Chapter 4

Two weeks wasn’t that long. It may not be to others, but time passed quickly after we had a normal day. I think it may be because time passes faster as we get older, but before we knew it, we were five years old.

Early in the morning, I woke up to the noisy tapping sound in my ears. It was the same for Argen, who was sleeping next to me, then I heard a voice calling me.

“….. Arien.”

Opening my mouth, I yawned and stretched. As I stretched my arms and legs, my shoulders trembled.

“Did you sleep well?”

“You think I slept well?”

“… Umm… No.”

I frowned at him and repeated tongue movements in my mouth several times. They say they talk fluently, but I still don’t like the poor pronunciation of the children.

“It’s already been two weeks since our birthday passed.”

Argen covered his face with a blanket and said in a low voice.

“…. Yeah…. Two weeks.”

Unlike usual, it was so noisy outside that it was heard even in the isolated Castle of Derolina. It was because today was the Second Prince’s birthday, which was two weeks after our birthday. Rubbing my dim eyes with the back of my hand, I wriggled my body to come down from the bed.

“Get out of there.”

Argen didn’t even think about getting up and covered himself with the blanket. I struck Argen’s back a couple of times with the palm of my hand so as not to hurt him.

Today was the birthday of the second prince of the Yuriana Empire. It was a day in which various countries sent envoys with priceless gifts and nobles, dressing luxuriously, came to celebrate with the young prince. The day when people played around unconstrained for a prince, who we don’t even know the face of.

“Don’t want to.”

Argen grumbled back, so I fell back and stamped my foot on the floor.

“Why not?”

“Let’s sleep more.”

It hasn’t been long since the sun started to raise. I pressed the top of  Argen’s head with my hand as he muttered under the blanket. Suddenly, my face was buried in the pillow while Argen got up dissatisfied. I rolled myself out of bed when Argen woke up.

Today, since Lurahell had breakfast, there was also a share for us.

“I’m going to go eat now. Do you want to come?”

“I want to go.”

At the word breakfast, Argen slowly followed me out of bed. Our bed, which hasn’t changed for years and helped us sleep comfortably, was a little taller than me and Argen. As I came down my bed, I approached the door grabbing the handle and twisting it.

I dragged my feet and continued walking down the long and never-ending corridor to the kitchen. The chef was already gone, but they had finished preparing the simple meal for us. It was quite satisfactory except for the cold ones.

Afterwards, I went back to my room and rolled on my bed, playing with the books I found while exploring the castle. I didn’t know how to read the letters, but the pictures sandwiched between the thick books were interesting.

As usual, we spent a long time like that. Until the sun rose to the highest point and slowly set, turning the sky purple where the darkness ruled the world, we had a day like no other.

When the night came, I approached the window frame, opened the window and looked out. We had been waiting for the darkness to engulf the night. Argen and I had nothing to learn, nothing to do, and had no exceptional talents. So I could only wait for the darkness to come. In the bright light, I wasn’t confident to see those laughing happily around the Second Prince.

I went out with Argen and stepped on the grass. Because no one took care of it, the long-grown grass swiped at our legs.

As I was walking like this, I could hear all the sounds coming from there even though there was a road to the 2nd prince’s palace. The sound that we heard through the thick forest was bizarre. It was like the sound of ghosts talking. But for a moment, there was music that was even more beautiful than the birds among the noisy chatter. I had the illusion that the song was mixed with laughter.

“It’s more gorgeous than last year.”

“It is the birthday of the imperial prince.”

Argen stood under a tree, pointing to a spectacular view of the sky. Although I couldn’t see the second prince’s palace from here, the joy was still conveyed.

When I lifted my head, I could see the magic lights floating in the air. It couldn’t be possible, It couldn’t be possible, but if I had a chance someday, I wanted to fill those lights in my hand.

“What are you thinking about.”

“What do you think I’m thinking about?”

“A useless idea.”

Augh, I tried to refute that it wasn’t like that, but while I was staring blankly at the light, Argen started climbing on the tree. The second prince’s party was like a delicacy, giving us a little bit of pleasure and feast for our eyes, since we lived only in this enclosed space.

Argen and I wholeheartedly watched all the parties that took place in the Imperial Palace. We, who were trapped in an invisible window, felt as though we had escaped from Derolina castle for a moment when we were climbing the tree and watching the scene. The sound of the music flowing through my ears made me feel strangely good.

“Good songs make a person happy.”

“So you’re having fun now?”

“I think it’s fun.”

While listening to the music, I fell far behind Argen. I climbed up like a wriggling caterpillar behind Argen, who had already arrived. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before we reached our destination, stretched out our feets across a tree branch and settled down safely. As I climbed up, my hair became loose from my hair tie so I moved my hand toward my head, but suddenly my wrist was caught.    .

“…… eh?”

Argen pulled me up close. The root of the tree touched behind my back. I was pushed so hard that I wrinkled my nose and flapped my arms, but Argen spoke to me inside.

‘Someone’s there.’

‘Huh…….? ‘

It was the moment when I stiffened my body at those words and looked over Argen’s shoulders. I could see a black silhouette. The large silhouette told me that there was someone other than us. When I realized that, my shoulders stiffened and my pupils shook violently.

It also was the same for Argen, who gave me strength by holding my hands instead of my wrist.

‘Who there?’

‘Who is it?’

I bit the tender flesh in my mouth without saying a word at the chaotic situation.

“Who are you?”

The other person had asked a question. That’s the question we wanted to ask right now. I swallowed my saliva, I held Argen’s hand firmly.

The clouds obscured the moonlight, so I could only see the other person’s strange silhouette, but it looked roughly the size of an adult male.

He threw a question again at us without an answer.

“I asked who you were.”

My throat was burning with tension. Derolina Castle was a place no one would approach. The question on which stood on edge was directed at us. In the first place, I had never spoken with outsiders other than the people in castle and I didn’t know what to say to this dizzying situation.

“…….”

“…….”

This was a tree that we could easily climb. I have never experienced anything like this before, but Argen and I didn’t know whether it was a coincidence or not.

No matter how abandoned the castle is, it is one of the first parts of the imperial palace, so it was clear that the other person was not an ordinary person. Like a cat with its fur raised, I was vigilant and did not answer the man’s word.

“If you don’t answer, you won’t be able to pay the price.”

There was a sense of pressure from the man. That kind of pressure that only those in power can have.

A chillingly sharp voice that runs deep into the heart, unlike Lulahel’s command imitating a noble. The reaction was so cold that I wondered why he was so wary of small 5 years old children.

As the silence deepened, the moonlight that was covered by clouds was revealed and the man’s face could be seen. Dark hair and purple eyes. A stout nose and languid eyes. A sharp jawline. When I saw his silhouette, I thought he was in his early 20s.

The moonlight shone on Argen and I without exception. I don’t know who the other person is, but I could guess his status. A man dressed in fine clothes that looked better than what Lulahel wore, would probably not be compatible with us because we are sick of it.

I looked at the man with an expression as terrified as possible. We were five years old. It was better to be afraid of the intimidating appearance of the other person like a naive child, rather than confronting him with caution as if we were observing the other person.

I thought it would be nice if he just let us go, thinking we were children who came up by accident, but it was a ridiculous thought. There was no way anyone would let children come up to such a high place without thinking.

It was when I was talking to Argen about how to deal with the situation. The man opened his eyes wide with astonishment. It was an instant, but I could see a surprised face.

“…….”

A sigh,, burst out of the man’s mouth.

And soon he stared at us with a face that seemed to have realized something. Immediately, the cold expression changed in a 180 degree turn, so we had no choice but to feel embarrassed. Until now, he seemed like a fierce beast in front of me, but the other person furrowed his eyebrows, becoming confused, then widened his pupils and covered his mouth with his hands.

‘What is it?’

‘Isn’t it because we’re too young…?’

‘Is that like that?’

Unlike us, who could certainly see the man’s silhouette, I thought that the other person might not have been able to make out our figure that was close to the tree.

At the moment, various expressions passed through the man making  the cold energy that had emanated a while ago seem to be an illusion, then he slowly released a breath.

“Oh, my….. Unexpected…..”

We heard the man’s low muttering. Again, he made eye contact with us, looking like though nothing had happened.

“It’s dangerous, so why don’t you come here?”

His sharp tone had changed into a tone to appease animals.

Thinking about it carefully, I thought it might be funny for the other person, as I was trembling in the corner with a terrified face. When we didn’t loosen our guard, the man seemed to think about something for a moment, then reached his hands out. Argen turned pale at the approaching hand from above and clung tightly to the tree to get away from the man.

We’ve always been afraid of people bigger than us reaching out from above, but we couldn’t help it because of what Lulahel did. I would say our behavior went unnoticed, but there was no way we couldn’t be seen.

The man wriggled his hands for a moment at our excessive reaction. Rather than being dissatisfied with our actions, he seemed to be puzzled. We were just only weak five-year-old children. No matter who the other person was, he can be dangerous, so I bit my lower lip without forgetting to be cautious.