Chapter 36

Chapter 8. Very, nice to meet you (3)

I don’t know why he’s so busy these days, but Randel sometimes doesn’t even show up for breakfast. Randel was not here, as he seemed to have arrived late.

At the round table prepared for the princes, an unwelcome man was sitting back in his chair, curling up one corner of his mouth as he looked at Calian.

Calian, who unconsciously suppressed his frown, lowered his head towards Plants and opened his mouth.

“long time no see.”

When Calian and Planz sat down together, the surroundings became quiet, as if they had made a promise. There was no need to wonder why. Isn’t it Plantz who drove Silike, who gave Calian a ‘very bad cold’, with a single word?

Moreover, it was the first time the two sat together after that incident. So, it goes without saying that we are very curious about the relationship between the two, who are neither enemies nor allies.

Calian kept his mouth shut without saying a word. Since we and Plants had different paths to take anyway, I didn’t think there was any need to force ourselves to act friendly. As we remained silent for a while, the gazes of the nobles gradually drifted away.

“hey.”

But then the guy started talking.

Planz, who turned his gaze to all the nobles who were still looking at him one by one, leaned his upper body on the table and looked at Calian.

Calian did not answer. Thanks to this, a situation similar to what happened a long time ago occurred once again.

“Hey. Bloody eyes.”

“Calian.”

Calian, who responded immediately to a name he never wanted to hear again, stared into Plantz’s eyes. And he added in a somewhat harsh tone.

“I’ll stop listening to this, brother.”

Planz’s green eyes glowed for a moment.

Planz, who had been staring at Calian for a long time, twisted the corner of his lips.

Soon a small voice came out of his mouth.

“No.”

Nope.

Calian’s eyes narrowed little by little.

Planz’s eyes grew sharp.

“Use a sword, use a sword, and ride a horse.”

After saying that, Plantz leaned back against the backrest. A voice like a drowsy sigh disturbed Calian’s mind.

“Who are you?”

Calian looked into those eyes without saying a word.

okay. Planz is enough to notice. If you don’t know, you wouldn’t know it because my younger brother, whom I had been teasing so much for holding my hand, changed overnight.

Calian thought for a moment.

Does not matter. So I decided.

By neither affirming nor denying.

Before long, a relaxed smile appeared on Calian’s lips.

“You’re talking strange things.”

There was no need to tell him the truth because he was not someone whose heart I had to win over like Alan. No matter how confident Plants is about Kalian, isn’t this a secret that will likely be revealed?

So just grab it and take it off.

Kalian’s face was calm after coming to that conclusion. It was noisy on the inside, but it was that way on the outside anyway.

Plantz, who was glaring at Calian as if he were going to kill him, stood up. And without another word, he left the banquet hall and did not return.

Suddenly, Plantz remembered what the old Calian had passed on to him when he left. After that, I remembered Plantz, who led Secretia to ruin.

Calian’s gaze did not leave Planz’s empty seat.

When Allen saw Calian like that from afar, worry appeared on his face. Although I hadn’t overheard their conversation, I had noticed that Calian’s expression had hardened since Plants left.

Soon Calian raised his head. Then I made eye contact with Alan for a moment. Calian gave a small smile.

‘it’s okay.’

Instead of approaching Calian, Alan simply nodded to express his concern.

* * *

“Yes. You can leave it to me. No matter how big the money is, it won’t be a lot of money to Baron Fallun. Besides, I’m not the kind of person who would throw away trust over that amount of money.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

“Baron Fallun is a merchant, so he doesn’t know anything about magic. He will occasionally seek advice from the Master or the Association President in the future, so please treat him well while I am gone.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Afterwards, instead of giving magic classes, Calian asked Alan various questions about the magic academy. He also asked Melfir to tell him anything that might be helpful.

As we were talking like that, there was a knock on the door outside. It was Jan.

“I’m sorry, Prince, but I have other plans now.”

“Then I’ll be back for afternoon magic class.”

Knowing that it was time to end the conversation, Alan got up and tried to go out.

“No, Master. Siegfried’s knights will greet you briefly and leave. It won’t take long, so unless you have other plans, please talk to me today.”

“Are you saying we should skip class and just chat?”

Calian smiled and nodded.

“Yes. Anyway, I have to go see Sispanian tomorrow, and if that happens, I won’t be able to see my teacher for a while, so it would be a shame to have classes until today.”

The excuse I had for not wanting to go to class was very plausible. So Alan smiled and answered.

* * *

Twenty knights dressed in black armor lined up in front of the main gate of Chermil Palace, waiting for Calian. They were Siegfried’s elite knights sent by Slayman, and they had visited Chermil the day before departure to say hello to Calian.

Kyrie, who had come out before Calian, was looking at them with a very aggressive look in her eyes. Since Kirie was also a sword wielder, she wanted to gauge the differences between them. Of course, Siegfried’s knights were also looking at Kyrie like that.

While the duke’s knights and the prince’s guards were fighting knowingly or unknowingly, Calian, Alan, and Jan came out of the palace.

Calian and Alan were walking side by side, and Jan, the servant, was following quietly a little behind, of course. The knights who saw this tightened their fists. Yan didn’t know any of that and just greeted the knights with a happy face.

At the luncheon the day before, only the knight named Yuran, who led them, was present, so it was Kalian’s first time meeting the other knights. So, I stood in front of them and looked at each of their faces for a moment.

‘Hoo.’

Soon, a strange smile appeared on Calian’s lips.

‘These are Siegfried’s knights that I only heard about. It is truly magnificent.’

It was obvious how carefully Slayman chose to send them. Kirie, who was tall and energetic, stood in front of her and looked like a mere child.

Of course, that wasn’t why Calian made this expression.

‘Anyway, those eyes... they’re strange.’

This is because the eyes of the knights who came to guard Calian were very different from the way they looked at the prince they were supposed to protect. If I were to put it into words

– were you the bastard who served our Confucius as a servant?

This is exactly what it feels like.

Alan, who was standing next to him, looked at this and made a face as if he was seeing something very interesting. I don’t know what will happen during Rosellita’s journey, but I hope that they will get to see Calian’s sword skills at least once. I was really curious about the expression on his face when he saw it.

Kirie, who could see it, showed a very expectant expression, and Yan, who had no way of knowing this situation, tilted his head and asked.

“Is there anything bothering you, Prince?”

Calian smiled a little more openly.

Instead of saying that he was uncomfortable because he felt like he would be buried as soon as he left Kairisis, Calian spoke emphatically while making eye contact with the knights.

“Jan. Bring me something to drink.”

“Yes. Please wait a moment.”

A great deal of excitement erupted among the knights. After Jan re-entered the building of Chermil Palace, Calian looked at the knights and spoke quietly to himself.

“If you welcome me like that, I won’t have to think about anything else on the way.”

With people like that lighting up their eyes, I wonder if they have time to indulge in unnecessary worries like thoughts about Plants.

Alan, who was watching the fight with an interested expression, said.

“Is there ever a time when you feel this sad that we can’t go together?”

Calian, who had declared war by looking at each of the knights for a while, finally opened his mouth and spoke.

“Please take care of where we are going.”

The deep smile that seemed to have become a habit lingered once again.