Re:START/If {Book 1.0}
Chapter 51: Quod (Part 03)
Capital of the Kingdom of Felixia, Millia. At the beginning of spring in mainland Michigan, one of the cities that became the meeting point of free trade was increasingly crowded by traders from home and abroad. In the sky of the royal court of Felixia which stood near the great lake, flew bustling herds of storks that had just returned after migrating to the Kritasil Bascal archipelago. The birds made large hordes and looked like living clouds in the clear sky, flying towards the isthmus area and with the ultimate goal on the imperial land.
From the bench in the royal palace courtyard, Princess Arteria looked up and pointed at the herons. Although he could not visually see the mighty herons that could fly hundreds of kilometers, the blue-haired woman looked amazed at the sight of their souls to whom they looked like bright burning hotspots in the sky.
The woman in the dark blue long dress looks very excited, sitting as if she wants to jump and shake her body forward and back with energetic on a park bench.
“Uwah~ Ramaya! So many they~! A sister! They are! They are so excited! The Stork Lords are so excited!”
Arteria tugged at the arm of Prince Ryan's suit, the older brother sitting next to her. The little smile looked at the woman who kept her eyes closed looking very enthusiastic, the dark red-haired youth said, “You know, Adinda. They are Manchurian cranes. The native habitat of the birds is most abundant in swamps and lakes in the empire.” Seen in excitement and gazing up at the storks in the sky, prince Ryan tidied up his grey coat collar and confidently went back to explaining, “In autumn they will migrate to the southeastern island, and then again, they will be able to move back to the south-eastern island, then at the beginning of spring as it is now they will be in unison again like that. They can weigh up to 15 kilos, loh! Their height can also be more than 140 centimeters!”
“Eh?” Arteria was surprised to hear that and immediately looked at her brother, then innocently said, “Means it can be higher than Kakanda, dong.”
“A—” Ryan fell silent, looked away and grumbled, “Be quiet, later also I will add height ..”
“Hmm?” Arteria briefly tilted her head, feeling astonished as she stared at the flames of her brother's life at a glance looking embarrassed at something.
As they joked lightly like that, suddenly one of the storks flying with his herd swooped down sharply and landed into the garden fountain pool in front of the two of them. Arteria's face immediately shone, getting up from the seat and wanting to catch the stork. Prince Ryan immediately held his sister's hand, a little anxious to see the host stork. The bird is unusual in size, looks larger than a stork in general and is even more tall than Ryan knows about the average height of the stork.
“Eh, what is it?! Isn't it up to two meters tall by itself?!” ryan's Mind. He clasped his sister's hand tightly, trying not to make a noise or attract the attention of a large crane drinking in the pond.
“Master Stork!!” call Arteria.
“Nih child, even called ...”
The white-haired stork with a black pattern on its neck and legs flapped its wings, then perched on the edge of the fountain and its eyeballs stared at them. The stork raised its head, as if showing off its red crown proudly. The stork came down and walked towards Arteia, staring at the two people with his tall posture.
“Ha-Hai, Mr. Bird—”
Geck! Ryan's forehead was pecked hard.
“Aaakh!! Saaiak! What the fuck this fucking bird is!”
The boy let go of Arteria's hand and stepped back, his forehead reddened and he stared in annoyance. Ryan clenched his hand and gathered Mana into a fist, then was about to hit the crane. But without being able to land a fist, the bird kicked the prince until his body floated and fell into the grass.
“Kwaaak!! A kwaaaak!! Kwaakk!!” the sound of the crane laughed at the prince.
“Oi!!” Ryan got up from the grass, then snapped, “What are you really a crow?! What kind of a stork are you, damn it!”
The young man immediately ran towards the stork and was about to land his punch again. The stork swung its right leg and attacked in the same pattern. Ryan who had understood the attack easily saw it clearly, then avoided the big crane kick and immediately grabbed his left leg until the crane lost balance.
But when it was about to fall, the huge crane flapped its white wings wide and landed a two-foot kick into Ryan's face, then he flew back and went with his herd towards the imperial ground. Some of the feathers of her fallen wings drifted down to Arteria's head, and the woman took the blue hair. Sensing her texture Arteia instantly knew it was a crane feather, she smiled happily and held it tightly.
“What is your Takanda alright?” asked Arteria while kneeling near Prince Ryan who had lost a landslide against a mighty crane.
“Hemp!” The red-haired boy immediately sat down, folded his hands forward and haughtily said, “I'm fine! My sister, who do you think your brother is?” The words were not just arrogance, Ryan did not get any injuries despite having been kicked hard by a huge crane. All the attacks he got had been withheld with reinforcement magic without Arteria's knowledge, all just to comfort his sister who had been looking moody the last few days.
“If only he could still see as he used to,” Ryan's mind.
“What's up, Kakanda?” The blue-clothed woman stared in wonder because her brother's soul glow looked a little shaky, then curiously asked, “Why grim?”
“Ah, no, kok!” Ryan stood up, then excitedly said, “Your brother is strong! Don't underestimate!”
“What is it?” Arteria smiled faintly, came up in front of her brother and hesitantly said, “Not that the Kakanda was kicked by Mr. Stork immediately floated.”
“Hemp!” Ryan turned his gaze, put his right hand over his sister's shoulder and loudly said, “I just relented!”
“Arteria is in doubt .... Lose or lose?”
“Certainly relented.” Ryan looked at his sister's frown, then raised his hand from her shoulder and looked back at her hands to the front of her chest.
“Could've Kakanda this ..., make the reason.”
“You take this as an excuse, huh? Hm! Sire, you seem to have misunderstood. Your brother is not a cruel person who could hurt such a beautiful bird, therefore your brother is deliberately not attacking him.”
“Lying! Arteria had seen the brother there is an intention to attack Mr. Stork, kok.”
Amid the joking jokes of the Prince and the Princess, the King who was their father came with some of his guards. The man who had all his hair bleached was dressed in a robe with accents of dark blue and black, wearing a crown as a sign of a King and walking upright with some of his bodyguards.
Arteria could immediately feel the arrival of her father, she saw the blaze of Gaiel's soul and immediately turned her head quickly. The woman's face immediately shone, then excitedly ran towards King Gaiel and directly hugged him.
“Ayahanda~!! Please listen, please hear~! When Arteria was sitting with the kakanda, there was a big stork that stopped by! Lord Stork is so big! Also my brother was kicked by Mr. Stork!”
The man who led the kingdom of Felixia smiled lightly at the sight of his daughter who was fed up with such a story. Although the look and posture of the blue hair woman looks like a woman who is around 19 years old, but Arteria is still a child who wants to be spoiled by her parents. What else after the Queen's departure can be said to be very short due to the effects of the royal family's pure blood and the Soul Contract made with the Holy Spirit of the Kingdom of Felixia.
“Hmm ..” The king placed his palm over Arteria's head, stroked her daughter and threw a big smile. With a bright expression the King said, “It looks like your brother needs to train even harder in order to protect you yes, my daughter.”
“Kakanda has been training hard!” The woman let go of her arms, looked straight at King Gaiel and said, “Arteria often see you at night practicing in the garden!”
“You heard that, my son?” the king said as he looked at Prince Ryan who began to shut up after the King and his guards came.
Ryan did not answer and remained silent, only giving a flat look because he understood the intention of the King's arrival was not to just meet his two children who were joking in the palace garden. He glimpsed at the King's guards, immediately understanding that they had just completed an agreement with the Royal Elders.
“To uncle Dart's residence?” Ryan stared puzzledly, he felt that there was something strange about such a stage of engagement.
“Yes, to my residence,” said Dart as he walked from the line of the King's guards towards prince Ryan. The grey-haired man tied to the pussy stood in front of Ryan, his blue robe blown in the wind and at a glance amazed the Prince to see the prowess of the man known as the Swordsman. Staring intently at the red-haired boy before him, the Marquess said, “Taking into consideration the traditions of the Luke family and the royal family, the Elders decided that it was best that Princess Arteria should come to Luke's residence first. Would you like to come too, Prince Ryan?”
“What can?!” ask the prince enthusiastically.
“Of course!” Dart smiled thinly with the look of flat eyes, slightly looking homesick with his own son at home. While holding Ryan's shoulder, in a high voice he said, “There you can also test the child who will be your sister's fiancee.”
“Eh?” Ryan was surprised to hear it, then grinned confidently and defiantly said, “Let's .. if uncle's son is battered how?”
“Hahah!” Dart broke loose, raised his hand from Ryan's shoulder and defiantly turned back, “Try if you can make the boy battered! I won't be angry! Really!”
“Dart! Don't even complain my son with your son!” reprimand the King. Holding his daughter, King Gaiel walked up to the two of them and patted Dart hard on the back. However, the Swordsman did not budge at all and instead the hand of the King was flushed red as if it had hit a hard object.
“Do not take seriously, Gaiel.” The Swordsman turned his head, then put on a thin smile that looked empty and said, “I'm just kidding .... If Ryan really challenged my son, I don't think Odo would have accepted it.”
“Eh?” Prince Ryan was surprised.
The king momentarily fell silent at Dart's expression which seemed to hide his anxiety. Closing his eyes for a moment and understanding that the man just did not want to show his anxiety in front of the children, King Gaiel tried to continue following the conversation and asked, “Why is that?”
“That child, Odo is smart when it comes to avoiding and avoiding troublesome things. If he was forced to fight, he would definitely not lose.”
“The edges of the fight are also ...”Gaiel frowned, then sighed and restlessly said, “People from the Luke family have been messed up, why have you always liked it that way.”
Dart was speechless with a flat expression. Arteria who could see the radiance of the soul clearly knew that the Head of the Luke Family was very anxious. He was about to hold Dart's hand and ask something. But before that, prince Ryan loudly asked, “Ayahanda! When do we go!”
“Oh, already excited, nih?” Dart looked at the boy, then put on a thin smile mixed with a hollow expression.
“Ya, of course!” ryan replied who had not paid any attention to Luke's Dart expression at all.
“Haah ..” King Gaiel shook his head, then reluctantly replied, “Four days left we leave .... Please don't just challenge people when you get there, will you? If it is wrong, you can challenge the fox monster who lives there.”
“Of course, Ayahanda! I am confident in my ability to judge the strength of others.”
“Excuse me, gentlemen ...” A misty-brown man walked past the guards, then faced King Gaiel. The man who came was the Rein Family Head, Thomas Rein. The man carried the parchment in his grasp, and handed it to the King, saying, “Your Majesty, the preparations are done. For the territory of Mr. Jakall and Mr. Garados, they have agreed to a deal to ignore the Fourth Pact of the Country if the people of Moloia attack and send their troops.”
Gaiel immediately took the parchment and stared intently at Thomas, feeling that the man did not read the atmosphere and immediately spoke of such politics in front of the children. The king did understand that it was indeed a characteristic of the people of Rein, but still it made him sigh and say, “Because that's why your son imitated your nature and played the tripe of corrupt nobles mercilessly.”
“Eh?” Thomas looked confusedly, then asked, “Why is His Majesty suddenly discussing my son?”
“Sudalah ..., good work. You are always reliable about this.”
Thomas was more confused to hear the King's words. Staring at Dart as if asking for an explanation, the Swordsman instead stared flat as if mending the insensitivity of the Head of the Rien Family. Prince Ryan who heard that immediately understood that it was about the possibility of war that would break out in the near future, but he did not ask because he considered the existence of Arteria.
“Oh, yes! I almost forgot it ...” Thomas seemed to remember something, then quickly asked, “Your Majesty, may we stop by my residence for a moment?”
“Eng? The route can be one-way .... What is it for?”
“Letter from my wife until yesterday, he said he wanted to come to visit the residence of Marquess Luke and meet with Mrs Mavis.”
“Lady Calista?” King Gaiel looked astonished, at a glance looked away and asked, “Not usually your wife wants to go out, instead she does not like to go out?”
“I also don't understand.” Thomas shook his head, then with a confused expression said, “But in the letter, my wife said that Arca often went out of the house and she was lonely. Huh, it seems like it's not just Mr. Dart's son who often makes his parents anxious.”
“I don't think that's the case,” said king Gaiel. The King stared flatly at the insensitivity of one of his confidants about the contents of a woman's heart.
Although as a fellow man who had family experience, Thomas' understanding of the contents of the woman's heart was inferior to Dart or Gaiel. Sighing deeply at Thomas's completely oblivious manner that his wife was clearly sulking until she sent such a letter, Dart and Gaile looked away and looked upset at it.
“The luckiest person is hard to realize his luck,” Gaiel murmured.
“Indeed, it feels shitty. Is it true that people have escaped puberty?” mumbling Dart.
For both men who get a life partner with a unique background and need a big sacrifice, he said, Thomas who can have a normal family makes them upset because the man is not sensitive and does not seem to care about it.
“Yah .... Among us, his wife is the most, anyway. I don't think we should care about it,” whispered the King to Dart.
“Yes, about that he's superior to us I guess. I only take care of one my wife is also dead-set, but she even has four,” replied Dart with a cynical tone.
Seeing that, Thomas instead caught their point in a different way and instead said, “Do you also want to do a political marriage to face the possibility of this war? It could be that the conflict this time could be prevented with that, Your Majesty, Mr. Dart.”
The words seemed to douse the fire with gasoline, making Dart and King Gaiel stare at the dark man who was not at all shouting to know someone. Sighing lightly and shaking his head, neither Dart nor the King said anything more as he was resigned to Thomas's nature. Indeed for the age of a dozen to twenty it is natural to be insensitive like that, but until the age of almost touching the head of four is still like it has also become a uniqueness and its own miracle of the man named Thomas.
Amidst the chatter of the three adults, Arteria and Ryan look grim and their minds are worried about the war that will happen in the near future. None of them liked bloodshed, the two sons of the king were well aware of how painful it was to lose.
Ryan nodded his head. In addition to being anxious for Arteria, she is also worried about her own birth mother, the concubine Sarawati Irbar. His mother was from the Ungea Kingdom, he had a blood relationship with the emperor because he was born from a concubine. Thinking of many things, there was a possibility that the Ungea Kingdom would also break the pact and could have attacked the Kingdom of Felixia.
“If war really happens, whether Mother will side with Ungea kingdom or this kingdom .... If he sided with Ungea, would Dad ...” Ryan just looked at the King who was talking to Dart and Thomas, not daring to ask what was in his mind and just shut his mouth tight.