11 – Selam-6
Dana, who was asked a question by the man in front of her, was speechless and shed tears.
He knows that being with him will make him unhappy. For her fleeting happiness, she will make all her life difficult.
She was well aware of her woman’s jealousy. Even if Daisy’s Coliseum is doing well now, she won’t be able to keep up easily if someone gets in her way.
Evan is a man. He is also kind and warm.
Numerous women will woo him to win his heart. It was obvious that there would be nobles among them.
If the nobility began to check the Colosseum in order to drop the woman clinging to the man, Dana and Daisy could not stand it.
“That’s…”
However, there was nothing in Dana’s mind beyond that of rejecting his confession.
He couldn’t have thought of what to say next when it was heartbreaking just to make that decision.
“I don’t have any presents to prepare for Evan, a gladiator accident, it’s not that pretty…”
“I have to give you the present. I asked you to meet me. And whether your face is pretty or not… I decide.”
Dana, she never thought she’d hear herself say that.
He was acknowledging her everything. Wealth, job, appearance. She was evenly affirming everything.
“But… Evan and I are people who live in different worlds.”
Dana, who goes into a bar every day and drinks tough meat and alcohol, and Evan, who is eating luxurious food at Selam.
Dana, who will live and die without ever meeting a man in her life, and Selam, who can replace a woman more beautiful than her every day.
It was a different person. If they were forced to bond, they would only make each other unhappy.
“Yes, I see…”
As Evan looked at her, her face as grim as her abandoned dog, her Dana’s heart seemed to break as well.
But if it’s really for him, he has to give up now. Because she’ll meet someone better than her.
Depending on his benevolence, you shouldn’t make the lives of both of you unhappy.
“If you think so… It can’t be helped.”
Seeing Evan walking helplessly as if he were the most unfortunate person in the world, Dana was overcome with regret.
Wouldn’t it be a better choice to be with him, even if it means giving up everything?
Even if the rest of my life becomes miserable, if I can be with him even for a short while, as Daisy said, wouldn’t that happy memory endure the remaining unhappiness?
However, Dana persevered. She suppressed her desire to rush at him at any moment and confess.
“Ah, let’s make one thing clear.”
Evan hesitated in front of the door and shouted at Dana, holding her doorknob in his hand.
“It’s not that I don’t like it, right? It’s just that the situation is different, and the world we live in is different, so it can’t be helped. You mean that?”
Dana said nothing, and nodded her head helplessly.
“That’s it. I, really, will make you my lover ‘at all costs’. Got it?”
Dana’s heart was shaken by the declaration of war on her relationship. Evan’s dignified gaze showed his determination.
If so, I really thought I would.
“Yeah…”
“Okay, that’s all right.”
Evan opened the door and left. Dana closed her eyes alone at the table without him and wept bitterly.
/////
“You came sooner than expected? Thankfully. If I just listened to what you said, I was worried that I would even allow my body on our first meeting…”
As soon as I returned to Selam, Adrian greeted me warmly. Unfortunately, I was not in a condition to accept his kindness.
“It was tea. I’m in a bad mood, so don’t talk to me if you can.”
“…What?”
Adrian became contemplative and ran towards me. He looked at the women around him, made the most stern expression and made a bluff.
“You guys haven’t heard about this. Okay? If rumors ever spread, they’d be the first to suspect you!”
“Oh, I see!”
I had never seen him make such a serious expression. Bewildered, I asked Adrian helplessly.
I’ve heard of it, but for reasons I’ll never understand.
“Let’s go to a quiet place for now. Let me explain slowly.”
Without knowing English, I followed Adrian into my room.
After kicking out all the women who were ready to wait on him, Adrian cautiously brought him out.
“For a man to be rejected by a woman is a very terrible and humiliating thing.”
“Why?”
“Because most women won’t refuse any man. That’s not absolute, and if you’re a member of the imperial family or a high-ranking aristocrat, you might look at a man’s appearance, personality, and status, but…”
Actually, I didn’t really want to think about what other people thought of me. No, on the contrary, the gaze was hateful.
If it wasn’t for that, Dana might have accepted my love with a smile.
“Dana… Did that to me?”
“Well, you might not know. In fact, it’s only natural that you don’t know. Unless you’re a noble or a very wealthy merchant, you’re never going to be courted by a man.”
“Hmm…”
Daisy, the caretaker of the huge Colosseum, looked quite wealthy, but maybe she had a high wall for men that even she didn’t know.
“Moreover, it’s not that you wooed a high-ranking aristocrat and were rejected, and the other person is a gladiator. Even if you accept right away, there will be controversy, rejection… If you know this, all Selam men will despise you. .”
“What do you know?”
Selam has lost its temper. I didn’t want to care what people here said to me.
“Come to think of it, that logan is such a… High-ranking person?”
Well, her face looked pretty, but to me, it didn’t seem to be much different from Adrian or other Selam men.
Hearing that he was engaged to the Crown Princess, he must have the ability to rank among men in this country, but I did not feel that advantage in my eyes.
“He… Has a very good status. He is from a prince from another country, and he is the one who visited Selam in this country because he said he liked it.”
“Wow…”
“There’s no need to be too nervous. Selam’s rules are absolute. No matter how much he hates you or me, the only thing he can do is argue with you verbally.”
“Really?”
“He’s been in Selam for a long time, but he’s a foreigner after all. No matter how he gets around, he can’t break Selam’s rules after all.”
After thinking about his appearance, I felt a strange sense of incongruity.
“No, you look young. If you stay for a long time, how long have you been there…”
“He’s 38 years old. Ever since the day he got engaged to the princess, he’s always taken the lead in Selam. As a man, he’s an old age… Well, he’s the princess. No matter what he does, his power will never wane. “
Adrian spoke calmly, but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut at an absurd age.
“What? Then how old is the princess?”
“His Highness, the Crown Princess, is 27 years old. There is a rather large age difference, but among the people with the right status, there were no suitable opponents.”
“Is that enough?”
“Because if a woman tries to meet a man even a year younger than her, everyone here will start calling her a ‘pedophile’.”
It is okay for a man to meet a woman 11 years his junior, but if a woman meets a man who is 1 year younger than her, is she subject to criticism? Indeed, it was a difficult society to understand.
“That’s okay. Rather, do you have a book about gladiators?”
“…Why is that?”
“I haven’t given up yet.”
No matter how you think about it, Dana did not truly reject me. Then all I had to do was show her just how much I was genuine to her.
If the world she lives in is different, she can bring her into her world or I can go down to her world.
First of all, information collection was the priority.
/////
Having read only a few liberal arts books in the break room at a glance, I felt that my mind was getting confused by the hardness and vastness of proper ‘academic’ books.
“I’m dizzy…”
“I’m surprised that you can understand this book, no matter how difficult it is.”
“Who are you teasing now? Because I’m in a bad mood today?”
“Ah, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. You, no matter how you look at it, look like an ‘ancient man’.”
“Ancients?”
“In the distant past, it is said that the ratio of males to females was similar. At that time, there are documents claiming that men had much more muscles and thicker voices than now.”
Adrian pulled out a book and showed an illustration in it.
It was an illustration of two muscular male gladiators fighting to the death.
“Like this. Don’t you think it looks like you?”
From noble mtl dot com
“I’m not this muscular, but…”
The book he handed over contained materials about sword fighting and gladiators. And, there are some things that are a bit vulgar to look at.
“At that time, it is said that men enjoyed raping women. Now that I think about it, it’s an absurdly vulgar idea… But even the Colosseum is said to have been used as a ‘punishment’ facility for women.” .”
“I don’t like that in a different way. But, isn’t this a story that has nothing to do with gladiators now?”
“I don’t think it’s related at all. The rules regarding sword fighting don’t change easily.”
I was powerlessly flipping through the book, looking for a rule that stood out and opened my eyes.
“All of these books describe ancient sword fighting, but as far as I know, these rules will remain.”
“Is that, really?”
“Because tradition is important.”
“Yes…”
What filled my head was, literally, crazy thoughts.
Inefficient. It is illogical. In terms of common sense, there is no reason to do this, and no need to do it this far.
But, what. Love has to be somewhat inefficient in order to look sincere.