Chapter 69. Cat(1)


    When the moon has set and the sun has not yet risen.


    It is the time when the bakeries and newsletter shops that greet the earliest morning in Naerangsha and Astrisha are just turning on their lights, hard-working people are waking up, making their beds, and crouching birds are spreading their wings and chirping.


    However, most people and most animals have not yet woken up.


    – …… Sweet.


    A very small sound came from the window.


    A damp morning breeze blows gently.


    The person who astutely noticed the change, which most people in the deepest sleep could not hear or feel, opened his eyes without a sound. Pale amethyst-like eyes in the middle of the darkness slowly moved toward the window that had just opened.


    “It’s me. Don’t throw knives.”


    The content is bloody, but the voice sounds peaceful.


    It was as if he already knew that no matter how quietly he came in, he would be caught right away.


    “I know. A.”


    After giving a short answer, Calian stood up.


    A stopped for a moment when she realized that the voice was very different from usual. However, he soon came back with quiet steps and sat down next to the bed where Calian was lying.


    Calian’s eyes move as he looks at A. I looked out the window at a time when the night had passed and yet it was getting darker. Long hair sways for a moment in the thin wind.


    A, who had been looking at the cool and mysterious light purple eyes for a while at the blue-silver hair that looked as if it should have been stretched out over the night sky, not in this pure white room with all four sides closed, opened her mouth.


    “Do I have to ask if you are the prince I know? He has changed more than I thought, but what if he is not the same person?”


    “Then what answer should I give? Should I just say that I haven’t bought the hairpin yet?”


    Aughed, making a sound that resembled a midsummer wind, as the words naturally came back to her.


    “You are a prince.”


    A bandage can be seen wrapped inside the cor around A’s neck. Calian turned his head to see this and opened his mouth quietly.


    “Why did youe through the window instead of leaving the door open?”


    “Why? Are you excited when Ie here like this?”


    “I’m excited. Of course.”


    Anyway, I’m really bad at lying.


    No matter how much the outside changes, one thing doesn’t seem to change, so A, whoughed at Calian’s tant lie, let out a light voice.


    “I heard that no one was allowed in here. I was afraid that the prince’s knight would be standing in the way. If I had known it wasn’t there, I would have juste through the door.”


    “Even if you have it, juste to the door. The moment you grab the window, you’ll get caught anyway, so don’t use that arm to hold onto the wall.”


    “Okay. But why isn’t there that article? I thought there would be.”


    “Kiri. Likewise, people under me should at least call each other by their first names. Anyway, I sent you in to rest.”


    As they said, Kirie was not there.


    Since ntz was not the only person who wandered around without resting for four days, they forcibly let him in by calling it an order.


    “I couldn’t sleep well, but I feel like my heart has be disturbed because of what I’ve be.”


    “Is it because I get to see the prince in his true form?”


    “huh.”


    I think he looks a lot like Chase.


    A muttered to herself and looked at Calian.


    I looked at the sharp facial lines and eyes, the pale eyes, hair, and broad shoulders that I thought did not really fit my current name. I looked at hands that no one would have thought belonged to royalty.


    “That’s not the bracelet I lent you, but I think the prince was also upset.”


    “Do you think my speed is noisy?”


    “Yes. I can see it clearly.”


    A sound that might have been a sigh or augh escaped from Calian’s mouth.


    “Because it’s unfamiliar. What’s wee is unfamiliar, what’s familiar is unfamiliar, and what’s unfamiliar is unfamiliar. That’s why.”


    “I thought the prince wasn’t the kind of person who would change things like that because he didn’t know anything was unfamiliar.”


    “I didn’t know it would be like this.”


    “Why did you change it without even knowing it would be that bad?”


    A had a lot of questions today.


    I didn’t like talking too much, so I kept talking.


    It seems like he feels sorry that Calian got hurt like this because of him. It seems like he was trying tofort Calian, who ended up looking like this thanks to him. Maybe I was just bored because I was stuck getting treatment.


    A thought urred to me, and my lips, as red as Kallian’s, drew a small line.


    “It just happened.”


    “You didn’t do that because you wanted to go back?”


    “Can’t I do this because I want to go back?”


    “Rather than saying it can’t be done. It’s lonely. I guess.”


    “Well, that’s true.”


    Just when I thought that the smile was getting a little deeper, Calian continued speaking.


    “It wasn’t that I wanted to go back. It might have been the case before, but not anymore. Now… it’s be something I’ll lose if I go back.”


    “Am I going to lose it?”


    “Raven. My precious Raven. If I lose it, I’ll be in big trouble.”


    In the end, it is not clearly stated that A left before Bern at the time and that this is not the case now.


    He also has no intention of telling me what new I have gained from my new life or what I will lose if I return to this life.


    Aughed and opened her mouth again.


    “If people live, then of course they get something. Whether they want it or not.”


    “Yeah… that’s right.”


    “Anyway, I’m d you said it wasn’t for the reason I thought.”


    Calian nodded.


    Due to the shaking movement, the blue-silver hair fell down as if scattered. E, who was looking at it, asked quietly.


    “If you can’t tie your arms because you have trouble using them, can you tie them? Since you ended up like this while trying to save me, I can do at least that much.”


    It wasn’t that it was ufortable to use my arms. It’s not like I forgot how to tie it.


    I’m afraid I’ll feel lonely if I tie it up.


    So it was like that.


    Calian looked at A for a moment and quietly opened his mouth.


    “Okay. Please do me a favor, A.”


    E nodded and stood up, taking out a sea-green handkerchief that resembled that one. Without knowing what to do with it, I quietly gathered the hair I had left lying around.


    “Your hair is really long.”


    “It suits you well.”


    “If it’s this long, wouldn’t it be very inconvenient when using a knife?”


    “Instead, it’s very cool.”


    “Then let’s raise it now. Why don’t you raise it?”


    “I’m so good-looking. If I be prettier than now, Merlin will bring me frills again.”


    “Ah… that’s unlucky.”


    A smallugh came out of Calian’s mouth.


    Then he came up with a slightly different answer.


    “My ck hair was originally a little longer than it is now. It was just my bangs, but there are people with good memories who think of people other than me when they look at that, so I’m not thinking about growing it outter. I’ll grow it outter, when it’s okay… I’m thinking about that. sun.”


    Instead of answering, A continued to move her hands. I don’t know how she put it together, but she tied her long hair up high like Bern did. Then he returned to his original ce and sat down.


    Calian, who had been quiet until then, opened his mouth.


    “And the way I was before was just like that. I met someone who was simr to me. I thought that if I was going to face that guy, I would have to bring in someone like him. That’s why I did that.”


    Why did you bring up Bern’s face in front of Rashid? The proper answer to that question was giventer.


    “Rashid Briesen?”


    A, who had finally heard what she had been hiding in the words ‘I just happened to’, asked right away.


    “Yes. After encountering it, I realized it was a snake with a scent in its hand and poison in its mouth. I was thinking about how to deal with it, and that’s what happened.”


    “You didn’t do that when dealing with Den.”


    “Because he was on top of my head.”


    “Still.”


    As she looked into Calian’s light purple eyes, which had be brighter thanks to the slightly brighter window, A took out something. And he put it down on Calian’sp.


    A thin cursive with a subtle scrawl appearance.


    A bundle of paper written by E herself.


    “Did youe to give me this?”


    “If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t havee. Climbing walls isn’t easy. Besides, I don’t like being sick.”


    “… A guy who hates pain, with a broken corbone and a hole in his side, grabbed a sword, climbed the wall, and wrote letters. Anyway, you, me, and our Hina are people who will really hate it.”


    “I can’t help it. I told you, please kill Rashid Briesen. If you’re going to ask me to do that, I have to do this.”


    Rashid Briesen.


    Calian smiled slightly as he looked at the information filled with information about him and picked up the document.


    “You wouldn’t have been able to go outside. How did you investigate?”


    “Because Jeon Seo-gu is also a bird. I asked you to buy me carbonated water.”


    Oh right. carrier pigeon.


    “It was still there.”


    “It’s still there. Just because His Highness Chase forgot to invite you, don’t forget the prince.”


    “Okay. I won’t forget.”


    “And… don’t forget that it’s not the snake that catches the snake. A snake catches a snake. A snake catches a mouse.”


    “Then who catches the snake?”


    “Snake.”


    A stared at Calian.


    Instead of looking at the light purple eyes, I looked at the red eyes that were closed for a moment.


    “The cat should catch it.”


    Light purple eyes formed a thin curve with a clear light.


    “I see… I see.”


    Cats catch snakes.


    That is so true.


    The cat kept calling the snake without even knowing that it was catching it. There is no way they will win easily, as they are trying to sink their teeth into each other’s bodies and are strangling each other. I can’t help but catch my breath.


    Calian, who had finally realized one thing,ughed in self-deprecation. Afterughing for a while, I raised my head and looked at A.


    “A.”


    “yes.”


    When A answered the call, Calian gave something instead of words. Blue eyes, trained not to be disturbed by the thick darkness, looked down at what was ced in my hand.


    A thin ring.


    It was a dark silver ring with ck light in it.


    E, who held it in her hand and stroked it several times, did not say anything empty, such as asking if the Prince broke off the engagement to the Duke because of me. Instead, he opened his mouth in a little surprise.


    “This is something you can’t get even if you have money.”


    “What? Do you recognize me?”


    “I wonder if there was someone with a strange hobby of making new things out of dragon bones. I saw him once when he was buying and selling new things.”


    Kalian nodded and opened his mouth.


    “It’s formunication. Of course, you can use it even if you can’t handle magic power. So if something happens, call it that instead of magic bullet. It won’t be noisy.”


    “Are you going to save me again when I call?”


    “I have to save him.”


    “What if I sing a lot?”


    “Even if you call me a lot.”


    “What if I keep calling?”


    “Even if you keep calling me.”


    Communication supplies that n gave to Calian as soon as he returned to Wilhelm Pavilion. I handed one of them to n and the other one to A. I thought of A without hesitation because she would continue to do dangerous work in the future.


    “It’s good. It’s reassuring.”


    “A.”


    “yes.”


    “Do you want to be a driver?”


    A, who was immediately putting it on her hand as if she liked the ring without any fancy decorations, raised her head at the unexpected words.


    “They told me to gather information.”


    “That Jeon Seo-gu is also a knight. You can do both.


    ” “If I get caught by someone after bing a knight, the prince will be in trouble.”


    “Am I the kind of person who would be in trouble for something like that?”


    “If I were to be a knight, it would be too cool for me to handle. “I’m so talented too.”


    “Do you think I can’t handle it?”


    “Of course. “You’re not the type of person to have things you can’t handle, prince.”


    “I know.”


    “If you do. Prince knight? Or a Vulcan knight?”


    “You won’t give it to your brother, but I will.”


    “Why?”


    “Tell me how many times. “I said it was mine.”


    “And then I bought you a cheap hairpin.”


    “Shall I buy you an expensive one?”


    “I don’t want to.”


    “Look at this. “I said I would.”


    “I will


    . ”


    A answered.


    “The prince’s knight.”


    “I heard you don’t like expensive hairpins. The driver said he would do it.”


    “He said he would do it. Why are you saying that?”


    “Because I like it.”


    A smiled slightly. She


    pointed to her sea-colored hair, which had flowed down like Calian a moment ago, and said,


    “If you don’t like it, buy a new hairpin and find a new owner. Because it works. Both.”


    “Yes. That’ll do it.”


    Bern smiled and nodded.


    “Do the knight. “A.”


    This time.


    A.


    * * *


    In general, I wasn’t surprised.


    Before I could even express my surprise at seeing something, my quick-thinking head moved first, so I didn’t even have time to be surprised to find the cause of the situation at hand and hand it over. Thanks to that, I lived without any major surprises.


    One day, Needlen asked me if it was inconvenient. That’s


    why I answered. I don’t know why it’s inconvenient because it’s always been the case since memory began. It was an honest answer.


    If it were Arsene, it would have been like that. He must have said something, but Needlen didn’t.


    ‘I asked because I thought you might need to rest without thinking sometimes. I’m d you said it wasn’t ufortable, Vice Commander.’


    I said I was d.


    Now I know that it was not presumptuous meddling, but concern.


    Anyway.


    Even at this very moment, I can’t tell you how many times I have been surprised, including the times I experienced that ‘surprise’ and the conversation I had with Needlen about the surprise. ntz, who had carefully organized his thoughts, looked ahead. There was


    only one reason such thoughts came into his head.


    Because something surprising had happened.


    – p, p!


    – p!


    He wrote down the reason for rejection in good-looking handwriting. A pink sole passed over the tightly written documents, leaving dirt footprints. A slightly smaller dark purple sole left another darker dirt footprint. …… It’s okay. It’s familiar. – Pudduk


    !


    –


    Percussion


    !


    – St…!


    The bright yellow,rge, and wide paws of something bigger and rounder than Lucy emerged noisily from under the desk, leaving another huge footprint on top of the two cats’ footprints.


    This isn’t that familiar.


    But that’s why. It’s not surprising. This is something that often happens on days when the head of the Wizard Association, the duck’s co-caretaker, is away. What’s


    surprising is:


    “Quack quack!”


    – Food duck!


    “Meow!”


    “Niaow… !”


    Is this situation really something that could happen in the office of the leader of the most powerful army on the continent? The fact is that even this brilliant mind has not yet been able toe up with an answer to that question. “… Ha


    . ”


    nz quietly got up from his seat and put aside the paper on which the three animals’ happy moments were recorded. Anyway, he wrote down the reason for returning the document. If it was like before, he would have Arsene or Needlen clean it so that only the footprints were erased


    . I would have asked for it, but there were so many such documents that I just gave up.


    Far from hating documents with cat and duck paw prints, I guess this is a ce where people gather and purposely send documents that might be rejected in order to collect them by type. That good brain


    . They are nts who remember who sends in which number of documents to be rejected, so even so, they see it up to three times, so they don’t know that they are bastards who only do it three times, but they still watch it at least three times. is giving


    – Jeopuk.


    ntz, who had somehow finished the urgent task, moved on.


    “Where are you going, Vice Commander, who looks like he’s really going to Camilon?”


    “I’m not going. Outside.”


    A crazy blue-haired wizard who seemed to have a bigger head for thinking than a working head interrupted ntz’s outing.


    “Are you going to see the prince?”


    “meal.”


    “Are you going to eat with our prince?”


    “why.”


    “I want to go too.”


    “why.”


    “Do you know how many people are dying because they wonder who the Third Prince was disguised as and who was carried there because the hair of the man whom the Commander of the Manasil Corps carried on his mighty back was so soft?”


    “however.”


    “I am one of those guys.”


    Seeing him talk like that, I guess he haspletely forgotten about being stepped on by the feet of that great man.


    ntz slowly looked down at the blue-haired crazy wizard who had been blessed with oblivion, then turned his head. And, leaving behind the dog noises, cat calls, and duck pping that I had just heard, I walked straight toward the door.


    “I’m just as worried about our prince as Prince Siegfried.”


    “My brother’s servant hasn’t met my brother yet.”


    “I know. I know why you never want to show yourself to Prince Siegfried, but wouldn’t it be okay for me to see you anyway?”


    “Look and see what to do.”


    “Instead of being a talented, blue-haired mage whose life has been full of ups and downs, who ended up causing a war by meeting the person I wanted to meet and dream of quickly, I am doing it so that I can receive praise after reflecting once.”


    Crazy guy.


    ntz barely swallowed his harsh words and ced his hand on the door. A voice full of frustration was heard from Arsene, who looked disappointed after hearing that as a rejection.


    “Leave the duck behind.”


    Arsene grinned and stood up.


    “If my brother says he doesn’t like it, then.”


    “If the prince says no, I wille back without another word.”


    ntz nodded.


    Then, I went with Arsene to the short-distance movement magic circle set up in the Wilhelm Pavilion building and went down three floors. There were so many injuries, big and small, that there were separate treatment rooms.


    I walked inside, greeted by three therapists who, although unable to use healing arts, were fully capable of simple diagnosis and treatment. I walked a little further, passing Veronica and the pharmacists who were busy trying to check the ingredients of the sleeping pill that had put Calian to sleep.


    The deepest part is thergest treatment room, where two knights are blocking the entrance and guarding it to prevent anyone from entering.


    – Sweet.


    I walked over, stretched out my hand, and opened the door.


    You can see a huge amount of food that looks like it has just been prepared. It certainly didn’t look like it was enough for two people, but I wasn’t particrly surprised since Calian had never filled his stomach with a single person’s meal.


    A thick white curtain can be seen on one side of the treatment room to prevent others entering the treatment room from being seen. I was not surprised by that, as it was probably done to hide the appearance of the servants who had just brought food here.


    – Jeopuk.


    ntz took his gaze away and ced Arsene behind him.


    “Calian.”


    And I called Calian to let him know that Arsene had arrived.


    Then suddenly I felt regret.


    It didn’t seem like it was a good decision for nz and Arsene toe to Bern together.


    – Tak.


    Because of this, ntz took a step back again.


    When I opened my mouth to say that it probably wouldn’t work so I should go back.


    “Ah, are you here?”


    A bright, cheerful and upright voice as always.


    A voice that seemed as if it had never been bent came from inside the curtain.


    – Crap!


    And just like the voice, a hand without any hesitation lifted the curtain.


    Chocte-colored, silky hair, eyes that reflect the golden light of the sunset, and even a confident smile that looks like it has never disappeared.


    “It’s been a while. No. It’s been a while, isn’t it? Did Ie too quickly?”


    A person who smiles and shakes your hand.


    I stopped being surprised when I discovered Arianne Lin.


    Arianne, who hade here earlier than nned and was surprised to see that the face of an old friend whom she had no memory of looking very simr to her fiancé, smiled once again as she looked at the nts.


    “Nice to meet you, light green.”


    ntz looked at Arianne standing in front of him, my younger sister with blue and silver hair sitting on the bed behind her, the hand Arianne was offering to shake hands with, and my younger brother’srge hand quietly covering his face, and then took a long breath.