Chapter 73
73
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The Grand Duke nodded slightly and left the audience chamber first.
As he headed towards his office, the King spoke from behind him in an anxious voice.
"Not your office. I need a place where there are no listening ears."
But wasn't it the middle of a banquet?
The royal castle was noisy everywhere.
Eventually, the Grand Duke moved his steps outside.
"If Ibiza hearing is alright, shall we go near the Pegasus stable?"
The King concealed the crumpled letter in her bosom and smiled, hiding her nervousness.
"Good."
The Grand Duke was able to steel his heart at the sight of his wife.
No matter what words he heard...
'I won't be surprised or angry.'
Because he knew how hard his little daughter had worked for it over the past two years.
* * *
The Grand Duke arrived at the stable and dismissed the people around.
The following servants quickly moved to arrange chairs and blankets, then slipped away.
"Sit down."
The King and Queen sat facing each other with a small table in front of the wide-open stable.
The vicinity of the Pegasus stable was always restricted to guests in consideration of the sensitive Magical creature, so the surroundings were quiet.
The Grand Duke covered his wife's lap with a blanket and asked.
"Aren't you cold?"
Before answering, the King took out the crumpled letter from her bosom and placed it neatly on the table.
"I'm not cold."
She answered belatedly and took off the blanket that her husband had so kindly covered her with.
The next moment, the King rose from her chair and knelt abruptly on the sandy floor.
"...Theresia!"
The Grand Duke was startled and stood up.
The King suddenly burst into tears as if the composure she had shown until just now had been a lie.
"I, I deceived you. I did so in the name of God, but my heart was torn to pieces every day."
The Grand Duke sighed and knelt down in front of his wife.
"I know you've had a hard time."
"No, you don't know. Even if you don't forgive me... still, I..."
"Theresia."
He called again.
"I cannot blame you for putting God above me. I would have done the same."
The King's eyes wavered.
She was about to reveal a secret she had kept for seven years, a secret so heavy that it seemed to devour her.
But her husband didn't even ask what it was.
'As if he knows everything.'
The Grand Duke sighed again.
"I thought pretending not to know would help you. But I really couldn't not know. I am the father of those children, after all."
Those child'ren?
King Oblin barely asked with trembling lips.
"...You knew?"
"Since Lilin manifested her Divinity. I was very surprised, and at first, I was angry, but later I felt sorry for you. It's too heavy a burden to bear alone, and I'm sorry I couldn't help."
The King burst into tears that she had been holding back.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know that seven years would be so long and arduous. I tried my best to keep the Divination, but I couldn't do anything about you..."
She shed her usual imposing demeanor and sought forgiveness for the past seven years.
For once, she looked small and fragile.
"Deliberately avoiding you, keeping you away from the children..."
Her frightened red eyes were the same as the girl who had decided to bet her early life.
The Grand Duke reached out and hugged her.
"Chelsea is in Nigel. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, even though I knew you were trying to find her whenever you had a chance."
Tears of relief streamed from King Oblin's eyes.
"How, how could you do that? I couldn't even protect my own people and cast them away, but how can you forgive me so easily...? I was afraid you wouldn't forgive me..."
The Grand Duke kissed his wife's wet cheeks and gently stroked her back.
"Have you forgotten? I am here to help you willingly at any time. You've been through a lot, Theresia..."
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."
The tears that she had swallowed alone for so long did not stop easily.
The Grand Duke warmly accepted her wet voice, which repeatedly asked for forgiveness, until the end.
"Do you want to see this now?"
The King, embraced in her husband's arms, reopened the letter from earlier.
The Grand Duke's purple eyes lit up as he read the letter.
"...Theresia, it seems that there will be a reward for the pain that God has caused you."
The King smiled happily even with her eyes swollen from crying so much.
It had been so long since she had laughed so lightly and sincerely that she looked like her younger self again.
The Grand Duke kissed her cheek once more, and then their gazes turned to the letter side by side.
「To Lord O'blin, Sacred King of Ruelle.
Your Highness, an old man whom you may not even know exists conveys his last Divination before death.
Remember this.
Terra has arranged a Seer for the first time in centuries, and it will become the fertilizer of Ruelle.
High Priest of Earth, Damiya Mediol」
King Oblin said in a choked voice.
"It must be Rosa's Divination. Ea has already chosen Lilin, so it can't be Lilin's Divination again."
The Grand Duke smiled back.
"Rosa will be happy. She can't speak, but she's not a baby at seven years old. She'll be discouraged if only her younger sister receives a Divination."
"But if we tell her in advance, won't she wait too long? Moreover, it doesn't mention Rosa's name, so I'm worried about what might happen..."
The Grand Duke thought for a moment and then nodded.
"That's true. So, what do you want to do?"
The couple was on the same side for the first time in a long time, so they were no longer afraid of anything.
In the secluded back of the royal castle, where the cries of the Celestial Steeds could be heard from time to time, gentle voices mingled softly.
* * *
In the evening, my mother came to me with a happy face and said.
"Lilin, shall we have your Holy Power Revelation Ceremony on the upcoming Terra Festival?"
What surprised me was not the plan itself, but something else.
My mother had come with my father.
"Mom... Dad...?"
My father smiled brightly and said.
"It's all thanks to our youngest. Thank you for helping Dad not to make a rash mistake."
It was the moment I had been waiting for so long, but I didn't know what to say.
I just hugged my parents tightly, and pleasant laughter spread over my head.
'Did I ever see the two of them smiling like this in my past life...?'
I was choked up when I heard my mother's voice again in my ear.
"Shamash High priest will be arriving soon, so we'll have plenty of time to prepare for the ceremony in two months."
"Two months?"
When was the Terra Festival?
It wasn't a day we celebrated in Ruelle, so I couldn't remember the date.
'I think it was around early spring...'
Anyway, two months was a bit longer than I expected.
'I need to announce my Divinity quickly so that the Empire can ask me for help.'
I only remember that the Empress died young, so it doesn't seem like I have much time left.
I couldn't help but object.
"But Mom, I think I can perform the ceremony without any special practice."
My mother shrugged.
"That's right. I know that too... but it's still a matter of following procedure. Also, the better the day for the ceremony, the better, and the Terra Festival is the closest festival."
Since when did Ruelle celebrate the Terra Festival?
I wanted to pester my mother a little more to bring the ceremony forward, but my father brought up something else.
"By the way, Yan hasn't been seen all day today?"
"Ah..."
I was worried about it too.
"Yan has been going on quite long outings these days. He went out in the morning and hasn't come back yet."
My mother added nonchalantly.
"Did he go to Hestia again?"
Would it be better if he went to Hestia?
The reason why I've been worried about Yan lately is that he doesn't reveal his whereabouts at all.
"Anyway..."
I looked out at the darkening outside and continued.
"He'll be back soon."
Because I couldn't tell them that Yan said it might take a few days.
* * *
Yan really didn't show up for several days.
Classes started after the festival, but I couldn't look at the books.
'It's been four days since Yan left like that...'
When I think about it, I knew very little about Yan.
Yan resembled the bird that Shamash God used to carry around, and he could turn into a human.
'Surprisingly, that's all...'
I didn't even know how old Yan was, where he came from, where he went on outings, or why he came to Ruelle...
I didn't know anything.
'I should have asked...'
Of course, regretting it alone wouldn't solve anything.
It's not like I haven't asked those things even once.
'What can I do when Yan doesn't answer?'
But now that he hadn't returned for four days, I regretted not coaxing him to answer.
If he disappeared like this, I wouldn't be able to prove Yan's existence to anyone.
'Where the hell did he go...?'