And on top of that, it was the first time since that incident that these two had sat together, so everyone was curious about the truth of the relationship these two shared. They were clearly not enemies nor were they allies – what would they be like?

Calian closed his mouth and remained silent, the path the two would walk was different either way, there was no need to pretend to be close. After a long moment of silence, the eyes of the aristocrats around them began to wander to more interesting ventures. 

“Hey,” But that punk began talking to him, his sudden voice caused the eyes of the nobility to snap back to him, 

Franz slowly, one by one, looked around the room, making eye contact with the aristocrats who had their eyes focused on them – a hand one the table and his gaze was enough for them to turn their heads.

And then he once again turned to Calian, 

“Hey, blood-eyes,” 

“Calian,” 

Upon hearing the nickname he didn’t want to hear a second time, Calian immediately stared right into Franz’s eyes and corrected him – then added with a rather stiff tone, 

“I will allow it to pass just this once. Hyung-nim,”

Franz’s light blue eyes seemed to glow for a moment. 

He started at Calian for a long time, before the corner of his lips began to twist up once again and in a quiet voice, he said, 

“You won’t,” 

You won’t.

Calian’s eyes narrowed slowly, 

“You talk back, use a sword and ride a horse,” Franz listed, leaning back against the chair once again. A languid sigh brought Calian’s far-away mind back to him, 

“You. Who are you?” 

Calian stared at those eyes without saying a word. Yes, if it was Franz then he would have noticed that the brother who he had been playing with like a puppet on the palm of his hand had woken up one day and changed. He was too perceptive to not have noticed such a drastic change. 

For a very short moment, Calian agonised in his head on what to do. 

It doesn’t matter. In the end that was what he had decided. He would neither deny nor affirm Franz’s doubts. 

It wasn’t long before a relaxed smile spread on Calian’s lips, 

“You say such strange things,” 

Unlike how it had been with Allan, Calian didn’t need to pull Franz to his side, there was no need to explain everything to him. No matter how sure Franz became of the matter, it was a secret that could never be revealed or proven. 

So as long as you took a hold of it, there was nothing to worry about. 

Calian’s face, which had come to such a conclusion, was serene. It might have been less peaceful in his head, but his outward appearance was peaceful. 

Franz glared at Calian like he wanted to kill him, then got up from his seat and left the banquet hall without saying anything else and never returned.

As he watched Franz walk away, Calian remembered the memories of the old Calian and the things that Franz had done – and he also recalled memories of the Franz who had led Secretia to it’s ruin.

Calian’s gaze did not move from the vacant seat Franz had left behind for a long time. 

Worry settled on Allan’s face while he watched Calian from a distance, he didn’t overhear the conversation between the two but had noticed the way Calian’s expression hardened after Franz left. 

Soon after, when Calian finally glanced up, his eyes met Allan’s for a moment. A small smile settled over Calian’s lips at his worried gaze. He was saying ‘it’s alright.’

Instead of approaching Calian, Allan only expressed his concern with a nod of his head. 

—

The Next Day

Because of what had happened at the banquet, despite being able to act serene, Calian had been unable to sleep. Alan came to visit him first thing in the morning, and smiled softly when he saw Calian. 

“Have you organised your thoughts?” 

Calian looked at Allan with a look of surprise, mouth parted. The wise mage knew his troubled mind though he had yet to speak of it. 

Allan chuckled,

 “If you haven’t sorted everything yet, then simply let it pass like the fleeting wind.”

Hearing Allan’s words, Calian couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Allan spoke like this sometimes – words that were of no help to anyone. However Calian liked those words. 

However, the fact that they didn’t help remained true so he soon stopped his soft laughter and relayed to Allan what happened with Franz and him at the banquet. After learning Franz had almost confirmed Calian had changed, Allan nodded.

“If it’s Franz, it’s understandable that he’d know by now. He’s not a short-sighted kid, even if he acts like a rascal,” Allan praised. 

Calian frowned slightly at Alan’s generous assessment because there was nothing particularly positive or negative about it. 

“For now, I pretended that I knew nothing, but he wouldn’t believe that.”

Allan laughed loudly. He looked at Calian and asked, 

“What basis would he believe in anyway?”

As Calian opened his lips to answer, he suddenly closed it.

Seeing his hesitation, Allan said, 

“You still retain the memories of the life Calian led in the past, do you not? Just like you said, even if he realises what happened, you need not reveal everything to him. Don’t worry about it too much.”

Allan made a pondering noise of ‘hmm’ for a moment as though hesitating on his next words. 

Putting aside the consequences should Calian’s identity be revealed, Allan knew that Calian was no longer willing to live with Bern. 

He was thinking of recommending that he live like the past Calian to fool Franz and dissuade him from suspecting him any further. However, it was not something Allan had the right to say, so he kept his mouth shut.

Instead, he pulled out an item from his pocket after staring for a little while.

“Take it,” Allan said.

It was a small box made out of a tin. Inside was a silver ring. Feeling the thick ring that had no symbol nor a carved design, Calian asked, “What is this?”

“Try it on, I’m sure you’ll like it.” Alan smiled.