33 - Chapter 33

In the early winter morning, their mother called Rosey and Sinig to her bed.

“I may not be able to spend the next winter solstice with you.” She said, barely audible. “I’m going to your father’s side soon. When I’m gone, you’ll have to rely on each other and face the difficulties together.”

Rosey took his mother’s hand and put his arms around his sister’s shoulders: “Mhm, we will always be together.”

Sinig blushed and said: “As long as we live, we will always be together.”

Their mother smiled weakly: “No, actually…you will leave each other one day. You must have your own lives, so this parting is not sad. Even if you go to different paths, you will always be close relatives connected by blood.”

When the first snow fell, their mother left them forever. The siblings buried her under her favorite poplar tree.

During the winter solstice, Rosey went to perform tricks at the festival of Silver Falcon Castle. People were intoxicated in celebration, but he had no intention of enjoying it, so he could only force a smile.

Sinig looked at her brother enviously: “If only I had this talent, I would also like to make a shining golden tree. If I could help you, Rosey, it would be easier for you.”

During the snowy days, the siblings did not go out. Rosey tried to teach Sinig the tricks he had mastered, and tried to make her listen to the sounds of many elements in the air… But Sinig couldn’t learn how.

As winter went by and spring came, Rosey’s tricks continued to improve year after year. A few years later, he was not only able to perform magic, but also to use this mysterious technique to go hunting. He silenced his footsteps, secretly hypnotized the prey from a long distance, and then walked over to kill it easily.

One early summer evening, Rosey met a brown skinned old man on the mountain road. The nearby mountain people knew that people with this appearance came from the other side of the mountain. Sago’s geographical records call them the western wilderness people, but common people simply call them barbarians.

The barbarian old man could speak fluently the common language. He said that there was a natural disaster on the other side of the mountain, and the prey was really scarce, so he ventured over the ridge that looked like a moat and came here to hunt and try his luck. He had been paying attention to Rosey for a long time, because Rosey was like him -the power to manipulate the elements flowed through his body.

The old man said, in fact, you are more talented as a warlock than me. I am just a little more experienced than you. After I teach you the knack for controlling this power, you will be able to explore and move on in the future.

In this way, the old man became Rosey’s temporary mentor. Rosey’s progress could be described as quick, and just a few months later, his ability to cast spells almost surpassed the old man. Before the winter, the old man bid farewell to the young warlock and returned to the other side of the mountain.

It was said that this winter would be extremely cold, so, Rosey and Sinig hoarded a lot of dried meat and vegetables in the cellar to reduce the number of necessary trips during winter.

One night, the siblings were awakened by a quick knock on the door. The person outside shouted: “Please help me! I am a knight of Silver Falcon, I’m not a bad guy!”

Opening the door, a knight really stood outside. He was tall and handsome, with light blond hair shining in the moonlight, and thin snowflakes on his shoulder armor.

The siblings let the knight in to keep warm, and the three chatted around the stove. The knight told them about his experience: he and his comrades patrolled routinely, and the time for the returning of the team was delayed due to heavy snow. The sky was getting darker and darker. They accidentally walked into the deep forest and encountered a brown bear with a cub… In the chaos, he and his teammates were separated. If he had not seen the fire in the cabin, he would have frozen to death in the mountains.

Early the next morning, the knight left their home. Rosey served as his guide and escorted him back to the road safely.

A few days later, the knight came back again. This time he wasn’t lost. He made a special trip to thank the siblings. His subordinates pulled the mule cart, which was full of gifts: warm clothing made of silk and satin, colorful woven blankets, fruits that were very rare in this season… These were things that ordinary farmers and hunters couldn’t afford. In addition, he also brought a few things that made Sinig happy: skin care balm, petal soap, jeweled brooches and necklaces, rose-colored dresses…everything was so delicate that Sinig simply didn’t know what to look at first.

The knight didn’t ignore Rosey. What he gave him was a set of delicate bow and arrows, as well as a pair of soft sheepskin gloves. He said to Rosey: “I heard you are a hunter, so you should get a bow and arrows. As for gloves… I find your hands beautiful, even more delicate and slender than your sister’s, and they should not be exposed to the cold for hunting.”

Rosey did not take the bow and arrows, but happily put on the soft leather gloves. It was black soft leather decorated with thin silver lines, and the tailoring fitted his hands perfectly. It was thin and warm without affecting his finger movements.

He told the knight that he didn’t know how to wield a sword at all, and he relied on other skills to hunt. The weather was good on this day, so Rosey took the knight to the nearby woods and showed him his talent.

The knight was very surprised. He had learned about warlocks when he was studying, but he didn’t expect to meet one here. He immediately invited Rosey to Silver Falcon. Perhaps the lord would need the help of a spellcaster. Rosey did not agree to go with him, he only agreed to consider it slowly.

In fact, Rosey wanted to go with him. He yearned for a prosperous city, and hoped that he could assist this handsome knight…

Thinking of this, he dared not think anymore. He was afraid that he would not be able to adapt to the new way of life, and he had promised his mother to take good care of Sinig.

From then on, the knight often came to visit the siblings, staying for a period of time, from a few hours to a long stay for one night, and each time he brought gifts. When spring came, the knight would go hunting in the mountains with Rosey. Sinig used the prey they caught to make delicious food. In midsummer, the three of them sat together on the rocks by the creek, immersing their feet in the cool water…

Many flowers were planted in the fence in front of the cabin, and the most beautiful were the roses. The white roses were as pure and dazzling as the first snow, the red roses were as beautiful as the lips of a beauty…The knight could not help but sigh to the siblings: Red roses are the color of your hair, and white roses are like your kind hearts.

In the autumn of the second year, Rosey was convinced by the knight and went to Silver Falcon Castle with him. Only then did Rosey realize that this knight was not an ordinary soldier at all: he was the eldest son of the current lord and the nephew of the King of Sago.

Another winter solstice came, and Rosey left the city sadly. Originally, he got a small official position, but he hadn’t lived in the crowd for too long, and he was always incompatible with everything. People liked him at first, after all, he had a beautiful face and his conversation was fresh and interesting, but as time went by, conflicts always erupted.

The nobles and knights of the realm hated him more and more, and began to question his purpose of coming here. They doubted Rosey’s identity, thought he had appeared suspiciously, and accused him of plotting against the Lord’s family…The more people rejected him, the more he couldn’t stand Silver Falcon Castle.

When he got home, he saw his sister’s eyes red with longing. Rosey hugged her heartbroken and said: I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left you. We will be together forever.

When the flowers were in full bloom in the middle of spring, the Lord’s son came to the cabin again. This time he had taken off his armor and was wearing splendid clothes, and only a few personal attendants accompanied him.

The siblings thought that this old friend would give them generous gifts again, but today…the gifts were a little different. Today’s gifts were exclusively for Sinig.

A maid presented her with a pure white dress inlaid with pearls and crystals, and a small suede jewelry box. Sinig opened the box, and the brilliance of a diamond on a platinum ring caught her eyes.

Rosey stood at the door in a daze, watching her sister fall into the embrace of the Lord’s son. Her eyes twinkled with tears of happiness, more beautiful than the pearls on the dress.

Soon, a grand wedding was held in Silver Falcon Castle. Although the wife of the son of the Lord had a humble background, she conquered everyone who had seen her with her amazing beauty.

The bride’s brother did not appear at the wedding. Rosey was willing to go, but the son of the lord told him: “You’d better not show up. As compensation, we can drink two more glasses in private…because the nobles and knights hate ‘that nervous warlock’, and if they knew that Sinig was the sister of the warlock, they would definitely object and question her.”

The Lord’s son and his confidants took some time to forge a perfect origin for Sinig. Now she had a new surname from a family of heroic knights that had fallen many years ago. Two elderly priestesses could prove that she was indeed the orphan of that family.

“Rosey, from now on, you can no longer claim to be Sinig’s brother. The Lord’s wife must have a decent status. An orphan is better than the sister of the warlock. At least an orphan is innocent and can attract sympathy… You can only be her distant relative…or, it’s better if you are just fellow countryman.”

Rosey agreed.

A few years later, the knight had become the real Lord. With the accession of the new king of Sago, the new Lord was now known as Prince Lanto.

Whenever there were signs of disturbances in the mountains, or there were disputes and conflicts at the border of the territory, Rosey would rush back to the prince. After the incident was perfectly resolved, the lonely and weird warlock would disappear in the forest again.

Sinig hadn’t returned to the forest for a long time. Now she was the princess loved by everyone, and she was pregnant. Maybe…she would never come back in the future. No one knew that the princess had a brother, and no one thought that the prince would treat the warlock as a close friend.

The roses would still be in bloom outside the cabin, but no one would be with Rosey on winter nights.

During another snow season at the beginning of the year, Silver Falcon held a celebration for the birth of the princess’s first son.

In the mountain cabin, the stove went out in the middle of the night, and Rosey used magic to light the stove again, but the air was still as cold as when his mother died.

“We will be together forever.”

“As long as we live, we will always be together.”

But now, you all left me, everyone betrayed me.

The person I didn’t dare to love, and the person I vowed to love deeply…abandoned me together.

*****

“Are you all right?” Nollard was worried and snapped his fingers in front of the person in his arms. “Are you awake? Strange…what’s wrong?”

On the advice of his father and the mage, Nollard brought a team of knights back to the city. The fog in the city was also thick, but it was always more secure there.

As the prince’s eldest son, Nollard could not be fearful. Even if he returned to the city, he had to show up as the eldest son. He re-arranged the knights and asked them to divide into groups to patrol the city. In this way, the residents would be comforted, and the knights would not think that he had taken refuge.

Accompanied by a team of knights, Nollard also went to the streets to participate in the inspection. As he passed an alley, he heard a faint sob.

A red-haired figure was curled up in the alley, his thin shoulders trembling slightly. Nollard walked over and picked him up, secretly surprised -this turned out to be a young man with an extremely delicate and beautiful face! His glorious red hair was stained with dirt, his blurred eyes were filled with crystal tears, and his pale little face was covered with distressing scratches…

In short, he looked unwell. Maybe he was frightened by something, maybe it was because of this terrible fog… how could he be so haggard and sad? How could he fall in a dark alley dressed in coarse cloth? A little beauty like him…should be lying on velvet wearing silk clothing!

The more Nollard thought about it, the more distressed he felt. He picked up the beautiful boy himself, ordered the knights to call for the carriage and drove back to the Lord’s residence in the name of helping the wounded.