CH 23

“Duke Rubius threatened my life. The knights who escorted will testify. No, I don’t need any testimony. I am proof.”

He couldn’t let Yulif testify that he had stuck the sword between his legs. It was a secret that was not to be revealed until his death. He had to protect himself even if it meant killing the knights.

Deltinus wanted to protect his shattered pride by doing that.

“To Duke Rubius… Are you saying that you will apply the charge of treason?”

Count Enderk lowered his voice and asked.

“No.”

Count Enderk breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. He thought he had lost his temper because of his hatred and the woman, but fortunately he had at least a little awareness as an emperor… 

“It’s so easy and simple, isn’t it? I have no intention of killing him easily. You will find out when the time is right, as the Count will visit Yulif. Certainly.”

“…I see, Your Majesty.”

Deltinus took off his blood-soaked cloak and left the torture chamber.

Count Enderk glanced pityingly at the valet, who was drowning in his own blood, and quietly gave the order.

*******

「What are we doing now?」

It was an awkward question. Canaren had a great talent for putting him on the spot.

Before returning, after they got closer, she even deliberately teased him. She said it was funny to see him bewildered.

Even after coming back in time, Yulif often found it difficult to immediately answer Canaren’s question. Just like right now. But he thought he would be different this time.

He wanted to draw a line in moderation without hurting her. He didn’t want to be consistent with his silence though. Because his own non-response had dire consequences.

So Yulif was even more embarrassed. He had to come up with something, but he didn’t know what to say.

Originally, it was planned to get away from Deltinus and go to another opera house to watch another show. He thought he would visit the capital if Canaren wanted to, but he never considered coming to this cabin.

It was literally just a temporary shelter for him to sleep. He wasn’t deliberately planning to bring Canaren to this place.

「Ah…」

Still silent, Yulif, who was about to answer, took one look at Canaren and was speechless again. Her twinkling eyes seemed to tell him he needed to give her a different answer, and if he didn’t, she’d have to squeeze it out of him.

Actually, Canaren would think like that. Knowing this, Yulif shook his head.

「……The weather is nice.」

Just talking about the weather? Yulif realized how pathetic he was.

「Really. There are no clouds and I also like the strong wind.」

Despite his poor communication skills, Canaren answered him with a broad smile. She was always like this. Canaren always gave him her full attention. If he didn’t answer, she wouldn’t push it, if he gave a strange answer, she accepted it.

Yulif watched the expression in her eyes as she cast her gaze through the window.

「On a day like this, we will all clean our wings together. Gather in a sunny place. I even made bets on who had the most feathers.」

「Is that so.」

「The loser was to collect all the fallen feathers and take them to the village, but that’s really annoying. I didn’t want to get caught, so I trimmed my feathers without my friends.」

Canaren looked back at Yulif and smiled mischievously. She must have laughed like that in front of her friends. Yulif suddenly thought of that. Come to think of it, he had never seen Canaren living freely in the village.

「You were a troublemaker.」

「Not even a bit!」

「Then are you a troublemaker?」

「Because it’s not…… Perhaps.」

「You don’t seem confident.」

「I wasn’t on the quiet side. I wonder, are my friends doing well?」

Canaren’s voice subsided a little.

She wanted to see her friends and her mom in the village. Even though she was trying so hard not to think about it, whenever the moment came when she felt her efforts were not enough, she felt sad and hopeless.

「If you want to, do it.」

「Yes?」

「Clean your feathers. To do it on a day like this. If you’re here, there’s no one who would see you, so it’s okay.」

「Ah… Well, but…….」

Canaren looked at Yulif and hesitated. Yulif noticed what she wanted to say.

He was not from the Hwira tribe, so it would be a burden if he watched it. Canaren wasn’t the kind of person who can honestly say things like that.

He picked up the hood that was hung loosely on the chair again.

「I’m going out. Call me when you’re done.」

「It was because the feathers will start to fly all over. This is Yulif’s resting place, so I shouldn’t dirty it. It’s cumbersome to clean up… No, I’m not saying I won’t clean it! I mean I’m not going to hand it over to Yulif to clean! What if it gets to a place you can’t see even if you clean it hard? Anyway, Yulif, don’t go out.」

Canaren’s cheeks reddened as she poured out her words like a whirlwind. She clenched his sleeves, lest he leave while she was speaking.

Yulif put down the hood.

「Okay, calm down.」

「Aren’t you going?」

「It’s okay. And you don’t have to worry about cleaning up.」

Yulif flicked his finger. The firewood left in the fireplace was wiped out.

「Leave the troublesome work to the wizard.」

Canaren’s eyes, which had been wide open, folded gently.

「Yes, Wizard!」

As soon as the powerful reply resounded, her wings spread out on her back.

*******

Canaren was lying on the carpet with her two pairs of wings, that were much larger than her body, spread out. The afternoon sun shone through the window and rippled above her. Wings whiter than sunlight shone even whiter in the light. There were quite a few feathers scattered around her, probably because she had cleaned her feathers after a long time.

She fell into a deep sleep with a relaxed face.

Yulif removed all unnecessary furniture so that Canaren could comfortably organize her feathers. She was a little shy, but as soon as she started tidying up her feathers, she became focused.

Yulif stepped away to a suitable distance and watched her moving wings, and the sight of her feathers falling from those wings into the air.

「Hey, Yulif. I have one request…」

Canaren, who sat with her two pairs of wings spread out, looked back at him.

Yulif thought that her peach-red face was due to the sun. He needed to draw the curtains. It was when he got up thinking like that.

「How did you know I needed wind? A wizard must be different.」

「Wind?」

「Huh… … Didn’t you get up to open the window?」

It wasn’t. When Yulif shook his head, Canaren laughed as if embarrassed.

「Where the arms cannot reach, the wind helps. There were times when I climbed a tall tree because it needed a bit of a strong wind. The wind is pretty strong today, so you can just open the window」

「If you open the window, there will be a gap.」

Yulif moved his hand lightly. A fairly strong wind blew up and brushed Canaren’s wings.

The old feathers hidden between were blown away by the wind. The feathers that swayed as if dancing were like petals and white snow.

「Thank you, Wizard.」

Among her white feathers, Canaren smiled brightly.

Would it be like this if a winged goddess from a myth he read someday appeared?

As he painted this picture, he wanted to leave it alone forever, but his possessiveness was fierce.

It was such a beautiful and enchanting sight.

His heart raced. In Yulif’s mind, she was much more sacred than the goddess.

Even if he put together all the beautiful things that exist in this world, they wouldn’t be more beautiful than her. He could put all the lovely things together and nothing could be more lovely than her.

Why did he realize this simple yet clear fact so late? Along with his overwhelming emotion, an unavoidable sadness came over.

He felt he didn’t deserve to love her.  Even looking at her like this was too much for him. So Yulif slowly turned his head.

As soon as Canaren finished tidying up her feathers, she fell asleep. She was exposed to sunlight throughout, and as the tension relaxed, fatigue seemed to have come all at once. Yulif didn’t move her to the bed, lest he wake her from sleep.

No. It’s simply because he couldn’t overcome his desire to have her fully in his eyes.

Yulif once again raised the wind. This time, the wind was so weak that the sleeping Canaren could not feel it.

A feather rose and landed gently on the palm of his hand. He carefully grabbed the feather. It was a very careful touch, in case it broke. The soft feather tickled his palms pleasantly.

He sat where she could see her, held his breath and closed his eyes. In the landscape where time seemed to stand still, the sound of steady breathing was heard.

He inhaled and exhaled according to the sound of her breath. His heart pounded at the sweet scent that gently mixed in the air.