EIITAB - Chapter 13
Even If It Is Trampled And broken
Aslan reflexively held his breath. There was no need to ask who it was. Not only did he not feel anything deadly, but considering that he did not kill anyone he knew as someone who secretly entered this abandoned palace, he thought that his identity would soon be identified.
'No, more accurately, I don't think I know how to kill a presence.
Aslan pursed his lips and slowly turned around. Then, without realizing it, he took a deep breath and froze.
"......!"
His pupils got bigger. A doll-like girl was standing in front of him. If he were to spin a thread using the moonlight in the night sky and knit a human-shaped doll with the silver thread, wouldn't it be the girl in front of him?
It was to the point where he thought that way without even thinking about it.
Although she was still a young-looking girl, she seemed to have an aura that could not be dared to be treated carelessly.
The capital was a very unfamiliar place to Aslan. Spring, summer, and fall. All the colors that Kalati had lost were here. The boy felt like an outsider. And he was lonely. Because he has no one to turn to. Because he has nowhere to focus his mind.
This unfamiliar land was uncomfortable. But for the first time, he was able to meet Kalati in the south, and inside the royal palace.
He was instantly distracted by Hestia. The Kalati he had left behind was standing there. A girl like pure white snow. However, contrary to its appearance, it was not at all cold- the spring fairy was smiling at herself.
'Is it a fairy?'
Even though he never believed in such a thing when he was alive, Aslan inadvertently ended up thinking that way. This was because the girl in front of him did not look like a real person at all.
At that time, he was just looking at her with a dumb expression. Silver threads poured down to one side like a waterfall.
At that moment, Aslan felt the muscles in his entire body tense and stiffen at once. The girl asked, looking at him without blinking her eyelids once.
"Why are you crying?"
"....What?"
Aslan narrowed his eyebrows without realizing it. He blinked his eyelids a beat late, and at that moment, the cold thing hanging from his eyelashes ran down his cheek.
'Damn it.'
He quickly turned his head to the side and wiped away tears with his palm.
"Who can cry?"
He hurriedly wiped away only the moisture, but he had no doubt that the darkness would hide the rest and the wind would dry it.
After lightly adjusting his voice, Aslan put on a normal voice and looked at the girl again.
"But who are you? How did you get here?"
"just... I'm most familiar with this place."
It was an incomprehensible sound to Aslan. The girl, who did not give her name, lowered her head and began intertwining her fingers together. Looking at her outfit, she didn't seem to be someone working at the palace, but rather an antelope from a noble family who attended today's party with his parents.
Aslan, who was quietly looking down at the scene, spoke bluntly.
"Your parents will be worried, so hurry back to the party."
"My parents... they're not there."
Aslan's movements stopped unnaturally. He cursed quietly to himself and gritted his teeth. Meanwhile, the girl muttered the next words in a lonely voice that seemed as if she would disappear at any moment.
"Because they passed away."
Aslan took a deep breath. As it was a heavy topic, he had no idea what words to say back to the girl.
"They say they can't live here anymore."
Her voice trembled slightly as if she was about to burst into tears. At that moment, she looked like she was wondering what she should do when Aslan cried and it annoyed her.
He didn't know how to take care of a child, so he didn't know how to comfort her. But even though the girl had clear tears hanging from her big eyes, she did not drop them.
"This was my home......"
Aslan narrowed his eyes at her. "
This was home?"
So she is saying she's royal, not noble?
Then, suddenly, a person came into his mind.
Only then was he able to guess the girl's identity. A girl whose parents passed away and who used to live here. The girl must be Hestia Ellsworth, who awakened as a Saintess last year. She even heard that she had moved her residence to a temple, but she paid no attention after that. She said, 'It looks like you are attending a party celebrating King Yorgos' birthday' Aslan knew that the girl he was dealing with was a saint and a princess, but he strangely did not feel that he should respect her.
'Isn't it okay since they don't really have any problems?'
Aslan shrugged his broad shoulders once. He thought it would be a good idea to check properly first, so he asked a question.
"Have you ever lived here?"
Then the girl rounded her almond-shaped eyes, and then she nodded her head cautiously.
"Yes. I lived here. Ah, I'm late to say hello. My name is Hestia."
No wonder. Aslan clicked his tongue in his mouth. She said that the colors of the palace given to her were too bright and that her furniture was quite cute.
"I'm using it now.
"Ah... I see."
A blush spread across her white cheeks.
"What a relief. Because a good person wrote it. I was worried that it would be forgotten. "
What on earth did they see in me that made them think I was a good person? However, Asian did not feel like correcting her with that lovely smiling face, so he just bit her mouth.
Aslan, who was just scratching the back of his nose while avoiding eye contact, felt that the conversation distance between him and her was slowly decreasing. He gestured toward the banquet hall with his chin.
"Come on in. People will come after you looking for you, so don't make a fuss here."
Why do I keep speaking erratically? Aslan cursed at himself in his mind. The girl, who gave him a momentary look of infringement, reluctantly nodded her head.
But she didn't leave right away. She hesitated for a moment, then looked at him and spoke again.
"But."
"Huh..."
"Because I don't really live in a temple."
"......?"
Aslan tilted her head very slightly. Because he didn't immediately understand why he was saying those things to him. He didn't know how to react, so he frowned and made no reply.
"I can come back once or twice a year. Uh..... hmm. Up to six times at most."
When there was no answer, Hestia seemed impatient. and asked again carefully.
"Therefore... Can I come see you again?"
What is she coming to see? That curiosity was immediately answered the moment he saw Hestia's face. Because her purple eyes were looking at his own face so straightly.
"You're coming to see me again?
Aslan was 15 years old. I missed people. So...... She nodded. So, it must have been from then on. Aslan began to wait excitedly for the little girl who could not even touch his shoulder...
When Hestia asked if she could stop by often, Aslan answered by nodding his head. After that, whenever there was a big meeting or event at the palace, Hestia would sneak out and never forget to stop by Aslan's residence. He also found out about a big event at the palace in advance, which he had not paid much attention to before, and went outside that night.
(Should I relax?)
It was a very crude excuse, but he had to make it up so he could accept it. He didn't want to admit it, but Aslan waited for Hestia. Maybe it was because all the colors that made up her belonged to the color that was most familiar to him.
Although he has no contact whatsoever, she is the only one who comes to him and speaks to him in isolation. Of course, she knew that too. The reason why Hestia does this may be more likely to be a matter of 'place' rather than 'herself'.
While he was half-heartedly swinging her wooden sword with his mind preoccupied, Hestia always came up to him and greeted him with a smile as clear as the sun.
'It's been a while since I saw you, Confucius. Have you been healthy so far?
(...... As you can see.)
But that didn't mean the two people became closer. It was something that could not be helped. They only exchanged brief, awkward greetings every few months. What deep exchanges can we have separately?
Aslan was not a sociable or friendly person, to say the least, and Hestia was also an introvert, so their relationship did not change much from the beginning. Then I'll be quiet and then I'll leave.
"Just keep doing what you were doing."
They exchanged greetings, but the conversation rarely continued, and they just did their own thing. Hestia did not enter the palace but took a walk in the garden.
Unlike other palaces, this place had a fairly deep pond in the garden. Her steps always led in that direction, and she stood for a long time on the small bridge across the pond. Aslan also knew that this was the position where he could best see the entire palace, so Hestia's behavior did not seem strange. He said,
'Maybe she has some memories of when she used to live here.'
Aslan, who didn't really want to break his thoughts, didn't go up and say anything. He always watched Hestia stop in the middle of that bridge and then look away from her.
So we spent time with each other. However, Aslan never went indoors while Hestia was standing on the bridge. And one more thing. No matter what else he was doing, all his attention was directed towards Hestia.
Like a compass. No matter how many times he tried to force my attention elsewhere, it never changed direction.
Comments
Post a Comment