EIITAB - Chapter 113 < Rootless Anger >
Even if it is Trampled and Broken
Hestia had been uneasy ever since the day Asian knelt down and asked her. She remembered how he had hurt her with his harsh words and she hated him so much, but she soon came to understand him.
'Would I have done that if I were so worried about the people of the territory?'
But she didn't change his mind that she couldn't lie. So she worried every day. Is there any way to help him and the North?
She thought hard and found her own way. Although she was afraid, she decided to use her courage to persuade Yorgos and his ministers. It was for Aslan and the things he loved. But in just one moment, all that effort was in vain.
Hestia shouted with a bloodless face.
< Is it really that easy to lie?>
Then was the time she spent hesitating and worrying about it being useless?
'How can you deceive people like that? What about the northerners!'
Yorgos, who was sitting in the same room, put out the cigarette he was smoking with an annoyed look on his face. He clicked his tongue harshly, as if he was very displeased with his nephew who was getting on his nerves for the first time, and spoke as if reprimanding him.
< Did you decide that way because the adults had everything in mind, so you just know it that way. >
< Your Majesty! No, uncle! You can't do this!>
<Use it! Hestia! I don't understand why you are like this. What is your problem? Anyway, you didn't hear the voice of a God regarding this matter.>
Hestia was momentarily speechless at those pitiful words. Yorgos's words seemed to mean that all this happened because she did not receive the oracle. Then the high Priest intervened.
< Please understand. It would be good for the South to do this. Or does Saintess Hestia want the southern part to be completely devastated like the northern part?>
< Yes, Hestia. Stay still. You just have to do that.>
<That's right. Your Majesty and I will take care of the rest, so Saintess Hestia, please remain silent. No harm will come to the Saintess.>
<This is a lie! El Rafa will not forgive us!>
<There is no turning back.>
<Uncle! High Priest!>
Yorgos and the high priest scared Hestia and threatened her to keep her mouth shut. Hestia wanted to burst into tears at any moment, but she held them back.
<There is nothing you can do, Hestia. So just stay still like you are now.>
She felt frustrated. There was no way to communicate at all. Hestia glared at them briefly and then quickly stood up. But she was quickly caught, and she was imprisoned in her own place.
'I should have been smart.'
Hestia regretted as she looked at the guards who had been blocking the front of her room for several days. But she definitely had to go out today. Because she had heard that Aslan was leaving for the North.
'Let's go out the window.'
In the end, she made a long rope by weaving together her sheets, blanket, and clothes. Her palms, were full of chafed wounds as she slipped out through the window. But she never felt pain. Hestia started running like she was crazy. Her destination was, of course, Aslan's residence.
< At the very least, I must tell Aslan the truth.>
She said that whatever he heard, it was not true. She said she didn't want to do that. That's not a real oracle. She wanted to tell him. All she could think about was him and she barely reached his residence.
As she took a moment to catch her breath and think about what she had to say, Aslan appeared outside with his lieutenants. The sight of her in women's clothing made her feel anxious again.
'I've been waiting!'
Up until then, she thought he would greet her, even if she felt a little awkward. However, when she faced the cold and sharp eyes like a spear made of ice, Hestia felt as if all the words she had prepared were caught in a net.
< Why did you come? To ridicule me?>
The moment she saw his coldness, which she had never encountered before, Hestia could not properly get any of the words floating around in her head.
< Did I still look like a tail-wagging when I saw the Princess? >
Hestia has never forgotten what Aslan said to her on the day he departed. Those words became a dagger and cut into Hestia's heart again and again.
Like that that day. After Aslan looked away, he passed by her, and Hestia was unable to catch him. After "It's too late."
Regrets that did not help anywhere hung around Hestia's ankles like shackles.
'I should just accept Aslan's offer.'
She hugged her knees alone and repeated the same thought countless times.
'My uncle and the high priest lie so casually, so what can I say? What on earth Is my definition? What about conscience? Was he that stubborn?'
They say she was given an oracle to save at least one more life. But there was nothing that could be undone. It was because she didn't have the strength to do that.
Hestia felt helpless. Her feelings of shame continued to erode her self-esteem. Despite such suffering, the people of the South unanimously praised her Hestia.
<Thanks to Saintess Hestia, we survived!>
<If Saint Hestia had not been there, she would not have received such an oracle.>
<We all almost died together with the northerners!>
It was an unwanted admiration, but there was no way to dissuade her. The words not to do it only seemed like humility. Several times, she tried to tell people that she had never received such an oracle. However, the high priest and Yorgos, who found out about it later, skillfully smoothed over the situation so that no one would believe her.
And he got very angry at Hestia. After that, she was kept under his watch.
'No one listens to me.'
Unless it is an oracle, no one will listen. After realizing that her voice had no power and could not reach anyone, Hestia despaired and eventually locked herself in her room and did not leave the house. She was distressed. So all her situations and emotions were eating away at her.
But, as always, nothing changed for her.
***
Hestia's fists gained strength as she reflected on her past. At that time, Aslan, who had been listening to her without making a movement, asked quietly.
"Do you know what you are saying right now?"
Slower tone. The voice, which could not be read with any emotion, was so low and cold that it could not be compared to before. Only his wheezing and rough breathing revealed his agitation. He curled his lips, bit them, then released them, and Hestia responded once more in a voice that sounded like she was carrying him.
"Everything I said here and now is true."
"..."
Aslan did not answer. Remaining silent with his gaze down, he thought over and over again what Hestia had said to him. Because he doesn't understand those simple and short words. Then....
"Ha..."
A sharp breath escaped his lips.
"Does that make sense?"
Hestia quietly raised her gaze and looked at him. For the first time, he seemed confused. And what Hestia saw right away was correct.
Aslan was currently extremely confused. At times, he couldn't believe that the deep anger that he found difficult to control had taken root and grown in a place with no ground to stand on.
"False oracle?"
"Yes."
"The King and the High Priest made it up..."
"..."
"Is it so."
He started going through them one by one to understand the situation. And Hestia responded calmly as if she was helping. Sometimes, even nodding his head. Aslan took a deep, trembling breath. His wide ribcage swelled, and his trembling eyes disappeared beneath his eyelids.
Aslan, who had been breathing heavily for a while, finally opened his eyes again.
Contrary to Hestia's expectations that he would still be trembling, his golden eyes no longer showed any signs of agitation. He was quiet. It was just dark and sinking like mud.
Hestia felt uneasy as if this quiet moment was like the eve of a storm. Aslan was filled with arsenic. It seemed like everything from the past had finally found its place in his mind.
"Yes, those old people can do that."
He said calmer than expected. A new King who suddenly ascended to the throne and was completely unprepared. He is a monk-like priest who has a lot to take away from him. Their interests would be perfectly aligned. They had so much to lose if they had supported the North during the Great Patriotic War. Especially economically. It was quite a political move.
Hestia would have simply been swept away in the process. There was no way that the woman who had found it difficult to even grant his request, which was so outrageous as she had done, would have truly sympathized with this. Aslan didn't know anything else, but he was sure of that.
"It was a perfect hit."
Aslan continued to raise the corners of his mouth with his incontinent face.
Sometimes he giggles and laughs, almost like a crazy person, as if he can't stand it because it's so funny. Then, in an instant, she stopped laughing, looked at Hestia, and opened her mouth.
"Hestia."
"...... Yes.'
After a brief pause, Aslan asked a question in a rough voice as if he were holding a handful of sand in his mouth.
"Then what on earth am I for..."
"..."
"Have I been blaming you all this time?"
He looked despondent. No, that one word alone won't be able to explain all of these feelings. The anger that felt like it would swallow up his whole life and burn it, and the emotion that he thought would end up being nothing but ashes, quickly became an illusion. So even this moment seemed like a lie to him.
But Hestia, who was quietly staring at Aslan, opened her eyes cautiously.
"Aslan, the anger you feel is justified."
Ha... A sharp sneer twisted his lips.
"Are you kidding me?"
Aslan approached as if threatening and narrowed the distance, looking down at Hestia with burning eyes.
"Then you are..."
"..."
"Why did you endure my insults?"
A New Series, The Male Lead's Nephew Like Me So Much was out!You can check it here!
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