Side Story 18: Debutante (I)
“Uh…”
“Hmm…”
Looking at the closed door, Esther and Noah shrugged at the same time.
“Let’s eat some fruits. After all, it’s here.”
“Yes. It looks delicious.”
As Noah, with a cheerful smile, picked up a piece of crunchy apple and took a bite…
“How do I look?”
Judy popped in, showing off his new helmet and armor.
“This book is really great. Is the next one also in the imperial library?”
Dennis also burst in, interrupting.
It seemed that Esther and Noah were not allowed to be in the room with the door closed.
“Shall we go?”
Before long, Noah, who had dark shadows under his eyes, whispered to Esther.
“That would be nice.”
The men of Tersia were still wary, so the new couple couldn’t have a comfortable conversation inside the house.
After agreeing with Noah’s idea, Esther eagerly ran to the door with bright eyes.
When the door suddenly opened, Deheen and the twins, who had missed the opportunity to escape, froze, and hastily put on a nonchalant expression.
“Judy. I told you not to disturb the two of them.”
“What? Father was here first… eup!”
“Esther, don’t worry. I will take Father away with me.”
“I am just passing through! I will pass…”
Deheen, Dennis and Judy disappeared in an instant, making ridiculous excuses.
“I knew it would be like this.”
After mumbling something like, ‘No wonder my ears were itching’, Esther shouted loudly.
“I’m leaving!”
Deheen and the twins stood still in shock at Esther’s declaration, and looked back stiffly.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going on a date.”
The blood drained from Deheen’s face at the very determined reply.
Immediately, Deheen regretted his decision to allow Noah and Esther to date.
★★★
After changing into a lavender dress, Esther got into the carriage with Noah.
She could see Deheen and the twins staring out of the window, but she drew the curtains right away.
“Is this okay?”
“At times like this, we have to go out strong. If we don’t, we’re just allowed to talk, and they’ll try to interfere with everything we do together.”
“I see.”
Esther was firm. The permission Noah had obtained with difficulty must be properly acknowledged.
Though… she still couldn’t believe that she told her dad and brothers she was going on a real date.
“I really didn’t know they would let us go alone.”
“I know. We should have gotten permission sooner.”
Esther laughed out loud when she met Noah’s eyes. Then, feeling her cheeks warm, she shifted her gaze to the side.
Even though they were just inside the carriage, her heart skipped a beat. The fact that their relationship was recognized made her so happy and excited.
“Just a moment, where did you ask the coachman to go?”
“You will know when we reach.”
Noah only informed the coachman of the destination. He did not tell Esther.
Esther was very curious about where they were going, but she decided to put up with it since Noah said they would be there soon.
And while she was gazing out of the window, she felt the road looked familiar, and old memories came to mind.
“Ah! I know where we are going!”
Excitement was evident in her high-pitched voice.
“It’s been quite a while. Do you still remember?”
“Of course. How can I forget? It’s a place that means a lot to us.”
Esther looked at the corner of the road where the carriage had stopped with somewhat fond eyes.
“Let’s go. Hold my hand.”
“Thank you.”
After receiving Noah’s escort and getting off the carriage, as expected, the entrance to the sanctuary appeared.
To a stranger, the entrance would only look like the start of a dense forest, as there was dense grass taller than the height of an adult.
However, Esther and Noah knew the way well. So they smiled and went through the grass without hesitation.
“Nothing has changed here.”
“That must be the power of the sanctuary, right?”
Noah went ahead and cut the grass with his sword. Esther followed, holding Noah by the hem of his garment.
Moments later, the two crossed the border into the sanctuary.
The clear view and clean air instantly rejuvenated them.
“Wow, the house is still there.”
“I’ve hired someone to manage it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. In the past, sanctuary was at risk of being abused. Which was why it was incorporated into the imperial territory.”
Seeing how the place was the same as six years ago, memories from the past came flooding back.
Esther and Noah went into the house and found a hidden door.
The secret place Noah told Esther about.
When they opened the door and went out, colorful flowers greeted them.
As it was a sanctuary unaffected by the seasons, the most fragrant scent was flowing from the flowers in full bloom.
Birds, still not afraid of people, flew around them.
“It’s warm. It feels like coming home.”
Esther reached out and allowed the bird to perch, closing her eyes slightly.
In the past, she thought the sanctuary simply had a strange, unknown feeling of nostalgia, but now that she concentrated, she could feel the aura of Espitos strongly.
“Noah, wait.”
“Come see. I’ve laid this down.”
The dazed Esther let go of the hem of Noah’s clothes that she was holding on to and walked through the flower fields as if bewitched.
In the meantime, Noah was looking for a good spot for a picnic mat borrowed from the grand ducal house.
“It’s this flower.”
Among the many flowers, there was a flower that gave off the aura of Espitos especially well.
Its presence was so obvious that Esther recognized it even when she closed her eyes.
“What is this?”
With a tilt of her head, Esther crouched down, staring at the flower that was about knee high.
“I didn’t see this when I came before. A flower that is only a few years old radiates such intense divine power?”
Esther heard many stories of flowers that have spent a long time in an uninhabited sanctuary turning into medicinal herbs.
But this flower had a much more special aura than that.
‘What is its alternate identity?’
Feeling no danger, Esther slowly reached out and caressed the petals.
That moment…
With the feeling that her mind was being sucked into somewhere, she saw a familiar figure in front of her.
“Espitos? How did this…”
Unable to properly follow through with her words, the bewildered Esther called out to her.
“You must have found a flower.”
Espitos, who was managing the orbs that emitted different lights, looked back at Esther with loving eyes.
“Did you know I was coming? You’re not surprised.”
“If you live in an unimaginable time, even if you want to be surprised, you will not be surprised at most things.”
The gaze of Espitos looking at Esther was benevolent and warm.
“…Long time no see.”
“It’s like an instant to me.”
“There is something I really wanted to ask. When I signed the contract, you said that my divine power would pretty much disappear. But I still have more than a high priest level. Did you leave it on purpose?”
“That’s because your strength far exceeded my expectations. Even after using enough power to create a barrier, there is still power left.”
“So that’s why.”
Esther, who had barely solved a long-standing question, laughed pointlessly.
“There is another one. You said that divine power would be passed on to my descendants. No matter how many times I think about it… Please get rid of it.”
“But it’s a huge blessing? How much the Brions family loved gaining strength every three generations.”
“It sounds like a curse to me, not a blessing. My children have to be confined to it.”
“I’m sorry that you view this strength as confinement. You will be locked in your duties, but you can enjoy everything else instead.”
“What if I don’t give birth to a girl? What if the descendants are cut off? There are too many loopholes.”
“There will be no such thing.”
Espitos smiled meaningfully and glanced at the flower.
During their short conversation, petals fell one by one, withering rapidly.
Feeling that she was running out of time, Esther stomped her feet.
“Why don’t you answer my prayers after that day? We can talk through prayer.”
“It’s better to not intervene in a peaceful world. Watching you is enough.”
Every time she went to the central temple, she prayed to the Espitos, but never once did an answer come down.
“Still…”
“I am glad to hear your voice. It’s always the first thing I hear.”
Actually, Esther didn’t know why she was upset, but her heart was relieved just by confirming that Espitos was listening to her voice.
“The flower is a seed of celebration that I planted for the two of you. Since you found it so quickly, consider it a wedding gift in advance.”
“What…? Marriage…!”
‘We’ve just decided to date, and it’s our first date, but you’re talking about marriage!’
Esther, whose entire face instantly turned red, waved her hand, saying that it was absolutely not like that.
However, the goddess who needed to hear the answer had already disappeared.
“Where…?”
Only the cry of Esther, who had returned to reality, remained in the air. And instead of Espitos, Noah was the one who heard what she said, and he blushed.
“Did you just say we’re getting married? You’re already thinking about that?”
“What. It’s not like that.”
Esther glared at Noah, telling him not to think strangely, and looked around.
“What was that…?”
It was so fleeting that Esther wondered if it was just an illusion.
However, all the senses were too vivid to simply dismiss it as a dream.
“What’s the matter? What’s going on?”
Feeling something amiss with Esther, Noah put down the things he was carrying and moved to her side.
Instantly…
The flower, which had lost its petals and withered, completely crumbled and turned into a bright golden powder.
Mysteriously, the powder only wrapped around the two people in the sanctuary, Esther and Noah.
“What is this?”
“It’s a celebration gift.”
Esther smiled as she answered in the words of Espitos.
“What celebration?”
Esther, who could not bear to say ‘marriage celebration’, pretended not to know.
“I don’t know either. But isn’t it pretty good to receive congratulations from the goddess?”
“…Esther, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Same here.”
The powder that had been hovering around the two of them gradually faded and disappeared.
“Do you think something has changed?”
“Not at all.”
Esther tried to put strength into my hand, but it didn’t seem her physical strength increased, neither did her divine power get stronger either.
Unsure of what the gift was, the two stopped trying to understand and sat down on the picnic mat.
“It’s the same here, but we’ve changed a lot.”
“That’s right. Our relationship has also changed.”
Noah smiled mischievously and held Esther’s hand tightly.
Esther didn’t shake off that hand. Instead, she stared straight into Noah’s eyes.
“Noah, when do you think we first met?”
“The first time I met you was when you came to draw a picture of me.”
Noah confidently replied, as if asking why she was asking something obvious.
Ame: if Esther and Noah are already married, I would’ve thought the meeting with Espitos is a conception dream xD
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