Shadowless Night

Chapter 3:

“Our father… Count Radwiell is entrusted with the task of leading the knights to defend the borders. He has work to finish, so he can’t return any time soon, but Father was very worried about you. I heard that his scary face has become even more ferocious… To the point that every native who passed by him ended up crying like a cockroach.”

Count Radwiell’s height and physique exceeded that of an average male in the Illavenia Empire. Sharp and beady eyes, dark hair reminiscent of the night, a short trimmed beard, and a long vertical scar on his left eye. His ferocious appearance, along with his fierce spirit when leading the Radwiell knights, added fuel to the terrifying stories of the Radwiell territory.

One day, when Calyx had been walking around to inspect the estate, he had heard someone say, ‘Carmine! Count Radwiell told me that if you don’t listen to me, he will come for you!’

He often saw a scene where the child stopped crying upon hearing similar words. It wasn’t funny. They’re using Father’s name in the same way you’d warn ‘if one goes deep into the mountain, they will be eaten by the shadows.’ Or ‘if one tells a lie, they will grow horns on their buttocks.’

“Father hates to exert his power over the weak. That’s why the families under his control don’t mistreat the local residents either. He is even respected enough to have a wine named after him.”

Rosaline was making a face that seemed to be asking, ‘Oh, really? Does it taste good?’ Calyx let out a small laugh.

“But you can’t drink it. You’re allergic to grapes. The representative crop of our estate is grapes, and Sister was always sad thinking what kind of a joke it was…”

Calyx turned speechless as he remembered the steak his sister had eaten earlier and the sauce on it that was red in color. Calyx liked the sauce made from reduced wine. Since he’d placed no special request, the sauce on the steak that should’ve been his must’ve been prepared that way. He was so shocked to see her eating with her bare hands that he didn’t even think about it.

‘My sister has a severe allergy to eating grapes, cooked or not. Red rashes will appear on her skin, and her airways will get swollen, making it difficult to breathe.’ Calyx’s expression turned feeble, and he grabbed Rosaline’s face at once.

“Sister!”

Rosaline’s eyes widened as Calyx pulled her into a random scan of her body. He checked her neck and chest. From the amount that she had eaten, red rashes should’ve appeared on her skin by now.

“Are you breathing well? Do you feel like your throat is swollen?”

Rosaline shook her head.

“Oh, let me take a look.”

“Umm.”

Calyx looked her over for a while before confirming that she was okay. Having checked her eyes, skin, neck, and every sound of her breathing, he took a deep breath and sat down. For some reason, she seemed to be in excellent condition. But even if she’s okay at the moment, nobody knows what will happen next. As he was about to ring the bell to call the servant, the door swung open. It was the maid who had gone to get a steak for Calyx earlier.

“My lady!” The maid came in shouting with urgency.

She had also become aware of the current situation. She approached Rosaline and checked her neck, chest, and back as he had done.

“Are you breathing properly, my lady? Do you feel like your throat is swollen?”

Rosaline shook her head.

“Please let me take a look, my lady.”

“Umm.”

The maid scoured over Rosaline’s body, took a deep breath, and then wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Soon after, they were served a steak topped with gravy. Before Rosaline grabbed the sizzling steak, Calyx cut it into bite-sized pieces and held a fork in his hand. After his demonstration of eating, Rosaline also properly used a knife and fork.

“The lady didn’t know how to eat, and I didn’t even notice. I apologize, my lord.”

“…It’s fine. I also forgot for a while.”

“Still, it’s a thousand blessings from Idelavhim. I heard there are cases where some people only had allergies when they were young, but… It’s better to take allergy medicine after this meal, just in case.”

The maid walked out to find the doctor. One by one, Calyx looked over the dishes on the table that Rosaline had messed up. There was the half-eaten avocado salad on the empty steak plate. And there was almost no trace of the wine sauce.

[Don’t miss out on the tiny, trivial things, and look carefully, Cal.]

He hardened his face at the sensation of a cool tingle brushing down his spine.

[The way they raise their eyebrows, roll their eyes, sweat, and even lick their lips with their tongue. Even if someone is trying to hide something, the person themself can tell you a lot of information. As much as they hide, perhaps they show even more.]

Calyx stacked the images of the old Rosaline and the current Rosaline sitting in front of him. In his imagination, she didn’t have food on her cheeks, and she didn’t unravel her wavy hair. She wore a white uniform buttoned all the way to the neck, with her black hair tied high, and her olive-colored eyes vividly shining.

[We must see beneath the disguise of those who arm themselves with words twisted into lies. If it’s you, you should be able to do it well because the Radwiells have a good sense.]

Like Rosaline had said when she was a child, he and his sister have been very sensitive since they were young. They had the excellent ability to figure out problems and other things. Count Radwiell was also famous for his swordsmanship skills and exceptional animal-like senses. When he had wanted to retreat, there was news later that it was a trap laid by another country. When he met a guy he just couldn’t like, it turned out that the guy was the head of a strange cult.

As Rosaline had said, abnormally developed senses might be the characteristic of the Radwiells. Calyx admitted that he felt a shallow sense of dissonance all the time when his sister was in front of him. This was different from simply losing memory or acting differently than before.

Calyx’s sharp eyes captured Rosaline as she licked the sauce off her lips.

‘If they only have the same face but different sides…’

***

Rosaline recovered quickly with great care. Because of her incredible recovery speed, Basio wondered if his medical and drug-making skills had now reached the realm of the gods.

Calyx visited her every day and cared for her. As the heir of Radwiell, his days were busy, but he did not miss a single day despite it. It was a very tear-jerking relationship.

Occasionally, some people questioned Calyx’s attitude. He didn’t look so happy, considering that he had been grieving over his meals when Rosaline was still missing. However, the focus of the rumor, Calyx Radwiell, had been famous for his cold and blunt nature from an early age. Thus, everyone thought that he was only restored to his original state since the case was over.

Rosaline’s routine was simple. After she woke up, she ate, took a rest, ate, took a nap, got up, ate, and then slept. Except for eating and sleeping, she roamed all over the place. Because of this, she is seen absentmindedly wandering around the county in various places. She always wore slippers, and she was clad in pajamas that she practically wore everywhere, whether she was inside or outside of her room. She did not tie up her curly hair, and overall, she looked very free-spirited.

At this sight, the butler wiped his tears with a handkerchief, claiming that the bright and intelligent young lady had turned into an idiot. Meanwhile, Calyx clutched his head from a throbbing headache.

People would start with the phrase, “The lady’s head is a bit…” before they got slapped on the back by another maid next to them, who replied, “She was overly smart. It’s okay to be a little less smart.” And they ended with, “It is said that walking barefoot is good for the body. After all, our lady is unique.” Or followed by, “She’s so wild with her hair loose. A woman who starts new trends. Our lady is so cool.”

Calyx read through the rumors about Rosaline that his aide had gathered. He opened his mouth with a confused expression.

“So… my elder sister… came back alive from the valley of death after six days under the protection of The Ones Above. And she came to banish the dark energy of death that has spread around the county. Despite severe wounds, she walks around the county to calm the people’s hearts with bare feet, and she did not even notice that her hair was in disarray?”

“Yes.”

“…Is that so… She really did go out barefoot.”

The heads of the maids seemed strange, but Calyx couldn’t spit the words out, so he just buried them in a muffled voice. Their attitude of covering up the faults of their master was at a terrifying level, to say the least.

“I know that Sister was always nice to these children, but the unripe fruits are called golden apples… Well, since it’s not harmful to Sister, let’s just be more careful.”

[The unripe fruits are called golden apples: this is an analogy, but there is no further explanation about it on the net. Perhaps something like, if you ‘sow’ something good, you will most certainly ‘reap’ something good no matter when]

“This is a moment where the young lady’s personality shines. What do you know? Oh, by the way, the Countess wants to have lunch with us. With the young lady, too.”

“I understand. I’ll take Sister with me.”

Rosaline was also sitting on the other side of the hallway today. Calyx looked at her from afar. She looked like she was taking a nap with her eyes closed, but as the maids downstairs passed by while talking, her mouth began to mumble and move. She was whispering something. Calyx concentrated on reading her lips.

‘The maid told me to change the entire sheet today. Oh, yes. Didn’t you skip last week because of the young lady’s disappearance? Let’s go and play after work. Vivian also wants to buy some clothes this time. Shall we go together? Yeah, I’m in the same area as Vivian. Oh, there she is. Vivian! After work tonight, let’s go to the market together. Yes, there was something I wanted to buy this week. Let’s go together.’

“Let’s go together,” the maid had said.

‘Let’s go together.’

The voices of the maids and the shape of Rosaline’s mouth overlapped. Calyx had goosebumps on his skin. It is not a scene he had only witnessed once or twice, but every time he sees it, it’s eerie. She was learning over and over again, listening to various stories that were happening in the house. As if she instinctively knew that to blend in with the herd, she had to learn their language.