Chapter 37

Chapter 37

After some time passed and the ceremony was over, the body returned to normal. The women of Nervana Forest were back in a fluffed appearance, as they had sweated a lot. Perhaps her body had felt the heat, too, the chilly forest air made her skin get goosebumps.

Kiyan came to Enya with a wet towel wrapped around her neck from the earlier ritual.

“The ceremony is over. Now, we are going to have a small banquet among ourselves, so will you stay until then?”

Enya came up to her and glanced at Kiyan, who closed her eyes and responded with a smile, more affectionate than ever. The chieftain of Nervana Forest, who was so ferocious when talking to Tarhan, looked like a warm and friendly lady.

She couldn’t hide her bewilderment and glanced at Rigata.

“Do whatever you want.”

Rigata was leaning against the gerpan in the same posture as before, holding an apple unknown where it came from in one hand and biting it into his mouth. Around him, several Nervana forest women who had finished the ceremony were approaching and glancing at him.

Seeing that, Enya thought to herself.

‘As expected, popularity in Aguilea wasn’t limited to the tribe.’

It seemed that she didn’t need to worry about Rigata being bored. Enya cautiously expressed her intention to participate to Kiyan.

Then, Kiyan took her hand, who decided to stay at their banquet, and led her to the women of Nervana Forest. Enya instinctively felt her body shrink at the sight of women her age. The experience of being bullied for a long time became a habit and was ingrained in the body.

“I-I’m fine. There, just separately…”

“What are you talking about? Everyone was looking forward to the news that Enya was coming.”

She was taken aback by Kiyan’s words and asked.

“…M, me? You waited for me?”

Kiyan answered while looking at her with auburn eyes shining.

“Of course.”

Her face when she said that was somehow full of anticipation and confidence that Enya couldn’t fathom.

With a bewildered heart, she was caught by Kiyan’s hand and reached the place where the women of the Nervana Forest were gathered in a circle. The men’s ritual seemed to have just begun while the women, who were talking with each other and watching the men, looked at Enya as she approached.

Enya felt the gaze pierce her and unknowingly shrank herself.

This seemed like a mistake. Many interests in her in this way could only be poison to her.

‘If I told her that I wanted to go home right now, she would be angry…’

Because of that, she endured the stares of the Nervana forest women staring at her as she looked up at Kiyan anxiously, almost crying. They gazed at her so intently that it felt as if her skin would pierce through it.

Her body, which had only been cold before, was heated up again, and it felt like cold sweat was flowing all over her body.

Enya followed hesitantly from behind Kiyan and stretched and clasped her ungrasped hand.

Still, the tension didn’t go away. It looked as if they would point their fingers at her bad leg and mock her at any moment. If that were the case, she would no longer be able to trust people.

With that thought in mind, she took a brave step with the feeling that she was walking on the road to death, but one of the women in the middle of the group quickly raised her body. She then called her name.

“Enya, you’re here! Here!”

Enya looked in the direction of the voice, absolutely startled that it was the first time someone had called her name so loudly.

She soon recognized the woman who called out her own name. It was Fiarca, who had stopped by Piache’s herbal room with Reyhald the other day. She was the one who invited her to this ceremony, explaining the circumstances in the Nervana Forest to her.

When she met the face of an acquaintance, she felt her tense body relax in an instant and her expression loosened.

As she let out a sigh of relief and took her steps towards Fiarca, at that moment, her ankle, stiff from the tension and anxiety, sprained instead of listening to her, and it caused Enya to fall in front of her.

“Ah…!”

The moment her body fell to the ground just as she was, she felt Kiyan, which was holding her hand, lift her body at once. However, the strength of Kiyan’s grip was too much to support Enya’s whole body, which was unable to keep her balance.

In the end, Enya ended up falling in front with her whole nose-diving down.

The moment her cheek landed on her floor, she felt an indescribable sense of shame, embarrassment, and a chilling feeling of fear running through her bones. The blood vessels throughout her body constricted, and her face seemed to be bursting with blood.

‘I fell in front of people…’

Enya had had a great fall in front of the Aquileas before.

It was in the middle of the big rock square. She will never forget the look on the faces of the people of Aquilea, who looked at her with disgust at that time. She had to toss and turn through countless nights because of the sensations that came from her dreams.

If Tarhan hadn’t been by her side, she would never have made it through those nights alone.

“Enya!”

Soon, someone hurriedly approached her.

Enya put her arms around her head defensively to protect herself from anyone who approached her. It was instinct.

The voice that came out was completely unexpected.

“Are you okay? Oh no, you fell hard.”

She was taken aback by the kind hand that wrapped around her head. Clearly, this voice belonged to Fiarca. It seemed that Fiarca came by her side and lifted her up with Kiyan.

That wasn’t the only thing that surprised Enya.

“Somebody get some medicine!”

“She fell! Call a healer!”

“Put her on a gerpan!”

Almost all of the women stood up from their seats and surrounded her. They were all reaching out their hands to help her a little bit with a worried look and voice when she fell.

Enya felt dumbfounded.

If this had happened in Aquilea, no one would have cared about her and continued on their way. No one gave her a helping hand. Utterly stunned by the sudden outpouring of attention and help, she glanced around, not knowing what to do.

Kiyan shouted at once, dismissing those women.

“Shhh…! Everyone, don’t make a fuss! How many times have I told you not to scare her?”

With those words, not only the Nervana forest women but even Enya were startled and stood up while holding Fiarca’s hand and sprained her body. Kiyan instantly quieted the clamoring Nervana Forest women, and she approached Enya and gently touched her shoulder.

Then she asked, checking Enya’s condition.

“Are you okay? As expected, your leg must be really bad.”

Enya still didn’t know how to react to Kiyan’s unexpected kindness, but her mouth fell open. No one, not even Old Lady Piache or Ihita, had ever shown her this kind of intense interest.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m, I’m fine. My legs don’t listen…”

She barely opened her mouth and spat out a few words, and Yaru, Kiyan’s nephew, who had come to Fiarka’s side before she knew it, brushed the dust off her lap and replied.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s just a fall?”

The next moment, she grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her toward the crowd, shouting as if to announce something she was proud of.

“Come on. Say hello, everyone. This is Enya. I told you, right?”

An even more amazing thing happened after that.

The women who were there lifted their heads as if they had been waiting for her and started to move closer to her. The surroundings turned into a commotion again, as before Kiyan had silenced them. They each asked a question, expressing great interest in Enya.

“Oh my, really…!”

“This is great, my God…!”

The tumultuous sight she experienced for the first time in her life made Enya feel as if she was about to pass out. She was lost from the indiscriminate barrage of questions, and she only waved her hand while smiling.

Fiarca quieted her surroundings again.

“Everybody shut up! I should have warned you, but if Enya freaks out and says she won’t come back, it’ll be all your fault!”

Hearing those bloody words, not only the Nervana forest women but also Enya shut their mouths tightly.

While everyone was looking at Fiarca, Kiyan spoke again with a groan as she touched her head.

“Now. Everyone calm down. When is the banquet going to start?”

With those words at the forefront, Yaru clapped her hands and forcibly dispersed the gathered women. The women began to grill goat skewers and various vegetables and fruits that had been prepared around a campfire that had been made in advance.

In the meantime, Yaru and Fiarca took Enya by her arm and led her to the back of the tree.

There were already seats there.

Seating Enya in thehighesth seat, they lined up the mead and various Nervana-style snacks they had brought and began to recommend Enya this and that. In the midst of such a hectic situation, women began to gather around her again, one by one.

They, who should have enjoyed and cheered each other up under the name of a banquet, seemed to have all their minds focused on Enya.

“Oh my God, look at this coveted hair. It’s really thin. If you make dolls out of this, babies will love it.”

“I wish I could braid it. It’s on a different level from men’s rugged hair.”

In Nervana Forest, all the women cut their hair short, and the men grew it long.

In their culture, Enya’s thin hair that stretched down to her waist was like a strange thing they had never seen before. Perhaps they were already accustomed to being by her side, they opened their eyes and continued to talk to her while playing with Enya’s hair, ignoring Fiarca and Kiyan, who was watching them.

“Yes. I heard that Enya has already taken the ‘vow of spring’ with a man there. He was said to be a strong tribal chief like Aquilea’s monster. How on earth did you two meet?”

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