The Kingdom of Everlasting Night and the Last Ball Translation

22.1 From That Point Onward: The Servant of Meal and the Beloved Child

“Dilvier, even if I end up like this, please don’t hate the humans. …Forgive me, I’m your mother, and yet I’m not good enough…”

Dilvier shook his head wordlessly to his mother who apologized under the rain.

When was that?

At that time, humans betrayed his mother for selfish reasons.

…It was a different kingdom, one where it rains a lot.

A dry breeze carrying hint of sand blew.

The sky of that land barely provided any rain. The stars would twinkle as the sound of water dribbling from a pure fountain only the rich could enjoy echoed perennially.

Despite so, the once beautiful city had been burned down. The human settlement had been destroyed mercilessly.

Surrounded by dry rocks, that small town was the home to a certain human daughter, one protected by the mother of Dilvier.

It seemed that the daughter was born in a noble family, and was considered as middle-class amongst the human settlement. They made a living through music.

A beautiful girl with long barley hair and young leaf-colored eyes—she loved the oranges which could be harvested from that place.

“No can do, I found that cute girl first. If she sees how beautiful my son is, she’ll surely ditch me in favor of you! It would be good for that girl to experience love, however, I don’t want to give her to my family.”

After her mother laughingly told him so, Dilvier never stepped a foot in that city.

His mother, whom was betrayed by the human she had given protection to in that rainy kingdom, had finally discovered something precious—therefore, he didn’t want to threaten her in any way.

There was a rattling sound as the burnt down building became mere rubble.

A human war was merely a step away and visible from the window, but that mattered not to Dilvier.

There were screams of remorse coming from all side—despite so, they were still the cries of some strange humans in a strange country.

The reason why I am here… is because a foolish human has hurt my family again.

That human child had improved her talents under the protection of the fairy queen. However, that night, that very child had attempted to steal the heart of the kind-hearted fairy whom had been protecting her ever since she was a child. It was for the sake of protecting her warring kingdom.

It was Dilvier who first picked up the voice of his mother. Through the glow of the night, she had plead for someone to come pick her up—of course, he rushed immediately.

Then, he learned what the heartless human had done to his mother.

“Mother, …let us return to our kingdom.”

“You’re right… I’m kind of tired. I wonder why some beings, like the drizzle fairies, can coexist well with humans? I keep messing up… she’s such a precious, precious child to me. I even thought of protecting the child’s family, who gave birth to this child, one day, as if they were my own.”

It was clearly the difference in qualities.

The drizzle fairies brought blessings to many humans, while the twilight fairies sometimes brought disasters. In the first place, they were of different qualities.

No matter how similar they were, unlike the drizzle fairies, whom were good at nurturing artists, some twilight fairies just couldn’t get along well with humans.

He gazed at the ongoing war and looked down at the human remains which fell on the colorful mosaic floor.

The swaying of the flames burning the mansion next door was reflected on the puddle of blood on the floor.

Dilvier thought that girl, whom was murdered miserably, was pathetic.

That girl tried to steal the heart of the fairy who gave her blessing from the day she was born and kept watch over her like a mother by mixing poison into a cup to weaken her.

If the protection given was one-sided, it could still be understood that things ended in that way.

However, he heard that their relationship was akin to mother and daughter.

Jewels that could only be found in the fairy land, embroidery spun by fairies—

—knowing his mother, she probably never gave the girl any of those.

Instead, she’d bestow upon that girl, who wanted various things, some chidings, the wise suggestions of a fairy, and advice for which dress to be worn on a night out.

How much.

Did this girl not know how much affection the fairy had given and devoted to her?

Her affection cast aside, did she honestly think the fairy wouldn’t despair if she was betrayed by her loved one?

His mother was a fairy, while she was a human. Despite behaving exactly like a cowardly creature, when the table was turned and the human girl was on verge of death, she cried and asked why was she killed.

There was a difference between them.

It was only natural for the fairies to give their hearts to the weak, and they usually didn’t choose creatures different from themselves.

Since his mother had insisted on offering her heart to the human, only for that child to take her love for granted, wasn’t it only natural for the fairy to take revenge?

So, the selfishness of humans extends this far…

Despite the outcome she received, his mother still insisted for him to be amiable to humans.

But to Dilvier, humans were already nothing but weak and ugly creature that should be despised.

How many times has it been?

No matter how hard my mother tries to coexist with human beings, how many times has she been betrayed in return?

The greed of those lowly creature was overwhelming. Even though they were born with no magic in their bodies, and had to borrow magic from all the living beings in the world to live—

—why do so many high-ranking entities want to protect such wretched creatures?

“At that time, such were my thoughts.”

…My, such a terrible person existed and treated Lady Injitta like that? If that young girl returns from the Land of the Dead, I shall throw pumpkins at her without delay!”

On another note, a human’s soul needed time to reach full completion. Therefore, when they died, they would join the Land of the Dead.

Only on the Day of the Dead would they be allowed to return to ground. It was truly a luxurious treatment—for they’d be able to reunite with the living.

It was considered a hassle since humans could only live for too short of a time.

Nevertheless, through that short time, humans were able to etch lasting impressions on their souls—therefore, a waiting period was considered necessary.

That said, there were also people some wished would never come back from the Land of the Dead.

The King of the Dead set up a system, because it would be troublesome if the entire Gate of Dead was blocked in order to repel such a person.

The unwanted person could be sent back to the Land of the Dead by throwing pumpkins at them a few times.

So… she is basically trying to do that…

The girl, whom was currently so angry and was stomping her feet, was a human child once despised by Dilvier. Now, she was a precious, precious child he loved. She was akin to a daughter, or a sister, to him.

They got involved because she was Noin’s companion. Noin was Dilvier’s only master, thus, at first, he protected her for the sake of Noin. But now, he had given her protection because Dilvier himself loved her so much.

“If my mother heard those words, she’d surely be happy. You just meet her the other day, but she has repeatedly sent letters inquiring as to when you’ll visit again.”

“Fufu, since the last time I met with her, it has been ten days.”

“That’s too often, even though she’s my mother, don’t spoil her too much.”

Ara, well, I love Lady Injitta too—but this is a secret from Noin, okay? Otherwise, he might get worked up.”

“…Oi, I’m right here listening to you.” Said Noin.

“…My, how odd, I just heard a voice, and it seems to have come from beside me? But there’s only Noin there.” Said Dia.

“…You’re still mad you’re unable to eat grilled meat?”

Judging from Dia’s attitude, it seemed that she was in a cold war with Noin.

That said, it was very one-sided. Noin was just laughing in amazement.

“For a living being, isn’t the battle over food already a spectacular thing? Although I’m this shallow person who’s alright with overlooking thievery, I’m not such an easy person to forgive a certain evil spirit who stole the last bite just like that! I was looking forward to it, too! …The sorrow of losing meat dressed with spicy onion and garlic sauce… kusun.”

“—Good grief, then I’ll make a new one, is that okay?”

“…Y, you will resurrect the grilled meat?”

“It’ll arrive soon. …Dilvier?”

“Yes, it has arrived. Dia, I will fetch you a new one, so please bear with it for a moment.”

“Yay!”


***T/N: This is the last chapter, guys. Dia is now happily munching skewered meat on another realm, huh? We’ve come this far…

<Previous chapter

Next chapter>