Chapter 134: Whispers in the Air

That day, the skies above the duchy of Siegfried were filled with birds flying in all different directions.

Though the origins of these birds were different, as were their destinations, they all delivered the same information.

‘When Prince Calian entered Sispanian’s empty nest, a bright light flooded out. This light was visible even outside Siegfried’s land.’

That was the news aristocrats received from their retainers. There was nothing else known about why it happened or what the origin of that light was, so no other information could be added about the matter.

The only person who could provide more information, Calian, exited the mountain crevice with the expression of someone who had simply returned from a casual stroll. He merely declared that he had completed the Coming-of-Age ceremony and immediately returned to Siegfried Castle.

Duke Slayman did not question Calian about anything.

After Calian declared that he would be having dinner separately in his room, Slayman saw to it that his orders were followed, then came out to the terrace connected to the reception room and leisurely enjoyed the evening breeze.

While standing on the terrace, Slayman laughed as he saw the number of swiftly flying birds above the castle and said with pure surprise,

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“I didn’t know there were so many loose mouths in my home.”

In other words, he hadn’t known about the sheer number of people who had been planted in Siegfried for the sole purpose of delivering news outside to their masters. This prompted the person next to Slayman to scold him,

“Is that really something to admire?”

It was Yan’s younger sister and the heir of the Siegfried Duchy, Dymireia.

Dymireia had a cute face with round, innocent eyes like Yan, which seemed slightly mismatched with her slightly stern attitude.

Slayman sighed softly, looking at his daughter who had grown up so much and had even started nagging him.

“Wouldn’t it be alright to just admire the sight and move on?”

Dymireia shook her head resolutely.

“Are there not people who are jealous of great power everywhere? Do you think they will never clash with our house? I think we need to know in advance which houses have sent their spies here and be vigilant.”

As she stood by her opinion and clearly explained her reasoning, Slayman watched her with a pleased smile. It was truly heartwarming to see Dymireia grow little by little into the next master of Siegfried.

“Good. You don’t look much like me. It looks like I married well.”

Slayman was probably the only person pleased because his children didn’t look like him. He always had a thoughtful smile as he thought of the Duchess of Siegfried while looking at Dymireia, but continued,

“But Reia, if we become vigilant of others, that becomes politics. We are defenders, not rulers or opponents. Isn’t the reason this house built up its strength so we can raise the shield when the time comes?”

Dymireia did not immediately respond, since her views seemed to differ from Slayman’s.

A quiet moment later, she pointed to the window in the distance, at the guest wing where Calian was staying.

“But things may be different this time, Dad.”

Yan was at the palace.

And he was in a position that deeply ingrained him with Calian.

So while Dymireia understood what her father was saying, Yan had already used the Siegfried name once in the palace.

Even Slayman could not guarantee if what Yan would need next was the Siegfried name or the sword.

“Even if you aren’t on guard, aren’t we already preparing?”

As he answered so, he glanced toward the training grounds of the castle, where numerous knights were relentlessly training their swordsmanship.

“I’m not that clueless, you know!”

Although he spoke like a fool, he sounded more confident than conceited.

Even so, Slayman was not someone inflexible. He didn’t stubbornly stick to his own thoughts and instead reached forward to gently brush Dymireia’s hair and continued,

“But I suppose it can do no harm to find out whose retainers are here.”

Only then did Dymireia nod. She was about to thank Slayman for taking her opinion into account, but the terrace door opened and Yan came out to join them.

“Wow! There are so many messenger birds!”

There was one more person who was purely admiring the scene.

Dymireia’s expression stiffened, and Slayman responded with a big smile,

“Aren’t there a lot? I saw a hawk too!”

As if responding to those words, a bird swooped down low and, while looking at it, Yan exclaimed,

“There goes another, wow!”

Watching these two men admire the messenger birds sent by spies with pure admiration, Dymireia’s eyes were deeply troubled. It was because the weight of bearing the family someday became very heavy.

_

‘On the day you feel like you are fully prepared, come back to see me again.’

Calian, who recalled Sispanian’s parting words, huffed out a laugh.

“What else was she going to say?”

After going to see Slayman for a moment, Yan, who had returned, was sitting opposite Calian with wide eyes.

Instead of answering his curious gaze, Calian lifted the cold mint tea that was lying on the table. The ice in the cup made a clear clinking noise.

“...fully prepared.”

It was a difficult concept to grasp.

Yan turned his gaze out of the window since it felt like he was demanding answers if he kept staring at Calian. And Calian followed his gaze.

Outside in the training grounds, he could see Slayman’s knights training. He didn’t know when Kyrie had managed to get acquainted with them, but he was there training with them.

Turning his gaze away from them, he saw Hina in the garden below, sitting in the grass. She seemed to be stroking something.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a blonde poodle. It was Slayman’s dog, the one which looked so similar to Yan, that ‘Yan’ had become the dog’s name too.

When he saw how brightly Hina was smiling, Calian muttered,

“She seems to like dogs more than birds. Can I raise a dog in Chermil Palace?”

Yan, who had yet to say a word and had only been drinking tea together with him, eventually said,

“You seem to keep wanting to do something for Hina. Last time you expressed interest in birds too.”

Yan’s comment was blunt and his tone was mischievous. It was obvious what he was trying to imply, so Calian immediately cleared up the misunderstanding.

“It’s not that kind of interest.”

He wasn’t thinking about romance.

Yan, who nodded at the remark, glanced back towards Hina again and laughed. It was because she had placed the poodle in front of her and was gesturing with her hands in front of its eyes.

“She’s even using sign language for the dog. How cute.”

Calian, momentarily curious at his words, asked,

“How do you know sign language?”

It was a question he had asked without much thought, but there was no answer from Yan.

Realizing that he might have asked something he shouldn’t have, Calian was about to change the subject, but Yan opened his mouth once again and, with his eyes glued outside to the window, said,

“I had an older brother.”

‘Had’ – that word alone was enough to explain things.

But Yan didn’t stop talking and continued.

“Because he wasn’t healthy, I had to learn a few things so we could stay together. It all ended up being useless, though.”

Yan took a sip of tea and glanced at Calian’s face. He couldn’t find the words to respond, so Yan said with a smile,

“It was a long time ago, so it’s okay. Plus, I have Your Highness now as well.”

“....Alright.”

Yan then pointed to the puppy outside the window and said in a clear voice,

“He’s a wimp. And he barks a lot. If you raise him in Chermil, Prince Franz won’t stand by. Nor Prince Randell.”

He didn’t seem to want to talk about depressing subjects and was clearly trying to change topics.

Maybe he was doing it for Calian, who was clearly feeling awkward. Anyway, it was clear that he wanted to move on from the topic of his dead older brother now, so Calian answered with a new topic, without asking further.

“Then I’ll have to go to Camillon.”