Stone Thrown into the Lake

Chapter 24
Duran went for a walk that he would normally have with Yvor. Since it was not nighttime, there wasn’t any maidservant following behind. Not only was it awkward for them to greet him, but also for Duran Craig, so he avoided them.

The boy didn’t know how to treat people who liked him. The voices that tried to leave a good impression on him made his face feel itchy and want to respond bluntly, while the lukewarm gazes searching to benefit from him made it difficult for him to stand still. He could be confident in front of the servants of the mansion in the capital, who looked upon him with gazes of derision and ridicule.

While searching for a deserted place, Duran Craig passed the annex and reached the edge of the garden. ‘Should I go a little further?’ Duran looked beyond branches of the evergreen trees, which were splendidly outreached towards the sky.

‘Even if I wasn’t able to go outside previously.’

But that thought quickly faded away as he remembered the reason he couldn’t go out alone. It was obvious that Yvor would worry. Now, he had someone that would worry about him if he disappeared somewhere.

That fact constantly poured honey into Duran Craig’s heart. Eventually, that honey will permeate his heart fully. A thought occurred to him, in the corner of his already sweetened heart. If he were to disappear without a word, the only person whom he did not want to worry, was his sister.

Duran Craig eventually decided to walk amongst the evergreens, but he’ll go back after a while. If he goes back and reads one more line with his poor reading skills…He swallowed the train of thought that he would rather not continue along. If that happened, his sister would be happy, and the boy who felt like he was still dreaming like a child would be prickly in nature regardless.

But it was lucky that his thoughts were disrupted quickly. It was because something fell from above. Duran reflexively raised his hand and grabbed it.

“…?”

What he held in his hand was a fruit of the tree. Green when unripe and white with a pale yellow undertone when ripened, it’s a special fruit unique to the Serium estate, with a few small trees cultivated within the castle’s garden.

When he spotted the tree in the garden, Yvor did not let Duran pick a fruit to eat himself, but at dinner that day, a ripe white fruit would be present on the table. It tasted sour and juicy.

But why did this…Duran raised his head. This fruit wasn’t the kind that fell off a branch when ripened. From the branches of the tree came the sound of rustling, and the man sitting upon the branch looked downwards.

“Oh, my. I didn’t expect a person to pass by at that exact moment. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

Sidis Murka laughed. Instead of the image of someone deliberately picking the fruit, he seemed like he had just picked up a fruit that was lying around. In his hand that tossed a branch away was the exact same fruit that Duran was holding in his hand. Duran Craig frowned upon seeing it. Everything in this castle belonged to his sister.

“As you please…” he muttered.

Sidis realized that Duran’s gaze was on his hand, and waved it once. ‘This?’ It was obvious that all the fruits, animals, objects, and people of an estate belonged to the lord of the estate.

If you take even the smallest thing, you could be labelled as a thief. Odd stories of commoners that dared to eat a fruit ending up as a serf were common occurrences in rural estates.

However, in this case it would be complicated, as it was the prince that was taking a piece of fruit from the estate, whose lord would become one of his subjects in the future. Sidis didn’t bother pointing this out, and cracked the fruit in his hand into half before lightly tossing it to Duran.

“?!”

Duran, who received the fruit, stared at him fiercely. Sidis laughed loudly.

“With this, you are also an accomplice.”

“…I will respectfully decline. Prince…sir”

Duran said reluctantly. In fact, he wasn’t sure if what he was saying was accurate. His etiquette was still at the level of a novice. In the view of aristocrats, Duran Craig was no different from a newborn baby all this while. He only started learning from the aspects that were necessary for daily life.

If he were to describe them, then it would consist of etiquette for day-to-day life, and in such a category, manners to receive a prince’s sudden arrival at the castle was not stipulated. The decorum that was required in the presence of a prince could only be found in an in-depth section about the life of nobility in the capital or banquet etiquette.

“It looks ripe enough, so don’t be shy.”

Sidis did not point out Duran’s lacking manners from his greeting, which wasn’t very accurate. He, who did not display exemplary conduct befitting of his station as a prince, was very generous towards the mistakes of others.

“Are you coming up here too?”

He beckoned. Duran shut his mouth tightly. Even when he was sitting on a branch, his posture was excellent, so he didn’t even think that it was undignified of the prince to climb up the tree, but instead pondered upon the reason he was up there. On his sister’s tree. Duran also wasn’t quite happy with the way SIdis spoke of the fruit, as if it were his own.

“You must be the eldest son of Salzmia.”

Sidis didn’t mind Duran ignoring his words. He had too much on his mind to care about how others treated him.

He did not need for anything since his birth, so it was his fate to handle the things that were invaluable and difficult to control, amongst the countless things that were in his possession.

The title of ‘Prince’ controlled the lives of others too easily. Therefore, from his distant childhood, Sidis Murka knew that he should not use the same basis as others to denounce a person. He was treating Duran rather pleasantly.

“What’s your name?”

He asked with a smile. It was impossible for Duran to not know that refusing to answer the prince’s question was deemed rude. Duran Craig replied in a voice that showed his unwillingness to show weakness.

“It’s Duran Craig.”

“Young Lord Duran Craig Salzmia. It’s nice to meet you.”

Sidis Murka greeted him relaxedly. The words ‘it’s nice to meet you’ was said in such a sincere tone, that Duran, who was prepared to twist whatever he heard, had no room to interpret his words badly.

“Could you step aside for a moment?”

Duran moved backwards as Sidis jumped off the tree branch he was perched on, the branch breaking as he landed. Duran easily avoided it by taking another half a step back, the agile reaction catching Sidis’s interest.

“You have fast reflexes, did you learn it separately?”

At Sidis’s overly friendly attitude, Duran took a step back awkwardly. He was uncomfortable with Sidis’s closeness and oddly, it felt similar to goodwill.

Young Lord of Salzmia, the unfamiliar title felt like an unpalatable spice, and the friendly intentions was like discomfort from food he had never eaten before being shoved down his throat.

“…None at all.”

At his answer, Sidis Murka made a face filled with regret. He soon spoke with a tone that really matched the expression on his face.

“You look talented, but it’s a waste. You don’t seem to have thoughts of becoming a knight, do you?”

“Knight…?”

“I asked, because sons of nobility that aren’t heirs to the peerage often become knights. You may have a small stature, but you seem to be talented.”

Sidis shrugged his shoulders as he answered. Of course, this isn’t any of his business. Moreover, Duran is the eldest son of Salzmia. At those green eyes filled with friendliness, Duran lowered his head. Why did he sound like he knew nothing when he spoke?

He felt irritated at his own ignorance. “I do not understand,” Duran spat out, before greeting him according to the etiquette he was taught. It was an unnaturally stiff greeting, but Sidis Murka did not point it out, instead laughed jokingly.

“Young Lord Salzmia. It’s a secret, but I’m currently running away from my knight. If you happen to meet him while he’s looking for me, please tell him you didn’t see me.”

However, Ziark somehow managed to find Sidis without questioning Duran. There was no one that could beat him, as far as finding the location of the missing prince goes. The knight, who was unable to flaunt that as his specialty, returned to his room unknowingly and shouted at his master, who was elegantly drinking tea.

“Just what are you doing here!”

Sidis Murka smiled as he waved his hand at Ziark. Full of frustration, Ziark ranted loudly.

“Have you been climbing up a tree again?! Did you come all the way here to climb trees? Did you come for forest-viewing? You came here to hide because hiding in the royal palace wasn’t enough?! No, what did I do wrong? Do you want me to die after getting hwabyeong? Aren’t you here to see the girl, the girl?!”

Sidis Murka, who listened to all his grievances with a smile, asked his knight.

“Why are you so angry, Ziark?”

Ziark Dunmel pounded his chest.

“Since the prince is not doing anything here, I went to talk to her instead!”

He didn’t want to speak it out aloud. Even when he thought back at it, he found it ridiculous. Sidis stroked his chin with interest as Ziark made a gesture as if he was suffocated.

“She must have refused, right? What did she say?”

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Editor’s note: ‘hwabyeong’ is a Korean culture-bound syndrome related to anger. It’s described as an accumulation of suppressed anger arising from unfair situations, ultimately turning into a disease.

[Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwabyeong#cite_note-2]