brother.
I pointed my finger.
âWith my father and older brother⦠Kirie. And again.â
I was quietly counting who would come out immediately to look for the black cat with red eyes who had suddenly disappeared again.
âSispanian wonât come.â
Just looking at Silestianâs reaction right now, I donât think heâll do anything to me here, so he wonât interfere any further unless I insert the axis of time between those scary claws and tell him step by step how to use it.
If Sispanians had meddled in this much, the royal family of Kairis would not have died in such large numbers.
âMaybe the pea will go to the nest to ask for help from Sispanian. If that happens, my fiancé will also join⦠Itâs obvious that heâll just stay calm because heâs helping by not going to Balkan right nowâ¦â Therefore, if
someone comes to visit, Alan and In addition to Plants and Kiri, there is also Dmirea. If Sispanian pities Calian more than expected, we might meet Sispanian again soon, but for now, there are about four of them, excluding Sispanian.
âSeeing as there are four of them, I havenât lived in vain.â
Calian took a deep breath. Then, with a white face, he raised his head and thought again.
âNo. I became a guy who was wondering who would come to save me⦠I guess I bought it in vain.â
Take a step back immediately.
If you canât run away, kneel down and lie flat on your face. Whatever I said, I was wrong, so please forgive me. Do whatever it takes to get away from this fear that will melt your bones.
As if that was what was being asked of me, I was bringing up nonsensical thoughts in order to withstand the swirling fear.
âItâs a shame to be an Auror.â
If you are young, less than a thousand years old, you cannot handle the fear of a young dragon, so you end up just thinking about random things. Itâs almost a waste of the auras I put into my body.
So I put aside my thoughts and opened my mouth.
He pulled out his voice as if he was trying to scold him.
â⦠Cylestian.â
Towards Silestian, who started to get angry again, forgetting that he had put his peer to sleep in an attempt to scare him when he heard that someone was using the harpies without permission.
âItâs okay to be curious. Iâm going to kill the person in front of me first⦠Is this it?â
âYou tried to take advantage of me.â
I hear Silestianâs answer.
âYou brought up my pain to divert my anger elsewhere. You used your mouth to make the enemy you had to deal with my opponent. So will I be angry or not?â
I hit the nail on the head.
It seems that the golden dragon of the great desert was not bought in vain. It seems that they are not just going to let the time equivalent to a thousand years pass by. I think Iâve lived enough lives to at least know how to measure the weight of a word and whatâs hidden behind it.
â â¦â¦ Sigh!
Calian, who was thinking of easily catching Zeon at this point, bit the inside of his mouth. A sharp pain and a foul fishy smell arise from the place where the chewed piece was chewed.
Nevertheless, Calian, who still had both feet firmly on the floor and straightened his knees, which had never touched the floor in front of anyone except Chase and Allen, spoke.
âIt didnât have a heart. A stone that was said to be made of human bones and flesh was planted in its place. It came out in front of me alone in that state. I heard it was very timid. It didnât run away until it died.â
And instead of apologizing like this and walking away, he said even harsher words.
â Rumble!
The mighty peer of a huge dragon is crushed.
A sense of fear, with no known depth or end, summons the sea.
The memory of the day I held Chaseâs hand as we jumped into the sea together unfolds like a dream. As I hold his hand and look up, the young child I once cut off because I couldnât refuse smiles on Chaseâs behalf. As soon as I let go of his hand without realizing it, my body falls to the floor again. Many people who asked for help held out their burned, rotten hands. They grab your scarred hands and feet and tie them up in the abyss. It blocks the breathing of someone who is in the abyss alive.
â Quad deuk!
The tips of my round nails dig into my palm once again. A scratch appears once again in a wound that has already begun to heal.
âStarting from silver and ending with red⦠the hair was different. It wasnât the harpy that my teacherâs distant ancestor had said was killed that you lost. So it wasnât the harpy you said you loved, but it was a different harpy, so I was nervous. Isnât this used?â
â â¦â¦ Rumbling!
The act of bowing oneâs head and saying an apology.
I just held on because I didnât want to do it.
âWhatever you do, youâre good at it.â
As Demirea said, he is a person who is good at whatever he does. Because he is a person who is good at holding on.
âIf I say I forgive, will it be okay?â
I canât give the apple that I couldnât even give to Aela to that dragon, so I have to be stubborn.
â⦠Donât get hurt⦠and go home.â
I should fight without worrying and return to my father.
Even if you get hurt.
âTell me if it hurts.â
âDonât worry, just rest.â
We have Hina, who will heal her by taking away all the nagging in the world, and Kirie, who will gently carry her on her back and take her to Hina. Is there anything to worry about?
âRegardless of what happens to that harpy⦠Anyway, the harpy you cared about is dead and gone long ago, so did I do something stupid to a guy who wonât care about anyone anymore? Thatâs why youâre angry?â
âDonât mess around with your mouth.â
âI was curious about the harpy, so I told you about it. Why? I tried to hear that it was alive and well, but when you told me that wasnât the case, my head hurts? Do you donât want to worry? Are you scared to think about it again? So you want me to stop talking and get out of the way?â
Calian, with a deliberately louder sneer at the corner of his mouth, opened his mouth again.
âSum Kalyan.â
The man who had been tied to the dead and was violently pulling out their motionless bodies, holding them by their collars instead of their hands and feet with no place to hold them, had told them to take a breath.
âYouâre laughing.â
I need to breathe.
I have to breathe and bark while doing so.
âSispanian cares about all kinds of humans, and Arneizel does his best to protect the mermaids, but he is not even capable of doing so and starts scaring them.â
Calian raised his head.
He opened his mouth, looking into the golden eyes glaring at him.
âThe harpy heart was ripped out alive. So be angry, Silestian.â
There is silence.
âNot to me. To the people who did that.â
The battered pier sinks.
Kalianâs lips draw a long arc.