He slept well for the first time in a long time, and even then it was only a light sleep with the sounds of the outside world, but it was the best he’d had in a few years. The attendants, who had never been treated particularly harshly, reacted extremely sensitively to the master’s mood, seemed to take a breather when the Emperor’s mood seemed more relaxed than usual. They all agreed that it might be because of the atmosphere of the retreat.
Erhart, not paying attention to what the attendants were saying behind his back, went down to the dining room with Karel. Niels Canavan, who was already waiting, saw him and rose to his feet.
“Your Majesty. And, the Viscount.”
“Lord Canavan.”
After they exchanged pleasantries, Erhart sat in the seat of honor. Karel and Niels Canavan each took their places, and only then did the attendants bring out a few dishes.
The meal started in a quiet atmosphere. Unlike Erhart, who didn’t say much, Karel continued the conversation well led by Niels Canavan.
Although Niels Canavan was originally spontaneous and sociable, it was the first time he had ever seen Karel conversing with him so uninhibitedly. Karel, who came from a fallen aristocrat but lived more like a commoner, could hardly adapt to the capital’s social life. Erhart didn’t help matters.
“It’s just us who have been talking too much.”
Niels Canavan brought up Erhart, who was eating in silence and tilting his wine glass.
“I thought I became a ghost.”
“Your Majesty, please.”
Niels Canavan, noting that there was nothing pointed about the answer, smirked at the answer. Karel, on the other hand, blinked in embarrassment and pursed his lips.
“By the way, Canavan.”
Instead of relieving Karel’s embarrassment, Erhart put down his wine glass lightly and called Niels Canavan.
“Is there a young man with black hair and green eyes in Arhen?”
“Yes?”
“Black hair that seemed to be immersed in darkness, and green eyes that were lighter than buds. They were like emeralds. Is there such a person? Did I know such a person while I was in Arhen?”
Niels Canavan doubted his ears for a moment. It was too flat for him to realize it when he heard it, but when he picked it apart, word by word, it was the highest praise he’d ever heard. He unconsciously glanced sideways at Karel, then finally came to his senses and addressed the Emperor’s question.
“Uh, black hair is so rare that if it ever existed, I wouldn’t not have heard of it, but I’ve never heard of a person with such a look.”
“Is it so.”
The Emperor looked oddly disappointed.
“Why do you ask such a thing?”
“Because someone with such an appearance seemed like he knew me.”
Erhart replied, but thought that if he had been a nobleman in the first place, he would have been more polite than running away like that. If so, could he really be a male prostitute? However, he had no reason to have any connection with a mere male prostitute.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ct!”
Lf mjiifv bea Rlfir Jjcjnjc, tbqlcu atja tf wluta xcbk rbwfatlcu, yea tf kjr kgbcu. Pa kjr remt j kjraf bo alwf. Lf ugjyyfv atf klcf uijrr klat atf lcafcalbc bo rfcvlcu tlw yjmx joafg j qbilaf wfji, yea Rlfir Jjcjnjc revvfcis fzmijlwfv.
“Cgf sbe qfgtjqr ajixlcu jybea tlw?”
“What do you mean, him?”
“The lady who accompanied Your Majesty when you attended the summer festival. No, now that I think about it, I’m not sure if it’s a lady.”
At that time, he assumed that person was a woman, but seeing that the current Emperor’s lover was a man, he might be a man too. When he pointed that out, the Emperor’s expression became strange.
“… Festival?”
“Yes?”
“I went to the festival?”
Erhart sincerely couldn’t understand. He hated being in crowds. After he was crowned, he made Marielle accompany him whenever he had no choice but to attend balls. It seemed quite ridiculous to attend and dance the first dance with the ten-year-old Marielle, but he couldn’t help it because she was the only woman of rank in the royal family who could accompany him.
Anyway, he was a person who was only there for the ridiculous first dance, kept his seat for a perfunctory amount of time, and quickly went back. The idea that he had ever attended a summer festival was nonsense. No matter how imperfect his memories in Arhen were, he couldn’t have remembered those things.
“Yes. Don’t you remember? It was around the time of Your Majesty’s birthday party. The…”
Niels Canavan hesitated.
“That’s when I was very lucky.”
The day he fell into that disastrous sea and came out alive. He didn’t remember how he got out, probably because he was drunk, but he remembered the general atmosphere that day. If he had gone to a summer festival with someone around that time, it’s hard not to remember.
“That’s right. Didn’t you briefly run into me at the summer festival then?”
“…”
“Your Ma-”
“By the way, Lord Canavan. I have a question for you from what you said earlier. Has His Majesty ever really been inexperienced in hunting?”
Karel quickly changed the subject when Erhart looked uncomfortable as he couldn’t get through his missing memories. It was only then that Niels Canavan seemed to notice something. The fact that Erhart’s memories were not complete.
“Yes? Oh yes. But it’s not that he couldn’t. Considering that after recovering his health in Arhen, he learned horseback riding and went hunting, His Majesty did very well. Later, there was a time when I wrote to my father, saying that I didn’t want to go hunting with him because I fell behind.”
“I see. Even now, when His Majesty goes hunting, he is by far the best. He was named the winner last year as well. There will be a hunting competition this spring when the days are warmer, I’m sure he’ll win again.”
After watching the two of them exchange with each other to lighten the atmosphere, Erhart stood up.
“Your Majesty?”
Karel stopped talking and turned to Erhart. His body swayed as if he were about to get up. Erhart shook his head.
“Never mind. Finish your story. You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
“That’s…”
Karel opened his mouth to speak, but Erhart left the dining hall instead of waiting for his hesitant words. Walking through the corridors, he loosened the cravat. His face was stained with unresolved frustration.
His brisk strides took him to the balcony, and only as he gripped the railing did he release the pent-up breath. There was a deep groove between the eyebrows. The feeling of being relaxed after a long-awaited sleep had disappeared.
He searched through his memory.
As expected, no matter how far back he went, there was no memory of the summer festival at all. It was possible that Niels Canavan was mistaken, but it was ambiguous to say that he was confused with another person. He was very confident, and he did not waver being questioned.
Also, in fact, who could he confuse Erhart with? It should neither be a lie nor his misunderstanding that Niels Canavan had seen him at the summer festival.
“…”
Erhart’s memories are usually seamlessly connected, but there are often gaps in this way. For example, this bracelet that he didn’t even remember was like that. He lifted up a bracelet with a half-cracked jewel on it.
It wasn’t an artifact Olivia gave.
This bracelet was made by him. The densely engraved formulas were proof of that. The unique traces that only the caster could confirm proved it.
The funny thing was, Erhart has no memory of making it. He must have suffered quite a bit at the time to contain such a vast amount of magic, so he couldn’t help but recollect it. He tried to throw it away because it only brought questions and discomfort, but he was strangely reluctant, so he left it alone.
“…”
When he was unconscious for three months, did he lose some of his memories, and if so, was that person a part of his past? But if that’s true, he wouldn’t run away like that, shouldn’t he explain who he was instead? He didn’t understand it in many ways.
He tried to shake him off, but he kept getting tangled in his head.
“Your Majesty.”
Erhart tilted his head to the side.
“You seemed to be enjoying yourself.”
“It can’t be.”
“Canavan is a guest invited by me. It would be very rude to leave him behind, Karel.”
“But I’m concerned for Your Majesty.”
“…”
“Eri-”
“Karel Isaac.”
Erhart turned around. His slow pace stopped only before Karel.
“Did I ever give you permission to call that name?”
“Your Majesty.”
“Hm? Isaac.”
“I… I made a mistake.”
Karel looked up at him blankly, then hurriedly lowered his eyes. Tension like a sheet of thin ice froze the gentle air.
“Your Majesty.”
The sound calling him from outside broke the frozen atmosphere that threatened break at any moment. Erhart withdrew his gaze and walked past Karel and out of the balcony.
“What is going on?”
The soldier looked a little taken aback when he saw Karel following him. He was restless, afraid that he might have disturbed a private meeting. It bothered him, and Erhart’s tone turned thorny.
“Do I need to ask you twice?”
“There is a suspicious person wandering outside the castle, so I have come to ask what to do with him.”
“I didn’t know I had to tell you the answer to each and every thing.”
“I apologize. Um, I vaguely remember hearing that Your Majesty, during one of your previous stays, urged us not to send them away if someone was loitering, but to tell you… I will send them away right away.”
Again. It was also a memory he didn’t have.
It took a while for the unresolved frustration to rise. Someone suddenly passed through Erhart’s mind. The green-eyed man who ran away from him earlier.
“No.”
Erhart stopped the guard who was hurriedly scurrying out.
“Bring him in front of me.”
Karel’s gaze followed.
“Right now.”
Instead of reciprocating his gaze, Erhart walked past him.
Thank you!!
So only the Memories with our little Mermaid was removed..wonder if it was part of that bet made with the sea witch..
An Karel gives that feeling of the one in the original that or the transformed sea witch in Disneys version?
Thanks for the chapter 🌹
».. that threatened break at any moment.« to break
Oof, Karel is starting to getting on my nerves xD Maybe it’d have been better if Erich just rejected hid advances from the beginning.
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Que regrese mi amado, porque tú no eres tú 🤧
Listen to this song. It feels like the perfect song for Er and Rayan at this moment haha.
https://youtu.be/wwnnZmUL5QY?si=Wx2T7ZgoOUtpRL8L