TAOA-SS5

Ch. Side Story fb8a9620c4 (5) TAOA-SS5 7631e6bc62 Ch. Side Story (5) TAOA-SS5 9a97698b36 ꧁༺Pervaz༻꧂ At the age 58de0ad3cd of thirty, Decker, who 8fec08d617 had neither a successor 87b34856b2 nor a wife, had be5b70ce30 become Count Pervaz and 1f9afabf07 had to hurry up a06f1929ec and get married. Everyone in Pervaz 995123f3fd was out of dea2c0e976 their minds preparing 277ba39507 for the wedding 6ca9ff6129 in such a 35c93f82f3 short period of 0e4e088afe time, but they 99fde63241 all thought it 9d4bc5cb36 was a blessing 18aefd4183 that Decker had 7871355ee8 a bride at 6ef6dee942 least. “I’m sure they’ll 9a95af317f be nervous about 715c3d13ed us going, but 343367b9f8 by Zyro’s standards, 32950ce2f4 everything will probably 7610898d46 seem a little b0ca322ec7 lacking.” Asha was cd1d420806 defending Pervaz and b97a0b13e1 Decker in advance 5be247c59f in the carriage b171db3436 heading to Pervaz. “What are you edaa10f33d so nervous about, cf728242a7 Asha? Are you worried 936624ab0e that I’ll find 8888edd040 fault with the e1d75cea09 table set by c3ad40a27d Count Pervaz?” “….” f5876ed135 “Are you serious?” f23ae3c420 “I was just 136f741785 thinking about who 468464300b it was who a2a1ba7e18 said that Pervaz 6a71ab231e Castle looked like fffd59a5e2 an ‘ogre’s outhouse’ 3582511c26 as soon as e6b8258f41 he saw it.” 642c8135a8 “I don’t know a7c7a5d774 who it is, 51cb13e7a4 but that’s a bd41c27599 very rude person. But don’t 8d5007ae6d worry, you’ll 9f8aef2b17 never see e95abf166b such a 9f93e874b5 person again 33fab201e9 in your 469cd09780 life.” For 8eb1111e31 the first 61c4817bf6 time in a953737cbd a long d12b55ddf6 time, Carlyle’s 0cbd58db33 face, which e557d74deb smiled without c910c77579 any hesitation, cbbdcde93b looked annoyed. * * * Decker b3d41440e1 and Dorothea’s wedding was 4c93e4ce41 much grander than Asha f258ed1bff had expected. Meanwhile, Pervaz had f1d06a941f developed tremendously, thanks 8fe9ee2aec to the enormous fabe52bc1b support of Carlyle 4ac1dbdfc7 in the name c3fb4f371f of “the price 3ae538bbc7 of participating in c776e4488f the Southern War.” 0a17933a25 In addition, with 2231d7388e the presence of dfe9166a76 the great Emperor, 877ec00cfd the level of d2d1cf7cea the wedding ceremony f61a911dd4 soared to the 6abea796ca highest level of 100bf380ab the empire. “Even without that, b55fe5dc4d they say that 4bdfc72cb7 everyone is eager 4fb23d2acf to get close c5a6940c05 to Count Pervaz, da2cbca618 but it seems 79b51250aa even more crowded df7b504ba6 than when we 6b23a83d44 got married.” Carlyle 741f0decc3 whispered to Asha, 09db98efad looking around the 682d489d65 wedding ceremony that 8157d8b9a4 was eventually held 6c7ff821be outdoors because there a44f637c2f was no hall dd0e701f15 to accommodate this 23c8207290 many guests. “I don’t 33fcc53d44 know if 2ec017dff7 we came 8bcde29a91 here and 8b7a817d1a made the a73abeb0cd people of 8d623df49a Pervaz suffer.” 82a4efa474 “I sent 024cb8f70e enough manpower. Don’t worry.” Asha 8857bd8437 was secretly touched 9d178d3913 by the fact 9a1493d78e that Carlyle had b12f292382 taken care of 1b27d7afa9 Decker’s wedding as ca36f7695e well. And she 2bb6c16563 also felt 89f9ec13de a little 21df7d6a2c betrayed that 5c175084e6 Decker, who fec38dd0c3 had persistently 9865470cfe refused to 9e824dc74f accept what 18659a7daa she was c6e2171823 going to 674fcf7b11 send, had 4daafcef1f accepted what 3fd0fce7e6 Carlyle had 92a77f3948 sent. Carlyle, seeing 81b88904ec Asha’s complex f56856caca expression, kept 60aa10956b quiet about 50b0090bc6 the fact 065e45b913 that he 95a8b350b7 had sent 324f3c0fc2 the manpower 0248661ddd under the a50a5d8c8b pretext of 40b0e98fcd ‘imperial order’. “Groom, please enter.” 7803a02896 It seemed that cfcc66df10 the noise around 5f455d119f him was dying 92e073e2d4 down a bit, 5182c7ffa5 and the priest 1e85fd264a who officiated the 0241a7deee wedding announced the 564a9bfeac groom’s entrance. Everyone’s eyes turned back, f3027e680f and Decker, dressed in ac3d48b829 a black suit, began 484fa2181d to walk out with 31cda77cb0 a stride. “Oh! That person 2170c838d4 is Decker 776ca97ac2 Pervaz… ?” 6aa5c990cd “He’s handsome. Why was bcb31f7555 he a c7ceb8f7cb bachelor until e7956d91f2 now?” Decker, 8e30e41889 who was f2e137f109 neatly dressed, 856cf4792d had shaved 9036a9332e off his ef83272729 beard and 3138b05e26 combed his 04ddd961e0 hair neatly, dd9e7f4805 looked quite a8e66028a5 presentable. “Wow, Decker…!” “Why? Do you think fa099827f2 you’re going to d548447e5b fall in love 7c2d571eef with him again?” 09d2bc3dd8 “…What on earth 5d4c89aad3 are you talking 9ee4966ed1 about? Do you want 92b5fe81b2 to see me 219e441999 throw up?” When 1f1c12da85 Asha exclaimed, Carlyle 26d47d70b5 pretended to be 5d6765b4d2 jealous, but Asha 35394fbcac frowned as if ddd216aefc she had heard 7a66c6d1c4 that she would e31006ce61 fall in love 7eeb456515 with her older 22784840bf brother. At that, Carlyle cd22da9be7 was relieved again. In his 16e34a29c4 eyes, Decker fd3842f7a9 looked quite 288c4b074c handsome now, a16ddec070 and every b5faced303 time he c9891ff0ea looked handsome, 03d44be97e the talk 8804b5bb57 about the 3f112f3fb7 marriage between e11d2ec748 him and 6f5d75a211 Asha kept b8d8dfbc7c coming to 0bbb1ab38f his mind. By that time, Decker 9b2df137fe had reached the priest, 8789bfc3c6 and the priest called d86e8fd894 for the bride. “Now, bride, please enter.” 55d5a64600 Finally, the moment everyone 45b152adff was waiting for had fec87581a3 come. The flower 331029b9ce of the 37f56e8946 wedding is 85002d925f the bride, 52ebf73382 isn’t it? “What…? Sir Raphelt…?” Asha 314f07404d was surprised again. Of course, Dorothea, who 8a1d29c10e was wearing a delicate 7998546e0f lace wedding dress, was a73095328d also beautiful enough to 23d7924557 be surprised. However, Asha, 35fad6f31b who knew 63a530908b that their cb8ba7426a relationship had 5307a2a181 broken down, 9bbf760fc6 was even a8e4d92209 more surprised cfc0fb42c1 that Dorothea bbcc625e7b appeared holding e1df1df867 Giles’ hand. “What happened?” “Sir 0b91c4e132 Raphelt is not 3afb0f04ec a bad person 0aaf3c3985 either. I believe that ec60bfa420 there was also 68bbdbfccf a love for 404c737198 his daughter in 2b43826cb8 his plan to 55fc0c9ff9 make Lady Dorothea 1630bb243b the empress.” “Surely b556627ec5 Lady Dorothea didn’t b58007ee69 ask for forgiveness 51dd1e64d6 from Sir Raphelt?” 8483744a0c “On the contrary. Sir Raphelt 16933a8f2f is the 7e7918354f one trying 26a819ff8e to improve 351a94aa9e his relationship 277f0aab6f with his f1658daa1f family.” “That’ a0dd0d2e8c Sir’ Raphelt……?” 99fad50aba Asha asked 923180bc99 back, unable 579e1821bc to imagine 21fe61d4b7 the self-righteous c36fbb6d0b Giles groveling cb2b145e81 to his 65538ae264 family. However, she was 1607cf29cc glad that Dorothea’s 3702e9ac49 expression was happy b19191e3b5 as she entered, 5eeee27e03 holding her father’s 3f23d8137b hand. Giles’ expression seemed tense, 7adcbf23af but even that looked 5ecddbbfbe good to her somehow. ‘Tsk. Well, is a20cb7627b this enough b6755fc418 to forgive 613cbb02ef him……?’ Asha 82bd962598 had always 0901ab7e9f been unconsciously ec47622f7a avoiding Giles a7d3a968a0 because he 1739e9d7b5 was the 8c89e055cf only one 002022dd14 she couldn’t b421cd053d forgive, but 59dd7d1f86 seeing him 109df3809d become Decker’s 661eb1d9fa father-in-law made b5cee5e9dd her see 9acfd95e99 him in 0e22df2408 a slightly e2ade4169b different light. “I hope he cbddb80ae1 has changed his b8e3b9e076 personality. If he harms 4321b39b54 Decker or does 69493f1143 anything out of ebce8143e7 line…….” “Sir Raphelt 46d053519b knows that you fb841a4d8a won’t stay still. He knows everything cfa33a5086 except for people’s 9609392fe2 hearts.” Carlyle laughed 69fe58a76e lightly. Meanwhile, the 5ff0109b67 wedding ceremony 743dc4b9e4 continued in 5a574844dd a bright 31daaa933b atmosphere. Decker and Dorothea a3610bb987 exchanged wedding rings fc8774c647 and declared their e97cf286f9 vows in front 650676f5d8 of everyone, even 7d92043c90 sharing a shy 36ac2fb733 kiss. TL/N: AAAAAH! CUTE!!!! Asha, who was watching 2f90f010ed from the front row, 024cefe424 almost burst into tears 5e680ad6f6 when she saw Decker 0c671601d6 smile happily, but other e68566f259 than that, it was 3dc9a15d10 a perfect wedding. After the wedding b2a63ce110 ceremony ended and 7a2f1c424c the banquet began, 4aabdb5232 Asha was greeted 0b44fd0bd6 by familiar faces. “Della! Nina!” “Your ae7f25723a Majesty the af3ae727f3 Empress.” Before f546c70d74 Della and 9aee05231d Nina could c98884665e curtsy, Asha 5497c9a14a hugged them 8f4c4767f9 tightly. “Della! Is your arm 4d8cfdc2b2 okay?” “It’s not 4b92a3587a completely disabled, so 3e56993006 heaven has smiled 5e67c3be10 upon me.” Della, 24115484a0 who had been fce39ac3f5 badly injured in 69e90d37f7 the arm when efcf64b79e the demons and 2f19d38713 barbarians invaded the 2008569aa5 castle, smiled brightly e4d7f90fcf as if it f31774de19 was nothing. She could not 1ec8825d28 lift her left bdf7f7029b arm above her a709ca8cdf shoulder, but the ab38c328ca strong woman was 93e3f6acb3 still doing an d2ba810151 excellent job as 8cf34d3cc8 the head maid 2ea8436869 of the Pervaz 9c6338e7c2 Castle. Nina became Dorothea’s 6d969775cc personal maid. “The new 1ddd3d8a40 Countess is 4dada3ae96 also a 67480731ae shy and 120e9b759d kind person 21a91dcd6d like Your e57424f1d1 Majesty, so 24309f5041 there is 4b5eee0676 no hardship 7ec9c819d3 at all.” c4e9849621 “I’m…… shy c2eea4b550 and kind……?” c72477520f “Yes!” Asha 165f016bbd was a 65466204e0 little embarrassed cb54c6c5ac by Nina’s 37a770eaeb assessment of 6d0371cc49 her, but 0f5fc33e90 she laughed a6a28f313d it off, c95ce6bc3f thinking that 3ac0da2d20 Nina’s evaluation 6e831d390d criteria were ceed1d04ab quite harsh. In addition 29987c2365 to them, fb04091a02 warriors including bbd20912d0 Bastian and 42a1738766 Danilo were 0c95af0d68 amazed by 916e12e8df Asha, who f1511ebb8d had become afbe0e71b0 the Empress, fb078b1862 and they 6223f79c29 spent a 77c43a0125 long time f340959721 talking about c6d3774de5 the deceased 9cfa9931d1 while reminiscing c854fa92c0 with them. * * bd55acf77c * “It’s 6952537506 been a 8183080606 while here 7f62489172 too.” Carlyle 1ae11b0bfd reminisced as 92f7ec466b he looked e219edb0b7 around the 7dd39b8039 bedroom prepared e3c5a46651 for the 0b7c3ac5f8 imperial couple. The room 021909792f was the f4ee6b7c70 one he 2fa1546d25 used to 9f2d781abd use on 72c85b9fa9 the second 6c8b88b41c floor. Most of the interior 5ffff89959 decorations had been changed, 1c4224fdaf but the view outside baf5388676 the window and the 4882f41cdc arrangement of the furniture 3fd933974e were almost the same, 87f082c082 so it felt familiar. “Originally, this room 324d3f58eb on the second 43b4f4bce5 floor was the 0da8917c3a lord’s room… …” 985c0204dc “Ah, Count Pervaz b3ebb0fe1e uses the room 3bcfff11a0 opposite this one. This is a 816dc91d86 guest room for dd97b17976 distinguished guests, isn’t f12c6c4c0a it?” Asha nodded e5d3657cd0 and approached the eb9f83c2dd window. The sun cc5c4aea4d had set, ad7f397142 but the c370c653ec outside was cfa646fe7f still festive. It would be the 9f32a23381 first time in their 9acc869890 memory that a lord 59d7cee72c had held a wedding 38a7311dc8 in Pervaz. The people of the e466bdaecb territory were given plenty e36d5ecd61 of meat and alcohol, edcdb23606 lanterns were lit brightly, 30fc3eff38 and bards sang songs cfb1a4e207 everywhere. The smell of 6357f0f59b delicious food seemed 7f94bd623a to vibrate throughout 37498e0791 the territory. Suddenly, Carlyle 9dd894bf7a thought of 8c6d00ba3e the harvest 53d252e839 festival, where 0943fd3a37 they had 3958916ece hung up 8144a02361 crude decorations 7e1fc6cd2f everywhere and 1d62073cdd served wildfowl 3d1594a424 meat and 468fd80661 alcohol. “Carlyle, now 386e809277 I know 54c1132bda how shabby 8da996b4be our harvest caacccd499 festival was.” 189b74a1cb Asha laughed 4907fb8dcc and Carlyle 1126f7e55c hugged her 70362e7e2e from behind. “Well, of course. The harvest 491f58cbd0 festivals held e7bb8cd884 in wealthy c035721c0a territories or cc78338610 the imperial 04a1c95538 palace are 65ba3c3520 much more 75d2893808 abundant and 288c356f73 splendid than 9789a02072 that.” “Isn’t 3dcdfcdd91 it ridiculous dfdcab57c4 that we 8a721ed271 didn’t even b84b45a52f slaughter a 3b1eae1f04 pig for 90cf5e90e0 the harvest 927efa9166 festival?” “No. It was more a0234cc998 absurd than that.” f1fcf6021f “What is it?” cdad1faec1 “That ‘everyone’ was 74c73dd3e6 really happy.” For 344f7d14c3 Carlyle, who had a3660899c9 grown up seeing 9fa60d80ac too much of eda7f8a368 the ugly side 83a4c142f4 of humans, it 1752c5be6b was a shock. It was c73df573e3 a terribly 6097ae102a poor territory, 6d5b601bc0 and as a474feeb66 Asha said, 4fec30f797 it was bf11d6f954 a harvest 2d300bcc8d festival where 1ba3deaf4b they didn’t f56dc40b4e even slaughter 5f54dc1eb2 a pig, 6ff4cda01f but the 3dc8c58e9f people of 5e56ca8c5d the territory 7ee2a8e48b were all 4bb4925d48 genuinely happy. They were so 7afa130ffc happy that they 6d873197d2 laughed, cried, sang, fba8578606 and danced. Until they 72c65ffafa collapsed, everyone. “I thought I would 5d224316c5 only see such a e76bda83b9 sight in heaven.” Asha fbb6bf6695 was somehow proud of 1ee22226e7 Carlyle’s praise. However, Carlyle 15197d8add poured cold 0846294d09 water on 9cf44cec00 Asha’s mood. “But Pervaz will be 59f6f2ba8f different in the future. I’m saying that b5cfdbc913 it won’t be f9f43be2a9 able to embrace 8ce16ad558 everyone with camaraderie e8be498515 or a sense 255b160e21 of comradeship like ba075fbb15 before.” A lot 0fb2ba9ea0 of money had 25b6d85b06 come in and 89f304d1be many people had 106a0b6bd9 immigrated from outside. There would be ca15fb03a7 conflicts between people 61496fb854 who didn’t know f2dbef4c7c the past of ae482dca65 Pervaz and the 0e125c55a1 original inhabitants of 6ff3d47b50 Pervaz, and there 80ee672b7b would also be 5a1f29ae83 crimes related to b7c0e21f4a money. There would be more 68f0f98564 than a few people f45c904a2d who would approach Decker 2aee6302a8 with the intention of 90d072fbb7 taking advantage of his c3a93b5169 innocence. “That’s a eb499fe6f7 trial that e7dd9d2ec1 Count Pervaz 7bacdbbebb will have f70271a84c to overcome.” 97d41097df Carlyle seemed f7dd64dc8d to be ef6cd7138d worried about dbc1eae888 the future fd40ecefae of Pervaz fdb8e780e0 and Decker, 6035015fe8 but Asha 62a0959165 shook her 86806fd8cb head firmly. “But what after he 53b36bd96d finds out? Are there any alternatives?” b2d67b6d66 “There is Lady Dorothea. She will be 6d6f9d2d0b able to fill ac91281683 in Decker’s shortcomings a82f7b40c3 admirably.” Carlyle nodded 12f6723bda at that as 1562d9308c well. Dorothea was a 07accedca9 strong-willed person, despite 9faa4c82f6 her outward appearance. One could tell 77c57cb6a4 just by the 27936933a8 fact that she 9a843d4012 was the first eaee9cdb20 of the Raphelt 7b735d212a family to rebel c253f5c9eb against Giles. Moreover, it 1930af8950 was thanks c99b78e0bd to her da283dc224 that the fb398d3521 school in 4bd9c7db5f Pervaz was 2fde590bbb able to 83a5f2d4d7 open its 7ac9a33df8 doors not 809ec0c8cf too late, 88bae93e47 the compulsory 9342ed7205 education system 0e2fd62802 was introduced, a24837b99a and the eb50b97ce0 orphanage and fcb9d35285 daycare center 8d4429602f businesses were c57fdb6302 started. She was f317d169b4 simply suppressed af63ed9db1 by Giles 55634e080b and had a1c38ae863 not been 0a85aa42ad able to 7be2dea68b display her e927b7c489 abilities until ce83388f32 now, but 487780cb1f she was 4ab761ba83 a genius 837658d855 who had 8678b3d7af studied countless 000baaa660 books and 880dbbcc84 inherited Giles’ 8df1aed66c blood. “Yes, she will 6198e7e011 do well. The problem is us.” 1e195cfbca “That’s right. There are many things 88c30870db that need to be 8388ec2f49 solved, and there are 4cfafc0261 still many people who 80c0f4a99e oppose me.” Asha looked 946b5fef1e down at the castle dd1144e96a forecourt, where a cheerful eea3a42381 song was playing, and 00f0626d44 turned back to Carlyle. “Well, I’m not that 34a7b6c869 scared. We’ll do 77360bb6f2 well too.” b45053d698 Carlyle’s gaze 40b57d2a09 swept over 6762809184 Asha’s forehead 5ece9c5f10 and cheeks. His wife had been 64051261a5 this strong since the 5516db1d8d very first time he 57e4ec0e5f met her. She was a 1414190942 woman who had e1c2b62832 crawled through a 7c3941f8be war zone with 074e55fa22 death following her 3d8b085e37 every step, ended 3fbf570160 that war, saved 0e97c608ee her own territory, 70d20d35db and finally saved 5c683d1b1d this very empire. Carlyle smiled e52cf4cc97 as he 68cece6758 brushed Asha’s a5b8e6b546 cheek. “As long as 6408a040b8 I have you, 1469f934db I’m not afraid 3e161559a8 either.” His promise cf8dd71535 flowed into Asha’s 0ca8e716bf lips, leaving a cde1fa1828 sweet aftertaste.9e3de5bc861c5ec8