15. Snow Moon Flower – 07
Contrary to Ariel’s expectations, Cain von Estel did not hold back the expedition. No, to be honest, his existence was very useful.
Contrary to the expectation that he must have a very hard and tired personality because he is one of the dukes of an empire that boasts a thousand years of history, he had a fairly easy-going personality for a noble. He was the kind of person who got up early in the morning and took on many tasks even without being told to do so, received swordsmanship training from the princess to be of any help, or never complained on the way through an extreme blizzard.
…rather, the problem broke out elsewhere. Yes, to put it bluntly, everything except Cain von Estel and Ariel were problems. At least that’s how it looked from Ariel’s point of view. To put it bluntly, it seemed that there was no normal person in this expedition other than Ariel.
First of all, the imperial princess was arbitrary. He gave instructions to others as if he were the leader of the expedition, but of course, not a single one among them thought of the princess as their leader. Thanks to this, if the princess had a conversation with other women, the end would end with a high-pitched voice that seemed to leave the surroundings.
Kyrie el Denaris was sticking to the attitude of putting others down, as if she was the only one who excelled. There was definitely something in her demeanor that pretended not to, but subtly got on the nerves of others. At the same time, she was also an insidious woman who pretended to be innocent and tidy by herself.
Bianca del Castana, contrary to the public reputation that she contained the most supreme wisdom among mankind, was an insane woman who had slightly lost her taste. He is nervous about everything, sometimes commits things that don’t make any sense at first glance, and there were many times when he acted even more irrationally when he had a specific person in front of him.
To explain in detail, Bianca del Castana behaves relatively normally in front of other people, but when Cain von Estel is in front of her eyes, she behaves as if she has changed people. Even in Ariel’s eyes, who prided herself on having eyes to see people, there were many times when she couldn’t grasp what kind of mental world Bianca del Castana had.
‘Did they know each other in the past?’
Well, judging from the way the two of them put their words at ease, it seemed certain that they had known each other for a long time. In a sense, we were having conversations that seemed to come and go between friends who had known each other for a long time. Although, in terms of balance, it was an unequal situation in which Bianca del Castana infinitely overpowered Cain von Estel, but that was not Ariel’s business.
Ariel’s purpose is to subdue the ‘Witch of Winter’ and put an end to the tribulation that befell this world, not to improve the relationship between Bianca del Castana and Cain von Estel or to provide psychological counseling for them. because it was If their relationship goes from bad to worse, he had the intention of helping to improve the relationship, but it didn’t seem to be that far. It was clear that there was an exchange of unknown, subtle emotions between the two.
Time passed like a lightning bolt, and the expedition to subdue the witch was also moving smoothly toward the northern Duchy of Estel, wading through a blizzard.
Relations between the members of the expedition couldn’t be described as good, but they weren’t so stupid that they easily forgot why they were heading north.
Then it was one night.
“…Bianca? Can I excuse you for a second?”
Ariel went to find Bianca’s tent because she had a conversation with Bianca about building a barrier, but Bianca was away and there was no trace of her anywhere.
“…Did you go to see Cain training again?”
Except for the barrier that Bianca and Ariel had built together around here, there was only one place for Bianca to leave her tent as a blizzard was raging in all directions.
Recently, Cain said he wanted to help this expedition, even if it was a little bit, and was in the midst of receiving swordsmanship lessons from the princess whenever he had spare time. That figure, Ariel could easily recall.
And that wasn’t all. Bianca’s appearance of always clinging to Cain, casting healing magic on him, or sometimes volunteering to help him in his training, as if she was concerned about Cain’s injury, often brought Ariel a sense of wonder.
Ariel sincerely couldn’t understand the duality of Bianca, who always spoke bluntly and harshly with her mouth, but acted like a newly married woman just by looking at her actions.
Throwing such a good thought into the corner of her head, Ariel slumped down on the sofa in the center of the tent. If he sits quietly like this, Bianca will return to the tent someday, so he intended to sit here quietly and wait for Bianca until then.
…And Ariel witnessed it sitting quietly on the table in front of the sofa.
“…earring?”
It was a pair of beautiful earrings made of red ruby. And Ariel knew all too well what these earrings were.
To be precise, it was something I couldn’t do without remembering it. Because a few days ago, there was a story of forgetting that earring at the campsite where we stayed the day before and causing such an uproar. In the end, the memory of how Cain, who couldn’t overcome the noise, ran to the camp and retrieved the earring, and then quietly kept his mouth shut, was still vivid in Ariel’s mind.
“…Huh.”
Ariel, involuntarily intrigued, picked up an earring that had been placed on the table and examined it carefully. The earrings made of ruby were really suitable for Bianca, who has fiery red hair and red eyes, but Ariel looked at the earrings here and there, and doubts settled in her eyes before she knew it.
‘…It’s a shoddy item. Are those earrings you bought from a street vendor?’
Although Ariel had no interest or interest in things like jewelry, she had been living in the Empire for nearly 20 years, which could be said to be the headquarters of all priests. The value of jewels and trinkets, it was possible to guess how much value they had just by looking at them roughly.
To put it in a word, these earrings were fine, but at the same time they were nothing more than cheap trinkets. It could not be anything other than a cheap earring worn by the daughter of the richest marquess family in the empire and the most expensive archmage in terms of income.
Could it be something with a story? What kind of story is there that keeps children’s toys so precious? Indeed, the very moment when Ariel was once again trying on her earrings out of curiosity that had been stirred for the first time in a long time-
“…Ariel. What are you doing?”
Behind her, a voice containing a subtle murder echoed.
“Even in the proud Empire, they didn’t seem to teach you how not to touch other people’s things carelessly, right? Or did he have a hobby of sneaking into other people’s tents like rats and spying on other people’s private lives? It must be too noble a hobby to be called the saintess’s hobby, right?”
Ariel gently turned her head to look behind her, and there was Bianca, who was gasping for breath with her face distorted, as if she was genuinely angry.
“…give it to me. It’s not something a woman like you should carelessly touch.”
Saying that, Bianca snatches the earring from Ariel’s hand before she can answer. Then Bianca looks around anxiously, wondering if the earring might be damaged. As if she didn’t like the fact that the earring was in someone else’s hand, even for a second.
“…..”
Seeing Bianca like that, Ariel naturally couldn’t help but have a question. Why did Bianca ‘forget’ to leave the earring she treasured and cherished so much at the camp where she stayed before? Also, why did he not say anything about the fact that Cain’s earring was in someone else’s hand when he had a seizure?
Bianca del Castana cherishes cheap, crudely made earrings.
It is not acceptable for others to tamper with the earrings, but only Cain is allowed to touch them.
Although he acts blunt and cold with his mouth, he is contradictory in that he follows Cain around and helps him.
…No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed that there was only one correct answer through a series of clues.
Ariel cautiously opened her mouth to Bianca at the ‘interest’ that had been soaring for the first time in a long time.
“Bianca.”
“why.”
Fortunately, Bianca answered in a much better voice than before, as if she had confirmed that there was nothing wrong with her earrings.
“Do you have anything to say to me? Either that, or whatever you want to say.”
“…What?”
Bianca frowned slightly between her brows as if she couldn’t understand what Ariel was talking about.
“What nonsense are you talking about? I don’t understand what you’re talking about, so get out of here. Because I don’t want to have a relationship with a stray cat who carelessly touches my things.”
“is that so? I thought you had a lot to say about the earrings. If that’s you, then I guess I have no choice but to take a step back here.”
Contrary to the meaningful words directed at Bianca, Ariel backed away too easily. Ariel lazily got up from the couch she was sitting on, still keeping a soft smile on her lips.
“Ah, by the way, if I get out of here, I plan to visit Cain’s tent right away.”
“…what?”
As expected, Bianca seemed very agitated the moment Ariel mentioned the name Cain. And with that alone, Bianca had exposed all her weaknesses to Ariel.
“This is just my intuition, but somehow I think Cain would know the identity of the earring you cherish so much. Well, there’s a chance you won’t be able to remember it, but if the two of you put your heads together all day, isn’t there a chance you’ll come up with an answer?”
“…Ariel, you…”
At Ariel’s relaxed tone, Bianca gnashed her teeth. Ariel’s words were no different from a threat to tell Bianca out of her mouth before going to Cain and telling her about it. In my heart, I wanted to make a life-and-death decision right here in order to shut that woman’s mouth.
“…..”
Unfortunately, that woman’s strength was essential to subjugate the ‘witch of winter’. In a situation where there was no cleric in charge of defense and recovery for allies, it was no different from dog death if you rushed at the enemy.
…Moreover, he has a weak body that is incomparable to the other women in the expedition, and he might die soon without Ariel’s help.
In the end, the path Bianca chose was right.
“…There, sit on the road. I’ll tell you everything you want, so please keep your mouth shut about Cain.”
It was an inevitable acceptance of the situation. If it was impossible to get rid of that woman, I had to at least silence her by satisfying her curiosity.
“Don’t worry. I promise you. If you tell me everything, I too will take your secrets to the grave. Originally, listening to the confession of others is one of the duties of a priest.”
Glaring fiercely at Ariel, who spoke so skillfully, Bianca let out a deep sigh as if she had resigned herself and began to unravel the bundle of stories one by one.
About 20 years ago, a boy and a girl met for the first time.
A boy who treats a girl who was shunned by everyone and treated as a monster.
A vague memory of running around in a vast garden like a forest, with a ‘friend’ you’ve made for the first time in your life.
The last day with him, whom I promised with my little finger to be together when I become an adult later.
…and a pair of earrings the boy gave him that day.
It was a cheap item purchased with a child’s pocket money, but it was the only gift he gave to himself saying that it would suit him well.
Like that, Bianca told Ariel a lot of stories, as if her own heart was hotly excited.
To be honest, at first it was just funny.
One of the most powerful wizards in the present world, and that woman who will not lose her dignity even in the face of the emperor, suffers so much because of only one man, and if she stands in front of him, her usual cool-headedness will become an idiot. The fact that Manda was so funny was so funny.
…But before I knew it, I took Bianca’s story seriously and sympathized with her.
It was frustrating. According to Bianca, isn’t it that Bianca has been in love with him for 20 years? But why can’t he do such a simple act of conveying his heart? Why on earth do you end up spitting out words completely different from your own feelings when you stand in front of him? It was so frustrating and pathetic. What would you do if you were the greatest wizard on earth? She is just a pathetic woman who can’t even openly tell her heart.
“Should I rather speak to him indirectly? Bianca, do you love him?”
It’s really funny, but sometimes it’s better to hear about it than to say it yourself.
At Ariel’s suggestion, Bianca gently shook her head from side to side.
“Cain doesn’t like me very much. No, it would be more accurate to say I hate it. Before the two of us approach each other as human beings, his heart is full of prejudices, so even if you say anything, he won’t listen to it.”
Ariel quickly understood what Bianca was talking about. A deep-rooted feud between the Duke of Estelle and the Marquis of Castana. Bianca was concerned that Cain would not trust her just because she was a descendant of the Marquis of Castana.
“…If that’s the case, it’s just a matter of explaining honestly so that his misunderstandings are cleared, right? Why are you shrinking like a coward?”
At Ariel’s words, Bianca looks at her and her eyes light up fiercely.
“okay. If he understands me and, as a result, loves me, nothing could be better.”
“…but what if he doesn’t accept me? What if he says he doesn’t love me? What if he says he can’t accept me because he already has a woman he loves?”
If that happens, the woman named Bianca del Castana will no longer be with him. The very moment he rejected her, it could not but mean that for Bianca, the place to remain in this world had disappeared.
“So this is the only way for me. I know it’s wrong, I know it’s wrong. But I want to be by his side even in this way, and I want to remain in his memory.”
Ariel let out a sigh at Bianca’s words, which somehow felt pitiful.
“…it’s like hell. You, who cannot take a single step forward because you are afraid of your one and only failure, will look at Cain for the rest of your life and be in constant agony and pain. Is that the ending you wished for?”
“…Yes, it doesn’t matter.”
Bianca muttered as she very carefully touched the earring in her hand.
“Because I much prefer a hell where he can be seen even from a distance, rather than a heaven where only I exist.”