Chapter 2, What A Foolish Life (2)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

Plants had not even changed his clothes. His bare skin was visible through his disheveled top. Regardless of which Kingdom he might have been in, royalty should never show such an appearance.

 

Fortunately, the shock of this incomparably discourteous behavior prevented the mistake of driving a knife into Plants’ neck.

 

Kalian let out a short sigh, taking care not to show it.

 

Randel slightly furrowed his brow at Plants’ appearance. But he soon turned his head as if he had not seen anything. Kalian naturally took note of Randel’s behavior.

 

[So, the First Prince cannot touch the Second Prince, huh?] The reason was understandable though.

 

The three Princes were all half-brothers, and the current Queen was Silike, who was the Second Prince’s Mother – in other words, Plants’ Mother. Therefore, even though Randel was the First Prince, he could not act as Plants’ superior.

 

[The Queen’s power and influence is truly remarkable.] While clicking his tongue silently at this thought, well-prepared food began to be placed before them one after another.

 

Fragrant soup and freshly baked bread with a savory aroma, scrambled eggs and thinly sliced ham suitable for breakfast. Added to that were salads full of fresh vegetables and a variety of fruits.

 

For Bern, who had been suffering from sudden warfare, there could not have been a more splendid menu than this. If he had been alone, he would have surely eaten everything without leaving a morsel.

 

But he could not bring himself to touch the food.

 

Worry about Chase was the first reason, and having his mortal enemy, Plants, sitting before him was the second. The cold atmosphere pervading the dining room also played a part.

 

[It’s like walking on thin ice.] Though the three Princes of Cyries were clearly brothers, they exchanged no conversation at this gathering. Even considering they were half-brothers, that alone was not enough to explain this silence.

 

After all, Chase and Bern were also half-brothers. Yet, they would often laugh and chat so much that the chef would have to reheat their food.

 

Chase’s voice, which always guided and protected Bern, echoed in his ears.

 

‘You want to become a knight. Man, just hearing that makes me proud!’

‘Bern. Don’t worry. You don’t have to worry about anything.’

 

He desperately missed Chase, the King of Secritia. The brother for whom he would gladly give his life to.

 

However, he could not ask anyone here about Chase’s whereabouts. This made him worry and miss him even more. He wanted to immediately get away from here to meet him.

 

At the end of such thoughts, his anger towards Plants surged up again, and Kalian emptied his water glass in one go. Then, a voice filled with mockery was heard.

 

“How uncouth.”

 

Of all people, it was Plants’ voice.

 

He saw the face of the man whose attire could not be determined whether he was in the middle of dressing or undressing. Plants pulled up one corner of his mouth and added. “You’ve took after your Mother. No wonder no one can’t find a shred of dignity from you.”

 

It was a snide remark about Kalian’s Mother, who was of common birth.

 

Finally, Kalian’s eyes turned cold.

 

Plants saw Kalian’s red eyes filled with barely contained hatred, and his eyes turned sharp in an instant.

 

Even in this situation, Randel remained focused on his meal without sparing them a single glance.

 

He was a perfect bystander indeed.

 

Kalian turned his head to look at Randel. His expression remained unchanged.

 

At that moment, a threatening voice flowed from Plants’ mouth. “How dare you……”

 

Kalian’s gaze returned to Plants.

 

Their eyes met, and neither would look away first. Only then did Randel open his mouth in a quiet voice.

 

“That’s enough.”

 

Plants spoke without moving his gaze fixed on Kalian. “Those disgusting red eyes have ruined my appetite. I’m leaving first.”

 

Randel’s permission had not been given. Nevertheless, Plants rose from his seat and immediately went outside.

 

If anything, this was for the better. Kalian did not have enough patience to face him for long anyway.

 

“Mind your conduct. His Highness’s birthday celebration is not far off.”

 

But then, this voice that further reduced Kalian’s patience was heard.

 

It was Randel, who said this with an expressionless face, without even looking at Kalian.

 

[I’m the problem here? What about that bastard who just left? What about his appearance?] Finding those words so absurd, Kalian let out a small chuckle.

 

If it were not for this nonsensical situation of waking up in a different body the day after facing death, Kalian surely would not have held back.

 

Of course, Randel did not know how much his brother sitting there was struggling to suppress his murderous intent. Therefore, Randel stood up and left without even thinking to observe Kalian’s reaction.

 

“Not a single day can peacefully pass…” Ian’s muttering from behind could be heard.

 

Kalian leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh to calm his rage. Perhaps that sounded like the sorrowful sigh of a mistreated Youngest brother, so Ian could be seen sympathizing behind him.

 

Soon, Kalian silently stood up.

 

Ian immediately approached to pull out the chair and carefully began fixing his disheveled clothing. Despite having to witness such disrespect each day, his touch was truly careful and respectful.

 

Kalian had clearly seen that the attendants of the other two Princes did not put in this much effort.

 

There, he noticed. deep fingernail marks were visible on Ian’s palm.

 

Ian’s eyes were even more twisted than his own.

 

Seeing this appearance of the attendant who was slightly older than him, Kalian’s boiling emotions gradually subsided.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Surprised by these words, Ian’s eyes widened as he looked at Kalian. This was because Kalian was not crying or wearing a solemn expression.

 

That was not all.

 

There was even a small smile on his face.

 

Before Ian could choose how to respond to this first-ever expression of gratitude from the Third Prince, Kalian continued.

 

“What’s next on the schedule?”

 

“In an hour, there’s a lesson about the War of The Two Gods.”

 

“I’ll be alone until then?”

 

“Yes.” Ian answered with a worried face that he should do as he wished.

 

The memories possessed by the original Kalian served their purpose faithfully. Thanks to this, Kalian could move his feet to the walking path beside the artificial lake outside the building without any hesitation.

 

There was no one else. Only Kalian, and Ian following at a distance from him.

 

“Ha….” Walking to the lakeside, Kalian exhaled the breath he had been holding in while looking at the water below. His eyes caught sight of a small statue placed in the middle of the lake.

 

It was the figure of a Black Dragon spreading its wings toward the sky. Red jewels were embedded in both eyes of the Dragon.

 

[Is it Syspanian?]

 

It was a statue of the Ancient Dragon Syspanian, who was also said to be the First Queen of Cyries.

 

He remembered the saying that she had black hair like the quiet night, and red eyes containing sacred fire.

 

Black hair, red eyes. The same was true for Kalian.

 

[‘Those disgusting red eyes.’]

 

Plants’ voice came to mind again.

 

[Did becoming younger in terms of my physique make my mind more sensitive to such things as well?] Kalian laughed at himself for recalling such words again.

 

Bern was a knight and Prince who died holding his ground alone in front of the castle gates. Just yesterday, he had been swinging his sword with countless arrows stuck in him after roughly stopping the bleeding of his severed arm.

 

He could not get blinded by his emotions now.

 

The urgent matter was not whether to kill or spare Plants, who stood before him. First, he needed to figure out how this whole mess had transpired. How he got to this body.

 

Kalian briefly lowered his eyes and gathered the thoughts that filled his mind. Once again, steeling his resolve, he recalled what he thought might be the cause of this incident.

 

[…The Arcus Tempus.]

 

The Arcus Tempus.

 

The thing that suddenly appeared one day in the Secritia Palace. That thing which looked like a large hourglass and was said to possess the power to turn back time just once.

 

That very Arcus Tempus must have been the cause of this incident. After all, even the war between Secritia and Cyries broke out because of the Arcus Tempus.

 

Before the war began, Cyries demanded the Arcus Tempus. Secritia refused. King Chase strongly opposed it because it was clearly a dangerous Artifact. Furthermore, how would they possibly be willing to hand over such a dangerous item to the deranged Plants?

 

Therefore, when they expressed their refusal, an army invaded as if they had been waiting for it.

 

They skipped not only the negotiations but even the declaration of war.

 

Plants was extraordinary, in terms of foregoing all else to get what he wanted.

 

In that sudden war, Secritia was eventually defeated. This had resulted in the current situation.

 

[Chase must have watched my demise.]

 

Chase would have witnessed the death of Bern, the last surviving Knight. Therefore, Kalian thought that Chase must have turned back time for him. Although Chase could not have known it would turn out like this, Kalian believed that he would have tried whatever it took to save Bern.

 

Kalian spoke softly, as if lamenting. “If the cause is the Arcus Tempus…… That means there’s no way to go back…”

 

After all, the Arcus Tempus was something that could only be used once. If time had already been distorted, there would be no way to return back to the past.

 

“Then what should I do?” Kalian softly muttered.

 

If this was not really a dream and what he just recalled was correct, this was certainly a second chance at life.

 

He could not waste the opportunity Chase had given him. Therefore, Kalian changed his thinking from finding a way back to finding a way to survive. He had to live first to find other available paths for himself.

 

Thus, he sank back into deep thoughts.

 

……

 

The fourteen-year-old Kalian would die soon. It was said he committed suicide by hanging himself after failing to poison Queen Silike and fearing punishment.

 

Of course, no one believed this to be true.

 

Everyone filtered the story that spread as ‘suicide’ to ‘assassination.’ Silike was certainly the type of person who could kill Kalian and have plenty of justification left over after committing the crime.

 

Freya Hwiteurin. It must be related to Kalian’s Birth Mother.

 

Royal Consort Freya was famous for her beauty. It was just that she was of common birth. She gained the King’s favor and gave birth to Kalian, but died not long after due to ‘complications from childbirth.’

 

Complications from childbirth, yeah right. Where she drank tea sent by the Queen and died vomiting black blood?

 

That was how Kalian lost his Mother.

 

Therefore, it was unimaginable that Kalian would have any allies right now. Even obtaining common poison herbs would have been difficult for a Prince, so it made no sense that he would attempt to kill the Queen, who wielded more power than the King.

 

Moreover, it was said that Kalian had lived under the contempt of Queen Silike and Second Prince Plants from birth until now. Under such circumstances, the original Kalian would have barely been able to breathe properly.

 

Even the fiercest beast, when raised on milk from infancy, learns to lick its master’s feet and show its belly. In other words, Kalian must have been raised to be so weak that he could not have even imagined killing someone.

 

……

 

Kalian gave a bitter smile. “She just wants to remove what she doesn’t want to see.”

 

Kalian had heard that except for his hair color, he was the spitting image of Freya.

 

The Queen must have disliked seeing the dead Freya on Kalian’s face. Therefore, she wanted Kalian killed, and fabricated such a story so that the King would have to overlooked Kalian’s death.

 

After all, the Queen held control over three of the four Royal Knight Orders, excluding only one Knight Order directly under the King’s command.

 

[It was said that Kalian died two or three months before turning fifteen. My fifteenth birthday is in four months… so someone will come to kill me soon.]

 

The time remaining until Kalian would meet his death, disguised as ‘death by hanging,’ was between one and two months.

 

Kalian’s red eyes reflected in the water gleamed sharply.

 

He had not the slightest intention of dying quietly at their hands!