Thud!

Kneeling before the king, Ren seemed to remember the past.

His brother, called away again and again by the king’s command to fulfill his mission. His brother, who had not been at his side, but had become a pillar for the kingdom and been used as its sword. The king who had called his brother away again, just when Ren had finally thought he had returned to him.

His knee, which had struck hard against the winter ground frozen cold, throbbed with a sharp ache.

Ren lifted his reddened eyes.

The eyes with burst blood vessels seemed, at a glance, to hold a glimmer of resentment.

***

The road to the royal castle had been like a thorn path for the group.

Ren could not forget the shock of that day.

Dozens of times, even when his brother turned away from him and left, Ren had understood. He had tried to understand. Because he knew the mission entrusted to him. He had hated him, resented him, missed him....... Again and again, he had thought that his brother, who left him behind, had abandoned him. That was why, when Temar left without a word, Ren had sobbed and searched for him like he was having a fit.

But this was the first time the shock had ever been this great.

Great enough that even the heart he had thought was already trained broke, and almost gave up.

Ren had learned that even the illness he had tried so hard to hide held no meaning to Temar.

In that instant of terror, the only thought in his mind had been that he wanted to lean on him. If he could hold Temar’s large, thick, unbearably hot hand, it felt as if everything would be all right. He had thought there would be a sense of relief far beyond, many times beyond, what he had felt when he held Peruan’s hand.

But Temar had not held Ren’s hand.

That enormous back as {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} he turned and left the room—the back that had wavered through Ren’s tears.

Ren...... resented him.

“Ren, how is your body.......”

Ren, who had been taking his medicine, lifted his eyes and looked at him.

At those eyes, like a frozen winter forest, Temar lost his words.

He seemed to know what Ren had misunderstood. But Temar did not have the eloquence to undo that misunderstanding.

“Do you have something to say?”

At Ren’s cold attitude, Temar only opened and closed his mouth before turning away.

Ren watched the door, left hollowly open, without showing anything and drank down the rest of his medicine. Jepeto, watching him, fidgeted helplessly.

“Ren, that...... Te...”

“I’m tired.”

“......Rest, Ren.”

Clicking his tongue inwardly, Jepeto left the carriage.

The door closed, and Ren was alone again.

Ren leaned his head against the carriage and quietly stared up at the ceiling.

Outside, snow kept blowing without rest.

Luman had said it was winter’s final snow.

As expected, Ren hated snow.

Nothing good had ever happened on a snowy day.

Every time Temar left, it snowed, and this time he had suffered an unexpected seizure.

Could he think that once winter passed, everything would be all right?

The person he had wanted most to stay beside him had not stayed by his side, while Peruan, a stranger, had remained beside him the entire time.

It made him feel something impossible to put into words.

Maybe it would have been easier for everyone if he had simply cried out in shock, screaming, “My brother abandoned me!” Then they would only have needed to soothe him. Then the reckless fit he was throwing would have stopped, and as always, he would have looked only for Temar.

But Ren had grown too much to stay trapped inside thoughts and stubbornness that belonged only to him.

There must have been a reason Temar had left the room without even holding his hand.

The reason Luman and Jepeto hovered around Ren with dark faces, trying to bring it up, was probably to make excuses on Temar’s behalf.

The problem was that Ren did not want to hear those words from someone else’s mouth.

Temar would think Ren had misunderstood him, but Ren had not misunderstood. He even had a vague guess that it might have been some choice made for Ren’s sake.

But.

The fact that he had turned his back at the moment Ren needed him most.

It lodged in Ren’s chest like a thorn.

It was an emotion close to betrayal.

Sometimes, an action sank deeper than any truth.

Whatever Temar’s true feelings were, the fact that he had turned his back and left after ignoring the hand Ren had desperately reached out would not change. No matter what he said. No comfort would be able to erase that fact.

And so, all the way to the royal castle, Ren did not say a single word to Temar.

Temar could not cross the rejection Ren used against him, refusing to look for him or listen to him. He only clenched his teeth, hovered near Ren, or opened his mouth before shutting it again.

Temar could not cross the line Ren had drawn.

Temar could not grab him recklessly the way Ren would have.

They entered the royal castle through the whirling snow, after being told over and over again to be careful how they behaved.

The kingdom’s capital, which Ren stepped into for the first time, did not feel all that unfamiliar. It gave him a strange feeling.

Sensing the people’s bewilderment, Ren felt like an uninvited guest.

What made him most displeased was the way they treated the Heroes.

Faces that seemed uncomfortable somehow, as if afraid. Ren keenly read the subtle anxiety and tension.

And what he hated even more was the Heroes’ attitude, as if they were used to those reactions from people.

Ren could not help imagining it.

When they fought on battlefields they had gone out to hundreds of times and returned, had people truly welcomed the Heroes who came back bleeding? Had they not been treated carelessly instead? His brother, who had been chosen as a child after showing the qualities of a Hero and sent to the battlefield—had he always been treated like this?

Ren’s frozen heart swirled from deep within. As if it might break through the surface.

***

And so he faced the king.

Ren had often imagined what kind of person the king who called his brother away might be, but not once had he thought he would look like this.

Ren, who had dropped to his knees as if driving them into the ground, fixed Ragniel clearly in both eyes.

A handsome, frail-looking impression. Too young to be the king of a nation.

Ragniel looked at Ren with eyes that seemed to know him very well.

That gaze, tender and soaked in pity, clouded with embarrassment when Ren knelt on the ground with a loud sound.

It was impossible to read the emotions in Ren as he stared at that soft face. Not even Ren himself knew.

This was the king who had called his brother away again and again and sent him to the battlefield. The one who, despite having permitted his resignation, had called him back to the royal castle and taken his brother away. And yet he was the king of a nation, the one to whom Temar offered loyalty as precious as his own life. So Ren would never dare defy Ragniel, the king.

But that did not mean his heart would be the same as Temar’s loyalty.

Before Ragniel could gesture for him to rise and say it was all right, Ren’s chilly voice rang through the palace garden.

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

It was a voice that sounded cold as winter wind.

It did not sound at all as if he were grateful for that grace.

Ren’s straight gaze, without turning his head, looked at Ragniel as if binding him in place.

The servants who had paused quietly lowered their eyes, and a heavy silence settled over them. With only the sound of the wind scraping at their ears, Ragniel moved slowly.

He personally helped Ren to his feet.

“There is no need to offer me such courtesy. Are you not the younger brother of Temar, the brightest shining star?”

Patting Ren’s cold hand, Ragniel continued.

“I feel sorry toward you. But there is the kingdom’s great undertaking, you see. I can only hope you will understand.”

His quiet voice, filled with sincerity, knocked on Ren’s heart.

But there was no way a heart that had aged so long in bitterness would melt from a few words like that. Ragniel did not seem to hope for it either, and did not blame Ren for giving no response.

Luman watched Ren with a worried face, while Temar silently stared straight ahead.

Giselle observed Ren and Ragniel with a subtle expression.

“Your Majesty. I will report what happened in Delfona.”

“......Shall we, then.”

Ragniel smiled apologetically. The gently drooping corners of his eyes made him look even frailer.

“In my heart, I would like to let you rest comfortably before hearing it. But will you understand that I cannot?”

Ragniel spoke quietly as he looked over the group.

“My king.”

Giselle, who had opened his mouth, looked at the king and bent one knee halfway.

“Your Majesty need only give your commands. The Seven Stars shine solely for you. There is no need for you to seek anyone’s understanding or offer any apology.”

“.......”

Then, if he told them to give up their lives, were they supposed to simply hand them over?

Ren’s eyes sank as he looked at them.

Geloman, Luman, and Temar all nodded, as if Giselle’s words were only proper.

The only one who likely did not think that was proper was Ren.

Ragniel, who had been looking at Giselle’s long hair whipping in the wind with a pitiful gaze, clapped his hands together.

The sound of friction split the heavy air.

With a clean smile, Ragniel led them inside, saying they should go in now.

After exchanging a few words with Giselle, Luman looked for Ren, who was walking at the very back.

“Ren, the report will likely take quite a while. Eat first in your room with Jepeto. If anything makes you uncomfortable, look for a servant named Noe. He will see to your convenience.”

“.......”

“Ren.......”

Seeing Giselle standing still and watching them, Luman grew anxious.

Following his gaze, Ren turned his head and stared at Giselle. Without avoiding the eyes that met his, Ren opened his mouth.

“Who is that?”

“......That’s Giselle. He serves as strategist. Ren, more importantly...... once you’re shown to your room, don’t go out for now. Not until I come back and tell you the things you need to be careful about. All right?”

Looking at the worry filling those golden eyes, Ren reluctantly nodded.

“Where could I even go in a place like this?”