Volume 1 Chapter 4 (1/2)
(Like I could live a life without wheat beer!)
As night took over and the bright moon of autuate of the castle while wearing the clothes of a townsman
The grass that littered the fields rustled noisily as he ran down the hill the castle rested on with firm steps
He wasn’t planning to abandon his duties as the king
Like his stepfather said when Adelheid ca that God decided so it can’t be helped, he has no choice but to accept it
However, Ludwik has had enough Whether it’s his sour relationshi+p with Queen Katerina, the high class dishes that he would bite his tongue trying to pronounce, or the lack of freedo with his fa docu them, Ludas sick of it all The resentment that accu finally exploded from the incident where he was scratched by Queen Katerina’s pet monkey
(There shouldn’t be a proble loose once in awhile)
And so, he executed his plan to “sneak into town”, a classic feature in fairy tales
As Ludwik breathed in the fragrance of trees wet froainst him, he ran with all he had for the first tifuls of fresh air until he merrily arrived at the town
“I’m back—! My town!”
He spread his two hands and yelled out
After which, he entered the first tavern he caught sight of and toasted fellow custo filled heat beer to the point that the head foam spilled over and fell
”My wife is intense like you wouldn’t believe She set ait to scratch me”
Ludwik grumbled jovially
“Hoooh So that’s where your scratches co your handsome face, lad”
“So the punchline is what you did to deserve that right?”
He was teased like so
“No way! I haven’t even held hands with a girl outsidesome private time with my little sister whom I hadn’t seen in awhile, she showed up and calleda monkey at me A monkey, you know? A monkey Is that sane? And after all that, she said that it was s that would be misunderstood and turned her head to the side sharply with a cold face, refusing to apologize Partway through, she shot a glance ize, but then she just turned away again”
“That wife of yours sounds a lot like Her Majesty”
Everyone burst out laughing
The queen’s high pride and the discord between her and the king ell known even beyond the castle walls
If Adelheid heard this, she’d probably say, “This is a problem” and frown If Ludas sober he’d probably have shut up, but since he was drunk,
“Is her face as divine as Her Majesty’s as well?”
Upon being asked,
“She’s a beauty like the fairy queen who rules the spirit world in the forest But she only ever glares atme a smile”
Ludwik loudly replied
“Wow, she really is just like Her Majesty!”
“Her Majesty really isn’t a girl one should take as one’s bride, huh–”
“Yeah, I agree I’d rather have a ho’s just a little cute but cheerful and hard working”
Ludwik nodded firmly at everyone’s words which resonated with him
“You’re exactly right One should never rand northern eht”
He hoisted up his ulp
Applause arose from the other patrons whom Ludwik had bonded with from this heartfelt talk
“Yeah, that’s right! Just drink and forget such a high and ife”
“You’d be a looker if not for those scratches, so search for a better girl Just divorce that wife akin to an icicle”
Someone proposed
For just a uilty towards Queen Katerina
(Well, she’s having a hard ti from a faraway country to marry a man she can’t stomach Her attendants that escorted her here have all returned ho’s different, whether it be the language or the culture)
He opened his mouth and was about defend her, but realized that even if he did, it wouldn’t do anything but kill the atmosphere
That’s right, today I’et reality
“Alrigh—t! I’onna divorce her—!”
As Ludwik yelled and gulped down another ful of wheat beer, everyone cheered and clapped even louder than before
“Well said!”
“Now that’s a man!”
“Divorce her–!”
“Give her the divorce she deserves!”
He was cheered on by the patrons one by one and patted roughly on the shoulders Having wheat beer poured into hisfrom all directions, Ludwik drank and drank jovially and enjoyeda scene
A few hours later—
“Hahaha, I’ll divorce you–”
Dead drunk, Ludalked through the forest alone
The sky is still dark, and the stars are shi+ning clearly
He left the tavern intending to return to the castle before dawn, but as he is drunk, his legs obbling and he couldn’t figure out the right direction
“Was the castle this way?”
“Ahh, I’ that it’s this direction too”
“No, it’s this way after all”
Eh, whatever I should arrive soered onith a carefree attitude, he inadvertently wandered deep into the forest
A third of Rhodesia’s territory is covered by green forestry Thus, if one kept walking one direction at random, it’s very likely one would encounter a forest
Ludwik continued staggering through the forest optiets past the forest then there should be a road so past the forest, he’s wandering deeper and deeper into it; however, he doesn’t notice
Giant trees towered over hih as he could see The leaves stained black from the darkness swayed ht wind Perched atop a twisting branch whose shape was like that of a ht from its pupils and eerily cried “Ho—ho—”
“I’—!”
Ludwik yells as he staggers onward merrily
Ludwik forgot the warning that all Rhodesian parents drill into their children: “Do not walk too deeply into the forest A spirit world exists in the forest where s live If they catch you, you won’t be able to return home”
The air suddenly chilled as a strong wind blew past the trees, bending the branches backwards, after which a majestic voice sounded from an uncertain direction
“Hu, you are not to trespass beyond this point”
Resounding gently in the darkness was a mystical voice
“Hwhat? Did so?”
Ludwik surveyed the scenery to both his left and right restlessly, but no one was there Next, he turns backward There were only thick and overgrown trees basking in the ht without a trace of anyone
“Haha,tricks on me”
He laughed and proceeded forward, upon which a thin girl suddenly appeared right before hily out of nowhere His heart almost froze
“!”
Even though he didn’t see anyone when he checked just now nor did he sense any movement since—
Furtherirl was clearly abnormal
She looks as old as Lottie and earing a dress made of a thin and transparent s that are as thin as a stick The cloth of her dress absorbed the ht and shi+ned fluorescently
(Is that… silk? No, silk isn’t that transparent This dress is lustrous and even finer than silk, alht)
The cloth was unknown even to Ludho used to be the young master of a dressmaker
Moreover, given the season is autuht Yet, she’s wearing a dress thin enough to irl to be out here alone at this tiht would normally be unthinkable
Her alolden and she carried a gravity that didn’t irl that’s older than Ludwik and by far
And ht Ludwik’s eyes was the color of her hair
It is a vivid blue like a bead of sapphire
Ludwik has never met someone with hair like hers before
Her lustrous blue hair is long enough to cover the entirety of her thin body To Ludwik, it looked as if the girl wearing clothesout from behind her
The girl spoke again with a mysterious voice
“If you set foot past this point, you won’t be able to return home anymore”
Ludwik finally recalled the admonition to not walk too deeply into the forest that all Rhodesian citizens know
And also that in the spirit world that exists sos with mysterious powers
Is this blue-haired girl soends? Or a too drunk?
Ludwik didn’t feel scared at all; instead, he felt a stinging sadness well up and fill his heart
“I don’t need to go back…”
(Huh, what a?)
Why did I suddenly say so like that?
I was planning to return to the castle by
Really, he just wanted to have a little bit of fun as just another regular townsfolk again, eating and drinking andsome noise He had planned to return to the castle and his days of staht
Because that’s his duty as the king
(That’s right, I’ve gotta return to the castle)
“I— I don’t need to go back I don’t want to go back… after all, there’s nothing there that I want”
Words spontaneously spilled out
Those were probably his true feelings as well— the ones of his other side
What he drea job and a cheerful ho has it together and loves dancing
He dreairls who visited the store be pretty and living awith the one he loves
However, to Ludwik, there isn’t anya seal, nor is there a cheerful ho loves dancing waiting for him in the castle
There’s only a noble princess who hates dancing and would set a monkey loose on her husband and slam a Holy Book onto his forehead
Even if Ludwik doesn’t return, she surely wouldn’t be sad On the contrary, she hted that she could return to her culturally refined homeland
So, it’s fine even if he’s taken to the spirit world as is and becomes unable to return home As Ludwik concluded this with his intoxicated olden eyes as if pitying him
“What a waste”
“Eh?”
What’s a waste?
To Ludho stared at her puzzledly, the blue-haired girl announced solemnly,
“Even though you are a rare possessor of great fortune”
“Ehh?”
Is she referring to how I beca king; rather, my life was much more carefree as a comirl I like
The young girl spoke further
“If you so desired, you could surely becoarden of paradise”
The arden of paradise?
“All that others envy, you shall obtain: whether it be status, wealth, love, or peace The First to the Sixth that are necessary for that to happen shall become yours”
As if she can clearly see Ludwik’s faraway future, the girl’s voice carrying words that sounded like a blessing but also like a curse drifted through the dark forest
“However, only the Seventh shall not become yours”
Ludwik didn’t knohat the Seventh irl declared this, he felt as if his heart was gorged out
“The one thing you’ll yearn for to the point of crying and screa shall surely never become yours”
Ludwik’s heart throbbed again in pain
To be unable to have so, that’s simply too cruel
“This is all a drea a dream after I fell asleep, no? If this is a drea a bit more hopeful?”
To Ludho coirl answered with a majestic voice
“Though you and the seventh will part, the First to the Sixth shall re happiness without las you desire shall surely lead you to the garden of paradise”
The trees’ branches shook and the leaves rustled noisily
A cold gust howled sharply as it blew right past Ludwik Bits of dirt and dry leaves hit Ludwik’s cheeks and nose dispersedly, causing him to reflexively cover his face with both hands and close his eyes
When he opened his eyes, the young girl with blue hair had disappeared without a trace
“O—i! What do you oing to part with?!”
Even if he yells this—
“O—i”
“O—i”
He only hears his own voice echoing back; he doesn’t hear the irl
Before he realized, he was standing on the side of a lake faintly illuh he was deep in the forests until just now!
As Ludas unable to grasp the situation at hand, he heard the sound of water splashi+ng
A black shadow in the shape of a human projected into his eyes
So into the lake
A long-haired— woman
To bathe in cold water this deep into the night isn’t nor to drown herself?
“Hey you, what are you doing?!”
Ludwik dashes forward as he calls out to her loudly
Upon which, the woman turns his direction
Just then, the clouds co the lake in front of him to darken as if dyed with black ink Ludwik could tell that the woht her breath as she looked up at his face, but he couldn’t ure or face clearly
She see still
“I don’t knohat happened, you mustn’t kill yourself”
When Ludwik said this firroaned faintly in the darkness
As the air trembled, and Ludwik’s heart pounded thu with sadness,
“Ludy”
Penetrating deep into his heart, it was an unforgettable voice filled with sorrow
(Why does she know my name?)
Ludas baffled, but at the same time, he was sure he knew the person with this voice for some reason
Right
She’s my precious—
This tiht all around hiht When the light died down and his vision becaain, he was enveloped in a faint white mist of snow
Both the nighttime lake and the woman with the sorrowful voice had disappeared
In their place, Ludwik saoant dress that features laces, pelt, and e in front of him
Upon her straight and slender back rustles bright, golden hair the color of old back and forth
Even though I should know this woman as well, I can’t recall who she is
Together with her golden hair, the hem of her white dress sways slowly from side to side as she walks into the distance
She’ll be gone if I don’t chase after her
Anxietyto crack
But, his legs won’t move! Enveloped in the mist of snow, the slender silhouette fades away
He tries to call out her name, but he can’t recall it
Even though she’s definitely, unmistakably, someone he knows
In place of his voice which is stuck in his throat, he reaches out his hands desperately
“To me, you— you are my—”
When he opened his eyes, there were twointo his eyes
She peered at hi at her newborn Her full, red lips looked soft, and her graceful black hair,like a wave, spilled over her shoulders
“Are you awake?”
She asked gently with a voice that’s kind and waraze
“Where am I…?”
He can see a wooden roof above her
It’s a plain roofwooden planks next to each other The walls also have a plain design, and the hearth is ht red inside the hearth, and a large pot sullied with soot rested on a grill above It see made, as the pleasant aro with a trail of steam
“You collapsed in the middle of the forest, you know? Yan found you on his way back from work and carried you on his back to our home Your face is full of scratches, so he was startled, thinking you were attacked by a bear But after noticing that you reeked of alcohol, he felt relieved, realizing that you sioodness'”
E eyes and full, soft lips for a smile
The reason he blushed is as follows: one, he was embarrassed that he passed out drunk in the forest
Two, her smile was simply too kind and lovely
Her smile is soft and airy like the steah to heal one’s heart
“Ahh, so you’re awake now mister”
A s reen eyes
He looks to be quite a bit older than Ludwik in one way, yet also about the saht, his face which still carries an air of innocence, and his unguarded expression, Ludwik couldn’t grasp his age well But, surely he’s not that young
“Are you Mr Yan, the one who helped me?”
Ludwik got up halfway in his bed and inquired, upon which
“Yeah, that’s right You were lying on the ground facing upwards and didn’t wake up even when I shook you, so I brought you here”
Yan answered a It should have been hard for his
“I’m sorry for the trouble”
Ludwik bows his head down deeply, upon which
“It’s fine, it’s fine E’rryone does foolish things in his youth Please relax and res’ up until ”
Yan says