EIITAB - Chapter 86 < The Stance Is Different >
Even if it is Trampled and Broken
"Yes? Lord Wharton, what did you say just now?"
"What are you doing to whom?"
Dean and Martin returned the question instead of answering and looked at Wharton with dumbfounded faces. Then Dean said,
"Fuha!"
He burst into loud laughter.
"Whew! Lord Wharton! Try to imagine something suitable for your size. You have all sorts of romantic imaginations."
Dean continued to laugh, waving his hands as if he had heard something nonsense, but Wharton's frown never seemed to go away. Wharton swallowed his beer in one gulp.
"Bang!"
He put down his glass and wiped his lips with the back of his other hand.
"No matter how much she decides to transfer the rights to the Great Plains! The other person is the Princess who gave the oracle. His Excellency, he would have died if we had starved to death. Do he think he would live face-to-face with such a vicious woman? Have you never once thought it was strange?"
Wharton stood up to his neck and tried to get Dean and Martin to agree. But Martin just pursed his lips with a thoughtful look on his face. This guy is done.
'I won't say anything anyway.:
Without any hesitation, Wharton took his gaze away from Martin and looked at Dean. Dean, who was about to drink beer without thinking, stopped and put down his glass.
"That... I'm just saying this because Lord Wharton said the Princess was vicious."
"Yes! What are you complaining about?"
"No... Rather....."
Huh. Dean, who was clearing his throat awkwardly, hesitated to speak.
"I don't know how you will hear these words. To be honest... She wasn't that bad."
"..... What?"
Dean muttered softly, avoiding eye contact with Wharton.
"What I mean is that after spending a few days together, she wasn't as bad as I thought. That's it."
"Huh?"
Dean, seeing Wharton's bewildered expression, added as if making an excuse.
"How could I have thought differently from Lord Wharton?"
Dean continued, nibbling the bridge of his nose with the tip of his fingernail.
"Since Princess Hestia was the one who isolated the North through her oracle, I thought she was a wicked and shameless woman. But when I saw her in person... I don't think so, that's what I'm saying."
Dean must have been thirsty so he quickly moistened his mouth with beer.
"I think she has an upright personality. But she is weak-hearted. She doesn't seem to be the type of person to hurt others or make decisions like that. What... I can't be sure because I only saw it briefly."
There was no confidence in Dean's voice. Didn't he live with antipathy towards the existence of a 'Saintess' for a long period of six years?
Dean too, was a little confused because the emotion had changed in a short period of time.
He would have been more comfortable continuing to hate the Princess if she had been a truly vicious woman. But Dean couldn't do that anymore. From the capital to Kalathi Castle, there was something he had seen along the way.
If it had been Dulcinea, with whom he was close, Hestia would not complain even though she would have cried several times already. She even saved Jerome. Dean could no longer deny that the woman had her best intentions.
So now, even though he was speaking of his own volition, his mind was torn. Dean sighed.
'I just wish someone would decide for me.'
He liked simple things, and he truly thought so. Someone to hate. The person he must embrace. A person to protect.
If everything were divided like that, his head would hurt less now.
'If I look at what she did in the North, she is a bad person, but when I actually meet her, she doesn't seem like that.'
In Dean's honest feelings, Hestia did not seem like the person who gave that cruel and reckless oracle.
Ugh. I don't know what it is either.'
The more Dean thought about Hestia, the more confused he became. Anyway, one thing is certain. His feelings for her had become much more toxic. On the other hand, when Wharton frowned at Dean's evaluation, which was much more generous than he expected, like a piece of paper, he made a sharp criticism.
"Did you let down your guard just because she cured Jerome?"
Dean shrugged his shoulders as if being pricked by his point. He must have sensed that if he waited any longer, Wharton's interrogation would become more severe, so he raised his voice and denied it.
"Ah! Oh my! Who says that? Why do you distort what people say?"
A strong negative is ultimately a strong positive. As Wharton's gaze lengthened at him, Dean grunted unnaturally. Then, he glanced at Wharton's notice and mumbled to himself in a lower voice several times more embarrassed.
"But what... Aren't you grateful too? I was honestly scared that I might lose Jerome... Still, I'm glad he lives like this."
"That's true, but...."
Wharton continued speaking. Wharton, who understood intellectually but did not want to admit it emotionally, began to groan and suffer. "
Even though Jerome grumbles that he got help from the Princess when he didn't want it, he seems to be happy on the inside. Because he can hold a sword again."
Sigh.
Wharton let out a long sigh, as if feeling frustrated. The beer in front of him had already lost all its carbonation.
"Is holy power really that great?"
Dean took a swig of his beer and nodded.
"It's because Lord Wharton couldn't see it in person. Jerome was dying. Right, Martin?"
First of all, Martin silently nodded because it was a fact.
"Look. Doesn't Martin say the same thing? Anyway, it was the Princess who saved the life of the man who was dying and made him sound like this."
The longer he spoke, the more Dean's attitude became, 'The Princess is so good.' It seemed like he was bragging in some way. Wharton glanced at Dean, then finally lifted his glass and quenched his thirst.
"Well, I roughly understand. Dean, why did you change your mind so much? It's been explained well, so stop praising her now."
"No! Who changed and when have I ever changed my mind? Complimented her? Huh, indeed. I just recited the facts!"
Dean, who was annoyed, belatedly avoided eye contact and trailed off. Wharton said, glaring at the beer glass he was holding as if it were Hestia.
"Still, I still can't accept Princess Hestia as Kalathi's Mistress."
"...."
Dean and Martin fell silent at the same time. They fully understood Wharton's feelings, which were inevitable.
'I understand. That incident 6 years ago, the Great War...Was it such a big deal for us?'
Dean opened his mouth quietly in a completely different voice than before. Dean could fully understand why Wharton was saying this. Because he had the same wounds and pain. At the same time that Dean lost his fiancée, Wharton lost his wife. So, just like he did at first, Wharton would also find it difficult to accept Hestia right now. His head understood.
However, a feeling of skepticism remained in his heart, so he hesitated to add one more word.
"But Lord Wharton, do you know that?"
"What?" "During the Great War."
Dean took a shaky breath and continued speaking in a serious voice.
"The Princess was 16 when she made the oracle."
"......"
"The Princess is the same age as Lady Dulcinea."
Wharton didn't respond and just listened. Dean looked at him with pitiful eyes for a moment, then opened his mouth again with a bitter heart.
"She was young back then. Just as much as Lady Dulcinea."
His voice was somewhat light-hearted as if that was all he wanted to say. After Dean's last words, the three of them remained silent. Then Wharton suddenly scrunched up his face and let out a loud howl like a wounded animal.
"So what? So you need to look at it?"
His momentum was extremely fierce as if his Achilles tendon had been touched. Wharton could hardly control his anger.
"Lady Dulcinea and the Princess are in different positions. When you open your lips and say a word, the number of people who pay attention to it and the impact is extraordinary!"
"Why are you so angry? It's just that."
Whoa, whoa.
To calm Wharton down, Dean stretched out his arms toward him and pretended to comfort him. Wharton rested his elbows on the table and covered his head with both hands.
"Damn it. I wonder what your Excellency is thinking."
In his mouth, his tongue kept fluttering like a freshly caught fish. At that time, Martin, who had been listening quietly the whole time, calmly opened his mouth.
"Well, wouldn't our Master have something in mind?"
Dean and Wharton's eyes turned to Martin.
"His Excellency has always put Kalathi first."
Dean and Wharton nodded.
That was clearly a fact that no one could deny. They knew better than anyone else how much Aslan sacrificed. If possible, they wanted to share the burden and carry it themselves. Because this land is also their hometown.
However, even if you can protect it, you cannot become its will. That was a weight that only 'Kalathi' could carry.
The northerners, who had been abandoned by the royal family and the temple, clung to Duke Kalathi as if he were their lifeline. In this way, Aslan also served as everyone's mental supporter. That burden was something that could not be shared even if one dared to ask it.
Martin continued speaking in his usual calm tone.
"The three of us must believe in His Excellency's will and follow him as a top priority. If you have a complicated mind, why not just think about that?"
It was quite a reasonable story, so Wharton thought about it for a moment and silently nodded his head.
"I think there must be some reason for His Excellency marrying the Princess of Ellsworth and bringing her to his estate, which he has not explained to us."
Martin, who had been speaking quietly, fell silent for a moment. While he was catching his breath, he could hardly continue his next words.
Comments
Post a Comment