A Bruise and a Farewell

The young man at the stall flipped a sizzling chunk of meat, pausing mid-greeting to shout.

“Welcome! Oh? Weaver!”

“Hello, senior.”

Lamierre’s senior pressed down on the meat with his spatula and laughed heartily.

“What brings you here? You usually walk right past without even a glance.”

Lamierre gave a bashful smile. I looked between the two and asked jokingly.

“He just walks past? Why, is it not tasty?”

“No, no! Senior’s sandwiches are incredibly delicious!”

Lamierre waved his hands in a panic. The senior laughed and placed three more chunks of meat on the grill.

“A combination of fresh ingredients and the Phadel family’s special sauce! There is no way it could be anything but delicious.”

The sound of the meat searing was pleasant to the ears. I stepped closer to watch the cooking. The three pieces of meat lined up in the center of the grill were slid toward me. When I looked up, Lamierre’s senior winked at me.

“Look at this. Good, right?”

“Well…”

“Of course, it’s not as good as what they use in the Imperial Fortress, but it’s the best in this neighborhood.”

“Is that so?”

I looked at Isaac and asked. Isaac nodded.

“The quality is certainly decent.”

“The knight has a good eye!”

Energized, he began humming as he assembled the sandwiches. Flipping the meat, slicing the bread, piling on vegetables, and swirling a dark brown sauce twice over the sliced meat…

“It looks delicious.”

“Please enjoy, Grand Duke.”

I accepted the sandwich offered politely.

“What is your name?”

“It’s a Phadel Sandwich.”

I chuckled and crumpled the parchment paper wrapping.

“No, you. You said you’re Lamierre’s senior.”

“Ah! I am Lambert Phadel. I am training under Professor Temi.”

“Temi?”

It was a name I had heard before. Who was it… I bit into the sandwich while thinking.

“She’s a professor who researches mana circuits.”

Ah. That professor who wanted to dissect Lamierre. I nodded while chewing. Lambert introduced himself while handing the second sandwich to Isaac and the third to Lamierre. To be precise, it was a sales pitch disguised as an introduction.

Lambert continuously made sandwiches while explaining how great his current research was and how the world would change if it succeeded. I finished my sandwich while watching him. Lambert handed me another one with a smile.

“How is it?”

I took the sandwich and gave it to Isaac. I was full from lunch, and one portion was quite large. Isaac unwrapped the sandwich with a rustling sound.

“How is Lamierre doing?”

Lambert answered while scraping the grill clean. Diligent, smart, kind, motivated, ambitious… and so on. Hearing nothing but good things made me proud, yet also worried. Lambert set down his spatula with a clack and added one more thing.

“He never rests. How hard is it to just stop by and help my sales once in a while?”

“No, senior. That’s…”

While watching the flustered Lamierre, Isaac held something out to me. It was a drink from the stall next door. I looked at his cheeks, which were puffed out as if he had stuffed the sandwich in all at once, and ruffled his hair. It was cute how he just kept chewing without a reaction, making me burst into laughter.

I took the drink and had a sip. The bickering between the senior and junior ended with Lamierre vowing to visit the stall once a week. He won’t have time for a side job once the Magic Tower is finished, though. Since I like reading spoilers but dislike giving them, I stayed quiet. Then.

“Shall we go?”

At my words, Isaac paid for the four sandwiches. Even though I hadn’t responded to a single word of his passionate sales pitch, Lambert smiled brightly and bowed.

“Have a pleasant day!”

He seems to have more talent for business than research. I passed the stall while looking at his smiling face.

After that… I simply enjoyed sightseeing. I wished I had a camera. The weather was beautiful, and the scenery with mixed old and new buildings was lovely, so it was a bit of a shame.

Ah, if there was an incident, it was when Lamierre pulled me back in shock from a luggage cart passing by. Lamierre didn’t know what to do as he looked at my wrist where he had grabbed me. It was a bit of an overreaction, but since he did it to protect me, I didn’t want to get angry.

So, every time Lamierre apologized, I stopped at a stall and bought something.

Everything I bought became a “royal gift” bestowed upon Lamierre. Lamierre only shut his mouth after receiving seven gifts.

“Your Highness.”

Lamierre called out to me with a dejected expression. I looked at him and chuckled. The seventh gift was a large, ugly teddy bear. When I saw it on the stall, I thought it was truly hideous, but it was funny how it looked fairly decent in Lamierre’s arms.

“What do you want this time, Lamierre?”

When I teased him, Lamierre clamped his mouth shut. He was looking at my wrist. The handprint, which was bright red at first, had now turned into a deep blue bruise.

“I should have learned healing magic.”

“Is that so? Then shall I buy you a book?”

I looked around to see if there was a bookstore nearby, but Lamierre stopped me loudly, “No!” I laughed again and shook the hand of the teddy bear he was holding.

“Healing magic doesn’t work well on me anyway.”

I knew Lamierre’s words weren’t a regret about his lack of skill, but a roundabout expression of remorse. But it wasn’t like he did it on purpose… his sensitive reaction was because of the dream he had every night for a month. I muttered while squeezing the stuffed bear’s hand.

“Thank you.”

Pulling my arm, and then wrapping around to embrace me—it was all natural.

As if he were performing an action he had thought about dozens or hundreds of times.

The ‘me’ over there is already dead, and that accident is in the past, so no matter how much Lamierre practices or prepares, he cannot stop it.

It was a strange feeling. Not good, not bad, just a complex tangle that made my stomach churn. Lamierre fumbled with his other hand to undo the clasp of the bracelet on his wrist. I caught both of his hands.

“You keep that.”

I patted the back of his hands, then let go and stepped back.

“Grow up well and protect me properly next time.”

The sun was setting, staining one side of the sky red. I signaled to Isaac, and he walked ahead. I squeezed the nose of the teddy bear Lamierre was holding once, then turned away from him. It was time to go. I noticed the long shadows folding. Honestly, why is he bowing so politely to someone who turned their back without even a goodbye? I just waved my hand while looking at Lamierre’s shadow.

I came out while rubbing my cheeks, which were flushed from a long wash. Kallios was sitting in his usual spot reading a book. I hesitated between the bed and Kallios for a moment, then approached him with a yawn. I felt he was being insolent for just reading a book when his brother was right there… no, I just wanted to tease him, so I closed the book. Keeping my thumb tucked inside to mark the page, of course.

“Argenta Imperial History?”

Argenta was the Empire that ruled this land before Caprejena was founded. The Empire our Imperial Family destroyed 500 years ago. Knowing history is important, but a book the thickness of an encyclopedia filled with tiny text was honestly exhausting just to look at. I opened the page he was reading again. He grabbed my hand.

“Hmm? Why. This is the right spot…”

He pulled my hand and placed it on his palm. Feeling embarrassed, I tried to pull my hand away, but he interlaced his fingers with mine.

“Uh, Kallios.”

Even to my eyes, the dark blue bruise on my pale, thin wrist looked hideous. It was just a brief grip, but anyone looking would think a bone was broken. Even if the body is weak, it doesn’t need to be weak in this way. I cleared my throat and shook our joined hands playfully.

“Why Argenta all of a sudden?”

He tightened his grip on my hand. I pulled, then pushed my hand which had come to a halt, but eventually just relaxed my strength. He gently stroked the bruise with his finger. He touched it so carefully that it tickled every time his hand grazed my skin.

“Brother.”

“Yes.”

Kallios grabbed my wrist. His large hand completely covered the bruise. It didn’t hurt. I smiled and placed my hand on his head. I stroked and combed through his neatly arranged blonde hair.

“I met with the Rebaneh Academy Headmaster today, and he asked for a mana stone mine.”

While I was telling him about the conversation with Headmaster Herenso, he pulled me by the waist into an embrace. I ended up in an awkward position sitting on his lap. Um… I tried to get up but stopped. It was because the left wrist he was still holding bothered me. The hand that held me firmly, but without pain, was a bit… well.

I felt as if he were upset.

Well, if Kallios came back with a bruise from somewhere, I would have made a huge fuss asking who did this. He must be very upset.

Sitting leaned against him, I relayed the words the Headmaster had explained. He didn’t react much even to the explanation that the Magic Faculty of Rebaneh Academy would become independent. It was a very important and serious topic. Had an agreement already been reached with Kallios’s side? I looked at his face, as he was only staring at the wrist he had hidden, and called his name. He buried his face in my shoulder. I tilted my head to the side to avoid his hair tickling my cheek, then stroked his head.

I stopped explaining and stayed still. I felt the arms around my waist tighten. His sigh poured over my neck. I was going to say it only looked flashy but didn’t hurt at all, but I just smiled instead. My younger brother’s worry didn’t feel bad at all. In fact, I liked it.

“Brother.”

He called me. I didn’t answer but lowered the hand that was stroking his head. He sighed again. I didn’t know what he wanted to say that made him hesitate like this. I covered his hand that was holding my wrist. Then I pried his fingers off one by one. He let go obediently, only to grab my hand again.

“If you would just stay here.”

“Huh?”

I asked instinctively, then realized why he was acting like this and chuckled. A man in his prime can get a few bruises. To think his thoughts jumped that far because of this.

“I can’t leave it in someone else’s hands forever. It’s land with my name on it.”

“…”

“I’m curious, too. You said the atmosphere is very different from here.”

He loosened the strength in his hand. This time, I grabbed his hand as it slid out of mine.

“I think I… will be a decent king.”

“…”

“It’s not really because of my eyes and hair color. Just because.”

“…”

“I’ll invite you once I cultivate it into a nice place. Don’t push it back saying you’re busy, you must come.”

He didn’t answer. I squeezed his hand and then let go. I want to go to sleep now. At my words, instead of releasing his arms from my waist, he simply lifted me up. I lay down obediently while receiving the service of being placed on the bed and having the blanket tucked up to my neck.

Kallios looked down at me for a moment before returning to his usual seat. I fell asleep while listening to the regular sound of pages turning.