Final Chapter. A story to continue with you (2)
All the way back to Lutentia in the carriage, Emilia questioned Ludwig one by one about the stories he had told him.
However, it was closer to pure curiosity than a matter of trust.
It could be said that he wanted to imprint in his head that such a great person was really his lover.
If possible, I’d like to go back to the mansion and brag about it to everyone, but that must be difficult.
What happened in the temple had to be kept a secret between him and himself.
“Pufu, it feels strange somehow.”
“What do you mean? Emilia.”
Ludwig’s head tilted at Emilia’s short monologue.
“I always thought that Ludwig would be a great person, but… It felt like something from another dimension.”
“You don’t feel rejected, do you?”
“It is rather the opposite. Of course, I was surprised, but somehow I also thought that Ludwig could do it.”
Even if his parents told him this, he probably wouldn’t have believed it easily.
However, even if they were the same words, only the speaker was changed, and somehow I didn’t have any doubts.
Rather, it could be Wouldn’t it be possible for this man?
At some point, I saw myself accepting that.
Perhaps it means that the miracles he showed himself were absurd enough to make even this absurd story believable.
back.
Emilia, who was leaning her head on his shoulder, wondered if he might disappear like a scene in a dream, so she reached out her left hand behind his back and grabbed the other waist.
If the stories he told were true, it wouldn’t be strange for the goddess to reappear at some point and take him away.
“Emilia, you won’t run away even if you hold on tight like that.”
Ludwig, realizing at once that her behavior was not a mere expression of affection, smiled and scratched his cheek as if in trouble.
“Even if I believe everything else, I can’t believe that one. Not exactly Ludwig, but Goddess Hypresia.”
“Um… … .”
At first, she wondered if she could do such a foolish thing to a goddess who has been serving her family for generations, but it didn’t seem like any persuasion would work for the current Emilia.
Besides, right after he had such a dream, he was even more busy sticking to himself.
I guess I should stay like this until I get to Lutentia.
“Ludwig, there is something I was going to ask you earlier, can you answer me?”
“of course. Ask me anything.”
“You said that the brilliance disappeared and some strength was lost, right? Do you not know exactly how much?”
Ludwig drooled at the rather embarrassing question and fell into thought.
Because even he had no way of knowing exactly what level the power granted by the ‘Axis of the World’ had.
Hypresia said that it was not a power that could be measured in detail, but that it was like an authority that helped the person with that power to win when they decided to win.
It was such an abstract answer that even Ludwig was just puzzled at first, but when he recalled the strange feeling he felt when his power was manifested, he could guess it to some extent.
‘At that time, something like the will to win welled up in my body.’
Even when he dealt with Polumus, and when he vowed to surpass Emilia and protect her for the first time.
It was as if someone pulled her body, swung her sword instead, and made her legs move.
But it probably means that you won’t be able to get that kind of help in the future.
I lost the power to protect the one I love for the sake of the one I love.
It’s a paradoxical statement, but Ludwig considered this to be the procedure that should have been done originally.
“I don’t know exactly… I think it will be difficult to achieve a draw with Emilia in the morning sparring as before.”
“Does that mean that it was also a kind of power from the goddess?”
“Yes, maybe.”
Emilia shook her head as if she finally understood.
Certainly, there was something about his growth that was difficult to express with simply saying that he was talented.
It wasn’t like she had invested a lot of time in the sword, and she didn’t have an outstanding teacher, but she boasted a very steep growth rate.
Every day when Emilia sparred with him, he could be seen running close behind him.
Even if she was nothing more than an ordinary genius, she was a possessor of talent that the current swordsman highly praised.
If someone who had just started holding the sword in earnest catches up with a genius who works so hard, it must mean that he is a genius even greater than her or has a different reason.
Now all the doubts in my head are starting to clear up.
“Honestly, I saw Ludwig and thought it was a foul.”
“Are you too honest?”
“Huh, that’s true. Of course, I didn’t feel deprived, but I was curious about the source of that power.”
No matter how much he had the desire to rise, and even if he had the talent to back it up, his growth was at an unprecedented level.
If it had been that way for another year, he would have caught up.
No, maybe it was accomplished in half a year.
‘Master said the same thing.’
When I was in Mule, my teacher, who had been to somewhere with Ludwig, once said something.
She said it was the first time she was surprised by someone else’s talent, but he was the first to have doubts.
If he hadn’t heard that he was a friend of a disciple, he would have assumed that he was involved in a dangerous method.
To that extent, it was correct that his ability was simply different from that of a genius or not.
On the other hand, having this fact revealed even now, Emilia felt some unknown joy.
It was absurd for her to be happy that her lover had lost her strength, but she couldn’t help it because she thought she could stand by him now.
“Ludwig, I shouldn’t have said this, but… In fact, I am a little happy.”
“Are you happy?”
“I always felt that way. Am I really the right woman to be by your side? Watching Ludwig do anything skillfully, there were times when I felt a bit of a sense of shame.”
Emilia expressed her honest feelings and made a mockery of herself in the past, when she was petty.
That you have the power to protect him. That alone was the pride that sustained her.
However, the moment he reached a level where he could be compared to himself, and there was nothing to put forward, he was lost.
A promise to always wait for you there.
He even said that he would become the sword, so don’t think about anything and ask him to become the place he will return to.
Conversely, he was concerned that if he was in a position to protect himself, all those promises would be in vain.
Swoop. Swoop.
In response to her candid remark, Ludwig silently reached out and gently brushed her hair.
Rather, I was grateful for each word.
Because he knew very well that revealing his shame was something that could not be done with any courage.
“So from now on, I want to protect Ludwig. I made that promise when you disappeared in my dreams.”
“It’s like being a man and only being protected.”
That’s what she said, but I really appreciated her thoughtfulness.
On the one hand, I finally felt like everything was back to normal.
Perhaps, if they get married and live together, wouldn’t it be a rare situation where he prepares a meal tailored to her taste while she returns from training in the morning?
He will move his body in the morning because he has become accustomed to it, but it will be difficult to be with her as her opponent like before.
Even now, it’s to the point where I can recognize that the strength has gone out of my body.
“Still, I want to be with you as usual in the morning. It’s just my greed.”
“As much as you like. You who welcome the morning with me, and you who will be waiting for me when I return. Because you are all I love.”
Ludwig laughed at the sight of her winking, saying, ‘Should I put it in my hands when we fight in the future?’
Apparently, on the night he arrived in Lutentia, he felt he had to show that he wasn’t outdone by her yet.
Because he also had the last pride as a man.
* * * * * * *
Upon hearing the news that the two were coming back, the Bayemurn couple had come out early and were waiting.
No matter how much I tried to hide my nervousness, I couldn’t keep my hands still.
What happened to the curse that hung over her daughter’s eyes?
Even if I didn’t get the results I wanted, I was determined to welcome them without showing it.
Because the saddest of all would be those children.
profit.
Shortly thereafter, a carriage arrived and a couple of men and women appeared through the open door, and Julia slowly approached them, nervous.
On the other hand, Stefan kept his seat and just stared at his wife’s back in silence.
Maybe it was because I was overly nervous that I couldn’t move my feet.
“Emilia… … ?”
“mother… … .”
As if light had finally returned to her blinded eyes, Emilia walked slowly towards her mother in disbelief and hugged her tightly.
While coming to Lutentia, she recognized that the things that had been overlaid on her eyes had really disappeared, but seeing her parents’ faces with her own two eyes made her heart swell again.
It was just a hug without any explanation, affirmation or denial, but only then did Yulia realize.
The curse that had been placed on his daughter had finally been lifted.
And that the man had truly saved his daughter.
That the light of true meaning has returned to this child.
“mother… ! me, me… … !”
“Don’t say anything. It’s okay, everything will be fine now.”
Yulia just patted her daughter’s back and shed tears together.
Stefan, who was watching this, also managed to wipe away the tears he was trying to keep, and slowly approached Ludwig and held out his hand first.
“Thank you, even if I thank you several times, it won’t be enough.”
In response, Ludwig silently held the outstretched hand this time without saying anything humble or laughing awkwardly.
This is the gratitude he expresses as the father of a child, not the head of a family.
If so, then you will have to respond to it yourself.
There was no need to say anything to those gathered here now.
All you need is tears to shake off all the sadness and hardships you’ve been holding in, and a bright smile to celebrate this joy.