EIITAB - Chapter 49 < The End Of The Flower Road >
Even If It Is Trampled And Broken
After making eye contact with Aslan, Hestia felt the pressure and fear that had been weighing her down disappear. She was finally able to sigh and let out a long sigh as if she were letting out her heavy breath.
"Thank you, Angela."
She managed to straighten her body by supporting her legs. As she stood facing him at the end of the long, red flower road, she automatically held her breath. It was as if he and she were the only two people in this large space.
Aslan, trapped in Hestia's eyes, looked somewhat angry. Then, she suddenly found it funny that she thought of such a thing, and Hestia burst out laughing without realizing it. She said, 'Has he ever not been angry?'
She can assert it without even thinking about it. He had never been like that. It might have been before the Great War, but not once since that incident. She had never seen his smile so brightly.
That fact struck her once again, and Hestia felt her heart begin to ache. Was she biting her lip without realizing it?
"Princess, your lips are all erased."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Hestia realized again as soon as she let go of her lips that had been bitten by Angela's quiet criticism. That Aslan really hates herself. Why does she keep forgetting that fact? She shouldn't be forgotten.
Her two clasped hands gained strength. At that time, a priest's voice was heard from inside the chapel, saying that the ceremony would begin. The priest standing next to Hestia reminded her once again by hinting at the order of the ceremony.
"You must enter now."
"Sure."
Taking Hestia's brief nod of her head as a signal, Angela quickly moved to her side. Angela adjusted the train of her dress so that Hestia's feet wouldn't get tangled.
As she came to stand in the middle of the flower path, the music began to flow, starting with the heavy first note of a pipe organ. A slow tempo that is closer to a ploushymn than a benediction. To the tune, Hestia walked step by step toward Aslan. The closer she got to his face, the better she could see his expression.
It occurred to her that he seemed impatient somehow. And when there were about ten last steps left. Aslan, who had been waiting at the end of his platform, approached her with long strides as if he could not stand any longer.
Then he grabbed Hestia's hand and pulled her close to his side. They went to the end of the flower road, stood side by side, and looked at each other for a moment.
Hestia's eyes were calm, and Aslan's eyes were filled with boredom. The ceremony was held quietly and quickly. The two were the first to sign a marriage contract. Then, looking towards the guests, Yorgos appeared as a representative from the royal family, and the high Priest appeared as a representative from the temple, signing the witness section of the marriage vow.
Next came the order of sharing the wedding rings, but only Aslan's ring was prepared. He always wore the Duke of Kalathi's ring, which was passed down from generation to generation, but he could not prepare the Duchess' ring because it was on the estate.
Hestia picked up his ring with a nonchalant expression and put it on Aslan's finger. At the same time, she thought that the day would never come when she would see Duchess Kalathi's ring.
"Kiss your vows for eternity."
Aslan looked shocked for a moment. But soon his large hand was raised upward. He gently played with Hestia's hair below her ear and then tucked it behind her ear.
Then he gently placed his hand on her cheek. Hestia shrugged her shoulders for a moment in response to the burning heat. She must have felt that Aslan was avoiding her due to that action, and Aslan's golden eyes instantly became colored with a fierce light.
He turned his head without hesitation and placed his lips on hers as if he were going to bite her. Hestia, thinking that his ferocity would continue, tightly closed her trembling eyelashes.
However, contrary to expectations, a very dry kiss followed.
"Hmm. "
As the kiss took longer than expected, Yorgos and his ministers continued to cough, showing their discomfort.
Hestia lifted her hand and she pushed his shoulder ever so slightly. Then Aslan was bitten so obediently as if it were a lie.
"Is this the end now?"
"... No. There's one more left."
Hestia let out the hot breath she had been holding the entire time and opened her mouth in a slightly muffled voice.
"Then I will say a prayer and come back."
Hestia looked towards Aslan with a slightly red face. When she held out her hand to him as if to escort him, Aslan quietly looked down at the small hand.
"Let's go."
Only after some light urging did Aslan slowly lead Hestia. The prayer room was located inside the chapel. The space was not as spacious as expected, so when Aslan entered the inner room, it felt as if it was crowded.
"I was waiting, Saintess. And the duke."
A mid-level priest holding holy water, who was waiting inside, greeted the two. Since it was the marriage of a Saintess, it was only right that people of appropriate stature should host the event.
However, although the high priests wanted to be witnesses to the wedding vows, they did not want to carry the holy water, which could be considered a chore.
Since Hestia was in a position where it did not matter who did it, she ended up letting the highest-ranking mid-level priests take charge. That also meant that this priest also knew Hestia's situation and today's ceremony.
The priest naturally stuck to the wall so as not to disturb Hestia and Aslan and held his breath quietly. Two prayer tables are placed side by side in front of the statue. Hestia naturally walked to one side first. Without hesitation, she knelt down on the cushion of her lap chair, raised her arms, and rested them on the bolster.
While she clasped her hands and took a perfect posture, Aslan just stood there silently. He is Incomprehensible. However, with his sharp eyes, he looked up as if glaring at the statue of a God that filled one wall.
He clenched his fist so tightly that the thick bones on the back of his hand stood out white above the skin. Hestia took her gaze away from that fist, looked straight ahead again, and spoke in a low voice.
"You can just stand."
Only then did Aslan, who had been glaring at the statue, lower his head. The golden eyes that looked at Hestia's profile were burning as if someone had placed a burning wick. He chuckled coldly.
"I don't know how many times I have to get down on my knees to get a woman like you."
"..."
Hestia did not react in any way to the sarcastic remark. Maybe it was because she knew that he was saying it on purpose to make people hurt, but it didn't come as a shock to her as much as she thought.
Aslan just wouldn't sit down, she just felt it again.
'I don't think it would be any use if I waited any longer.'
That was when he opened his mouth to say that they should just leave it like this, Hestia took a deep breath with her lips parted. This was because a large shadow had landed next to her. Soon it felt as if the empty seat next to her was filling up. When she barely turned her stiff neck to look to her side, Aslan was on his knees, arms resting on his prayer table.
Meanwhile, his eyes continued to scan Hestia's profile and he adjusted his body posture here and there.
"Is this the right way to do it?"
Unsure, he asked with a frown on his face. Why? Hestia's breathing stopped for a moment.
"... That's right."
Hestia barely answered. However, unlike Hestia, the movement was quite awkward, perhaps because it was something he had never done before in his life.
Hestia, who was quietly staring at Aslan a little longer, took a trembling breath and whispered softly.
"Thank you."
But she didn't get an answerback. Just like Hestia, he too had a very dishonest personality. He sheepishly wiped his nose once and then pointed forward with his chin. As if he wasn't really expecting an answer, Hestia smiled and fixed her gaze in front of him again.
"Let's begin."
She nodded her head at Aslan's order. Hestia took a short breath and opened her lips.
"El Rafal, the Holy Primordial One."
She quietly clasped her hands together and gently placed her forehead against her clasped hands.
"We, two different people, kneel before you today and tell you that we want to become one."
Before the ceremony, she handed Aslan a pledge prayer. He must have read it, and there's no way he couldn't memorize it.
Nevertheless, Aslan did not open his mouth when his turn came. Hestia didn't bother to point it out.
"Following your arrangement, two people united as one, will head toward the truth."
Because if Aslan doesn't do it, she has to do it herself. This was something she would have to get used to over the next year.
".. Please look down on both of us and give us the strength to overcome any hardships and adversities that may come our way."
As soon as she finished her last words, Hestia tightened her closed eyes and held her breath. Just in case, just in case. Will God not answer this prayer?
The two clasped hands gained strength.
However, despite her earnest prayers, Hestia could not feel any response. Hestia was devastated.
'You really abandoned me...'
A strong sense of helplessness that she could not express in words enveloped her. It felt like all the strength in her body had been lost, and she was not in good shape.
Anyway, perhaps it was because Hestia proceeded alone, but the prayer to God ended much faster than expected. Aslan, who did not close his eyes, join his hands, or join her in the final prayer, only stared at Hestia's lips, and then he asked.
"Is it all over now?"
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