Blanc was left dumbfounded by Miyanna's idea.
"Why haven't I thought of such an easy solution…" he asked himself out loud.
"What? Didn't it cross your mind? At all?" Miyanna asked, surprised, turning to Celine, who walked behind her.
"It seems we need your help not only with the way commoners talk Miyanna but with common knowledge as well," Celine sighed.
"How is that common knowledge?" Miyanna frowned, confused by how that idea could be such a revelation to them.
"It simply slipped my mind, Miyanna," said Blanc, "I thought of our group as a whole. Since four of the five here could be recognized, I missed that you would not be. Not yet, at least," Blanc replied.
"Because all that happened?" Miyanna asked.
Blanc nodded, "Though it would usually be announced around the Domain, this time there is nobody to announce it, so we are safe. Which means that, if we head in the direction of Isai, we might get tents by tomorrow if we divert the road a bit."
"What is there to announce?" Kael asked, changing the subject.
"Ah, you two were asleep then, I forgot," said Blanc, "Miyanna, tell the little ones your name."
"B-Beleel Denegis Miyanna," she stuttered, taken off by the sudden request.
"Sister Celine, are you okay with this?" Kael asked, surprised and angry.
"With what? I offered her the name myself, Kael. She is my right-hand woman, and since I will be taking the Denegis name in the future, will it not befit her to have it as well?" Celine asked.
"That's not what I meant," Kael replied.
Blanc was the one who spoke next, "What did you mean then?"
"Let it be, Kael," replied Lune.
"Lune, let the boy speak," said Blanc as he stopped and turned to face his younger brother, "Tell me, Kael, what itches at your mind?"
"Brother…" Lune muttered, feeling the tension of seeing Blanc and Kael staring at each other.
"Half of our family could be captured. Father, Mothers, Valar. They could be dead for all we know, and yet, what are you doing, brother?"
"Are you really asking me what I am doing?" Blanc muttered, eyes wide.
Kael looked straight into his eyes as he replied, "Yes, brother. I do. Our family lost the war, and you did what? Get another wife? Rebuilding the family already?"
Blanc was speechless.
The eight-year-old boy in front of his eyes, his younger brother, for whom he had cared all his life, for whom he would give his life at any moment if need be, was now criticizing him about two different matters as if they were related.
As if what happened between him, Celine, and Miyanna led to the defeat of their parents.
Celine opened her mouth to speak as she saw Blanc in shock, but not a word left her mouth before Kael fell to the ground from Lune's slap.
"How dare you, Kael?" began Lune, as Kael spat dirt from his lips, turning towards her, "After all brother Blanc has done for us, you dare judge him for this? He saved my life. Mine. A part of his family. Isn't that enough? What do you want him to do? What did YOU do?" Lune asked, showing the aggressive side of her that only appeared when she trained with the sword.
"Lune, enough," instructed Blanc, calming Lune's anger in an instant. "Kael, get up."
Lune took two steps back as Kael rose to his feet, eyes red from shock and anger.
Blanc crouched before him before speaking, "I will keep you safe, fed, and warm. I will also try to do what I can to help the rest of our family once we get the chance. But I am not your pet, Kael," Blanc said, as calmly as he could, "Celine herself has no issues with any of this. And yet you do? My little brother can decide and tell me what I can and cannot do? Since when? I dare you to question what I do with my own life again, Kael."
Kael stood there, his face a mess from the dirt he had fallen on.
But perhaps, most of the mess was in his young heart.
He felt guilty for the words he had spoken earlier, though he believed them to be true.
He felt guilty for his outrage.
Both Blanc and Lune were right.
Blanc had really done all he could.
He did not eat to let them all have their fill before he even thought of eating.
He saved them all after they were wounded by the Moroi.
And even before all of this. When Lune fell into the lake because of him.
When he took him hunting.
When the family did not really pay attention to them, they always knew Blanc was there for them.
Blanc was the only constant in their lives.
How selfish it was for him to think Blanc was nothing more than their brother.
He forgot that he was also something else to others.
That now there were others who watched Blanc.
He accepted Celine. But Miyanna, especially now, felt like a stab in the heart.
It felt as if a thief was stealing an heirloom in the night from him.
Yet Blanc was no heirloom of his. Nor for him to decide who gets to hold it.
"I'm sorry, brother. I forgot something important these last few days," Kael replied, bowing before him.
"You said what you had to say. Yet I'm not the one you should apologize to," Blanc clenched his jaw while getting on his feet.
He then turned on his heels and walked off, leaving the other four behind.
"I'm sorry, Celine, and… you too, Miyanna," Kael muttered, bowing to them too, before sobbing quietly as he saw Blanc walking away.
Miyanna was the first to speak, "I, uh… I mean, I knew it would not be easy for me to be accepted by everyone. As a commoner and all, but half those words were just insults to Blanc."
"Kael," began Celine, "Your heart is way too heavy with grief. No child should bear that. But if you feel this much pain, how much do you think he feels? Never assume you feel more or less than others do, or that your feelings are more important than those of others."