The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#51

Chapter 3. The Night When the Sun Doesn’t Rise

Whoosh-

A hot heat was exploding, rippling as if about to engulf his entire body. Ugh, Kain frowned and took a step back from what was in front of him. A massive flame was writhing, so large it seemed like it could spread at any moment. No, something seemed to be rippling in the center of the red flames.

What is that?

It was difficult to even stand with eyes open.

“…”

Raising his arm to cover his eyes, Kain narrowed his eyes trying to discern the nature of the flames. A scorching sensation rose as if his pupils would burn in the blazing heat.

Crackle, crackle, the sound of fire devouring everything could be heard. But Kain couldn’t turn his gaze away from there. He felt possessed by the determination to confirm exactly what was engulfed in those flames. Kain strained to open his eyes fully while covering his face with his arm to check it.

The moment Kain’s light green pupils were filled with bright red flames.

“…!”

His pupils dilated in surprise.

His already short breath rose to the tip of his chin, and for a moment, it felt like the world had stopped.

What I’m seeing now…

“No way.”

A sentence naturally burst out from between Kain’s lips like a scream.

It was a reaction worthy of him. That… what was burning brightly inside those huge flames.

“It can’t be the Gallia tree…”

The World Tree, which once spread its large branches to embrace the entire continent, was engulfed in massive flames. The spirits and animals that always guarded and circled around it fled quickly in groups. But it was doubtful whether they could completely escape from that huge fire that seemed to come from hell.

Clop, clatter, thud! The sound of hooves of various species trampling the wide prairie passed by Kain, who was standing still. He was still in a state of shock that the World Tree was burning.

“…”

Why on earth is the World Tree burning? Is it someone’s intention? Or is it the intention of the world? Various questions flashed across Kain’s white face as the red flames flickered.

“This isn’t right.”

Kain muttered softly as he stepped back. Taking one step back, he escaped the heat rising from the huge flames.

“This can’t be happening.”

Speaking out loud once more, Kain shook his head from side to side. This shouldn’t be. He was an elf who couldn’t imagine a world without the World Tree.

…It’s not true.

That’s why Kain denied it several times and tried to back away from the huge flames.

That’s when it happened.

“…Ka… in?”

Someone’s voice was heard from behind. Kain quickly turned his head towards that direction. No, he tried to turn.

Kain’s body, which was about to turn, fell in some direction. Suddenly, he felt like he was falling into an endless quagmire.

“…Ugh!”

It felt like his whole body was being pulled into pitch-black darkness.

Kain frowned and swung his arm trying to grab onto something.

Whoosh-

Then he felt something hit his elbow hard.

…What is it? As Kain tried to move his elbow, it rather grabbed his arm firmly. The warm temperature surprised Kain, and that hot body heat even spoke as if trying to calm him down.

“Calm down, it’s me.”

Huh? Kain’s body stiffened. It was a voice he already knew. At the same time, the feeling of being submerged in a muffled quagmire completely disappeared.

“…!”

Kain’s closed eyes suddenly opened. Slowly, he raised his upper body, becoming aware of his surroundings. Then Jersian, who had been holding Kain’s elbow with his palm, gently let go of him.

“…Thank you.”

Kain replied in a low voice as if he had just woken up, and stared at where he had risen from. There was no one else around except Jersian.

Was it just a dream for a moment? He remembered closing his eyes while leaning against a large tree in the lush forest of the Gerold family.

Ah, I see.

As Kain frowned and rubbed his forehead, Jersian, who had been watching the scene right in front of him until now, finally spoke.

“What kind of dream did you have to be like that?”

It was his usual blunt tone, but Kain knew that if he didn’t care at all, he wouldn’t even ask such a question.

“…”

Kain recalled the scene of the dream where the World Tree was burning and rubbed his forehead with his palm, groaning. Then he told Jersian, who was waiting for his answer.

“…It wasn’t a very good dream.”

“It looked that way just by seeing you.”

“…”

Kain was still sitting with his back against the tree. Jersian, who had been looking down at him, plopped down lightly right next to him. It was something unimaginable inside the Gerold mansion, but he came out comfortably as it was a secluded place. Kain gave Jersian a glance once, then moved his eyes back to the forest.

“What brings you here?”

“My head was complicated, so I came to rest for a while.”

Jersian also answered while looking at the trees in the forest swaying occasionally in the wind, rather than making eye contact with Kain. At that answer, Kain’s gaze briefly turned to Jersian’s face.

Come to think of it, after Marchioness Elmerila’s announcement at the birthday party held last week, Jersian and Hernin had begun to formally enter into successor training. The lessons started early in the morning and continued until bedtime in the evening. Kain had seen Jersian’s face only a handful of times during that period.

Feeling Kain’s gaze, Jersian turned his head to the side. Their gazes met in the middle.

After staring at Jersian’s face for a moment, Kain opened his mouth.

“Is it very hard?”

Jersian smiled as if he was asking something trivial, then answered.

“…Why are you asking that?”

“My mate is struggling, so I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help. I can’t just sit still, you know.”

“…”

Mate? That word coming from Kain Starchis’s mouth sounded like an unfamiliar concept, not what Jersian usually knew. Unfortunately, there was nothing Kain Starchis could do to help. Of course, he probably already knew that much.

“Shall we run away?”

“…What?”

But he didn’t expect him to suggest it so lightly. As if Jersian’s problems were nothing and would soon be forgotten.

“I mean, let’s just abandon ‘Jersian Gerold’ here. If we just leave everything buried in this mansion and take off somewhere else, your head won’t hurt so much.”

Hearing Kain’s suggestion, Jersian took a deep breath, “Haah-” and put both arms behind him, looking up at the blue sky. In that position, he muttered softly.

“Would it be that simple and easy?”

The goal he had been looking at all his life disappeared in an instant. Everyone tells Jersian to live as ‘Jersian Gerold’. Even the evidence he thought he had finally obtained ultimately pointed back to this Gerold family.

“…”

Jersian looked at the sky for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Don’t you understand yet? Like others say, I might have really been swayed by my mother’s ghost all this time.”

It was a sentence that sounded like a sigh.

Unable to accept the fact that she was abandoned by the Emperor, his mother waited for the imperial messenger until her death. But not only did no messenger come, the Emperor never sought out his mother even once, nor did he reply to any of the millions of letters she sent. As if he had completely erased his mother’s existence from the world.

Jersian believed that the Emperor had thoroughly ignored his mother. No matter how much other people around him didn’t believe his mother’s words, Jersian alone believed them.

But in the end, the rumors were true. His mother had been pregnant with a child of a man other than the Emperor, and so the Emperor, upon learning this fact, had cast her out in betrayal. His mother didn’t want to admit that…

There was a bitter taste in his mouth. He couldn’t understand why she had such a delusion. It must have been difficult to accept the reality in front of her, but his mother had completely thrown away the one remaining option of accepting the truth and living comfortably in the Gerold family.

So Jersian came here to tell Kain the truth once again.

“The Jersian Del Claude you’re looking for might not be me…”

He continued speaking in an indifferent voice.

“Why are you still by my side?”

Jersian’s eyes, which had been fixed on the blue sky, moved to Kain beside him. Outwardly, the two were indeed engaged. But that was nothing more than a shallow ploy to circumvent the head of the family’s proposal. From the beginning, what Kain Starchis wanted was ‘Jersian Del Claude’, not ‘Jersian Gerold’. This was a continuation of their conversation on the banquet hall balcony.

“…”

Jersian’s red pupils slowly moved towards Kain’s face and froze.

Kain Starchis was smiling, gently pulling his lips.

It was completely different from the expected result of him being flustered or seriously denying it.