Chapter Text 章节正文
Day 887 第 887 天
Out on the castle grounds, the autumn air is thick with the coming frost. Snowfall would descend upon the kingdom soon, and as such, the castle grounds are being prepared for the change in season. Leaves are being raked and discarded before they'd be buried beneath snow.
城堡外的秋日空气中弥漫着即将到来的霜意。不久，雪花将降临王国，因此，城堡的地面正为季节的变迁做准备。树叶被耙起并丢弃，以免被雪掩埋。
At the end of his day, Rin stops his work to examine the fading daylight. The sun would be setting soon and there was no point to raking in the dark, so he rolls his sleeves down to stave off the chill creeping onto his skin. Before heading inside, he quietly watches the sun setting along the horizon. Tonight, it would seem, the sun has decided to paint the sky a luminous red.
一天的工作结束时，Rin停下手中的活，凝视着日渐消逝的日光。太阳即将落山，在黑暗中耙叶已无意义，于是他将袖子放下，抵御逐渐侵袭皮肤的寒意。进屋前，他静静地注视着太阳沿着地平线落下。今晚，太阳似乎决定将天空染成一片绚烂的红色。
He heads inside to bathe and change out of his work clothes. This evening, he's been invited to dine with the king, and so he makes his way off to the king's room to meet with him. When he arrives, he knocks on the door and enters when he's prompted to.
他走进屋内沐浴更衣，换下工作服。今晚，他受邀与国王共进晚餐，于是便前往国王的房间与他见面。抵达后，他敲了敲门，得到允许后便推门而入。
Rin studies what he sees inside. The king is seated at his dining table, which has been set already. There's a pair of silver cloches on either side of the table, silver cutlery, a pair of wine glasses, a red wine bottle, and a vase with some roses as a centre piece.
Rin 仔细观察着室内的景象。国王已坐在餐桌旁，桌上已布置妥当。两侧各有一对银色钟形罩，摆放着银制餐具，一对酒杯，一瓶红酒，以及一个插着玫瑰的花瓶作为中心装饰。
Isagi quietly gestures to the empty chair across from him, and Rin moves to take his place there.
Isagi 轻轻示意对面空着的椅子，Rin 便走过去坐下。
"What's the occasion?" Rin asks, eyeing the dining setup with quiet skepticism.
“这是什么场合？”Rin问道，目光中带着一丝不易察觉的怀疑打量着餐桌布置。
"No occasion," the king replies nonchalantly, "I simply wish to test my cooking skills for you."
“没什么特别的，”国王漫不经心地回答，“我只是想为你展示一下我的厨艺。”
"What need does the king have for such folly?"
“国王何需如此荒唐？”
"There's much need, actually. Need for me to do something nice for the one I love."
实际上，非常需要。我需要为我所爱的人做些美好的事情。
Rin rests his elbow against the dining table and his chin in the palm of that hand, then gazes across the table at Isagi. The king is dressed in simple attire this evening, black silk dress clothes with matching gloves and a red rose brooch fastened to his left lapel. To Rin, he looks magnificent, sitting there as such with the deep red glow of the setting sun outside romanticizing every line of every feature on his face.
Rin 将手肘靠在餐桌边，下巴搁在掌心，然后越过桌子凝视着Isagi。今晚国王穿着简朴的服饰，黑色丝绸礼服搭配同色手套，左翻领上别着一枚红玫瑰胸针。在Rin眼中，他坐在那里，夕阳的深红余晖浪漫地勾勒出他脸上每一道线条，显得格外迷人。
When Isagi removes the cloches and places them aside, he motions for Rin to try the food, which he does.
当Isagi移开盖子并将其放在一旁时，他示意Rin品尝食物，后者照做了。
"How is it?" Isagi asks.
"怎么样？" Isagi 问道。
"Well..." Rin shuffles the food around on his plate with his fork, attempting to find the right words to say without being hurtful. "It's a little... Bland."
"嗯..." Rin 用叉子在盘子里拨弄着食物，试图找到不伤人的恰当词汇。"有点... 淡了。"
"Is that so?" the king replies with a soft chuckle. He cuts a slice of the chicken off with his steak knife and stuffs it into his own mouth.
"是吗？" 国王轻声笑道。他用牛排刀切下一块鸡肉，塞进自己嘴里。
"Ah, so the king isn't a very good cook. I at least wanted to try my hand at it."
“啊，看来国王的厨艺不怎么样。我至少想试试自己的手艺。”
Rin shrugs at this and he continues eating despite the food's inadequate seasoning. He'd grown up poor, after all, and had eaten things far more disgusting than the king's bland cooking. The chicken was also dry and the vegetables were a tad overcooked, but he still ate it all, nonetheless.
Rin对此耸了耸肩，尽管食物调味不足，他还是继续吃着。毕竟，他从小生活贫困，吃过比国王这平淡无奇的烹饪更恶心的东西。鸡肉也干巴巴的，蔬菜略微煮过头了，但他依然全部吃完了。
When the food had been cleared off both their plates, the king uncorks his bottle of wine and pours them each a small serving of it, maybe around four ounces each.
当两人的盘子都被清空后，国王打开他的酒瓶，给他们各自倒了一小份，大约四盎司。
"This is from my personal shelf." The king swirls the blood red liquid in the cup, holding his glass up to his nose to admire the scent of it. He then bobs the glass out between them. "To the changing seasons," he toasts, to which Rin quietly mirrors the tip up of his glass, and they both sip in unison.
“这是我私人珍藏的。”国王轻轻摇晃着杯中血红色的液体，将酒杯举至鼻前，陶醉于其香气之中。随后，他将酒杯在他们之间微微一倾。“为变幻的季节干杯。”他提议道，Rin也随之轻轻举杯，两人同步啜饮。
"I have a gift for you," the king says, placing his glass back down on the table, then reaches around behind his chair. Rin watches on with mild interest, eyes widening when he sees something bizarre pulled and placed across the king's lap.
“我有一份礼物要送给你。”国王说着，将酒杯放回桌上，随即转身从椅背后取出一样东西。Rin带着几分好奇注视着，当看到那件奇异之物被放置在国王膝上时，他的眼睛不禁睁大了。
"That's..." “那是……”
"What do you think it is, Rin?"
“你觉得这是什么，Rin？”
Rin stares at the thing and bites his lip irritably.
Rin 盯着那东西，烦躁地咬了咬嘴唇。
It appears to be a sheathed sword.
看起来像是一把带鞘的剑。
Isagi takes up the weapon in his hands. He walks around the side of the table, where he kneels in a majestic stance with the sword slightly outstretched between the two of them.
Isagi 握起手中的武器。他绕到桌子一侧，以一种威严的姿态跪下，剑尖微微伸展在他们两人之间。
"Take it," he says. “拿去吧，”他说。
"The king would be a damn fool to place a sword back in my hands," Rin says obstinately, "And I would be even more of one to take it from him."
“国王要是把剑重新交到我手里，那他就是个十足的傻瓜，”Rin 固执地说，“而我若是从他那里接过剑，那就更是个傻瓜了。”
"Take it." Isagi's voice is peppered with insistence.
“拿着。”Isagi的声音中带着不容置疑的坚持。
Rin hesitates and moves his gaze down to stare bitterly at the thing he'd sworn he'd never touch again. He then outstretches his hand to grasp it and take it from the king. He's startled when he finds there's a soft metallic sound rattling inside the sheath, and the object is far too light to be a sword.
Rin犹豫了一下，目光下移，苦涩地盯着他发誓再也不碰的东西。随后，他伸出手去抓住它，从国王那里接过。当他发现鞘内传来轻微的金属声响，且这物件轻得根本不像一把剑时，他吃了一惊。
"Of course, I'd expected you to say something like that, Rin," the king says, still on his knees. "I was only teasing you."
“当然，我料到你会这么说，Rin，”国王依然跪在地上说道，“我只是逗逗你。”
A suspicious side-eye is shot down to the kneeling king briefly before Rin grips the hilt and cracks the blade from its sheath. Well, it wasn't a blade at all, it would seem.
一道狐疑的目光短暂地扫向跪着的国王，随后Rin紧握剑柄，将剑身从鞘中抽出。然而，那似乎根本不是什么剑刃。
Dangling from the hilt of the sword, attached by a thin silver clasp, there's a gold chain. No blade. When he pulls it further up and out, Rin finds the king's gift. He touches it gently with curious fingertips... A gold pendant. It would appear, a locket.
悬挂在剑柄上，由一枚细银扣固定着的，是一条金链。没有剑刃。当他将其进一步抽出时，Rin发现了国王的礼物。他好奇的指尖轻轻触碰着...一枚金质吊坠。看起来，是个小盒。
King Isagi still watches as Rin clicks the locket open. The inside of it is empty, save for one thing:
国王Isagi依旧注视着，Rin将小盒打开。里面空无一物，除了唯一的一样东西：
A fingerprint, which had been placed against a piece of parchment, is fixed on one side of it. The other side is empty.
一张羊皮纸上印着一个指纹，固定在一边。另一边则是空白的。
"The fingerprint is mine," Isagi explains, "Imprinted on that parchment there, with my own blood. A piece of me to carry around with you wherever you go."
“这个指纹是我的，”Isagi解释道，“用我自己的血印在那张羊皮纸上。带着我的一部分，无论你走到哪里。”
Rin lowers the locket to gaze down a Isagi, who's still kneeling at his feet, a soft smile making its way onto his lips.
Rin将吊坠放下，俯视着仍跪在他脚边的Isagi，嘴角浮现出一抹温柔的微笑。
"May I?" Isagi extends his hand out between them. Rin takes a moment to look back at the locket clutched in his own hand before he closes it and drops it into the king's outstretched palm.
"我可以吗？" Isagi 在他们之间伸出手。Rin 先是一瞥自己手中紧握的项链盒，随后合上它，轻轻放入国王摊开的掌心。
The king then stands and quietly walks back around, behind Rin. The locket drops onto his chest and the clasp is fastened by Isagi's hands, securing it around Rin's neck. He then makes his way back around and onto his knee, in the very same place and pose he'd just been in.
国王随即起身，悄然绕回，站在 Rin 身后。项链盒落在他的胸前，Isagi 的手指灵巧地扣上搭扣，将其固定在 Rin 的颈间。接着，他重新绕回原位，单膝跪地，保持着与刚才完全相同的姿态。
"I hope you wear that every day and think of me, even on the days when I'm busy, when I'm not here, or on days when you feel lonely..." he takes one of Rin's hands and cups it in his own, "I hope it always reminds you of how much you mean to me, and I hope it helps you remember that I'll never leave your side." Then, his face drops to face the floor ever so slightly, an action that shows the humility behind the king's gesture.
"我希望你每天都能佩戴它，想起我，哪怕在我忙碌、不在你身边，或是你感到孤单的日子里……" 他握住 Rin 的一只手，轻轻包裹在自己的手中，"愿它时刻提醒你，你对我有多么重要，愿它帮你铭记，我永远不会离开你的身边。" 随后，他的脸微微垂向地面，这一举动流露出国王此举背后的谦卑。
"And I hope... You never leave me."
"我希望... 你永远不会离开我。"
Rin is startled by the gift the king has given him, but he's more surprised by something else.
Rin 被国王赠予的礼物吓了一跳，但更让他惊讶的是别的事情。
Behind that intimidating yet regal and stoic vise the king had donned, he was still the same person inside. A person who craved love and affection deeply. One who was lonely, and had fallen in love with the one person in the world who'd shown him that his life was worth protecting.
在那副威严而高贵、冷峻的面具背后，国王内心依旧是同一个人。一个深切渴望爱与关怀的人。一个孤独的人，爱上了世界上唯一一个让他明白生命值得守护的人。
The sentiment was almost enough to bring tears to Rin's eyes. Almost.
这份情感几乎足以让Rin热泪盈眶。几乎。
Instead, his hand raises and grabs his steak knife from the table beside him.
相反，他抬起手，从旁边的桌上抓起一把牛排刀。
"The king's fear is foolish," Rin starts, gaze moving down to meet with Isagi's, who was moving back up to meet with his. "It's idiocy. Has he forgotten why I'm here in the first place? Why I'm still here?"
“国王的恐惧是愚蠢的，”Rin开口道，目光下移与Isagi对视，后者正迎上他的视线。“这是愚蠢至极。他难道忘了我最初为何在此，为何至今仍留于此地吗？”
When he raises the knife and presses it against the pad of his left thumb, Isagi's gaze flickers and retreats down to the bead of blood that wells there.
当他举起刀刃，压在左拇指的肉垫上时，Isagi的目光闪烁了一下，随即退缩到那儿涌出的血珠上。
"Rin, what are you—" "Rin，你在做什么——"
"Answer. Have you forgotten?"
"回答。你忘了吗？"
The king bites his lower lip and rips his blue eyes off the sight of the blood, then travels them back to meet with Rin's blue-greens.
国王咬了咬下唇，将他那双湛蓝的眼睛从血迹上移开，转而与Rin的蓝绿色眼眸对视。
"I... Don't know what to say. I'm not sure the point you're trying to make."
"我...不知道该说什么。我不确定你想表达什么。"
"Of course you don't." Rin snaps, and Isagi flinches a little at the sudden rise in intensity.
"你当然不懂。" Rin厉声说道，Isagi因这突如其来的强烈语气微微一颤。
Rin shoves out of the chair, blood oozing out from the cut on his finger, dripping onto the floor as he moves. He leans forward, then down, and kneels so he's right there in front of king Isagi.
Rin 猛地从椅子上站起，手指上的伤口渗出血来，随着他的移动滴落在地板上。他向前倾身，然后跪下，正好跪在国王Isagi面前。
"Your grace is still far too foolish," Rin says quietly. "There is no longer a blade in my hand, but it makes no difference, Yoichi."
“陛下，您依然太过愚蠢，”Rin轻声说道，“我手中已无利刃，但这并无区别，Yoichi。”
Rin's clean hand lulls up off the floor. It tenderly reaches for the back of Isagi's head, combing through locks of his soft midnight hair. The soothing gesture is betrayed by his next action. He pulls back to expose Isagi's neck, eyes moving down to examine the scar he'd placed there all those long days in the past. The mark he'd left on the king for everyone around them to see.
Rin干净的手从地板上抬起，温柔地伸向Isagi的后脑，轻抚过他柔软的夜色发丝。这安抚的动作却被他接下来的举动所背叛。他向后一拉，露出Isagi的脖颈，目光下移，审视着多年前自己在那里留下的伤疤。那个他留给国王、让周围所有人都能看到的印记。
Rin moves the weeping bloody thumb up. It's pressed against one end of the king's neck. He then glides it across, over white scar tissue, listening as the king's breath hitches. A red line is made over top of the scar, only longer and thicker, extending end-to-end across Isagi's neck. Rin stares at it bitterly. Disgusted with it, but also satisfied.
Rin 将那只流血的拇指抬起，按在国王颈侧的一端。随后，他沿着白色的疤痕组织滑过，聆听着国王呼吸的骤停。一道更长更粗的红线覆盖在疤痕之上，横贯 Isagi 的脖颈。Rin 苦涩地凝视着，既感到厌恶，又感到满足。
"You never get to forget. Not ever again." He leans in closer to intimately address the king now, so close he can see the other man's arterial pulse pumping along his neck.
"你永远无法忘记，再也不会了。" 他贴近国王，亲密地低语，近到能看见对方脖颈上动脉的跳动。
"Your life belongs to me, Isagi Yoichi."
"你的生命属于我，Isagi Yoichi。"
Nervous laughter chokes from Isagi's dry throat. Without a moment of wasted time, his own free hand shoots up to snatch the same steak knife Rin had marred himself with moments earlier.
紧张的笑声从Isagi干涩的喉咙中哽咽而出。没有浪费一丝时间，他自由的那只手迅速抬起，夺过片刻前Rin自伤所用的同一把牛排刀。
"And they say romance is dead," the king replies quietly, lips cracking into a grin. He then jabs his own opposing thumb with the steak knife.
“他们都说浪漫已死。”国王轻声回应，嘴角裂开一丝笑意。随后，他用牛排刀刺向自己的另一只拇指。
The pair's hands lock, blending their blood. The wetness squeezes their skin together, liquid life pooling into their palms and coating the floor beneath them. Their thumbs slide and flit, padding in unison, pressing their wounds together, whispering an unspoken vow.
两人的手紧紧相扣，血液交融。湿润感将他们的皮肤紧密贴合，液体生命汇聚于掌心，滴落在他们脚下的地板上。他们的拇指滑动交错，同步轻触，将伤口紧贴，无声地许下誓言。
As the sun outside finally dips below the horizon, their lips meet. Bathed in the crimson luminescence that reflects their bloody, mirrored destinies, now pacted together, they seal their undying love with the finality of a kiss.
当夕阳终于沉入地平线下，他们的唇瓣相触。在这映照着他们血腥、镜像般命运的绯红光辉中，如今已缔结盟约，他们以一吻的终局封缄了永恒的爱。
*
King Isagi Yoichi's reign lasted for many long and prosperous years. The man's rule grew increasingly more calm with his diligent efforts at restoring peace.
国王Isagi与Yoichi的统治延续了漫长而繁荣的岁月。随着他不懈努力恢复和平，这位君王的统治日益显得沉稳。
Yoichi made every diplomatic effort to restore the lands that had been conquered by the tyrant king. Those lands were war-torn, the earth beneath them scorched and barren, and they were primarily housed by sick and starving people. The crown, though it's deficit grew to increasingly unfavorable depths because of Yoichi's ceaseless charity work, made every effort at restoring some level of peace, prosperity, and health to these lands before they were returned to their rightful kingdoms.
Yoichi竭尽外交之能事，试图收复被暴君国王征服的土地。这些土地饱受战火摧残，大地焦枯贫瘠，主要居住着病弱与饥饿的民众。尽管因Yoichi无休止的慈善工作，国库赤字日益深重，但王冠仍竭力在这些土地归还其合法王国之前，恢复一定程度的和平、繁荣与健康。
When Yoichi was finally given the chance to fully turn all his efforts onto his own suffering kingdom, he started out small. By this time the crown's deficit was staggering. In order to give himself the time and resources to recover, he turned his sights on healing the economy, first.
当Yoichi终于有机会将全部精力投入到自己苦难深重的王国时，他选择从小处着手。此时，王冠的赤字已令人瞠目结舌。为了争取时间和资源进行恢复，他首先将目光投向了经济复苏。
The tyrant king's thirst for blood had viciously seeped into every crack of his own broken kingdom, and this was no exception. So much gold had been funneled into bolstering the kingdom's military, including purchasing ships, foreign weapons, troops, and materials, the deficit the crown had made its way into was already so deep by the time Yoichi took his place on his father's throne.
暴君国王对鲜血的渴望已恶毒地渗透进他破碎王国的每一道裂缝，这一点也不例外。大量黄金被用于加强王国的军事力量，包括购买舰船、外国武器、军队和物资，以至于在Yoichi继承父位时，王冠所背负的赤字已经深不可测。
It was risky, and there certainly wasn't a lack of bloodshed in these endeavors, but the clever and benevolent king Yoichi did his best to garner peace between his own kingdom and those that his father had antagonize. This took many long years, but once he'd finally, at least mostly, succeeded in doing this, he siphoned the gold from selling numerous materials of war into lessening the crown's deficit. At the same time, he put a small amount of gold towards opening medical clinics, restoring fertility to barren farmlands, and opening up trade lines between neighboring kingdoms that were previously closed off by his father. These things, over time, fostered health among the common people and slowly began to bolster the kingdom's economy.
此举充满风险，且绝非没有流血牺牲，但聪慧仁慈的国王Yoichi竭尽全力在他父王敌对的王国间斡旋和平。这耗费了漫长岁月，但当他终于至少大致达成这一目标后，便将从出售大量军需物资中获得的黄金用于减轻王室赤字。同时，他拨出少量资金开设医疗诊所，恢复贫瘠农田的肥力，并打通了其父封闭的邻国贸易路线。这些举措随着时间推移，促进了平民的健康，并逐渐提振了王国经济。
King Yoichi's moral principles remained iron-clad and he always kept the needs of the common people first. Those who bowed before him in the throne room did find him intimidating, however. The rumors about him always indicated that his heart was kind, yet when one would look upon him atop his throne, they would always see the touch of the night to his demeanor.
国王Yoichi的道德准则坚如磐石，始终将平民的需求置于首位。尽管在王座厅中向他鞠躬的人觉得他威严慑人，但关于他的传闻总是表明他心地善良。然而，当人们看到他坐在王座上时，总能感受到他举止间那抹夜色的冷峻。
Knight-King Isagi kept up with his intimidating personage. Though he always wore armor, kept a sword at his hip and his attack bird on his shoulder, he truly never resorted to violent methods unless there was reason to do so. He did eventually hire king's guard back into his service, though he was extremely picky about those he did bring into the castle. The application process was rigorous and during the entire expanse of his reign, there were only 11 people who came and went from his service in the king's guard.
骑士王Isagi始终保持着他那令人敬畏的威严形象。尽管他总是身披铠甲，腰间佩剑，肩上还站着一只攻击性的鸟，但他真正动用暴力手段的情况极为罕见，除非有充分的理由。最终，他重新招募了国王的卫队，但对于那些被允许进入城堡的人选，他极为挑剔。申请过程异常严格，在他统治的漫长岁月里，仅有 11 人曾在国王卫队中来去。
With time, the pitch black attire was interrupted by one single blot of red: a red rose that King Isagi would fasten to the left side of his lapel. The red rose, the symbol of romance, the flower of love. There wasn't a single flower that could sway a person's heart more swiftly than a red rose. There were many a suitor that approached the king in his long reign, some of them beautiful and rich with highly favorable prospects in a political marriage.
随着时间的推移，那身漆黑的装束中出现了一抹突兀的红色：一朵红玫瑰，骑士王Isagi会将其别在左胸前。红玫瑰，浪漫的象征，爱情的化身。没有任何花朵能比红玫瑰更快地打动人心。在国王漫长的统治期间，众多追求者纷至沓来，其中不乏美丽富有、政治联姻前景极佳的人选。
Though the king didn't discourage any of the women who advanced on him, he'd always turn every single one of them down in the same way. He'd kneel before them, kiss their hand gently, and give them a single red rose, uttering the same mysterious phrase to them before sending them home: The king's life is not his to give away, my lady. You see, it already belongs to another.
尽管国王对那些向他示好的女子们并未表现出任何拒绝之意，但他总是以同样的方式婉拒每一位。他会跪在她们面前，轻吻她们的手，赠予一朵红玫瑰，并在送她们回家前对她们说那句神秘的话：“国王的生命并非他所能舍弃，我的女士。您看，它已属于另一个人。”
In the duration of his long reign, king Isagi Yoichi did not take a wife, and this meant he did not bare any children to pass on his name. In the realm of royalty, this was certainly an oddity. Yoichi's father would certainly be turning in his grave if he knew of this decision. Not that Yoichi himself cared at all for his father's happiness.
在漫长的统治期间，国王Isagi Yoichi未曾娶妻，这意味着他没有子嗣来传承他的名号。在王室领域，这无疑是个异数。Yoichi的父亲若知晓这一决定，定会在九泉之下不得安宁。不过Yoichi本人对此毫不在意。
The king's statement regarding this was that he simply did not wish for the name Isagi to be a generational one. He'd added there was already a boy in his service whom he was training to replace him as king, the boy was clever, kind, and would make a wonderful ruler. A young boy named Shinra. Though the nobles certainly voiced their unwelcomed opinions on this, king Isagi ignored them.
关于此事，国王的声明是他并不希望Isagi这个名号成为世代相传的符号。他还透露，自己已在培养一个侍从少年接替他的王位，那孩子聪明、善良，将成为一位杰出的统治者。这个少年名叫 Shinra。尽管贵族们对此表达了不满，国王Isagi却置若罔闻。
Though never spoken about, those few that worked in his service knew there was another reason for the king's disinterest in taking a wife, too. They knew there was only one who the king dedicated his life to.
虽然从未被提及，但那些在他身边工作的人都知道，国王对娶妻缺乏兴趣还有另一个原因。他们知道，国王一生只献身于一个人。
Sometimes they could be seen on the castle grounds, walking together, admiring cherry or apple blossoms. Perhaps at other times, picking fruit from those trees. King Isagi was never happier, his laughter louder, nor his smile brighter, than when he was out on the castle grounds enjoying the company of the one he loved.
有时，人们能在城堡的庭院里见到他们，并肩漫步，欣赏着樱花或苹果花。或许在其他时候，他们会从那些树上采摘果实。国王Isagi从未如此快乐，笑声更加响亮，笑容也更为灿烂，尤其是在城堡庭院中与心爱之人共度时光时。