Chapter 137

Chapter 137

“Good morning, Nacht!”

Bam! The door burst open with a loud bang .

It was my dear elder brother, as energetic as always . I wonder what got him into such a good mood for that wide of a grin to float on his face .

At least knock on the door next time, will you? I grumbled to myself before returning a nonchalant greeting .

“…Good morning, elder brother . ”

I was currently in the royal capital .

Of course, Johan and Princess Rosemarie were with me too .

When I invited her to the capital, she looked rather troubled . She said she didn’t want to stand out too much considering she wasn’t officially invited into the country in the first place .

Perhaps she felt guilty for barging in with the excuse of it being an emergency . How humble, despite what she did .

When I pointed out that ‘you simply answered our call for help,’ she gave me a wry smile . Whether we change the reason after the fact, or mix in some lies, once you looked past all of that, it remained that that was the truth .

Besides, she didn’t smuggle herself in . She had entered aboard one of the trading ships owned by Sir Julius zu Eigel, a famous merchant from Nebel, to enter the kingdom . In other words, it was a matter of her not wanting to reveal her royal status .

There was absolutely nothing wrong .

I knew she wasn’t very keen on the idea, but we managed to persuade her in the end . And thus, here we were, in the royal capital .

We had just arrived yesterday .

I was still tired from so much travelling despite sleeping so soundly last night . In fact, it was too much having to deal with my oh-so-energetic brother right now .

“The weather is pleasant . It’s shaping up to be a lovely day today, isn’t it?”

“…Why have you been so useless since this morning, Brother?”

I muttered, making no effort in hiding my disappointment . However, it had no effect on this brother of mine, who somehow kept his lofty smile afloat .

“I’m just so happy because Nacht has returned!”

“…Is that so . ”

This time, my dumbfounded reply was without poison .

Normally, just talking to him would easily make me want to punch his face in, but right now he was sincerely saying the things he wanted to say to me, one word at a time .  This is the only place this person can be really cunning sometimes .

“So, do I get to meet the princess today?”

“Yes, and I ask that you not be rude to her . ”

Frankly, I had no more strength to spare .

I don’t dislike my brother, I just don’t trust him . If he starts being rude to our great benefactor, I would mercilessly slap him and drag him out of the room myself .

My elder brother had his eyes wide in surprise while looking at me .

“…Isn’t it rare for you to be making such a desperate face?”

“Her Highness Princess Rosemarie not only is a saviour of the Kingdom of Wind, but also someone important to me . ”

“Eh!? Y-You like her!?”

“Are you stupid?”

My cheeks dyed bright red as my brother leaned his face over . I replied with a cold glare .

This brother-father pair… How come the conversation with them ends up being about love every time?

“What? You don’t? Then what feelings do you have for her?”

It’s embarrassing if you’re gonna ask me out of the blue like that .  Respect and admiration would be the first things that came to mind, but that wasn’t all . Whenever I see her facing peril so valiantly, I just can’t sit still .

She made me want to change my way of thinking .

“Hey, hey, Nacht! Tell me already, I wanna know!”

My dearest brother shook my shoulders while I was in the middle of my thoughts .

My god, you’re annoying!

I was about to shrug his hands off before I suddenly stopped .

I had remembered something .

“Speaking of which, Brother . How about a match?”

“…A match? What match? And what for?”

My brother tilted his head, puzzled . When asked for a reason, I thought it over before giving my reply .

“There’s something that I desire to have for myself . I’m fine with any game, so we can do whatever you want . ”

‘But I must win in the end . ’

My brother’s eyes were wide-open following my remark . His long eyelashes flickered a few times .

“So… You have to win for that something you absolutely want?”

“Yes . ”

“I would give it to you if you had asked, though? You don’t really have to fight for it . ”

“It’s important that we do . It’s like a declaration of my determination, I suppose . ”

I brazenly proposed such an idea and threw formalities out the window .

Normally, he would tell me off and to stop joking around, but this time he simply nodded .  ‘So how about we play rock-paper-scissors until Nacht wins?’ He seriously blurted out something stupid . Pretending to be much of the same fool and going along with it, ‘Let’s do that,’ I replied .

“Then let’s start . ”

I shook my fist, and my brother did the same .

“Rock, paper…”

*********

“-acht! Nacht!”

“…Hm?”

A small voice was nudging my shoulder .

In the midst of recalling what had happened this morning, I was violently awoken to reality by Johan . I looked over to where he sat next to me, and he seemed to be in a foul mood .  What on earth happened while I was out?

Asking him with a glance, Johan replied by silently pointing his gaze towards his answer . There, my brother stood frozen still while facing Princess Rosemarie .

“…”

“…Um?”

Her Highness Princess Rosemarie glanced at him in confusion . When hearing her bewildered voice, my brother finally thawed out and exhaled .

“My deepest apologies… I was so captivated by your beauty that I ended up staring . ”

That’s the first line out of your mouth?!

I fumed silently as I clenched my fists and swore in my heart I would beat him up the first chance I get .

With my brother’s cheesy pick-up line delivered, Princess Rosemarie returned his greeting with a lukewarm smile . One would normally notice the awkwardness in the air, but my dense elder brother proved otherwise, and my head started to hurt when such a scene continued to unfold .

I wish you would read your surroundings more, dear brother . I especially wanted him to notice Princess Julia’s cold eyes from her place next to him .  Oh, and it’s better if you don’t see the ripping vein popping on Johan’s forehead .

Despite the danger in the air, this carefree prince continued to be oblivious .

Was it a mistake to let my brother meet Her Highness, after all? No, I’m sure they would have eventually crossed paths at the princess’s welcoming party a few days from now anyway .

In order to put my brother on a leash and quell that destructive energy of his before the feast for the princess rolled around, we decided to have them meet up first under the pretense of an afternoon tea event with much fewer people around… But seeing the princess forced an uncomfortable smile, I realised that I may have made a grave mistake .  I’m terribly sorry .

“Sir Licht, it’s unfair if you hog the beautiful lady all to yourself . Please let me meet her too . ”

Princess Julia broke the uncomfortable air after waiting however long for my brother to finish his gawking . She stood next to my brother, moved her gaze over to Princess Rosemarie, and gave a bountiful smile . Princess Rosemarie slightly blushed .

“What a treat for the eyes…”

My elder brother muttered his inane opinion while staring at the two princesses as they introduced themselves to each other . I hate to agree with his old-fashioned remarks, but it was true .

On the one hand, we had a beautiful girl with long, lustrous black hair that matched her elegant, crystal-like eyes of the same color .

On the other was a gorgeous girl with eyes of pure sapphire and platinum-blonde hair that shone like the sun .

Their dresses also contrasted with each other .

Princess Julia adorned a dress full of flower patterns growing on green ivy branches that complemented the black background . The laces that decorated her cuffs, the ribbon on her chest, and her chokerーall of them in blackーperfectly accompanied her outfit .

Her Highness Princess Rosemarie’s dress, in contrast, was all ivory . The dress’s puffy sleeves were embroidered and trimmed in a muted golden hue, while the laces and hems of her skirt frills were brightly sparkling, as if they were outlined with the finest of pearl ornaments .

Light and darkness, the sun and the moon, yin and yang .

Even though they were complete opposites in terms of looks, somehow, the two matched each other harmoniously . They looked like a pair of dolls .

“I’ve wanted to meet the girl called the ‘Hero of Wind’ by the people for a long time . ”

Princess Julia grabbed Princess Rosemarie’s hands . Julia was the shorter one, so her eyes naturally gazed up, causing the other party to withdraw slightly .

“I’m afraid I’m not as much of a hero as you heard . I couldn’t do anything without the people around me . ”

“That’s not true . You are the driving force that moved everyone by your side . Even the pharmacist clan, who never obeyed anyone before, also lent you their strength, didn’t they? I would like to meet them if possible!”

“Unfortunately, they’re not here at the moment . ”

It was Johan, not Princess Rosemarie, who answered her .

Her attention drawn away from Princess Rosemarie, Princess Julia casually peeled herself off of her . Johan moved to hide his sister behind him before turning to Princess Julia .

“Oh? Won’t I get to see them?”

“They’re not a circus . And they only follow my sister, after all . ”

Julia cutely tilted her head to one side, which made Johan noticeably uncomfortable . Her lips drew an arc, further accentuating how icy her eyes were .

Johan, her face telling you to ‘get lost’ is clear as day, you know?

Perhaps he had no intention for Princess Julia to meet with the clan from the start . Well, they were nowhere near the palace in the first place .

I parted with the Kua back in Grenze .

Most of them simply returned home to their village, but five offered to continue their stay in the city .

According to the reports, the epidemic had only temporarily subsided and was highly likely to happen again . Although we still don’t know how the disease was spreading, they suspected that insects were the primary vectors .

In other words, the epidemic was halted not only because of our medicine and treatments but also due to the changing season . There was a chance the disease may spread again once insects become more active during springtime .

‘We want to oversee the current situation for a couple more years until it finally settles down . ’

I nodded towards the five Kua volunteers who offered to monitor the forest . To be honest, I would have requested they do so otherwise anyway .

And so, the five of them decided to stay in Grenze, but as pharmacists of the Kingdom of Nebel .  ‘I am willing to cooperate with the Kingdom of Wind . However, I ask you to not forget that our one and only master is Princess Rosemarie,’ said the eldest of the five .

Those who had returned to the village already made their determinations clear .

At the time of parting, they heartily laughed alongside Princess Rosemarie who was full of tears, shouting, ‘It’s not like we won’t see each other again!’ and so on .

‘Regardless of what happens, we will always be there for you, so please secure a place for yourself in the meanwhile,’ he added .

Whatever happens, the hearts of the Kua people would never change .

Never favouring a noble who only sees their worth in gold . No matter how much wealth piled up before them, it is no use .

“Y-You’re right . Though, that’s a shame . ”

Princess Julia backed down after giving it some thought . For some reason, she took her eyes away from Johan and shifted it to my elder brother, muttering, ‘I guess I’ll have to give up on that for now . ’

Was I wrong to think that she had given up on more than just a meeting with the Kua? Am I overthinking this?

No, the smart princess probably understood the situation well .

Princess Rosemarie was now an important ally for the Kingdom of Wind . The connection between her country and ours will become even stronger from now on .

Even if she stole my elder brother’s heart, the relationship between our two countries would remain a hard egg to crack .

Besides, although my brother loves women, he wasn’t the type to drown in them . When push comes to shove, he had always prioritised his family first .

So if she were to be my brother’s bride, it would be very difficult to make him dance on her palms .

And above all…

I raised my head up when I thought thus far .

Meeting the sharp gaze, my eyes met those of black crystals . An invisible abyss stared back at me as if I was its prey .

However, those malicious eyes immediately diverted away, and Princess Julia continued her laugh with Princess Rosemarie .

“I’ve finally come face to face with Princess Rosemarie, who I’ve always wanted to meet . This is something I can boast about when I get back home!”

“Princess Julia, are you returning to Raptor?”

“Yes . Though I haven’t told you this yet, my aunt appears to have fallen ill, therefore I shall be taking my leave soon . ”

When asked by my brother, Princess Julia returned an apologetic tone .

“I would be happy to see you all again someday . ”

The gaze that went around to my elder brother, Johan, and Princess Rosemarie, finally fell onto me and grabbed me in its sights . But I wasn’t afraid . In fact, I returned a bold smile .

“Yes, likewise . ”

But by that time, I’m afraid our positions would’ve already changed .

I murmured in my heart .

Because I had already resolved myself since this morning .

********

I compared my brother’s wide-open palm with my scissors and told him thus:

“It’s my win . ”

“Yep, Nacht won . So, what do you wish for?”

My elder brother nodded without a shred of regret in his voice .

But for some reason, he took a deep breath and stared at me, all excited . It made me nervous . It took considerable courage to say my next words, but I could no longer turn back .  I won’t give up now .  Even if it brings trouble, I shall face it head-on .

I have decided that I would change .

“Then, I would like the throne . ”

My brother’s eyes were the widest I had ever seen them . Without delay, I continued .

“Give me the firstborn’s right to inherit the throne to the kingdom . ”

I wish to be king .

To protect my beloved people with my own hands .

And to protect my friends who had saved those beloved people .

I will become king .