To You, Who Will Die Alone in Paradise Chapter 5

Dandeleon shivered, overwhelmed by the terrible fantasy he had conjured. Surely, the great High Elf must have more refined tastes than that.

Even while thinking so, Dandeleon’s hand was unknowingly wiping away a little of the grayish-white powder he had applied to his cheek.

*

“Did you have a peaceful night, Your Highness?”

I still did not know the High Elf’s tastes, but it was true that his social skills were excellent.

“Could it be that you are unwell somewhere? If your health is not good, the tour can be on another day…”

“No. I am perfectly fine.”

Is it not truly beautiful, the way he worries first instead of laughing at Dandeleon’s bizarre appearance? I did consider accepting Kellewen’s consideration, going back, and then feigning illness, but when I thought of the king’s face as he smiled with force, I could not bring myself to say I would.

“Shall we look around the garden first?”

Dandeleon walked ahead without even listening to Kellewen’s answer. When Dandeleon acted that way, Kellewen could say no more and quietly followed him.

“This place where you are standing is a kind of maze garden built in a circle around the fountain. But the paths are not complicated. If you go this way, you will immediately find the path to the main palace building, and this way is the path to the greenhouse.”

Saying so, Dandeleon naturally led Kellewen towards the greenhouse. He had no intention of looking around the entire maze garden. The greenhouse, too, he would finish with a brief look from the outside.

Simply not attracting Kellewen’s interest was not enough. Dandeleon had set two small goals on his way here.

The first goal was to finish the palace tour as quickly and simply as possible. There was nothing to be gained from spending a long time face-to-face.

“That place over there is the rose garden that Her Majesty the Queen cherishes. There are only buds now, but the roses will be in full bloom soon, so I hope you will be sure to see them…”

Dandeleon, as if he had just remembered in the middle of speaking, tilted his head and asked Kellewen.

“Come to think of it, how long does the High Elf plan to stay in Benoit?”

The second goal was to gather information about Kellewen.

Since there were not many people in the palace who spoke with him, Dandeleon was out of the loop on rumors. He had no way of knowing when Kellewen was leaving unless he asked him directly. So, he planned to obtain as much information as possible while guiding him.

“Well, I am not sure yet. This is the final destination of my pilgrimage, so all that is left is to return to the elven forest.”

Kellewen’s answer was vague. Why on earth did he decide to end his pilgrimage in a place like this? Dandeleon tried not to show his annoyance on his face.

A ‘pilgrimage’ is an old elven custom. It involves traveling around the continent to broaden one’s horizons before reaching adulthood, but in Dandeleon’s view, it was not much different from an ordinary trip. After that, they would return to the elven forest and, upon reaching their hundredth birthday, be recognized as an adult or something.

It is not mandatory. Whether to go on a pilgrimage or not is an individual’s freedom. However, I heard that most High Elves who offer their magical power to Yggdrasil chose the path of pilgrimage. And for a very long time at that. I don’t know for sure, but Kellewen must have done the same.

“It is a great honor to be able to host you in Benoit at the end of your long journey.”

When Dandeleon said some empty flattery, Kellewen smiled.

“I am happy to hear you say that. Your Highness is a very warm person.”

While smiling and humbly saying “no” with his mouth, Dandeleon was inwardly impressed. It was because Kellewen’s tone and expression felt so sincere.

He must be so good at acting that everyone reveres him as a saint. Perhaps if Dandeleon were to expose Kellewen’s true nature that he saw in the vision, no one would believe him. Even Zellos would probably just hit Dandeleon on the back, saying he was seeing strange things because he was smoking things like hookahs.

So, I have no choice but to protect myself.

“But it is a waste to only stay in the capital since you have come all the way to Benoit.”

Dandeleon, watching Kellewen’s expression, subtly broached the subject.

“How about visiting Roalante?”

“Ah, the place with the Lighthouse of Jelokal? If it is possible, I would very much like to visit once.”

When a positive response came from Kellewen, Dandeleon’s face brightened.

To get to Roalante, it takes a full day by carriage from the palace. A round trip would take about three days for travel alone, so Dandeleon would be safe during that time. Filled with anticipation, he poured out words in an excited tone.

“You must go. There are not many places on the continent where you can see the sea now. Don’t worry about safety. It has been almost 500 years since High Elf Jelokal-nim cast a spell on that place, but the lighthouse is still as clean as new.”

Magic is truly amazing, isn’t it? Dandeleon, who was chattering excitedly, suddenly paused.

At the word “magic,” Kellewen’s expression became strange. In the place where his sociable smile had been, hesitation lingered. Kellewen hesitated and then spoke.

“Um, Your Highness. Actually, there is something I would like to ask you.”

Kellewen said so and took a step closer.

Dandeleon’s heart sank. He quickly came to his senses and looked around, but there was no one nearby. If they had reached the greenhouse, there would have been a groundskeeper, but since they were on the way, the only things visible were trees, bushes, and flowers.

Kellewen took another step closer. Dandeleon’s body stiffened. Kellewen had been maintaining a professional and polite demeanor until now, but now he had approached to a distance that would only be permissible between very close acquaintances.

“I know this is a strange question, but…”

Kellewen reached his hand out towards him. The white hand approached his face and then stopped near his right ear. Dandeleon was so tense that the fine hairs all over his body stood on end.

Kellewen said.

“Do you perhaps know how to use magic?”

That was, a really, incredibly strange question.

When Kellewen reached his hand towards him, in that fleeting moment, Dandeleon imagined many different things.

Among those imaginations, there were various scenes ranging from a low-level one where Kellewen’s hand caresses his cheek and whispers that he is beautiful, to the worst-case scenario where he is pushed onto the grass and attacked right there.

However, he had not anticipated this scene at all. Kellewen’s hand did not touch Dandeleon’s cheek or ear, let alone his earring, the question he asked was utterly absurd, and he withdrew his hand as soon as the question was finished. As a result, Dandeleon, who had shrunk back in anticipation, was left feeling a bit like a fool.

“Do I know how to use magic?”

Is this some kind of elven culture I don’t know about? Instead of praising the other person’s beauty, they talk about magic or something? Dandeleon stared at Kellewen with a stern look. For him, it was just an attempt to grasp Kellewen’s intentions, but the gentle and polite elf took it a little differently.

“I apologize, I was too rude.”

Kellewen said so and quickly created some distance.

That alone helped Dandeleon regain some composure. A man about a head taller than him casting a shadow from right in front of him was, even if the person had no such intention, subtly threatening.

It seems he still wants to be polite for now. Dandeleon thought so and relaxed his stiff face into a smile.

“Yes, I was a little surprised. The talk of magic is also baffling…”

“I am truly sorry, Your Highness. I felt it faintly from the first time I saw you, but it became even clearer when we were alone, so I asked without explaining.”

Felt what? My beauty? Just when he was thinking that the talk of magic was an elven way of expressing interest.

“I feel magical power from the earring Your Highness is wearing.”

Dandeleon flinched and unknowingly brought his hand to his right ear. The cold feeling of the metal was transmitted through his hand.

An earring with small amethysts set in a gold ornament, forming the shape of a flower. Whatever clothes he wore, whatever event he attended, Dandeleon always wore the same earring. He never took it off, even when bathing or sleeping. It was a habit, no, an obsession of Dandeleon’s that had continued for over 10 years.

His stomach churned. Dandeleon covered his mouth with his hand and tried to suppress the unpleasantness rising within him. The fact that Kellewen mentioned the earring was not in itself unpleasant.

The problem was that the destination of this conversation, should it continue, was obvious. If they talked about the earring, a question like this would naturally come up…

“Excuse me, but may I ask where you obtained that earring?”

“It is an item I received from my mother.”

…because he had no choice but to answer that question like this.

“Is that so, from your mother…”

Kellewen muttered in a low voice. His gaze was still fixed on Dandeleon’s earring, but his words did not immediately follow. Kellewen’s expression was serious, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

That careful attitude gave Dandeleon a sense of certainty. The corner of Dandeleon’s mouth twisted up.

It is ‘mother,’ not ‘Her Majesty the Queen,’ I see.

“You have heard stories about me?”

There was a clear hint of ridicule in Dandeleon’s voice. Kellewen was taken aback by that reaction. As naively and honestly as could be.

“About Your Highness… I have heard many, no, a few stories.”

“And the very first thing you heard among them was probably that I am His Majesty’s illegitimate son?”

“…I will not deny it.”

Dandeleon recalled the banquet hall last night. There were many people who knew who Dandeleon was, and there were even more people who were desperate to exchange even a single word with Kellewen.

Among all those people, was there not a single idiot who judged that they could score points with the High Elf by whispering the shame of the Benoit royal family? Even Dandeleon did not think so. He was confident he would not even be surprised if that idiot turned out to be his brother, Pierre.

So, this situation was entirely predictable.

Then why do I feel so filthy?

“Am I filthy?”

In that moment, such words suddenly slipped out of Dandeleon’s mouth.

‘Am I crazy?’

Even the person who said it was so surprised that he wanted to cover his mouth. It was something he could have just laughed off as usual, but what kind of answer did he expect to hear, saying something like this?

Dandeleon, in his confusion, wished that the words about his earring being enchanted were true. If he could turn back time with magic, he would never say such an embarrassing thing, I must be really crazy…

But no matter how long he waited, time could not be turned back, and the responsibility for the words already spoken rested with Dandeleon himself.

“No, I apologize, what am I saying…”

“I do not think you are filthy.”

Kellewen said.

Dandeleon thought that a trite consolation would follow that answer. But the words that followed were slightly different from what he expected.

“I am not familiar with human cultures, but elves do not have the concept of an illegitimate child. A child is just a child, and they are not given a different name based on their parents’ marital status or the nature of their relationship.”

A longer and unexpectedly different perspective of an answer came back. Dandeleon frowned. He knew it was stupid to argue about elven culture as a human, but he asked in a rebutting way because he felt strangely provoked.

“I know that elves also get married. You would not say that in the history of elves, there has never been a case where a married person had a child with someone else, right?”

“Of course, that is so, but even in such cases, the one who is criticized is not the child. Only the person who betrayed their marriage partner deserves to be criticized.”

“The child has no sin, so you do not despise them? That is amazing, is it because children are precious?”

At this point, his words were close to picking a fight, but instead of getting angry, Kellewen listened to Dandeleon’s words seriously. Then he answered with a serious expression.

“There is certainly that reason as well. Compared to humans, the birth rate of elves is low. But in my opinion, it is less about cherishing children and more about the difference in how the institution of marriage is defined.”