I crouched down further. I hoped he wouldn’t notice me. For some reason, my ears were hot and my head was throbbing.
But unfortunately, Brantley approached me cautiously. Then he suddenly plopped down in front of me and his solid yet sweet scent enveloped me.
“What are you doing hiding here secretly?”
“……”
“Are you spying on people?”
“…you…?”
“What did you say?” He leaned towards me as he couldn’t hear me well.
I asked in a whispering voice, “Are you dating her?”
“What? Dating whom?” Brantley frowned.
Then he burst into a hollow laughter.
“Marina already has someone.”
“Marina?” I widened my eyes..
Then I heard a chuckle not far away. The woman who had received the flower from Brantley was giving it to a man who just arrived. His figure felt familiar.
“Don’t you remember?”
“Those two.. The ones that got married that day…?”
The day when I first spotted the cult performing in circle, a couple was in the centre.
The two fell in love but couldn’t marry due to their difference in status.
So their wedding was performed by the followers of Aite, a god who desired to bring together ‘two living beings’ whenever he could.
“Marina wanted to gift Golden, so she was picking up baby’s breaths.”
“I see…”
I had a ridiculous misunderstanding. My cheeks burned with embarrassment. Brantley chuckled seeing my expression.
I said coyly, “The people here are kind. They go to great lengths for others’ love.”
“What?”
Brantley looked at me with a puzzled expression. As his mocking smile faltered, I found it amusing.
“I like it here.”
“You might want to reconsider.”
“But I like you more.”
I smiled brightly and said. His handsome face reddened slightly.
‘Acting all grown-up, but he was still so shy.’
I felt a lump in my throat, while holding his firm hand in mine.
“So I’ve decided!”
“I hope that decision doesn’t involve becoming a devotee.”
“To date Sir Knight!”
“At whose behest?”
Brantley’s voice quavered at the end.
‘He’s still so fun to tease. You haven’t changed a bit, Brantley.’
“I don’t believe in marriage.”
But Brantley’s next words stunned me.
“Huh!?”
“What’s with that reaction?”
“It’s tragic for humanity for someone like you to be against marriage!”
“Why? Because I’m handsome?”
Brantley asked, leaning closer with a mischievous grin.
I knew he was handsome, but seeing him up close made me gasp. His sparkling silver eyes were like a cold moon, yet also like sweet ice cream.
‘Brantley doesn’t realise how handsome he is.’
I recalled the words of the other devotee, who said many women had crush on Brantley.
When I didn’t respond and just stared at him, Brantley narrowed his eyes and chuckled, “Don’t judge a book by its cover. If you knew how I’ve lived, you wouldn’t think that way.”
“How have you been?”
I thought this was the right opportunity to ask.
As I looked at him with teary pink eyes and tilted my head, Brantley stared at me with a strange expression.
“Do you want to know? You might find it to be disgusting.”
“No, I won’t.”
I pouted and shook my head.
“I want to know everything about you, Sir Knight.”
“You’re saying that because you don’t know what…”
“Are you underestimating my feelings for you, sir knight?”
Brantley stared at me with a subtle expression.
“Do you know what mercenaries do for a living?”
Mercenaries?!
‘I thought he has been a knight here all along!’
In recent years, bandits disguised as followers of demonic cults have appeared on the border.
Until my father personally subdued them, they acted like outlaws.
This increased the demand for mercenaries.
Landowners, merchants, and others hired mercenaries to defend themselves against their enemies.
Mercenaries fought for their employers at the risk of their lives.
On top of that, the borderlands were cold, barren, and harsh, with cannibalistic demons.
They say that after a few years as a mercenary, even an innocent young boy can lose his humanity and turn into a sick murderer.
But the young man in front of me is no different from his adorable young self.
“Now do you understand? I am…”
“No, I want to know more.”
Did he expect me to be scared and run off? Instead, I clung to him closer, leaving Brantley puzzled.
‘But seeing how much you’ve suffered, I can’t just leave you alone.’
I bit my lower lip and looked up at him earnestly.
My passionate pink eyes clashed with his silver ones. His frozen moon-like eyes melted softly.
“I am…”
As Brantley’s tightly sealed lips slowly parted…
“Knight!”
Someone shouted, rushing over.
It was the man who had informed me of Brantley’s whereabouts.
Brantley quickly moved away from me and stood up abruptly.
“What’s going on?”
“God Aite has sent an oracle!”
“An oracle?”
Brantley muttered in annoyance. He seemed to dislike Aite’s oracles.
“Yes. God has found a beautiful pair to unite. We should hurry up with the ceremony.”
“Understood. You may go, but…”
“I want to go too! I want to participate in the ceremony!”
I stood up from among the sea of flowers. The man jumped in surprise as suddenly I appeared with white flower petals stuck in my blonde hair.
“You scared me! Do you want to go too?”
“Yes. I want to participate in the ceremony too.”
“Well, if you’re going to become a devotee anyway…”
“No!” Brantley shouted.
Both the man and I looked at him in surprise.
“You can’t attend a ceremony like Aite’s.”
“Why?”
“Again…”
Brantley suddenly closed his mouth. He seemed to have inadvertently revealed his thoughts.
The man frowned and glared at Brantley, “Your words are disrespectful. Don’t forget, Aite is our God.”
“… ”
Brantley usually kept his thoughts to himself, but now he seemed to have spoken unintentionally.
The man crossed his arms and glared at Brantley defiantly.
I needed to divert his attention elsewhere. I smiled wryly at the man and said, “Who are the lucky persons to have their love fulfilled today?”
The man relaxed his expression and replied, “They are not a person. But I think Aite intends to unite an incredibly beautiful pair.”
“Really? I’m looking forward to it! Who are they?”
“The thing is…”
The man chuckled awkwardly and started telling the story. I almost fainted at his words.
No way! Was she really going to bring “them” together?
‘Even if she’s a god, is she that crazy?’
If the man wasn’t lying, the circumstance was even crazier than what Brantley said!
With a sense of disbelief, I ran to the cave temple and saw an unbelievable scene unfolding.
Inside the temple, the followers were singing happy love songs and spinning around something in the center.
In the center was…
“What’s this cage for?” Brantley muttered incredulously.
The man laughed heartily and replied, “Hahaha! God Aite said he brought two birds to the temple himself and asked for them to be united in love!”
The followers were conducting a wedding ceremony around the cage.
Inside the cage, two sparrows, Todd and Natu, were fluttering around desperately, trying to escape.
– “Hanelope! Save me! Ugh! Hanelope!
– Aite! That crazy b*stard is doing this on purpose!”
‘I almost let my chuckle escape. But forcing them to marry was too much!’
The Gods were not on good terms. From the moment Todd and Natu met, they kept jabbing at each other. But Aite’s maliciousness was truly creative. To torment her fellow gods like this…
“Do they want to match birds now?” Brantley said incredulously.
“Yes. God Aite says they must be protected until they mate in a safe ‘sacred cage’ that no one else can open.”
Todd and Natu sat down and sobbed pitifully as they heard the man’s lines.
‘Since it’s a sacred cage, Todd and Natu, who haven’t recovered their strength, can’t escape. But maybe I can open it.
’
After the man left, I whispered to Brantley, “Sir Knight, please help me.”
Brantley raised an eyebrow and looked at me.
“Actually, those birds trapped in the cage are my pet sparrows.”
“What?”
“I let them out for a moment, but it seems they got caught. It looks like Aite has misunderstood something. They really hate each other, you know?”
“So you want to help them escape?”
“Yes! As expected, Sir Knight is quick-witted!”
“But how? Only Aite can control sacred objects.”
“There might be another way if Sir Knight helps…”
I explained the plan to Brantley and grabbed his hand. We squeezed through the crowd, following the circle of people. Brantley, sticking to the plan, disrupted the equilibrium of the cycle.
As the followers conducting the ceremony lost their momentum and scrambled away, I took advantage of the chaos to touch the cage with my hand filled with divine power.
Click!
And the cage opened.
- The author kept it vague here. A few chapters back we saw extras getting married named, Cecile and Andre. Did they adapt new names after marriage as Marina and Golden? Or are they some other couple with similar circumtances.. I guess we’ll never know
- Also did you guys know the flower language of Baby’s Breath/ Gypsophilia is pure and eternal love
Scene is from the kdrama: ‘It’s Okay to Not Be Okay’
