Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

“What’s wrong, Lord?”

“… It’s nothing.”

He looked at me like a herbivore that could not speak as he stared at me with a wronged gaze. He shook his head as if to say that it was nothing.

“You look like you have a lot to say though?”

It was Fleon who burst out into laughter while Dane was smiling as pretty as ever. What was the matter?

“Time’s up. Time to go!”

After a while, I left my palace. Though he said he was busy, Dane still followed me out of my palace.

“We take a right here, right?”

“Yeah.”

When we reached the crossroads, Dane patted my head lightly.

“I’m glad you look like you’re having fun. Have a safe trip.”

I held onto his clothes because I recalled something when I looked at Dane’s face.

“Ah, right. Dane.”

“Yeah?”

“Even though we don’t have any divinity, we are still considered Jupiter’s templars, right?”

“I guess you can think that way? The Imperial family are descendants of Jupiter.”

He pondered over what I asked as he nodded.

Well, if that was the case.

I crept up to him before pulling Dane’s clothes. Urgh… It looks like I still had ways to go.

“Dane, lower your head.”

He bent over his waist staggeredly.

Peck.

My lips brushed against his cheeks gently. It was too light of a touch to be considered a kiss.

“… Ashley?”

“Someone told me, that a kiss from a templar is considered a blessing.”

“…..”

Just as he did to me, I stroked his head as well.

“You look so tired these days. Work hard.”

I wondered how men’s hair can be so soft. Did he really have to have it all?

Soon, I could hear a kind and gentle laugh above my head. Dane was smiling brightly.

“Thank you. Now, I think I can do anything.”

I turned my head to look at my next opponent.

“Do you want one too, Lord?”

“… My apologies.”

Lord Ray retreated away from us.

“Why not? Just accept it. I’m telling you it’s a blessing.”

I smiled before jokingly speaking.

“… I’m not sure. If I accept it, I don’t think I can survive.”

“What?”

“I’m talking about a certain part of my body.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“It’s just nonsense.”

He stepped back before scratching the back of his neck.

“I’ll accept it if you grow a head taller.”

“Are you done chatting? You sure chat a lot, Lord. Fine. You won’t get it anywhere else, Lord.”

And just like that, I headed towards the carriage.

“Well, see you later.”

In actuality, Dane and Fleon were holding my hand at my sides to support me. It was only natural for parts of European culture from the Middle Ages and Ancient Grecian culture to be mixed like some melting pot in this world.

When I thought about the symposium, I realised that none of that seemed to matter.

These days, when a small flower that I thought had dried up long ago blooms in my heart, I wanted to share it with everyone around me and help them do well too.

These days, perhaps due to overworking, having dark eye bags seemed to be his permanent look. It was like an empty promise but I hoped that I could protect him with this blessing at least.

***

“Pipio!”

Soricks ran over.

“Hello, Soricks?”

“I’ve been waiting. I already told the boss beforehand. Now, all we need to do is leave right away!”

Usually, officials would use the silver-coloured door in the middle to leave the building.

Among the gold-coloured, silver-coloured and iron doors, the gold-coloured ones can only be used by officials of a higher status. Thinking about it now, Soricks was part of the Curules so I expected him to be more of the playful type.

But I still wondered why the place we arrived at was somewhere very familiar.

“… This is the hole though?”

“Yes. The hole.”

No, why was he replying me so cheerfully?

“… Do we have to pass through this place?”

“Yes!”

I quickly realised that I had no choice.

I went ahead and crawled into the hole which was larger than I expected in front of him.

“Don’t you feel more adventurous this way?”

He smiled before saying.

“This is your first outing to the capital so it should be filled with fun memories.”

It was just then I remembered the story I told him about my background as Anna, ‘The rural girl from a port town of commerce’. It was something I came up with after much consideration.

“That’s the wall.”

There were two walls surrounding the palace. One was the inner wall and the other was the outer wall.

The outer part of the palace was a place where many people come and go. So I heard that it could get quite noisy which was perhaps why Soricks was making me go through this.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a hat and a cloak. Please cover your face with this.”

“Do I have to cover my face? Why? Because I’m ugly?”

I said that playfully but he shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s the opposite.”

Soricks who wrapped me in a cloak then smiled brightly, reminding me of a midday forest.

“I’m covering it up because you’re too pretty. Sometimes, there will be a group of bad knights in the outer palace who would bother the wandering maids and ladies-in-waiting.”

He whispered. Well, considering what we came out here to do, it would not be good to get too much attention. The hood covered my forehead.

“If we reach that door, we’ll be entering the capital.”

He stretched out his hand. I hesitated for a moment before placing my head in his. The knight’s hands were rugged, tattered and firm, evidence of his long years as a patrol.

“Well then, we’ll be back!”

“Who’re you talking to?”

“Uhm, the Aedile?”

Aha. I nodded my head.

“Should I say something too? I’ll be back, Aedile!”

As we held hands, I burst into laughter. After flashing a smile, I said goodbye to him. With our salutations finished, he swept his gaze towards me like a young boy.

Passing through the rough tunnel, I spotted the end. A world I could not enter. Without realising it, I stopped walking. When I did, Soricks looked at me curiously.

“Pipio?”

He carefully led me by hand. When was it… The day I tried to run from death? That one step was so hard to take. It was so hard I ended up dying again and again.

I took half a turn.

Perhaps it was because I managed to escape from this palace too easily. But the huge palace that was standing tall before me seemed to be looking down on me with its golden roof following my every move.

“Will it disappear if I run away?”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

I wanted to run towards the sunset like a main character in a youth drama. I wanted to escape from this palace. But in actuality, the palace was everywhere around me.

“No, let’s hurry and go!”

I pulled his hand.

There was a large market in the outer palace. The festivities had yet to begin but I heard that people had started to gather three months before the festival was supposed to begin and this large market was going to be held till the day the festival ends.

“During this period, people working in the palace are given leave while those who choose to work instead are given salaries 2-3 times the usual amount.”

“Nobody wanted to work, right?”

“Of course. There are not too many days when there are exciting things to do around here.”

He made a pleasant noise. Well, unless they were a workaholic, they would choose to rest. It would only be a loss if they did not enjoy it.

“The square is quite a distance away.”

“Yes. We will have to walk a little.”

Come to think of it, Rusbella had good stamina. She had travelled to find her birth mother and not a single sentence in the novel mentioned her exhaustion or pants. She must have had the strength of a man. This world was too unreasonable.

“What are you thinking about, Pipio?”

“I was thinking about my dream for a moment.”

“What’s your dream?”

“Uhm, being a skilled knight? Or an amazing templar.”

“Why?”

“I want to be strong.”

The long and large roads were crowded with carriages and horses with people carrying heavy loads walking around as if it was nothing much.

Thinking that the loads they were carrying must be nothing much, Soricks then told me that they were Templars of Strength.

“Uhm, a knight. Did you want to be a ‘knight’, pipio? Or a templar on the battlefield?”

Then, he replied lightly to my musings.

“Are there female knights in the Empire? Uhm… A female templar amidst all others in battle.”

“Of course, it’s extremely rare to see them now. But there used to be great ones.”

He told me the story of a female templar who was famous in the Empire back in the day.

“She was a great knight. If she had not disappeared, she could have been the Head Templar of the Sword right now. Back then, young girls would follow her and dream of becoming a Templar of the Sword too.”

She was a Templar of the Sword and she was so strong even the Head Templar of the Sword could not defeat her. It was said that her flaming red hair was very eye-catchingly beautiful and everyone admired her.

‘Eye-catching?’

I tilted my head when I heard ‘eye-catching’.

‘Was there anyone in this novel that had red hair other than Rebecca?’

If the lady had been a red-haired woman, Rebecca was the only one I thought of. I could not think of anyone else? Was it someone I did not know?

“The road’s going to be a little more complicated from here on out.”

To say the streets were crowded would be an understatement.

“The roads in the capital are very complicated for a first-timer. It’s easy to get lost here.”

Just as he said, the Empire’s capital felt like a living creature. If the main road could be considered the artery, then the dozens of small alleyways that branch out from the side could be considered as capillaries. With just a blink of an eye, the number of people I could see sharply increased.

In my previous life, I took a brief trip to Austria and the roads in the Empire reminded me of the sights I saw back then.

As I walked through the crowded streets, there were many tall buildings. Let me count them. 6 floors, 7 floors…

“All these skyscrapers are the masterful work of Vulcanus!”

As Soricks commented proudly, his words entered one ear and left the other.

‘So, Fleon’s maternal family is in charge of architecture and construction.’

They had to be rich.

“Be careful not to trip.”

The road was getting narrower and narrower. We pushed past people and stepped on their feet. A man got annoyed but greeted me positively when we made eye contact. Perhaps he wanted to just enjoy himself considering the festive season.

As I walked out of the narrow alleyway, we arrived at a cozy square.

“Wow…!”

A small oasis could be spotted amidst the waves of people. At the center of it all, there was a small fountain sprouting cool water.

“Careful, pipio.”

As I approached in awe, the water soared above me. As if it was alive.

“Uh, wait. Aiya!”

I was so surprised I fell backwards on my butt but a pleasant laugh could be heard beside me.

“Ah. My apologies, Miss. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

A chubby man with brown hair appeared before me before flashing a smile as warm as his flesh.

Water was floating in the space beside him in the form of droplets.

“Don’t you think that joke was too much?”

As he swirled his hands, the droplets fused together to form a stream of water and swirled around me. Ah, I’ve seen this before.

I had seen this at the laundry place a long time ago. That meant…

“A Templar of Rivers?”

“You’re quite a smart miss, aren’t you?”

The man with the nice smile kept talking to me as if he was teasing me.

“That is the temple of our river, Rao.”

When I followed the direction his finger was pointing at, I spotted a modest building made out of pure white pillars. In front of the ancient Greek temple, there was a sign board written in ancient language. It was the name of the river god.

With the door to the temple wide open, there were people sitting in rows along the steps to the temple. When someone plucked the string of the small lyra he was holding, someone else sang in tune to the melody.

“S-Song?”