Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 431

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 201.
An Angel’s Face and
The Blood Flowing Through a Demon’s Heart (10)
With those words, he bowed respectfully. From Yien’s memories, Baron Castello was one of Duke Fontina’s loyal retainers. In truth, she knew little beyond that, but Yien accepted the greeting nonetheless—a slight nod of her head befitting her station as a Count’s daughter.
Baroness Castello’s gaze soon turned to Lanji beside her. Yien introduced him first.
“This is my chaperone.”
“I am Karl Lihis.”
This time, Baroness Castello gave a light nod.
“Your name suggests you’re from the east, doesn’t it?”
“My homeland is Hyacan.”
“Ah yes, people from Hyacan do have names like that. They tend to draw out the pronunciation, don’t they? Karl rather than Carl?”
The Baroness continued murmuring to herself before tilting her head slightly.
“You remind me of someone I know… but I can’t quite place it. I can’t say exactly who.”
Lanji’s lips curved into a mechanical smile.
“I’m honored to resemble one of your acquaintances.”
Yien noticed his voice had grown cold and turned to look at him. But it was the sort of subtle shift only a close friend would catch—the Baroness remained entirely oblivious. If anything, she spoke with playful mischief.
“Heh, the person I’m remembering might well be a villain.”
“That seems unlikely.”
Normally, as a proper chaperone, Lanji would have added more to the conversation, but his words stopped there. Yien felt the need to change the subject.
“But you’re alone, Baroness Castello? Hasn’t the young lady of Pontina arrived yet—the one who made the special request?”
“She’ll be here soon. The truth is, Miss Pontina dislikes having someone follow her like a shadow. It worked out well, actually. Since I’ve had the chance to meet someone I rarely see, perhaps when the young lady arrives, we could all enjoy a pleasant conversation together? I’m sure she’ll want to greet you once she learns that Miss Amaranth has come.”
Was it merely courtesy? Yien hesitated, surprised that things were unfolding so smoothly.
“Ah, yes, I was thinking the same thing.”
“Then after we offer our birthday wishes to the Duchess of Arnim, let’s meet on the second terrace to the west. Ah, it looks like the young lady is coming now. Excuse me for a moment—we’ll see you shortly.”
With those words, the Baroness hurried away. Yien bit her lip and tilted her head in confusion.
“What was that? It felt like she was waiting for us.”
Lanji’s expression had grown tense as well.
“The Baroness doesn’t seem to know anything.”
“I agree. Which is why I can’t predict what might happen next.”
Yien’s face showed she didn’t want to even imagine that the other side had seen through their identities—or that they harbored any suspicion at all. Yet with Duke Fontina as their opponent, nothing was impossible. He was the Duke Fontina who wielded multiple information networks that even the Nightwalk organization couldn’t fully grasp.
Lanji had grown calm by now. He merely watched the people moving in and out of the Banquet Hall, as though believing that an assassin lurked among them.
5. Mouth, Hand, and Ear
The song began from a distant place. It drew closer, day by day. It never ceased as it came. I feared that if my song stopped, yours might too. It passed through the houses of black people and white people, crossed black rivers and white rivers, and arrived. At last, in the land we had promised, I heard your song. We stood face to face, both singing. The same song we had started together. Overflowing with joy.
Yet we were singing different verses.
The West Terrace was modest compared to the sun-drenched Southern Terrace, but it possessed an elegance all its own. It was not one of those newly built mansions that competed to display lavish terraces. Yet it bore the dignity of a castle that had endured for centuries. The House of Arnim showed no interest in adorning their castle to match current fashions. Thus they preserved one of the few castles where genuine antiquity still lived.
This terrace in particular seemed never to have been renovated since the castle’s construction. The railings were merely simple vine patterns, and the table was patterned green marble, but there were no other ornaments. Five white chairs surrounded the table. Their woven wisteria-bark backrests had a cool appearance.
The door leading to the Banquet Hall stood open. Summer required cool breezes even in the hall. Miss Pontina had not yet arrived. Yien spoke, gazing at the terrace from a distance.
“There’s no need to go wait for her.”
The Amaranth Count Family was not a house that needed to show deference to Duke Fontina. Since he had arranged the meeting, it was proper that he arrive first and wait. Yien turned to Lanji.
“Does anything come to mind?”
“No.”
Langie recognized most of the nobility who would attend such a gathering. Seeing no unfamiliar faces, I concluded that the only person Chloe da Fontina had brought was Baroness Castello. Had Duke Fontina intended to burden his still-young daughter with something difficult, he would never have sent her without an advisor.
Just then, I noticed Baroness Castello stepping out onto the terrace first, preparing refreshments. As Chloe da Fontina followed the Baroness’s guidance toward the terrace, Yien spoke.
“It seems Baroness Castello will be joining us.”
That raised the likelihood this wasn’t a serious matter. Soon enough, the two of us followed suit onto the terrace.
Chloe da Fontina was a girl renowned for her exceptional beauty and refined cultivation—rumored to be the most perfect bride imaginable. Her etiquette, speech, bearing—nowhere could one find the slightest flaw, to the point where some remarked she seemed almost inhuman. Her family’s prestige went without saying. Since the Royal House had no princess, Chloe, the Prince’s first cousin once removed, received treatment befitting a princess wherever she went. Everyone knew that Queen Anliche cherished this niece as though she were her own daughter.
Chloe reclined in her chair with ease, dressed in a pale rose décolleté chemise gown. Though living far from the Capital, she had not fallen behind the city’s cutting-edge fashions in the slightest. Above the violet lace neckline, her throat and shoulders—exposed to view—carried an air of maturity beyond her years. Beneath short puffed sleeves hung long, flowing sleeves that rustled softly; through the semi-transparent muslin, her white arms and aquamarine bracelet gleamed faintly. The breeze drifting onto the terrace caught her cuffs, making them flutter slowly.
Yien had met Chloe two or three times before, and only when younger—they had shared little conversation then. As Yien grew and stopped attending parties, opportunities to see Chloe vanished entirely. Had Chloe remembered Yien as anything more than Count Amaranth’s daughter, it would have been remarkable indeed.
Chloe’s opening words were these:
“Ien Catleya, it’s been so long. You still love green, I see. That green butterfly wing pin you lent me back then—I still keep it in my jewelry box.”
Yien, unable to recall lending anything at all, forced an awkward smile to hide her confusion.
“Oh, really? I can’t remember when that was, Chloe. Five years ago, maybe?”
“It was at Count Albanesé’s wedding. I haven’t had the chance to see you since then, so I never returned the pin. Your hair color and the emerald of your tiara suit each other beautifully. I’ve been curious how you’ve been getting on all this time. I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”
Then, as befitted a well-mannered young lady, Chloe turned her attention to the others. Langie gazed at her while feigning composure, but Yien sensed many thoughts hidden behind those eyes. Chloe spoke.
“I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
Baroness Castello interjected from beside her.
“That would be Miss Amaranth’s chaperone, I’m told.”
She seemed to be reminding Chloe that formal address was unnecessary. Though Chloe could have been addressed casually if she wished, she merely lifted a faint smile to her lips and replied.
“For a chaperone, you’re quite young.”
Langie answered with a picturesque smile.
“I can only thank the young lady and the Count for their trust in me.”
And their eyes met. It was a rather prolonged gaze.
My pulse quickened slightly. I heard a sound. Yet their eyes spoke nothing—did the terrace itself possess a heart?
Chloe looked away first. She cast her gaze briefly toward the garden. The stubbornly uniform trees brought her composure back.
“When I heard you’d arrived, I thought I should pay my respects. But then you asked to meet separately, and I got my hopes up. Is there something new to tell? Are you returning the pin, perhaps?”
Yien spoke in jest, and Chloe lowered her head with a laugh. The hair she’d twisted up halfway slipped down across her shoulder.
“I’ll keep the pin as a keepsake. Your manner of speaking still has such vitality. Of course, I wanted to see you again after all this time, but I asked to meet separately because there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“Yes, what is it?”
Though she asked in a friendly tone, Yien found herself growing tense, her throat stiffening without her realizing it.
“You attend school, I hear?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Is it an enjoyable place?”
Though the question was mundane, with imagination added, it sounded almost like a threat. Yien glanced sideways at Langie. Langie rested an elbow on the armrest, her chin tilted at an angle. Her profile was as still as a portrait. I couldn’t tell if she was tense as well.
“Well, it’s enjoyable sometimes and not others. That’s how studying is, isn’t it? You’d know that too.”
“Studying in fields of no interest would certainly be tedious. But you must meet many people there, surely?”
“….”
As it increasingly sounded like an interrogation, Yien swallowed her response. Chloe extended her arm and picked up a champagne glass from the table. The sky-blue jewels of her bracelet clinked softly.
“One can certainly make excellent acquaintances at parties, but it’s not a place to meet diverse people. The most refined etiquette surely need not be accompanied by tedium.”
Even as she spoke thus, her posture as she tilted the glass, took a sip, and set it down was flawless.
“I never knew you’d say something like that.”
“Do you disagree with me?”
“No, I’m just surprised to hear such words from your lips.”
“Doesn’t everyone have tedious days now and then?”
It was then that Langie spoke up.
“Miss Chloe, what subjects interest you in your studies?”
Rather than look at Langie, Chloe gazed intently at the plate resting on the table. It held four varieties of cheese and wheat crackers.
“Which do you think I would prefer?”
“I’m afraid I cannot say, as this is my first meeting with you.”
“Surely you’ve heard much about me, haven’t you?”
“I have heard that you possess impeccable refinement and propriety.”
Neither fell easily into the trap. Chloe opened her fan and feigned a yawn behind it, masking her mouth—not a genuine yawn, but an indirect expression of her sentiment.
“That’s the sort of praise any young lady of a noble house hears. When people don’t know someone well enough to say anything else, they resort to such flattery, don’t they?”
“Yet having met you today, it seems people do not praise you without reason.”
“I’ve heard so many hollow words like the ones you just spoke that I feel neither pleased nor displeased.”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Publishing
The rights to this book belong to the author and 14 Months Publishing.
To reuse all or part of this book’s contents, written consent from both parties is required.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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