There's nothing that doesn't bend to time.
No matter how beautiful a flower may be, eventually it will wither, and even a strong sword will eventually rust.
And the same goes for the sun that rose in the sky.
The increasingly reddish glow of the sunset cast long shadows over Brigantes, the capital of the empire.
The shadow, which continued to sway as the sun gradually set, finally reached the most glorious building in Brigantes.
Center of the empire. Even to the imperial palace.
Ding-dong.
The sudden sound of the bell made everyone in the city stop what they were doing and turn their heads.
A bell that starts ringing even though it's not time to ring.
The people wondering what was happening soon could see a black flag starting to rise slowly over the imperial palace.
The sun was setting.
The sun rose at the highest point of the empire.
A completely black night began from the sunset that had finally fallen.
***
When I opened my eyes, I found myself under an unfamiliar ceiling.
"It seems they've changed the wallpaper."
Vlad opened his eyes upon hearing a tired voice and absentmindedly started counting the numbers in the ceiling patterns.
But the more he counted, the blurrier his vision became.
It seemed that a single night's rest couldn't relieve the fatigue.
"…I'll sleep a little longer."
Vlad said he was going to sleep, but as Vlad, who was already thinking about sleeping better, began to squirm like a slug and hide under the blanket.
It had been almost a year since his expulsion from Soara.
Vlad, who had a place to rest but no place to comfortably toss and turn, decided to stay up late for the first time in a long time.
"Alright."
I really need to sleep until my nose is crooked today.
The accumulated tiredness over the years was too sticky, and the house he returned to after a long time was warm.
It had been autumn for a while, but the cold air already swirled at the tip of his nose, tightly wrapping around Vlad's blanket.
"Hey."
"…"
"Hey Hey."
"…Don't touch me."
However, despite Vlad's resolute determination, there was a hand that grasped him without hesitation.
Small but unstoppable hands.
The hand that had been carefully shaking his shoulder suddenly rose bravely and tangled Vlad's hair.
"I told you not to touch my head."
"I told you not to worry."
"…Hey."
It was a room that didn't receive much sunlight, but the red hair visible through the raised blanket was enough to light up Vlad's eyes.
"Just... I'll sleep a little. Just until lunchtime."
"It's lunchtime now."
Zemina's round and curved eyes suddenly pointed towards the window.
The afternoon sunlight shone through the curtains.
It was an unfamiliar sight for Vlad, who always woke up to the dim light of dawn.
"If you want to sleep better, have lunch and then sleep. Marcella prepared the ingredients early in the morning just because you were coming."
Zemina's hand, which had been playing with his hair, grabbed Vlad's collar and began to pull him slowly.
Zemina's face was as refreshing as the upper part of her body that was suddenly getting closer as she stood up.
"You. Did you put on makeup?"
"Hmm."
He asked this question because he couldn't see the freckles on the bridge of her nose, but Zemina triumphantly began to smile as if she had finally realized.
"How do I look? Do I look good?"
"With this, you would already be committing a crime."
It's probably because I haven't fully woken up yet.
Maybe it's because the room is dark.
In that sense, the Zemina in front of me now looked quite different from the version of her that Vlad had seen before.
"Get up quickly. Lunch is almost ready."
"…"
A door closes slowly with a creak.
Vlad stared at Zemina's back through the gap for a long time.
"I became arrogant."
The freckled Zemina that Vlad had been waiting for wasn't there.
Even the poor girl wringing out a mop with her thin hands.
The woman in front of Vlad now was just Zemina, with a pink smile that had suddenly risen on its own.
"Do you really change so much just because you put on makeup?"
An unidentifiable smell began to waft from where Zemina had gone.
Vlad vaguely thought that the smell was the smell of dust, but in reality, the makeup Zemina had applied was only subtle.
***
"Good morning, Vlad."
"Good morning. Did you sleep well, Marcella?"
"I couldn't sleep at all. Thanks to you."
Upon hearing Marcella's playful words, Vlad looked at her.
Two swollen eyes that didn't favor a slender face.
It was Marcella, not Zemina, who hugged Vlad when he returned yesterday and cried loudly.
"As I get older, I find it difficult to control my emotions. I think it's time for me to retire."
"You're still in your prime."
The senses of the former Chopal screamed.
Now is the time to say no.
"Yes?"
As if that were the correct answer, the plate was filled with meat.
It would have been great if Alicia had shown the same tact now.
"..."
Vlad began to quietly look around as he ate the food Marcella gave him.
Yesterday, when he had just returned, he was very busy, crowded, and agitated.
That's why he couldn't give her what she should have had.
"Marcella."
"Huh?"
"Here you go."
After confirming that no one was on the fourth floor, Vlad carefully handed Marcella a small bag.
"What's this?"
"...I'm not sure if it will work."
Vlad probably wasn't the only one captivated by the blue moonlight that day.
Somehow, the person who lost the most that night was Marcella, so this level of price was necessary for her.
"What's this? A ring?"
"It's Godin's."
A very strong name was heard beyond the spoon moving indifferently.
"Godin?"
Marcella's fingertips began to tremble as she opened her pocket, perhaps surprised by Vlad's words.
No, maybe it's scary.
The blue moonlight still filtering into every corner of Rose's smile was nothing short of a nightmare for Marcella.
"I couldn't kill him, but he died anyway."
What was in the pocket Vlad handed her was a ring.
It was exactly a signet ring used to seal letters, and the ring had engraved on it the symbol of an eagle, the symbol of Gaidar.
"It's Marcella's."
"…Hah."
As a loser and not a winner, he couldn't achieve anything complete.
Although it could have been a great trophy, Vlad decided to give Godin's ring to Marcella.
Marcella, who received the ring from Vlad's hands, looked at it for a while.
What passes countless times between her black eyes is probably the memory of someone and the pain of that time.
"Agh!"
"Ah!"
However, Marcella didn't want that ring.
Seeing the ring suddenly thrown into the brazier, Vlad ended up spitting out the water he had been holding.
"Marcella?"
"What is this made of? It's a ring, but it burns well."
Godin's ring starts to melt into a bright red color in the brazier.
However, unlike Vlad, who was surprised, Marcella's face suddenly filled with the same smile as always.
"Sometimes I see men more sentimental than women."
"Yes?"
What can heal wounds is time, not revenge.
Marcella knew this very well, which is why she threw Godin's ring into the brazier.
This ring was not something that healed the wound, it was just a reminder of it constantly.
"I'm proud that you brought it to me, but I no longer need it."
Vlad must move forward.
Therefore, Marcella threw the ring of the past to Vlad and only brought out today's plate.
"You no longer need it, right?"
"...Yes."
Vlad picked up a fork and began to smile slightly, looking at Marcella, who seemed as if nothing had happened.
As expected, the rose of Soara had not yet withered, and there were still things to learn from her life.
"I know, right? I no longer need it."
On top of the cauldron heated by the lit ring was Marcella's plate, which he hadn't seen in a long time.
Mashed potatoes, grilled sausages, and even blood pudding made from cow's blood.
All these were menu items that Jorge liked.
***
"Did you enjoy your lunch?"
"We should have come and eaten together."
Harven arrived beside Vlad, who descended to the first floor to leave.
The captain's hat on his head has become fashionable, but the cane he holds is still in bad shape.
"Since I bought a new hat, I should have changed the cane too."
"What about this? Why should I change this?"
Harven took the cane as if wondering what that meant and began to clean it exaggeratedly.
Perhaps because it had been used for so long, the shiny cane even had a gleam.
"I've benefited a lot from this. When I told them it was you who made it, even the creatures of the raging sea listened to me."
"Is that so?"
North Star. Vlad of Soara.
He is the brightest of Bayezid's young knights who couldn't shine for a long time, and he is a man who crossed the provocative West like a thorn in their eyes.
It was the current Vlad responsible for both the pride of the trend and the peace for the next generation.
"And today, the word elf is added to your name. Do you really know the elves?"
"I'll leave. I have to go to the church."
Vlad, who was surprised by Harven's words, quickly began to smile like a rose.
Perhaps because they arrived late, the sunset shone through Soara's alleys.
The sunset of Soara after a long time.
The setting sun may be the end of the day for ordinary people, but for the people in the alleys, it was like the rising sun of the day.
"How long have you been attending church?"
"From today."
The reason he didn't go to church during that time wasn't an arbitrary decision.
He couldn't go because he wasn't accepted.
"…It's very busy."
Vlad, who had been about to leave for a while, silently turned his head and looked at the rose's smile.
The child's home hasn't changed much, but something seems to have changed.
He could see Zemina constantly moving around the home.
"After all, children grow up fast, don't they?"
"You're the same age as me."
"That's right."
Viewed from afar, Zemina didn't resemble her previous unkempt appearance at all.
Although she didn't seem familiar, Vlad decided to step outside after seeing her rather relieved appearance.
"Is your stomach okay?"
"Maybe because it's small, there's no problem."
"No, not Zemina."
"Yes. Zemina."
Vlad and Harven began to laugh as they said Zemina's name several times.
Seeing Vlad, who finally looked a bit like himself, Harven immediately put on his captain's hat.
"By the way, if you're going to the church, I'll take you."
"How long have you been attending church?"
"Actually, it doesn't matter if you don't take me."
"Hmm?"
Vlad followed Harven's gesture and shifted his gaze to a small, dilapidated corner of the dark alley.
A street where the sun doesn't shine.
There were things that carefully lit up the dark night's light.
"The last bishop banned pedophilia, but do you know what this bishop has banned?"
"…What?"
Through the slowly setting twilight, darkness began to seep slowly into the dark alley.
The things that carefully emerged from there were looking at Vlad.
"No discrimination."
They were young children.
The children in the back alleys, who had until now been hiding from the light, gradually paid attention to Vlad and followed him.
"Everyone is going to church now. It's a place anyone can enter now."
Vlad, heading to the church, soon recognized the line of children forming behind him.
They were all hungry and exhausted, but the children's steps toward the church were light.
"You say you never know when someone like Vlad of Soara will show up around here again."
"…"
Potential young people can exist anywhere.
Because Vlad of Soara proved it.
That's why the priest Andreas, who was watching the scene more closely, didn't hesitate to lower the threshold of the church.
"You said you were going to church. Aren't you going?"
"…I have to go."
A new night began in the alleys where the sun had set.
Tiny stars rose through the growing darkness of the dark alley.
The place where the stars are heading is the Church of Soara.
Perhaps today these children can enjoy a hot dinner offered by a faithful priest, just as Vlad did on a winter day.
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