III.. Peleus
St. Augustine's Continental Festival Night.
The front of the central shrine was brightly lit with torches and lanterns.
Breathing in the air intertwined with the heat of the festival and the sweet aroma of wine, Peleus swept the square.
At the center of that lively landscape was Medea.
"Saintess, me too! Please give me something pretty too!"
Chick-like children flocked to Medea's side.
Dressed in a cream-colored dress, Medea made eye contact with the child and put a wreath on her head with a kind hand.
"Don't move. Well, now it's done."
"Wow, thank you!"
The excited child ran to her mother's arms with the wreath pressed tightly to her head. The mother bowed deeply and thanked Medea.
And the edge of a peaceful landscape.
"Cesare."
Peleus approached the man who was guarding his wife like a fortress.
Emperor Katzen's gaze was only on the saint.
"Brother."
After checking Peleus, Cesare's energy softened a little.
Black hair, a sleek physique, and a black robe that reaches down to the knees.
The sharpness he exuded was still sharp, and he was closer to a general on the front line than an Emperor.
The priests around him couldn't help but look at Katzen's Emperor's eyes.
Although it was the day of the Continental Festival, when everyone was free, regardless of status, he did not let his guard.
Those who took advantage of the generosity of the beautiful Saintess to peek at opportunities were never lost in the affairs of the world.
Cesare's lips drew a line of stiffness.
'If it were me, I wouldn't have reached out softly from the beginning like Dea.'
But Medea wanted to do so, so he had no other answer but to follow it.
He just hopes that the dense guards hidden throughout the Facade and square will be able to maintain the current peace until the end.
"The Templars and the Agemas are keeping an eye on them. The festival will start soon."
Then Peleus said.
"Dea has been stubborn since she was a child. She couldn't back down from what she set out to do. You have a lot of trouble."
He added. It was a sympathy that only those who had shared the same concerns knew.
"...No, it is not. But that doesn't stop Medea from doing what she wants to do."
Peleus stared at Cesare as he closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them.
This is not the first time that a laid-back man who has never been afraid of death has become as sharp as a mother bear when it comes to his wife's safety.
That was a little sorry, so Peleus patted his brother-in-law on the shoulder.
Meanwhile, Medea, who had finished greeting the children, approached with light steps.
Is it a joy for flesh and blood? Perhaps because of the heat of the festival, her cheeks were as hot as ripe peaches.
Medea gave her brother a welcoming look and reached out to Cesare.
"Cesare. Would you like to dance with me for the first time?"
Cesare knew that he could never resist the white hand that was held out in front of him.
"...Yes."
Contrary to his expressionless face, a surprisingly gentle answer flew in.
Medea gently brushed the back of his veiny hand with her clasped thumb, and he soon intertwined his hands between her fingers.
Seeing this, Peleus frowned. Then he silently tried to kick Cesare in the leg.
"If you do, I'll excuse you for the first dance."
However, Cesare nimbly dodged and headed to the floor with Medea in his arms.
Just as on the night of the continental festival, the protection of Saint Augustine, who blesses the lover of the century, can never be deprived.
"Peleus. How about a song after a long time?"
After the first dance, Medea reached out to her brother.
Just as Peleus was about to reach out happily.
"-No! - Come with me! It's Bea's!"
A small cotton ball rushed like lightning and grabbed the hem of Medea's skirt.
As if she would never take away her mother, her bulging cheeks were swollen.
"Bea, then I think your uncle will be sad?"
Despite Medea's troubled laughter, the child was resolute.
"No! Bea has been waiting for it! Uncle. Please, please!"
Bea swung her short arm and pushed Peleus in the knee.
It seems that when Medea put a wreath on the children's heads earlier, she couldn't hold back what she wanted to do with them.
"I'm sorry. Peleus. I'll be back soon."
Medea lowered her eyebrows and held the child's hand. Peleus's straight hand stopped in the air.
"Now, Bea, how shall we dance?"
"Like this. Victory!"
Bea waved her arms wildly, and the hem of her dainty dress swayed.
Medea began to waltz to her daughter's wacky rhythm.
"Uncle, thank you for letting me have it!"
Bea chattered as Peleus approached while circling the floor.
"...Yes."
The leader of Valdina, who commanded the Agemas Legion, looked as if he had received a retreat order due to the firm refusal of his niece, who was only five years old.
"Oh, Your Majesty, you are a step too late."
D'Angel stifled a laugh beside him after seeing the lord's blank face.
It was clear that pleasing a niece was a hundred times more difficult than wielding a sword on the battlefield.
"Still, it looks good."
Peleus muttered softly as he watched the mother and daughter walk away.
There was a time when the blood-soaked battlefield was the only reality, and people yearned only for survival on the barren land.
If it weren't for Medea, Cesare, and that child, would I have ever imagined such trivial and ordinary happiness?
"Someday, you will have no choice but to leave my side, but I hope that moment isn't too soon."
Suddenly, he recalled the memory of dancing his first dance with his sister at the Continental Festival held during the proclamation ceremony of the Valdina Empire.
The time when they were each other's only family and pillar of support.
However, now he was not the only one to protect Medea's side.
Fences were created that made his sister laugh and protected her, stronger than anything else.
That fact made him feel deeply lonely, yet also terribly relieved.
Peleus quietly took a step back amidst this contradictory emotion that he himself could not define.
"Your Majesty?"
D'Angel approached with a puzzled look.
"Wait, I need to get some fresh air. You stay here."
Peleus simply watched without disturbing the moment Medea's world shone brilliantly.
Eventually, he turned around.
Into the darkness where the commotion of the festival does not reach.
The next day, the corridor of the central temple.
The priests were busy clearing away the debris of the festival.
Peleus leaned against the terrace railing.
Just then, along with brisk footsteps from afar, a cute shout was heard.
"Follow me!"
Bea, now five years old, was a tomboy.
She draped a priest's robe longer than her body like a cloak, having acquired it from somewhere, and raised a wooden stick high.
"Defeat the corrupt who suck the lifeblood out of the people!"
As it happened, the words were all difficult, so her pronunciation was more messed up than usual.
"Go ahead and try! Defeat them!"
Behind Bea, a group of small priestesses of similar stature was following her in a line, chanting with very serious faces.
"Oh my, Princess Bea!"
The mid-level priestess clearing the debris flinched at the sudden appearance of the children and almost dropped the tray she was holding.
As the dishes rattled and swayed precariously, Bea, who was leading the way, stopped her steps solemnly.
"You have to be careful! It hurts if you get hurt!"
"Yes...Yes?”
As the flustered maid widened her eyes, Bea tapped the wooden sword hanging from her waist and added with feigned sternness.
"The Bea Unit can't get sick. Be careful, be careful!"
"Wow! Captain Bea is the best!"
Medea clutched her forehead as she looked down at the scene.
“I’ll come back.”
Cesare kissed her forehead familiarly and quickly went down the stairs.
He found his daughter among the young priests and lifted her up as if pulling a radish.
Medea didn't know what was said next, but he successfully disbanded the group of little priests with grim expressions.
Then, when he placed the boutonniere presented to Emperor Katzen's in the hand of his sullen daughter, Bea immediately plucked the flower petals one by one and handed them to the priests.
The little priests looked deeply moved, as if they were receiving an award.
"Haa, she's becoming more and more like his dad."
Looking down at the sight, Medea spat it out.
"..."
"Peleus, why are you laughing?"
"Dea, you weren't much different either."
Peleus raised the corners of his mouth.
"You were no pushover, either. There was even a time when the whole palace was turned upside down because you disappeared looking for your mother's wedding ring hidden in a stone statue."
Medea glared slightly at her brother's playful reply.
"What are you talking about? I've always been mature."
"If my memory isn't mistaken, my ceremonial robes you stole, dragged on the ground much longer than the priestly robes that Bea is wearing."
"That was when I was very young, when ignorance and innocence could be excuses."
At the end of their finally intertwined gazes, Medea's playful smile slowly opened.
"Peleus."
A deep shadow fell over Medea's green eyes, now devoid of playfulness.
"You know that the power descending from Shadeia's priestess could be transferred to Bea."
Previous Next
Comments
Post a Comment