SS #38 Two Years Later, A Day in Each of Their Lives (3)

#5 The Count Like the Wind and the Count Like Gold

While Yujin and Yuria were having an audience with the Fairy Queens, and the Angel and the Sword Demon were continuing their meal…

In Bailun, a major city in the northern part of the Sailun Kingdom, two counts who had shared a friendship for decades stood side by side, gazing at the same scene.

“The weather is fine.”

It was afternoon, with dusk approaching.

At the words of Count Bayer, who stood by the window, Count Chase scoffed as he always did. It wasn’t in defiance of Count Bayer’s statement. It was simply a habitual snort, a fact Count Bayer knew all too well as he calmly continued.

“To think they’ve grown so much already. Time is truly like the wind.”

Reflected in Count Bayer’s blue eyes were two figures standing in the garden, chatting.

Amber Bayer and Aidan Bayer.

The seventeen-year-old siblings had grown so beautifully and gallantly that they brought a natural, heartwarming feeling to any onlooker. In their childhood, there had been worries that their growth would be slow due to their angelic blood, but from a certain point, they had actually started growing faster than their peers.

Come to think of it, Regina and Yuria also seemed to grow a bit fast.

Though their circumstances were slightly different from Amber and Aidan’s, both were also half-bloods of divine beings—a Wild God and an Archangel, respectively.

In any case, back to Amber and Aidan.

A gentle smile once again graced Count Bayer’s face as he watched the grown-up pair. It was because a thought, one that was a bit foolishly doting—no, a thought worthy of Count Chase himself—had crossed his mind.

They’ve both grown up so well.

Amber was a beauty, and Aidan was a handsome young man. So much so that the adjective ‘outstanding’ ought to precede their descriptions.

Amber Bayer.

The result of her mother’s brilliant blonde hair and a face as beautiful as a painting, combined with her father’s gentle eyes and soft atmosphere, was truly impressive.

If Adelia, beautiful and proud but with a strong, sharp impression, was like a single sword—or a thorny rose—then the elegant and gentle Amber was reminiscent of a saintess from a story.

Of course, if Aidan, who was standing next to her, had known Count Bayer’s thoughts, he would have immediately shaken his head, and even Regina would have let out an awkward laugh, saying, “I admit Amber is a beauty, but a saintess is a bit…”

And for good reason. Appearance and atmosphere aside, Amber had clearly and strongly inherited Adelia’s blood—or to be more specific, Count Chase’s blood.

Seeing Amber’s ever-smiling face, her grandfather, Count Bayer, would feel pleased, thinking she was like Gale or Yuna. But Aidan and Regina thought differently.

‘I can never tell what she’s thinking!’

She was always smiling, which, paradoxically, made it impossible to know her true thoughts. After all, Amber was someone who never lost her elegant smile even when she was furious.

Of course, the fact that she ‘doesn’t show her inner thoughts’ was the complete opposite of the Chase family’s genetic trait (?). It was a well-known fact that you could tell what the people of the Chase family were thinking just by looking at their faces.

The Chase family trait that Amber had inherited was her passionate personality. Despite not showing it on the outside, Amber was just as quick to anger and quick to flare up.

-That’s why Amber is scary. Even when she’s furious inside, you can’t tell at all from the outside. So you don’t even realize she’s angry and keep stoking her anger until she just ‘explodes!’ Ugh… Please forgive me. I was wrong.

Count Bayer remembered Regina’s words from some time ago, but he was still on the fence. That was because he had never once seen Amber get angry.

‘That’s what makes her so scary!’

If Regina had been there, she would have jumped up and shouted, but alas, she was currently being thoroughly overwhelmed by fairies in the royal capital, not Bailun. Thus, there was nothing she could do about the rose-tinted glasses through which Count Bayer viewed his granddaughter.

And so, Count Bayer could only smile at the sight of Amber in her green dress, giving her older brother a gentle smile.

And then there was Aidan.

In contrast to Amber, he was a young man who had inherited his father’s tall stature and handsome face, along with his mother’s sharp eyes and noble, proud aura.

Every time Count Bayer looked at Aidan, he thought:

He’s truly the epitome of the Chase family.

A cute creature whose inner thoughts are all visible on the outside, who always goes ‘hmph’ and pretends to be sharp, but is actually so soft-hearted he’s the very definition of kindness.

Count Chase was like that, Adelia was like that, and Cordelia was like that, too. It was a trait that could practically be called a hereditary factor of the Chase family.

Watching his grandson and granddaughter, who had chosen to follow their mother’s path of magic instead of their father’s path of the sword, Count Bayer spoke as if in passing.

“It was around that age, wasn’t it?”

The time when Yuder and Cordelia started being head over heels for each other.

Understanding him perfectly, Count Chase scoffed.

“It’s still too early.”

It was too soon for either of them to be engaged or married. He could concede for Aidan, perhaps, but absolutely not for Amber. Perhaps because Amber had been practically raised in the Chase household in Bailun, unlike Yuria who lived in the Holy Nation, Count Chase’s love for his granddaughter was particularly strong.

What if Amber suddenly brought home some dark, shady fellow, claiming he was her boyfriend…?

Just the thought of it was unpleasant enough to make Count Chase’s face harden. Count Bayer flashed the same charming smile the men of the Bayer family had used to successively bewitch the women of the Chase family and said, “You never change.”

He might keep scoffing on the outside, but what would happen if she actually brought someone home, and if Amber said she liked him?

Wouldn’t it be just like when Yuria brought Yujin home?

As Count Bayer chuckled, Count Chase narrowed his eyes. He could see exactly what his old friend was thinking.

“Hmph. How has Regina been lately?”

Unlike Amber, who officially had no one she was seeing—though the young men courting her could form a legion—Regina had what one might call a ‘boyfriend’ for the past two years, though not quite a fiancé.

At Count Chase’s question, Count Bayer smiled gently and replied, “She seems to be doing well. Sir Elwin is, by anyone’s standards, a fine youn—no, boy.”

Outwardly, he looked like a grown man in his twenties, but Elwin’s actual age was just thirteen.

“But why that expression?”

Count Chase asked, his eyes narrowing. Count Bayer let out a slightly awkward smile and answered, “Well… since it’s you I’m telling, he’s… a bit too… big, you know.”

Unlike Regina, who was petite like Yuna and barely 160 cm tall, Elwin was truly massive. He was taller than not only Count Bayer himself, who was in the high 180s, but also Count Chase, who was well over 190 cm. Elwin was probably around two meters tall.

And he wasn’t just tall; he was also incredibly muscular. At times, Elwin’s triceps looked about as thick as Regina’s waist.

A human tank, truly. A moving fortress.

The problem was that Elwin was only thirteen.

He’s definitely going to get bigger…

Perhaps he would even grow to a size comparable to that Warrior of the Sun, Landius.

“Well… I’m sure Regina will handle it just fine.”

“Hmm… I suppose so.”

When it came down to it, what could they do if Regina liked him? Besides his immense size, Elwin himself was a truly fine boy.

Recalling the sight of Regina spending an entire day picking out a swimsuit, excited about going to the hot springs in the capital with Elwin, Count Bayer wore a complex expression, both pleased and bittersweet.

It was at that very moment.

“Is Aris doing well?”

At Count Chase’s question, Count Bayer smiled before he even answered. It was a smile that looked as if it would melt away at any moment.

Aris Bayer.

The youngest daughter of the Bayer family, born just a year ago. The super-duper youngest child, more than forty years younger than her eldest brother, Gale.

“Our Aris… is just so adorable.”

Yesterday, she had been babbling in Yuna’s arms, and the sight had been so utterly lovely. He wanted to tell Yuder to include her in the scriptures as the Angel of Cuteness.

“Hmph, don’t be ridiculous. Do you even know how old you are?”

“Ahem, the wind is always… free… Alright, alright. I get it, I said. Stop looking at me like that.”

“Hmph, that blasted wind.”

It was a habit of Count Bayer’s that he had started up again at some point, just when they thought he had finally stopped with age.

But perhaps that was why.

A memory of the old days suddenly came to Count Chase’s mind. A time that now felt like a distant past, more than forty years ago, when Count Bayer ran wild like a hellion and Count Chase himself had to clean up after him.

The burning love that began after their first meeting in the capital, and the journey they embarked on, prepared to give up everything—unlike the trendy elopements of today.

And—

-This is our baby.

In this very garden where Amber and Aidan now stood, the image of her, holding Edward in her arms, a transparent smile on her face.

The leather pouch that was always full of small gifts.

Right here in this garden, he had stroked Edward’s head as the boy held a large book. He had held Adelia in his arms as she triumphantly conjured a magic flame, and he had kissed Cordelia’s small forehead, a bright smile on his face.

It was a long time ago. A past that was now decades gone.

But he could still remember it vividly.

That smile, that warmth, the awkward greeting they had exchanged on the day they first met.

“Aeris.”

He said it out loud, unintentionally.

The name he could never forget. The name that would be with him for whatever remained of his life.

And so, Count Bayer said nothing. He offered no rash comfort, nor did he make the presumptuous suggestion that it was time to forget.

Count Bayer knew all too well.

That just as gold remains eternally unchanged, so too would Count Chase’s heart.

That a thousand years from now, ten thousand years from now, only one person would reside in his heart.

And so, the count like the wind remained silent.

Together with the count like gold, he greeted the sunset, reliving memories that would never fade.

#6 The Black-hearted Maid and the Shameless Knight

As a wind blew from the east, the clear blue sky began to bleed into shades of crimson.

A knight with long, light brown hair stood in the middle of a garden, looking up at the sky.

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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