Chapter 10 – Chapter 1: The Lake of Promise – 2
People cut meat and drank alcohol.
Everyone was chatting and playing, but Tia was nowhere to be seen.
While walking around, I saw a small shadow crouching behind the house.
“Tia.”
“…”
“Why are you doing this?”
“…”
Tia buried her face and her body was shaking.
She seemed to know why.
“Is it because you saw the baby being born?”
She nods her head quietly.
Am I mentally not yet ready to see the birth process in person?
Only women were able to provide assistance to mothers in childbirth.
The man was never allowed to go by, and not even his husband, Uncle Marvin, could enter the house.
Since Tia is also a woman, I think I unconsciously helped her give birth.
The mother was in pain, and when her baby was born, she saw blood bursting out without any filter… She must have been very shocked.
The guy said in an anxious voice.
“Aunt Olivia… I felt like I was going to die… She looked really sick and distressed…”
“That’s right. “You’ve overcome it well.”
“When I have a baby someday… Will that happen?”
“Yes, probably.”
“Scared. I do not like it… I’m in so much pain that I can’t even breathe properly… Then I might die… Why do I have to risk my life to have a baby?”
She couldn’t answer.
Because I am a man.
Although I felt like I knew his feelings, I couldn’t readily say that I understood.
“I was scared that my aunt would die… Men just laugh and talk…”
“That’s because men and women are different.”
“-I don’t like that. “I don’t understand.”
Tia hugged her arms tightly.
Unlike the ordinary girls in the village below, her arms are ‘trained’ and have a prominent curvature.
Still, it was extremely thin compared to my arm, which I had never been able to properly hold a sword with.
This guy is stronger than I. Stronger.
However, the inherent limitations of being a woman were becoming more and more apparent as I got older.
Last fall, Tia almost received her first commission.
She received the Priscola qualification, and she even received an invitation from the association.
Although it was a bit early, she thought she would be able to do the chore of subduing wild animals and had great expectations.
However, even the most trivial chores were not left to her.
A boy of the same age as her, who had only been with her for 3 months, pushed Tia out and was selected.
This was because it required more strength than excellent swordsmanship to catch an animal.
It was difficult for even me to fathom how much her pride was hurt at that time.
Although she is currently training hard to increase her strength.
Even so, he was only slightly stronger than me who ‘just lived as a man’.
Even though she didn’t show it on the outside, Tia probably resented being born a woman.
“It’s unfair…”
“Tia. “Then why don’t you go ask her?”
I pointed to Aunt Olivia’s house.
“Why did my aunt make that choice? “She hears the story firsthand.”
“…”
I held Tia’s hand and went to her aunt’s house.
When I met Aunt Olivia again, she looked like she had lost a lot of weight.
It was such an amazing change that I wondered if a person could change that much in one day.
But her haggard face seemed to have some kind of relief and joy.
“How are you feeling?”
“It’s okay.”
“I’ll make you a medicine that will help you regain your energy.”
While she was calmly diagnosing.
Tia approached her Aunt Olivia.
And she hesitated and asked why she had a baby.
My aunt lay still and listened to her story until the end.
She has just given birth, so it must be difficult for her. She smiled without any signs of fatigue.
“I understand, Tia. I was anxious too… To the point where I wonder if I’m going to die like this… Because it was hard. But when a baby is born in this body and the baby is born… Rather than fear, she felt indescribable gratitude…”
Her pale hand caressed Tia’s red hair.
“That’s right, it’s called ‘love.’ Liking men. I want to be with this man forever… I love it so much that my heart aches… Feeling loved to the point of death… That’s something only we women can do.”
“…”
“She was finally able to meet the child who would connect her and me… “Wouldn’t you be grateful?”
Her newborn baby was wrapped in a swaddle.
It was small enough to fit in one hand.
To be honest, I can’t say it’s pretty. Its entire body is wrinkled, making it look like a giant lizard that hasn’t shed its skin.
But that small thing is the ‘relationship’ that connects people.
It feels kind of strange.
“Lina, she gave birth to you with that kind of heart in mind. “She really loved Mr. Albert.”
“Mom too… I see…”
“You will find out later if there is someone like that for Tia. The feeling of wanting to give birth to the baby of the person you love.”
Tia nodded her head quietly.
It was an expression that got some kind of answer from Aunt Olivia’s words.
“Bless our baby, Tia.”
Red eyes looked back at her newborn child.
Tia carefully lifted her baby as if she was hugging her cute puppy.
Aunt Olivia was right.
A gesture of holding her breasts naturally while holding them close.
Those eyes looking lovingly down at her baby were definitely… It was something only a ‘woman’ could do.
“May Shinryong’s blessings always be with you.”
Tia lightly kissed her baby’s forehead.
* * *
Me and Tia went up the mountain again.
Tia was away to practice her swordsmanship, and I was away with the excuse of going to dig up her medicine.
We met on the mountainside and crossed the border.
Outside the lines, it was truly Mother Nature.
As I walked through the dense, dense forest along the path of deer, I sometimes felt like we were the only two in the world.
When we came across a high rocky hill, she lent her shoulder to me, and Tia, who climbed the rock first, held my hand.
Take off your shoes and pass by the stream.
When I found a sunny spot, I took a leisurely rest.
The deeper we explored, the more we harvested.
When I found flowers, grass, or mushrooms that I had never seen before, I brought them to the pharmacy and searched through books with Tia all night.
It was a series of amazing events.
I could see how narrow the area we had been living in was.
The great nature of Dragonez was so vast that it was immeasurable, and you could go anywhere you wanted.
And then I realized.
I am happy at this moment crossing the mountain with Tia.
“Come fast-! Ritz!”
Tia runs off on her own and falls into the stream, and as he takes off her wet clothes to dry, he hears her cruel warning that he will hit her if she turns around because she is naked now.
I’m straining my head to avoid looking at Tia, but she keeps teasing me by tickling my back.
Anyway, I continued to stick by her side.
It had to be that way.
Because the only people we could trust and rely on in this unfamiliar forest were each other.
“Ha-. Haa-.”
Seeing Tia breathing heavily and happily, I feel once again that my choice was right.
A bird that jumps out of its cage and flies endlessly across the sky.
Brisden was too small a world to keep this guy locked up.
The time has come to go back.
Tia also didn’t look as disappointed as before. Immediately she ran to me and took my hand.
“You know, Ritz.”
“Huh?”
“Can we go to just one last place? It’s close from here. It just takes a moment-.”
It’s surprising. She has never been so spoiled.
Still, since she still had time, she decided to grant the request.
“Okay. “If only for a moment.”
Sabak. Sabak.
With the setting sun by our side, we climbed the ridge.
Tia’s steps were light.
I stepped on the rock as lightly as the down of a quail.
It seemed like a stream was babbling somewhere, but as Tia said, soon an open area appeared.
Where is this again?
Old trees are beautifully tangled in an emerald lake.
Like… It’s like a secret garden hidden by Dragonez’s owner, Shinryong, in a place untouched by humans.
Because it was a high altitude, there were thick clouds and fog around.
I stepped on the moist grass and looked around the lake.
Mysterious and beautiful.
It feels like I’m standing on a fallen piece of Mother Nature.
Tia put her hands behind her back.
“It is the ‘Lake of Promise.'”
This is my first time hearing this name.
No, I’ve never heard of it from anyone.
“There is a legend here. When a man and a woman who visit this place pledge their love to her in front of her lake, the vow is fulfilled.”
“… Really?”
“You thought I just made this up, didn’t you?”
I got caught.
People probably don’t even know that a lake like this exists in the world, so how could there be such an absurd legend?
Of course I thought Tia made it up on the spot.
“But it’s true. Because that’s how my dad and mom met.”
Maybe it was because I wanted to look at where my parents were.
Tia looked up at the purple sky.
“My father, who was an adventurer, happened to come to our village when he was young, met her mother, and fell in love. Her mom brought her dad to this lake to take the oath to Shinryong. She said, ‘When the trip is over, please let our love come true.'”
Never heard of it before… It was a story about Tia’s parents’ past.
“So Mom and Dad traveled the world for three years and came back to this lake. After confirming our unwavering love for each other here, we got married in the village.”
“It was like that.”
“Of course, my dad suddenly disappeared one day. Her mom loved her dad until she died.”
Tia sat in front of her lake and put her hand into the water.
A gentle wave rose on the surface of the water.
“I want to find my dad. Is he still alive somewhere, or is he dead? I want to know at least that. So… When I get a little older, I will leave this village and travel.”
Her heart tightened as she heard those words directly from Tia’s mouth.
I knew it. That she can’t catch him.
The more you hold on to Tia, the more unhappy she will become.
So let those who want to leave go.
I am… You must remain in this village.
From a long time ago, I thought I was the only one who could see Tia off.
Because I knew Tia better than anyone else.
That role should have been mine.
When the time comes, we will walk a different path and live a different life.
Nothing in this world can get in your way.
No matter how long I’ve been with you.
Even though I was so prepared.
I slowly organized it in my mind.
“…”
Why does my heart hurt so much and my eyes get teary?
Jo Ro-rok.
After letting the water flow, Tia stood up.
He slowly moves his feet and approaches me.
“Ritz.”
It takes my breath away.
The brilliant sunset light spreads through the clouds and fog.
Thousands of rays of light colored Tia.
This girl standing in front of me was not the Tia I knew as a childhood friend, but she looked like a beautiful goddess from a legend.
“I am… I’ll be back. Certainly. Therefore…”
Tia looked up at me.
“Can you promise me?”
“…”
Tia.
I still don’t know what you’re dreaming about.
If only you could be happy.
I hope you forget about this prison-like town and leave to find true freedom.
But… If this world dares to allow it, I want to be with you for the rest of my life.
I want to chatter constantly, even if it’s about trivial things, and I want to always make my little lips smile.
I want to see your bright smile up close.
So I’m willing to confess.
I want to make it happen to you.
“I promise.”
Sarak.
Tia hugged me.
So close that your breath can touch you.
Heat as hot as the sun embraces my body.
It instantly melts the tight heart and burns away all thoughts.
Soft lips.
The scent of ripe apples.
Two small hands holding the back of my neck.
The shy and neat kiss felt like forever.
“…”
Tia lifted her heel and came back down.
The warm breath that came from her mouth still stirs hotly within my body.
It was so beautiful.
With a shy expression.
Hair colored with autumn leaves, eyes filled with stars, and skin softer than silk.
Even a voice as gentle as the morning breeze.
“Tia.”
Maybe there is only now.
I slowly took out the ruby necklace I had been keeping while wondering when to hand it over.
My hands gently circled the beautiful boy’s neck and fastened the leash at his back.
Jjakgak.
The small ruby gemstone that fell on Tia’s chest rises and falls with her breathing.
In the bright red sunset light.
We held each other’s hands.
Then he knelt in front of the lake and prayed devoutly.
Please, Divine Dragon, please fulfill our pledge.
