Flowers of Worship
Chapter 22

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Unlike me, Cili took a much longer time to change clothes. Of course, if you add up the time, I spent more time than her; but she had changed dresses five to six times. Why does it take too long to get dressed? Sophie looked at my face and said,

“Women have to wear makeup. The hair is complicated too.” I smiled with mischief as if I didn’t know anything. Indeed. The women who tutored me in Hastred were quite a few, but most of them wore plain clothes with little to no make-up, so I had to recall a distant memory. How was my aunt doing? After I barely remembered my aunt’s attire, I frowned. I had a gorgeous aunt, and she was like a flamboyant beggar to me. I didn’t like it very much when I thought about whether I was locked up in a room for so long to become such an idiot. Cili looked best with her red hair hanging down and her white shirt and leather pants on. The delicate neckline formed her lines, and her sword and the figure of a person named Cecilia Sarian harmonizes. I liked it. You can like, trust and rely on her because she is unique like no other woman…so I thought.

Until the curtains in the small room open.

“Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you grow, and you’re still beautiful.”

Sophie’s laugh could be heard in the distance. I thought I had to take my eyes off Cili’s figure. It’s not rude to look at her beauty, but I’m staring at her so intently, or maybe I’m glaring at her, and that’s definitely against manners. I had been thinking clearly while in Larture that it wouldn’t be hard if I won’t show up in front of Cili, who had already been carrying the burden of being my fiancée.

Her neck was exposed by her gracefully braided hair. While it was decorated with fresh flowers, her clothes, hair, shoes, and even her handbag were a combination of white and soft pink. Cili’s blazing red hair had always made her look like a war goddess, but now she feels like a symbol of innocence. With her pear string handbag hanging around her wrist and the bouquet, neither small nor large, was in her hands. She was a goddess..no; she was more like a bride.

At that moment I realized that she was my fiancee, that is, she was going to marry me.

This beautiful woman will later become my spouse.

“His highness, the Grand Duke is mesmerized!”

I could hear Sophie laughing and teasing me. But it was distant. Strong Cili. Generous Cili. Cili was a good person. Yes, I knew such a thing but I had never thought of Cili being a beautiful bride, so I just blinked.

I could feel people struggling to stifle their laughter with Sophie’s teasing. Unlike Sophie, no one else could make fun of me in the presence of the Grand Duke. But if they had laughed, I wouldn’t be angry, nor would I have laughed with them because my head is completely empty at the moment.

A few days before she went out, I sent her a complete letter after she went to war. She seemed to be burdened and replied in a short response as if she was waiting for me on the road of exhaustion, but I never gave up. Various scenes of the story passed through my mind while writing a letter; Cili was looking like a shy bride. Cili was like the incarnation of a whole body that wielded a sword. And Cili came to save me.

But the last thing that always comes to mind is ageless Cili, smiling like she’s resigned from all the world’s affairs. That strange smile that looked like a grandmother yet younger than me.

Cili, I’m always curious.

Why are you smiling like you’ve given up on everything? Unlike me, I wish I had everything.

***

“…since, …have you felt bad?”

The illusion of hearing Cili’s voice was easy. I hadn’t seen Cili in over two years. I’m tall, but I wouldn’t even know what she looked like. Could she be a little older? Then maybe a little less beautiful? Or would it be more beautiful?

“…and, are you alright… .”

“Orssen!”

“Your highness, sorry… .”

Her voice keeps getting farther away. There was a slightly cool hand on my forehead that was careful and thoughtful. It would be nice if this hand belonged to Cili. Before falling asleep, as always, I thought of Cili.

Fifth page. Return

I know there was a problem with his behavior.

The king punished my provocations with authority. As soon as I became his contractor, he ordered me to subdue the 7th monster. The subjugation of demons was necessary, but the king did not have the means to allocate a large amount of military power to subjugating monsters. The war was taking place in several border areas, and the domestic sentiment was not good. He ascended the throne without legitimacy, and people whispered that he had removed his nephew and ascended the throne. The children ran down the alley and sang about him.

“My nephew, my nephew. The full moon in the night sky is big and bright, but your dream is far away. Get up now and go to the lake. The fairy is waiting for you.”

The operation meeting was halted as the children’s singing could be heard from afar. The face of the lord, who had lent us the castle, became yellow. He asked, looking intently at us, who could be called the king’s sword, especially me.

“Tongue, would you like to cut off the tongue too?”

Before I could say anything, Leon smiled broadly.

“Thank you for your deep consideration.”

“Well then… .”

The lord’s face was brimming with tears. Should I really cut it, Chris said with a bitter smile when he was thinking about it.

“It’s a pity that I have no use for that tongue. We have some picky eaters, so we are not cannibals.”

‘Are we cannibals? With the meaning of ‘What are you going to do with the tongues of the kids?’, Chris glared at him very elegantly, and the lord who recognized the insult, had turned his face into yellow again. Sophie glanced at Chris from the side with a blank expression. When their eyes met, Chris was asking with his eyes with:

‘What, did I say something wrong?’

‘No, you did well.’

Chris’s face brightened as Sophie raised her thumb. He seemed to feel good about being praised. Meanwhile, the lord looked at me without knowing what to do.

“Thank you, but I have to decline. Let’s resume with the meeting.” At my words, the lord hesitated and continued.

“My lord, I am loyal… .”

“I understand your loyalty, but what did the children do to cut off their tongues?”

“Yes?” the lord opened his eyes and asked me with a calm face.

“What did the children do wrong?”

“That, that, the dignified song… .”

“Song? I didn’t hear anything. What, did anyone hear?”

When I asked, they all looked at each other with faces like, ‘What happened?’ I also shrugged at Leon’s gaze. The lord was embarrassed by our gesture that we didn’t hear anything, but with a relieved face, he said, “Oh, right? I have dark ears these days! I keep hearing nonsense, oops. I’ll have to drink some cold water!” and left the hall hurriedly. He’s probably going out to keep the kids at bay.

After the lord had left, Leon swung the door open and saw that the lord had disappeared through the crack in the door and then continued to check when he would come back and spoke to us.

“It’s a big deal.”

“What.”

“If the existence of the Grand Duke becomes known, there will be more trouble.”

“What?”

“Why are you on the side of the Grand Duke?” I opened my mouth, but Leon warned me.

“Well, don’t say that.”

When I looked at the hall, all my subordinates were looking at me. The one was sitting right on the chair, the one was sitting on the table, the one was sitting with one leg on the windowsill and shaving a talisman for their lover, and the one who was bored spinning necklaces, all of them staring at me and waiting for an answer. This is what they were most curious about. It was natural. It was because they were catching more monsters while running around the frontier until their tongue fell out. I didn’t like the Templars to overwork, but these days, the Templars were divided into seven, so everyone must have been feeling anxious.

“As everyone knows, I have a problem with inheritance rights. My relatives are challenging my inheritance rights, and three of them are representative. The three of them met the king before me and asked to reconsider the inheritance right.”

“… … .”

“As if we were his people.” The faces of my men contorted at my words. Hastred was a group that came together for freedom. They regard me as the owner, but they are free to decide whether to stay or leave. This was an insult because Hastred’s knights and their families are people who choose not to belong to anyone.

“I will kill you.” someone muttered “Tsk.” Leon clicked his tongue in a warning tone, the voice soon faded, but the feeling was still waving in the air inside the hall. I shouldn’t have said that. I thought about it for a moment, but it was inevitable because I had to explain why I sided with the grand duke.

“I was in a situation where I needed the support of his highness the Grand Duke because of the right of inheritance; let’s just leave it at that. I can’t tell you the details, and I hope everyone will understand.”

When I finished my words, there were primarily understandable faces. But Leon had an ambiguous expression on his face, and Chris had a frown on his face. I know that the Chrisler family was pro-king, but it was a little difficult to understand why Leon was like that.