/
Calian left the prison and stopped by another place, before returning to his room. There, he found two little guests; Sia and Hina.
Sia stared at Calian with big round eyes, and Hina was surprised at his appearance before bowing low. It looked like they were exploring some new places under the pretence of cleaning.
“Hina came to clean up. I followed since the bird is here. Hina said I can’t.”
Calian wanted to ask what they were doing, but of course, Sia’s answer came out first.
“I know. I said it so you don’t scold Hina.”
“I wasn’t asking why you came,”
It happened again. Arsene, the conversation manager was needed, but there was no one else here.
He probably fell asleep not long ago, since he had to stay with Sia all night when he wasn’t running around to catch carrier pigeons.
Since Blue Warbler had said she wouln’t pursue Sia any further, and Calian couldn’t just kick Sia out in good conscience, it was concluded they would still keep Sia with them, and though they may not be able to deliver him to the entrance of Hirska Forest, they would at least drop him off in the near vicinity.
Would he be able to get used to conversations with Xia by the time they dropped him off? Calian chucked to himself because he thought he probably wouldn’t.
Calian recalled something Blue Warbler had mentioned and looked at Xia. The ‘path of the forest’ among the words Blue Warbler had talked about referred to an elf’s ability to navigate the forest better than any human could.
When he thought of the forest, Sia replied to his thoughts,
“That’s right. I know a little about the path of the forest. It’s faster than the road the humans take,”
Calian’s expression brightened, he thought that if Sia could guide them through the road then they would be able to get to the Seigfried’s territory quickly, but Sia answered his thoughts before he could voice them once again,
“Mother trees don’t open the forest for humans. That’s why humans can’t go,”
How inflexible.
Calian pushed down the desire to tell Rumein to stop allowing elves to use the royal road.
The Hina looked at Sia from the side, thank to his very strange ability, Sia answered Hina’s words without have to look at the sign language she used.
“Alright,”
He then looked at Calian and said,
“She says she’s sorry. She wants to go out. She says she’ll come back later when you’re not here and clean up.” He interpreted Hina’s words.
After saying that, Sia, who was no longer interested in Calian’s room, went out first. Hina hurriedly gathered the cleaning tools – but even as she did, her eyes kept glancing to the bird in the cage next to his bed.
When he saw that, a smile made its way on to Calian’s face. The unpleasant feeling that had come with visiting the dungeon prison  felt like it was being cleaned away.
Although Hina was older than the present Calian, in that moment, Calian understood what Yan meant when he had said that if he had a younger sister like Hina, he would treat her well.
Soon, Calian said to Hina,
“The bird will be sent out tonight,”
Hina nodded, looking disappointed. Calian opened his mouth again,
“When we get back to the palace, I’ll buy you another bird,”
Hina’s eyes opened wide and she shook her head. A bird cage in a maid’s room? Marylin, whom she was sharing a room with, might become uncomfortable.
Calian looked out of the window for a moment, it had been raining so much recently that you couldn’t tell the time of day simply by looking up at the sky. Calian, who had silently stared out of the window for a while, finally spoke.
“Open the cage door when I go into dinner. The windows too,”
Hina nodded to show she understood.
—
Rumein was welcoming his visit for the first time. At least, that’s how it felt to Alan.
After delivering Calians’ news last night, he said that he would tell him all the details today, so when he arrived, Rumein got up from his seat to welcome him as though head been waiting.
Well, for how much he had been anticipating it, wouldn’t it be better to deliver the story to him as soon as possible?
That’s what Alan thought, as he got straight to the point,
“Who’s crime is more severe, the one who attacked the prince of Kyris, or the one who sold Kyris’ information to another country?”
Rumein nodded briefly, without a saying a word. Before Alan could gouge what that reaction had meant, Rumein sent for the Captain of the Kaela Knights.
“Are you going to send knights to Latran? The Kaela Knights on top of that?”
“That’s right,”
Alan hurried dissuaded Rumein, who was awkwardly acting more emotionally than he normally did.
“It’s not good for the King’s direct order of knights to have such light feet. Aren’t you aware that Kaela are the knights who should stay by your majesty’s side? So call another order,”
Rumein’s eyes shook, what Alan had described was nothing less than high treason that the royal family must step forward to condemn. So it was not strange to send a royal order. Plus, there was a clear reason for trying to send the Kaela knights directly.
“Do you mean to send Brissen’s swords to that child, in a place where traitors are gathered?”
He said such words with the thought that Brissen Knights would not properly help Calian, who would be there alone. Upon hearing Rumein’s words, Alan replied leisurely,
“One of the traitors also betrayed Brissen, so there won’t be any problem with this,”
Alan also explained to Rumein what kind of people the two who had committed the crimes were and exactly what kind of crime they had committed. Once he heard everything, Rumein replied with a deep sigh.
“Although I knew Count Latran was good at talking, I didn’t think it would be that good. And a secretian spy on top of that – how did that child get tangled up with such rough people,”
“Well, it ended up happening like that somehow,”
Alan replied with a face that said that it couldn’t be helped.
There was nothing to explain because the facts were straight forward.
“I’ll send the Karen Knights then,”
“You should do so, and can you send some people to Count Latrans’ manor?”
The possibility was very small, but he was saying that evidence of this could be in the Count’s Kyrisis mansion.
Rumein was already thinking of doing that, so he nodded.
“I will do so,”
“Thank you,”
Alan said, as he glanced to the cups of lemon tea on the table. Even in the humid summer, Rumein enjoyed drinking hot tea but Alan shook his head when he saw the steam coming from his cup.
He tapped the tip of his cup with his finer, the riding steam died down and ice formed in the cup. He was already passed the stage of being where the heat and cold affected him, but even so, wasn’t it right to drink something cold and refreshing in the summer?
Alan sipped his iced lemon tea with a satisfied smile and said,
“If I can ask for one more thing, there’s a place I have I have to go today,”
There was a smooth change in Alan’s expression,
“Even if my steps are a little noisy, please proceed as normal,”
Rumein nodded, somehow, that carefully blank face had a hint of a smile on it.