Pr: Helen
The repeated rejections left small scratches in his heart. The barrage of unkind words cut him to the bone. Rayan was hurt. Perhaps it was because Erich did it. Nothing else could leave such a mark on his heart.
So Rayan pondered the past. Recalling his most brilliant memories and overlaying them into the present was his own means of defense. Doing this made it a little more bearable. Thankfully, after a few days, he was feeling somewhat better.
And then, he noticed the white snow falling from the sky.
It started falling yesterday, and at first he didn’t even know what it was. The white, cold crystals that crumbled when it touched his palm were something one couldn’t see in Arhen. When he pointed to the white pile on the windowsill and asked what it was, Philip looked at him incredulously and asked how he could not recognize snow. He asked, didn’t it snow in the south?
He had never seen it, at least not to the best of his knowledge, so Rayan could say nothing. ‘Snow, snow’. He just pondered the words he heard for the first time.
“… Thanks to you, I learned something new again, El.”
The daytime world, the sun, human food, fireflies, and even love. He knew everything thanks to him, and he thought there would be nothing new anymore, but that wasn’t the case. There’s still a lot out there that he didn’t know. And he was the only person who always told him.
Whatever it might be.
Rayan touched what was within his reach. The stacked pile looked fluffy and soft, but when he actually touched it, the surface was so cold that his fingers curled. Nevertheless, Rayan continued to press it, retracted his fingertips again, and wrote in the so-called snow. He wrote his name that Erich had told him before, and his own name next to it.
Knock knock.
Rayan turned around, erasing the name he had written in the snow when he heard a knock. Soon the door opened and Philip came in. He flinched for a moment when he saw Rayan’s face. It’s been like this for some time now, ever since he’d been sent to the room of the Orb’s residence by Erich.
‘Who are you, and what brings you to Orb at this time of night…?’ That was what Philip had asked.
He stood there in a daze, unable to move, and faced Philip in that state. Philip, who at first did not know and looked confused, later looked at the robe that Rayan was wearing and seemed to get a vague idea. He looked dumbfounded and that’s how he’s been acting ever since. The nape of his neck flushed red as he blurted out that it would be preferred he’d kept the robe on.
“What’s so interesting about snow?”
“…”
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.
“Of course, it is very rare for it to snow at this time of year, but if you are in Djerba, it is a sight you will tire of seeing every winter. Why does it fall so often? You wouldn’t be happy if you knew how hard it is to shovel snow.”
Obbxlcu ja Utlilq ugewyilcu, Ejsjc rwlifv ojlcais jcv atfc jcrkfgfv.
“Pr atja rb.”
Vb jqqjgfcais la’r gjgf obg la ab ojii veglcu atlr alwf. Obbxlcu ja atlr, la rffwfv atja tf kjr cba eciemxs. Lf uba ab rff la ja ifjra bcmf yfobgf tlr fcv mjwf jcv uba ab xcbk ktja la kjr.
“Ahem!”
Philip, who had been avoiding his gaze and clearing his throat at Rayan’s smiled, averted his eyes again.
Why wasn’t he wearing a robe? Philip secretly resented Rayan for showing his bare face, as if he had completely forgotten the old days of discreetly scolding him for looking gloomy and asking him to do something about the dreary robe he was wearing.
His naturally flowing hair was pitch black, as if it had absorbed the quiet night without a trace of light, but it actually made his skin look whiter. Every time he blinked, his eyelashes fluttered, and every time he met the pale green eyes locked within them, his breath caught in his throat.
There were many beautiful and refined people in the court. There was not even a need to look far, the emperor was right there. Even famous writers were reluctant to describe the emperor’s appearance. How could an emperor’s grace be contained with a mere sentence? Any kind of rhetoric would be worthless in his presence.
Philip had seen the emperor for a moment from afar and was positive about it. He did not dare to limit the emperor to a word, as Philip was assured that he would never see someone like him again.
It was a guarantee that lasted less than a year.
“Philip?”
Rayan cautiously called his name. Philip, who realized that he had been lost again, took a deep breath and looked away from Rayan. At the same time, he was reminded of the purpose for which he had come here.
“You need to go somewhere. Lord Varen…”
Philip paused his words for a moment.
The successor to the Varen family had become the eye of a typhoon that had appeared in the social world since the day before. The emperor had taken an interest in him. The social world was now paying close attention to Varen as the Emperor, who had not had any scandals since Karel Isaac, was getting close to a new person.
Perhaps the Emperor’s lover would change in Karel Isaac’s absence. If the affection was nothing more than a passing fling, wouldn’t Varen’s successor one day have a chance at the throne? All sorts of rumors were spread.
“Anyway, there is someone who wants you to sing, so you can go.”
Was it really necessary to tell Rayan about the situation in the social world? Anyway, what he had to do was clear, satisfy him by singing like a court musician.
Varen’s successor had been staying at the VIP palace since yesterday, asking for all sorts of things. He didn’t just request an attendant, he even wanted to invite musicians.
Rumors about the Varen’s successor, who behaved like a nobleman, had already spread throughout the palace. Due to his arrogant attitude, all the court musicians were reluctant to hear his call and so, passed it onto others. So, it trickled down to Rayan, who had been forgotten for a while, so what could have happened? Of course, the rumors about Varen’s successor were not good.
“The lord is impatient, so get ready right away.”
“Um, make sure to wear a robe,” Phillip added with a mumble and quickly left the room, still unable to make eye contact. He didn’t even bother to listen to Rayan’s reply.
***
He followed Philip out of Orb. The scenery felt very different from when he was walking quietly in the dark. Snow was falling on the tree branches, and everything in sight was dazzlingly white. Rayan, seeing the footprints left behind every time he stepped, pressed a little harder and even blew out white breath.
Philip, who had been urging him on at first, later seemed to have resigned himself and just left Rayan alone no matter what he did. Thanks to this, their steps were delayed, and by the time they reached the threshold of the VIP residence, it was later than the time they had been given.
“You’re late!”
As soon as Rayan arrived, a sharp voice reprimanded him.
“My apologies, my lord.”
Philip quickly noticed the nervousness of the young man with hair as red as the setting sun and bowed. He nudged Rayan with his elbow as if telling him to quickly follow him. He didn’t know what was happening, but he followed Philip out of the corner of his eye and lowered his head. His posture faltered.
“And who is this who cannot even take off your robe in front of me?”
“He is the newest musician to enter the court.”
“This is not Ilya, you’re putting someone who just came in in front of me?”
As Philip added, the young man’s voice became more harsh than before.
“That too in front of me, Marcel Varen.”
“This child’s skills are outstanding, I think you’ll be pleased to hear.”
Philip continued to patronize the young man. But he was clearly not satisfied. He approached with great strides and raised his hand high. Slap! There was a sharp friction sound. When Rayan looked to the side, Philip’s face was half turned.
“Are you arrogant enough to criticize every word I say?”
Marcel Varen’s voice was very distorted, as if he couldn’t overcome his anger. He raised his hand again. Philip’s face turned helplessly to the other side again.
“A mere servant in orb? It’s not like you really don’t know who I am, right? I am Varel’s successor. And it won’t be long before that honored title shines before my name.”
The gruff voice was barely audible. Rayan’s gaze remained fixed on Philip the entire time. His cheeks were red after being hit twice in a row, yet, he didn’t say a word, but folded his hands and lowered his head.
“My apologies.”
The voice that offered the apology cracked.
Rayan didn’t know why Philip was apologizing. Was there anything wrong with what he said? Rayan still didn’t know a lot about humans, but at least now he could tell that Philip didn’t do anything wrong.
“Ha… And are you going to keep wearing the robe? So insolent?”
He glared at Phillip, who was apologizing, and this time turned his gaze at Rayan next to him. Rayan thought, still looking at Philip instead of looking at him, ‘this was unfair’.
Philip was usually blunt with Rayan, but that was only for the first few days, and he was friendly. If there was something he didn’t know, he explained it well, even though he asked how he didn’t know such common sense.
Especially these past few days, when he noticed that he was feeling weak and sluggish, he didn’t say anything like he usually did. Instead, he pushed him back to rest.
Rayan liked Philip in his own way. It was just like that. At least he didn’t feel any malice from him, and if he looked closely, his feelings were ultimately benevolent. And that was his first favor since he came to this strange place, apart from Marielle.
“Take it off.”
After seeing him trying to establish his authority by repeatedly taking off his robe, Rayan responded succinctly.
“No.”
Haaah, now I wish that Rayan beats him up lololol (Let me not care about the consequences for now..)
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Omgomgomg 😶🌫️😶🌫️