Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 549

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

Someday, when someone finally
pierces my heart,
I will remember you as you are today.
My childhood enemy,
my first adversary born anew.
And on that day, if a heart still dwells within me,
the hardest shard among them—
the one cradling black flame—
will be yours.
Never doubt that I have reserved the very best for you.
Chapter 1.
The Princess and the Detective (1)
Prologue. The Crimson Ice
In ages long past, they say only a single Mage dwelled upon this land.
All others made their homes beneath the sea.
The Mage was so terribly lonely that each day he would climb atop the black rocks and gaze down into the depths below.
In those times, the water was clear as glass, and through the swaying curtains of seaweed and beyond the silver-blue fish that swam there, he could see the sea people dancing and laughing in joy.
The Mage envied them so. Day after day he called out to them, but how could his voice ever reach the ocean floor?
Thus three hundred days and nights passed, then sixty-four more, and on the night of the full moon, when the Mage ventured to the shore once more, he beheld a multitude of people standing there—beautiful souls draped in mist-woven dresses, crowned with blue and golden seaweed flowers upon their heads.
They reached out their hands in welcome. They held a grand feast, and the Mage danced with them through the night in joyous revelry. At last, his dream had come true.
Yet the feast was not quite as wonderful as the Mage had imagined. They offered cakes made of pure salt, candies dusted with salt powder, and wine aged in salt warehouses. Everything was so impossibly salty that the Mage could scarcely bring himself to taste a single bite.
As dawn broke, the sea people waved their hands and returned beneath the waves, promising to meet again next year. Ah, so that was it—the sea people rose above the waters only once each year to play.
Left alone, the Mage gazed down into the depths once more, offering greetings that could not be heard. He loved the sea people so dearly. Why was a single year so unbearably long?
When three hundred days and nights had passed, the Mage suddenly wondered: even if they returned, would it be for only a single day? Why must he wait all year long just to spend one day with them?
How wonderful it would be if they could remain on land forever.
So the Mage prepared something special.
When sixty-four nights and days had passed and the sea people rose once more, the Mage gave them a gift. The sea people were so refined in their manners that they refused nothing. They smiled, offered their thanks, and graciously accepted the gift, taking a bite.
And they never returned to the depths below.
The Mage became the first queen of the sea people and lived with them in happiness for a long, long time.
Thus it came to pass that many people now inhabit this corner of the Continent, surrounded by dark blue seas—Orlanne.
What was the gift the Mage gave, you ask?
It was an apple called the “Crimson Ice”—tart and refreshing, sharp enough to make one’s ears ache.
From the wet lands the sea people abandoned, salt crystallizes to pierce the tongue and sustain the forsaken until the end of days, but none who have tasted even once the sweet and tart apple can ever return to that place.
Chapter 1.
1. Etoile
“Ah yes, there was indeed such a person. Princess Matilda, I believe—the Grand Duke’s great-grandmother, perhaps? She became a formal Etoile member at eighteen, and that remains the youngest record to this day.”
“Wait, eighteen? She truly passed the final Etoile examination at eighteen? Not an honorary member? Could it have been… some sort of special privilege?”
Laurent Castille, following a step behind, pressed further, and Captain Crupard’s brow furrowed as he clicked his tongue in habit—though he did not turn around. His gaze remained fixed on the path ahead, illuminated by torchlight.
“Special privilege? Do you find becoming an Etoile member amusing in that head of yours? Hearing such foolish words makes me wonder if you yourself weren’t granted some undeserved favor. I can’t imagine who would go to such lengths for someone like you.”
“Yes, sir. I’m not that foolish. I passed the final examination in second place.”
“Who presided over the final examination that day?”
“Deputy Commander Peltier, sir.”
“Damn it. If it hadn’t been for the Deputy Commander, I would’ve gone back the day after tomorrow and had those documents inspected. That blasted fool.”
“Phew, thank goodness. That was a close call.”
Despite Captain Crupard’s fierce tone, Laurent walked on without the slightest hint of intimidation, chuckling continuously. Behind them, thirty members of the Scout Division followed in silence. There was barely a footstep to be heard, let alone conversation. Only the two men ahead could afford to talk. They were Etoile, after all. It wasn’t quite a privilege—the elite soldiers of Etoile could converse while maintaining full attention to their surroundings and responding to emergencies—but the other members simply could not manage such a feat.
“In any case, when Princess Matilda won the Silverscull Tournament at nineteen, her popularity was truly legendary. On New Year’s Day, when she appeared on the Palace Terrace, she received louder cheers than the Grand Duke himself. And the frenzied scramble over the candies she scattered—you should have seen it. Adults would tie on aprons and rush in to gather up sweets meant for children, carrying baskets and swinging them about. It was quite the spectacle.”
Walking through the damp, shadowy cave by torchlight while imagining silver coins and colorful candies scattered on New Year’s Day felt utterly dreary, though Laurent suspected any conversation in such a place would feel much the same regardless. He suddenly recalled something and asked.
“By the way, Captain, how old were you at that time?”
“I was supposed to be born about twenty years later.”
“Then how do you know so much about it?”
“Shut up. Don’t you have a grandmother?”
Laurent chuckled and replied.
“That’s true. I never had a grandmother. So what became of her—Princess Matilda?”
“What became of her? She passed away.”
“What? Why? Oh, wait—that makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Didn’t I just tell you she was the Grand Duke’s great-aunt?”
Laurent shrugged and let out a soft laugh.
“Right. How foolish of me. But that’s not what I was asking…”
“What she did for a living? Nothing. She simply passed away.”
“You mean… she died young?”
“Yes, before she even turned thirty.”
“Why?”
Captain Crupard paused slightly before speaking in a lowered voice.
“Her popularity at that time was so excessive that it threatened the position of Grand Duke Gideon, who was the heir to the throne. So the reigning Grand Duke arranged for her marriage early on, and she became the Queen of Lugran. But it seems the warm climate of the south didn’t suit her constitution, and she passed away within just a few years.”
“What a waste. A true talent squandered. To think she became Etoile at eighteen—they should have entrusted the Grand Duchy’s military to such a prodigy.”
Laurent himself, even as he spoke, was a rare case of becoming Etoile at twenty. Among the Etoile, he was remarkably young. Tall and light-footed, with mischievous eyes, he was twenty-two this year.
Captain Crupard, exactly twenty years his senior, had the seasoned bearing of someone whose hair had long since begun to gray, tied back neatly. Crupard smiled wryly and shook his head.
“If that had been the case, things might be quite different now.”

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