"From the very beginning, the object of our service was wrong. If that's the case, we must correct it now."
Cloud lowered his head. He felt drained, thinking it was all over.
“...I will surrender.”
At his weak voice, the subordinates gasped.
Cloud was a wanted criminal accused of attempted assassination of the Crown Prince. Even if he turned himself in, he wouldn't escape the death penalty.
"Why would you do something like that...! You'd better run away with us. We'll be with you until the end!"
Those who had once said that he was a coward and ran away to live alone were now trying to stop Cloud.
“...My niece is there alone. How could I abandon her and choose to live alone?”
He mounted his horse and began to move, holding a flagpole with a white cloth hanging from it.
One step at a time, slowly. Towards the main gate of the Duke of Weishaffen's residence.
It was the true meaning of surrender.
At first, no one recognized him because it was dark, but when he reached the light of the lantern and dismounted, the knights recognized him and pointed at him and screamed.
“Hey, Cloud Air!”
“Catch him now...!”
Cloud was quickly brought to his knees and bound. He accepted it all with a humble expression.
“What’s the fuss?”
At that moment, a stranger's voice was heard.
The knights turned their heads toward the sound and hastily saluted. The voice belonged to none other than Emperor Hiram of the Peles Empire.
“Ah, Your Majesty the Emperor...!”
“We have captured the man who attempted to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince. Please flee to safety...!”
The Emperor, disembarking from the carriage, studied Cloud's face with a complex expression. He had heard stories of how he had helped Aila in times of crisis.
Hiram couldn't easily forgive him, as he was the one who tried to kill his son, but he couldn't just hold onto resentment.
To use a sword analogy, Cloud was a rare and renowned sword. It simply fell into the wrong hands.
Thinking about it that way, he felt a bit sad.
"He surrendered himself. Shouldn't he be treated with at least some human courtesy?"
When Hiram pointed to the white flag Cloud was holding, the knights who had just discovered it looked slightly bewildered.
“I need to go inside to see the person I’ve been waiting for so long, so don’t be too rough with me.”
He shrugged and climbed back into the carriage.
Cloud stared blankly at the back of the carriage as it moved away.
He knew that brothers were completely different from each other, but experiencing it firsthand made it feel even more different.
It wasn't that the older brother was lacking, so the younger brother seemed relatively superior. It was simply that the younger brother's bowl size was far greater.
The carriage carrying Hiram pulled right up to the building. He got out with a confused expression and walked into the mansion.
And there... Byron was waiting, looking so unsightly that he couldn’t bear to open his eyes and look at him.
“It’s been a while... brother.”
At the sound of his voice, Byron, who had been bowing his head, raised it. Two pairs of yellow eyes met in the air, and it seemed as if sparks were flying.
“Hiram, you thief...!”
Byron growled like a madman. If he were free, he would rush in and bite his brother.
“...What did I steal that I deserve to be called a thief?”
“Whose seat do you think you're sitting in? That seat has been mine since birth!”
At his brother's answer, Hiram lowered his head slightly and laughed vainly.
Still, he tried at first. He tried to understand him somehow and correct his misconceptions.
And he long ago gave up on that. He realized that no matter how hard he tried to communicate, they couldn't communicate.
"The seat I sit in has never been yours. Even if you were to wake up, you wouldn't understand why Father chose me over you."
Hiram's voice was filled with both anger and resignation. He seemed to pity Byron.
"It's all over now. Accept the sins of betraying filial piety, of kidnapping a child, and forcing him to commit such heinous acts."
At his brother's words, Byron erupted in anger and shouted. Even in this situation, he still refused to give up.
“...Do you think it will end like this? My loyal soldiers will soon invade here!”
"Oh, are you talking about Cloud Air? They surrendered with a white flag."
Hiram's serious demeanor disappeared, and he returned to his playful demeanor, speaking naturally.
“Th, what is that...!”
“Do you still think he’s your subordinate? He’s been serving the Princess of Weishaffen for a long time.”
“...”
Byron looked at his brother with a dejected expression.
Byron wondered where things had gone wrong, but it turned out they had been falling apart for a long time. He just didn't realize it.
Hiram, who was looking at the scene, covered his nose from the foul stench that had been coming from earlier and asked.
“But what is that smell? Where does it come from...?”
“Ah... That’s why the sinner incontinently... I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
Roderick, who was beside him, sighed and told the whole story. He said that Byron was scared because he thought Ayla was going to kill him when she pointed her knife at him.
“...Aila, he often shows you the bad side. I’ll compensate you with my much better closet.”
Hiram held his head as if he had a headache.
He said that, but deep down, he thought that Aila might kill Byron.
Perhaps he thought that when he arrived at this mansion, he would encounter Byron's corpse rather than the living one.
'But you're saying you'll let him live and give him the appropriate punishment instead of killing him?'
He'd always coveted her as a match for his son, but this choice made Hiram even more attracted to Aila. He could have let his hatred drive him to make a different choice, but he didn't.
“Then I will now take care of this interest.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Please do so.”
The purpose of coming to the Duke of Weishaffen's residence had been achieved, so it was time for Hiram to leave the building and return to the palace.
“Ophelia, my Ophelia...!”
Byron, who was being dragged away by the royal guard knights, discovered Ophelia and started causing a ruckus, shouting her name.
“My love, my Ophelia...”
Ophelia glared at Byron with contempt, then stepped forward. Then, spit in his face.
"Don't take my name on that filthy tongue. I'll cut it out so you can never say my name again. And I'll gouge out your eyes so you can never look at me again."
“Ophelia, don’t say such hurtful things.”
“...You really are a man without a clue. This is nothing new.”
Ophelia closed her eyes tightly.
It was disgusting. She hated him so much that it made her shiver.
But now that it was all over, she would let go of those feelings. That was her decision.
She suffered because of him for too long. She doesn't want to spend the rest of her life hating him.
As Ophelia turned away coldly, Byron began to call her name again.
“Ophelia, Ophelia...!”
“Keep your mouth shut. It’s noisy.”
Hiram, who was walking ahead, let out a deep sigh. Truly, it was a situation where the person involved was unaware of the shame, while the person next to him felt even more ashamed.
He just wanted to quickly return to the palace and rest.
Just as Ophelia was finally calming her trembling heart and about to return to her bedroom, Aila spoke to her with a worried expression.
“Mother, are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. But your hair...”
Ophelia, who was looking at her daughter with a smile, widened her eyes when she saw her daughter's hair, which was uneven in length due to being roughly cut with a knife.
“Ah, that’s... It’s light and nice when cut.”
Aila laughed awkwardly and stroked her short hair.
She felt very awkward because she had lived with long hair for so long that she had never cut it even once in her life.
“...”
Ophelia looked at her daughter blankly, unable to say anything.
She hadn't heard of Byron's unusual obsession with Aila's hair, but she had a rough idea.
It was because he showed the same obsession with her.
From the moment they first met, Byron stroked Ophelia's hair and kissed it without permission. He'd even praised her beautiful, sparkling silver hair endlessly.
Aila had probably been bullied like that her whole life.
"I think it'll look pretty if I call a hairdresser later and trim the ends a bit. My daughter is so pretty, short hair suits you well."
Ophelia smiled and ruffled her daughter's hair.
Although her hair was slightly curled, it was a bit different from the straight, bob cut of Isidore's second daughter, Michelle, but Aila's curly bob definitely had a unique charm.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“...Yes, Mother.”
Aila felt so refreshed right now that she wondered if her body and mind could ever be this light.
It seemed as if the pain that had been weighing her down, as heavy as the weight of her long, severed hair, had all disappeared.
“That’s good.”
Ophelia held her daughter's hand tightly, as warmly as when they first met. Strangely, she felt as if tears were welling up in her eyes.
Roderick, who had just left to see Hiram off, returned to the mansion. As if in collusion with Ophelia, Roderick squeezed his daughter's other hand.
And at that moment, Aila realized.
Now, she felt like she could confess everything. Even the treason she'd committed before she'd returned to time.
“Mother, Father. I have something to tell you.”
Cloud lowered his head. He felt drained, thinking it was all over.
“...I will surrender.”
At his weak voice, the subordinates gasped.
Cloud was a wanted criminal accused of attempted assassination of the Crown Prince. Even if he turned himself in, he wouldn't escape the death penalty.
"Why would you do something like that...! You'd better run away with us. We'll be with you until the end!"
Those who had once said that he was a coward and ran away to live alone were now trying to stop Cloud.
“...My niece is there alone. How could I abandon her and choose to live alone?”
He mounted his horse and began to move, holding a flagpole with a white cloth hanging from it.
One step at a time, slowly. Towards the main gate of the Duke of Weishaffen's residence.
It was the true meaning of surrender.
At first, no one recognized him because it was dark, but when he reached the light of the lantern and dismounted, the knights recognized him and pointed at him and screamed.
“Hey, Cloud Air!”
“Catch him now...!”
Cloud was quickly brought to his knees and bound. He accepted it all with a humble expression.
“What’s the fuss?”
At that moment, a stranger's voice was heard.
The knights turned their heads toward the sound and hastily saluted. The voice belonged to none other than Emperor Hiram of the Peles Empire.
“Ah, Your Majesty the Emperor...!”
“We have captured the man who attempted to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince. Please flee to safety...!”
The Emperor, disembarking from the carriage, studied Cloud's face with a complex expression. He had heard stories of how he had helped Aila in times of crisis.
Hiram couldn't easily forgive him, as he was the one who tried to kill his son, but he couldn't just hold onto resentment.
To use a sword analogy, Cloud was a rare and renowned sword. It simply fell into the wrong hands.
Thinking about it that way, he felt a bit sad.
"He surrendered himself. Shouldn't he be treated with at least some human courtesy?"
When Hiram pointed to the white flag Cloud was holding, the knights who had just discovered it looked slightly bewildered.
“I need to go inside to see the person I’ve been waiting for so long, so don’t be too rough with me.”
He shrugged and climbed back into the carriage.
Cloud stared blankly at the back of the carriage as it moved away.
He knew that brothers were completely different from each other, but experiencing it firsthand made it feel even more different.
It wasn't that the older brother was lacking, so the younger brother seemed relatively superior. It was simply that the younger brother's bowl size was far greater.
The carriage carrying Hiram pulled right up to the building. He got out with a confused expression and walked into the mansion.
And there... Byron was waiting, looking so unsightly that he couldn’t bear to open his eyes and look at him.
“It’s been a while... brother.”
At the sound of his voice, Byron, who had been bowing his head, raised it. Two pairs of yellow eyes met in the air, and it seemed as if sparks were flying.
“Hiram, you thief...!”
Byron growled like a madman. If he were free, he would rush in and bite his brother.
“...What did I steal that I deserve to be called a thief?”
“Whose seat do you think you're sitting in? That seat has been mine since birth!”
At his brother's answer, Hiram lowered his head slightly and laughed vainly.
Still, he tried at first. He tried to understand him somehow and correct his misconceptions.
And he long ago gave up on that. He realized that no matter how hard he tried to communicate, they couldn't communicate.
"The seat I sit in has never been yours. Even if you were to wake up, you wouldn't understand why Father chose me over you."
Hiram's voice was filled with both anger and resignation. He seemed to pity Byron.
"It's all over now. Accept the sins of betraying filial piety, of kidnapping a child, and forcing him to commit such heinous acts."
At his brother's words, Byron erupted in anger and shouted. Even in this situation, he still refused to give up.
“...Do you think it will end like this? My loyal soldiers will soon invade here!”
"Oh, are you talking about Cloud Air? They surrendered with a white flag."
Hiram's serious demeanor disappeared, and he returned to his playful demeanor, speaking naturally.
“Th, what is that...!”
“Do you still think he’s your subordinate? He’s been serving the Princess of Weishaffen for a long time.”
“...”
Byron looked at his brother with a dejected expression.
Byron wondered where things had gone wrong, but it turned out they had been falling apart for a long time. He just didn't realize it.
Hiram, who was looking at the scene, covered his nose from the foul stench that had been coming from earlier and asked.
“But what is that smell? Where does it come from...?”
“Ah... That’s why the sinner incontinently... I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
Roderick, who was beside him, sighed and told the whole story. He said that Byron was scared because he thought Ayla was going to kill him when she pointed her knife at him.
“...Aila, he often shows you the bad side. I’ll compensate you with my much better closet.”
Hiram held his head as if he had a headache.
He said that, but deep down, he thought that Aila might kill Byron.
Perhaps he thought that when he arrived at this mansion, he would encounter Byron's corpse rather than the living one.
'But you're saying you'll let him live and give him the appropriate punishment instead of killing him?'
He'd always coveted her as a match for his son, but this choice made Hiram even more attracted to Aila. He could have let his hatred drive him to make a different choice, but he didn't.
“Then I will now take care of this interest.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Please do so.”
The purpose of coming to the Duke of Weishaffen's residence had been achieved, so it was time for Hiram to leave the building and return to the palace.
“Ophelia, my Ophelia...!”
Byron, who was being dragged away by the royal guard knights, discovered Ophelia and started causing a ruckus, shouting her name.
“My love, my Ophelia...”
Ophelia glared at Byron with contempt, then stepped forward. Then, spit in his face.
"Don't take my name on that filthy tongue. I'll cut it out so you can never say my name again. And I'll gouge out your eyes so you can never look at me again."
“Ophelia, don’t say such hurtful things.”
“...You really are a man without a clue. This is nothing new.”
Ophelia closed her eyes tightly.
It was disgusting. She hated him so much that it made her shiver.
But now that it was all over, she would let go of those feelings. That was her decision.
She suffered because of him for too long. She doesn't want to spend the rest of her life hating him.
As Ophelia turned away coldly, Byron began to call her name again.
“Ophelia, Ophelia...!”
“Keep your mouth shut. It’s noisy.”
Hiram, who was walking ahead, let out a deep sigh. Truly, it was a situation where the person involved was unaware of the shame, while the person next to him felt even more ashamed.
He just wanted to quickly return to the palace and rest.
***
Just as Ophelia was finally calming her trembling heart and about to return to her bedroom, Aila spoke to her with a worried expression.
“Mother, are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. But your hair...”
Ophelia, who was looking at her daughter with a smile, widened her eyes when she saw her daughter's hair, which was uneven in length due to being roughly cut with a knife.
“Ah, that’s... It’s light and nice when cut.”
Aila laughed awkwardly and stroked her short hair.
She felt very awkward because she had lived with long hair for so long that she had never cut it even once in her life.
“...”
Ophelia looked at her daughter blankly, unable to say anything.
She hadn't heard of Byron's unusual obsession with Aila's hair, but she had a rough idea.
It was because he showed the same obsession with her.
From the moment they first met, Byron stroked Ophelia's hair and kissed it without permission. He'd even praised her beautiful, sparkling silver hair endlessly.
Aila had probably been bullied like that her whole life.
"I think it'll look pretty if I call a hairdresser later and trim the ends a bit. My daughter is so pretty, short hair suits you well."
Ophelia smiled and ruffled her daughter's hair.
Although her hair was slightly curled, it was a bit different from the straight, bob cut of Isidore's second daughter, Michelle, but Aila's curly bob definitely had a unique charm.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“...Yes, Mother.”
Aila felt so refreshed right now that she wondered if her body and mind could ever be this light.
It seemed as if the pain that had been weighing her down, as heavy as the weight of her long, severed hair, had all disappeared.
“That’s good.”
Ophelia held her daughter's hand tightly, as warmly as when they first met. Strangely, she felt as if tears were welling up in her eyes.
Roderick, who had just left to see Hiram off, returned to the mansion. As if in collusion with Ophelia, Roderick squeezed his daughter's other hand.
And at that moment, Aila realized.
Now, she felt like she could confess everything. Even the treason she'd committed before she'd returned to time.
“Mother, Father. I have something to tell you.”
Comments
Post a Comment