“Lianus.”
It had been a while since my brother spoke to me.
“Yes!”
I replied eagerly, delighted. After all, he was the only one who ever talked to me.
“They’re arranging a gathering at the Thesaurus Ducal Estate, inviting noble children of our age who are learning the sword, so everyone can get to know each other.”
“At the Ducal Estate?”
“Yes, would you like to go?”
“But, brother, I…”
I hesitated. After all, I was a child afflicted with Mana’s Curse.
“You’re also learning Swordsmanship, aren’t you? No one will mind such things.”
“Is… is it really alright for me to join?”
Whenever my brother kindly spoke to me, something bad always happened.
I knew that, and yet, I always got caught up anyway. Still, maybe this time would be different. I couldn’t help but hope…
I was afraid I’d miss a chance that might never come again.
“If you can’t join, then who could? No one practices Swordsmanship as diligently as you do.”
“Then, I’ll go! When is it?”
“Tomorrow. Come by four o’clock. I have things to discuss with my teacher, so you go ahead first!”
“Yes! I’ll see you then!”
Maybe this time, I could make a friend—someone to talk to.
Even if I could never wield Aura, surely I could at least talk about Swordsmanship. I’d practiced hard, and tried so much to seem as mature as my brother.
But I should have realized something was off when the gathering was set at such an odd time.
“Look, the Swamp Prince really came. But he’s quite late.”
“His eyes really are different colors.”
“I heard he was cursed with Mana’s Curse because of mixed blood!”
“Even if he’s young and doesn’t know better, he sure is clueless…”
“And he’s so small. Is he really the same age as the First Prince?”
The Thesaurus Ducal Estate—Queen Helia’s family home, and the maternal side of Laurence de Harpens, the First Prince.
A nest of vipers with not a single person to welcome the Second Prince, who had no one to back him.
“Why does he even learn the sword? I heard not only can he never wield Aura, but he can’t even sense Mana itself.”
“His Majesty said the princes shouldn’t be given different lessons, so they study together.”
“But shouldn’t you at least be at a similar level for that to count as consideration? His Majesty is too much!”
What did they mean, ‘too much’? Was it that I wasn’t being considered, doomed to never wield Aura no matter how hard I tried? Or was it that someone as unskilled as me was allowed to take lessons with my brother?
Whispering voices, laughter like the wind, the young heirs of nobility sneaking glances at me, never even greeting a prince to my face.
I should have been angry. I should have called them out for daring to insult a prince right in front of me.
But I couldn’t.
When I saw those crescent-shaped, crimson eyes, the same as the Queen’s, curve among them, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
It felt as if they were saying, ‘Fool, you’re falling for it again.’
In the end, I was fooled once more, and ran away again.
***
“The royal carriage is coming!”
A small, secluded village with little traffic.
From the sky heavy with gloomy clouds, something fell, neither snow nor rain, stinging my frozen cheeks.
How bitterly I resented the sleet that had started just a few minutes ago.
Neither snow nor rain, it soaked the ground and crept into the collars of the villagers lying prostrate.
A traveler passing through the village road looked around in confusion at the people scattered and lying face-down.
“What’s going on? Why are you all outside on such a cold day?”
The old man he asked quickly pulled him down to the ground.
“The royal carriage is passing by! Get down, quickly.”
“Shouldn’t it be enough just to bow your head in respect?”
At that, the old man grabbed the traveler by the scruff and began to explain in a low voice.
The traveler felt his clothes getting damp and was quite displeased, but the old man’s serious face made him listen.
“Not long ago, in the next village, some young lord from a count’s family beat a child to death. He was so ill-tempered… It was a day when snow piled up to the ankles, but he insisted on riding his carriage through. A child watching from the window met his eyes by chance, and the young lord dragged him out, saying a lowborn dared to look down on him from above, and beat him right there. The child, covered in blood, froze to death in the snow!”
The old man grew more passionate, his voice rising without realizing it.
The traveler listening grew more and more grim.
“Good heavens, and no one stopped it?”
“Who could intervene in such a situation? They’d get beaten to death too. The child’s parents begged and pleaded, but they were beaten as well. Nearly died, they say—barely survived with help from others. But how could life go on after seeing your own child die like that?”
“And no one petitioned the authorities?”
“Who would care about a dead commoner child? If the nobles act that way, how much worse do you think the royal family is? So keep your head down and stay put.”
After hearing the old man’s story, the traveler shuddered and pressed his face to the ground.
As soon as the carriage passed, he resolved to find an inn, soak in a hot bath, and not leave until the weather cleared.
Just then, he heard a sniffle and the plaintive voice of a woman.
“Could you please hide my child? I have nothing to change him into if his clothes get wet.”
It was a wandering mother and child. The ragged little boy beside her looked up at his mother, sniffling.
Someone who seemed to be the Village Chief stepped forward.
“The carriage is coming too fast! I’ll let you stay at my house tonight, so get down, quickly. If you’re not careful, you might see your child beaten to death!”
The woman’s face went white as she frantically pressed her child’s head to the ground.
Short silence, the sound of a child sniffling, then, from far off, came the sound of horses’ hooves.
It was so fast, it seemed something terrible must have happened.
The traveler thought the Kingdom of Harpens was truly awful as he waited for the carriage to pass.
“Sniff, hic, huuuh…”
***
The rattling of the speeding carriage shook the dull, dark green hair, and from between the strands came a muffled sound—laughter or sobbing, it was hard to tell.
Whether it was the late winter chill or pent-up emotion, the small, trembling body seemed even smaller as it curled up tight.
Tears streamed endlessly, soaking the knees through the fingers that tried so hard to stifle the sobs, but the child’s hands could do nothing else.
The knight driving the horses could do nothing to help his young master crying inside the carriage.
The sleet, falling without a hint, was just another annoyance.
Who knows how long he cried.
Wanting to cool his swollen eyes, the child opened the carriage window.
The cold sleet rode the wind, pouring into the carriage.
Unwelcome, just like the child, it heartlessly slapped his frozen cheeks.
“Your Highness! You’ll catch a cold. Please close the window!”
“…Just a bit longer. How much farther?”
“Another couple of hours. We’ll be entering a village soon, so please go inside.”
At the mention of a village, the child leaned out, looking for the village entrance.
With his sharp eyesight, even the sleet couldn’t block his view.
He saw the villagers scrambling, then dropping flat to the ground.
Curious, he shouted to his knight sitting up front.
“Sir Evan! Why are the villagers doing that?”
“It’s the royal carriage, so they’re showing respect! Please, it’s cold—go inside!”
“What? Who shows respect by lying face-down in this weather? Tell them to go back in!”
“If I get out to relay that, they’ll be even more terrified. It’s best to just pass through quickly.”
“Then hurry up!”
“…Excuse me?”
“Get us out of the village, quick! Move! The sleet’s coming down!”
Evan was flustered by his young master’s urgency, but did as ordered and sped up the carriage.
He heard muttering something about wishing they hadn’t come—but Evan couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘See, I told you it was better not to go.’
He couldn’t rub salt in the wounds of his delicate little kitten of a prince.
The little kitten, who had been crying so quietly, now opened the window and smacked Evan’s back.
Evan felt a bit relieved that His Highness seemed to have recovered, but protested anyway.
“Your Highness, hitting me won’t make the horses go any faster!”
“Faster! Faster!”
“I’m already pushing them! The ground’s starting to freeze—if we’re not careful, something terrible could happen!”
“The road’s wide open! What could possibly happen? Just get us out of the village!”
The child stomped his feet inside the carriage, forgetting he’d just been crying.
Why did it have to start sleeting now? If only I’d left a little later…
If only I’d waited a bit more so the villagers could go home.
As he thought this, those crescent-shaped, crimson eyes flashed through his mind.
No, I couldn’t have waited any longer.
The child bit back the tears welling up again and glanced outside.
Through the fleeting scenery, he thought he saw a child cheeks and hands frozen red meet his gaze.
Why are you out in this weather? Why didn’t you just go inside?
Unable to vent at the villagers, the prince took out his frustration on his knight.
“Are we there yet? Go even faster!”
“How much faster do you want me to go? At this rate, really—ah!”
Hiiiii!
The horses neighed in panic. There was a sickening thud.
The carriage lurched violently.
The knight used all his strength to calm the horses.
The carriage had nearly overturned.
“What happened? What’s going on?”
“A child suddenly ran out he was hit by the horses, I think!”
“What? Sir Evan, stop! Stop the carriage!”
Though he was already slowing down, the carriage had been going so fast it took a while to come to a full stop.
As soon as it did, the door burst open and a head of deep green hair popped out.
People instinctively looked up to see what was happening, then, realizing they’d met eyes with royalty, gasped and pressed their faces to the ground again.
Seeing this, the child snapped and shouted.
“What, did you drop money on the ground? I don’t want to see it—just go inside, all of you!”
He jumped from the carriage, not caring that the water soaked his shoes and trousers, and ran back down the road.
It’s all my fault.
I yelled at Sir Evan, and that’s why he didn’t see the child.
He must be dead. No one could survive being hit by a carriage moving that fast.
He heard his knight shouting behind him, but his own ragged breathing drowned it out.
His legs felt frozen stiff from the cold.
Sleet gradually soaked his hair and clothes, and every breath came out white and vanished in the air.
How far had he run?
In the middle of the road the carriage had taken, he caught sight of a red puddle, and something unrecognizable.
The prince stopped in his tracks.
Then, after catching his breath, he cautiously approached the fallen figure.
It was a child.