EIITAB - Chapter 126 < Even If You Don't Protect It >
Even if it is Trampled and Broken
A face that frowns several times.
Hestia realized that Aslan was trying hard to understand what she meant. But it seems that the effort ultimately failed.
Aslan loosened his clenched lips and asked a question to Hestia.
"Explain. What does that mean? Does this mean that your God allowed you to be harmed?"
From the shape of his shoulders, which had stiffened with a lot of strength, Hestia could tell that Aslan was nervous. There was a clear look on his face that he wanted to spit out a swear word right away.
While Hestia was choosing her words, he could not overcome his impatience and asked again.
"Did God force someone to be poisoned in order to meet him? Is that correct?"
Actually, he already figured it out. He just doesn't want to believe it, so he's just asking her heart if she wants to deny it.
He truly did not want to believe that Hestia was in danger. He himself, the people from the capital, and the northerners all persecuted Hestia.
'That alone would have been overwhelming.'
But why does even this guy called God do that? What god...... Is it like this?
For a long time, Aslan realized that Hestia had no one to rely on and attached her heart to, and he felt nothing but misery.
'To that woman, I....'
He swallowed. Hestia's situation was depicted before his eyes again. He could barely hold on to the rope he was trying to cut with his vicious slashing. It wouldn't be surprising if he was cut off at any time, he would have been hanging on with all his might on that one line.
And he turned his eyes away from her miserable state. Aslan, whose disgust for himself deepened, waited eagerly for her answer. Eventually, Hestia's lips opened.
"...... That's right. That was El Rafa's arrangement."
At Hestia's affirmation, Aslan's face distorted. It was as if someone was grabbing his collar and suffocating him.
After a while, Aslan let out a long, rough breath. He looked extremely shocked, and a sharp smile immediately appeared on his lips.
"I am...... I can not understand. Why on earth do you think that is God's will?"
Damn it. He let out a low curse between his teeth. After washing his face several times with hiz rough hands, he looked at Hestia with an even more tired face.
When Hestia saw his reddish eyes, she felt her heart tingle for some reason.
"El Rafa had a hard time walking in this world."
He betrayed the laws of the world and revived Hestia from the dead once. Because of that, he was unable to utilize his original power properly.
"And since he has no choice but to use that method. I also understood after hearing that story."
Hestia still didn't look good.
"It's okay, Aslan. I don't mind. I also understand God's will. And there are more important things than my condition right now."
She tried to end my story like this. This was because she felt that telling the story of the tragedy that would befall Aslan again was a priority. However, Aslan put a stop to Hestia's actions.
"No, Hestia, it is not so."
Hestia, who was about to open her mouth again at his soft voice, closed her lips. Aslan caressed her cheek and spoke in a slightly miserable voice.
"That's what's important."
"Aslan?"
"You're not sick. Smiling and life. That is the most important."
He brought his eyebrows together and forcibly pulled up the corners of Aslan's golden eyes looking at her seemed like those of someone crying, and was momentarily speechless.
On the other hand, she was also curious. Why is Aslan so uninterested in the second wave that will come to Kalati?
When Hestia's mind was dizzy with questions, a voice came from Aslan.
"Why......."
He took a deep breath and a strained voice as if he was squeezing.
"You didn't tell me?"
Hestia looked at him with puzzled eyes. Aslan not bear to meet her gaze and lowered his head. Suddenly, the neck rose and fell with a large motion, as if he was again.
"I heard everything from the high Priest while you were down."
"......!"
Aslan stood up from the bed after looking at Hestia's trembling hands for a moment, unable to say anything. Then, without any warning, he knelt down on the floor.
Hestia's eyes, surprised by his sudden action, widened like a rabbit.
"Aslan....!"
Aslan continued speaking with a miserable and gloomy expression. His insides felt like they were about to explode, but he kept repeating the same words over and over again, like an idiot.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
He repeatedly curled his lips and bit and released them, as if he could not bear to leave his mouth.
"You...... You're going to die."
He closed his eyes tightly and stopped breathing for a moment.
"What should I do?"
A voice as rough as his face came out. He raised his head and gazed at Hestia, who was looking down at him. There was no immediate answer to the question, perhaps because her mind was just as confused as his.
For Hestia, Aslan added an explanation.
"I mean an oath."
"Ah........"
"If I do that, it will save you, right?"
Aslan's voice was very dry and tired. Leaning on hjs own dawn meant that if he died, Hestia would also die. In fact, if there was another way, he would rather have done it. As long as he was the lord of Kalathi, and as long as winter did not disappear from this land, death was closer to Aslan than anyone else.
No matter how hard he tries to avoid death, it is an undeniable fact that he is more dangerous than others. Despite his feelings, the reason he had no choice but to cling to his oath was because it was the only way to save Hestia whom he knew now.
'Time is running out now to find something different.'
Aslan gritted his teeth. He was alive, and if Hestia could survive, he would come back alive again and again, even if he was pushed into the firing line countless times. He had the confidence to do so.
He stared at Hestia with a solemn face, having made up his mind.
"...... Aslan."
Hestia could guess how much Aslan had suffered while she was losing her mind to meet El Rafa. Her slender fingers grasped the hem of the blanket as if pulling it.
She was at a loss as to what response she should give him. She wanted Aslan to be as unscathed as possible, but she had no idea how to make that happen.
"The high priest says that can't be done here. So, I think they'll take you back to the capital."
At that moment, Hestia's frown narrowed.
"A capital city?"
"There are no more Gods left in Kalathi territory, so there's nothing we can do, right? Where on earth are you going to go in this situation?"
"Aslan, calm down and listen to me."
After Hestia caught her breath briefly, she continued her words a little hastily.
"Did you even listen to what I said? I said the second wave would come soon."
"I heard correctly. But I can prepare for that even if I'm not there. If it's the general's ability, they'll be able to withstand it somehow."
Aslan said that because he truly thought so. His generals had already experienced the first Wave. Aslan was rather a hostage in the royal palace in the capital at that time, so he was not able to be with him from the beginning. So, he had no doubt that the three of him, Dean, Martin, and Wharton, would be able to protect the Kalathi estate even if he was away.
However, Hestia's problem was different from the beginning. The time given to her was decreasing day by day. What if she dies?
It was something he didn't even want to imagine. Aslan even had a vision where it seemed as if a pitch-black abyss was swallowing him up. He gritted his teeth and tightened his fists.
Hestia's small hand landed on the back of his hand as if covering it.
"Aslan, you must protect the people of Kalathi."
At the sound of her calm voice, Aslan felt something hot surge inside him. Why is this woman, even though it is her life... Isn't she trying to hold on more desperately than he is?
Aslan wanted to get angry right away when he pointed that out, but he held back. He was too shameless for that. Aslan felt as if a large rock was blocking his throat.
"But I can't protect you like that."
Barely, he wheezed and answered. It was a very quiet sound, but since there were only two people in the room to begin with and the distance between them was very close, it was easy for Hestia to hear it.
Aslan pursed his lips, but Hestia said nothing for a while. After a moment of being lost in her thoughts, she finally gave him her answer.
"It's okay. Even if you don't keep it."
There was no trace of resentment or disappointment in her soft and gentle voice. On the contrary, he even thought that she was smiling.
"....... Hestia."
Hestia seemed to have sensed that he was trying to persuade him and cut Aslan off mid-sentence when she called her name.
"Aslan. We must restore the lost spring of the Duchy of Kalathi."
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