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Episode 1: This Life Is Truly A Joke – Chapter 4.1
Quite a strange day had passed.
He wondered if he opened his eyes if he might find himself back in Secretia–or perhaps in the afterlife. The unexpected sound of Yan’s bell woke him and shattered his thoughts. Nothing had changed after all.
“Did you have a good dream, Prince?”
Calian sat up and savored the morning tea Yan brought him, then returned the empty cup. After washing his face in the basin, he spoke.
“I’m going to cut my hair.”
Yan’s eyes widened and he blinked in surprise, wondering if he heard wrong. Calian repeated himself again so it was unmistakable.
“My hair. I’ll cut it.”
He motioned with two fingers and pretended to cut his fringe. However, Yan hadn’t misheard Calian. He replied straightaway, wondering what this was about.
“Yes, Prince. I’ll make the preparations right away.”
Before long, the royal hairdresser was brought to Calian’s room. He carefully held his scissors in hand, and also queried Calian again of his decision.
“Are you sure you want to cut it?”
A frown appeared between Calian’s brow.
Like most knights, he didn’t like to repeat himself, and he especially didn’t like that he had to repeat himself three times in a row that he wanted to cut his hair. What the hell where they so hesitant about? Calian pointed at the scissors and spoke.
“Do I have to cut it myself?”
“No, Prince. My apologies.”
Only then did the scissors become busy, and after several careful snips Calian shook off the loose black hair so it no longer covered half his face.
Calian took a good look of himself in the mirror.
‘Hooh.’
Calian’s mouth broadened into a smile.
It was not a lie to say that he resembled his mother Freya, who was said to be the reincarnation of a goddess.
‘Is this face not a fine legacy of Freya?’
Calian nodded with satisfaction, and even Yan looked impressed. However, his voice turned subdued in anxiety.
“You look great, Prince. But if…”
Yan was worried about how Franz would take it, considering how he reacted at yesterday’s breakfast from simple eye contact. Calian, oblivious of what his attendant was worried about, stood up from his seat with a grin.
“One shouldn’t keep looking like a fool.”
Yan looked surprised at the uncharacteristic words and demeanor of his master.
Calian bore a confidence Yan had never seen before, and he was uneasy about this sudden change. Not that this newfound assurance was bad, of course, but he was worried Franz might become even more belligerent.
Calian, sensing Yan’s nervousness all the way to the dining hall, sought to reassure his attendant.
“Don’t worry, I can handle it.”
He went to the dining hall and took his seat, and it wasn’t long before Franz appeared. Franz walked in with his distinctive hazy eyes, and he looked at Randall’s empty chair before turning to Carlisle.
Those thin, light-blue eyes gazed down at Calian’s red ones. Calian did not flee from his sight. He looked straight at Flanz with his face no longer hidden behind his fringe.
Franz let out a laugh then turned away. Yan hurriedly concealed his surprise.
‘Is it over? He laughed and it just ended like that?’