Episode 2
“You’re going to have some trouble ahead, Renata. “Khalid, that guy will most likely be mean to you.”
“… … “I had it in mind in advance.”
Icalis II and I exchanged glances with slightly frowning faces.
Will Khalid, who will soon ascend to the throne in place of his dead brother, easily accept me, who became husband and wife overnight?
The answer was obvious even without looking. The road ahead is difficult… … .
I took a deep breath and took a step back. There were whispers as if they had been waiting for that to happen.
I could feel the sharp gaze of the nobles lined up behind the emperor. They were talking to each other quite loudly, almost above a whisper, as if they were asking me to listen.
“… … Look how the crown prince didn’t shed a single tear even though he passed away. “You seem cold-blooded.”
“It’s shameless. “In our time, lowly people who bought titles with money could not even dare to say a word to ‘real people’.”
“It means that times have changed.”
Who is that low voice I heard at the end? I looked back without thinking.
Then he quickly clicked his tongue, saying that he shouldn’t have done this, but that he had made a mistake.
My father used to say over and over again, ‘The fact that most of the nobles don’t acknowledge us is something that can’t be helped, so just pretend you didn’t hear it.’
“Would you like me to open the door?”
As soon as I realized my mistake, I turned my head again. A pale, large hand appeared and crossed over my shoulder.
I was taken aback for a moment, stopped, and blinked quickly. A man with light brown hair, almost golden, was looking down at me with an expressionless face.
“Lord Harius.”
“Lord Cassian is enough. “It’s hard to just call someone by their last name.”
If I listen closely, I see that it is the same voice that said a little while ago that times have changed. Cassian was the next head of the Duke of Hasius, a branch of the imperial family during his father’s time.
He also participated in the war together with Izar, the commander-in-chief of this war. Did he serve as second-in-command?
I vaguely remembered Izar going to war the other day, and Cassian standing next to him. I put aside the thoughts in my head and opened my mouth.
“Then let me ask you a favor.”
“Are you going to look for Khalid?”
Cassian, who asked me, had light scars here and there on the back of his hand.
I silently glared at the slowly moving back of my hand. When no answer came, he asked again.
“If not, are you trying to hide somewhere and find a place to cry?”
“It’s not like that. “It is correct that I am going to see the prince.”
“As expected. “If it’s him, he’s probably in the central garden.”
Cassian narrowed his long eyes and opened the door to the temple. A strong cold wind blew through the open window in the opposite hallway.
Then, her long, neatly organized black hair began to flow uncontrollably.
I hurriedly gathered my hair with one hand and thanked Cassian. With a slight nod of his head he glanced in the direction of the central garden.
“If anything, I could come with you. “Isn’t the geography of the temple very complicated?”
“are you okay. “I think I can find it by myself.”
“is it so? “I wanted to use you as an excuse to escape this dying atmosphere.”
He had an expressionless face the entire time, but only the corners of his lips curled up and he smiled.
There was nothing more to say in response, so I just smiled awkwardly while facing Cassian.
Only then did he seem to sense my embarrassed mood and stepped aside.
“I’ve been holding you back too much. “Please go quickly.”
“yes.”
“You don’t deny it even once.”
“… … Ah, that.”
“It’s a joke.”
Is this a joke or a joke in this solemn funeral hall? It looks fine… … .
I looked at him like he was a strange person and then took a step forward wearing black shoes.
And after a while, I arrived at the central garden, where the scent of grass pierced my nose, and I took a deep breath.
Even though it was a season on the border between fall and winter, the temple garden was lush and green.
It was thanks to a permanent preservation spell cast by a wizard a long time ago.
In this way, traces of wizards still remain throughout the empire and the entire continent, but it is strange that wizards actually disappeared due to a policy of extermination that was implemented on a large scale.
“… … after.”
I stopped the endless flow of thoughts in my stream of consciousness. This was all because I wanted to ignore the fact that I had to go to Khalid first.
“Khalid, where are you?”
In the center of the garden was a fountain with delicately carved cherubs and trickling water flowing from the angel’s trumpet.
And around it were flowers and fruit trees of astronomical value.
I admired the picturesque garden scenery for a moment and then looked up.
Even when he was a student at Varkalia, Khalid would often skip classes.
He often climbed up a tall, strong tree and took a nap or read a book and played around.
Was he a tree spirit in his past life? But the image is too unsuitable for that to be the case.
“… … There is no specific amount. What are you doing here.”
The time spent searching for Khalid was extremely short. As I climbed over the vines with bright, nameless flowers, I saw the largest tree among the trees in the garden.
Khalid was sitting right on top of that tree.
You wouldn’t know it if you were a slim kid, but now that you’re an adult man with wide shoulders and a height of nearly 190cm, you can still climb trees.
I parted my lips towards Khalid, who was sitting in a raven-colored suit and didn’t even look at me.
“What are you doing here?” “Aren’t you past the age where you hide alone because you don’t want to be seen crying?”
“… … Ah, it’s noisy. really.”
Izar and Khalid were twins born on the same day, but their facial features were the same and they had many differences.
First of all, Izar had silver hair and purple eyes, while Khalid had blonde hair and light blue eyes.
And although they were all princes born to the empress, Khalid was not born with purple eyes, a symbol of the imperial family.
Khalid’s light blue eyes were inherited from the empress.
So, he ascended to the throne from birth and lived a much more free life than Izar, who grew up receiving education from the emperor all his life.
Since their backgrounds are different, their personalities are bound to be different.
Unlike the gentle Izar, Khalid was short-tempered and unruly.
Ah, there is another difference. Izar has a mole under his left eye, and Khalid has a mole under his right lip.
“Don’t bother. “I wish you would get out of here before you say something like this in the first place.”
The person who will soon inherit the crown prince’s throne is Malbonsae. It was a tone of voice that inevitably made me frown.
Khalid was giving orders to congratulate guests in a voice that was cracked and rougher than usual.
“How long has Izar been dead? Come and find me?”
“Your Majesty told you to go.”
“… … But what is really coming? Anyway, I don’t feel like talking to you right now.”
Khalid spoke without even looking at me until the end. Then, when King Icalis II was mentioned, he nervously ruffled his golden hair.
The large hand covering my head was covered with a scar similar to Cassian’s I saw a moment ago.
However, the skin color was relatively dark.
Cassian was naturally fair because he didn’t get sunburned easily, and Izar, who was on his first deployment in this war, also had fair skin before he left.
However, Khalid, who had already experienced four wars, had tanned skin just like the soldiers on the streets.
Large palms covered in calluses, long fingers with thick joints, neatly cut short fingernails… … .
Even in these small details, Khalid resembles Izar so much that he cannot even be compared to Icalis II.
No matter where I look in Khalid, only Izar comes to mind.
If I had known this would happen, I would have gone to hide and find a place to cry, like Cassian said.
Ugh it’s frustrating. Why on earth did Izar die? Why did you leave me alone and go away?
