Chapter 131 – 13. Big Wedding (1)
On the eve of the festival, there was enough heat to thaw the frozen ground.
It was inferno. Those who floated dazzling magic lanterns sang cheerful folk songs and danced. Just like 20 years ago, when the king’s daughter-in-law came to her wedding, they held a festival and prayed for blessings.
Even the needy in the barren land cheered as if they were not worried about tomorrow. Even so, Marquis Baekryeong these days was getting more and more breathless thanks to this kind of support. Furthermore, the new baron of Dongto generously spent a huge amount of money for a wedding that was only once in his life.
So, the train of wagons driving along the well-paved roads and entering the southern gateway was shocked. In particular, the visitors who had visited the manor at the wedding of the deceased margrave in the past could not help but marvel at the remarkably changed scenery of the city, no matter how much time had passed.
“Honey, look at this.”
“Was Saint-Buch originally like this?”
“The roads are also neatly organized.”
The couple returned to their hometown in a carriage drawn by a famous horse, gilded in ebony wood and engraved with the coat of arms of the central famous family, and looked out the window in wonder. It was a natural reaction. It was because the gateway city, which was dull for a provincial base city, showed a transformation comparable to that of a central city.
“It has changed dramatically.”
“I don’t feel like that anymore because of the festival, but it seems like there is.”
Anais and Leonard nodded. A line of ebony carriages, which looked like miniatures of luxurious mansions, passed by, looking around Saint-Buch in the early evening. They lit a large, roaring bonfire and let go of those who were dancing around holding hands.
“Contrary to what I’ve heard, it’s a lively town, Mr. Antoine.”
Marguerite, who was watching the scenery outside from the front, suddenly spat out. Not wanting to disturb her feelings her on the way back to her hometown her, she took care of letting her and her husband her rest together in another compartment, and now, with Antoine by her side her, she was asking about this and that.
“Honestly, it is beautiful. I think I can understand why so many people couldn’t give up their hometown even at the moment when they had to worry about survival.”
“I am sorry that you look so highly at commoners who live resolutely.”
“Keep your head up. There’s no need to speak lowly. Because it’s not empty words. Not all members of high society are hypocritical and incompetent. Although I am a descendant of a famous family and have lived without a drop of water on my hands, I am not without eyes to see the world.”
The abbess with a lonely expression on her face carelessly stroked my hair. Despite her high status of her, she was dressed a little better than the lady of the house, and asked in a very worried voice if she had realized that her sister had left home all of a sudden.
“That child won’t be despised by the margrave’s family, right?”
“Abbess Abbot, that is absolutely impossible.”
“But it must be a political plot to marry a young lady and not her wife.”
Antoine shut her mouth with a puzzled face. Even though she wore her lightly combed hair and a simple achromatic dress, her company with Margaret, whose off-white color was seldom desired, was certainly pleasing to the eye.
Like a painting of a beautiful woman, her appearance of her, which quietly and subtly revealed her presence of her, felt like a masterpiece created by Heavenly God himself.
But on the other hand, she was the one who did not stop worrying about her pain her even after receiving the good news. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t uncomfortable with the baron’s half-sister, who, as the head of the 10th department, did not hesitate to ask questions even to unanswered questions.
“Well…”
Antoine, who pondered for a while as he touched his rough hand his, immediately raised his head. As a mere commoner, she stared squarely at a woman from a prestigious family whom she should not have dared to look at, and spoke cautiously. A man’s life story marked by severe cold.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to tell you the story of the small man.”
Marguerite blinked her long eyelashes and shook her head. It was an act of rudeness, and he had to express his displeasure of her, but it was impressive to see him open his ears to listen. Indeed, it was an attitude that did not allow comparison with the aristocrats who were tired of the consciousness of the elect.
“Originally, I was a low-end soldier in Lemoang Fortress on the border of Gaul. I married a girl next door whom I was close with when I was young and lived a happy family until about ten years ago.”
Maybe that was it. In other words, the world in which the decree lived, where he rarely talked about his past his, was an opportunity to talk to other abbesses. Antoine, who took a breath for a moment, added, as if it was a bit painful to recall the memories she had stored in a corner of her heart her.
“At the time, the situation in the Marquis was very dizzy. Outside, countless invasions by Russ and Carmag continued, and inside, the central policy to contain the barons made us suffer.”
It was an era of hardship that even the poorest of people could not bear. It was a time when even those who subsisted on digging up and eating tree roots could not stand it any longer and starved to death. It was unfortunate that the thrifty margrave’s wife sometimes gave alms, but if it weren’t for that, the northern part of the kingdom would not have existed any longer.
“There have been several rebellions. It was a shame that it was suppressed early, but it was a crisis that would spread greatly if necessary. If I dare to confess, I almost got involved in it at one point. I didn’t really see anything back then.”
“I think I’ve heard of it. It is said that the Marquis, the conqueror of the north, has pacified popular uprisings several times. In the capital, the public sentiment of the frozen land is quite risky, but he looked in awe, saying that he calmed the commotion with his own inaction.”
“However, our lives became more and more impoverished. Around that time, my wife got sick and couldn’t move properly, so she had to go to the nearby city every day to sell. She looked at the street for half a day, every day, constantly…”
Margaret stared at him with pitiful eyes. As the goddaughter of the bishop, she joined her church and lived a life comparable to that of a priest, so she felt even more guilty. At that time, he was not yet in a position to exert influence as he does now.
Even so, it was painful for a woman who preached the tenets of the heavenly gods to fail to take care of her weaklings.
“As her husband her, I felt inferior to my powerlessness her. However, when Ruth’s large army invaded, he had to go to the front without even saying a proper greeting. We fought for over ten days. But when he came back after winning, his wife and daughter were nowhere to be seen.”
Antoine laughed bitterly. The despair of that day was something I could hardly forget even after a long time had passed. When he found out that his family, who had disappeared like a mirage, was dead, it was enough to not be crazy.
“I was pessimistic about my personal situation and tried to end my life. Then suddenly I thought it was all because of the hateful nobles. They vowed revenge and dreamed of a revolution. I tried to rise up with the downtrodden and the downtrodden.”
“The reason Antoine is talking to me today is probably because he finally gave up on that idea. Why?”
“It costs a lot of money to hold a funeral. I don’t know what it would be like for an affluent central citizen, but for us poor people, it’s an outrageous amount. However, my wife and daughter paid a proper burial and even obtained a grave openly.”
And that wasn’t all. Among the returnees returning from the war, there were numerous people who had lost relatives, such as Antoine. Solemn burials and tombs were given to them too. Even a tombstone made of stone was erected to remember the departed.
“It was Madame Lemoyn. She later found out that she begged her eastern sister her, Duchess Henrietta LeBlanc, for her support her. In addition, she shared her own money and gave it to everyone.”
The soldier’s hatred melted like that. And the emotion that Antoine and those who had received favors had instead was fighting spirit. It was the will to protect their precious hometown and live aloof, whether it was painful or enjoyable.
“Mrs. Abbess, as I said, Madam Lemoang was truly an adult in this frozen land. And even for such a wife, when she faced an ordeal she could no longer overcome, it was her baron of her who appeared like her destiny of her.”
“Are all the people of this land recognizing Rom as a member of me?”
“There will be no one who doesn’t like it. However, in this Antoine’s view, Baron Ardennes deserves respect like Madame Lemoin. It is because it is a truth that no one can doubt that he saved Lemoang Tundra.”
Antoine put his hands on his knees and bowed his head. Perhaps because it was a sincere attitude, the image came to me very seriously and meaningfully.
“How can an ignorant fool know the world of aristocrats, but I believe that only the affection between the wife and the baron came from pure intentions. At least, it means that the two of you are agreeing with a heart that cherishes and loves Schönne’s hometown.”
Even though he was around forty, the 10th manager, who had already turned 60, had a pale face, and finally finished his words. Considering that the person who made the complaint was a person who dominated the religious world of the kingdom, and that she was a woman who was no different from the hostess of a ducal family, it was possible to guess how upright her loyalty was She is.
“Please watch with an open mind. Please be by my side and give me strength so that the two of you can overcome this cruel and beautiful world. Because that is the small wish of this soldier who lived a turbulent life.”
Margaret nodded as if she was deeply moved. When I was young, her youngest, who had no side other than me, Anais, and Leonard, had no choice but to find someone so loyal and trustworthy in a faraway country.
“I swear to the gods that I will.”
Eventually, she made a firm promise. By the time the carriages that had traveled from Saint-Bourse and Renan to Havre arrived at the old Fortress of Lemoyn, today’s Ardennes, I forgot my prejudice and added the words.
“I appreciate your teaching, Mr. Antoine.”
It’s difficult, but I’m willing to open my heart for the two people who deserve to be blessed.
