The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#17

Several days had passed since the worst first meeting with his destined partner.

Jersian hadn’t shown his face since then.

From the window of the room, Kain could sense Jersian’s presence moving ceaselessly in the distance. It seemed that if he wanted to meet Jersian, he would have to make a move himself.

Crunch. Kain Starchis sat comfortably at the top of a tree in the garden, biting into a red apple he held. Immediately, the lukewarm flesh filled his mouth.

‘…It looked delicious, but.’

The taste was incomparable to the premium apples from the Fiokhim Mountains. However, it wasn’t bad enough to spit out. Kain knew how much effort the tree had put into producing this single apple.

With a disinterested face, Kain took another bite of the apple and jumped down from the green tree. Then, with his long legs, he strode out of the building where he was staying and headed towards the larger building nearby. Usually, Jersian’s movements were directed towards this larger building.

The knight assigned to watch him didn’t seem to know that Kain belonged to a race that could jump from a five-story window. He probably thought he was doing his job well, standing firmly in front of the closed door. Kain snorted and flicked his long hair behind his pointed ears.

The reason he was willingly confined here was because his partner, “Jersian Del Claude,” was here. Nothing else mattered to Kain.

The fact that his destined partner didn’t have a mark yet meant that Jersian was still young. Usually, the Galia tree revealed the destiny to elves after they had completed their coming-of-age ceremony. Kain didn’t know how old Jersian was now, but the mark would probably appear soon.

‘My job now is to quietly wait for that time by his side.’

But until when?

That was unknown.

Kain took a step, guessing at Jersian’s presence moving in the distance.

The garden surrounding the mansion was so lush that it felt like entering a forest. But Kain was an elf who knew exactly the difference between a forest and a garden. This was a garden devoid of spirits and fairies, almost like a desert with hardly anything alive.

Jersian’s presence grew closer in the distance. After moving around tirelessly with the knights for a while, Jersian was finally alone. His small, round black head was visible below. Kain took another bite of the apple he was eating with a crunch from the tree right next to Jersian, then greeted him.

“Hello.”

Jersian immediately raised his head.

“…What?”

His sharp gaze immediately turned skyward.

“…”

Upon discovering Kain sitting in the tree, Jersian’s eyes narrowed. It seemed to be quite an unexpected encounter from his perspective.

“You…”

Why is… that elf here?

I’m sure I told them to watch him carefully. Jersian’s eyebrows shot up. He had to think about how to punish his knight order for becoming lax.

Hm?

Kain tilted his head in the tree at the sound of Jersian’s voice. His long platinum blonde hair dangled down from the tree.

An elf in a dark green olive tree. It was a scene straight out of a fantastic masterpiece. As all great painters have done, it seemed unnecessary to distinguish between male and female in a beauty that transcended human bounds.

“…”

“What?”

Kain asked Jersian, who had stopped mid-sentence.

At that, life returned to Jersian’s eyes, which had been fixed on Kain’s white face, platinum hair, and the pointed tips of his elven ears peeking through.

Jersian blinked hard once, then continued what he was going to say.

“…I thought meals were being brought to your door. Why are you eating that thing in the garden?”

“That thing?”

Kain Starchis lightly waved the red apple in his hand.

“You mean this?”

“Yes. Most of the fruits in the garden are painted by the gardener to look redder. They’re not for eating.”

The lavish garden of the Gerold Marquis was famous for maintaining green vegetation all year round because of this. To see someone eating it like that. Jersian became suspicious of the elf’s sense of taste.

Ah.

Kain Starchis’s expression brightened considerably at Jersian’s words.

“That’s a relief.”

It was a heartfelt response. Kain nodded as if everything made sense now. It wasn’t the reaction Jersian had expected.

“What’s a relief?”

Jersian asked with a slight frown.

“This apple doesn’t taste or smell like an apple at all. I thought you humans lived your whole lives eating things like this and calling them apples.”

“…”

Listening to this was strangely irritating. Jersian stared at the bright red apple in Kain’s hand, pondering for a moment how to respond.

That’s when it happened.

Thud!

Kain Starchis lightly jumped down from the tree. The sound of his feet touching the ground was as soft as a falling leaf.

“…”

Jersian looked up irritably at the elf standing tall before him. Perhaps because he was an elf, Kain Starchis was much taller than humans. He had noticed it when Kain was kneeling, but seeing it directly, he was even taller.

Even if Jersian hadn’t finished growing, there wouldn’t be many humans who could match Kain’s eye level.

Undeterred by Jersian’s sharp gaze, Kain spoke to him.

“Where are you coming from?”

At those words, Jersian’s red eyes narrowed. He crossed his arms and planted one leg at an angle.

“What’s the intention behind that question?”

Kain Starchis looked down at Jersian, who had responded sharply, for a moment before slightly bending his upper body.

What the… Just as Jersian took a step back, he heard a short breath above his head.

“…!”

It was because Kain Starchis had sniffed his head like a dog.

Jersian’s red eyes widened slightly.

“W-what are you doing? You’re not a dog, why are you sniffing?”

Jersian, who rarely lost his composure or dignity in most situations, said as he ruffled his own hair with his hand.

Kain Starchis spoke with an indifferent face.

“You smell of half-burned ashes and blood.”

“…”

Jersian’s and Kain’s emerald eyes met in the air. Silence hung between them for a moment.

A lot had happened over the past few days. As a leader, Jersian had to quell the betrayal of those he thought were on the same side and the resulting chaos. In such cases, killing is usually the cleanest solution.

Even though he had bathed, the smell of blood doesn’t wash away completely at once. The elf seemed to be able to sense it.

Jersian pressed his lips tightly together. Those emerald eyes didn’t move, as if trying to analyze him thoroughly.

Again. The elf’s gaze stirred up feelings of guilt within Jersian that he thought had long since disappeared.

“There were reasons for it. It’s not your concern.”

Jersian said irritably, avoiding Kain’s gaze. But even so, those emerald eyes didn’t leave Jersian.

After staring at Jersian for a long time, Kain spoke with a slight frown.

“You’re… quite complicated. Are all humans like this?”

His tone was troubled, but no emotion was visible on Kain’s expressionless face. However, his mind was in a state of great contemplation.

Usually, elves don’t lie, so they express their feelings or thoughts as they are. Therefore, there was no need to guess or assume each other’s thoughts or feelings.

But the young human before him didn’t seem to do that. It’s difficult when one’s destined partner doesn’t show their true feelings.

Jersian turned his head sharply as if he had heard a strange question.

“…Go back to the annex. And don’t come out like this on your own until I come to find you.”

Then he started walking again on his way. The real fight hadn’t even begun yet. What Jersian had been doing for the past few days was just an extension of the preliminary skirmishes.

Kain called out to Jersian’s back.

“How long should I wait?”

But Jersian didn’t even turn his head at the question, just waving his palm in the air from side to side.

What does that gesture mean?

Kain Starchis pondered as he watched Jersian’s back. But Jersian just kept walking after that action.

There were many humans at the other end. It was obvious he would be caught if he followed any further.

“…”

Jersian seemed to care a lot about the gazes of other humans.

Anyway, wait quietly in the room?

Without saying until when?

Kain thought for a very brief moment, then lightly tiptoed up onto a tree.

“Well, there will be many more opportunities to meet in the future.”

The branch bent slightly to accommodate him, then sprang back into place with a soft sound.

Kain Starchis had plenty of time. Enough to wait forever if his destined partner asked him to wait.