EIITAB - Chapter 140 < Spring >
Even if it is Trampled and Broken
Many days passed.
The snow that had been falling fiercely, threatening to bury everything, stopped, and most of the frozen ground in the Duchy of Kalathi melted.
Those who came from the capital, led by the High Priest, packed their bags.
Now that he had personally witnessed the miracle of the end of winter, it was time to hasten his long-delayed homecoming.
"Are we really allowed to go like this?"
But the Southerners were hesitant.
Everyone witnessed Hestia returning in Aslan's arms a few days ago.
Hestia's expression, whose clothes were all covered in blood, was extremely calm, contrary to her hideous appearance. It looked as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.
Nevertheless, it was Aslan's face that made their hearts sink.
They couldn't dare explain it in words. The very slightly distorted face broke the hearts of those who saw it.
There was enough blood to soak all of her clothes, but strangely, there were no wounds on Hestia's body.
But she slept quietly for several days without being able to open her eyes.
Spring is coming to this world, but it's as if she's alone in a deep winter sleep.
"The Saintess has not yet opened her eyes, and it is with a heavy heart that I is leaving like this."
"But there's nothing you can do here."
When Dean and Martin responded coldly, the High Priest cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Lord Wharton will show you the way halfway. Then, please return home in peace."
"I...... Then, if you see the Saintess getting better, please contact us."
"All right."
There was no time to delay, so the High Priest gave up his regrets and turned around.
Pilgrims and delegations crossed the drawbridge like that. At the end of their procession, Dulcinea was following in a shabby manner.
She looked back several times with tearful eyes and hoped someone would catch her.
But no one held her back or shed tears of regret.
***
With a polite knock, Dean and Martin entered the Duchess' room.
"Sir, all the southerners have left."
"I understand. Thank you for taking care of it for me."
Aslan silently nodded his head and stroked his face with a dry hand.
He looked very tired.
Before coming in, the two generals were planning to ask Hestia how she was doing and suggested that Aslan take a rest or eat.
However, the moment they saw Aslan's extremely rough face, they seemed speechless and could not get any words out of their mouth.
They realized that the only thing they could do now was to get out of the way.
Dean and Martin bowed their heads in silence and left the room, leaving a brief greeting to Aslan.
Just then, Dr. Vito, who had finished examining Hestia, also stood up.
He said to Aslan, wiping his hands with a towel.
"As I said last time, there is no further treatment. Anything beyond this is beyond my scope. Because the Princess's physical condition is normal. We will continuously increase the medicines that nourish the body, so you just need to pay attention to those and make sure she takes them."
"Whoa...... Okay. You worked hard."
Aslan answered briefly and nodded his head heavily.
Dr. Vito, who caught a glimpse of him, asked vaguely.
"Do you close your eyes?"
"You don't have to worry about me."
"When Princess opens her eyes, will she like the way you look now?"
Aslan's gaze turned to Hestia after being scolded by Dr. Vito. He said with a grin.
"I want to hear that nagging."
With that lonely voice, even Dr. Vito could no longer touch his mouth and he walked away.
When he and Hestia were finally left alone, Aslan sat next to her as always.
He naturally took Hestia's hand. Unlike when she collapsed after eating silphium poison, this time her warmth remained.
Aslan stayed by her side with a relatively calm expression compared to back then.
It was a bit out of character for him, but whenever he was left alone, he would always talk to Hestia.
He was awkward at first, but later he realized that it wasn't a bad idea to be chatty in front of her.
"Hestia. I don't know how to make an oath or something."
When he first brought up the story of the oath, Hestia said he didn't have to. However, Aslan kept telling her that only what he had done to her remained in his mind.
So he began to calmly say his own oath.
"There are just so many things I want to do with you."
Aslan, who was unable to speak for a moment, seemed to have remembered something, rummaged through his pants pocket, and pulled out an item.
It was a pressed flower that Hestia had made as a gift for him a long time ago when he stayed at the royal palace in the capital.
"Remember this? You made it for me."
There was a faint smile on Aslan's lips as he placed it in Hestia's hands again.
"This flower that bloomed beautifully in your palace is now blooming here too."
He thought about breaking it but ended up not doing it.
"So get up quickly. Let's go see it together."
As he said, if he could always go back to that day with a single flower petal, he definitely wanted Hestia to be there at that time.
"This is a completely different place now. You'll be shocked when you see it. Golden fish swim on the lakeside behind the castle, and birds chirp in the morning."
Aslan grabbed Hestia's hand with both hands, kissed her on it, and continued his next words.
"The sound the green leaves make when they press against each other just tickles me for some reason."
The words that came out of Aslan's lips were a letter he had written from his heart and had not sent for a long time.
"Even though I have lived there almost my whole life, I am unfamiliar with this land."
People plowing the fields are humming, and even though the ground is not yet dry, the knights roll over it, not caring that their clothes get wet.
"It's still small, but the buds are sprouting one by one. What grows there? I do not know. Hestia, I think you would know."
With a delicate ribcage that rises and falls slightly, he opens his dry lips, feeling sadness and relief again.
"I will make the land resemble you."
"..."
"I want to live here with you for a very long time."
"...'
"Therefore...."
Hestia's vision became blurred little by little.
"So, please...... Please keep your promise to me."
Before he knew it, his voice was becoming wet, like reddened eyes.
"You said you wouldn't leave me any longer."
In the end, unable to keep his eyes on her any longer, Aslan's head fell below her. His clenched jaw bulged, and the white sheets turned a dark color.
How long had he been sobbing and holding his breath like that?
Hestia's lips gently parted. And between them, a faint but clearly louder breathing sound than before escaped.
At that moment, all of Aslan's movements stopped.
At first, he thought he had heard it wrong.
However, as if he instinctively sensed something, his heart began to beat rapidly.
While he was catching his breath, unable to face Hestia, a small voice sounded above his head.
"..... It warm."
Hestia.
It was Hestia's voice.
Raising his head so quickly that he could hear a sound, he found the face of Hestia, who had opened her eyes for the first time in a very long time, and strongly curled her lower lip and bit her.
Hestia smiled as she looked at Aslan.
"Hello, Asian."
"Hi, Hestia. Did you have a good dream?"
His golden eyes began to tremble pitifully, and his thick neck rose and fell slowly as if he were swallowing his feelings of being insulted.
The two people exchanged a casual conversation as if they were greeting each other after falling asleep last night and waking up this morning.
Hestia nodded at him with a gentle smile while lying down.
"Huh. I dreamed of flowers blooming here. White, yellow, red....... A beautiful dream where countless flowers fill the fields."
Aslan's eyes gradually became round and narrowed. The question was raised to the corner of his mouth, and eventually, a slightly delayed answer flowed from his lips.
"It got warmer. Enough for flowers to bloom."
Hestia's purple eyes widened slightly but soon opened with joy.
"So spring has come?"
"Yes."
'You came to me.'
Even though it was trampled and broken, it persevered and bloomed.
A single flower in a barren land.
Aslan barely swallowed his hot cries and raised the corners of his lips.
He stood up without letting go of Hestia's hand.
With one hand on the bed, he tilted his upper body and offered his hot lips to hers.
Their breath, as warm as the sunlight, made them realize that they were alive.
Aslan lightly placed his forehead against Hestia's and made eye contact with her.
In that state, he opened his mouth.
"You came a long time ago. I was just stupid and didn't know."
From the moment she came next to him.
Yes, maybe that was when spring began for him.
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