EIITAB - Chapter 29 < Invitation >
Even If It Is Trampled And Broken
Meanwhile, Angela, who had barely stopped crying after a long time, suddenly raised her voice with a solemn expression, holding Hestia's hands tightly.
"Anyway, don't worry! He'll save you! Princess!"
"You're coming to save me? What do you mean?"
"Of course, he is her dependable husband who will only love the princess!"
"haha..."
Hestia laughed, saying she wasn't expecting much.
Then suddenly a thought crossed her mind.
'If we take this as an opportunity, wouldn't it be a little more natural?'
Hestia spoke softly to Angela, trying to make herself look as calm as possible.
"Then Angela, can you help me find someone?"
"People? Who are you talking about?"
Angela nodded, wiping away the tears from her eyelashes with the back of her hand.
"Come closer."
It was just the two of them in her room, but Hestia's heart was pounding for no reason, so she called out to Angela with a wave of her hand.
As her maid's ear touched her lips, she raised her palm to shield herself and whispered. Angela's eyes widened at the sound of a man's name flowing from Hestia's lips.
***
Aslan sat at the desk in his office and was looking at documents.
Even if his main base was Kalathi, since he had a title, he had work to take care of in the capital as well. Most of the work was handled by executors appointed by Aslan, who had considerable authority, but some matters had to be looked after by Duke Kalathi himself.
Because such matters had piled up quite a bit, Aslan did not leave his office all day. His gaze seemed to be nailed to the paper, but in fact, not a single word had caught his eye.
"Whoa."
He can't concentrate at all. In the end, he put down the document that didn't even turn a single page and slowly leaned back against the backrest.
When he tilted his head back, his thick neck muscles moved roughly. Aslan raised his arm and gently pressed the back of his hand to his eyes. And then he swore quietly between his teeth. .
"Damn it."
His consciousness kept returning to that rainy night. After she left his room, he was dazed for a while before coming to his senses.
After moving to the window, he roughly opened the curtains and pulled back the curtains. In the pouring rain, he immediately saw a small figure leaving his house, carrying the darkness on her shoulders.
Hestia. What is her name?
Aslan kept her name in his mind, unable to say it out loud, and fixed his eyes on her. But no matter how much he looked around, he couldn't see the carriage she was going to ride.
'Where on earth is the carriage?'
Then he saw her climbing over the wrought-iron gate of his mansion. On that dark night, Hestia was alone.
"What does it have to do with me?"
Thinking that it had nothing to do with him anymore, Aslan tried to turn around as well.
He held on tightly to the end to close the curtains again. But he couldn't hit it. He applied so much force that the forearm on the side holding the curtain swelled, but his hand could not move. The cloth wrinkled unsightly in Aslan's hands.
"Damn it."
He tried to shake himself off, but it wasn't easy. In the end, Aslan was moved and followed her, ignoring his swear words. But he hid his appearance from Hestia.
The more he talked to her, the tighter he felt in his chest, and he didn't want to feel that feeling again. And he didn't want to be angry with her anymore.
So Aslan just quietly followed Hestia. Because it was such an easy task for him to just kill anyone in sight.
As he followed Hestia like a guard, he suddenly became angry again.
'She's so defenseless. What on earth are you thinking, walking without even looking around?'
No matter how good the capital's security was, it was now dawn and the streets were dark. She could become a target for anyone, and if she was attacked, she didn't even have the strength to protect herself.
But why? What is she thinking that makes her not even look around? Is she just moving her legs like that?
He didn't like everything. Then, he suddenly came to his senses and sneered. He kept thinking that he was crazy. It was like this and then like that.
'I feel so excited. This has never happened in the North.'
He was a man who rarely got excited, and he never lost his temper. So he had no choice but to admit it now. There is only one person in this world who can set Aslan on fire. It's only Hestia.
Aslan tried not to think any further. Just acknowledging that fact was a huge decision for him. He didn't want to change anything about his relationship or feelings with Hestia. For that to happen now, because Kalathi lost too much during the Great Patriotic War six years ago.
So he quietly followed her that night, thinking it was just a walk. He kept looking at Hestia's back, walking quietly down the road alone without a carriage or servant.
It was absurd to try to block out all the rain and cold with just that thin robe.
After seeing her safely enter the castle, when he returned to the mansion, it was already dawn. Aslan lived his daily life without showing it as if no one had visited him that night.
But that was only his outward appearance, Aslan continued to wander through the rainy night. He kept thinking that the meeting that day might have been the only private meeting between Hestia and himself.
But that didn't mean he had any intention of finding out about her. This year, as always, he planned to stay quietly in the capital and then return to the north. But the moment he saw the invitation sent to him, those feelings disappeared in an instant.
"Excuse me, Master."
Butler Robert entered the office with a knock and bowed to him in a respectful manner as always.
"I brought you the mail."
"Put it down there, anywhere, on an empty spot."
"Yes."
Aslan planned to check the mail later. But his eyes kept falling on the top of the bundle. The golden envelope, which radiated its presence alone, was quite nerve-wracking, so he ended up angrily picking it up and asking Robert a question.
"What is this?"
"It was sent from the imperial palace. This is an invitation to a charity event for Bodhisattva Day."
Aslan turned the envelope around in front of him with a confused look in his eyes.
"Do I really have to go?"
"I heard that. His Majesty the King added a request to at least show your face."
Aslan wrinkled his face in dissatisfaction.
"Is it hosted by the royal family?"
"They say it will be hosted jointly with the temple."
Normally he would have ignored it. But for some reason, the moment Aslan heard the word 'temple', he tore off the sealing wax of the invitation. His eyes were busy reading the contents inside.
"King's Orphanage and Glory Orphanage.
The names of the two saints were written below, along with the old-fashioned message asking either of them to attend at a convenient location and grace the occasion.
"Hmm."
Without hiding his discomfort, he alternately read the names of the two Saintesses, Anette and Hestia. Then he snapped his fingers and typed an invitation.
The experienced butler, who noticed that he was not in a good mood, asked quietly.
"Shall I throw it away?"
"..."
But there was no answer back. Aslan just glared at the invitation as if it were his enemy. For a long time. He threw the paper he was holding along with the envelope onto the desk with a loud thud.
Robert, who was watching the scene in front of him, swallowed his saliva. Just like his master always does, he won't go this time either. His own master was always in a bad mood in the capital. He wasn't staying for long, but Robert hoped he would feel at least a little at ease during his stay.
'By throwing it away, you were conveying your intent that you would not attend.'
So Robert stretched out his hand for the invitation.
"I will handle it on my own terms."
However, the butler could not even touch the invitation. As soon as he finished speaking, Aslan's large hand pressed down on the invitation as if it were covered with a thud.
"...Master?"
The butler looked at Aslan with an expression of confusion. Then he spoke in an eerie voice.
"Leave it alone."
Robert was embarrassed. For quite some time, he thought he had seen him. Aslan Kalathi, as far as he knew, was a man for whom time was money, and he never once put off a decision.
"Are you going to attend the charity event?"
"... I don't know, I just think about it."
As expected, all that came back were vague words. But his mind had already been made up.
***
"Hestia, I think you'll have to work harder."
Yorgos called Hestia and said these words without feeling sorry at all. The temple and the royal family could not reach an agreement. The temple wanted Hestia to marry and prolong her life, while Yorgos wanted her to die quietly.
Yorgos seemed to be planning to use this opportunity to sever ties with the temple. This is because he did not want to suffer any more losses by being used.
So they were cracking down on marriage rumors like catching a rat, but the temple side moved so quickly and cleverly that there was no one in the capital who didn't know about it.
'The only difference from my last life is that it wasn't revealed that I was terminally ill!'
Because of the circumstances, Hestia still had to officially retain her title as a Saintess. What she meant was that although she had let go of her internal problems, she had no choice but to carry out the external schedule that had been previously scheduled.
Amidst her confusion, the 'Day of Compassion' arrived, when she was first introduced to Stephan in her last life.
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