It was a paper airplane.
Looking closely, it was a paper airplane made of folded letter paper.
Looking more closely, it was a paper airplane folded into a letterhead written in the elegant cursive of the Marquis of Bloomlodrin, that it would be better to meet soon as there is something to be discussed over the military budget. And Gail recalled the fact that he had not yet responded to the Marquis’s letters as well as most of the letters that arrived before the Crown Prince.
An ominous premonition raised his head.
Gail also raised his head.
He could see a wide open window in front of him.
Next, he saw the Crown Prince who was addicted to origami while putting his feet on the desk.
Finally, the Crown Prince verified the Princess, who flew a folded paper plane out of the window.1
Knowing the situation, Gail McHurt ran out of the palace determinedly.
“You’re very good at action. If you’re an aide to the Crown Prince, you should be that close.”
Erin mumbles while listening to Gale’s shout from afar (Here! You carry an umbrella and you carry a basket, and you carry a dragonfly! Follow me! Where do you get a dragonfly? How do I know that?).
Aurest, who just happened to complete the last paper airplane, said…
“Gail’s only weakness is that he doesn’t have patience.” Aurest, who was fiddling with the angle of the paper plane, grinned. “Hey, Celtic. Teach Gail some patience. Tristan isn’t the only big one, but you’ve done a great job holding on.¹”
Aurest flew a bell-tipped plane aimed at Celtic’s nose. Celtic caught it in the air.
“Isn’t patience not a virtue, but a profession? Don’t be too hard on me,” Celtic opened up a paper airplane and stared over the window.
People with umbrellas were picking up paper airplanes. It was a sad scene. It was even more regrettable to think about what would follow. It was more expensive than he thought to open a wet paper airplane without tearing it apart. In order to restore letters that were smudged and illegible, even wizards had to be mobilized. Wizards were always complaining. It was different from knights that obey orders unconditionally.
He could already hear voices complaining that they didn’t come into the imperial family after serving as an apprentice for more than 10 years to do such chores.
Celtic stopped worrying.
Wizards’ complaints were handled by the Crown Prince’s right-hand, Gail McHurt, not by the Crown Prince’ escort, Celtic. After finishing his job by internally expressing his deep consolation to his struggling right-hand who had the wrong boss, Celtic spoke the main purpose of entering the office.
“Gail McHurt is away, so I’ll take his place for a moment. His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince. It’s the poetry section of the State Council. The lieutenants are waiting.”
“Has it already started?”
Aurest rose from his seat, dawdling.
“Erin, I’m afraid I have to go. See you later.”
“I haven’t seen you in a long time. Already? Later, when?”
Erin grabbed Aurest’s shirt’s hem. Aurest’s expression softened.
“I don’t want to go if I feel like it. I’d like to spend more time with you and ask you to keep your head in the beauty of the document.”
“Your Imperial Highness the Crown Prince.”
Celtic spoke to Aurest and smiled habitually.
Aurest, who was urged, raised his eyebrows.
“I’m going, so don’t be a pussy. You seem to resemble Gail more and more?”
“I’m replacing Lord Gail. Your Highness will understand with a broad heart.”
“I get it, I get it.”
Only then did Aurest, who rose aestheticly from his seat, touch the red flowers on his chest and said…
“Then Erin, I will come to see you again before this flower withers.”
It was a voice full of regret. Celtic thought again about the depth of Aurest’s affection for Erin. The story of Crown Prince Aurest who once told him that he cares about his younger sister dearly.
‘A younger brother is just a terrible creature. My little sister seems to see me as some kind of cockroach. If I were to die from an apology one day, it would be Jedis Bell.’
As he shuddered, he doubted Aurest’s mental state with the friendship of the noblest brother and sister in Tantal.
Of course, it was in a position without Aurest. However, Celtic’s view was different from Gereint’s. Aurest truly loved his fragile and beautiful sister.
Even the heartless Aurest looked like a regular person who knew affection when he brought up his sister’s story.
He wanted Erin to be happy, and he wanted Erin’s smile, and he wished Erin’s happiness.
It was definitely positive.
Aurest bowed his head as if to kiss Erin on her forehead.
The friendly-looking brother and sister smiled at him.
Then Erin jumped up from her seat.
“Then I’ll follow you, too! I’m an imperial family, so I deserve to be there, right?”
Celtic’s happy smile turned into an embarrassing smile.
The Crown Prince, who is scheduled to be the next emperor, is entitled to participate in the Cabinet meeting, but the Princess, who does not have a leadership position, was not qualified. After thinking about how to convey this fact, he decided to say it in a euphemistic way.
“Your Royal Highness, we have only as many seats as we have in the conference room. So next time,…”
“What a good idea! Let’s go!”
The glow of Aurest hardened Celtic with a smile. Erin smiled refreshingly.
“Don’t worry if it’s a place to sit down, Lord Celtic. Isn’t Rowenthal’s seat empty?” (Erin)
“Look, would my sister have said she would attend the meeting without such consideration? Erin is a wise child who sits down, looking at where to sit.” (Aurest)
“Hoo-hoo. Actually, I was thinking of sitting on brother’s lap if there were no seats.” (Erin)
“If I had known this would happen, I would have smashed up Rowenthal’s seat earlier. It’s a shame.” (Aurest)
“Me too, brother.” (Erin)2
Since it wasn’t too late, the Crown Prince seriously said that he had to go to smash Rowenthal’s seat.
Celtic recalled the rumurs he had heard one day.
‘A wild rascal becomes a violent jerk when he’s with the princess.’
He couldn’t tell whether he was happy or sad to confirm the truth of the rumor.
“Then shall we go? Erin, hold my hand. Oh, that’s right. Celtic, you follow.”
Instead of protesting at Aurest’s decision, Celtic shrugged. In any case, he was a familiar knight of obedience rather than complaint and backlash. He wondered if there would be anything wrong with the Princess attending with the consent of the Crown Prince.
But he’s afraid something wrong might happen.
***
“It’s clear that the Crown Prince has no idea.” (Gail)
“Sir Gale. Stand before the Crown Prince and speak for yourself. He’s very happy and I’m afraid he’ll give me a permanent vacation.²”
“That’s a good idea! Let’s just die!” (Gail)
“Are you serious?”
“I can’t believe it.” (Gail)
While waiting for Erin in front of the conference room, Celtic and Jedis ran into Gail, who arrived late after collecting the paper plane.
Gail wondered why the Princess’ guard and her lady-in-waiting stood here far and wide. When Celtic explained the postwar situation to Gail, Gail’s face began to fade.
His face, which had already been washed away by rain, began to look similar to the body. Confident that leaving it as it is, Jedis pushed Gail into the nearest lounge from the conference room. While Jedis was away to get something to drink, Gail began to complain to Celtic.
“Sir Celtic. What would the old foxy men think when they saw Her Imperial Highness sitting in the Rowenthal’s seat?”
“There’s a princess sitting in Rowenthal’s seat.”
Gale stared at Celtic with the eyes of a civilian’s peculiar ‘if an officer does that’. Celtic got a little bit unfair.
“Do you know what kind of place Her Imperial Highness is going to be sitting in right now? Last year, last last year, 10 years ago, and even when the Emperor of Tantal ruled, this is the place where Duke Rowenthal sat.”
“Hmm…”
“But Her Imperial Highness, who was not qualified to attend the Cabinet meeting, suddenly entered with the Crown Prince and sat on the seat of Rowenthal, who lost it’s master.”
Gail McHurt sighed.
“What do old foxes think when they see the Princess sitting in such a position?”
He have a feeling why Gail is so tempered. Celtic said reluctantly.
“Are you saying that they would think that the Crown Prince would like to hand over the position of Rowenthal to the Princess?”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t matter whether the Prince had such an intention or not.”
“But the Crown Prince only responded to the Princess’ impromptu request. You wouldn’t have had as much intention of making such a hint as dust.” (Celtic)
Gail was patient enough to explain.
“At least the nobles who attended the meeting would think that the Crown Prince was determined to give his sister a control over Rowenthal.” (Gail)
Gail became increasingly tearful.
“Some will protest, some will accept, and some will actively push before the Crown Prince is dented. I’m afraid of the consequences.” (Gail)
Celtic swept down his face. Gail then poured out his words.
“If I had been there, I would have told her that she would never be present at the Cabinet meeting, or that she would never be allowed to sit in Rowenthal’s seat, even if she were there.” Gail lamented, squeezing out his wet clothes. “Jeez, if it wasn’t a fucking paper plane, if it didn’t rain, it wouldn’t be like this.”
The hand of Gail squeezing wet clothes became more and more violent. The clothes were about to rip.
“His Imperial Highness left before the sun on a nice day, and why do you do this on a rainy day? Are you so refreshed? Then I won’t work on a rainy day. Let’s get one more person, ah, achoo!”
“Sir Gail, take it easy. There is no such thing as a respectable person.”
Gail, who had been venting his anger for a long time, began to sneeze.
Achoo, achoo, achoo!1
He felt sorry for the continuous sneezing.
Just in time, Jedis brought warm milk.
“Sir Gale. You’ve had a hard time on a rainy day. Calm down and drink this. It’s a non-lawful specially heated milk that has been passed down from generation to generation in Bell family. It’ll warm you up.”
“Ah… Thank you, Lady Jedis.”
Gail drank the milk, and then began to wave it back and forth like a seaweed. Then, with a weird groan, the pack was stretched like a corpse.
×××
[1] Tristan isn’t the only big one, but you’ve done a great job holding on.: He meant that Tristan isn’t the only one who’s very patient but Celtic too…
[2] permanent vacation: kill him off, has something to do with death