Chapter 123

“Hey Ruby, I was worried about you but your face is glowing! Oh, you look great! How long has it been?!” (Enzo)

As soon as he arrived with the pope’s delegation, he tried to sneak out and roam around on his own, but he was prevented from doing so and dragged out by the city guards. He was a gonfaloniere lacking in humility or shame.

He was smiling brightly as he hugged me and swung me round and round, almost giving me motion sickness.

This guy hasn’t changed at all.

“Welcome·······. Are you cold?” (Ruby)

“What do you mean, am I cold? When I first arrived, I thought I would freeze to death! But wow, It was exciting to see the snow after a long time. Has it snowed a lot here? The place looks a lot more romantic than I initially thought.”

Are you saying that you visited various locations, even though you were freezing to death, because you were intoxicated by the romantic atmosphere?

I had to try and avoid seeing the look on my father-in-law’s face.

As for King Feranol, he simply had a blank expression.

It seemed that he had given up on understanding whatever was happening around him these days.

After exchanging greetings and going through some formal procedures, I had a moment alone with Enzo.

It was a sunny afternoon and the snow had stopped just in time, so we came out to the courtyard of the palace and walked along the promenade. While Enzo admired the lonely appearance of the moon tower, where the restoration work was almost complete, I emptied my head as I observed the half-bloomed camellias.

(T/N: As an English speaker, I still had to look up ‘promenade’ and the Oxford Language Dictionary cites it as ‘a paved public walk, typically one along a waterfront at a resort’.

And as for camellia flowers, I wondered if there was any significance in including its presence, and it apparently symbolizes love, devotion, affection and admiration. The flowers can also symbolize refinement, perfection, and faithfulness, depending on the color and context of the bloom. In Japan, the camellia flower is often used in religious ceremonies, as it symbolizes divinity.)

“However, the citizens of this kingdom seem a bit scary. Is it because of the cold temperature?”

“Was that your first impression because you were dragged off to a weird place right when you had just arrived?”

“Hey, I wasn’t dragged away though? And it wasn’t a weird place, I want to take a tour of the pubs because the butter drinks here are so good·······.”

“Didn’t you say you happened to find yourself locked up in a casino? It’s just like you, brother.”

“Oh, I was just watching, just watching! As the gonfaloniere of Romagna, it is my duty to learn about the traditions and customs of the citizens of each kingdom·······.”

Enzo, who had been coming up with ridiculous excuses, suddenly looked at me with a serious expression on his face.

The hint of mischief that had been present was now nowhere to be seen in his downcast eyes.

“Hey, what the hell happened with you and brother?”

“Well, what have you heard so far?”

“I haven’t heard much in particular, brother isn’t the kind of person to confide in me when it comes to matters related to you. He said that he wanted to see you so he came in person to listen to you talk. And no, father and brother weren’t exactly fighting but it seems that father was about to kill brother? Oh, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen father so angry at brother. It was hilarious, you should’ve seen it······.”

“So, what did father say to you when he sent you here?”

“Huh? To me? ·······I don’t really remember. Maybe it’s because I’m not fully sober at the moment. I only remember the constant, annoying nagging, repeating dozens of times, damn it, and I’m not even a kid anymore.”

“······.”

“Oh, it was something about calming you down and asking you to forgive brother. I think it was something along the lines of that. We will all be in trouble if you accuse the family of mistreating you and condemn them for it.I don’t know why he told me to do it, I’m the one who would be the least capable of this task!”

(T/N: I actually still don’t know what the closest translation for “가족의 중요성 어쩌고 하 면서 친정을 그런 식으로 고발하면 다 같이 곤란 어쩌고저쩌고·······= We will all be in trouble if you accuse the family of mistreating you and condemn them for it.” should be. I went so far as to consult a Korean coworker about the sentence but 1) there was a language barrier and 2) she was hesitant to explain to me the content of the true meaning / implication of the sentence because it apparently contains ‘bad words’ lol. If someone has any idea of what this is supposed to be that would be great. I’m super curious and it also drove me crazy)

If the Pope were to see Enzo slurring right now, he would have clasped the back of his own neck and collapsed.

Why am I about to laugh?

“Anyway, what the hell happened with you and brother? I think he must have done something wrong to you. Or did he pick a fight with your husband? ······ Oh! That’s right, he mentioned something about that too. Your husband did something to brother, but rather than trying to come to an understanding, they fought instead? Who won? Why did they fight? I should’ve been there to see it too!”

Father-in-law, the one who came to stop their fight, should I say that Izek won?

This guy is a bit too excited. My ears are already hurting.

“That’s why brother was in pain, he lost, right?” (Enzo)

“He was in pain? When?” (Ruby)

“Would it make more sense to say he seemed unwell rather than he was in pain? He must be suffering from some psychological trauma as a result of being beaten up by your husband. Did you see them fighting? Can you tell me what happened in detail?” (Enzo)

Cesare is someone who is not prone to illness or injury, and even if he was sick or injured, he wasn’t the kind of person to let anyone know about it.

I suddenly remembered the time I witnessed the moment of an intense collision between Izek and Cesare in the mirror room.

Even in my eyes, that knew very little about the weapons of divinity, the carnage seemed to be a formidable sword after seeing the collision between the carnage and the shield.

(T/N: The 카니지와 “carnage” is supposed to be the name of the sword but I’m not entirely sure what a more suitable name would be in English.)

The cardinal’s shield was almost torn apart······.

I’m certain he is suffering from an internal, physical injury, not a psychological one.

It would have made for a good ending if Cesare were to fall ill and succumb to death from his injuries, but if his wounds had been fatal, the Pope would have already spoken on the issue.

Or did Enzo forget to touch on the topic?

It would be great if Cesare paid for the crimes he committed in the North with his death.

When I failed to respond, Enzo quietly lowered his voice and gradually stopped talking once he realized an unusual atmosphere was present.

“Hey, why are you not saying anything? Did Cesare try to force you to divorce Izek? But just because you’re angry with him doesn’t mean you have to be angry with me too.” (Enzo)

“I’m not angry. I just don’t have much to say on this topic.” (Ruby)

“What? Why? Why? I have a lot to say and hear-” (Enzo)

“I can’t trust father (the Pope) or my eldest brother right. It applies to you as well. Whatever father (the Pope) wants is none of my business, so don’t expect anything from me.” (Ruby)

There was silence.

While I was facing him with a smile, Enzo stared at me with a blank expression on his face, making it hard to discern whether he was just stunned or completely lost.

Afterwards, the best reply he could come up with was this.

“You’re really married!” (Enzo)

“············” (Ruby)

“I’m sorry, I’ve been unconsciously treating you like you were still my little sister from back then.

Can’t you overlook this? I’m still not used to the fact that you’ve married into someone else’s family yet because we’re carrying on like we always have in the past, with me acting as a mediator between you and father & brother just like I’ve always done ······ .” (Enzo)

“It’s fine. Though this is how I feel, it doesn’t mean that I dislike you.” (Ruby)

“Does that mean you don’t like father or older brother?” (Enzo)

“How would you feel if you were me?” (Ruby)

For a moment, Enzo seemed to be contemplating something on his own while he scratched his frizzy, ginger-colored hair.

What else was this single celled organism (aka simple minded person) going to say?

(T/N: I was wondering if 단세포께서 aka “single celled organism” was a euphemism for simple minded person and it really was according to https://lswtr.tumblr.com/post/176810542233/swear-words-and-insults-in-korean)

“I don’t know. To be honest, I wasn’t as close to you as older brother was, and both of you have been close to each other since we were little. Would it be better to say I didn’t have the time to join in? I think that’s why I purposely ventured outside more often. I’m not trying to say it’s anyone’s fault, it’s just that we don’t know each other well enough.” (Enzo)

“······.” (Ruby)

“Even though older brother doesn’t say it out loud, he always complains about father uselessly keeping an idiot like me around. I wasn’t aware then but now I can clearly see how much he (Cesare) hates me just by looking at his eyes. My image as a scatterbrained, foolish character is rather strong. Anyways, in one way or another, it’s only the good looking brother that’s deemed as trustworthy, right? As it was with your marriage, I’m in a position where I can’t afford to have an opinion when it comes to matters on marriage, and I’ll have to get married right away if father tells me I have to do it. It’s useless to dwell on it and go into a rage.” (Enzo)

“I knew the situation would be like that.” (Ruby)

“Giving up on saying anything? Well, hold on, what was I going to say·······? Oh, that’s right, that’s why I only know what’s going on from what I’ve seen so far (Enzo knows little because information is also limited to him since he’s a chess piece just like Ruby). You always looked like you were happy and free of any complaints. Especially since I was sick back then, things that I would have dealt with in the past were relatively simple compared to now······· To be honest, sometimes, I was scared of you.” (Enzo)

“You were scared of me? In the past?” (Ruby)

“No, it was only after I was sick. It’s funny when I think about it now, but sometimes you seem to be a person empty of emotions. You would laugh and cry the same way, but I have to say that it felt strangely empty······. Damn, I don’t know, I wouldn’t be too surprised if you actually resented us (the Borgias) after coming here. I may be an idiot you don’t want to acknowledge as your brother, but I’m fairly insightful.” (Enzo)

“You said you didn’t hate oldest brother.” (Ruby)

When I said it jokingly, the dark blue eyes that had been awkwardly fluttering around stopped and looked right at me.

I returned his gaze with a firm one of my own.

“So, what do you want to do now? Tell me your thoughts.” (Ruby)

“What I want to do, don’t you know already?” (Enzo)

“I don’t know?” (Ruby)

“What, you weren’t aware? Oh, really······. Ahem, I honestly am not sure what father said and I just want brother to tell you he’s aware of what mistake he has made. It’s not like I can do anything in this situation, but tell me, did brother go so far as to hit you during the argument?” (Enzo)

“Did you not know? Did you not hear or did you really just forget about it?” (Ruby)

“...Oh, really...?” (Enzo)

“There’s nothing to be surprised about, it wasn’t the first time. It’s not just once or twice.” (Ruby)

“What? What’s that······.” (Enzo)

“Older brother used to complain that he was the only one who was beaten by father, but I was experiencing the same thing. I didn’t even go out and play like you did.” (Ruby)

“......You’re joking right? Let brother-” (Enzo)

“I don’t care whether you believe it or not. The same goes for eldest brother. In any case, you got it right, he did beat me, in fact, it seems like he was resentful.” (Ruby)

“············.” (Enzo)

“Well, I’m just a stranger to them and I bear the Omerta family name now. So I’ll enter negotiations prioritizing the interests of the Omerta family. No matter how important the Holy Father may be, my family name is no longer ‘Borgia’.” (Ruby)

Silence filled the air once again.

A bird flew wildly from the tree overhead, scattering snow.

Snowflakes fell and landed on ginger-colored hair.

Even so, Enzo just looked at me without sparing a single thought to the state of his hair.

It was a bit funny to see his mouth open as wide as his eyes.

“... Do you hate them?” (Enzo)

“What?” (Ruby)

“Do you hate father and brother?” (Enzo)

What would you do if I did or didn’t? In any case, the same question could be asked of you too.

“No, I don’t feel anything towards them. Just as you’ve pointed out before.” (Ruby)

I said those words because I really didn’t feel anything anymore, but for some reason, the single celled organism closed its jaws and suddenly looked very sad.

Anyone who sees this would think that I’ve just said I hate him.

Are you going to be a person occupying multiple character roles during the few days you’re here?

(T/N: Ruby is commenting on his quick transitions between his usual clown-ish characters to caring brother to serious person, etc. I’m not sure if the wording would be ambiguous for non-native English speakers within various levels of fluency.)

“Yeah, that’s right... it’s only natural you would feel that way...” (Enzo)

“..........” (Ruby)

“Then what about me? You don’t feel anything about me either?” (Enzo)

The tears that fell awkwardly from the sapphire-colored eyes, which were the same as those of Cesare’s but entirely different, caused me to be utterly speechless for a moment.

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