TAOA-SS5

Ch. Side Story (5) 65a0cdaeac TAOA-SS5 Ch. Side Story (5) 672cd474f1 TAOA-SS5 ꧁༺Pervaz༻꧂ At d02e1d2735 the age of ff67059120 thirty, Decker, who a871355aa9 had neither a ba0e889400 successor nor a d26d5b17b9 wife, had become e652102f63 Count Pervaz and b5be842369 had to hurry 995c96f183 up and get f1bd8b554d married. Everyone in 71ed3df119 Pervaz was ee046024a4 out of 306fc092f5 their minds 313e2b63d2 preparing for 532fef8a3e the wedding 2ab5a96a6d in such 6934a1ba4a a short 4266388925 period of 78732f665a time, but 15edda47bb they all 80f62220bc thought it 0416fe135d was a 43d4c041e5 blessing that ba648f2724 Decker had 8d8678660e a bride a698f2f4b3 at least. “I’m sure they’ll d59f831a3e be nervous about 2696a4cf4b us going, but f764282b32 by Zyro’s standards, 6b19e0cb51 everything will probably 09a71dc581 seem a little 51064dc0e3 lacking.” Asha was 3fefdc489d defending Pervaz and ba4a62b541 Decker in advance f354f1c644 in the carriage b76c31b6aa heading to Pervaz. “What are you 143dfbd3cf so nervous about, 68c4612635 Asha? Are you worried that c5734bdb58 I’ll find fault with 8510b3a9ce the table set by 25bbbeecf1 Count Pervaz?” “….” “Are 7ba861b7e8 you serious?” “I was 292050b35d just thinking about who 50cff51201 it was who said 189d86b01a that Pervaz Castle looked 87385fc445 like an ‘ogre’s outhouse’ 93c960a353 as soon as he 1b57e188e6 saw it.” “I don’t d25af2cb2a know who it is, 4e4355d704 but that’s a very 495a6b0b58 rude person. But don’t worry, you’ll ea42eba1ba never see such a d64d0a0e7c person again in your 0b66e848d5 life.” For the first 23528c9804 time in a long 4658c46e31 time, Carlyle’s face, which 2e369e4f10 smiled without any hesitation, 5a09ba1958 looked annoyed. * * e0eed49425 * Decker b5a68c6f9d and Dorothea’s c278201313 wedding was 4e27643efc much grander 5f5f9d0fb7 than Asha d3b205da74 had expected. Meanwhile, Pervaz had 7cbaf2918a developed tremendously, thanks eed78e16d3 to the enormous 6047660015 support of Carlyle dd54624ef4 in the name 3bcf3e72d2 of “the price 7e744d9821 of participating in e506976294 the Southern War.” 5490ad0b6d In addition, with 6412c333e8 the presence of 7d6ad7f1a3 the great Emperor, 3948de460f the level of 5eda64227f the wedding ceremony 2e2f9f4443 soared to the 14d8ef5cb3 highest level of 5d6a2965d9 the empire. “Even without 72e1483a9f that, they ed4ea92b61 say that 3730db9dce everyone is 67a715ea31 eager to 3ff3d2beef get close 2ea0584f09 to Count 8ed2453775 Pervaz, but 0aea77a180 it seems c0cd1d3ab1 even more 8164d70496 crowded than fea0fe6733 when we d467424109 got married.” 33af0eba6f Carlyle whispered 6a6e1358be to Asha, 9631ea1606 looking around 73a1e2553b the wedding 7e30e4a260 ceremony that b09bfe23c2 was eventually 0893d9464a held outdoors fdd7604ddf because there ce1a1ef9d9 was no 5f1c8ac966 hall to 88c07f96d5 accommodate this 00851f3aad many guests. “I don’t know fe6ddaf2d5 if we came 9c0eea7772 here and made 583204ca09 the people of 0e808b2bc6 Pervaz suffer.” “I 33f078880c sent enough manpower. Don’t worry.” e52bdf37e4 Asha was f4c20b9538 secretly touched c4f6cfcd0b by the 8a62e6d6d1 fact that 139c50d498 Carlyle had 341b51ec99 taken care c7a729e2ff of Decker’s 976af2540f wedding as 3ccfe542d6 well. And she c50228b5ce also felt 6cb0c4da6c a little 7ff175a9d6 betrayed that d46ba7d68a Decker, who 9ce90cd2c8 had persistently 6c6296cd30 refused to f40271a93c accept what 9350271647 she was 4e613c3eee going to bc7dc85b22 send, had dd19dd45a7 accepted what 91cc40cebf Carlyle had 50d30483c4 sent. Carlyle, seeing a0bff636a4 Asha’s complex 11bd11293e expression, kept 9cdeda4c71 quiet about 9ea76643a0 the fact e47ab2a233 that he 6591d40b86 had sent ab4329089d the manpower f969254aaf under the d562c26d16 pretext of 684ba2544e ‘imperial order’. “Groom, please 0d0d93c099 enter.” It 822df1bd99 seemed that 7638818d00 the noise 90ae00e701 around him ec88566e1d was dying bcc24067a9 down a 90ef8b1a76 bit, and d890a04b98 the priest 59c4139064 who officiated 872f324e95 the wedding 2a0d97b4a0 announced the d1eff690d4 groom’s entrance. Everyone’s eyes turned 0551cd813c back, and Decker, f014a721b1 dressed in a 7efdf0b3ad black suit, began 87bb86a452 to walk out 4981b6eb59 with a stride. “Oh! That person 464c137903 is Decker 973beca34a Pervaz… ?” 3f9a5713cf “He’s handsome. Why was he a 2275dcf8fc bachelor until now?” Decker, 1251395622 who was neatly dressed, 9d3b0770e5 had shaved off his cb6a1547a5 beard and combed his 4983e23270 hair neatly, looked quite 890dc543c0 presentable. “Wow, Decker…!” “Why? Do you think 003273cd2a you’re going to a2917a0d36 fall in love ec4efbfbf6 with him again?” d09228feca “…What on earth d37914fa81 are you talking f8594c6e6e about? Do you 47016628cb want to 95e4b9dbe8 see me eadacb095f throw up?” 2b5eb50320 When Asha 7de7c29056 exclaimed, Carlyle 8620c73a77 pretended to a5946f127b be jealous, 9c1381255c but Asha 653fb664f8 frowned as f35e409b51 if she 8c1e1c33f3 had heard 5b7a3abb1f that she 7f166d628e would fall e89d6b4cf9 in love 8b525e8573 with her 3b6b2a8264 older brother. At that, Carlyle was 6d7b7f0aff relieved again. In his d981b31a35 eyes, Decker 8365ce59a8 looked quite fbc60c8669 handsome now, 33ad3d1321 and every 4e4afdab49 time he aee3896451 looked handsome, 9417a2eaaa the talk 8d427ec53a about the 3c7298e103 marriage between 4c0e9e1a04 him and f99dadfffb Asha kept 2fa9efa595 coming to 4334859ccd his mind. By that 40a2b45410 time, Decker 199a8c04ce had reached 6cf0fd95f1 the priest, c3c8d3f336 and the 6cfd072c25 priest called 1ff5af58c5 for the 926d5b80f6 bride. “Now, bride, please aaff417e2e enter.” Finally, the 87724a0748 moment everyone was 51bcd3e327 waiting for had fa9afa5c3c come. The flower of 99540ac0c8 the wedding is d461906f67 the bride, isn’t 46bfad736c it? “What…? Sir Raphelt…?” 266bb4264c Asha was 1ba03a140d surprised again. Of course, 6b7f6fc1ae Dorothea, who a936a5a7af was wearing e514f67857 a delicate d5dfaa8e6e lace wedding a73dff43ad dress, was 0eb40382d0 also beautiful ce20058a98 enough to 9bc09c489c be surprised. However, Asha, who knew 3ca94254c8 that their relationship had 4734d63e3f broken down, was even cfa9fcac7e more surprised that Dorothea 339b419088 appeared holding Giles’ hand. “What happened?” 1c0a7e1d1d “Sir Raphelt 177d064316 is not f614451df4 a bad fe6c73a82f person either. I believe bb12b543c8 that there c136c96b55 was also ffc5f8f94e a love eda2f0918b for his e9cacb7a31 daughter in 7da5535e5d his plan df70696a31 to make ef24eccc45 Lady Dorothea 95e2cde560 the empress.” aae3ee9ebf “Surely Lady 12dbfad6ce Dorothea didn’t 2232c6b794 ask for 6ecb9afb12 forgiveness from a1bd07e9fc Sir Raphelt?” a84afc9f9e “On the 396f837cf6 contrary. Sir Raphelt is the f732472fe9 one trying to improve b95e097160 his relationship with his f40073da46 family.” “That’ Sir’ Raphelt……?” 484b5291c2 Asha asked back, unable 5d807a09e8 to imagine the self-righteous 119eab3152 Giles groveling to his 6005abb0f6 family. However, she was glad cd4ff615dd that Dorothea’s expression was f5e7d9d99e happy as she entered, 88c086924e holding her father’s hand. Giles’ expression f14b971b6b seemed tense, 67815be661 but even 67d0e3263b that looked 5b7d254cbd good to 3a86aa2f0c her somehow. ‘Tsk. Well, is this 9b8be8aaf2 enough to forgive 386b13486c him……?’ Asha had 4833d059de always been unconsciously 63fda88e02 avoiding Giles because 5a1f35de92 he was the 7d7ad35c79 only one she 99b89f936c couldn’t forgive, but 0037bd57f0 seeing him become 618513ede7 Decker’s father-in-law made 5811f0005b her see him 30ae9bff45 in a slightly 7595a810c1 different light. “I hope 0a3ef5c5dd he has d99917718c changed his 5d1d854520 personality. If he 4c30357374 harms Decker 40ded2b8ae or does 0443503e22 anything out 07f0fb18c4 of line…….” a084ed795c “Sir Raphelt ff5988b973 knows that b23f23d53a you won’t 8165780db5 stay still. He knows everything 72a4c0d618 except for people’s fc37f80e7e hearts.” Carlyle laughed 724a031ba2 lightly. Meanwhile, the 5aac56e930 wedding ceremony a06d0ec6de continued in d8c4d29521 a bright dd7f0ba069 atmosphere. Decker and fe46f767ed Dorothea exchanged 26e3ee34d3 wedding rings 20650a7928 and declared de342cbb38 their vows 15e1626f51 in front a613bd05fa of everyone, c32154c968 even sharing 56c99f69c1 a shy 57ca51fa56 kiss. TL/N: AAAAAH! CUTE!!!! Asha, who was watching b2ccfae1d7 from the front row, d9b763c285 almost burst into tears a51296a9bb when she saw Decker 57e63ef9dd smile happily, but other 63bb5aa036 than that, it was b570befb01 a perfect wedding. After the wedding ceremony 634997b7b2 ended and the banquet 76d668e8c5 began, Asha was greeted 6a4f5dac03 by familiar faces. “Della! Nina!” “Your 104224fffd Majesty the 6ca6ea2fcb Empress.” Before 48e5267c4e Della and 5960d779e4 Nina could 5b1719f3b5 curtsy, Asha 2d22ad5539 hugged them 62ee66ba7b tightly. “Della! Is your arm 2da2108011 okay?” “It’s not 910cc5c028 completely disabled, so 66028d47e6 heaven has smiled df6fe91ac8 upon me.” Della, 7bae205c51 who had been cb90365d64 badly injured in a57cc236f4 the arm when de8c90d054 the demons and bbc420919d barbarians invaded the 20c6d101e9 castle, smiled brightly 40950df6bf as if it 6d7e9e2fda was nothing. She could 637cde9b9e not lift 9ac7f53742 her left f809b42880 arm above 8d3c678e3d her shoulder, 4ac1010790 but the 4a9d7814b4 strong woman 9f8b958fa0 was still 26a9fe85fc doing an dd90c34550 excellent job 97ebc05099 as the c043029e07 head maid 4caee562d8 of the 6e27bb5f17 Pervaz Castle. Nina became 198329b8f5 Dorothea’s personal af2356c002 maid. “The new bc488d1654 Countess is e90942f561 also a 2607cd271d shy and b3c5671695 kind person ae034eeddc like Your abceae6c92 Majesty, so 7e99d5687f there is 38c5e90f49 no hardship b534f37e33 at all.” fe45a1fc5a “I’m…… shy b657ff0512 and kind……?” 61bb04117c “Yes!” Asha 967dd54a6e was a c2f311bb3c little embarrassed 4065d5f726 by Nina’s db0ea59434 assessment of e00eac4657 her, but 3e0ac23cad she laughed 9dd4e64c3d it off, f708e6363f thinking that 187e6e9b4b Nina’s evaluation f97f636bed criteria were e73bf29429 quite harsh. In addition 5a824c81d5 to them, cf7b185161 warriors including c6d396853d Bastian and 63cf3fdd02 Danilo were d2d58daf82 amazed by 14e40293d6 Asha, who f2ec0c95fe had become fdfd590535 the Empress, 49abacbccb and they b4b9ec4eef spent a 396d61b8e2 long time 6fe236c53e talking about 65dd89599e the deceased 7cb9c4b32a while reminiscing a1a429ace1 with them. * * * 9f978fd7b8 “It’s been a 7095096e58 while here too.” 9a5d174980 Carlyle reminisced as b6a98649ad he looked around 174a9b274d the bedroom prepared 61515b5e0f for the imperial 5fd26f95c8 couple. The room was the 9237f51f16 one he used to 5985c24900 use on the second 6013d48768 floor. Most of the 565605f8f6 interior decorations had 9eaacbc15d been changed, but fc9369c197 the view outside 325db31845 the window and 007254d0b0 the arrangement of 6236ddb64b the furniture were cd2a2f80b5 almost the same, c1d85cd0d3 so it felt 6a5435f06f familiar. “Originally, this 1a96467691 room on a395e36dca the second b85eed2d84 floor was 644746fa43 the lord’s e99b884467 room… …” 0914f502c9 “Ah, Count 698189c8a1 Pervaz uses b6cb914267 the room 22e2f57b00 opposite this 682ba30bd7 one. This is 7b8414a3f4 a guest 22d40a18ff room for 2c326da715 distinguished guests, 77e596b8d5 isn’t it?” 01bc7ff22d Asha nodded 9d75d54a1d and approached 98f3c94365 the window. The sun f541d4e9e1 had set, b37a0a0e79 but the 778bc94344 outside was a493bf40d4 still festive. It would be the ca6a4d5a60 first time in their e9eb2fa8ee memory that a lord 3d2a79bf6f had held a wedding 76b46415d5 in Pervaz. The people of 9df1c63b1c the territory were a8b2ce6f4d given plenty of da30a013eb meat and alcohol, 8822831fd8 lanterns were lit ff1f045da2 brightly, and bards 189a15651c sang songs everywhere. The smell of delicious bf3ba791c4 food seemed to vibrate ad91af01c7 throughout the territory. Suddenly, Carlyle 3bae2826d1 thought of fca96c4101 the harvest 3b8d2b0982 festival, where fcfb38f357 they had 617bc89cab hung up 938fe40bb2 crude decorations 884e3069aa everywhere and 270b128ff3 served wildfowl 3db9fcf908 meat and 1643d4eb8f alcohol. “Carlyle, now I 69742453c2 know how shabby 948626556b our harvest festival 9103f6a92b was.” Asha laughed 3fa3adbe1b and Carlyle hugged 464580be5e her from behind. “Well, of course. The harvest festivals held 6676b4bac4 in wealthy territories or d542722233 the imperial palace are 945fb424f7 much more abundant and 986585b23b splendid than that.” “Isn’t 8406e04a87 it ridiculous that we 56d37d9b37 didn’t even slaughter a 51c157786d pig for the harvest 5d93a05173 festival?” “No. It was more 2f21f0e1c9 absurd than that.” 45c2cadaa8 “What is it?” f4e7fd9a19 “That ‘everyone’ was 10b8fa8096 really happy.” For 422f60b704 Carlyle, who had 00ef135f32 grown up seeing 12d1052eb5 too much of 73d36f11b1 the ugly side 714ba6839f of humans, it 84b3bef515 was a shock. It was a 5bb1c7741a terribly poor territory, 395b62aff7 and as Asha ee783bad30 said, it was f35ca51583 a harvest festival 5a570ce9dc where they didn’t c9bcf62305 even slaughter a 16f5f950e5 pig, but the 167adde8fa people of the 4755a151c5 territory were all 09840a291b genuinely happy. They were so happy e1ee829812 that they laughed, cried, 0849216c60 sang, and danced. Until they 84153c2ff1 collapsed, everyone. “I thought I would d180a3013b only see such a 43edc94d24 sight in heaven.” Asha 1ee8eb5d58 was somehow proud of 29ec439e6c Carlyle’s praise. However, Carlyle poured cold 0e98e3450e water on Asha’s mood. “But Pervaz will be 5e7e173198 different in the future. I’m saying that it a4f3f0ed32 won’t be able to fafa96ea15 embrace everyone with camaraderie 282d2e0bb0 or a sense of caa4087fe5 comradeship like before.” A 6283c1c2e8 lot of money had 680f503078 come in and many 6f05ee423d people had immigrated from d6961e493d outside. There would be 39f49ce4da conflicts between people ddb1751c7a who didn’t know c3d7b59753 the past of 25c639de4c Pervaz and the f547ffa224 original inhabitants of d7b47a2e6c Pervaz, and there c4b41f0a0a would also be 759f273a8e crimes related to e1408dd370 money. There would be more 09cb335c7f than a few people cc26714690 who would approach Decker 4aa3b94cf8 with the intention of 27f916433b taking advantage of his f31d94b0db innocence. “That’s a trial ce4f37ef2e that Count Pervaz 0133d4bf05 will have to 1640c15ac1 overcome.” Carlyle seemed 900e7ba6fe to be worried 33e4f8283e about the future 07b48554c9 of Pervaz and ea2ac53829 Decker, but Asha a72e2d1aed shook her head 08c1edc161 firmly. “But what after 42c2f96f8b he finds out? Are there ce56967262 any alternatives?” 1633b91a8c “There is 66af2eabf2 Lady Dorothea. She will be 60af69d58b able to fill abed14a384 in Decker’s shortcomings cdf7eb5983 admirably.” Carlyle nodded 5c12073c91 at that as fd44b00a42 well. Dorothea was a strong-willed 4490631209 person, despite her outward bd3cfe005c appearance. One could tell c33cd19819 just by the 6613e76bf7 fact that she a058068f7c was the first 55fa58f6c8 of the Raphelt 2dfb1bba52 family to rebel 913b7ad813 against Giles. Moreover, it was thanks ebf55e6dbe to her that the 43f97b44b0 school in Pervaz was bb6263e3b5 able to open its 6575c50e48 doors not too late, 42820d5473 the compulsory education system 251fd27afd was introduced, and the 4031fcd0f0 orphanage and daycare center 196e68a850 businesses were started. She was simply 95c6b5a0f7 suppressed by Giles 9f59b46df1 and had not 86fad97c75 been able to e2b3284d1f display her abilities 1b66292a27 until now, but 073db0ef98 she was a e1852cfdc2 genius who had bd392c03e9 studied countless books 026e65dee8 and inherited Giles’ a307637934 blood. “Yes, she will 097640884b do well. The problem is 2c645ded2f us.” “That’s right. There are many things 515961e6ff that need to be f76186af1b solved, and there are a26ec80ad4 still many people who dfdcc8bc51 oppose me.” Asha looked 6c42932fa2 down at the castle 783895c6b8 forecourt, where a cheerful 44bfea7f7e song was playing, and a6495d6fad turned back to Carlyle. “Well, I’m ea399acac0 not that 4267c3278c scared. We’ll do well 6b9773c70d too.” Carlyle’s gaze a748288515 swept over Asha’s 49b9829df6 forehead and cheeks. His wife had been 6a891c2b56 this strong since the 5304216b9d very first time he b9ba26b7a9 met her. She was a 05e30a6e3d woman who had a3a7bc1da1 crawled through a 25ca161857 war zone with a280cf8477 death following her 8c270cc87e every step, ended 30d8ba28f0 that war, saved c3b5714e18 her own territory, 12d004f8ff and finally saved ac0b1d57bb this very empire. Carlyle smiled as b96b3ee681 he brushed Asha’s 7ea49b0fa8 cheek. “As long as I 89373fb6d5 have you, I’m not c85d61cef8 afraid either.” His promise e7498c926d flowed into Asha’s lips, f39b2e9edd leaving a sweet aftertaste.a93fd2e231c4913b