TYND 47

Chapter 47

The airfield at the edge of the cliff gradually grew larger as it filled his field of vision. After gliding in a long arc, Whis reduced the beating of his wings and landed gracefully, as lightly as snow settling on the ground.

“You’ve returned, Captain.”

A single Rafi greeted him, blue feathers fluttering. It was Napari Hoya, Whis’s adjutant and a promising young talent within the unit.

“Have all the members returned?” Whis asked.

“Paz went out to scout the border, and Gerald is standing by to rotate duties. The rest of the members are resting in the barracks.”

“I see. Everyone’s been working hard on reconnaissance lately. Take good care of the unit while I’m gone.”

Whis shook his wings, scattering the small feathers clinging to him, and started walking toward the administrative building.

His stride was straight, his posture upright, his movements as disciplined as ever—but the dull, rough look of his feathers made him seem exhausted.

“Captain. Are you staying here to rest today?”

“No. His Majesty is alone, so I need to return to headquarters. The Grand General said he’d watch over His Majesty in my stead, so I came back briefly.”

Napari looked at Whis with concern.

For months now, Whis had barely slept properly, devoting all his energy to protection and reconnaissance.

The Grand General, reasoning that a scout would be best suited to escape at any moment if necessary, had appointed Whis—formerly of the reconnaissance unit—as the Queen’s guard. Because he had to stay by the Queen’s side nearly all day, Whis had been forced to move his residence from the unit’s base to headquarters.

“It would be better if you rested a bit more today. Your feathers are a mess.”

“Must be because I’ve been busy. Don’t worry about it.”

“Headquarters may have better facilities, but it’s not exactly a place where one can truly relax, is it? Please, stay and rest a bit longer.”

Napari insisted and stepped in front of Whis to block his path.

Understanding his concern, Whis gave a bitter smile and gently pushed Napari aside.

Napari was right. Headquarters wasn’t uncomfortable per se, but Rafi instincts made it unbearable to live there.

Rafis couldn’t function without coolant stones.

Depending on small necklaces to survive gave Rafi soldiers a peculiar sense of obsession, and many had petitioned to be free from their coolant stones at least while sleeping.

After much deliberation, the Grand General discovered information about a flat area suitable for a base at the center of the Twin Mountains. That was the very outpost of the 8th squad where they now stood.

The psychological comfort provided by the cold of the mountain ridge was something headquarters couldn’t compare to.

Whis, too, wanted to throw off his coolant stone and sleep deeply. But thinking of the Queen, he couldn’t allow himself that luxury.

“With a coolant stone, it makes no difference whether it’s here or there. I understand your concern, but it can’t be helped.”

“You don’t need to be so excessively focused on guarding her—”

“You know the current atmosphere, don’t you? Tensions among the lords are bad, so we have to be even more careful with security. Have you heard about Duke Witten?”

Napari relaxed his furrowed brows and replied with a sigh mixed into his voice.

“Yes. I heard His Majesty handed the duchy over to Rutherford and stripped Witten down to the position of Grand Tutor… They say His Majesty really stabbed Witten in the back. The soldiers were in an uproar over it.”

“I was waiting outside the council chamber—the atmosphere was grim. I don’t know what His Majesty was thinking, but for now we need to keep an eye on that situation. When Paz returns, tell him to thoroughly investigate the area around House Witten.”

Once inside the unit, Whis removed his coolant stone and tossed aside his trousers and vest. He wore clothes out of courtesy to other races, but it was far more comfortable without them.

He sat down and began grooming his feathers.

“You really must be tired. Your feathers are in terrible shape.”

The white plumage he had once taken pride in had lost its luster, sticking out in all directions.

He bent over, plucked out old feathers, fluffed the down beneath, and cleared the feathers stuck around his beak. When he lightly flapped his wings, trimmed feathers scattered everywhere.

Napari, who had been taking out a fresh uniform nearby, hurried over to brush the captain’s feathers away.

“How is His Majesty these days? At first, it didn’t seem like the two of you got along very well, but now it looks like you’re doing fine?”

“At first, I was disappointed because she seemed younger and weaker than I expected. But not anymore. She’s sharp, her feather color is beautiful—and more than anything, she lived in Pomnos.”

“What? His Majesty lived in Pomnos?”

“That’s right.”

“Wasn’t it just a short stay for sightseeing? Or work-related?”

“No. You know she fled the royal palace with her mother, don’t you? They escaped to Pomnos. She said she lived there for over two years.”

Napari froze mid-motion, eyes wide.

“How could a human survive there for two years…? Is that really true?”

“Yes. What’s even more surprising is that she knows my mother as well. Well, I suppose no non-Rafi could survive in Pomnos without the chieftain’s help.”

Napari let out a soft exclamation, beak agape.

“That’s incredible. Humans living in the north are rare enough—but among all the Rafi cities, to share the same homeland as the captain… Wow. Isn’t that fate?”

“Hah. Fate, my foot.”

“Wait—wasn’t the reason you left Pomnos to find your destined partner?”

The moment he heard the phrase destined partner, Whis frowned and clicked his tongue. It wasn’t irritation so much as embarrassment disguised as annoyance.

Fidgeting with the fine feathers beneath his eyes, Whis muttered uncomfortably.

“You sure say embarrassing things easily. Fate with a human—don’t be ridiculous.”

“Oh, come on. What does race have to do with fate? You’re the one who taught us that love has no boundaries, that we should love and encourage one another without discrimination.”

He had said that.

Mostly to get the soldiers to stop constantly fighting with the Lycan troops.

“Honestly, when you first said that, I thought you were a strange person. Later, though, I started thinking you were a true romantic. I always figured you’d meet your partner someday—and then His Majesty appears at just the right moment.”

Ignoring Whis’s warning look, Napari kept rambling on.

“Isn’t it wonderful? How many humans from Pomnos could there possibly be? And among them, how many end up becoming one’s liege? People call meetings with odds this slim fate.”

He chuckled, clearly enjoying himself.

Normally, Whis would have snapped at him to stop spouting nonsense, but instead he merely stared at Napari with an annoyed expression. After a brief silence, he let out a long sigh and muttered to himself.

“Fate…”

He had once thought it was just a joke, but now he couldn’t laugh it off so easily.

Since meeting Lucy, he sometimes wondered if fate truly existed.

His first impression of her had been simple: a strangely unlikable woman. That was all. But as he spent more time by the Queen’s side, he gradually grew intrigued by the unreadable woman she was.

Arsinoe was nothing like the royalty he had imagined.

She behaved familiarly yet never crossed certain lines, always maintaining proper courtesy. She seemed impulsive at first glance, but in truth acted only after deep thought—an uncanny blend of a seasoned elder and a young girl coexisting within one person.

Her feather color was fascinating, her eye color even more so. When he watched her wheat-colored hair shimmer under the sunlight, he felt as though he were gazing at a gem of exceptional purity, unable to look away.

He didn’t know what standards humans used for beauty, but he had heard she was considered quite beautiful.

Well, with feathers and eyes that sparkled like that, she was probably pretty even by human standards.

Yes. Even if it wasn’t fate, he couldn’t honestly say he had no interest in her.

Whis concealed his inner turmoil behind a calm expression.

“Don’t worry about other people’s fate—go find your own. By the way, what’s the situation at the border? It sounded like war could break out any moment, but there’s been no news.”

“According to reports from a few days ago, Dophein crossed the border of Antevasilla and a small skirmish occurred. Neither nation’s main forces have moved yet.”

“It’d be nice if they just wasted supplies like that and ended it…”

“Since the Empire is supporting Dophein, it doesn’t seem likely to fizzle out. They’re already covering part of Dophein’s supply lines.”

Parnas wasn’t directly at war, but the repercussions would inevitably reach them.

Even now, refugees worried about the political situation were pouring in like a flood, and merchants afraid Parnas might be dragged into the conflict were driving grain prices through the roof.

The harvest had just ended, so there was no immediate crisis—but if the war between the two nations dragged on, it was obvious that Parnas, too, would suffer from invasion and plunder.