The Legend of Sun Knight Side Stories 6: “Sweet Smile”

The Legend of Sun Knight Side Stories

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)

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“Sweet Smile” – translated by dahlys

Ecilan Ice is forever expressionless. Although everyone else cannot see into his thoughts, the desserts he makes are always suited to everyone’s tastes.

If there was something that could represent Ecilan, it would definitely be the desserts he makes.

His original dream was to become a baker, but by some stroke of fate, he became the Ice Knight. He had to change from an ever smiling child to an expressionless person. He also had to change from a person who brought others warmth and contentment to one who made others alert and wary.

It looks like he had lost a lot of things, including his dream.

However, Ecilan still felt that he had gained more than he had lost.

Because actually, there are many ways to express a smile.

“Lan¹, no smiling!”

Ecilan’s smile immediately became rigid. He was just greeting a passing apprentice holy knight with a smile, as he had known that child for a long time. He often delivered bread to that person’s house.

That was right; Ecilan is the child of a baker. Since he was young, he had aspired to become the best baker in Leaf Bud City. His biggest dream was to start a dessert section in addition to making bread… But currently, he was the Ice Knight-in-training. Everyone usually called him the young Ice Knight.

With an expression of shock and horror on his face, the apprentice knight in front of them bowed to the person behind Ecilan. After bowing, he quickly ran away, as if the person behind Ecilan was a raging flood or a savage beast… Perhaps the Ice Knight was much scarier than a raging flood or a savage beast?

Ecilan wiped the smile and all other expressions off his face, becoming totally expressionless. Only then did he dare to turn his head and face the person behind him. He greeted, “Good day, Teacher!”

The Ice Knight, Eller, said a little fretfully, “Lan, why can’t you change your habit of smiling? Is it that hard to not smile?”

Ecilan felt that he had been wronged. In the past, whenever he delivered bread, people would praise his smile. Now, he couldn’t smile at all.

Why had he become the Ice Knight? He had only gone to the Holy Temple to deliver bread. At that time, the Holy Temple happened to be choosing the Young Knights. He had just been passing by, and had not even joined the selection. He had no idea what the Ice Knight saw in him… Didn’t they say that the Stone Knight was the most stubborn amongst the Twelve Holy Knights?

However, at that time, the Stone Knight had told him, “You better obediently nod your head and agree to become the young Ice Knight! Our Ice Knight is very stubborn and will not listen to other people, so he will not allow you to say no.”

Eller furrowed his brows, exclaiming in a low voice, “And you also cannot make a sad face!”

When he heard this statement, Ecilan did his best to wipe every expression off his face.

Unhappy, Eller scolded, “I just want you to not smile, is it that hard? You saw that the young Judgment Knight also has to act very cool and collected! I did not request that of you, and only want you to fulfill the minimum requirements of the Ice Knight. If you can’t be indifferent, then at the least, can’t you be expressionless?”

Ecilan admitted that Lesus had to work much harder than he did, but he really wanted to say this to his teacher: “Your current talkative self is totally different from how the indifferent and reserved Ice Knight should behave!”

“Anyway, from today onwards, you had better remain expressionless and silent! If I hear anyone say ‘That child, Ecilan, is really caring, polite, and always smiling’ or something of the sort, I’m going to… forbid you from entering the kitchen!”

But since I was small, Papa and Mama have always told me that I should be polite to people, that I shouldn’t face people with an unpleasant expression… Ecilan felt even more wronged, but the moment he heard that he would be forbidden from entering the kitchen, he felt that he had been struck by a sudden bolt of lightning! In the entire Holy Temple, his favorite place was the kitchen. After all, that was the only place where he could cook!

Eller regretted what he said right after he said it. If he forbade Ecilan from going to the kitchen, who was going to bake bread for him? However, this was the most effective way to threaten Ecilan… Forget it; he would just wait until Ecilan really broke the rules before thinking about this again!

“Lan, I’m hungry. Is the bread ready to be eaten?”

Ecilan replied obediently, “I’m going to the kitchen now to check whether it has finished baking. If it is, I’ll bring it to you, Teacher.”

Eller nodded. While Ecilan was different from that child Lesus who was good at everything – Damn! Chasel really picked up a treasure there! – and there were some problems with Ecilan’s Ice Knight character training, Lesus did not know how to bake bread, especially bread as delicious as the bread Ecilan makes!

“I’ll be waiting for you in my room. On your way, go and get some grape wine from Neo in addition to the bread.”

“Okay.”

Ecilan heaved a sigh of relief. Compared to the special training to become expressionless, he liked going to the kitchen to bake bread much more. He really wished that his teacher would eat six meals a day so he could spend his whole day inside the kitchen!

In addition to the whole plateful of bread, Ecilan had also tried baking a blueberry-flavored cake! Unfortunately, it was his first time baking a cake, so he had not figured out the right amounts of ingredients to add yet. In the end, he added too much sugar and the dessert became too sweet.

Ecilan felt that it was a pity to throw it away, so he decided to carry it back to the room. In order not to waste food, he would eat it while drinking lots of water.

On his way back to the room, he met someone unexpected. Grisia had a wide and dazzling smile on his face, and he seemed to be constantly muttering something to himself. I wonder what he’s saying? Is he reciting the Rules of the God of Light? It is said that the Sun Knight is the God of Light’s most loyal holy knight, as well as the spokesperson of the God of Light…

Only when Grisia was a few steps away from him did Ecilan remember that the former was the Sun Knight, while he belonged to the Judgment Knight’s side. S-So, they shouldn’t get along with each other!

Ecilan immediately made an expressionless face. However, he never would have thought that Grisia would stop walking and look at… the plate in his hands.

“Wow, it’s a cake!” Grisia exclaimed suddenly and immediately reached out to grab a piece of cake.

“T-This is a test cake I baked… No!” Ecilan shouted in panic. But right after he finished shouting, he realized that he had sounded very angry, like he was scolding him.

Grisia’s hand stopped and he looked down at the cake. With a little bit of regret, he asked, “Can’t I eat it?”

Ecilan started to panic more. Although he wanted to explain, his teacher had just told him that he must be expressionless and silent from today onwards, or he would never be allowed into the kitchen again… What to do?

Looking at Ecilan’s expressionless face, Grisia bowed his head and apologized, “That… I’m really sorry for trying to take your cake; please don’t get angry at me!”

That’s not true… I’m not angry at all! Ecilan was so nervous that he wanted to cry.

“But since I’ve already taken one piece, please let me eat it!” Right after Grisia finished talking, he ran away swiftly, as if he was afraid Ecilan would want the cake back.

Ecilan stared off into space in shock, as he had had no time to react at all. His first thought was, I’m so happy that Grisia doesn’t seem to be angry. Immediately after that, he remembered that a piece of the cake had been taken away. It’s too sweet, if Grisia eats it… Forget it, if it’s too sweet then he should spit it out after one mouthful, right?

Maybe Grisia actually likes blueberry cake? In the future, I could make some cakes for him. It looks like he loves desserts a lot, and I also really want to try making desserts. The more Ecilan thought about this, the happier he felt. He could not help but smile happily as his mind was filled with all sorts of desserts and breads…

“Lan!”

Ecilan jumped in shock. When he recovered from his shock, he realized that his teacher was currently walking toward him furiously. This made him extremely flustered, as he knew that he definitely hadn’t been expressionless just now. Perhaps he had even been smiling obviously!

Eller walked toward him in a huff, then started scolding, “I just told you not to smile, but you immediately violated my orders! Why are you such a disobedient child? Is it that hard not to smile? From today onwards, you are not allowed to enter the kitchen until you learn not to smile!”

“Why can’t I smile?” Ecilan finally could not help but say emotionally, “If I face people with an unpleasant expression, won’t they be unhappy? Maybe they will hate me! Then I will have one less friend!”

When he heard the rare emotional response from Ecilan, Eller was speechless. This child was never one to disobey his elders, so why was he so rebellious today? Also, it was impossible to refute the things he had said…

Ecilan’s eyes filled with tears, and he tried his best to prevent them from flowing down. However, he simply could not resist it anymore, so he quickly handed his teacher the tray and said, “Teacher, please enjoy your meal.” After that, he hurriedly turned around and ran away.

“Lan!”

When he heard the shout, Ecilan stopped for a moment, but he did not turn back. Instead, he ran away quickly, because his face was already covered in tears.

Never mind crying, Teacher doesn’t even allow me to smile!

Waawaah……waah……

I-I want to go home and be a baker…

“Why are you crying? You seem so sad…”

Astonished, Ecilan jumped up from the bed. He had been lying on the bed, but the sudden call had nearly made him fall off the bed.

“Grisia?”

Grisia was currently staring at him with expectant eyes. This made Ecilan blush. He quickly wiped away his tears.

“Do you have any more?”

“Huh?” Ecilan stared blankly at Grisia.

With a very eager look on his face, Grisia asked, “Do you have any more cake?”

“… All of it is with Teacher.”

“What?! That cake just now was huge! Does he plan to eat it all by himself?”

Ecilan had no idea what was going on, but he still replied, “No, that cake is too sweet. Teacher might not eat it.”

“He won’t eat it?” Shocked, Grisia exclaimed, “But that cake is so delicious! If he’s not going to eat it, then is it going to be thrown away? What a pity! No, no, it can’t be thrown away!”

Ecilan was still in a confused state, but Grisia grabbed him in one movement and was about to drag him out of the room.

“Come on, let’s go look for the Ice Knight and get the cake back!”

What?! Stunned, Ecilan protested, “W-Wait a minute…”

“What are you waiting for? If we wait any longer, the cake is going to be thrown away!”

“I have some bread here with me. It’s blueberry-flavored, just like the cake! Please don’t go search for Teacher!”

Grisia stopped and turned to look at Ecilan. The latter hurriedly dug some bread out of a cabinet and spread some blueberry jam on it before giving it to Grisia.

Grisia bit into the bread brazenly the moment he received it. When he saw this, Ecilan relaxed.

“This isn’t sweet enough. Come, let’s look for the cake!”

Eehhhh?

The sight of the two young knights walking together attracted quite a lot of glances from people. Grisia smiled all the way, but next to him, Ecilan was completely expressionless.

Grisia smiled and mumbled to himself at the same time. “Ah, damn, someone’s coming and I have to smile again. My face has stiffened already! I really don’t want to smile, but Teacher will beat me to death if I don’t… I will smile!”

Ecilan’s eyes widened as he looked at Grisia. S-So this is what he actually says every time he mumbles to himself?

Along the way, Ecilan observed that Grisia had to reveal his most dazzling smile every time someone walked past them. When there was nobody around, he let his facial muscles relax, but the moment someone appeared, he had to smile right away. Ecilan suddenly realized that maybe smiling was not as easy as it seemed either.

When Grisia saw that there were many people in front walking toward them, his face immediately turned as pale as ash. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Ecilan and immediately decided to talk to him so that he would not have to keep smiling continuously. However, the moment he noticed Ecilan’s reddened eyes, he started to want to chat for real. He could not help asking, “Ecilan, why were you crying just now?”

“I… I just suddenly felt that I am not suited to be the Ice Knight.”

“Oh? Then what do you want to be?”

“I originally wanted to be the best baker in the city.”

“Ooooh! No wonder you’re so good at making bread and cakes!”

“I’m not; that was my first time baking a cake. I even made it too sweet…” Ecilan could not resist asking, “Don’t you think that the cake was too sweet?”

“No, I don’t! And it can still be a little sweeter… Hmm? Isn’t that your teacher?”

Ecilan turned his head to look. Indeed, the Ice Knight was currently standing at a balcony next to the corridor. He was not alone, as the Judgment Knight was also there.

Grisia held Ecilan’s hand and crept stealthily to the window closest to the balcony.

A little bewildered, Ecilan asked, “Weren’t you searching for Teacher?”

“I am! But first, let’s eavesdrop on their conversation!”

Why do we have to eavesdrop on their conversation first… Isn’t eavesdropping wrong? Just when he was thinking of correcting Grisia, he heard a voice from the balcony.

“Did I really make a mistake? Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen Ecilan, as he was not one of the children who came for the selection.”

Ecilan jumped in shock. Was Teacher… regretting choosing him?

B-But, he was already doing his best to adapt to his new identity, and was working very hard to become the Ice Knight. He even felt that practicing swordplay was extremely fun, and he had become familiar with many of the holy knights…

Feeling his eyes get a little warm, Ecilan turned his head around and started to walk away. However, Grisia suddenly grabbed his hand. No matter how much he struggled, Grisia would not let him go.

Once again, they heard the Ice Knight’s voice coming from the balcony. He said, “But I really don’t want to choose a child who looks very cold right from the beginning! And Ecilan is such a good child! He is caring, respects his elders, and even knows how to bake bread!”

Ecilan froze and stopped struggling to escape.

They heard the low voice of Judgment Knight, who said, “You’re right. If I were you, I would also have chosen him, as he is a good child. But there’s no need for you to rush Ecilan’s training to match the Ice Knight’s ‘expected’ personality, since he’s only been the young Ice Knight for slightly less than two years.”

“But…” The Ice Knight’s voice was filled with frustration as he said, “You should know that recently, a lot of people have been talking about replacing the young Stone Knight. Remarks from those who object to the young Sun Knight have also surfaced. If Lan doesn’t learn to be expressionless, what am I going to do when the wave of comments about replacing him comes?”

Chasel said plainly, “Don’t worry, Neo will not allow the person he has chosen to be replaced. You should know what his personality is like. If he’s not willing to replace his student, then no one can force him to do so.”

Still somewhat worried, Eller said, “What about the young Stone Knight?”

“If we replace one person, it forms a precedent to replace a second person. Therefore, Neo will definitely not allow the young Stone Knight to be replaced, because that will give him problems.”

On hearing this, Eller felt much calmer. Since Neo wouldn’t allow the young Stone Knight to be replaced, then he also most definitely would not let Ecilan be replaced. With Neo’s support, you could be certain that things would be much easier. Because everyone knew that once Neo had made his decision, he would persist to the very end regardless of whether it was correct or not… Even when forcing people to do things, he would never give up until the end.

“Then I can relax and train Ecilan slowly. Also, I should give him more time to go to the kitchen… The cake he made this time was way too sweet! His cooking skill still has much room for improvement! Sigh, I really want to eat it but it is too sweet to eat…”

Only after the sounds of the two people’s conversation had stopped for a long while did Ecilan recover from his shock. He suddenly realized, Did Teacher keep forcing me to be expressionless lately because he was afraid that I would be replaced?

“So, do you want to be the Ice Knight, or a baker?”

Stunned, Ecilan lifted his head and met Grisia’s serious eyes. He contemplated the other’s question, and replied haltingly, “I-I want… I want to be the Ice Knight! I don’t like the fact that I cannot smile, but I like everything else! Even if I don’t become a baker, I can still bake bread. But if I don’t become the Ice Knight, I feel that I w-will lose many things!” Like Teacher and the other holy knights. I also promised Lesus that I would practice swordplay with him!

“You like smiling?” A little shocked, Grisia said, “Smiling is very tiring!”

Ecilan thought about it. If he had to smile all day like Grisia, it would indeed be very tiring. He said honestly, “But I’m afraid that if I don’t smile, people will hate me.”

On hearing this, Grisia shook his head exaggeratingly and said, “Who said that? You didn’t smile at me, but I still like you a lot! Especially the cakes you make!”

Ecilan blinked. He realized that what Grisia said was correct. Although he had not smiled at him, Grisia did not hate him because of it… He suddenly felt like he understood something.

Even if he did not smile, as long as he gave desserts to them, wouldn’t people feel that he was not hateful?

So desserts… can actually replace smiles?

Footnotes

¹ “Lan”: Eller’s nickname for Ecilan.