Chapter 30

Chapter 30

“…Is it because it’s been a while? Why can’t you stay still?”

A low voice came through the darkness. His voice was slightly hoarse.

The voice gave her a strange feeling that made her body heat up even more. Enya bit her lip to prevent any noise from slipping out.

As she turned her head away, she forced herself to sleep again without thinking hard while receiving Tarhan’s hand as he silently massaged her leg. Still, she was a little embarrassed that she was thinking of sleeping with him when the man was silently taking time to serve her legs without losing a breath.

‘Tarhan must be hectic and tired…’

Burying her flushed face into the pillow, Enya closed her eyes tightly.

However, the more she did, the more her body felt strange. It seemed that every part he touched seemed to grow hot. In the end, a hot moan escaped her lips, and Enya twisted unknowingly.

Tarhan’s hand, which was gripping her calf, suddenly gained strength.

“Ah!”

As Enya screamed at the unbearable sensation, his hand fell off her leg at once.

“Sorry, it’s been so long that I can’t control my strength.”

He was so flustered that he came back again, saying he was sorry before brushing her hair and pressing his wet lips to her cheek. Even though she was a little nervous again with anticipation, afraid that this time he would stick his hand into her clothes, Tarhan’s touch was just that.

“I shouldn’t have woken you up. Sleep more.”

Then, he patted her back with a soft voice. Feeling his stiff hand, Enya closed her eyes, feeling a strange sense of being unfulfilled. Tarhan didn’t touch her anymore but lay down beside her and seemed to sleep instead.

Enya forced herself to close her eyes as she, too, dug into his side. However, the dissatisfaction, which had already settled in her, did not go away for a long time and kept her tossing and turning all night.

When she woke up again, the herbs that had been smeared all over her calves and legs were clean, and her swollen ankles were refreshed like new. She woke up with cheeks flushed and glanced around to find Tarhan, who should be sleeping with his bare torso exposed.

But, he wasn’t there.

‘…He left early today, too.’

A strange sense of loss came.

Enya stretched herself to hide her disappointment. However, something was placed on the table. It was fresh fruits cut into pieces that were easy to eat. The moment she saw it, her heart was full. She didn’t have to think twice about who had done that.

Forgetting she was going to skip breakfast, she went over and put the fruits he had sliced into her mouth.

She was moved by the fact that he had left something for her, even in the midst of his busy schedule. And yet, at the same time, her heart ached as she missed him again unbearably, whom she had only seen briefly the night before.

As time passed, he would only get busier. It’d been a long time since the two of them even had time to talk for a while, let alone the hot relationship like before.

‘I forgot to ask if it was okay to go to the purification ceremony in Nervana Forest…’

Enya thought desperately as she swallowed the fruit down her throat. Well, let alone ask that, the man’s face was even hard to see in her sleep.

‘Today… he said there was an alliance meeting.’

The regiment had built a large barracks near the site of a big rock in Aquilea and was using it as a meeting place.

There, Tarhan, the deputy chieftain, Servia and her eldest son, Gernan, Avisak of Perugia, Kiyan, Yaru, Lehijin from the Nervana forest, and countless other large and small powers of the Great Plain went on their meeting to exchange elaborate strategies and tactics and continued to fight.

Except for the early days when the Allied forces gathered, Enya did not even go near the site of the big rock. It was clear that she would get in the way if she ventured around, saying that she just wanted to take a look at Tarhan’s face.

Instead, she did everything she could.

Even though she didn’t do the work of supplying supplies for the war in the workshop like other women, Enya kept going back and forth between Piache’s medicine field and the treatment center, growing calluses on her hands, cultivating the herb field, and managing the collected herbs.

Her hard labor rather got rid of her thoughts and allowed her to meet new people, the people of the Nervana Forest.

‘…If I go around lunchtime, I might be able to see Tarhan’s face.’

Then, it occurred to her that she might be able to secure some time with him for a brief talk.

That alone made Enya feel strangely happy.

It was absurd that she, of course, felt happy in this situation. The Great Plains was a wartime situation, so even the moment she could share her story with him felt so precious now. She missed him so much, and she desperately wanted to spend time with him.

She didn’t even know how the day had passed. As always, Old Lady Piache forced the women who were mobilized to the medicine field and treatment center to do harsh labor.

“Come on, let’s move quickly. If you don’t want to see your men and sons and daughters bleeding to death on the battlefield, work now!”

Piache, like a person possessed by a herb demon, was frantically mobilizing manpower and even asking the elders to supplement workers, increasing the size of the medicine field.

Enya, who normally worked with Ihita under Piache’s guidance, had to work without a pair this time. It was because Ihita was away to run errands for Old Lady Piache. Not only that, but the people of Nervana Forest, who always snooped around, were also invisible today.

In the end, she had to concentrate on the labor for more than half a day without talking to others.

Even though it was a field under Piache, the newly mobilized women were also Aquileans to the bone, and they still feared that just looking at Enya would be contagious. Piache also had too many things to do to focus on Enya alone.

In the end, Enya alone pulled out weeds, planted seedlings, and harvested the fruit in the medicine field without rest until her back ached. She worked hard without even having time to wipe off the dripping sweat properly.

The labor field without Ihita provided an environment in which she had no choice but to focus on work. Still, she worked silently without a word of complaint.

It finally came to the noon she had been waiting for.

Enya wanted to quickly go to the well to take off her sweaty clothes and freshen up her body. But when she arrived at the well, there were already a lot of women gathered there.

They gathered in groups, quenched their thirst, washed their sweaty bodies, washed their hair, and occupied the place by laughing and chatting friendly among themselves. Among them were already women from other tribes, such as Perugia.

Enya couldn’t help but look with envy at the women who naturally started to mingle with the Aquileans under the common ground of the wartime situation in front of them.

As she sneaked closer to them, one of them jumped back in surprise.

Enya couldn’t hide her bitter feelings and had to quickly turn around, pretending to quench her throat, lowering her gaze.

No matter how circumstances have changed, the hostility of the Aquilean women towards Enya has not disappeared. They still looked at her like a bug who had come to the well, limping. They even turned their head away, covering their nose and mouth in disgust, as if her bad foot was contagious.

When Aquilea’s women showed such an attitude, even the women of the other tribes, who initially didn’t care, began to shun Enya.

In such a vicious cycle, the only people who naturally talked to her and got along with her were Ihita, resembling the eccentric nature of Old Lady Piache, who only knew about work and herbs, and the inhabitants of Nervana Forest, who did not get along with any other faction and acted independently.

Unavoidable, she had to go back a long way to use the well near the hut where she and Tarhan lived. The well was the one that Tarhan had dug when they first built their hut. There, she could use the water freely without any hesitation.

Enya quickly washed herself there and changed into fresh, clean clothes before she grabbed something to eat and a light snack to share with Tarhan. It was a packed lunch that she made in the morning because she didn’t have time.

It was rice mixed with millet and barley, wrapped in dried palm leaves, and tied with straw. She also stuffed large chunks of meat into Tarhan’s portion.

Grabbing the lunch, she quickly left the house again.

Of course, it was much later that she reached the meeting place at the big rock.

‘…Tarhan, he must have already had lunch.’

As she limped along towards the meeting hall, Enya couldn’t hide her upset feelings. At times like this, she couldn’t be so resentful of her steps, which were three or four times slower than others.

‘No. It’s too late.’

During lunchtime, the quiet conference hall was now crowded with people. It was well past afternoon, and the torches had already been lit.

Enya moved cautiously through the area where the sentries stood with their spears. There, the elders of each faction of the Allied Forces stationed in Aquilea and the warriors who came together to escort them were talking about various things with stern expressions on their faces. There must have been a heated meeting going on inside.

Sure enough, a very familiar voice came from inside the long tent.

It was a voice almost near a shout.

“Sacrificing for Goddess Aquilea is a ritual that has been held before all wars since ancient times! To skip such a ceremony now, Tarhan, you are insane!”

Servia’s high-pitched voice echoed from inside the tent.

When the shouts of the two were heard from inside, the other elders, who had been chatting outside the tent and waiting for the top officials to finish the meeting, also gathered at the entrance of the barracks one by one.

Even though she was familiar with Servia’s deep, low-pitched cry, Enya’s body unknowingly trembled.

She shuddered as she pulled the lunchbox she was holding into her arms. Fortunately, no one seemed to care that she crossed the guard and entered the barracks entrance.

“Servia, do you think that Aquilea’s Allied Forces are so bad to be bound by such old-fashioned rituals?”

Enya soon felt her heart sink at that voice. It was the voice she had been missing the most in recent days…

It was Tarhan.

—