11. A bird that flew over the nest – 10
The festival held in Ystad lasts for about a week. If you look at the background of the festival in Ystad, there really wasn’t much. A thousand years ago, the first emperor, Devhard, drove out the oppressors in this area and declared Istad a free trade city.
Whatever its origins, it flourished as a trading city over a thousand years, and a festival was held to commemorate him, reaching its climax today, the fifth day since the festival started. Of course, it was true that Cain, who first learned that a festival was being held here every year, was not particularly impressed.
“It’s a festival…”
In fact, Cain had never enjoyed a festival in the proper sense of his life. Unfortunately, the Duchy of Estel was a filthy, poor neighborhood, so instead of holding a large-scale festival like Ystad, it was a place where you had to worry about food to pass down your throat tomorrow. There were a few occasions when he gathered the locals and knights and held a large-scale drinking party, but if he called it a ‘festival’, all the residents of Istad might laugh at him.
“And on a festival day, it’s a date with a girl alone…”
As I said now, just as Cain was enjoying a festival for the first time in his life today, it was clear that dating was something he was experiencing for the first time in his life, spanning unknown territory.
Of course, if you look at Cain’s life as a whole, the number of women who had a relationship with him was quite large, and there were not a few women who had deep relationships among them. However, it is said that there was not a single woman who shared an event like ‘date’ that tickles the heart while being sweet.
First of all, Sarah and I were lovers, forged by an official engagement between families, but at the same time, it was nothing more than a strategic engagement, so it was extremely rare for them to even hold each other’s hands, let alone date. If so, there was nothing more to say.
The primary interaction with Bianca, the princess, the saint, and Kyrie was during the time when they were part of an expeditionary force that desperately made its way northward through a blizzard that raged across the continent to subdue the ‘Witch of Winter’. No matter how much romance is said to be a weed-like guy that blooms in an extreme environment, even so, it was not an idle journey enough to play with love in the harsh winter boasting of extreme cold.
…In particular, Bianca is busy turning people inside out, the princess is only focused on defeating him with her two fists, the saintess only giggles while hiding her black inside, and Kirie says that it doesn’t matter what you guys do. If there’s a guy with philosophical eyes who believes that romance or “dates” can happen in really shitty environments, you’ll probably have to pull the bastard’s head off and check his mental state.
After all, since he was born, he had no experience with a guy called ‘dating’, and even more so, there was no one who would give him useful tips for a date today, so in the end, what he could do was The only thing left to do was to crawl out to the rendezvous while still wearing the same clothes.
In fact, I briefly thought about the idea of wearing the uniform of a minor duke, but no matter how much I thought about it, all I could think about was that it was too much. He came out to enjoy the festival, not to show off his status as the Duke of Estelle to the citizens here.
Deen- Deen-
“…a bit late.”
The central square of Istad where he promised to meet Arya. From the clock tower installed in the middle, the bells announcing the time resonate everywhere. The time was getting closer to 2:00 PM, but Arya hadn’t shown up yet.
From my experience so far, I knew very well that women put a lot of effort into their grooming. A creature that does not hesitate to decorate itself even in a place where no one else’s eyes exist is a woman.
In the past, I had an experience where I almost had a pretty hole pierced between my eyes when I said ‘I have no one to show you anyway, so let’s just decorate it and leave’ to Bianca, who was stumbling around without thinking about coming out of the tent. existed within
Around the time he was eagerly killing time watching the passing clouds or watching passers-by, an all-too-familiar voice from behind Cain reached his ears.
“…Sir Cain. I’m late, sorry.”
Hearing that voice, Cain let out a deep sigh and looked behind the voice-
“…aria?”
Just like that, I stopped breathing.
The first sight that caught Cain’s eyes was his white hair, which looked as if it had been plucked from melted platinum as it was, drenched in blue light and emitting a dazzling light like a shard fly. The dreamy sight of Arya’s pure white hair gently fluttering in the wind that blew in from somewhere just at the right moment was enough to turn a fleeting moment into an eternity.
Aria was currently wearing an elegant off-shoulder dress that exposed her pure white shoulders. No, it wasn’t just Arya’s shoulder that was exposed. Starting from the shoulders, forearms, back, and even the sides, Aria’s graceful legs were exposed with a slight slit.
‘Sarah, do useless things.’
The culprit who put this dress on Arya was so easy to guess. In the first place, Cain had never presented Aria with a dress like that. The dress that Cain gave Aria as a gift was not such a luxurious and elegant dress, but a cute one that a girl would wear.
“…Ka, Cain-sama. How do I look…?”
Arya said something in a shy tone, then turned around as if she was showing off her figure in front of Cain. It was a graceful movement, as if dancing a waltz at a ballroom.
“…..”
Seeing Arya like that, Cain’s heart starts beating for some reason. However, something was different. For some reason, I felt like I was running in a different way than I had been beating before.
Arya’s pure white shoulders come into view. A pure white forearm without a single blemish catches the eye. It was so white that it reminded me of gypsum, and the slender back catches my eye.
I see the gentle purple eyes looking at me. In those purple eyes, only the image of Cain was contained. Her white hair, which seemed to flow like a waterfall, only matched terribly well with the white dress she was wearing.
“…aria.”
Why? Anyway, why? It was something I hadn’t even thought about until now. Why are you at this moment?
“You are pretty.”
Did Aria just stop thinking that she was pretty? And that too, very clearly.
“…really?”
alternatively, why?
“really.”
At Cain’s words, Aria smiled brightly. It took a long time to get dressed up after listening to Sarah’s advice, but after hearing Cain’s soft eyes and sincere compliments toward him, only pride remained in his heart. Arya was already happy enough just because he said ‘you’re pretty’ towards her.
…On the other hand, Cain was also surprised by this feeling he was feeling.
A year ago, when I first met Arya, she was just an ordinary girl. Ten years later, she was so helpless that it was hard to believe that she was the ‘witch of winter’ who would bring an endless winter to the entire continent. She was a delicate girl who had to be protected by Cain, suffering from amnesia, no knowledge and no wisdom left, and feeling frustrated that she was nothing.
And even though only a year had passed since then, Aria’s appearance had changed a lot. I had always thought that she would be the helpless girl of that time, but before I knew it, she had become a woman. A woman so beautiful that he was startled and surprised just by wearing a dress he had never seen before.
… To be honest, seeing Aria like that, I don’t know why, but I thought, ‘It’s really fortunate’.
It was a feeling I hadn’t told anyone, and would never reveal to anyone in the future, but after seeing the ‘Witch of Winter’ with my own eyes after a long expedition over a year, my impression was that she was terribly lonely. , it seemed lonely.
The world surrounding the Winter Witch was just bleached with pure white snow, and it was a solitary world with nothing around except snowflakes. I will never be able to understand what it is like to rule as an owner alone in a lonely white world that exists only in the snow. However, when I first met her eyes, I just had a strange idea that she might be crying.
…Until the last moment, in the end, I couldn’t come to an understanding. However, I ended up harboring a trivial sentiment that it would be nice if I could alleviate the enormous solitude and loneliness that she harbored.
There is still a scene that remains as a fire mark. At the very moment when the battle was over and everything was over, the Winter Witch smiled at me even though my sword stabbed her in the heart. He said ‘thank you’ to me. At that time, she really…
“…..”
But the current aria is different. There is no ‘winter witch’ in the world anymore. Nine years later, the harsh winter that will freeze everything on the continent will not come. I must have given the Winter Witch the name ‘Arya’ and prepared a place to stay in order to prepare for the despair that would inevitably come in the future and to use it as a tool. For that reason, I must have picked up Aria.
Why am I now, Aria.
“…ah.”
Did he look at her as a woman, even for a moment?
why.
“…Cain-sama?”
Aria’s voice, filled with worries and concerns, is heard in my ears. At that voice, Cain was finally able to regain his senses.
“…I’m sorry, Aria. For a while, I thought of something else.”
yeah, what does it matter The woman in front of me is just Arya. He is my one and only vassal whom I cherish and must take care of until the end. So, set aside your other emotions for a while, and devote the day entirely to her.
“Okay, is there anywhere you want to go? What did you want to do?”
At Cain’s question, Arya just shakes her head. In the first place, she wasn’t even interested in a festival like this. It’s just that the fact that I can share this moment with him just made me excited.
“…First of all, I want to walk here. With Cain.”
That alone was enough for Aria. More than that, I don’t want.
At Arya’s simple words, Cain smiled wryly for a moment, then slightly bent one knee toward her and held out his other hand toward her.
“…Ka, Cain-sama…?”
“Because being with the lady is the role of a knight. I will escort you today. Please, allow me.”
At Cain’s polite words, Arya looked at him with trembling eyes, and then gently grabbed his outstretched hand. Just in case, don’t let go of his hand. very, sure.
“…if it’s okay with me like this, I’m happy.”
There was still plenty of time left until the eve, the end of the festival.
…And a small festival just for the two of them was scheduled to start from now on.