The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#55

The engagement ceremony took place in the vast outdoor banquet hall of the Gerold mansion.

“…It’s all corpses here,” Kain Starchis muttered, looking at the flowers decorating the outdoor banquet hall splendidly. Describing the beautifully trimmed flowers, arranged to maintain their vitality for a long time, like that? Jersian, right next to him, gave him a look that said, “Are you serious?”

“You’re probably the only one here who would look at that and call it corpses.”

“While it’s certainly visually beautiful, it’s a matter of feelings.”

Kain looked regretfully at the numerous flower blossoms sacrificed for a party that would last at most a few hours, then reluctantly surveyed the hall where he was standing.

The two were standing in the mansion’s outdoor banquet hall, dressed in pristine white uniforms. The spacious area with a tall white marble altar set in the midst of a lush forest exuded a mysterious and serene image. Between the cracks of the white marble, as old as the Gerold mansion itself, bright green moss had grown.

“Most of the family’s important ceremonies are held here,” Jersian explained to Kain with a calm face. In fact, this was the first time he had been the protagonist of this outdoor banquet hall. Kain looked down at Jersian, who had now grown to about chest height.

“W-what is it?” Jersian reacted, furrowing his brows as he felt that gaze.

“I was just thinking how well that outfit suits you.”

“…”

Jersian’s eyebrow twitched. He had expected another unnecessary comment, but surprisingly received a compliment.

“…You too,” he replied, unable to give a proper compliment despite wanting to, his response inevitably coming out brusque. Tch, Jersian clicked his tongue briefly as he moved. However, he couldn’t hide the slightly reddened tips of his ears from Kain.

“Are all these people here from the Gerold family?” Kain asked.

“Ah, most of them are.”

Unlike Hernin’s birthday party that Kain had attended before, the engagement ceremony was a family event. For this reason, outsiders were invited under extremely strict criteria. Those with close relationships to the Marquis family, those as noble as the people gathered here.

Yes, for example…

Pwooo- A servant standing at the entrance of the outdoor banquet hall blew a horn trumpet and shouted loudly:

“The heirs of the Claude family, who will succeed the great Arkner Empire, have just arrived!”

The tension among those already present in the hall was palpable.

Claude.

Kain Starchis, standing with Jersian in the center of the hall, turned his sharp gaze towards the entrance. Claude… that’s Jersian’s surname. Or should it be ‘used to be’?

“…What a rare appearance,” Jersian also muttered to himself, his eyes hardening. He added a bit more explanation for Kain, who had immediately caught on.

“We always send invitations to the imperial family, but they rarely actually attend.”

Ah, Kain nodded, looking down worriedly at Jersian, who had stiffened beside him.

“…”

Jersian was the subject of unfavorable rumors involving the imperial family. Already, the Gerold family cousins were noticeably conscious of Jersian. Whether aware of these gazes or not, the guests from the imperial family entered the outdoor banquet hall.

There were three large men and one young girl. They walked towards Jersian, standing in the center of the banquet hall, dragging capes made of black fur emblazoned with the empire’s mark on the ground, as if boasting of their noble status.

The peculiar point was that all four of them had jet-black hair like Jersian. They all seemed to look down on the banquet hall with their characteristically arrogant and cold faces.

Ahem, one of the men standing at the back coughed, holding a handkerchief to his mouth with a sickly face. Jersian knew him. It was the 5th Prince, who had been rumored to be ill lately.

Just then, the man at the front stopped in front of Jersian. His blue eyes coldly scanned Jersian from top to bottom. Then, the man turned his gaze to the elf standing straight beside him, looking directly at him.

‘Is this the elf that’s supposed to be engaged to that guy?’

A chilling gaze swept over his entire body. However, Kain met the man’s eyes in mid-air without saying anything. The man’s gaze seemed as if it would mercilessly cut through anything in front of him if it were an obstacle. As the man’s gaze on Kain lingered, Jersian quickly stepped forward and greeted him.

“…I’m grateful that such an esteemed person has graced my humble ceremony. Thank you, Your Highness Kemirun.”

At Jersian’s interruption, the persistent gaze examining Kain naturally moved. The man called Kemirun opened his mouth, looking down at Jersian with an overbearing expression.

“Grateful indeed. It’s the engagement ceremony of our ‘Jersian Gerold’, after all. How could I just pass it by?”

“…”

It was a cold voice. The chill permeating between the words made it clear how much the man disliked Jersian, even just from his voice.

He lowered his head slightly, cornering the shorter boy threateningly, and spoke quietly. Jersian’s view, with his gaze lowered, was filled with Kemirun’s luxurious shoes.

“These days, you’re not running around restlessly like a dog needing to pee like you used to… Have you finally realized that the Gerold family suits you well? Jersian Gerold.”

He pronounced Jersian’s name as if spitting it out. There was a force in it as if reminding him not to forget that he was fixed in a position lower than himself.

Jersian’s red pupils wavered and sank under that power. Kemirun Del Claude, standing right in front of him now, was a man he once thought of as almost a brother, born from the same father. Of course, he was included among the targets of revenge, including the Emperor.

Just then, someone’s body heat touched the palm of Jersian’s right hand, which was still fixed behind his back after greeting. Jersian’s palm flinched at Kain’s fingers, then returned to its place. Kain’s fingers tapped Jersian’s skin as if understanding his complicated feelings, then stopped there. With that small gesture, Jersian was able to regain his composure.

“…I don’t know what you mean. I have always been a person of the Gerold family.”

So he could say this calmly even in front of the imperial family. But Jersian’s calm expression only made Kemirun’s face colder. He spoke quietly, but full of anger, as if grinding his words:

“Let’s not pretend we don’t understand each other when we do. It’s disgusting.”

“…”

Jersian stared at Kemirun without blinking, despite the hatred thrown in his face. Having revealed his true feelings once, Kemirun Del Claude threatened Jersian with a growl:

“Just live quietly like this. You don’t know how great a mercy it is that we’re letting it slide even though that trash, Cynthia Gerold, dared to disgrace our imperial family. I said we should send you to Tesena, but somehow you managed to butter up Elmerila and end up like this.”

Tsk, Kemirun poured out his words with his arms crossed. So even the marriage talk with the Tesena royal family came from Kemirun? These were words deliberately meant to provoke Jersian.

But getting excited here would be falling into Kemirun’s trap. Jersian, who had been listening to the curses with a calm expression, bowed his head politely as soon as Kemirun finished speaking and said:

“Yes. I completely understand what you’re saying. Thank you for congratulating me on my engagement, Your Highness Kemirun.”

“…”

Kemirun glared at Jersian’s face for a moment before leaving, his long cape fluttering. Then, the rest of the imperial family members who had come with Kemirun also looked at Jersian, who had bowed his head obediently, before leaving.

“Thank you for coming.”

Jersian maintained a faint smile on the surface while clenching his fist.

Damn it, there was a bitter taste in his mouth. He hadn’t expected to encounter them like this here. And one thing became certain. The reason these imperial family members attended this engagement ceremony today was not to congratulate. It was to commemorate that their troublemaker ‘Jersian Del Claude’ finally dies here today, and only ‘Jersian Gerold’, who can’t bare his teeth at them, remains. In a way, this might be the moment Kemirun Del Claude had been looking forward to the most.

At that moment, Kain, standing next to him, gestured towards the ceremony space and said:

“Young Master Jersian. The ceremony is about to begin.”

“…Right, let’s go.”

Although he felt terrible, the ceremony had to start. Jersian let out a short sigh and then walked with Kain towards the front of the banquet hall where everyone was waiting.