The capital, Djerba.
Those who were accustomed to the mild climate of Arhen shuddered their shoulders at the cold of Djerba, where the flowers hadn’t even budded yet. Some said that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to stay in Arhen until spring came to Djerba, and that it would be good for the Emperor to retreat to Arhen in the winter.
The imperial castle attendants and court ladies saw the Emperor who arrived earlier than expected and cried, saying that all good days had passed. And Karel walked through them with an expressionless face and headed for the Emperor’s chambers. He was expressionless, but looked strangely uncomfortable, and at the same time anxious.
Karel hadn’t been able to sleep since last night.
It was no other than the Emperor who was the cause of his insomnia.
‘I will take care of everything related to this guy. Receive the order and prepare.’
He seemed displeased, so he sent the guy in question out right away, but it took him less than a day to bring him back, even with the words that he would take him back to Djerba. When the Emperor, who disappeared without a trace for hours, suddenly returned and pushed the minstrel at him, Karel couldn’t accept the situation right away.
The Emperor had never been one to act on impulse, to be dismissed as a mere whim. His ascension to the throne was somewhat radical, but he did everything he could to make sure it didn’t make any noise, and the same was true of his reign afterward.
He was indeed a great mage born after a long time, but he was still young and had no experience in the capital’s social scene. His being quiet after ascending to the throne led some to implicitly ignore it, but the Emperor bided his time— until he could cut out the rotten roots once and for all.
As such, the Emperor was never impulsive in anything. He was cold and calculating, like a chess player moving his pieces while contemplating the entire board.
“Your Majesty?”
Standing in front of the office door, Karel took a long breath and gestured at the chamberlain.
“No matter how short the journey is, you probably won’t be able to get rid of travel fatigue, but you are already looking after state affairs.”
“That’s right. Please come in, Viscount.”
The chamberlain opened the door.
As soon as he stepped inside of him, a faint smell of ink spread. The smell of old books too.
“Your Majesty. Aren’t you tired?”
Karel raised his voice a note. The Emperor hesitated for a moment in his quill, but did not raise his eyes to acknowledge his arrival.
Karel bit his lip.
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.
Lf’v cbgwjiis yf bxjs, yea fnfgsatlcu kjr ufaalcu bc tlr cfgnfr.
“Qtja klii sbe vb jybea tlw?”
Dea atf wbra jccbslcu atlcu kjr ktfc atf Swqfgbg, ktb tjvc’a fnfc yjaafv jc fsf ja tlw, gjlrfv tlr tfjv ktfc tf wfcalbcfv atf wlcragfi.
“Tbe fcagerafv fnfgsatlcu ab wf, yea P atlcx P rtbeiv jrx ktfgf tf klii rajs… Qtja rtbeiv P vb?”
The soft, smooth voice came out casually, but his nails dug painfully into the palms of his hands. Karel looked at the Emperor’s intentions, controlling his heart with a tingling pain. He wanted to know why he had brought him.
Because the Emperor, who was not impulsive and capricious in anything, was only impulsive when it came to that guy’s business.
So much so that it felt unfamiliar. Or to the point of regretting that he remembered the Emperor who was inadvertently looking for Arhen and regretted encouraging him.
“I can’t bring someone whose identity is unknown to the imperial palace, so it’s best to keep him in my mansion…”
It’s been like that since he saved him, but he had never felt close to the Emperor for a moment. There were many people who thought that he was cold, and that he was just being generous to Karel, but that was not necessarily the case. He was cold and unrelenting even to him.
Even so, he backed away once at a crucial moment, sometimes respecting him. When Karel acted like he’s gently pestering. Or looking at Karel in the dark…
Karel liked that little kindness.
On the one hand, he loved the sweetness of the name of the Emperor’s lover. He didn’t want to lose it.
“Leave him in the palace. Since he was a minstrel, I’ll make him a court musician.”
After frowning as if thinking about something for a moment, the Emperor’s answer was concise and clear. Anxiety hovered somewhere around the chest and did not go away, so he continued to hold back what he would have readily agreed to normally.
“However, he is inexperienced in court etiquette, so it is a bit difficult to keep him in the palace…”
“Aha. Is that so?”
His ears were burning at the light exclamation and questioning tone. It sounded like he was saying, ‘doesn’t that sound like you in the past?’
“… Since you’ve entrusted it to me, I will teach him well.”
Karel managed to draw a smile and give the answer the Emperor wanted.
The Emperor looked at him and waved his hand. For some reason, it looked like he was getting rid of a nuisance when it was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Oh, by the way, he never takes off his robe, so what should I do?”
“That… Just let him do as he pleases.”
The Emperor, engrossed in thought for a moment, raising his eyebrows, granted an unbecoming generosity. Karel had to go out with his mouth pulled tight to keep from losing his smile. As soon as he left his office, the corners of Karel’s mouth drooped.
* * *
The air that hung in the air was cool and dry. It was a little strange to realize that it didn’t smell like it was always used to. He could see the blue sea wherever he looked in Arhen, but he couldn’t see anything in this unfamiliar place. Rayan shivered slightly at the cold air touching his skin.
‘I’ll take him with me when I leave for Djerba.’
Erich’s words were probably the beginning of this unfamiliarity.
While Rayan was intent on watching him disappear as he climbed the stairs, someone led Rayan away. This person was called Karel, he made himself stay in the castle and was also the one whom Erich made him send Rayan away the next day, saying he was unneeded.
‘What on earth is going on …This is also His Majesty’s will, so please follow me.’
The man, too, was bewildered by the sudden incident and looked displeased on the other hand, but soon tidied up his expression and led Rayan to the room where he stayed the day before. Rayan stayed up all night restlessly there. He ran his head furiously and struggled to grasp the situation, but soon came to a conclusion.
Erich wanted to take him with him.
Scared to draw conclusions for himself, the darkness in the sky eventually lifted. Rayan had to leave the room as though his back was being pushed. He had a vague idea of what was coming, but the realization made him falter. After blinking while surrounded by a dusting of light, everything became unfamiliar, and the people there urged with annoyance when Rayan’s actions were slow.
‘Come here. I said come here. The Viscount, the guy,’ …etc. Rayan had to move haphazardly as if being pushed by the busyness surrounding him. When he finally came to his senses, he was left alone in an empty room.
Rayan had to chew on the sudden loneliness in his unfamiliarity. Especially since Erich, who had thrown him into this situation, was nowhere to be seen.
“Like I told Alle, I’m sure I’ll never see him again.”
He’d said that to discourage him from coming to see him anymore, but it worked. It was a good thing. Despite his own request, Alle would not have believed it and would have stood firm, and if he did, maybe they’d run into each other again by chance.
“…”
Rayan’s thoughts went back to Erich. Why the hell did Erich bring him here when he couldn’t even remember him? And he wondered what would happen to him afterwards. Many thoughts crossed my mind.
He had a place to lie down in Arhen somewhere, but not here. In this place where the air was unfamiliar, everything was unfamiliar.
Rayan watched only the dust floating in the air, then jumped up and went to the window to look outside.
“…”
It was also an unfamiliar place. Especially since he couldn’t see the sea.
It was desolate.
It would be fine if Erich was there, but he hadn’t been seen since yesterday. After hesitating, when he asked the people guarding him where Erich was, they only looked at Rayan with strange eyes as though he had said something weird, while immediately ignoring him.
Rayan let out a sigh that he couldn’t bear to swallow and pushed away the unfamiliarity.
Instead, he focused on the good points. Best of all, he hadn’t been separated from Erich. Since he brought him, he did not break the original vow he made with Asha. Also, even though he had no memory, he must have a reason for bringing him, so he would be able to see him anytime.
“…”
Rayan’s eyes drifted to the bracelet slipping from his hand. A bracelet with cracked jewels.
It brought back memories of the day Erich had given her. But of all the things Erich had given him, this was the only one he had not left in Artesia, and he couldn’t bear to throw it away.
He couldn’t throw it away, but he couldn’t cherish it either, so he put it in a place where he could see it, and took it out once in a while to reminisce. But he hadn’t expected that Erich would find out about it.
When Erich glared at this bracelet and questioned it, it felt like he was going to throw it into the sea, so he was anxious. If it was swallowed by the sea, it would be washed away and disappear without a trace. Even if it was Rayan, it would not be able to be found again.
Rayan squeezed the bracelet and came to think of the bracelet Erich was wearing on his wrist.
“… Without remembering anything.”
And yet he wore the bracelet. The same bracelet, with its jewels half-cracked as a reminder of Rayan, who was dying at the time. Rayan wanted to snatch it and throw it into the sea. It had only been suspended, but one day it would crack and break into pieces.
While holding the memories of Erich in his hands, Rayan turned his head around at the sound coming from outside. After a while there was a light knock on the door, followed by the door opening.
It was Karel.
Nah, I just don’t like that Karel guy. He sounds like trouble D:
Thx for the ch ٩( >ヮ<)۶
Hasta ahora Karel no ha sido malo, espero que no empiece ahora.