Chapter 515 – The Blood-Soaked White Coat.
“Where should I start talking…”
She was finally relieved to see Usher reluctantly sitting down in her seat, and I also returned to my seat and gave it some thought. There were so many things I wanted to talk about if we could meet someday, so I thought about them one by one and organized them.
‘When I face you like this, I can’t think of any words.’
Elaine slowly looked at his face again and burst out laughing.
“Hehe, looking at him like this, if he weren’t so big, I wouldn’t have believed him even if he was a guy.”
No matter how you look at it, Usher’s face resembles his mother’s face more than his father’s. Seeing him frown slightly at what she said, Erein felt sad, but smiled bitterly at the sight of that image overlapping with herself in her mirror.
Of course, no matter what anyone said, there was no confusion because it was a child she gave birth to because she had a stomachache, but when she thought about the past, she wondered if that was the problem again.
“I’m sorry. Maybe the problem was your father’s wish for a girl to be born.”
“…Why did you want a girl to be born?”
When Usher listened to Elain’s words and asked as if he could not understand her, she stared at the window with sunlight pouring in from a distance.
“How long have you been exploring this country?”
“I walked all the way around the outskirts.”
Elain smiled at his answer.
She said, “It’s been a while since I’ve been here and I’ve been moving around a lot.”
I can’t help but think that she must have been running around the streets like a curious puppy, not even knowing that a boy who was bigger than me had come to her hometown.
“Before we talk, there was a festival going on, so I’d like to hear your thoughts. What does this country look like to you?”
“…”
Elain just looked at Usher, who was pondering what he was thinking about her question.
‘I wish this time lasted just a little longer.’
Even the sight of her lost in her thoughts was just a lovely sight to her. The sweet and sorrowful feeling that tickled her heart, which she thought she had buried in the past, was like an oasis at the end of a long wilderness.
Because those brown eyes, which looked exactly like hers but were different, brought back memories that made my heart flutter again, as if lighting a fire in my heart that I thought had been cut and dried over time.
“Ah…”
However, the moment she sighed in regret at the sight of Usher raising his head as if he had noticed her gaze.
“It seems that this country is not trying to make people equal by making everyone happy. It is trying to make people equal by making everyone unhappy.”
Erein was startled in a different way by those words and could not help but open her eyes wide.
“Have you ever heard the President’s speech?”
Even as she asked that question, she knew that it couldn’t be possible. Minos was the person who appeared the least in public appearances among all previous presidents.
He simply went out of doors in Endymion, the former royal castle and current office of the President, and revealed his position through his agents and the newspaper he controlled.
“It was all about seeing and analyzing what he did.”
As expected, Usher shook his head and criticized his policies one by one.
“Firstly, a weakening that goes beyond curtailing the rights of the Order.”
In Usher’s view, the knights of Pasiphenia were doing nothing but free service. Knights were expected to receive a large salary because continuous expenditure was required not only to hone their own skills but also to maintain their armor.
‘When I was young, I didn’t know why Donard and the uncles were surprised.’
Even though dragons no longer invaded thanks to the magic tools created by the Fuhrer, the treatment of the knights was miserable even compared to soldiers from other countries.
There is virtually nothing to be received, and what is given is infinite responsibility and ridicule. Even when Usher was in prison, he saw that the prisoners were not afraid of the knights in charge of the guards and treated them as if they were servants.
“Secondly, they were those who called themselves party members.”
They acted as if they were nobles, but it was better to be nobles. There is a perception that nobles are responsible for their own actions, but it is difficult for those who call themselves party members to have even the slightest sense of responsibility.
“Their identity was with the party, not with themselves.”
I was the party, and the party was myself. That’s why, even though they committed such dirty things, they were not even aware that they were doing it.
But neither the knights, nor the soldiers, nor the citizens, nor anyone could stop them. Because the leader of the party they belonged to was the President.
“Finally, the person who holds the rights and the person who takes responsibility are different.”
The more they acted carelessly, the more hated were the men who had not done anything, and since the women did not take responsibility, the witches were exploited.
Here, the knights were already unable to take off their armor. If freedom without responsibility is indulgence, then what is responsibility without rights?
“Here, knights and witches seem like nothing more than slaves.”
Although he did not meet Minos directly, his policies and their results told Usher everything about him.
“Was this a sufficient answer?”
“Then you will know my answer as well.”
Elain smiled bitterly.
“Isn’t this country a very harsh place to live as a man?”
There are no rights, only responsibilities. That’s why she and her husband secretly hoped that their baby would be born a female. However, the wish seemed to have come true in the wrong way.
“I think it’s going to be a bit of a long story. Please take your time and listen while eating.”
That’s why Erain confided her story to Usher and recalled her past.
“…This job is tiring.”
Ereine looked with one free eye at the men and women who were bustling about her ballroom, dancing, laughing and chatting. Among them, there are some who gobble up food without even knowing whether they are drinking or eating.
There were times when she forcibly intervened in the dance moves and disturbed others, which made her frown.
“You are desperate.”
Erein knew why they were so hasty and unable to save face.
“Ah! Who… Ha, is it Malaya again?”
She was so impatient that if she bumped into someone, that person would get angry, but they would recognize who it was and walk away in disgust. In fact, anger can only be understood when expressed to someone with whom one can communicate.
“You have the audacity to come to the ballroom at that age. Do you really think that there is someone who will marry you?”
Aside from meeting families and getting engaged, the ball was one of the few ways for women who were relatively wealthy to find a marriage partner.
There was no set age for those who could participate in the ball, but women between the ages of 18 and 25 were usually allowed to participate, unless they stayed quietly.
In particular, she is bound to be criticized because the fact that she participates in the ball and dances beyond her age means that she has not been able to get married even at that age.
“I don’t know if he has a good personality. Do you think there’s someone who acts like that and says he likes himself?”
“Carmen is better. She doesn’t come out because she’s embarrassed, right?”
It was quite a common sight for many women to behave in such a hasty manner at a time when their right age was just around the corner, even though they were proud of themselves, and among them, there were bound to be some infamous people.
“Isn’t it because my body is so heavy that I can’t walk?”
“Phew! That’s right. There won’t be a dress that fits that body.”
The gossip that was easily heard was also directed at them. Then, Erein, she is not dancing, so why is she here?
“Hey, Lady. Please dance with me…”
“I’m sorry. I’m still young and I want to see and learn more.”
“Excuse me!”
When a man approaches her side and extends his hand to her, she covers his mouth with a fan and euphemistically refuses, pretending to be shy, and she blushes and runs away. Then, Elaine sighed inwardly as she heard ridicule toward him coming from all over the place.
‘Sigh, you are no different from an expensive ornament.’
Even though she was not old enough to participate in the dance yet, she had to participate even if she did not participate in the dancing. When it comes to her reasons, she was truly simple.
“Really, men too. What are they talking about to a young lady?”
“Do you know that? I heard that an old man from a certain store proposed to me the other day.”
“Oh my, my God.”
This was because it was rumored that Erein’s appearance was outstanding even among other women.
She said, ‘The problem was that her curiosity led her to follow her mother.’
After her mother listened to her daughter’s exasperated wish to go to her prom. When a ball was held, her letters were sent in droves, and a story was secretly written that she would like Erene to accompany her.
And the content became more explicit as she got closer to the appropriate age. It was only later that Elain learned the reason.
‘You think of others as quality bait.’
The reason was that there was a high percentage of so-called decent men participating in her ball, which was reported to be attended by her.
‘I can’t quit just because I’m bored.’
However, because her family gained small benefits by participating in the ball, Erain had no choice but to participate in the ball.
