EIITAB - Chapter 41 < As A Man >
Even If It Is Trampled And Broken
'Yes?'
Hestia nodded her head, gathering her wet hair over one of her shoulders. But he had no further words. She could no longer feel her hands moving cautiously but diligently. Only then did she sense something strange, and when she glanced behind her, her eyes caught the sight of Angela swallowing her dry saliva again and again with her stiff face.
"Angela? What's the matter?"
She tried to signal that it was okay to speak comfortably, but Angela seemed to have trouble speaking. She was tilting her head and distorting her pretty face in an odd way to see if she was choking. After a while, Angela was able to let out a wet voice that was half her crying.
"Is there anything I can do to help the Princess? Maybe you didn't want it last night..."
Only then did Hestia realize what Angela wanted to ask. She shook her head vigorously before Angela could finish her sentence.
"No. Angela, that didn't happen."
"But... The relationship between the two of you was not good. I know. How much does Duke Kalathi care for the Princess?...."
"Yes, I did. It was like that, but... Not this time, never."
However, because her maid did not seem to believe her, Hestia had no choice but to repeatedly raise her voice and speak with force.
"I asked for it first. I... I wanted that person."
Angela's eyes widened in disbelief. Hestia swallowed her bitter smile and gently lifted her lips. It was completely understandable that her own maid would react this way. Perhaps the same goes for Aslan's lieutenants.
"Angela. I will marry him, Duke Kalathi. That's why I wanted him."
Hestia took a breath and added quietly, but with an unwavering voice.
"... As a man."
It was a moment where she acknowledged the feelings she had been suppressing all along since her breakup.
***
Hestia got out of her bathtub before the water cooled. She wondered if she should wear her ball gown again, which she had worn the day before, but fortunately, she did not have to. She said that Angela had brought her clothes with her when she came out of the castle. She said,
"I didn't know why the Duke's messenger told me to take the Princess's clothes. I was just out of sorts, so I just took whatever I could get my hands on..."
Angela sighed and helped Hestia get dressed.
She said,
"I should have calmed down and brought more proper clothing."
"What's wrong with this?"
Hestia said as if she genuinely didn't care. Because she was much better than putting back on the fancy dress she wore the day before or just throwing on a gown.
However, Angela seemed to be disappointed because she had always had a desire to beautify her master.
Nevertheless, after her maid meticulously checked her appearance until the end, she asked Hestia.
"Are you hungry? Shall I bring some food?"
Now that she thought about it, she remembered that she hadn't had a proper meal since last night. But Hestia shook her head.
"No, I'm not that hungry. Let's go out first."
She opened her mouth, hiding her impatience. She was thinking to herself that when she opened her eyes this morning, the first face she would see would be Aslan's. But what Hestia saw was Angela.
She was surprised, but at the same time, she was a little disappointed, unfortunately for her maid.
Before she went to her bathroom, she secretly placed her hand on the spot next to her. It was as cold as if he had been away for a long time. Last night, she seemed to faint and felt like he had left his place right away.
'When I think about our relationship, I think it's overly romantic and complacent.'
Because it's not a loving relationship worth having. However, although she could ignore the strange feeling of disappointment that kept coming, she could not completely erase it.
Hestia slowly walked towards the door and Angela followed. Although the sun was already high in the sky, the mansion was quiet. If it was an ordinary aristocratic mansion, one or two people might have passed by, but that wasn't the case.
Angela, feeling her despair, shrugged her shoulders a little and muttered.
"It's eerily quiet."
But Hestia didn't even nod her head. The Kalathi Duke family feeds the entire North. This is because, considering the poor circumstances of the main estate, she knew that not having servants in the capital mansion was an unavoidable choice.
"Let's go down quickly."
But contrary to her words, her movements were slow. Because he moved at a speed that did not put too much strain on my body, it took quite a while to get down to the first floor.
After coming down with Angela's help, she was able to meet the butler, though not Aslan,
"Princess Hestia, did you cough?"
Her Robert greeted her as if he had been waiting for her. Hestia cleared her throat awkwardly, then straightened her expression and slightly nodded her head towards him.
"Last night I couldn't say hello properly. I feel sorry."
"No."
Hestia asked while looking around her.
"But where is Duke Kalathi now?"
This time, her impatience was revealed. That's how much Hestia wanted to meet Aslan and share her story. She was thinking of making the negotiations between the two more concrete.
'Most of it will have to be adjusted on my part.'
Of course, there was no objection to that. Hestia was the one who decided to choose him in the first place because she was herself.
She looked at Robert with a strangely expectant expression on her young face. Then the butler paused for a moment, then lowered his head slightly as if to avoid Hestia's gaze and opened his mouth with difficulty.
"I'm sorry, but the master is currently away, so it may be difficult to see you."
"... what?"
Hestia's purple eyes shook. She thought he might be in another room, but she had no idea that he might be gone at all. In fact, during his stay in the capital, Aslan did not attend any social gatherings, stayed quietly, and only received compensation and left.
'Why did he leave like this because he had somewhere else to go?'
She managed to calm down her agitation and continued asking questions.
"When did he leave?"
"He left early in the morning."
Robert answered politely. But that was all. He answered Hestia's questions but did not say anything more than that.
'Didn't the Duke tell his people that he was going to marry me?'
Or is he still acting like this even though he was told to?
Although he had a good idea of how great the northerners' hostility was toward her as a Saintess, she was embarrassed by her attitude because there were only a few opportunities to meet him in person.
'Still, this person may be relatively finite.'
Since she was still supported by Angela, her hands that held her were strained.
"Princess."
Angela quietly called out to Hestia with a look of concern on her face. Hestia barely came to her senses and raised the corner of her mouth slightly as if to say that she was fine and not to worry. She swallowed dry saliva and asked her question again.
"Then, before the Duke leaves... Did he leave any special instructions for me to do?"
"I'm offended, but I haven't given you any specific information."
Hestia swallowed her trembling breath with difficulty.
"What should I do now?"
She couldn't decide whether she should go back to the castle or stay in the mansion and wait for Aslan.
'Has the duke changed his mind?'
She felt as if she was broken...
'Because it's not that good?'
When she reached that imagination, she suddenly stopped breathing. Afterwards, Hestia's silent face frowned.
'It's crazy. What am I thinking right now?'
She was internally angry with herself. As far as she knew, Aslan was a man she could not control. She thought that since she had brought up her story first in front of so many people that she would marry him, she would not relent.
But now that she couldn't see the man with her immediate eyes, her thoughts kept branching out in the wrong direction, and she had no talent to stop them.
What if the man comes now and wants to forget about the marriage?
Now she realizes that last night he left no evidence other than what he said. Of course, she knew full well that Aslan was not a man who was obsessed with pieces of paper, but wasn't it better for her to have something rather than nothing?
'Am I this clueless?'
She felt like she wanted to put her forehead on her forehead and sigh as loudly as she could. Once she went to extremes, she never recovered.
Hestia continued to force herself to feel better about her situation.
'No. First, let's not think negatively.'
Because she still doesn't know the person's true intentions. But it wasn't easy for her to straighten her already stiff face.
She swallowed her sighs that rose up within her as she continued to do so. Aslan seemed to think she was an annoying woman who rarely behaved as he expected. And Hestia also wanted to say the same thing to him for the first time today.
As Hestia stood still, speechless, the butler took a quick look. After observing her reaction without being rude, Robert opened his mouth in a cautious tone.
"I just heard from the owner that he would look after your convenience."
Hestia lifted her eyelids again at his mention of Aslan.
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