After the Rain (7)
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The boy furrowed his brows.
He had heard of a demonic beast called a siren that was said to bewitch people and drag them into the deep sea to devour them. He wondered if such a monster came to the plains too.
‘That’s a stupid idea.’
He dismissed that thought and looked at the girl again.
He felt this earlier too but her delicate and exotic appearance was definitely foreign.
Same went for her light hair-color which was unlike an Irugoian.
‘Is she a foreigner? She doesn’t look mixed either.’
He thought, remembering the Queen’s children.
《 What in the world is a foreigner doing in the demonic beast plains?》
《 Don’t ask me. There was a whoosh and I found myself here all of a sudden…》
《 Shouldn’t you come up with a better excuse?》
《 I’m telling the truth though…》
The girl mumbled and averted her eyes.
It felt awkward and unfamiliar because it had been so long since she talked to someone while making eye contact.
《 That said, I practically saved you, yet you’re interrogating me now?》
The boy chuckled when he saw her get everything off her chest while also avoiding his gaze.
《 I saved you too.》
《 Well, since we’ve helped each other, you can say we’re good people to each other. 》
《 You’re very eloquent for a tiny person.》
The boy laughed.
The feeling of his mouth muscles curving upwards was strange.
The boy wiped his lips and realized he was smiling.
It had already been 10 days since he was practically driven to the demonic plains after his mother passed away.
Naturally, a smile had never crossed his face.
Frankly, it was the same even before he entered the plains.
But to think a smile was something that could appear so easily.
Was it possible because this child was a complete stranger who had nothing to do with him and whose identity he didn’t even know?
He never thought a stranger could be such a comfortable presence.
Aristine was also feeling the same way. She felt more at east because he was a complete stranger.
It felt like she had been relieved of the burden of considering things like the emperor or the monarch’s sight or her position.
For the first time, she became aware of that burden that she had never even realized because she had never put it down.
The boy studied the girl.
Her eyes were calm unlike a child, but from her size, she seemed about six years old.
He heard foreigners were on the smaller side, so maybe she was a year or two older than that.
Either way, she was still a child, so he ought to be a little kinder.
‘How should I know how to be kind without experiencing it?’
Although he thought that, he could tell that it wasn’t appropriate to ask the foreigner what she was doing in the demonic beast plains.
In an attempt to be ask kind as possible, the boy asked:
《 How old are you?》
Of course, in the end, his tone was still interrogative, far from being friendly.
But that didn’t matter.
《 Twelve.》
At that unexpected age, the boy’s eye opened wide.
《And you?》
When Aristine returned the question, the boy fell silent for a moment then answered bluntly.
《 …About the same.》
《 I thought you were much older.》
The boy felt pricked by Aristine’s words but he tried to act unaffected.
《 I said about the same, not the same.》
《 Then how old?》
《 Well…》
《 I see.》
The boy stealthily avoided the girl’s eyes.
To be fair, he wasn’t lying. After all, he didn’t confirm it with his own mouth.
He got up and sat down, leaning against the rock.
Aristine also stopped lying on the floor and sat down next to him.
《 Let’s rest a little bit and I’ll take you to the wall. The border guards will at least try to find your home since you’re a child.》
《 And you?》
《 Huh?》
《 You are a child too. You have to go home.》
《 Don’t treat me like a child.》
The boy retorted furiously, but Aristine laughed.
《 You said you’re the same age as me. And you called me a child.》
The boy was speechless at that.
On a closer look, he could see a faint sense of triumph on the girl’s face. It seemed like this was revenge for treating her like a child.
The boy burst into laughter.
He had never dealt with a girl like this.
《 Either way, you should go back too. It’s dangerous here.》
Aristine’s expression changed, and she spoke seriously.
Since earlier, flashes of terrifying monsters appeared on and off before her eyes.
She could instinctively tell that it was in the near future.
《 I… 》
I can’t go back.
The boy shut his mouth.
Aristine watched him do that then she opened her mouth.
《 There’s no point going to the border. Because I have nowhere to go back to.》
The boy turned to Aristine.
Aristine didn’t look at him and hugged her knees together.
The boy looked forward again.
He could see the horizon where the endless plains and the blue sky met.
This place was swarming with demonic beats, but he never knew it could be so peaceful.
The boy and girl just stared straight ahead, not looking at each other.
They were complete strangers who knew nothing about each other.
But at the same time, they also felt a strange sense of kinship with one another, as if they’d met someone similar to them for the first time.
* * *
Aristine opened her eyes.
The memories of the past unraveled in her mind, making her feel dizzy.
‘I thought it was a dream…’
She had been so feverish that she didn’t even know if she was still alive.
When the terrible fever receded, Aristine was lying alone in her confined room as before.
She lifted her weak body to look around and found that the kettle had fallen over, drenching a corner of the blanket.
She looked at the puddle on the floor and reached out to touch it.
The water swooshed to the side and the cool sensation of the floor touched her palm.
Aristine’s reflection in the spilled water was her usual silver hair and purple eyes.
In the dream, her hair was blonde, not silver, and her eyes were forest green, opposite of purple.
Furthermore, she also had the ability to foresee.
Hence, she thought it was a dream.
It was quite common to become a different person in your dreams. After all, dreams are where you see your imaginations.
Even that foresight was just things happening as she imagined in her dream.
She thought of it as a dream she had when she was sick and forgot about it.
She tried to forget it.
Because the more she remembered that dream, the colder reality felt.
In that dream, Aristine argued with the boy, plucked fruits from trees, and roasted rabbits to eat.
‘The most common thing was being chased by demonic beast.’
In that place, you couldn’t feel safe, even for a day.
Regardless, she missed the moments they lay down at night to avoid the demonic beats and share each other’s body temperature.
The stars in the night sky were spread out endlessly as if sprinkles salt.
It was a scene that Aristine, who was confined and lived with only the small sky blocked by a tall wall, never could have imagined.
‘If it wasn’t a dream…’
Aristine jumped up from her seat.
“Princess Consort?”
The court ladies were startled by Aristine’s sudden exit form the room, and followed her.
She entered the gallery that she had never stepped into before.
All sorts of art pieces were stored inside, but there was only one thing that Aristine wanted to see.
When she passed through the gallery corridor and opened the inner door, many pictures and portraits of Tarkan were hanging there.
From his wedding photos with Aristine to photos from a long time ago.
Aristine stopped in front of one of the large pictures hanging on the of her walls.
In it, was a young boy looking straight ahead with a taciturn expression.
The court lady, who was carefully studying Aristine’s expression, opened her mouth.
“When His Highness Tarkan went on his first expedition, we were all so anxious so we know how it must feel. But see how dashing His Highness is. This photo was taken after he returned after defeating Murzika, the great demonic beast at age 10.”
To Aristine, her words sounded distant.
Unperceived at first, as if she had just washed ashore and only came to after the cold sea water wet her feet.
Aristine, who was staring blankly at the picture, slowly turned to her court lady.
“…This picture is from when he was 10 years old and defeated Murzika, the Great Demonic Beast?”
“Yes, Princess Consort.”
The court lady smiled proudly.
Aristine turned to look at the picture again.
No matter what angle she used, he looked just like the boy she had seen in her dreams.
That slightly rebellious gaze, and tightly shut lips as if he was dissatisfied.
“And he said it was more than twelve…”
“Pardon?”
Aristine shook her head at the court lady’s question.
Her mind felt complicated. But it also felt clear at the same time.
She had a mountain of preparations she had to do to help Tarkan, who went off alone to deal with the great demonic beast.
But before that.
“I need a cup of tea.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The court ladies smiled, looking relieved.
Aristine’s condition hadn’t looked very good since Tarkan left.
Their heart sank when they heard that she had suddenly cried again at the smithy today.
But right now, Aristine’s appearance seemed no different from before.
Her purple eyes, which were staring straight ahead, shone brightly.
“And while having tea, I want to hear about Tarkan’s first love.”
The smiles of the court ladies cracked when the Princess Consort remarked that she wanted to hear about her husband’s first love.
Aristine’s brightly smiling face had never looked more burdensome.
The court ladies trembled and lowered their heads.
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