This Life Is Truly A Joke (6)

He intended to take his anger out on Callian's attendant.

In that brief moment, Yan raised his hands to protect himself, but he didn't do so. He thought that if he resisted, Planche's anger would then be directed at Callian. That's why he didn't cover his face, he simply closed his eyes.

At the same time, Callian moved his hand nimbly.

–Tak!

Faster than a blink, Callian put down the glass of water and his hand shot out to catch the knife in midair. Planche's gaze went for a moment to the glass of water on the table.

The water remained steady in the glass even though he put it down hastily.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Red blood droplets trickled from Callian's bare palm as he clenched the blade of the knife.

Faced with this scene, Planche said,

"Oh no… my hand slipped."

Yan's eyes widened as he took in the details one by one: Callian's posture, Callian's hand, the knife in his hand, the blood flowing down the knife, and the smile on Planche's face.

He felt a growing sense of anxiety, not because Callian caught the knife, but because he feared the situation would soon spiral out of control.

Callian stood up. He calmly placed the blood-stained knife before Planche. He then looked at Planche face to face and said with a smile.

"That's fine."

Those words were ambiguous.

He meant it in the sense of 'don't worry about my injured hand', or perhaps in the sense of 'I forgive you for your rudeness'.

Or both.

In any case, a few drops of blood dripped onto Planche's clothes.

Callian strode out of the dining room.

***

By the time Callian had reassured Yan, who was very worried about the wound on his hand, the afternoon had arrived. He headed off to his riding lesson.

There was a horse– or rather a pony, who looked at Callian with round, gentle eyes.

Callian didn't have his own horse yet. The original Callian was terrified of animals. Once those memories came to his mind, he covered his face in shame.

"Does it hurt your pride to ride on it, little brother Callian?"

Planche.

Callian looked towards his voice.

Planche, who was sitting atop a silver-white horse that was clearly of good pedigree, was staring down at him. Callian frowned for a moment, but his expression quickly returned to normal.

Planche noticed the bandage wrapped around Callian's hand and he snickered. Callian frowned once more, but he looked away so as not to take the bait.

Just then, he saw a horse that caught his attention. It was a second horse that Planche had with him. Callian examined the horse with curiosity and was impressed.

'That's a very good horse.'

Except for its white right foreleg, it was a completely black horse. Its mane and tail were well-groomed. Its well-proportioned musculature and agile build showed that it was a better horse than the current one ridden by Planche.

"This horse is stubborn, so I intend to ask my teacher to help me tame it."

It was so unruly that he had never been able to ride it properly.

But Callian couldn't take his eyes off the black horse. Seeing this, the corners of Planche's lips raised. He then said to Callian,

"If you can ride it, I'll give it to you. But if you fail, I want you to apologize for what happened at breakfast."

Yan took a step forward unconsciously, worried that his young master would fall off the horse.

As soon as he saw the annoying attendant, Planche glared at him.

The attendant did not try to block the knife this morning so that Planche would not then direct his anger at Callian, and now he stood in front so that his young master would not do this.

He behaved as if he were Callian's guardian, rather than his attendant.

Callian noticed Planche's reaction and stepped in front of Yan. He looked back at Planche and answered calmly,

"Alright."

There was a clear anger in its eyes, as if it had taken it from Planche's personality. The horse showed a firm determination to not let itself be controlled.

A deep smile appeared on Callian's lips as he looked at this beast.

Callian's soft-eyed look switched in a flash. It turned into a murderous look, the look of someone who had killed countless people.

That merciless look was not something a three-year-old horse carefully raised in a pleasant environment could endure. It was as if the pressure of a thousand glares bore into it instead of a single person's.

The horse shuddered.

Soon, the horse's eyes became as docile as the pony's earlier. Only then did Callian withdraw his murderous intent.

The black horse let Callian into the saddle without any resistance.

Planche, who knew the violent horse's personality, was incredulous.

Yan, who was aware that Callian had no experience in riding horses, was thrilled.

'That story has definitely worked a miracle on my prince!'

Yan still believed that Callian had read the novel about the knight, so he didn't find it suspicious.

Callian patted the obedient horse on its neck.

"Raven. Your name is Raven."

The horse neighed as if it liked the name given by its new owner. With a smile, Callian turned his head toward Planche.

"Thank you."

To a certain extent, those words were sincere. After all, he had obtained an exceptional horse.

Callian added with a cheerful tone,

"Brother Planche."

That was completely poisonous.

Planche's face stiffened.