The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#54

“Considering young master Jersian’s age, the engagement ceremony will be held very simply. According to imperial law, you two can only officially marry in the year young master Jersian becomes an adult. Ah, would you like me to explain the marriage procedures in advance as well? I can tell you right away if you’re curious.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

Kain Starchis replied as he looked down at the paper handed to him by Merheim, Jersian’s subordinate. It was densely filled with the order of today’s engagement ceremony and points to be cautious about. It was a relief that it would be held very simply.

“…”

Merheim glanced at Kain, who showed little interest in both the engagement ceremony and the wedding.

‘This elf and young master Jersian… they’re really going to be engaged after all.’

Personally, he wanted to dissuade them.

From Merheim’s adult perspective, the two weren’t getting engaged because they were passionately in love with each other. Young master Jersian certainly wasn’t, and the elf who kept talking about ‘destined partners’ wasn’t very convincing either. It seemed like he might leave young master Jersian behind and take off alone at any time. Kain Starchis didn’t seem like someone who would be a good partner for young master Jersian.

‘I imagined he would be engaged to someone brighter and closer to Jersian’s age…’

The elf sitting in front of him with a cold face was almost the opposite of Merheim’s imagination. A height nearly twice that of young master Jersian, tremendous strength, and indifferent eyes. None of these elements were reassuring to Merheim.

Rather, he was among those who feared Kain Starchis. While everyone revered Kain Starchis as a mysterious being, he was essentially an arrogant elf who didn’t consider humans as equals.

“Is exchanging rings the most important part of the ceremony here?”

Kain’s low voice brought Merheim’s soul back to his eyes, which had been lost in other thoughts.

“Yes, yes. That’s right. Don’t worry, the ring for Kain has already been prepared by young master Jersian.”

Kain’s gaze briefly touched Merheim’s hand as he answered. Come to think of it, there was also a ring sparkling on the fourth finger of that human’s left hand.

“Does the ring you’re wearing now have the same meaning?”

“…Me?”

Merheim’s eyes widened at the sudden question, then he slowly understood and answered.

“Ah, yes. But mine isn’t an engagement ring… it’s a wedding ring.”

“Is there a big difference between the two? Yours just looks like an ordinary ring.”

“Ordinary! How could you say that?”

Merheim raised his voice slightly, as if offended. Ahem, he immediately realized that he was dealing with an elf unfamiliar with human culture and calmed himself. Well? Kain stared at Merheim as if urging him to answer quickly.

“…This is a wedding ring I barely managed to buy with several months of my salary. It’s special. Very much so.”

“Is it that expensive?”

“Because it’s a wedding ring.”

“When did you do it?”

“Pardon?”

“The marriage, I mean.”

“Why do you… It’s been about a year.”

Merheim answered straightaway, not bothering to question why.

“A year? That was quite recent.”

“It’s common around my age.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

For some reason, he found himself telling everything in response to the elf’s questions.

“And your partner’s age?”

“The same age.”

Merheim surrendered all his personal information to the elf, enveloped in a strange feeling.

“…”

After hearing his answer, Kain stiffened slightly, as if pondering something.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just a bit surprised…”

Kain continued, almost mumbling to himself.

“It’s amazing that after living only 25 years, you’ve found a partner to spend the rest of your life with.”

Hearing this admiring response, Merheim opened his mouth to correct Kain’s thinking.

“…Only? In terms of human lifespan, that’s about a quarter of it.”

“You’ve decided to spend the rest of your life with someone at that age.”

“Well… that’s true.”

Merheim wore a puzzled expression, unable to take the elf’s praise at face value.

He thought as he looked at the elf still staring intently at his finger. Isn’t that what everyone thinks when they get married? It might be a bit much to call it a ‘decision’…

After staring at Kain’s face with a dazed expression for a moment, Merheim came to his senses and spoke.

“Ah, anyway.”

…He had almost asked the elf, “Have you thought about marrying young master Jersian?” To be honest, that would have been a bit presumptuous.

“It would be helpful if you memorize the order of the ceremony roughly. Well, people around will take care of things anyway, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

“I understand.”

Merheim’s gaze fell on Kain Starchis, who answered simply. He hadn’t realized it before talking directly, but that elf, contrary to his appearance, was surprisingly easy to communicate with.

Although it had been simplified, a ceremony was still a ceremony. While explaining the complex and intricate etiquette, Kain Starchis showed obvious signs of annoyance, but he remembered most of it in one go and even followed it perfectly. After confirming Kain’s flawless demonstration of etiquette, Merheim nodded with a stunned face and gave a passing grade.

If it goes like this, they should be able to complete the ceremony smoothly. He had heard that even people from the imperial family were coming to see young master Jersian’s engagement ceremony. The Marquis’s family and the imperial family were quite close. However, young master Jersian’s sensitivity peaked whenever he encountered people from the imperial family. Remembering the hatred permeating those red eyes that could never be hidden no matter how hard he tried to conceal it, Merheim pressed his lips tightly.

“…”

I hope this person will be someone who can warm young master Jersian’s heart. Of course, this wish too was quite presumptuous. Thinking this, Merheim left Kain’s room.

* * *

“Kain, all preparations are complete.”

“…Alright.”

No matter how many times I think about it, I just can’t get used to the daily morning grooming that humans supposedly do.

Of course, I understood. The human realm had worse air than the Fiokhim Mountains, and there were no wind or water spirits to keep the body refreshed.

But I couldn’t understand changing into new clothes every day, and even applying more perfume and combing hair that was still neatly arranged. Elves were quite clean regardless of the presence or absence of spirits.

Phew. As Kain sighed briefly and left the bathroom, all the servants who had been there disappeared, and instead, Jersian was standing firmly in the center of the room.

“Why the sigh on the morning of the engagement ceremony?”

He was wearing a snow-white formal uniform similar in style to Kain’s, perhaps custom-made to match.

“Young master Jersian.”

Kain quickly hurried to stand in front of him. His gaze fell on Jersian’s hair tips that reached up to his chest height. Hmm, Kain tilted his head as if something was strange. Then he raised one arm, held his hand flat, and placed it against Jersian’s jet-black hair tips.

“…What are you doing?”

Just as Jersian was about to raise his head with an uncomfortable expression as Kain’s palm touched his neatly arranged hair, Kain’s voice clearly descended from above.

“Just a moment, please stay still.”

“…”

At his serious voice, Jersian returned his head to its original position with a face full of dissatisfaction. Then Kain spoke from above his head as if finding something interesting.

“You’ve grown a bit taller since then.”

“What?”

Jersian’s sharp gaze flew upwards. Kain happily announced the fact he had discovered, regardless of that expression.

“Until yesterday, it was here-“

Kain lowered his hand slightly as he said ‘here’.

“It was about this part, but now I see it reaches here.”

This ‘here’ was the height that had reached near Kain’s chest. At these words, Jersian’s sharp atmosphere quickly subsided. Jersian, who had been subtly conscious of the height difference between himself and the large Kain, spoke in a gruff voice.

“…Making such a fuss over just that much. I’ll be taller than you in the future.”

Jersian’s goal was to grow taller than Kain right in front of him.

Even without that, both his legs hurt every morning for no particular reason. When he showed it to the family doctor, he was told it was a kind of ‘growing pains’, and now the results were visible to this extent.

“Taller than me? That might be a bit difficult.”

“…We’ll see.”

Even if it hurts more, please just grow taller than that elf. Thinking this, Jersian glared irritably at Kain Starchis, who was looking down at him as if impressed.