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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Wandering Soul (2)
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“A soul that refuses to follow the Grim Reaper will naturally dissipate after a certain period of time.”
“Dissipate?”
“It means they are abandoned by Shainos, the God of Death.”
“……”
With that, Sei-an rose from his seat and headed outside, as if avoiding an annoying task.
He glanced briefly at the Grim Reaper, who still hadn't taken his eyes off him.
“Wait… this is my room.”
But a moment later, Sei-an, having stepped outside, realized where he was and subtly furrowed his brow.
He glared at Lucian and Cliff, who had occupied his room, for a moment from outside the door, then let out a short sigh to himself and began to walk away, searching for another place to rest.
“What are you going to do?”
“…I’ll look into it.”
Meanwhile, Lucian and Cliff, unable to easily get up even after Sei-an had left, remained deep in thought, their expressions still hardened.
‘It’s not something to dismiss as nonsense.’
They couldn't simply dismiss Sei-an’s words as nonsense, especially since he had immediately sensed that something was amiss upon seeing them.
Ultimately, Cliff decided to investigate the matter more thoroughly.
“If you need anything, just say the word.”
“Thanks.”
Lucian then patted Cliff’s shoulder, telling him to ask for help anytime.
A small smile returned to Cliff’s previously hardened face.
***
“That book…”
“Do you know this book?”
“……”
Alf, the scribe who had worked in the Imperial Library for a long time, had recently acquired an eyesore.
There was a person who had been attracting many people to the library, which had long been his quiet, personal space.
That person was Sei-an, who, whenever he came to the imperial palace, would settle down here and refuse to leave.
Since he arrived, Prince Idis, who used to visit once a week at most, now came every day, and consequently, the number of nobles and their children visiting with imperial permission to see Prince Idis also increased.
For Alf, the library, his ultimate sanctuary, had been transformed into a workplace where he had to be on edge constantly.
“Are you interested in puppetry?”
As usual, Sei-an was spending time in the library today when he paused his steps as he passed by Prince Idis and saw the book he was reading.
“It’s a peculiar ability, so it interests me.”
What he was looking at was a book about a puppeteer.
It was a type of history book, detailing how a puppeteer long ago brought a bloody storm upon the continent and then suddenly disappeared.
“How do you know this book?”
“I read it a long time ago.”
“You must have been interested in puppetry yourself, then.”
“……”
Sei-an offered no reply to Prince Idis’s comment.
Prince Idis, too, didn’t seem to expect an answer and immediately posed another question.
“What do you think of this man, who became an enemy to everyone in the world to protect one woman?”
It was about the puppeteer, the subject of the book he was currently reading.
“…What do you think, Your Highness?”
“He’s a madman. And a fool.”
“Indeed, I think so too.”
Sei-an nodded in agreement with Prince Idis’s answer, then walked back to his own seat.
A somewhat bitter smile played on his lips, but Prince Idis failed to notice it.
“Brother.”
“…You’ve been coming often lately. It’s not because of him, is it?”
“Of course not. I came to see you, Brother. Why? Do you dislike me coming often?”
Just then, Princess Rainy entered the library. Prince Idis greeted her warmly as always, as she entered with a bright, radiant smile.
And Alf, the library scribe, also smiled broadly and bowed deeply at her appearance.
Despite his accumulated frustration over the recent loss of quietude due to countless visitors, one of the few things that genuinely pleased him was being able to see her frequently.
She, who was called the most beautiful flower in the imperial palace, a sight rarely seen even from afar, he had been seeing at least once a day recently.
At this moment, Alf was truly grateful to Sei-an and Prince Idis for occupying the library.
“He doesn’t seem very happy to see me.”
“You see my face every day; it’s impossible to be delighted every time, isn’t it?”
“You’ve never been delighted even once.”
“Yes! Truly, honestly, genuinely, I am delighted, Your Highness.”
“……”
It was slowly turning into a battle of pride for Princess Rainy alone.
Her pride was crumbling because Sei-an paid her absolutely no mind, whether she came or not.
Having never experienced such cold treatment from anyone before, she initially found it novel and interesting, but then, her pride wounded, she began to appear before him every day with a resolve to see how things would turn out.
“You don’t have any friends, do you?”
“……”
“Stuck in a library like this all day, of course you wouldn’t have any friends.”
It was a kind of goal for her to make his expressionless face contort, even slightly, by uttering such mocking, irritating words.
“That’s hardly something for a princess who visits the library every day to say.”
“Oh! I have many friends. So many people come to see me.”
“How many would come if you weren’t a princess?”
“……”
But it was always Princess Rainy whose expression would contort, wounded by her own words.
She glared at Sei-an, thinking it was a talent how he could so unflinchingly pinpoint her sore spots, the very things she didn’t want to think about.
“Heh.”
“Don’t laugh, Brother!”
Meanwhile, Prince Idis, who had recently been amusing himself by watching the two of them, burst into suppressed laughter, only to receive the same stinging glare from Princess Rainy as Sei-an.
“Well then, you two, please continue your conversation. It’s late, so I’ll be going…”
Sei-an watched them for a moment, then closed the book he was reading and stood up.
He then bowed with the utmost politeness to Prince Idis and Princess Rainy before leaving the spot.
“Wait a minute!”
Princess Rainy quickly followed Sei-an, and Prince Idis, chuckling at the sight, also rose and slowly exited the library.
“Haa…”
Only after the three of them had left did Alf find himself alone again. He let out a short sigh and began to tidy the books that Prince Idis and Sei-an had been reading.
“Hmm…”
As he was about to close the book Prince Idis had been reading, Alf paused and began to read some of its contents.
“Puppeteer… Kai?”
But soon, he seemed to lose interest in the book’s content and promptly closed it, returning it to its proper place.
***
“I have a question, if you don’t mind.”
“Hmm?”
“What is it?”
“Why do you keep coming to my room to ponder your problems?”
Sei-an subtly furrowed his brow at the actions of Lucian and Cliff, who had been coming to his room every day for the past few days.
They would sit and discuss Jestin, whom they had mentioned before, lost in thought, whether he joined the conversation or not.
“Please go to Lucian’s room to discuss.”
It was as if they were protesting, implying they’d keep doing this until he helped them.
“You’re not in Lucian’s room.”
“…I told you I wouldn’t help.”
And as Sei-an suspected, Cliff’s words followed, confirming that they were doing this in hopes of his assistance.
“We never asked you for help, did we? We’re just talking amongst ourselves, so don’t mind us.”
“……”
He could simply let Lucian and Cliff’s words go in one ear and out the other, but what bothered Sei-an more were the beings only he could see.
The fading light of the dead soul, noticeably dimmer than before, and the Grim Reaper silently standing in a corner, as if waiting to witness the soul’s dissipation, kept nagging at him.
“Haa… fine, fine. What do you want from me?”
In the end, Sei-an threw up his hands at Cliff, who was smiling broadly and telling him not to worry.
Above all, the increasingly weakening light of the soul hovering around Cliff was an eyesore, and he could no longer stand to watch it.
“How did you know Jestin was dead?”
“I told you I don’t know who Jestin is.”
At Sei-an’s words, Cliff, as if he had been waiting, barraged him with questions.
He had been personally investigating Jestin for days, but nothing had turned up. In the end, Sei-an was the only one he could turn to for help.
After all, Sei-an was the only one who seemed to know anything about Jestin’s death.
“Let me rephrase the question. How did you know there was a dead person around me?”
“…As you may know, I recently had an accident where I barely escaped death.”
“Hmm?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Lucian and Cliff tilted their heads, puzzled by Sei-an’s sudden mention of an accident while talking about souls.
Of course, both Lucian and Cliff were well aware that Sei-an had survived a near-fatal accident.
“Since then, I’ve been able to feel and see things.”
“What?”
“What do you see?”
“Dead souls.”
“……”
“……”
Sei-an began to speak freely, mixing in the truth. At his words, Lucian’s expression subtly hardened, and Cliff couldn’t hide his surprise.
“When I first saw you, Cliff, I simply saw a soul hovering around you.”
“You saw Jestin’s form?”
“As I’ve repeatedly said, I don’t know who Jestin is.”
“Ah, right! Anyway, you mean there’s a boy around me, don’t you?”
“I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. It’s just a ball of light, a dead soul, hovering around.”
“……”
Cliff quickly looked around, left and right, at the thought that the deceased Jestin might truly be around him.
Not that he could see anything, though.
“……”
Then, Cliff’s expression hardened as he fell deep into thought.
If Sei-an’s words were true, then Jestin was indeed dead, but who had killed him?
“To me, it seems like the most obvious story.”
Did Sei-an read Cliff’s thoughts? His words began to drift over again.
“Obvious story?”
“Half-siblings, the elder brother with inheritance rights. Doesn’t that give you the answer?”
“…Are you suspecting Countess Devilran?”
“I’m just talking about common worldly affairs.”
When even full siblings kill each other over inheritance, what more can be expected of half-siblings? Especially with immense wealth and power within a noble family at stake.
“No.”
“……”
“Countess Devilran is not that kind of person.”
But at Sei-an’s words, Cliff slowly shook his head. The Countess Devilran he knew was not the kind of person to do such a thing.
“She is a very soft-hearted person. She’s someone who can’t even say a harsh word to a maid.”
He recalled a time long ago when they had dined together; when a maid accidentally spilled water on her dress, she had smiled and comforted the flustered maid.
Not only that, but she had been kinder to Jestin, who was not her biological son, than anyone else. So much so that Jestin would brag and praise her every time he met Cliff.
“It seems to me that the answer is already clear, but since many believe otherwise, shall we try an experiment?”
“An experiment?”
“It will require a little help from Count Devilran.”
“……?”
Cliff couldn’t help but nod at Sei-an’s words, which seemed to carry a certain conviction.
He was genuinely curious about what kind of experiment Sei-an was talking about.
Lucian, who had been quietly observing their conversation from the side, felt the same way.
“Only…”
“Only?”
“I hope you won’t ask me anything or be curious about what happens from now on.”
“What?”
“……?”
“And don’t be too surprised.”
“……?”
And at Sei-an’s subsequent words, Lucian and Cliff had to look at him with even more puzzled expressions.
“The tea tastes particularly good today.”
“……”
“……”
Of course, even under their gazes, Sei-an simply continued to quietly pour and drink his tea, showing no sign of saying anything further.
