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"Fruit Bowl w/ Flowers" -- Half Century -- Jan Davidsz de Heem |
She was about to say something then
she remembered.
Why did not she understand? No, she
supposed it couldn’t be understood.
He had a long fringe covering his face
and was pretty expressionless and did not talk much,
‘Oh, did you remember?’ he smiled
happily.
Somehow, she felt a bit weak so
Matilda carried on eating,
‘Would you like to eat the last loaf
of bread?’ she asked, noting the single loaf in the basket
‘Yes, please.’ He replied as he
reached for it.
‘Was it such a strange question?’
Leandro tore the soft bread and ate a
piece,
‘I suppose it is strange since I am
being asked whether it is a natural occurrence rather than a strange one…’
She cast her mind back to those days,
remembering the feelings.
‘Wasn't it…okay?’
He laughed, but his laugher was cold.
‘It was a shock to me.’
‘Huh?’
‘As you know, Barenshiaga was at war
with the neighbouring countries south east and south west. The war was long and
the Elder Emperor, my father was participating.’
‘I see,’
‘The Elder Emperor is a person who
likes warring, so he hires lots of mercenary companies. So he warred with the
Eastern Mountain regions and the Western River regions up until a year ago,’
‘Yes, I heard.’
She had heard that Leandroth had
reached the age of twenty-seven and was still single because of the prolonged
war being waged against the two nations. It had been rumoured that he’d said,
while domestic affairs were not calm he had no intention of getting married.
‘While, growing up, I have been going
back and forth between war campaigns and the Palace. In the palace, the Empress
raised us strictly; she did not want us to have sloppy manners from spending
too much time with mercenaries and soldiers and disgracing our royal lineage.
There was nothing patriotic about it.’
Leandroth paused as he took the last
sip of his soup and cut a piece of his pork with his knife and fork a little
too forcefully,
‘I wondered why I was born to this
guy, and why did I have to work so hard.’
Now the elder Emperor has become “this
guy”, but it seemed reasonable reason somehow.
‘And then I met you… “Do I need a
reason to love it?’ …for some reason, it shook my heart...’
...
Before the summer sun began to melt
the snow on the mountains of Icecoreta
She had come to see to the well being
of the mercenaries and soldiers.
‘Why is a girl like you coming to a
war zone?’
‘I come on behalf of our King.’
‘Aren't you afraid?’
‘I am the one most protected by
everyone, if I am afraid, the soldiers will be even more afraid.’
He looked at the ten Royal Knights
that stood just behind the Princess, and then looked back down at her,
‘Your hands are trembling,’
‘…I am just shivering from the cold.’
A ghost of a smile appeared on his
face.
The red haired young man called Ross, ‘Do you love this country?’
‘I love it.’ She answered without
hesitation, a face full of smiles
.
‘Why do you love it?’
‘Do I need a reason to love it?’ she
replied, tilting her head
The young man stared at her, silent.
...
She had been eighteen when they had
that conversation. Both of her brothers were already born…
She thought that her brothers were
cute, but she felt that she could not be honest so as not to be misunderstood
by her step-mother (Zuben: what is wrong with thinking your siblings are cute.)
There were many emotions swirling
within her heart, but the feelings she had for her father and Icecoreta did not
change.
She felt like she was going to burst from
her feelings for her father, but she reminded herself that she felt sunny and
happy when she did her best for her father (Zuben: daddy complex MAX!)
‘Many things had been troublesome, but
when I heard your words, they were blown away. And I decided to take the
throne.’
‘Eh?’
‘I told you that I wanted you for a
long time, but I didn’t want to say anything while I was still a mercenary.’
‘Why?’ she asked tilting her head.
‘Just to get a glimpse of you, almost
every year I joined the mercenaries on the mountain border campaign that broke
out from winter to early summer.’
He seemed to be a cowardly man who is
pursuing a woman, yet does not do anything about it.
Leandroth rested his temple on his
hand and his gaze became distant,
‘During that time; what about your
country?’
‘Oh, I let my father and brother deal
with it.’
‘Leann is the crown prince, right?’
‘And now you’re the Emperor, aren’t
you?’
Her head hurt. She wondered if it was
okay to have a Crown Prince like this. Then again, it seemed like it was alright,
the Barenshiaga Empire was still in existence, despite everything.
‘Because of you, I agreed to take the
throne. Because of you, I am trying very hard to maintain the peace.’ He said
solemnly.
He washed his hands in a bowl of
water, and reached for the fruit bowl.
‘Is that true?’ She asked, opening her
eyes (Zuben: why were they closed?) Should she say she was happy? Should she
tell him she loved him.
She did not understand what was going
on inside her heart; feelings are so messy. (Zuben: Truff!)
‘So what if I want jewels and enough
dresses to fill a warship, and I want to go to balls every night and do
whatever? Are you crazy enough about me to make it all come true?’ She asked
without thinking, she looked dismayed as she stuck her own forehead.
‘If I have the budget, and if that is
what Mattie wants, I can do that. But I would prefer to use the funds for war
orphans, social reforms, war preparations, government projects and so on.’
‘Oh of course, those are priority
surely?’ she replied nodding. Their eyes met. She felt somewhat strange as she
wondered whether she was being manipulated by this person.
‘Don’t you think?’ She began to feel
happy as she gave a proud smile, but she could feel her face heat up,
‘I don’t think so.’ He said
‘What?’
‘I want to live for myself. That is
what I truly want in my heart.’
‘What are you…?’
‘You seem to be misunderstanding. I’ll
tell you, I am not kind to anyone other than you.’
‘That is a…’
‘I did not fire the Grand Chamberlain
earlier because he was useful in other areas; of course I began to regret it
later.’
She could see it in his eyes, the
future of that Grand Chamberlain was going to be dark.
‘Even so…’
‘Do you really want lots of
jewellery?’ Leann asked with one of his cold smiles as he peeled an orange.
‘Jewellery?’
‘Women like them a lot, don’t they?’
‘No, I don’t need it.’ She said
honestly, ‘A fresh orange, a ripe peach, a red apple, a chestnut that is rolling
in the forest. A walnut, an acorn, a fresh green sparkling leaf, a flower that
seems to be a fruit ... those things are more beautiful and last longer than a
cold stones.’
‘Is that so? Well if you want it, I
will prepare them.’ He said smiling faintly, but the smile was lacking. It did
not look like it was from the heart
Matilda gazed at his hand.
‘After all, can I eat one?’
‘What?’
Ignoring his stupid expression, she
bit into the orange in his hand.
‘Ah!!’ He said in surprise, and that
awful smile was wiped from his face. She ate the orange happily.
‘Once upon a time, I asked a jeweller
to make jewellery that looked like cut open orange, because I thought it was
beautiful. But the craftsman refused, the beauty of nature’s blessing in fruits
and the beauty of nature in jewels are different things. I was told that it
would be useless to try and replicate one in the other.’ (Zuben: A talented
craftsman with time can do it, but whatevers.)
She washed her hands and picked an
orange and peeled the skin off. She put it into his hand.
Leandroth remained stiff.
‘Leann, was the last orange that good?
I am sorry.’
She looked up at him, and Leandroth
ate the orange and pressed his lips against hers.
Zuben: 🌅 People complain about the weather too much. It is what it is...
Let me know if there any typos. I'm sure there will be.
thank you for the chapter
ReplyDeleteLeann is telling hr how he came to love her ...it was a long time ago.Thank you
ReplyDelete