NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 63
Ludmilla, who had confidently asserted herself to Edanant, was currently buried under a mountain of paperwork in her office. After all the ups and downs, a victory was claimed. But the triumph of the Valtarian Empire was merely a glory shadowed by wounds.
The glorious Emperor’s palace, boasting a grand history, had collapsed. The imperial palace’s outskirts had been burned to the ground by a rebel attack, and the imperial city was devastated to the point where not a single stone remained visible due to the rampaging unknown monsters.
How should one accept such a miserable outcome? The golden-haired princess sighed heavily and set down her pen. “Ha… I boasted so much to Edanant.”
She wanted to organize a stage to dance a splendid waltz with Edanant immediately. But the towering pile of documents allowed no room for leisure.
If she said it was hard now, he would probably be very disappointed, right? Maybe I would lose my affection for him…
Once spoken, words could not be taken back. No matter how much she was one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, she lacked the ability to turn back time.
Ludmilla leaned against her chair, then stood up repeatedly, expressing her complicated feelings. What was bothering her wasn’t the mountain of paperwork but the fear that she might not keep her promise to Edanant.
‘Could it be that Edanant was a disciple serving the Disaster God of War…? There were no signs of it at all.’
While deep in thought, Ludmilla’s complexion suddenly darkened. The Apostle of War. She recalled the man in black armor armed with countless weapons. The sight of Edanant, deploying thousands of firearms into the air, emanated a heavy sense of oppression, perfectly embodying the ‘Disaster God of War.’
The divine status of war was terrifying to even think about.
War.
She had witnessed war right before her eyes. Reflexively, her hands trembled at the thought. While still trembling with fear, Ludmilla furrowed her brow and tried to suppress the shaking. ‘Why am I shaking…! Edanant is Edanant! He’s not like other demons! He’s the one who saved the imperial family and the empire multiple times!’
He saved her younger sister. He stood against the apostle of the Disaster God for her and her father. And he rescued countless people caught in the violence’s absurdity.
To Ludmilla, Edanant was an object of deep respect and affection. While her feelings for him as a man stirred, she also respected him as a hero. Remembering the feelings she had when looking at his back, she shook off her fear of the Disaster God.
“Relief supplies from the nobles have just arrived.”
“Your Highness, the number of citizens trying to leave the imperial city has greatly increased. We need to take measures as soon as possible…”
Ludmilla wanted to meet Edanant. She wanted to hear the details of the situation from him right away. To understand what he had gone through in the past, and why he came into contact with the Disaster God of War.
She needed to hear answers to completely drive away the demons clouding her mind. But the flood of bad news from all over the imperial city wouldn’t let her be. Reports came in a rush, as if to deny her even a moment to calm her heart.
“Mila, sister!”
Was there no time for even a brief rest? Just one hour… No, thirty minutes would be good enough.
Just as the bleak space filled with heavy sighs was about to swallow her whole, a vivacious voice burst in.
It was Elizaveta. At her sudden intrusion, Ludmilla momentarily relaxed her expression.
“Let’s go, or we’ll be late!”
“Where are we suddenly going…?”
“Geez, you have such a bad memory! We decided to dance with Edanant!”
“……”
Ludmilla showed a stiff reaction to the unexpected suggestion. Elizaveta raised her sister with both hands and led her to the stage where Edanant was waiting.
*
Where on earth are we going? This isn’t the way to the banquet hall…
Led by her sister Isabel and younger sister Elizaveta and dressed in a banquet gown, Ludmilla arrived at an unknown place following the Luinongs.
A world underground, disconnected from the outside. A space filled with sparkling white crystals.
In the center of this space stood a simple village made for innocent fairies. Yet, sadly, most of the village had become ruins, as if bombed multiple times.
It felt oddly familiar. As Ludmilla slowly surveyed the surroundings, she sensed a vague sense of déjà vu.
Eventually, she realized that she had returned to the place where Edanant had fought the Apostle of Fresh Blood.
“This way! This way!”
“It was made with a snap by God! God is truly amazing!”
The Luinongs urged her along, hopping with excitement. With all the urging, Ludmilla found herself moving without time to feel bewildered.
She passed through the desolate space surrounded by ruins. Then she reached a mystical terrace that seemed like something out of a fairytale.
“Th-this place….”
Ludmilla was at a loss for words at the sight of the gorgeous flower fields of this paradise of fairies, more beautiful than anything she had seen before.
The flower of the divine realm, dew-kissed. Around her, white crystals shimmered like stage lights.
She felt like the heroine of a fairytale, fallen into a mystical space. As she walked across the floor adorned with the finest marble, Ludmilla was finally face to face with her long-anticipated partner.
The unexpected reunion took her breath away for a moment.
“E-Edanant… You came too?”
“I got pulled here by the Luinongs somehow.”
As Edanant and Ludmilla faced each other, both felt awkward and flushed with embarrassment due to the luxuriously decorated terrace.
What now? An awkward atmosphere descended, reminiscent of the awkward happenings in the infirmary they had shared.
Just then, music began to play, as if spurring on the awkwardness. Elizaveta, watching with the Luinongs, had suddenly cranked up a gramophone.
“Would you like to dance a number with me, Ludmilla?”
The stage was more lavishly adorned than the banquet hall of the imperial palace. Sweet waltz flowed from the gramophone.
Ludmilla decided to comply with Elizaveta’s evident intent. Edanant politely bowed and extended his hand. Ludmilla hesitated but eventually accepted Edanant’s touch.
“I’m sorry… for forcing you into this.”
“It is an honor to dance with Ludmilla.”
The waltz was the most popular dance in the social circles of the Valtarian Empire. Thus, both Edanant and Ludmilla, despite being unacquainted with social dancing, could handle the waltz rather proficiently.
They clasped each other’s hands. Gently, they twirled, leaning into one another.
Every time they touched, solid muscles were felt. As they got closer, the sweet scent stimulated their senses.
While continuing the waltz, Edanant and Ludmilla gazed into each other’s eyes and spoke.
“I’m sorry, I wanted to wear the suit you gifted me from the tailor…”
“Ahah, it’s alright. Make sure to visit the tailor again later.”
The suit had gotten torn during the fight with the priest-knights of the Disaster God at the Clock Tower.
Proving that, Edanant was dressed in casual clothes while Ludmilla donned a banquet dress.
With Edanant’s apology, Ludmilla chuckled lightly in reply. Although he had gifted her an astronomically expensive suit, she didn’t mind at all.
After all, it was an unavoidable loss sustained while fighting against the minions of the Disaster God that invaded the Valtarian Empire.
“Edanant.”
“Yes?”
“It doesn’t matter who or what you are.”
“……”
Endless Calamities. The Disaster God of War. The disciple serving the Disaster God. The hidden member of the Saintess Party, ‘Warmonger.’
What she had encountered until now was but a fraction of what he was. Edanant was a man who hid countless sides.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t afraid. She still felt fear at the sight of Edanant, who opened the blessing of war.
But Ludmilla, holding onto Edanant’s sturdy hands, expressed her infinite trust. Even if he were to turn into a monster someday, her feelings would not change.
“Ludmilla.”
“…Uh-huh.”
Edanant embraced Ludmilla’s slender waist and bowed his head. Ludmilla, shyly puffing out her lips to respond, drew closer as their lips nearly touched.
But at that moment, Edanant and Ludmilla froze, having discovered something.
“Chu-chu! It’s a chu-chu!”
“Hoheh…! Not a beautiful princess of the forest, but a beautiful lady of the forest!”
They felt countless gazes upon them. It was the Luinongs who had been secretly peeping at Edanant and Ludmilla’s rendezvous.
Elizaveta was also among them, holding a sign that read ‘Hurry up and kiss!’
“Ahaha! After the ball, you might as well register your marriage!”
And beside her was the Platinum Princess, radiating icy aura like a silver-haired witch.
*
As the beautiful music of the waltz played, cheerful voices filled the air. A woman resembling Elizaveta was focused on renovation work, wielding a pickaxe.
“Life… No, divine life really stinks.”
She wore a helmet pressed down firmly. A towel wrapped around her neck and a safety vest draped over her.
As she struck the ground with her pickaxe, it was none other than Broyan, the goddess of the Luinongs. Currently, she was laboring through the night due to the demands of the Villainous Princess, who threatened her.
The achievements were splendid. In less than half a day, she had managed to recreate the luxurious terrace of the divine realm.
Having finished the terrace rapidly enough, Broyan continued her work to rebuild the paradise destroyed by the disciples of the Disaster God.
Her appearance, mixing cement in a concrete mixer, looked like that of a seasoned foreman.
────!!
────────!!!!
While she was pouring cement from a ripped open bag, white lightning bolts fell from above, obliterating the terrace without a trace.
Witnessing it, Broyan gasped and collapsed.