EIITAB - Chapter 98 < Still Welcome >
Even if it is Trampled and Broken
But Hestia actually strengthened her body.
"I don't want to do that."
Hestia heard a sound of laughter coming from a head higher than the top of her head.
'Why are you smiling?'
She did not understand Aslan actions and was about to look up when someone shouted loudly.
"Here they come in!"
Hestia's eyes simply turned straight ahead again. Soon she could see it too. Anette stood at the front of the delegation and pilgrimage group.
The Duchy of Kalathi was a pure white world completely covered in snow, so Anette's presence felt especially prominent. Anette's red hair blowing in the wind caught Hestia's eyes painfully. She was entering Kalathi Castle with the majesty of a triumphant general.
'....Ah.'
Hestia swallowed her saliva again. That's because, on the road Anette passed, she noticed that green grass was spread like a carpet. Her appearance was enough to explain why she was called by her nickname, the Saint of Spring.
Hestia's pursed lips gained even more strength. Anette was good at handling her powers. It is rare for Hestia's divine power to flow out unintentionally and manifest itself like that. So this is...
'You're asking me to look?'
Hestia thought, not taking her eyes off Anette.
' What is the intention?'
Maybe ridicule, maybe show off.
The fact that Anette showed her power where spring was most desperately needed meant that she would prevent Hestia from consolidating her position here. And what Hestia herself felt, she couldn't help but notice.
"Tsk."
The sound of him clicking his tongue was heard from Aslan's direction. Hestia, wondering if she had heard correctly, looked towards him and saw him frowning. It was clear that Aslan was also appalled by Anette acting like that.
"It looks like she's planning on getting in trouble for some trick. Doing useless things."
When he complained in a low voice, Hestia, who was listening to him right next to him, started laughing without even realizing it.
"Ups."
She quickly covered her lips with her hand. Aslan raised one eyebrow. His head was still facing forward, but his eyes slightly turned to look at Hestia.
"Why are you laughing?"
Hestia, who wiped away her laughter with a few small coughs, answered in a similar whisper.
"This is the first time I've seen someone describe divine power as catching."
"Is there anything wrong with what I said?"
He continued, pointing behind Anette with his eyes.
"How does letting a few blades of grass grow, which will soon freeze, be of any help to this place right now?"
"It doesn't help at all."
Hestia nodded her head with a seemingly invisible movement and readily agreed to Aslan's words. She too had the same thought. If you think a little deeper, you can quickly get to the essence. That's just Anette's personal power! The grass was forced to grow just for show, so it was of no help to Kalathi.
As Aslan pointed out, the plants that Anette had bloomed soon withered or froze.
'It's just a temporary blinder.'
What the Kingdom of Ellsworth truly needs is spring. Warmth that drives away winter and leads to summer. All the ice and snow accumulated in the territory that occupies half of the Kingdom of Ellsworth must be melted to reveal the land.
If Anette truly could have done it, she would have done it a long time ago. She can be revered as the Saintess who drove away winter. If she could have done it and she didn't, it would have been deceiving the King and the people. But she never gave a definite answer, and she just left it like she was biding her time.
'Are you saying that time is now?'
Hestia quickly recalled her memories. In her last life, Anette said she was going on her pilgrimage the day Hestia married Stephen Ceretto. So Stefan followed Anette without showing up to the chapel, talking nonsense about him realizing his mission.
'But that won't happen until a few months later.'
The timing wasn't right now. Then, did Anette get her spring back?
Because it happened after her death, Hestia couldn't know. She sighed, feeling frustrated for the first time. Once again, all consciousness turned to the red-haired Saintess, Anette.
'Originally, this was something that would be done in a few months, so why on earth is she trying to do it now?'
Hestia was able to quickly get her answer to that question without having to think much about it.
'She came to see me too.'
Looking back, Anette was always like this. Because of Hestia's discomfort, she came to visit even though Hestia had to avoid the place. She constantly hovered around Hestua and watched her. Hestia felt that now she must properly face the reason.
'You can't pass it on anymore.'
Then she also had a fundamental question.
'Can Anette really drive away winter?'
Hestia's eyes fell on the grass behind Anette like a shadow. Is it because it's far away? Hestia couldn't feel Anette's vitality.
Maybe that's why Hestia couldn't believe that Anette would bring her spring.
'I can't tell her because the moment I say those words out of my mouth, she will point at me and say I'm jealous of her.'
While Hestia was recalling Anette's past actions in her mind, the commotion around her grew. This was because the people who had been confused at first saw the green light growing around Anette more clearly as the distance got closer.
"Hey, look over there. Isn't that grass?"
"Oh my God! That's right, that's right!"
The commotion spread like a wave over the green waves that they had not seen in a long time.
"Can all Saintesses do things like that?"
"Then is it possible for the person who married our Duke this time?"
"If she had known how to do something like that, would she have made such an oracle six years ago? it must have put the Great War to rest right away, isn't it?"
"Yes."
As the rumbling grew louder, Anette also came closer to Hestia. Finally, her horse stopped walking, and Anette was helped out of her saddle.
"Wow, my whole body is throbbing even though I only rode it for a short time."
As always, Anette grumbled cheerfully. She behaved as if she had just returned from a drink. Anette quickly adjusted her appearance and then came straight in front of Hestia.
The two women's eyes met for a moment in the air. Anette grabbed Hestia's hands without asking for her permission.
"It's been a long time, Hestia."
There was a subtle pressure in her trapped hand.
"Not enough time has passed for us to exchange greetings like this."
Hestia responded with a smile on her face, naturally removing her hand from Anette's hold. The moment Anette opened her mouth to say something more, Hestia gently turned her body towards Aslan.
"This is my husband, Duke Aslan Kalathi."
She naturally interrupted Anette and took control of the conversation. In fact, it was proper etiquette to greet the owner of the land you were visiting first, so no one, including Anette, could catch Hestia's actions. Aslan was on her back. He first opened his mouth without shaking hands or even lowering his head.
"They said you were coming without any contact, so I was quite surprised when I heard about it."
Although he spoke politely, their cold demeanor clearly showed that he was annoying both the delegation and the pilgrimage group.
"One of the purposes of my visit to the Duchy of Kalathi was to surprise you two, and it seems I was successful."
But Anette used her wit to brush aside Aslan's harsh words. Then, laughter erupted from the delegation and pilgrimage group that came with Anette. From their lighthearted attitude, it was clearly revealed that they did not consider their reckless behavior as rude.
As a result, Aslan's face wrinkled slightly. He quickly grabbed hold of the string of reason that was almost broken and spoke in a stern voice.
"You can use the separate building as your lodging until the day you pass away. I heard from Howson, who arrived first, and I prepared it in a hurry, so there will be a lot of shortcomings, so please understand that."
To interpret this in other words, it means that they are the ones who pushed ahead without giving Kalathi time to prepare, so they should endure any inconveniences. It was a very overbearing aristocratic way of speaking, but it suited Aslan well when he said it.
Although she must have understood everything he meant, Anette did not feel offended or discouraged, but instead smiled brightly.
"Thank you for your consideration."
As the laughter grew deeper, Hestia felt a sense of discomfort somehow. Just like that, the blue eyes passed from Aslan to Hestia.
"Really, truly... Nice to see you again, Hestia. You don't know how heartbroken I am to be separated from you like that in the capital."
She narrowed the distance between her and hugged Hestia. Hestia was embarrassed because their relationship was not close enough for them to do something like this without hesitation.
"Anette, what are you doing...."
Hestia muttered under her breath in displeasure and tried to push her back, but failed. It was because her powers were so different. Anette hugged Hestia and whispered in her ear.
"Hestia, I didn't expect to see you here, but...... Still, you are welcome."
Perhaps because her lips were so close to her ear, Hestia could vividly hear Anette taking a short breath.
'You're not asking me to welcome you, but you're doing it?'
Anette's weirdness didn't stop there. Hestia heard her mutter in a lower voice than before.
"You're in the middle of winter."
Her brows narrowed and her eyes narrowed. Hestia could not understand the completely contradictory words that could not come out of Anette's mouth.
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