Chapter 15. To conclude (4)
On the way to Astepor, the two of them looked for a place to put down their luggage and rest for a while.
At first, the intention was to stay in a suitable village, but unfortunately, there was no village worth staying near Astepor.
So, I decided to find a place where I could hide properly and there was a stream nearby and use the carriage as a house.
The coachman who came with him had already fallen asleep.
Originally, the coachman said he would do it because he needed someone to keep the bonfire, but the two of them felt sorry for the coachman who was dragged into their schedule and asked them to sleep.
After all, they could get their eyes on the carriage until they wake up tomorrow morning and reach Astepor, but the coachman who had to pull the horses couldn’t afford that.
“Ludwig, wouldn’t it be better to get some sleep? It must be hard to keep your eyes open until morning… … ..”
Emilia, who had been sleeping on a blanket in the carriage, came out and looked anxiously at her lover who was still guarding the campfire.
Even if I could sleep on my way home tomorrow, staying up all night would be bad for my health.
But despite her concerns, Ludwig smiled softly and shook his head low.
“It’s okay, Emilia. I’ll just have to sleep while I’m gone anyway… Besides, I can’t sleep well for some reason.”
“It looks like me. If the seat next to you is empty, would it be all right if I join you?”
“As much as you like.”
Emilia crept closer to Ludwig with her entire body covered in a blanket, like a chrysalis wrapped in its shell.
On the way, the end of the blanket touched the bonfire that was burning, and a major disaster almost occurred, but thanks to Ludwig’s quick response, the crisis was barely overcome.
“The moonlight is dark.”
“Tomorrow the old moon will rise. It’s still thin enough.”
In fact, you might not be able to tell with the naked eye whether it is an old moon or not.
To be honest, I feel like I would be fooled even if someone told me that this was the old moon with that moon right now.
In the first place, the old moon is more like a word based on a date.
“Whoops, the moon was so bright on the first day I met Ludwig.”
“Is it so? At that time, I was obsessed with Emilia and couldn’t see her properly, so my memory is fuzzy.”
“Hey, you speak well. He wasn’t interested in me at the time.”
Even if he threw something like this, he often reacted calmly.
How frustrating was it at the time?
But on the other hand, it seemed mysterious because it was the first time a man had treated her that way.
“It can’t be. As a man, there’s no way he wouldn’t pay attention to a woman like Emilia.”
To be precise, it would have been correct to see it as a difficult situation to pay attention to.
At that time, to Ludwig, Emilia was an existence that would not be strange even if he cut his own throat the next day.
Seeing that he clearly remembered her profile reflected in the moonlit night even in such a situation, he might have already fallen in love with a girl named Emilia, although he was not aware of it at that time.
Some say that love comes without even knowing it.
“Then Ludwig asked? Was it difficult to see the stars where I lived?”
“It seems to come to mind. I probably remember that Emilia didn’t answer properly.”
“It was. I couldn’t confide everything to the guy I just met for the first time.”
Only then did Ludwig guess the meaning of Emilia’s words at the time.
The story of a girl who always chased the stars, but suddenly couldn’t see them.
It must mean that the brilliance of any star is no longer visible in the night sky beyond the snow.
“It’s all thanks to Ludwig. You are probably the only man who found a star in this world.”
“hahahaha, that’s a pretty grand story. I am also embarrassed.”
“It’s not a big story. At least for me.”
The child who couldn’t open his eyes from the beginning is locked up in darkness for the rest of his life.
They get used to the darkness, take the invisible world for granted, and color is a different concept to them.
Since they have never seen the light in their lives, they rather take life in that world without light for granted.
However, Emilia couldn’t do that.
From the moment she was born, her eyes were fully open, and she saw the world like everyone else.
Then one day, a dark cloud over her eyes took away the light that shined in her eyes at once.
The difference between those who did not have from the beginning and those who were deprived of what they had was clearly revealed from there.
“Maybe Ludwig doesn’t know. How happy I was to realize that I had a milestone to go on that day.”
Even under the dark night sky, her eyes could clearly see the radiance surrounding Ludwig.
When he reached out his hand, a new piece of light spread across the dark night sky, and the moon, which I thought was hidden in the clouds, appeared.
To her, who was crouching in a corner of the basement where not even light cast, his existence, which had squeezed through the iron door, was light itself.
“I was worried at first. Do I like Ludwig as a man? Or am I just yearning for the person who brought me a new light?”
“After thinking about it, how was it?”
“How do you think it was?”
At her mischievous smile, Ludwig shrugged.
Because only she knows the answer. Now he was just an audience.
Taking the kindling stick Ludwig was holding and lighting the bonfire, Emilia continued speaking in a relaxed tone.
“I realized that I was an idiot for worrying.”
“You are too cold to yourself.”
“Huh, that’s because it was true.”
You are not obliged to love someone just because you have saved them.
However, there is no obligation to deny the feelings you have for someone just because you have been saved.
Even if the starting point was longing.
“I want to be with that person. I want you to stay by my side all my life. What could that be but love?”
“That is not wrong. Does that mean I was Emilia’s first love?”
“Yes. First love, last love.”
Emilia rested her head on his shoulder.
Then, his heart beat even more violently, and a gentle beating rang in her ears.
This man’s heart is still beating because of me.
The moment I realized that fact, a sense of satisfaction as a woman gradually filled my heart.
“Ludwig, is there anything you want to ask when you see Goddess Hypresia tomorrow? Not about my eyes.”
“I do not know.”
To be honest, there are too many problems.
Why did he see himself differently in Emilia’s eyes?
What was the exact reason he came to this world?
Why did Christian, who should have been the main character in the original story, die?
But now it was good anyway.
Even if you don’t know the answers to all of them, you can’t go on living with questions.
Now he is Ludwig Eifretz, this world is real, and the existence he must protect is right in front of his eyes.
What he had was just a primitive curiosity, nothing more and nothing less.
“There is nothing. If I had to pick one, I would like to ask if Emilia and I can do it in 100 years.”
“Wouldn’t it be better not to ask about that?”
“Um, is that so?”
This is a bit of an unexpected reaction.
If it was Emilia, she would definitely be right, and I thought she would agree.
Of course, it is not known whether the author of God will properly inform the fate of the future.
“It’s no fun if you know your fate in advance. I think it would be more fun to be together for 10 or 20 years without knowing anything.”
“That too.”
Well, just as the story in a book loses interest when you know the story behind it, so does life.
Besides, even if God told them that they were beings who would separate after a year, they would live on without succumbing to it.
Because there is no human being who conforms to a predetermined destiny.
“Ah, come to think of it, I also had a question.”
“What do you mean?”
“Which one likes the other more, me or Ludwig? Wouldn’t the Goddess know these things too?”
foot.
This is a really unique and cute question.
But Ludwig was also curious.
It is said that human emotions cannot be measured with scales, but if they can be measured with the eyes of a god, which one’s heart is bigger?
But for now, I thought it would be good to rehash what Emilia had just said.
“I think it would be better not to ask the goddess about that either.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t that what love is in the first place? Thinking that my heart is smaller, so I pay more attention to the other person, and feelings grow while competing like that.”
“It makes sense.”
Smiling like that, Emilia lightly kissed his cheek.
The cheeks, which must have been chilled by the night air, felt warm for some reason.
Is it simply because of the bonfire? Or is it because your warmth is so warm?
Maybe this question can be solved when I meet the goddess tomorrow.
Anything would be fine. Because now I can’t think of anything but you.
Even if you don’t become you, even if I don’t become myself.
This heart won’t change anymore. I will make such a confident promise in front of the goddess.