The Kingdom of Everlasting Night and the Last Ball Translation

9.1 The Forest Crystal and Mukmugris

After the first festival, the morning of Clavis came.

Clavis was the second day of the pre-festival to Evemeria. It was the day for everyone to relax with their close friends.

Until last year, Dia was part of a merry celebration consisting of Richardo’s younger brothers. Some brought their lovers, the others their fiancées.

Usually, in the early morning, she would tie her hair up and wear a heavy dress. It would then be a somewhat heavy day for Dia, who would be enjoying those ornamental trees quietly.

However, Dia was now liberated of such a heavy responsibility.

This would also be her last Clavis—

—and also the first shocking morning of her life.

mu.

Dia woke up, rubbed her drowsy eyes a bit, and noticed light blue hair spilling out from under her quilt. She lifted her eyebrows.

At first, she didn’t give much thought to it.

Perhaps I fell asleep, and amidst a dream, plucked Noin’s hair.

…I will surely be scolded by him later.

…huh?

Noin was there.

She grew even more confused.

This was the first time she had ever experienced such a situation. Her heart throbbed, enveloped in both a sour and sweet sensation. At the same time, she was alerted to the chaotic mess that was her current state of her mind.

“…What’s the first course of action when you find a trespasser? Ah, got it, first to get rid of him, then throw him into the bottom of the courtyard’s well…?”

“…Oi, you’re being noisy.”

“Why is the bed owner being scolded by the obviously ill-intentioned guy who is occupying her bed?”

As a side note, Dia’s dedication towards sleeping was strong to the point of being admirable.

She had various commitments for a good night’s sleep. There was an aromatic sachet at the bedside containing lavender she had stolen from the castle’s garden.

She was quite confident she could produce another sachet, but it had quite a value to Dia. Such that she wouldn’t just hand it to anyone else.

One time, the fiancée of Dia’s ex-fiancé discovered what she was working on. Then, not only did Dia have to make one for her, she also had to deliver it herself—!

By the end of the job, while continuously jamming her needle into her embroidery, Dia cursed for the First Prince’s hair to fall.

In other words, it was really important for Dia. It was something she could pour all her heart into.

Other than that, if she wanted to make the most of her remaining days, she had to sleep well at night so she would be able to enjoy the warmth of dawn. There was no way for her to not enjoy that.

Even better was that she had a scrumptious supper the previous night. Perhaps, it was the lingering deliciousness that had coaxed her to sleep.

Oh, another thing she recalled was her dilemma because she couldn’t remove her dress without the help of a maid. That time, she considered it fortunate for Noin to still be there, and asked him to help her undress—

“—Woman, do you have no shame!?”

She probably fell asleep after his berating.

…I fell asleep in an instant and have no memory after that…

…did I perhaps fall asleep without first removing Noin from the room?

It was probably because before going to bed, she was more preoccupied with combing her hair and adjusting the temperature of her room.

However, remembering the conversation he had with that fairy last night, she again was reminded of the fact that he was a non-human.

Even if said conversation didn’t divulge too much about their world, the line dividing their worlds was apparent to the eye.

However, she was willing to overcome said difference!

First, was to understand it.

Both Noin and the Mukmugris lived in the forest, right? They could both be categorized as forest creatures, right? By learning of the latter, she might gain an insight that’d also apply to the former.

Dia was a person who could, even amidst such a situation, judge calmly. Even if she fell in love with the beautiful non-human.

“…Aren’t you the one who went wild in the middle of night? Tsk, doing as you please…”

“Ah, you jest~! I feel so refreshed like this, I must’ve had sleep well last night. As such, there’s no way what you’ve just said is true!”

“Yes, said the same person who went and procured a box to capture a fairy last night.”

“Because it has something to do with my reputation as a lady, as such, I have to fight for it!”

“More importantly, go wash yourself and change into something else! I also must remind you to dry your hair properly before going to bed next time!”

“…okay, Grandma.

“Don’t call me that.”

Staring at Noin, who rose to sit on the bed, Dia realized that this non-human had truly slept in her bed last night, instead of just wanting to mess with Dia when she woke up.

She was surprised, then convinced—

so even a spirit like him sleeps in a bed too.

However, even though she was confident she slept as graceful as she was when awake, to sleep next to a spirit like him still embarrassed her. It dDidn’t matter even if the bed was spacious.

Gururu, Dia threatened in a low voice.

Noin seemed tired—she recalled the spirit had a left injury on his arm. His cloak was also ripped.

The presence of the various non-humans mentioned in the conversation informed her that even though Noin was the King of the Night, he had a lot of unfinished business.

Especially that part regarding the Spirit of Death—

—it seemed that it would take huge effort before he could enslave all the people of Fashitar.

…I wonder what happened to the previous King of the Night?

When Dia reunited with Noin at this Royal Palace, she was shocked to find out he had already ascended the throne and became the current King of the Night.

When Dia first met him at that ball, Noin was still a prince.

In the decade they hadn’t met, it seemed that a lot had changed.

For him to be this exhausted… nevertheless, Dia was still unsure if it was due to his responsibilitiesy as the King, or because he was just too tired after too much playing around.

…that injury of his… will he be alright?

Suddenly worried, Dia grew desperate and grabbed Noin’s wrist.

The handsome man in a shirt with a few buttons loose lifted his eyebrows somewhat pleasantly.

However, that was only until Dia rolled up his sleeve.

“…Oi.”

“This is where you were injured last night, right? Let’s not leave it unattended, I shall procure some cloth…”

“Leaving an open wound unattended, I don’t possess such a hobby. In the first place, can you treat wounds?”

“The book has taught me well, all I have to do is tie the injury tightly using cloth to stop further bleeding, right?”

“…Alright, you know what? Never even think of treating a wound ever again. If the way to treat every wound is to tie something to it tightly, then even a mere string can save someone who’s on the verge of dying due to being mortally wounded.”

Mu, so it’s different?”

Sighing desperately, Noin shook his head silently.

Dia directed her grudge towards that book, which only provided a modest explanation.

For some reason, it was always like that. Things always didn’t work out—

—and here she thought she would finally be able to impress Noin…

even after everything, Noin is a non-human. That’s an undeniable truth.

After eating the spirit-provided meal, she was a little depressed she could do nothing to repay him. Dia lowered her head dejectedly.

The words of the Second Prince returned to her—

—it was as if he knew about Noin, the spirit.

She thought the people of the kingdom would be in absolute denial towards such a notion—

—who would’ve thought that Jillreid was relatively open-minded? At the very least, he wasn’t one to speak nonsense.

In short… was Jillreid aware about Noin? Was he perhaps advising me against having any relation with such things?

If so, he, who cared about Dia, might be unaware that his own brother was trying to kill Dia.

Under such an assumption, Dia was no longer wary about him, and instead, worried about how Jillreid would face the truth later.


***T/N: 

Dia woke up, rubbed her drowsy eyes a bit, and noticed light blue hair spilling out from under her quilt. She lifted her eyebrows.

–O, OOOOOOOO WHAT HAPPENED HERE. WOW THINGS ESCALATE FAST!!!!

That time, she considered it fortunate for Noin to still be there, and asked him to help her undress—

“—Woman, have you no shame!?”

Okay, so WHO attacked WHO!?

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