Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Ceremony?

Enya couldn’t understand what he was saying. Ceremony… was there any more rituals left to go through in Aquilea? She remembered her coming-of-age ceremony. At the same time, a faint flutter like a gust of wind rose in her heart from the misery.

Tarhan hated that time, though she was more than happy to remember it.

“What ceremony…?”

She had long passed the age for her coming-of-age ceremony. After that, it was all about the funeral rites that Aquileans had to go through when they returned to the earth.

Enya gulped dryly.

“Our wedding ceremony.”

Tarhan disappeared with those arrow-like words.

Indeed, as he had informed her, their wedding was held informally shortly thereafter. For the first time since the union of Perugia and Aquilea, the marriage ceremony was reserved for the chieftain and a woman who had lived childless in his hut for more than ten years.

“Today is a happy day.”

Her soul was half gone even as the women of Perugia, who assisted her in the wedding ceremony, took her to the shore of the river and washed her with care. They were not afraid of her, perhaps they had been told to do so, and they touched her body and tried to make eye contact with her and talked to her.

“You should be happy, Enya. We all know that after Kahanti’s death, there was no man more worthy to be the head of Aquilea than Tarhan.”

Cutting her stiff, overgrown hair with a knife, they trimmed her damaged hair. Then, they clipped her fingernails short and applied ointment and oil on her. The leg with the most pain was carefully massaged, and put on clean clothes.

“Smile. Today Enya will be the happiest bride.”

Enya couldn’t be so unfamiliar with the word bride, which they naturally uttered to her. On the day of the wedding, Aquilea’s new chieftain was worthy of being said by people to be the incarnation of the ancestor Leias.

The moment she saw her groom, her heart skipped a beat.

Standing in front of the podium with a sense of intimidation and majesty that no monster could pierce through his skin, the figure of him was greatness itself.

The hearts of those watching the wedding of the new chieftain swelled with trepidation.

The new chieftain would finally achieve the unity of the land. He would unite the foreign nations divided into many branches and sow the seeds of all Aquileas everywhere, and he would win the duel with Argon and establish peace in the Great Plains.

The elder Haraibo, who maintained his cleanliness and sobriety, was now dressed in red clothes. He sprinkled water on Tarhan, who was standing in the middle of the place, and receiving the protection and blessings of all the powers of the Great Plains.

People held their breath and watched the scene.

To be precise, they looked at the flawless man who was reaching his climax in the golden age of that life with a look of admiration.

In that incredible moment, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the bride chosen by the great chieftain, Tarhan.

She was such a small and fragile-looking woman.

After washing and putting on new clothes with the help of the ladies, the woman’s white, slender legs, at first glance, looked uncomfortable. They didn’t know that the new chieftain’s eyes would fall on the woman who seemed to have a hard time even sitting still in front of them.

His fiancée, the woman who would become the new wife of the chieftain, who should have welcomed the man who had returned after completing everything, did not have the right look on her face.

Her expression, which should have overflowed with the joy of victory and the joy of a new bride, was discolored by a dark and deep moan of worry. The face that should have shined like the full moon was dark like the dark clouds that wetted the rainy season in October, and the expression that was supposed to shine like the dew at dawn was as dry as the dry wind.

But most of all, they couldn’t understand the young chieftain whose eyes were fixed on the woman throughout her ceremony.

He longed for her enough to the extent that it gave the illusion that he was eagerly waiting for the woman’s attention who did not even make eye contact with him.

From the first appearance of Tarhan’s bride, his hand has not separated from the woman’s body. The hand on her waist was not removed even by Haraibo’s sharp eyes, and he showed tension and nervousness like a hound guarding a delicate woman.

On the other hand, the woman was only trembling faintly in despair.

Like a person who has lost her soul, like a doll that had no consciousness in her mind, the woman’s expression was that of someone who had already left this place.

The eyes, which had no direction, hovered in the air with anxiety.

And so, the young chieftain had seized her soul and pressed her down as if to check her with his eyes again and again.

He held his gaze with relentless obsession and would not let go.

By doing so, it was as if he could capture her heart that had already left and bring it down to this place. It was a maniacal enthusiasm, meaningless outbursts, and the words of a foolish man.

“…The bride and groom, please quench your thirst with the holy water placed in front of you. This will signify each person’s responsibilities and obligations in this marriage.”

Haraibo commanded in a calm voice.

Perhaps he had waited for it, Tarhan poured the golden cup with the holy water in front of him into his mouth.

The next moment, the elder looked at Enya.

Compared to the gigantic man in front of her, the woman, who was so shabby, was motionless as if she hadn’t heard his words. Seeing the man nervously tapping his fingers, Haraibo gulped dryly and ordered again.

“…Bride, drink the holy water that is placed in front of you.”

However, the answer was silence.

At that, the expressions of the women standing behind Enya turned dark with bewilderment as people started to mumble. There were people who were watching with their heads held back as if something had gone wrong with the sacred wedding ceremony.

“Bride, the holy water…”

When Haraibo opened his mouth once again in a strong voice, the young chieftain jumped up and strode to the front of the bride.

People’s eyes widened in amazement at the sight. As the strong-minded man didn’t care and raised the holy water from the golden cup that the bride was supposed to drink, the clear water inside slithered and smeared a little on the groom’s hand.

Everyone present saw the groom force holy water into the bride’s hand and make her drink it.

The bride barely took him in, choking and gasping for breath. The holy water, which had not yet been poured into her mouth, flowed down the bride’s lips.

“…With this, the wedding ceremony is concluded.”

In the midst of a tremendous silence, Hariibo hurriedly closed the ceremony. The groom quickly accepted the bride’s staggering body. She glanced up in fear at the man.

She was not afraid of him, but of what might happen.

The new groom straightened the unsteady bride’s dress and dragged her down. It was to prepare for the first night of the newly announced chieftain and his wife.

The first night, it was funny.

On the first night, Enya sat alone in the room prepared for the bridal chambers. She was a bride who didn’t have her moon cycle anymore. The blood that had come little by little for the past few months had long since disappeared altogether.

Nevertheless, Enya became Tarhan’s bride tonight.

This was their first night.

However, since they had already crossed their legs countless times, nothing would change if they intermingled again.

Nevertheless, Tarhan ordered that their bridal chambers be decorated thoroughly and formally.

In the room where animal skins hung on the walls, red candles were shining softly, and golden dishes were filled with fruit wine and medicinal wine, waiting for the bride and groom to drink. The oil in the silverware burned, giving off an indescribably obscene scent.

“…These lamps are oil mixed with spices used by newlyweds in Perugia for their first night. It is a specially prepared incense for the first night of the chieftain and his wife.”

The woman’s soft hands moved busily. She spread the oil from the earthenware in her palms and pulled down Enya’s clothes before beginning to massage her back and the back of her neck.

“There is a legend that the procedure was made because there were so many women dying on the first night. If the body warms up like this beforehand, the maiden will be less nervous, and will not be hurt even after receiving a man who rushes at her like an excited bull. Isn’t that funny?”

At that, Enya finally opened her shut mouth. Her voice, somehow brooding, sounded very tired.

“…That’s okay. It’s not the first night.”

She had already slept with him countless times, so much so that the first night now remains only as an afterimage of a hazy memory.

Still, she remembered that night clearly.

She brought up memories of the past. She remembered the night they first became one.

To Enya, that night was more meaningful than this rigid night. Tarhan wove a flower crown for the Aquilea maiden and put it on her head. At that time, his kindness… it was a feeling she would remember for the rest of her life.

Tarhan did not enter the bridal chamber until after midnight.

The woman’s expression as she stared at the entrance where he entered from was insensitive. Without a word, he took off his robe and sat down in front of her, who was still dressed in the same clothes as in the wedding ceremony and sat motionless like a doll.

This night was meaningless to Enya, yet it was very important to Tarhan.

Still, she didn’t seem to understand that.

On a precious day when any other maiden would have shed tears of joy, his maiden had a face as if her throat was choking with her sorrow.

Enya glanced at his face and bit her lip to avoid being overcome with emotion. A man with a surprisingly handsome face… looking closely, there was tiredness visible in the shadows around his eyes.

She suddenly remembered the man who was lying on the meadow, when she could not remember when, making circles with the tips of his fingers on her flat stomach while holding her, giving his arm as a pillow.

It was a distant memory. That was when she found out she was pregnant again.

Enya had gone to meet Tarhan, who was out in the field at that time. In her hand, she was holding a bunch of grass that was said to be good for the baby in her stomach. As soon as he said that she thought she was having a baby, he picked her up and spun her round and round.

The grass in her hand fell everywhere.

While being embraced by the cheering man, Enya laughed out loud, too.

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After holding each other for a while, the two picked up the grass that had fallen nearby and returned home. Could the man at that time and the man standing in front of her be the same person?

A more stubborn jawline and mature eyes reminded her of the fact that he was not the man he was more than ten years ago.

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