Ashes and Kingdoms

Through the wet green periphery, soft light pours down. The calm air of the Great Forest was gentle on those who were hurt and tired, but still did not even have the power to connect slowly fading lives.

Lying on the beds of the Fidae, Orgin realized, without fear or emotion, that his waking time was about to run out, just calmly. Moving his fallen eyes, Org's dragon marquis sitting beside him enters his sight.

Utier was also calm. I guess I'm not here to look at his death, just to see it through. Orgin moved his shriveled lips and squeezed out his faint voice.

"One thing, please..."

Utier nods silently, urging ahead. Orgin narrowed his eyes slightly.

"In the past...... let me go back, I want it. My, memory..."

I'm not asking you to roll back the time. However, once again, I wanted to recall the memories of days gone by. Now I'm trying to remember a lot of things, a lot of things, the shadow of a loved one. At least for the last time, I wanted to fall asleep.

Utier definitely understood what he wanted. Reach out and gently cover Orgin's eyes.

"Sleep."

A serene, emotionless sayaki commands. From Orgin's lips, a slow, thin breath spilled.

- Nothing, such an ugly one...

The first time I heard my mistress say something like that. The slave boy lifts his head slightly following the bent back and looks softly at how it is. I heard the man who bought himself making excuses to your lady.

"But, ma'am, the only problem is how you look, you're not missing teeth, and you can read and write. I can't waste my mouth, because it was cheap."

"Though that would be true. It's useless."

"No way, do you think I would waste my expenses on something like that. I always understand this, and it's not a stupid diagram. And... I don't have to worry about causing any problems."

A man said, turning a blind eye to the boy. My mistress gives me a glance with a twinkle of an eyebrow so that I can follow her. The boy knew exactly what that eye meant.

"Sure, there won't be just that problem"

Admitted by your lady with a sigh. The new slave was to be replenished because the housekeeper husband who was before seduced and made his youngest daughter pregnant. If you're this ugly boy, it would be useless to worry about that.

Even the boy who didn't know what was going on could have guessed that was probably the place.

Whatever it was, he was given a place to stay as a servant of the museum. but he was always ordered to hide himself in his jacket so that he could not touch someone's eyes with a detachment.

Then I guess it was months later.

Hidden as a shadow, he noticed something as he tried to cross the corner of the courtyard. It's a small toy placed on a writing stand in a bright spot, unconstructed.

The picturesque square plates are divided into sixteen shards, divided horizontally and vertically, and housed in a large frame plate around one. Remove one of the corners and slide the shards into the space where they are made to move, disturb or restore the painting. Of course, shards must not be removed from the frame.

Fitting in, he tilted his neck. I heard that the "children” in this hall were alone with young people their age. I wouldn't be old enough to play with toys. But who else?

Surprisingly, I look around. There is no shadow. He approached softly to see how it was going. Apparently, you've given up on getting tired of it on the way, or the pattern stays messy.

(Horses)

I immediately found out who he was from the fragmented part, and he looked around again, slightly. No one. Put down the cage you had and reach for the writing stand. Moving the shards quickly and instantly back into place, he left the scene satisfied.

The next day, again, it was put down. I guess the Lord (or Lord), who noticed that someone had sneaked it through, put it on a whim. Now it's another painting, a little hard to understand. But he finished this too.

Then for a few days, I had no business going through the courtyard. The boy, who had not been through the garden in a while, looked at the writing desk, thinking that the Lord would have forgotten already. Again, there were no toys.

- but instead a piece of used parchment paper and a pen and ink were placed. The boy blinked his eyes and approached with vigilance around him.

(Is it being tried)

There, three issues were written. From too simple computational problems, like for kids who don't even go at the end of the year, a slightly more complicated problem with shapes, and a problem with logic that seems teethy.

All right, and he confronted the platform. The first question had been solved almost simultaneously with its operation. Next time, it didn't take long. I was just about to get interesting in Russia and get to the third question, and there were signs of people, and he rushed off the spot.

If you find out, such as when you are a servant slave and you are using the Lord's writing desk on your own, you will surely miss your meal.

But the problem I missed persisted in my head. Whatever you're doing, I just think about it when I realize it. Stone on the ground, water on the desk, and when I saw the gap, I wrote down this and the solution of trial and error, and followed the correct answer.

The next day, he became impatient and headed to the courtyard even though he had no business. Wait for the gardener who was cleaning the water board to disappear and sneak quietly, cautiously, to the writing desk.

The parchment was kept as it was yesterday. As if he knew he didn't solve the last problem, he just left on the way.

Make sure no one is going to come, then take the pen and dip it in the ink kettle. It was then.

"It was you."

There was a voice coming from inside the building, and he snapped. Remove the pen and look back. My wife, who I had just seen the first day, was standing in a dim room hiding half herself.

"... sorry, sorry"

Apologize with a blurred voice and bow your head deeply. I couldn't move as it was. Will you be whipped or will you be turned to a harsh job where you will never have time to wander back again? Fear struck, but he could neither defy nor escape. There is no such freedom.

Slightly, with the sound of clothes rubbing, his wife walked over.

"Face up."

…………

The boy shook his head small with his body folded in two. I didn't have the courage to expose my ugly face to their gaze.

You want me to crouch at your feet? Stretch your back and raise your face. "

Ordered to blame, he hastily corrected his posture. Even so, as far as I could with a curved spine, it was.

For the first time then, he took a serious look at his wife's face. A noble, clearly expressed expression of the strength of the will, but never merciless or high-pressure. The iron rusty eyes are sharp but warm, with slightly thin lips but a gentle smile.

"Orgin, you were."

"Huh! Yes!

Surprised that he had been remembered by his name, he replied with a voice that had been turned upside down. To that reaction, the wife narrows her eyes.

Kaa and his whole body got hot. I've never smiled gently at anyone before in my life. It was the first time that there was no contempt, no contempt, no pure tenderness could be directed, etc., and it seemed like it would tease the sweet dawn it would bring.

The wife once again looked at Orgin from top to bottom, but there was no malice in that gaze.

"When you look at it this way, it's the unbroken look that makes it. I wonder why the gods gave such a body to intelligent things like you."

"I don't think it's because of the gods"

Orgin replied reluctantly. Because it came from the voice that the wife was not sarcastic but just strange and that she felt sorry for herself.

"This is what I heard from the first Lord. Am I distorted all over because I was dragged out quite roughly by the midwife? I wondered if it would be a little bit if I raised it, but I saw how it was until I was weaned, so I couldn't..."

"Sold, so. Man, judging people by their looks and likes and dislikes is a bad habit for us women and children. Thanks to you, I almost threw away something as precious as your mother."

…………

Precious - I didn't immediately believe it was about me.

He glanced at his wife, silently, forgetting his courtesy and reluctance. What did you just say, is it true, will you admit me... I just keep staring because that's what I want to hear back and I'm afraid if I do, everything will be smashed and scattered.

In front of her swinging watery eyes, her wife smiled and nodded. Like affirming everything about him.

Orgin couldn't contain the thought of getting in, and lay down his face, trying to hide his eyes moistened with tears.

From then on, I was cut off from work to serve as my wife's counterpart in between. The wife was of the nature to find pleasure in intelligent play, but she was busy working as the mistress of the mansion, seeking someone to play with and ask questions in the meantime.

The toy that made the first trigger was also something the wife was playing with with her short breath.

Orgin was allowed to read the museum's books as much as he liked, and was even told that he and his wife could enter and leave freely anywhere except in their bedrooms and children's rooms.

That's how he, as usual, concealed himself and behaved like a shadow, finally one day dug into the infinite waters stained with thirsty minds and intelligence.

"Ma'am"

With what he discovered in his hands, Orgin visited his wife. The wife, who was fighting the book opponent in the office, shrugged up a little.

"Orgin, please don't surprise me. Why are you walking without making footsteps?"

"I'm sorry"

Orgin bowed his head and added to the nagging additions and subtractions as they were.

"My footsteps are going to be so inconsistent... that almost everyone who hears them is bound to look back"

Originally an unstable leg, it was difficult to walk quietly. But he has been practicing moving without making a sound since he was a young man, trying not to draw as much attention as he can. Except for the wife.

Orgin's answer gave his wife a face, but he just snapped his nose and didn't say anything. Put the pen down, change your posture, and face Orgin.

"You found something, didn't you?

"Yes. Take this."

What I gave you was a book. Seems to be quite old, corroded and discolored and dull. but it still didn't disappear on the cover, and the characteristic decorative lettering was clearly emerging.

"... where, take this"

"Behind the basement, another door was hidden. There it is. There were a variety of other tools. I thought maybe it was about magic."

In front of a pale explained orgin, his wife blued and nodded, shaking her lips.

"I can't believe it wasn't just that..."

……

Orgin just returned the inquiry and waited. Slightly, his wife raised a stiff face that rarely appeared.

"Are you prepared to give me everything"

It was an abrupt question, but Orgin nodded "yes" without a moment's stray. The wife folds even more.

"How marvellous treasures can you swear that you will throw them all away for me, trying to gain a power comparable to the gods"

In that word, Orgin understood everything.

"- Oh" Brings a sigh of understanding and nods. "You have ancient intentions sleeping in this hall. Your wife is afraid of it. I wonder if that power will call for disaster. So you can tell me to be a magician. Get the magic, obey it, and destroy it."

What is that all about? It was just a tone. He actually thought so, too.

His wife frowns at his overly light reply. Orgin smiled, politely, and deeply thanked.

"It's cheap, the more I can say, the more I wish I was confident in my brains... that's it, on the boulder. But let's swear, ma'am. As you wish, I will give you everything. I've always wanted to do that."

"… it is a gift that has passed for me."

Your wife's voice rocks. My fingers gently touched Orgin's head as if it were a feather.

And she confessed everything.

The fact that the Austra family mansion carries an abominable sword of sorcery. Perhaps the sorcerer, who waved his power into the fold of the Great War, laid down his roots in this nakte with his ancestor, the Dragon Hou. That the darkness to be called the curse also casts a shadow on the history of the clan.

In the past, many principals and their families have laid their hands on the sword of the matter, knowing precedents, possessed, mad, and secretly buried.

"I guess those who seek strength and witchcraft attract each other. That is why I fear. … my son, Senato, wondered if he would walk the way. That kid's always, like, mad. Fathers are impudent, mothers are too obnoxious, senators are foolish, and the glory of our doors is decreasing..."

So stop it.

That's what the wife asked for. If he seeks strength and steps off the road, he will gain power over him, and still end it all, he said.

"I'm sure you can. In addition to his gifted talent, he has seen his greed for learning, his speed and perseverance in understanding. If you get lost power and moves... and you can let it go at all costs, you can believe it...?

The expression of the wife who complained truthfully belonged to one tiny person seeking salvation. Not the descendants of a strong and noble dragon marquis, nor her intelligent mistress.

Still, no, that's why Orgin knelt before it.

"Accepted. I promise you, I'll make sure you get what you want. Gods and on this life."

... That said, there was no sign that your wife's worries would soon become real.

Since that day, Orgin had thoroughly examined the relics on sorcery left in the hall, circled the temples around the place if necessary, and experimented on his own.

Even though I lived those days, my relationship with my wife was the same, and there was always a gentle air and tenderness between them, sometimes even a bright joke.

Eventually his wife was received by his wife's son Senato, after the death of his wife's husband and his replacement by our Lord.

"Big Ma'am."

To Orgin, who had first called to do so, his wife showed her face only like a young daughter.

"All right, Orgin, even you. I'm sick and tired of everyone calling me that, like I've been waiting for. You want to age me so bad?

"I'm sorry, but that's about it,"

"Yeah, it's a bad habit to hide a depressing aunt as soon as you get a big face. No, but I will resist. Even if you can't help other servants, I won't let you keep your ridiculous habits."

"... So what shall I call you?

Orgin tilted his neck slightly puzzled. With all this sentiment, women still want to remain young and powerful, and so on.

Then the wife replied with a grin, waiting for the question.

"Why don't you just call me by my name? Because I have a pretty personal name, Efferna."

"-!! That's awe-inspiring as much as it takes"

"No need to shy away. He says I don't mind."

The wife lifts her jaw steadily and pushes the orgin away. But soon she had the usual soft grin. Then, slowly reach out and gently take Orgin's hand.

"The truth is, Orgin, I also sometimes want someone to call me by my first name. In my previous life, I have been called in various ways. Lady, young lady, wife, and now the big lady. It's all just a role in this house. Efferna, there's really not many of you who called me... and I'm sure there's no one left."

Saying so, she laid her eyes on the loneliness. Orgin thought of his wife's parents and husband, who had already traveled to another world, and had no choice but to stand silently.

"So at least one person, I want you to call me by first name. If that's who you think you are... you're the only one left."

"But I'm a slave"

"No. My, just one friend."

Mistress - Efferna let go of Orgin's hand and took out a single letter to show.

"This morning, it arrived. Now, when I am made to hide, thou shalt be safe."

To his unfamiliar designation, Orgin bewildered. You, not you, you, I've never been called. Trouble with Kanagama, and guess why.

…… Ma, "

Orgin received the writ with a trembling hand, blinking again and again, reading the text repeatedly. Definitely, it was his own release permit certificate.

To the relieved Orgin, Efferna sounds like a prank.

"Come on, now you don't have to be really, really reluctant anymore, do you?

Orgin cursorily raised his face and took a warm emotional grin from the front.

Since when, I had ceased to be aware of my ugliness in front of her, but now for the first time ever, I really could face her without even a slight whim.

"... thank you,... Dear Efferna"

Somehow I say that, and I smile. Tears overflowed on their own, communicating their cheeks.

Dear, even though I didn't need it, Efferna, who laughed accordingly, seemed sincerely happy.

(Dear Efferna, Efferna)

Over and over again, Orgin repeatedly called his name in his heart. Tell me about yourself, the name of the person who told me you were just one friend.

(You too, my... just one,...)

Huh... Huh.

Fine exhalation runs out. Slowly, quietly.

All that remained was a deep silence and a slight but full laugh.

(Final)