EIITAB - Chapter 21 < Embracing The Blue Anger >
Even IF It Is Tampled And Broken
Aslan tried to ignore her and pass by.
"Well, I've been waiting!"
But with that one word, he finally had no choice but to stop. In fact, it was proper manners for him to dismount from his horse and bow to her.
But Aslan didn't do that. Instead, he looked down at Hestia from his horse with a mysterious look and asked.
"Why did you come? To make fun of me?"
He grinned viciously.
"It looks like you had a lot of fun so far."
"What is that... You mean?"
"You're playing with me. Otherwise..."
He raised his eyebrows. The atmosphere surrounding Aslan suddenly changed, and he attacked Hestia with just his energy.
"How dare you come to see me?"
Hestia paused. The purple eyes looking at him quickly became moist.
"Aslan..."
"A final greeting, is that what you came here to receive? Then you should do it. What do you want to hear? What...? Thank you for letting me live in an illusion for so long? Like this?"
His sarcasm struck Hestia sharply. With a face that looked like she was about to shed tears at any moment, Hestia barely opened her trembling lips.
"Aslan, please listen to me for a moment."
But Aslan had no intention of listening. He poured out his anger on her without stopping.
"Don't take any closer! Does the Princess want to look like a tail-wagging dog?"
Those words were closer to self-deprecation rather than being directed at Hestia. Aslan gritted his teeth. Even though he could see with his own eyes that she was being hurt by his words, he couldn't stop.
She took a long breath to calm his emotions, capturing her energy. Hestia finally found the time to breathe and opened her trembling lips.
"I am... I am. I didn't come here to fight with you. First of all, I pray for the peace of our late Duke Kalathi. And the oracle..."
But Aslan cut her off mid-sentence again.
"Hey, Princess."
Hestia's purple eyes, which were looking at him, trembled even more violently. Aslan looked at that pitiful figure and said coldly.
"What more needs to be said between us now? You chose, I accepted. So I have only one word to give back to the Princess."
He stared at Hestia, who was looking at her as if asking what it was, with cold eyes and his mouth twisted even further.
"May you be unhappy throughout your life. Just as much despair as you brought me."
He gripped the reins even tighter as he saw her cold face.
"Hey!"
Rolling his stirrups, his horse flew past Hestia with lightning speed.
After three years of being her hostage, Aslan returned to Kalathi. He only held on to his pale anger.
***
Back to the present.
The night of the royal banquet hosted by the King. Hestia took off the priestly clothes she usually wore and put on her dress.
Because she was pressed for time, she couldn't make a new dress, so she wore her original clothes and did her makeup very simply.
Although her name was the kingdom's Princess and Saintess, Hestia dressed very plainly compared to other nobles in the southern region. But she caught everyone's attention nonetheless.
The nobles kept glancing at her face, even though they clearly knew it was rude to her.
A few courageous people came up to Hestia, greeted her, and tried hard to get a few words out of her. But the conversation did not go as easily as they had hoped.
This was because Hestia's nerves were occupied elsewhere.
"Saintess..."
"Even more so today..."
She responded half-heartedly to the words fluttering in her ears and rolled her eyes Incessantly.
Even though it was prepared in a hurry, the banquet was gorgeous. A golden curtain fluttered from the ceiling, and expensive liquor flowed like a waterfall from the champagne glasses piled high. If someone unfamiliar with the situation saw it, it would be difficult to think that the North and South were the same country.
'Did he come? If he came, where is he?'
But the Aslan who she was looking for was nowhere to be seen. He is a person who makes his presence known even in a larger crowd. So if she can't find it, it means he didn't come.
'He didn't come either...'
Hestia swallowed her sigh.
Yorgos and the Crown Prince, who came into the banquet hall just then, also looked around. Perhaps because they also couldn't find Aslan, Hestia saw Yorgos frowning and slightly clicking his tongue. As if this was not the first time this had happened, Yorgos no longer tried to look for Aslan and immediately raised his glass and began his congratulatory speech.
"I can't thank you enough for everyone's attendance."
Yorgos continued speaking, pretending to sound dignified.
"We survived the winter safely last year as well. It's our victory!"
Yorgos, who gave special strength to the word "victory," as if it was a feat he had achieved, raised the glass he was holding higher.
"For Kalathi."
Regardless of whether he attended or not, the purpose of this banquet was to praise Kalathi's hard work, so he had to be honored. As the King sang, The southern nobles filling the hall Immediately raised their voices in response.
"For Ellsworth!"
At his signal, an exciting dance song began. Each person came to the center of the hall with their partner and started dancing. Those guarding Hestia's side also became a little bustling.
"Saint, if you don't mind..."
"Sorry. I wasn't feeling well, so I was just about to leave."
The face of the man who had asked for the dance brightened at the kind but clear rejection.
"Ah.....! You said so. I was oblivious."
"No. I'm glad you recommended it."
Hestia gave a fake smile so as not to embarrass her partner, then continued her steps with a silent bow asking for understanding.
She said, 'I wish he could have shown his face at the banquet like this. '
After a while, Saint Anette will appear, escorted by the high priest. When a banquet was held at the palace, invitations were always sent to the temple, but in Hestia's memory, they never once arrived early. This was because it was customary for the King to appear at the party later than the King in order to show that the royal family and the temple were similar in power. Hestia, who had connections to both sides, could not express the embarrassment caused by this.
'I don't want to run into Anette anyway. So I had better get out of this place before then. Let's hurry.'
Hestia, who quietly returned to her room, asked urgently as soon as she saw her maid, Angela, who had been waiting for her.
"Angela, what did you ask for?"
"We prepared it without a hitch, Princess."
In Angela's hands was a dark-colored robe. But she held on to the coat tightly and would not hand it over.
"Do you really have to go?"
Hestia lowered both eyebrows at Angela's concerned question. She knew that Angela was the only one who cared about her, so she felt sorry for her for being involved in this.
"Huh. It's important."
"Then how about bringing at least a royal knight with you?"
Hestia shook her head.
"I don't want anyone to know."
In her previous life, Hestia's health deteriorated rapidly around this time. She's fine now, but she could develop symptoms at any time, so she didn't want to make a fuss by keeping the watching eyes on the side. Hestia took a deep breath to calm her distraught mind and then tried to put a smile on her face.
"I'll be back before the sun rises tomorrow. If the story goes well, I can come back before then."
"Why don't you call him?"
"Then it's because I'll never see him again."
Hestia smiled bitterly as she handed her the robe and put it on herself, adding one word.
"If anyone comes to visit, make up an excuse saying I'm not feeling well."
Angela nodded her head with a serious look on her face.
"Don't worry about that."
"Yes, I believe it."
After carefully adjusting her robes, Hestia quietly left her room with Angela.
"Come this way, Princess. I will guide you."
"Yes."
The two headed toward the back door of the palace. As if it had been discussed in advance, the guards lowered their heads as soon as they saw Hestia wearing her robes.
"Are you sure you don't mind not having an escort with you?"
"I don't want to go through the hassle of dealing with this person and that person. I will leave quietly so as not to disturb the officers."
She quickly swallowed her dry saliva and added her request to her angry expression.
"I know and believe in your loyalty, but I hope this story doesn't get out of hand."
"... Yes, Princess. Of course. Don't worry about that."
The guards looked annoyed, but they could not disobey the words of Hestia, who had a higher status than them.
'No. It would be more appropriate to say that he doesn't seem to want to do that.'
Hestia secretly swallowed a bitter smile.
'My position is not strong in the temple, but it is even more insignificant in the royal palace!'
Actually, that was it. The reason she didn't make plans to stay at the temple and meet Aslan. There were so many eyes in the temple watching her that it made it more difficult for her to move.
However, it was relatively less so in the royal palace, and there was only one reliable ally named Angela.
"Climb carefully."
Hestia got into the carriage while holding Angela's hand. She smiled to reassure Angela, who looked at her with concern in her eyes before closing the door.
"Then Angela, I'll be back."
She couldn't waste any more time. She firmly closed the door of the carriage, and soon the carriage she was riding in disappeared into the darkness, with its back to the palace.
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