The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#47

Before they knew it, the carriage carrying the two arrived at the entrance of the largest ballroom in the capital. Even before alighting from the carriage, the noisy and bustling sounds from outside could be heard inside.

“…Just thinking about being harassed inside is already tiring me out.”

Jersian openly showed his annoyance in front of Kain with a sigh.

“I’ll try my best to shield you.”

“You?”

Jersian shook his head at Kain, who had a determined expression.

“You don’t seem to know, but rumors of me attending this banquet with you have already spread throughout the capital. You should be prepared today too.”

“Is that so?”

“Moreover, Marchioness Elmerila has already treated our engagement as a fait accompli. I don’t know if this was intentional, but probably everyone we meet will be curious about the engagement news. I’ll handle such responses, so you just stay by my side without saying anything.”

“Yes.”

Kain Starchis’s outward appearance was that of a typical elf – cold and arrogant, looking down on humans as insignificant beings. Perhaps people with ordinary courage wouldn’t easily approach him. However, the people filling that ballroom were already those who generally held positions of power on the continent. There’s no telling what they might do with an elf right in front of them. Jersian, still seated, let out a deep sigh and then said with a serious face:

“Shall we go out now?”

“Yes, please go ahead. I’ll follow.”

Kain obediently lowered his upper body to get out of the carriage, gazing at Jersian’s small back as he exited first.

That’s when it happened.

“Here.”

Jersian’s hand, much smaller than his own, was extended right in front of Kain’s face. He thought something was being handed to him, but there was nothing on the white palm. As Kain was about to get out of the carriage, he was essentially blocked by Jersian’s palm, so he stopped, supporting himself on the carriage ceiling.

‘…Huh? What does this mean?’

Kain looked at the hand once, then raised his head to look at Jersian, who was holding it out, with eyes full of question marks. Then Kain answered in a low voice.

“…I’m helping you get out of the carriage. Take my hand.”

“Ah, I see. Excuse me then.”

Although help wasn’t really necessary just to get out of the carriage. Kain let out an exclamation of feigned understanding with a subtle expression.

Thud, a large hand completely covered Jersian’s hand. And then Kain, holding Jersian’s small hand but without putting any weight on it, lightly jumped out of the carriage using only his own strength.

While Jersian’s intention to help him out of the carriage was commendable, it would have been better to jump out on his own even at the risk of breaking bones rather than putting weight on that hand.

Noticing this, Jersian pursed his lips once with an irritated look in his eyes. But apart from frowning, he didn’t add any other words. Instead, he just applied more force to the hand holding Kain’s.

‘…Is this his maximum strength?’

Kain had an unnecessary thought while glancing at their joined hands.

Creeak-

That’s when it happened.

Another carriage stopped in the place where Kain and Jersian’s carriage had left. As soon as the door opened with a thud, a man got out. Then, just like Jersian had done earlier, he bent his upper body slightly and held out one hand politely.

“Let’s get out.”

A delicate hand wearing a snow-white glove was placed on that palm with a soft thud.

“Oh my, thank you.”

It was a woman wearing a long and elaborate dress. She took the man’s hand and got out of the carriage.

It was a very natural and expected movement.

‘…So that’s how everyone usually does it. But it’s still unnecessary help for me. However, if it’s what Jersian wants to do, I should go along with it.’

Kain stood still in place, watching the series of events. Then Jersian, walking ahead, pulled his hand and said:

“What are you doing standing there?”

“…I’m trying to remember exactly how to do it next time.”

What? Jersian quickly turned his head back.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Kain’s feet, which had stopped on the way to the ballroom entrance, started moving again.

He had already seen all the necessary parts anyway.

* * *

As soon as they entered the banquet hall, they felt the eyes of the guests filling the large space completely focused on them.

“…”

Kain slowly entered the hall with his usual cold face. He was still holding Jersian’s hand. There was no need to let go since they were known to be engaged anyway.

With their appearance, the audience started whispering among themselves. Even though they covered their mouths or used fans while talking, Kain could hear everything as clearly as if they were speaking right next to him. It was a moment when he disliked being an elf with sharp hearing.

“Baroness, they’ve finally arrived!”

“It’s true, look at those pointed ears!”

“I heard the youngest son of the Gerold family fell in love at first sight.”

“Where did they meet?”

“I heard it was in the forest.”

“Oh my, how fascinating!”

It’s not that fascinating. It’s natural for an elf to be in the forest. From Kain’s perspective, it was more fascinating to see so many humans gathered in one place. Since it had been a thousand years since the exchange between humans and elves was cut off, Kain’s presence brought surprise wherever he went.

Anyway, Kain walked across the hall with Jersian, pretending not to hear anything.

That’s when it happened.

“Jersian Gerold!”

Someone walked towards them, raising a champagne glass. It was a human with a plump body and flushed cheeks from alcohol. He greeted Jersian in a loud voice.

“Well, who do we have here. It’s the youngest son of the Gerold family, the talk of the capital these days.”

Jersian, who was walking ahead, responded only then with an “Ah,” and greeted the man.

“Baron Basiz, have you been well?”

“…”

One of Kain’s eyebrows slightly raised as he stood beside the two.

‘Baron Basiz…? That Basiz? Is this man the same Basiz Baron whose name I’ve heard several times?’

In response to Jersian’s reaction, the drunk man nodded his head several times and spoke loudly. He spoke so enthusiastically that his saliva sprayed everywhere, which was disgusting.

“No! Well? Not at all. Haven’t you heard the rumor that a thief broke into my castle recently? Thanks to that, I experienced quite a commotion in the middle of the night while sleeping.”

‘Ah. It is ‘that’ Basiz.’

Kain Starchis maintained a calm face outwardly while observing Jersian’s expression. Jersian, who had been that thief Baron Basiz was talking about, was responding with an unbothered face.

“My, a thief… So, did you find the culprit?”

It was a tone that would sound quite sympathetic to someone who didn’t know the truth.

‘He’s lying without batting an eye.’

Kain’s gaze briefly touched Jersian’s face. The Jersian who had apologized saying “I’m sorry” while sitting in the carriage earlier was nowhere to be seen. The tip of his ears that had turned red, perhaps because he found himself apologizing unfamiliar, flashed before Kain’s eyes.

But this is his original self. Jersian seemed familiar with this situation, showing no signs of being flustered. He was a boy who had only lived for fifteen years. In elf terms, it was almost the time of a newborn.

It didn’t feel good to see Jersian acting like a full-grown adult despite being such a young boy. It wasn’t that he disliked Jersian, but rather, he had great dissatisfaction with the situation in which Jersian had grown up so far.

Regardless of Kain’s complex thoughts, Baron Basiz, feeling that Jersian sympathized with his situation, started to rant angrily.

“Is that such an easy thing! In the end, we couldn’t find them! To ask about that, you really didn’t know anything. Everyone in the capital already knows. No matter how much we searched and looked for traces, it was clean. What’s the use of having a knighthood under my command if they can’t even find one thief? Right?”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Jersian responded with just one word to Baron Basiz’s long complaint.

‘Come to think of it, what happened to the mission he went on today?’

Before leaving the Gerold mansion, Jersian had gone to Baron Basiz’s place again with a few knights.

‘Did he succeed? Or fail again?’

Kain narrowed his eyes to examine Jersian’s expression. But since entering this banquet hall, his face had been unreadable, as if he was wearing a mask.

Suddenly, Jersian pointed to a corner of the banquet hall and said,

“Ah, Hernin is calling from over there. Please excuse me for a moment.”

“Oh, oh. Sure.”

You should. You despicable bastard.

Baron Basiz watched Jersian and Kain’s backs as he downed his champagne in one go. His snake-like narrow eyes were filled with the sight of Jersian and Kain walking away in a different direction.