Things to Do During the Day - Chapter 6

“This is a letter from Her Highness the Crown Princess.”

Standing at the door early in the morning, Cedric politely held out a silver tray with a letter on it. As Cedric said, an envelope with the crown princess’ seal was seen. Arsion told him he did a great job as he picked up the letter, then he came back to the bedroom. 

Ariel was still fast asleep on the bed. He thought she would sleep more since they went to sleep late last night while talking about which part of the territory to visit.

Arsion smiled at the sight of Ariel sleeping, curled up and hugging his pillow.

Miraculously, after Ariel’s return, he no longer confused dreams with reality. He didn’t feel tired even after working late.

‘I think it’s all thanks to Ariel.’

It was the same back at the duke’s estate. When he worked at the royal palace or at another place, he used to feel tired, but when he fell asleep while holding Ariel, he became full of vitality, as if he wasn’t tired at all. Come to think of it, it wasn’t just him. Whenever the crown princess was tired, she called for Ariel, not him.

This was also the case at the duke’s house, where it always gets busy when winter approaches.  The vassals, who were dying in the duke’s office, also took a little breather when Ariel came in. They would mutter about how they were somehow less tired that day.

Not only that, but also even when the flu was all over the capital, the dukedom was always spared from the tumult.

“Huh……” 

The lips of Ariel, who was asleep, curved into a smile; he wondered what kind of funny dream she was having. Looking at the way she smiled, she seemed to be doing something exciting in her dream.

Arsion wished they could have a dream together.

He was unhappy that there was a part of Ariel he didn’t know. He really wanted it all. To the point where he wanted to make sure that no one even approached the path Ariel had walked on.

Arsion was thinking of waking Ariel, who was enjoying herself without him, but ended up just sighing and opening the letter when he recalled that it was in his hand. Why did the crown princess send a letter all the way here? Arsion’s eyes moved along the handwriting.

“…….”

Blue veins rose as the hand holding the paper gradually gained strength.

“……What?”

A rough voice popped out. Arsion read the letter again.

[……He really wanted to meet Ariel. When I saw him, I was about to call the knights right away. Apparently, even though she is already married, he doesn’t care at all. He thought she was his first love. Now that he heard that you two have gone to the marquis’ territory, I think he’ll probably go there…….]

Arsion’s face distorted while looking at the next sentence.

[He’s a man of rare proportions. I think you should be nervous?]

Krrsh. The paper he was holding was crumpled up. It was impossible not to know that the crown princess intentionally wrote the last sentence. She underlined it twice in red so that he wouldn’t miss it, and if he didn’t know it, he would be a fool.

‘What kind of bastard is he?’

Arsion tried to recall memories. Who the hell could he be? Since childhood, all the flies around Ariel had been removed, but what kind of person dared to put his face in without knowing his place? 

Arsion went to the bed. He sat next to Ariel and looked at her, who was still sound asleep.

“You don’t know.”

He had been so busy since he was young.

* * *

Ariel had a lot of affection. So she smiled easily to everyone she met, and was always kind. As a result, there were people following Ariel without knowing his distance. Among them, the son of a viscount was the most annoying.

The one Arsion looked at from afar whenever he entered the palace with Ariel. The one who was standing in Ariel’s way with the flower crown he made. Ariel recognized and greeted him, and his face would turn red and he would stutter. 

Another young lord advised the man not to waste his time because Ariel is Arsion’s fiancée but the young man replied, “I like Ariel as much as Arsion!”

When Arsion heard that, he immediately wanted to run up to him and punch his mouth. He wanted to cut his throat just because he was looking at Ariel like that, and he really couldn’t stand hearing that he liked her as much as he did. 

Ariel was very upset that day and told him, “I don’t know what’s going on, but seeing that Sion is angry, he must be a bad person.” If she hadn’t said that, he really wouldn’t have let him go.

Of course, he didn’t stay put. Pretending that it was a coincidence, he met the young lord at the royal knights’ training field and asked if he would like to have a fight.

“Of course! But Lady Ariel didn’t come with you today?”

Ariel was left behind on purpose, so Arsion just laughed. His friends were whispering, “How long would a handsome man like Arsion hold a sword? If you take this opportunity, won’t you be able to show off? It’s a good thing, right?” Arsion heard others encouraging the young lord.

He wondered if the young lord was encouraged by his friends’ words. He stood in the field with a big sword, shrugging his shoulders. Arsion looked at the swords and deliberately chose the thinnest one. The sword Arsion chose could only sting a dragon, not cut it; they laughed, saying they knew it would happen. 

Their smiles disappeared the moment when the battle began and their swords clashed once.

The opponent’s choice of sword was used for killing a monster or a giant beast. Arsion’s choice was a blade that was weak in power, but could aim at the vital points at high speed. The moment they collided, who would win was decided. And with one blow from Arsion, his opponent’s sword broke neatly.

“What… is this…”

It was not easy to see a sword break. Furthermore, the swords brought in were used by the royal knights. These swords were made by skilled craftsmen, yet they were broken?

“I can’t believe you’ve made such a mistake.”

Arsion spoke in a grave tone, brought another sword, and handed it to the man. The young lord who received the sword thought Arsion’s words were about the blacksmith who made the sword. Arsion made a second attack before his bewilderment was cleared.

Kang! The young lord heard a clashing sound by his ear again and the sword in his hand fell to the floor. His body, reeling from a great shock, fell onto the floor. As he turned his head, a half-broken sword rolled around on the ground.

The young lord got goosebumps. He thought it was a coincidence when it happened the first time, but he could tell for sure when it occurred a second time. It was not a coincidence.

Kwajik!

Three swords were stuck in front of the young lord who was looking at the broken sword. They were really just right in front of him. If it had been an inch nearer, it would have stuck into his eyes, not the ground.

“Gasp……”

A shrill sound of his heart popped out of the young lord’s mouth. Then he heard Arsion’s voice above him.

“You’ve made a mistake twice.”

“……!”

At that moment, the young lord realized. What was the ‘mistake’ he had made? Arsion said again as the man was unable to move his frozen body with fear.

“There will be no mistake the third time.”

“……!”

On that day, the fight ended there. It was because the man crawled to his friends like a dog and ran away. 

That evening, Ariel said to Arsion.

“What made you so happy?”

“Mm, there was a bug that was bothering me, so I kicked him out.”

“A bug?”

“What kind of bug did you kick out for you to feel good until you got home like that? Was it a disgusting bug?”

Arsion kissed the curious Ariel’s forehead and told her there was no need for her to care. Ariel really didn’t have to care. He would kick all the bugs out.

* * *

Arsion sighed as he recalled his past. It was just one of many things. Didn’t he come close to Ariel knowing that she was pretty and cute? 

He didn’t kill the young lord.  He just sent him far away. There were probably quite a few people who didn’t know why he suddenly had to study abroad or go to an island no one had ever heard of. 

He really wanted to slice the man’s neck off and bury him, but if he did, the goddess’ anger would be directed at Ariel, not him. What a lucky man he was. If it was a country that didn’t believe in God, he would be talking to non-humans in the depth of the ground or water by now.

Arsion approached the fireplace. This was a place far from the capital, so winter came a little faster. The servants filled the fireplace with firewood so that the marquis would not feel cold.

Arsion threw the letter into the blazing fireplace. It was a rule to burn personal contact from the crown princess after reading it. 

Anyway, he knew that the crown princess sent the letter with a good heart. She was telling him to keep an eye on Ariel.

“Who is this  son of a bitch.”

The crown princess did not write his name. That meant she didn’t know him. Seeing the letter burning in an instant, Arsion vowed.

‘This is something for everyone to know. I am a persistent guy anyway. If I catch a bug, it’s over for that bug, whether it knows it or not.’

* * *

“Whoa, it’s cold.”

Thinking about the temperature of the capital, Ariel put on appropriate clothes and felt the cool early winter wind. At Ariel’s murmur, Arsion gave her the thick coat he was carrying as if he knew it would happen. Ariel, no longer feeling cold, looked up.

It was sunny when she first came, but there were thick gray clouds in the sky today. Seeing the wind blowing unusually cool and damp, she thought it might snow.

‘Then it’ll be the first snow of the year.’

The last time she saw snow with Arsion was before he joined the holy knights as an apprentice. She thought they could see snow together again after a long time, and she hummed automatically.

‘That’s why I had that dream.’

Arsion asked when Ariel walked forward while recalling the dream she had last night.

“Why are you so happy?”

Ariel grinned, not answering his question. Arsion followed with a slightly dissatisfied look when Ariel walked without answering.

As the vassals said, the marquistate was a very rich place. Numerous migratory birds were busy picking up fallen grains in the fields that remained after harvest. Looking at the scenery, the two headed for a small lake at the entrance of the village.

It was a quiet place. Ariel approached and sat down because she saw a bench made for the people walking around. At the edge of the lake that she could see at a glance, small animals that came to drink were running around.

“It’s peaceful.”

“I know.”

Ariel leaned her head on the shoulder of Arsion, who was sitting next to her. And she asked something that bothered her a little in the morning.

“Sion, what happened this morning?”

“……No, nothing happened.”

Something happened.

Ariel glanced at Arsion. There was a very short, but obvious pause before he answered.

In her sleep, she heard the door and Arsion talking to Cedric outside the door. Then, when she opened her eyes for a moment, she saw Arsion throwing paper into the fireplace. It was obviously a letter from someone.

“Hmm.”

Ariel looked away from Arsion and turned her head away. Before she knew it, her lips were jutting out.

“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

“…….”

“Even if I ask you, you won’t answer.”

“…….”

Somehow, the appearance of Arsion, who was still silent, made her angry. At this point, Arsion would normally tell her that it was not really like that. But today, strangely, he kept silent.

“That’s fine, I won’t ask you any more.”

No matter who heard it, Ariel was upset! Her voice was shouting in his mind. As Ariel turned away from the bench, Arsion asked from behind.

“You didn’t tell me either.”

“What do you mean?”

“The reason why you suddenly brought a whip and candles.”

Ariel turned back, frightened by the words.

“Th-that’s…!”

“Things have definitely gotten weird since we went to the banquet. But you haven’t told me anything so far.”

“…….”

“And a little while ago. Why didn’t you answer me when I asked you why you were feeling so happy?”

Ariel lowered her head at Arsion’s words.

“……I did it because it wasn’t a big deal.”

Arsion’s voice became cold at the words.

“Yes, I didn’t tell you because it wasn’t a big deal either.”

It was a childish fight. Ariel and Arsion were well aware of that. When the words that began as a joke became sincere, it stung more than sharp words. She felt sad because it was really nothing.

‘No, do you need to put me down like that?’

It had been fun until just a moment ago. Ariel’s mood suddenly became as dark as the gray sky. As Arsion said, it was her who hid something without saying it first. 

Nevertheless, it would be her fault if she were to feel it was unfair. But she thought she didn’t want to lose here. Why couldn’t he try to understand her?

‘I don’t even know what I was feeling.’

Ariel didn’t just bring a whip out of curiosity. Arsion wouldn’t know how nervous she was when she first prepared them. She didn’t really know why she was so down on her way back from the banquet.

Tears welled up all of a sudden. Ariel turned around and took a step forward because she felt like she was going to lose if she cried over such childish words.

“That’s fine. I’ll leave first.”

Would Arsion hold onto her? Would he catch her?

Ariel thought it was funny that she both wanted and didn’t want Arsion to do that. Besides, she felt she was the one who did something wrong first, but it was also her who didn’t want to apologize. She didn’t hear Arsion approaching even as she took a few steps. 

Was Arsion really upset? It was when Ariel wiped away the tears around her eyes and raised the back of her hand.

Thunk.

She heard something stabbing deeply.

“Keuk……”

And the moaning of pain. It was a terrible moan that gave Ariel goosebumps all over her body. 

“Sion?”

Why are you making such a scary noise? She tried to say that. But Ariel couldn’t say anything when she turned around. Arsion was standing. And there was something poking through Arsion’s belly. The sharp, blood-stained sword shone even under the gray sky. 

“Si… on…?”

Arsion was looking at his stomach stiffly. He, too, looked in shock, like what the hell this was. 

“Long time no see, Arsion.”

An unfamiliar voice was heard behind Arsion. At that voice, only then did Ariel know that someone was standing behind Arsion. Long black hair, black eyes. He was as beautiful as Arsion. She was sure he was a stranger……

“Carmion?”

‘How do I know his name?’

At Ariel’s voice, Carmion pulled out the sword that stabbed Arsion. Red blood splattered loudly on the ground. Arsion was still looking at his stomach with a face that showed he still hadn’t registered what had happened. After passing Arsion, Carmion approached Ariel and knelt down.

“Long time no see, Ariel.”

He bowed his head to Ariel.

“Now I can finally serve you.”