At Kirky’s firm assurance that Ren would be all right, Ren set out for the capital at once. Peruan had hoped this would be an opportunity for Ren’s illness to become known in a subtle way, but with a few words from Kirky, the commotion was wrapped up as nothing more than Ren’s weak constitution causing trouble. Thanks to his explanation, Ren’s illness seemed to be covered up, but whether the group would believe him was another question. Coco devoted herself even more intensely to finding a famous physician.

Coco was not the only one whose heart had nearly stopped because Ren collapsed. Luman, Jepeto, Temar, and even Charles, who learned the news late, all spent that time in worry.

The one who woke Luman from where he stood frozen in the garden was Coco. Luman had gone inside with Coco’s group, but when he saw Temar leaving the room, he followed him. He could not simply go see Ren while pretending not to hear Ren’s voice from inside, calling for his brother.

When Luman followed Temar and grabbed him, asking what had happened, Temar answered in a voice edged with cold.

“If I’m beside him, I’ll only get in the way. You know what that means better than anyone.”

Of course he knew! Time and again, he had lost reason and nearly hurt both the physicians and Ren!

Luman could not comfort Temar. In a moment like that, in a situation where Temar was clinging to a thread of reason, Luman could not bring himself to say that he should have held Ren’s hand. Luman could only listen to Ren’s voice from inside the room as he called for his brother in agony. With his cruelly sharp hearing, he could only hear Ren sobbing and screaming....... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Luman’s advice had not been wrong, but in yesterday’s situation, it had not been appropriate. He felt guilty, as if he had separated the brothers, and could not properly face Ren.

“Haa.......”

His breath stretched long and white in the air.

Luman looked at the person ahead of him. Temar was at the front, and behind him, Geloman rode with Ren. Directly in front of Luman was Charles. Riding at the very back and making sure the group was taking the right path was Luman’s job.

Ren could not be seen at all behind Geloman’s massive frame. Only, now and then, the edge of a cloak flickering in the wind.......

He tried to shake off his thoughts, but like the falling snow that grew stronger and stronger, like winter’s final snowstorm, his heart only churned more fiercely, like a storm.

For now, it showed no sign of stopping.

Winter’s final snow.......

As he rode through the white, swirling scenery, Luman groaned deeply. Ren was a boy who did not like snow, and that hurt Luman. Would they never be able to look at winter snow and find it beautiful? The end of winter was fading away like that.

***

“Giselle.”

A fierce snowstorm blew. With a servant supporting him, Ragniel climbed the watchtower.

The person he sought was, as expected, also on the watchtower, looking down into the dizzying distance below.

“My king.”

The reverent voice rang through the watchtower. Ragniel’s gaze as he looked at Giselle was bitter.

“They are finally returning. My stars.”

The voice that called them “my stars” was steeped in sorrow. His face was full of longing, yet his expression was that of someone who had done something he did not wish to do.

“To think Luman would return in this manner.”

“You must punish him.”

“And I must reward him as well. In the communication he sent......”

Giselle’s eyes shone with sharp intelligence. Leaving his hair to whip in the wind without even thinking to smooth it back, he opened his mouth.

“It is what a Hero ought to do, Your Majesty.”

“But, Giselle. Must we be so harsh?”

“If we are not, the ministers will step forward.”

His gaze was calm.

“If the punishment is visibly light, it will instead damage his honor. Luman himself will not care, of course. Is gold not what he loves most? Though now, it seems that gold has taken the form of a person.”

“.......”

Ragniel’s gaze grew complicated.

“However, my king, please do not worry. The one a Hero serves first is you, after all.”

Giselle bent one knee and showed Ragniel the deepest courtesy. When Ragniel gestured for him to rise, Giselle stood and offered him his arm as if to escort him.

“It seems your loyal Heroes have returned. Shall we go greet them?”

“We should. Of course we should....... Let us go, Giselle.”

Ragniel’s voice echoed through the watchtower in sorrow.

***

Several days later, the Hero’s party safely entered the capital.

It was an ordinary entry, neither welcomed nor rebuffed. The castle servants seemed not to know they were returning, and when they saw the Hero’s party, their expressions turned unfamiliar and fearful. In this peaceful time, with rumors of an oracle slowly circulating, the appearance of a Hero who had erased all trace of himself was never good news. It only proved that the current peace was false, or that it would soon be broken.

Entering under those gazes, they found a group standing in the inner garden of the royal castle.

A handsome young man dressed in noble gold and red, and beside him, a beautiful young man standing as if guarding him. Behind them stood dozens of servants, maids, and royal guards.

“Heroes.”

The handsome young man reached a hand toward them. His pleasant, beautiful voice rang solemnly through the garden. Luman was about to whisper to Ren that this was the king, but Geloman had already finished explaining.

“I stand before the sun of the kingdom, its one and only light.”

Ren awkwardly followed those words as he bent one knee. The cold snow that had piled up through the long night seemed to bite icily into his body.

The sight of the tall, massive Heroes bowing their heads and kneeling before the handsome man was quite something. In the fierce wind, red and green cloaks whipped together with the snow that had accumulated overnight.

Ragniel’s gaze brushed over a bright head of hair. Giselle’s gaze did the same.

“Rise, all of you. The journey must have been hard. Rest from your travels, and I will see you at the evening banquet.”

After finishing his welcome and beginning to turn away first, Ragniel looked back at one boy.

That face, white enough to seem pale, the thin body and gaunt cheeks, seemed to prick at Ragniel’s heart.

“Are you Ren, the younger brother of Hero Temar?”

“......Yes, Your Majesty.”

Ren’s answer was slow. Temar’s expression stiffened, and Giselle’s eyes narrowed as well. But Ragniel did not show it. He approached and suddenly took the icy boy’s hand.

“Your Majesty.”

Giselle tried to stop him, but Ragniel paid him no mind.

“You must have suffered greatly coming such a long way. It must have been hard with an ordinary body. How could Heroes ever think about the stamina of ordinary people?”

Ragniel’s eyes grew warmly damp.

No particular emotion appeared in Ren’s eyes. Only a faint question rose like mist, then faded.

“I heard Temar’s younger brother was lively, but it seems the road has exhausted you. Or have you already grown mature? That would be a pity. You have not yet come of age, have you? Once you become an adult, you must take responsibility for things and experience the hardships of the world. So what happiness could be greater than being childish before adulthood? This royal castle and I welcome you, so run and play freely like a boy to your heart’s content.”

Ragniel did not blame Ren for giving no answer and quietly revealed his warm sincerity toward him. Since it was rare for him to display affection so plainly, the expressions of the bowed servants shifted subtly.

But his words were not appropriate, and they could never soothe Ren’s heart. Ren was not merely an immature boy, nor was he so young that he could run around the royal ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) castle and play. Ren’s innocence had sunk deep under the suffering of recent events. In that sense, Ragniel’s words were almost like deceit.

Luman’s expression darkened.

One servant who had been watching him stepped forward and knelt to Ren in greeting. Then, before Ragniel could stop him, the servant turned toward Ragniel and dropped to his knees with a thud, bowing his head.

“I am deeply grateful for Your Majesty’s grace!”

His ringing voice was no different from a knight’s spirit.

Then he stood and looked steadily at Ren. There could be no one who did not understand what that meant.

Luman’s face reddened, and Temar’s expression grew even colder. Geloman’s blue eyes merely stayed fixed on Ren. His thick lips were pressed firmly together.

Ragniel, flustered, had just barely composed his expression and opened his mouth when—

Thud!

A sound rang out, one that was in no way quieter than the servant’s kneeling had been.

“Ren!”

Luman grabbed his shoulders, but Ren did not move. Giselle’s eyes narrowed.