"Secret?"
“Yes. It’s the story of my life.”
So, Lamia knelt down and began to tell her story, something she had never told before.
And her story amazed me from the very beginning.
“My original name is Lamia Yeblak. I am a descendant of the Yeblak family of the now-defunct Kingdom of Stony.”
"What?"
Stony was a small kingdom in the southeastern part of the continent that was destroyed by Arrental long ago.
The House of Yeblak is the royal house of the Kingdom of Stony.
Lamia was so serious that I couldn't dismiss her words as a joke.
“Are you a descendant of royalty?”
“It doesn’t mean anything right now.”
"Why is it meaningless? Isn't the current owner of the Magic Tower from the Yeblak family?"
The tower was built on the site of the old Kingdom of Stony.
Among the people of the Kingdom of Stony, there are many who are born with strong magical powers, and it has been said since ancient times that most great magicians are born in the Kingdom of Stony.
Even after losing their country, the people of the Kingdom of Stony did not disperse, but built a tower there to continue the legacy of the Kingdom of Stony.
"Well, I've heard that, but I don't know much about the family. The kingdom fell long before my parents were even born."
“That’s true, but...”
"I was born just as the Yeblak family was on the verge of collapse, and I was sold into a political marriage at an early age. I left my family when I was eight."
It was surprising that Lamia was from the Yeblak royal family, but it was even more surprising that she was married off for political reasons at the age of eight.
“How can someone so young get married? Isn’t early marriage illegal?”
"That's the law established by the Arrental Imperial Family. There are many places in Arrental beyond the reach of the Imperial Family. It's an empire with such vast territory."
Indeed, even though Ronheim was subjugated to Arrental, it still had its own culture and lived according to its own order.
Lamia continued speaking.
"I was abused by my stepmother until I was eight, and after I married, I was abused by my in-laws and then my husband. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I ran away from my husband when I was sixteen."
I was speechless and just stared blankly at Lamia's head.
It wasn't just my life that was strange.
Lamia's life was just as difficult as mine.
"I ran away and barely managed to get a job as a maid at a farmhouse. One day, while I was helping a sow give birth, I accidentally killed a piglet. I was kicked out and became a wanderer."
“...”
"A man approached me while I was begging. He was incredibly kind. I trusted him and followed him, starting my life as a gypsy."
“...”
"The once kind man suddenly changed when he got drunk. He started swinging his fists at every opportunity. I had to run away again."
“...”
"I wandered among the gypsies, moving from one group to another. I slept on the street, ate abandoned food, and enjoyed the freedom of the men I met."
It wasn't a lie that she had multiple husbands and lovers.
"There was someone among them I truly loved. He was different from the others. We decided to give up our gypsy life and settle down. But the happiness that finally arrived didn't last long."
“Why?”
"One day, I was falsely accused of being a thief by a merchant and thrown in jail. Watching me being dragged away, he shouted, 'Trust me, everything will be alright, I'll be saved.' I believed he, the man I loved, would save me. But..."
Lamia's expression distorted.
“He had a heart and a yearning for me, but he didn’t have the power to save me.”
She clutched the hem of her skirt as if she were resentful.
The hem of her skirt crumpled limply in her tightly clenched fist.
"That's when I realized. I was the only one who could protect myself. No one would protect me, and no one could."
Suddenly, I remembered what happened yesterday.
What Lamia said when she ran away and was caught by Granada at the banquet hall.
"I believed in you, Madam, but I didn't believe what was going to happen to you and me. My life was my own. I couldn't leave it in the hands of others."
She did that because of these circumstances.
She believed in my desire to help her, but she didn't believe I had the power to save her.
"I ran desperately. That was the first time I used magic. No one taught me how to do it; it just happened instinctively. After running away like that, I became a loner again, wandering the country."
“...”
"Then, a gypsy friend I met recently sold me to Empress Kavala. For some reason, he made me drink a lot that day. I was so drunk I don't remember much, but I saw him hand me over to someone and receive money."
“...”
“I was locked in a box and taken to the Empress’s Palace. The rest of the story is, as you know, Madam.”
I was speechless.
I couldn't say anything to her as she calmly told me her story without crying.
I can't compare someone else's misfortune to mine, but she's lived a life just as difficult as mine.
I just quietly got off the bed and sat down in front of her. Then I took her hand.
Lamia seemed a little surprised that I was kneeling across from her in the same position as her and holding her hand.
Her voice, which had been calm until then, began to tremble slightly.
“The reason I’m telling you this story is...”
She was silent for a while, unable to continue speaking as if her throat was choked up.
I waited quietly for her like that.
A screaming silence flowed between us.
All I could do was sympathize with her.
Lamia, who had been suppressing her emotions for a while, continued her story calmly.
"I felt like you could protect me, Madam. I felt it yesterday. I could trust you with my life."
“Lamia...”
She took her hand out of mine and held it tightly in hers.
"I want to settle down. I don't want to wander anymore. Can you please let me stay here?"
“...!”
"I don't want to leave! Please let me stay by your side! I'll do my best!"
The look in her eyes as she looked at me was earnest.
I hugged her tightly.
"Stay by my side, Lamia. Let's be happy here with me now."
Let us stay rooted in this Ronheim and fight desperately to prevent misfortune from engulfing us any longer.
I was glad that Lamia said she wouldn't leave.
I wanted to hold on to her, who kept insisting on leaving, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.
“Really? Really?”
“Yeah, okay.”
"Thank you!"
Lamia's face, which had been full of tension, relaxed.
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve been thinking all night about telling this story.”
“You must have been in a lot of pain, Lamia.”
“I thought you wouldn’t accept me, Madam...”
“No, it’s not. I’m glad you’re here and I’m not lonely.”
We hugged each other for a while and talked noisily.
After a while, Lamia stared at me intently.
She looked much more relaxed than when she brought up the past.
“But, ma’am.”
"Yes?"
“I’ve been wondering about this for a while now.”
"What?"
“What are those two caterpillars on the snow?”
“Oh!”
I quickly covered my swollen eyelids.
'I forgot!'
In an instant, Lamia's face filled with playfulness.
How can someone who just confessed their past so earnestly change their mood so quickly?
Lamia returned to her normal self completely, pointed at my eyelids, and giggled.
“I thought you were someone else! Haha!”
“Hey, stop laughing!”
Lamia held her stomach and laughed heartily.
Then she gathered up the snow that had piled up on the windowsill, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and held it to my eyes.
I lay down and received a cold compress from Lamia, and asked the same question over and over again.
“Is it that weird?”
And Lamia gave an overly honest answer.
“No. You’re so incredibly beautiful, you’re still pretty. It’s funny, though.”
“What?”
“Stay still! Do you want to wander around like this?”
"Ugh."
Thanks to Lamia's efforts, my puffy eyelids returned to normal around noon.
At that time, I received reports from Mainz, who seemed excited, that the servants who had gone to entrust the Vermis mushrooms to the Szeged merchants and the knights who had disposed of the treasures of Kavala had arrived in Ronheim.
“Give a banquet to the returning guests and thank them for their hard work.”
“Yes, I understand. But, ma’am.”
“What?”
Mainz delivered unexpected news.
"Among those who returned, a guest of yours arrived. He wishes to see you, Madam."
“My guest...?”
“Yes. It’s the story of my life.”
So, Lamia knelt down and began to tell her story, something she had never told before.
And her story amazed me from the very beginning.
“My original name is Lamia Yeblak. I am a descendant of the Yeblak family of the now-defunct Kingdom of Stony.”
"What?"
Stony was a small kingdom in the southeastern part of the continent that was destroyed by Arrental long ago.
The House of Yeblak is the royal house of the Kingdom of Stony.
Lamia was so serious that I couldn't dismiss her words as a joke.
“Are you a descendant of royalty?”
“It doesn’t mean anything right now.”
"Why is it meaningless? Isn't the current owner of the Magic Tower from the Yeblak family?"
The tower was built on the site of the old Kingdom of Stony.
Among the people of the Kingdom of Stony, there are many who are born with strong magical powers, and it has been said since ancient times that most great magicians are born in the Kingdom of Stony.
Even after losing their country, the people of the Kingdom of Stony did not disperse, but built a tower there to continue the legacy of the Kingdom of Stony.
"Well, I've heard that, but I don't know much about the family. The kingdom fell long before my parents were even born."
“That’s true, but...”
"I was born just as the Yeblak family was on the verge of collapse, and I was sold into a political marriage at an early age. I left my family when I was eight."
It was surprising that Lamia was from the Yeblak royal family, but it was even more surprising that she was married off for political reasons at the age of eight.
“How can someone so young get married? Isn’t early marriage illegal?”
"That's the law established by the Arrental Imperial Family. There are many places in Arrental beyond the reach of the Imperial Family. It's an empire with such vast territory."
Indeed, even though Ronheim was subjugated to Arrental, it still had its own culture and lived according to its own order.
Lamia continued speaking.
"I was abused by my stepmother until I was eight, and after I married, I was abused by my in-laws and then my husband. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I ran away from my husband when I was sixteen."
I was speechless and just stared blankly at Lamia's head.
It wasn't just my life that was strange.
Lamia's life was just as difficult as mine.
"I ran away and barely managed to get a job as a maid at a farmhouse. One day, while I was helping a sow give birth, I accidentally killed a piglet. I was kicked out and became a wanderer."
“...”
"A man approached me while I was begging. He was incredibly kind. I trusted him and followed him, starting my life as a gypsy."
“...”
"The once kind man suddenly changed when he got drunk. He started swinging his fists at every opportunity. I had to run away again."
“...”
"I wandered among the gypsies, moving from one group to another. I slept on the street, ate abandoned food, and enjoyed the freedom of the men I met."
It wasn't a lie that she had multiple husbands and lovers.
"There was someone among them I truly loved. He was different from the others. We decided to give up our gypsy life and settle down. But the happiness that finally arrived didn't last long."
“Why?”
"One day, I was falsely accused of being a thief by a merchant and thrown in jail. Watching me being dragged away, he shouted, 'Trust me, everything will be alright, I'll be saved.' I believed he, the man I loved, would save me. But..."
Lamia's expression distorted.
“He had a heart and a yearning for me, but he didn’t have the power to save me.”
She clutched the hem of her skirt as if she were resentful.
The hem of her skirt crumpled limply in her tightly clenched fist.
"That's when I realized. I was the only one who could protect myself. No one would protect me, and no one could."
Suddenly, I remembered what happened yesterday.
What Lamia said when she ran away and was caught by Granada at the banquet hall.
"I believed in you, Madam, but I didn't believe what was going to happen to you and me. My life was my own. I couldn't leave it in the hands of others."
She did that because of these circumstances.
She believed in my desire to help her, but she didn't believe I had the power to save her.
"I ran desperately. That was the first time I used magic. No one taught me how to do it; it just happened instinctively. After running away like that, I became a loner again, wandering the country."
“...”
"Then, a gypsy friend I met recently sold me to Empress Kavala. For some reason, he made me drink a lot that day. I was so drunk I don't remember much, but I saw him hand me over to someone and receive money."
“...”
“I was locked in a box and taken to the Empress’s Palace. The rest of the story is, as you know, Madam.”
I was speechless.
I couldn't say anything to her as she calmly told me her story without crying.
I can't compare someone else's misfortune to mine, but she's lived a life just as difficult as mine.
I just quietly got off the bed and sat down in front of her. Then I took her hand.
Lamia seemed a little surprised that I was kneeling across from her in the same position as her and holding her hand.
Her voice, which had been calm until then, began to tremble slightly.
“The reason I’m telling you this story is...”
She was silent for a while, unable to continue speaking as if her throat was choked up.
I waited quietly for her like that.
A screaming silence flowed between us.
All I could do was sympathize with her.
Lamia, who had been suppressing her emotions for a while, continued her story calmly.
"I felt like you could protect me, Madam. I felt it yesterday. I could trust you with my life."
“Lamia...”
She took her hand out of mine and held it tightly in hers.
"I want to settle down. I don't want to wander anymore. Can you please let me stay here?"
“...!”
"I don't want to leave! Please let me stay by your side! I'll do my best!"
The look in her eyes as she looked at me was earnest.
I hugged her tightly.
"Stay by my side, Lamia. Let's be happy here with me now."
Let us stay rooted in this Ronheim and fight desperately to prevent misfortune from engulfing us any longer.
I was glad that Lamia said she wouldn't leave.
I wanted to hold on to her, who kept insisting on leaving, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.
“Really? Really?”
“Yeah, okay.”
"Thank you!"
Lamia's face, which had been full of tension, relaxed.
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve been thinking all night about telling this story.”
“You must have been in a lot of pain, Lamia.”
“I thought you wouldn’t accept me, Madam...”
“No, it’s not. I’m glad you’re here and I’m not lonely.”
We hugged each other for a while and talked noisily.
After a while, Lamia stared at me intently.
She looked much more relaxed than when she brought up the past.
“But, ma’am.”
"Yes?"
“I’ve been wondering about this for a while now.”
"What?"
“What are those two caterpillars on the snow?”
“Oh!”
I quickly covered my swollen eyelids.
'I forgot!'
In an instant, Lamia's face filled with playfulness.
How can someone who just confessed their past so earnestly change their mood so quickly?
Lamia returned to her normal self completely, pointed at my eyelids, and giggled.
“I thought you were someone else! Haha!”
“Hey, stop laughing!”
Lamia held her stomach and laughed heartily.
Then she gathered up the snow that had piled up on the windowsill, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and held it to my eyes.
I lay down and received a cold compress from Lamia, and asked the same question over and over again.
“Is it that weird?”
And Lamia gave an overly honest answer.
“No. You’re so incredibly beautiful, you’re still pretty. It’s funny, though.”
“What?”
“Stay still! Do you want to wander around like this?”
"Ugh."
Thanks to Lamia's efforts, my puffy eyelids returned to normal around noon.
At that time, I received reports from Mainz, who seemed excited, that the servants who had gone to entrust the Vermis mushrooms to the Szeged merchants and the knights who had disposed of the treasures of Kavala had arrived in Ronheim.
“Give a banquet to the returning guests and thank them for their hard work.”
“Yes, I understand. But, ma’am.”
“What?”
Mainz delivered unexpected news.
"Among those who returned, a guest of yours arrived. He wishes to see you, Madam."
“My guest...?”
Comments
Post a Comment