Chapter 265: The Beginning (1)
“Your Majesty.”
A powerful voice.
The young man standing outside the west gate in a salute was the general in charge of the security of the Capital City Mediasis, Fitzio.
Roan waved his hand lightly as he stared at the faraway gate. There had been numerous changes to the Mediasis Castle. The heightened walls and the widened gates were one of those changes.
“As you had ordered previously, we have not prepared a ceremony for your arrival.”
“Good. Well done.”
Roan nodded his head with a light smile.
Everything felt anew.
“We have prepared a separate carriage.”
Fitzio looked to his right and there stood a carriage too normal for the Monarch to be using.
Roan slowly gave a nod.
“It’s been a long time since I last returned. I want to walk a bit.”
In response to that, Fitzio gave a bright smile and pulled out a yellowish-brown robe from his backpack.
“I expected those words and have prepared in advance.”
“As expected of Fitzio.”
Roan took the robe and put it over his head. Fitzio repeated the process and wore the same robe.
“Nathan.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
Roan ordered the deputy commander of the Amaranth Troop, Nathan to return separately as the citizens’ attention would naturally follow the Amaranth Troop.
Roan and Fitzio waited together for a while until they hid under the visitors of the capital, before entering Mediasis.
“Hmm.”
Roan unconsciously let out a sigh of admiration.
It wasn’t that the castle had transformed into something tremendously different. The wide road penetrating the centre of the castle, the tall, clean buildings to each side, as well as the separately marked roads for men and horses – these had all practically stayed the same.
There certainly wasn’t a big difference.
But the small, minute details had grabbed his attention.
What he first found were the evenly-s.p.a.ced lampstands standing tall alongside the big and small roads.
Fitzio approached before whispering.
“We have installed magic lamps around the entire castle.”
Previously, only the main road from the South to the North had the lamps. Roan gave a slow nod.
“You all must’ve worked hard.”
“Yes. It was especially thanks to the magic tower of Leno, as well as the Lancephil Alchemy Department.
They had put a lot of effort into the production and installing of the magic lamps. And not just that…
Dududududu
A large horse carriage travelled smoothly along the two long yet small crevices next to the main road. The carriage was large enough for more than 30 adults to ride, and yet, the two st.u.r.dy horses leading it showed no signs of exhaustion.
Fitzio’s explanation continued once again.
“It was made after improving the standard magic carriage. The Magic Tower of Leno calls them the Lebbis carriages.”
He pointed his finger at the long crevices next to the road and the carriage wheels.
“By using a special varnish on the trail of crevices and the wheels made by Lancephil Alchemy Department, it enabled the travel of larger numbers of people with less power involved. The magic circle embedded on the carriage had naturally undergone several improvements.”
“Fabulous.”
Roan was wholeheartedly amazed.
After all, the only thing he had provided was economic support including magic stones. He had no clue as to how the Lebbis carriages operated. The most important thing was that thanks to the efforts of many people, Mediasis had earned a transport method which anyone could easily use.
‘I should give more economic support once the kingdom’s system is properly set.’
Thinking of what other inventions would pour out with more support made his heart rush.
Apart from that, it was hard to find dirt inside the capital city of Mediasis, and instead was filled with well-decorated flower beds and gardens.
The new city had an addition of beautiful scenery to the previous city of men and buildings. But more than these improvements, there was something else that made Roan more satisfied.
“Hahaha. Really? I wanna hear more of that.”
“Then how about a light round of beer at a nearby place?”
“Wow! You’re so pretty!”
“Mum! Buy me that!”
“Hurry, run! We’ll be late for cla.s.s!”
The laughter that made one feel good, as well as a happy atmosphere, filled the faces of the people around the town. Roan temporarily stopped his feet and watched the people go past.
“Ah…”
A low, yet long sigh escaped his mouth.
The scenery that he had long wished for was before him. The reason for putting his life on the line over the countless battles, the reason for being unable to leave the cruel battlefields full of screams and corpses – that reason was right there in front.
“Hmm.”
His eyes, his lips, his fingers… his heart trembled lightly. Within his eyes were a deep sinking light and Fitzio who had been watching from the side bent his neck down.
“All of this is thanks to your majesty.”
A face and voice devoid of any deception, but Roan shook his head. He stared at the still-smiling people and replied in a low voice.
“This is all…”
A soft aura emanated from his body.
“Thanks to you all.”
All of you.
That wasn’t limited to just the subordinates following Roan. It included the normal citizens of the kingdom who had endured through the sufferings of the cruel periods of war.
‘Everyone has a right to be happy.’
Roan bit his lips tight. A spring wind marking the start of the beginning blew refreshingly.
‘I must protect this scene from now.’
Becoming a monarch wasn’t the end – he had to protect this happiness to the bitter end.
Roan breathed in deeply and felt his head and chest refreshed. He turned and faced Fitzio.
“Let’s go to the palace.”
“Yes. Let me lead the way.”
Fitzio slightly lowered his head and led Roan forward, but their steps ceased before long.
“Hmm?”
Roan stopped his feet and stared at a decent-sized building next to him. It had gathered more people than other places.
“Fitzio.”
“Yes.”
Fitzio returned from the front and approached.
“What’s that place?”
When Roan pointed at a building, Fitzio followed his fingers until he eventually made a small cry.
“Ah! That place is the main restaurant of Tia Bakery belonging under Eskar Restaurant. It is one of the most popular places within Mediasis.”
“Tia Bakery?”
Roan tilted his head.
Eskar Restaurant under Lancephil Business Department was a name he was familiar with. However, Tia Bakery was new. Fitzio read his expression and gave a quick reply.
“The bread sold at Eskar Restaurant was so delicious that they made a separate bakery. The taste is one thing, but the price is cheap as well so is frequented by many people. Even I visit there once every three to four days.”
“I see.”
Roan nodded softly.
Eskar, the boss of Eskar Restaurant, was a skilled merchant. Even from the Lancephil Business Department, it was second only to the Ford Mining Company in terms of revenue.
‘A bakery set up by that Eskar is trustworthy indeed.’
Suddenly, he was curious about the taste.
“Shall we enter for a bit and buy some bread?”
“Yes. It is just about time for the new-baked bread to come out.”
Fitzio nodded with slight excitement showing on his face. The two of them eventually headed towards Tia Bakery. Roan did not introduce himself till the very end and had to wait at the queue like others for a very long time until he could enter.
“Hmm.”
The soft fragrant smell of bread itched his nose.
“Here is the bread for taste-testing.”
Fitzio quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed a few small pieces and brought them back.
“Taste-testing?”
Roan tilted his head while holding onto the bread piece. Fitzio smiled widely and placed another piece inside his mouth.
“At Tia Bakery, you can taste each bread, cookies, and cakes before buying them.”
“That’s quite a good idea.”
With slight admiration, Roan put a piece of bread into his mouth.
The outside was hard but the inside was soft and resulted in a good texture. Not only that, but the fragrance was also amazing and merely one piece had allowed the smell to encompa.s.s both the mouth and the nose.
“Hmm. Delicious. Delicious indeed.”
Roan truly admired this. He picked another piece of bread before eating, and shook his head slightly.
“Never knew Eskar’s baking skills were this good.”
He had previously only seen him as a skilled merchant.
Fitzio who had just picked another piece opened his eyes wide and shook his head.
“The one in charge of Tia Bakery isn’t Mr. Eskar.”
“Really? Then who is it?”
When Roan asked with slight surprise, Fitzio soon pointed at a corner of the shop.
“That person is the one in charge of Tia Bakery as well as the baker…”
Roan followed Fitzio’s finger as he looked over. At its end was a young woman – a woman looking truly happy.
“Miss Celine.”
A little after, Fitzio’s words dug into his ears.
‘Celine…’
It had been a while – the first time after the outing of the 12th Rose battalion. The previous life’s love and lover, Celine. She was the baker in charge of Tia Bakery.
“Miss Celine is the younger sister of General Glenn in charge of the training barracks…”
Fitzio from the side explained about Celine but it didn’t reach his ears.
‘I remember you saying you wanted to be a baker… it seems you have realised your dream in this life.’
Roan gave a hazy smile as he watched her. In their previous life, she had to give up her dream because of himself, and he had at least wanted Celine to realise it in this life.
‘All I did was to ask Eskar to teach her for a bit…’
And besides, he had forgotten it completely due to the continued battles.
But Celine had indeed become a baker after her own efforts. Perhaps it was a little faster than him accomplishing his dream.
‘That’s good. That is really good.’
He felt his heart soften.
Roan carried his feet and stood in front of Celine.
“Welcome. What bread did you want?”
Despite being busy, she gave a wide smile as she greeted.
A beautiful smile of someone who had achieved their dream. Roan softly replied while further lowering his hood.
“The bread is really nice.”
A warm, soft voice. Celine lowered her head with a bright smile.
“Thank you.”
She appeared to be truly happy from the heart. Whether fortunate or not, she didn’t recognise Roan.
“A variety of them please.”
“Yes, I’ll give you the newly baked ones.”
In reply to Roan’s words, Celine placed a few different types of bread into a large paper bag. Fitzio approached swiftly and handed over the money instead.
Roan stood still as he gazed at Celine.
The first and the last love of his previous life, as well as a connection that had continued onto his current life.
His heart ran.
But it wasn’t because of Celine.
A face of a woman appeared in his eyes.
‘Even when I’m looking at Celine…’
She comes to mind.
His eyes returned back to Celine.
‘Yes. This is fine.’
There was nothing else he could do for Celine. His heart wishing for her very best, was enough. Watching Celine who had achieved her dream of becoming a baker felt like it got the load off his mind.
And the more he felt that,
‘I want to see her.’
An innocent emotion filled him up to his throat.
Roan lowered his head to Celine.
“Please continue making delicious bread.”
Fitzio, who had been standing to the side was startled but quickly lowered his head as well.
“Yes. I’ll try harder and harder at all times.”
Celine bowed with a bright smile.
As Roan was about to leave Tia Bakery with Fitzio at the front, he suddenly came to a stop and turned back.
“Um…”
“Yes?”
Celine watched Roan with a curious expression. Her big eyes enlarged even further.
Roan continued with a subdued voice as if whispering.
“Right now… you look very happy.”
He really wanted to say this.
She who achieved her dream, and strived to improve her already-achieved dream even further looked truly blissful. No one knew – no, no one except himself knew, but he wanted to convey words of blessing and encouragement to Celine who had finally achieved her dream after spending two lives.
And it was also like that of a goodbye.
“Ah…… Yes. Thank you.”
Celine lowered her head with an awkward smile, during which Roan quickly strode outside before hiding himself into the crowd.
She tilted her head.
‘Is it someone I know?’
At that time.
“Celine. Give me some plain bread.”
With a husky voice, an old lady shot her hand up.
“Ah, yes. Grandma Bia. You came today as well. I’ll give you newly baked bread.”
Celine quickly came to things and rushed to pick up a paper bag. Her hands that steadily travelled across the bread – as the old lady Bia was staring at those hands, she suddenly made a frown.
“Celine, did something happen today?”
A worried voice. To which Celine replied while shrugging her shoulders.
“No. Nothing happened. Why?”
A bright and delicate voice, the same as before.
“Nothing happened? Then why are you…”
The old lady’s hand touched Celine’s.
“Crying?”
Suddenly.
Drip.
A clear warm drop of tear wet her cheeks as it dropped onto the table.
“Huh, uh, uh?”
She covered her face with a bewildered expression. The tears travelled straight down like a stroke of rain.
“Why am I like this?”
She couldn’t understand.
She wasn’t hurt, sad or angry.
She was enjoying it, joyful and happy.
And yet, her tears flowed without stopping.
Her eyes faced back towards the exit. Without realising it, her eyes chased the appearance of the man who had just bought bread, Roan. But she couldn’t find it anywhere.
Still, it wasn’t that she felt a large wave of regret or nostalgia flowing in.
‘I don’t know why but…’
Celine placed her hand on her chest.
‘It feels refreshing.’
It was as if something that had stayed clogged for days, hundreds of days, months and dozens of years had melted into nothingness.
It felt like she had finally awoken from a dream – her body, mind and heart felt refreshed.
Drip.
And yet, the tears showed no signs of stopping.
On the other hand, Roan who had left Tia Bakery couldn’t restrain his overflowing heart.
“Fitzio.”
“Yes.”
“I thought of something urgent, so I’ll be heading off first.”
“Sorry? What urgent thing could be…?”
Fitzio asked back with a slightly baffled expression. Roan smiled hazily and gave a short reply.
“Something my heart is telling me to do.”
A strange reply.
“Sorry? What does that…”
Fitzio tilted his head and asked again, but there was no way he could hear an answer.
It was because Roan who had been standing in front of him just before had suddenly vanished.
Truly, it happened in the blink of an eye.
Roan lightly kicked off the ground and followed an uncrowded road as he sprinted towards the palace in the middle of the castle. To avoid troubling the citizens, he would sometimes step on roofs to fly across the sky.
He quickly arrived before the palace gates and threw away his robe.
Along with the robe, the scarlet uniform and the insignia appeared from within.
“Huh, huh?! Yo, Your Majesty!”
“My king!”
The palace guards gave a salute after they realised it was Roan who had quickly approached. They were all former Taemusas, and clearly knew Roan’s face and his uniform colour.
After a little nod, Roan forced himself through the slight gap between the gates. At once, the beautiful palace garden appeared before him. The newly built palace of Amaranth kingdom had a ma.s.sive build.
The countless buildings and entrances stood there like a maze. A thoughtless step could result in being lost. Roan stood in the middle of the garden and took a deep breath.
“Aily!”
A st.u.r.dy voice shook the palace.
“Aily! Aily!”
A soft yet powerful voice. The somewhat hot voice spread into countless directions.
“Wh, what?! What is happening!”
“Who is it! Who dares to make a fuss at the palace!”
Soon, multiple people exited the buildings. Within them, there were Roan’s direct subordinates including Austin, Harrison and Brian,
“Y, your majesty?”
“Your majesty!”
They realised that the person making a fuss was Roan and made astonished faces. And then the fact that the name being called was…
“Aily!”
They had just realised he was calling for an Aily Rinse.
Roan circled around in his spot as he continued calling out her name.
As time pa.s.sed, more and more people gathered around, but they didn’t dare to approach and watched Roan from a distance.
And finally,
“Orabeoni?” [Remember, Aily is calling Roan “orabeoni” which is the very formal form of “oppa” which could mean anything from big brother to boyfriend in Korean.]
A door closed tight was opened and the long-awaited appearance of Aily was revealed. She had a puzzled face as she walked towards Roan.
“What happened? Did something happen?”
She had never heard Roan make such a desperate and urgent voice before. Worried that there might be something wrong with Roan, Aily’s face darkened.
“Aily…”
Unlike before, Roan whispered her name with a small soft voice.
“Yes, I’m here. It’s me.”
Aily quickly closed in and grabbed Roan’s hands. Roan stared at her white, clean hands and smiled.
“I was too noisy. I apologise.”
“No, don’t worry about it. Did something happen?”
Aily shook her head as if to say it’s okay. She was only worried about Roan.
Roan shook his head slowly.
“I’m dying.”
At an instant, Ailey’s two eyes widened.
“What?! What do you mean? Were you hurt somewhere? Or were you poisoned? Where, where were you hurt?”
With an expression that looked as if she was about to cry, she scolded him. Roan shook his head.
“I mean I’m dying to say this.”
“Sorry?”
Aily, who had been inspecting Roan’s situation, asked back with a stupefied face.
“What exactly do you mean?”
Aily’s eyes were full of concern and Roan who had been staring silently at those eyes kneeled on one knee.
“Orabeoni?”
Aily, who thought Roan was collapsing, went down with him and kneeled on one side. Thanks to that, the two of them faced each other on one knee in the middle of everyone’s attention.
“Aily.”
Roan’s right hand caressed Aily’s cheek and a smile appeared on his lips, while his eyes turned watery.
Finally through his lips, sweet words flowed out.
No, those weren’t words.
“Could you…”
That was an emotion.
“Could you marry…”
But before all the emotion could be relayed, Aily’s lips covered Roan’s.
“Mmm.”
Roan’s feelings had pierced through Aily’s lips as it was directly delivered. Aily’s feelings had likewise reached Roan through his lips.
Roan and Aily.
Their time slowly, very slowly stopped.
And then, their time seemed to stay linked through eternity, knowing no end.
End.