Chapter 272
Lil’s soaked nightgown clung to her body. Despite it being a fairly thick cloth, Ed could clearly see the outlines of her body because she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
From behind her, Lil suddenly heard a groan but decided to ignore it.
Right after she took off her wet, heavy dressing gown over her head, she once again heard the man behind her make a groaning sound, letting her know that he was still watching her. Lil, putting on a robe, turned around and fastened it in front of her. Before she knew it, only a troubled and bashful face was sticking out of the water. Even though he was courteous enough to attempt to hide his lust, it was quite obvious what was happening under the water anyway.
Lil sat in the recliner next to the pool and admired Ed, who helplessly whimpered and was unable to come out.
“I like what I’m seeing.”
Hearing those words, Ed raised his upper body in retaliation, but Lil simply raised her eyebrows and calmly crossed her legs. With her knee rising through her robe, she was slowly exposing more of her thighs. Consequently, Ed sank back down and wondered how such a small gesture could affect him like that.
“So, what’s the necklace?”
“It’s… Hmm, hmm!”
“..?”
Ed cleared his throat for no reason.
“Have I ever told you something about artefacts?”
“No. You said you didn’t know when I asked you on the Bell Rock’s upper deck.*”
Lil thought she heard mere mutters while she waited for an answer without saying any words of forgiveness to the man who was getting to his feet. Even though Ed had still only his neck sticking out of the water, he was now also slowly moving forward. He eventually draped his arm over the pool’s railing and absentmindedly ran his other hand through his wet hair.
Lil thought to herself.
‘I won’t fall for that.’
“The mysterious power of artefacts is normally thought to come from magic, but in fact, it comes from the divinity. If you ask me how such an unrealistic power still remains in this world, I cannot answer that. However, I hypothesise it’s simply too powerful to be extinguished. And the reason why I call it divine power is because, more than anything, I also have an artefact…”
“…What?”
“Well, of course, I have one too.”
“How? And why do you say it as if it’s something so obvious?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Why?”
“I’ll tell you about it soon…”
“…”
Lil closed her mouth sourly.
“When interpreting myths, there are passages that cannot be understood with today’s common sense alone. For example, whenever Gromer, the God of Thunder, roared in anger, humans would perceive it as thunderstrike. However, whenever a human causes rain and lightning arbitrarily, it’s highly likely that that person borrowed his divine power. This is just my hypothesis, but when a human ‘borrows’ divine power, that power isn’t manifested in the body of that selected human. Instead, it’s a ‘specific object’ that embodies divine power in a way that humans would understand to use. The concept of using those ‘objects’ preserved the artefacts that we have today. And when those artefacts are neither scratched nor broken, they can still exist to this very day.”
“So, my necklace is the embodiment of the divine power borrowed from the God Forma?”
“You can say so.”
“Why did the God of Beauty leave behind a necklace that changes gender?”
“I don’t know that until I start looking up the related myths. But, I haven’t had time to pay attention to your necklace lately…”
“…”
‘This time, I’m sure he’s not lying. Before I woke up from my coma, Ed was preoccupied with keeping me alive. And even after I woke up, our focus quickly turned towards the jailbreak in Gualtiero and Venua’s detainment. Moreover, these days, while we’re preparing for the journey to Obernyu, Ed attends to his naval duties. It’s true that he hasn’t even had the time to properly rest… However, since I have relatively free time, I can look up books on Forma after Ed leaves for naval service today…’
As Lil was making plans for the rest of the day, Ed finally came out of the pool and grabbed a towel.
“Speaking of myths, I want to show you something.”
“…”
Water droplets flowed along the thick muscles of the man who had turned his back to her and was ruffling his hair and neck with a towel. They dripped into the scars he got from various battles, which had become darker over time. In the particularly bright sunlight, these droplets further seeped through his deep shoulder blades and shaded spine, straight down his narrow waistline… But Lil’s view was suddenly blocked by Ed’s act of putting on his gown, making her unknowingly feel regretful before looking up at the man who now faced her.
“Shall we go?”
“Where?”
Lil got up from the recliner while wondering where else they’d go dressed like the way they were as both of them were only wearing dangly gowns.
Ed answered, opening the bath’s door.
“My study.”
“No way. Are you telling me that we’re heading there dressed like this?”
“I didn’t mean my cabinet.”
“So, there’s another study?”
Ed nodded and pushed the wall behind the bed on the other side of his bedroom.
‘…Not surprising. A mansion of this size will have dozens of such passages that only family members know about.’
Lil followed him silently as they passed through several rooms emerging from behind the wall one after the other. They passed rooms with white cloth-covered instruments and medical equipment, ones with beds and couches, or others with tea tables and chairs. Lil even spotted a half-full tea cup on one of the tables.
Only the last room was lit by a candle above the fireplace.
“Here it is.”
Ed pushed the rose-patterned wall next to the fireplace.
‘This study is much darker than the rooms we have passed so far.’
Lil felt the cold on the tip of her nose, confirming that also the temperature was different.
Meanwhile, Ed walked somewhere and pulled back the curtains of one of the windows.
“Wait a minute…”
“…”
Looking around, Lil suddenly noticed what he wanted to show. There were thick red curtains, like those of a theatre stage, that covered the entire wall. Given the number of historical relics and artworks lined up in this mansion, Lil knew she shouldn’t even touch the Retiro insignia on the fabric too hastily.
‘Both my own and Ed’s bodies are still dripping with water droplets…’
Lil asked after taking a step back to get away from the wall.
“What’s this?”
As Ed walked around the inner room, pulling back the curtains one by one, it gradually brightened up the dark interior and revealed the white lambris on the walls. With even the floor being of white marble, it became almost blinding when the last curtain was lifted.
Lil placed a hand in front of her eyes to block the sudden light.
“You can sit there.”
Ed pointed to the small desk behind her. Lil sat down on the desk without saying anything. She figured that perhaps he led her to that spot as it would give her the appropriate eye level to appreciate all of this.
In the meantime, Ed stood next to the curtain and held on to the thick rope made of golden thread. Just before pulling the rope, he smiled meaningfully.
The thick curtains were lifted left and right, revealing a wall. A mottled and yellowed wall. It seemed as if it had been restored by putting together scattered and splintered pieces. Black corroded edges and vivid cracks ran through the centre of the wall.
“A wooden wall?”
“Those aren’t just pieces of wood glued together. Take a closer look.”
Just as he said, when she looked more closely, she observed a red stain. Noticing it formed some kind of shape, Lil tilted her head and muttered.
“…Are those… wood engravings?..”
‘I can see one or two red lines that flicker like rays of sunlight… Below them… it’s clearly land, judging from the combination of gold and green. Then there’s blue… a winding river flowing between them…’
Lil’s eyes widened in surprise.
“This is…”
“…the engravings left behind by humans who survived beyond the mountain range*.”
Colours that had been adsorbed for centuries gradually emerged vividly. With the dye made from pulverised raw grass and smashed wild fruits, the colour that permeates through these survivors’ fingerprints was crushed with their sweat to create a red line…
‘…It’s the sun…’
Such pigment had been touched by exhaled breaths, dried, hardened, and faded over time.
‘The dark red sun is so intense that it heats the earth as if it were hell. But on the other side there’s rain to cool the fiery hot land. It cooled down the entire earth.
…Sprouting vegetation…
A mountain range stands between the fertile land and the beasts, and this mountain range is covered in dark blue pigment. Meanwhile, a beast, wearing a persistent gaze that blindly puts his trust in the unknown land, cuts through the mountain’s insidious vines…’
That strong will that transcended the times overwhelmed Lil. She stammered, unable to take her eyes off it.
“…This… this is…”
‘Rebirth after destruction.’
The sight of the ancient continent filled Lil with a surge of emotions. Her body trembled as it endured her union with the distant past.
With Ed reaching for her shaking hand, Lil barely moved her lips.
“…I can’t even move…”
“Any modern human who sees this for the first time would feel the same way.”
“…”
Lil looked up to see Ed looking directly at her… Or rather, they were suddenly more like face to face… No, she had to look down… Her gaze was gradually going down with Ed’s movements.
“Liloa. If you write a book, it will become history. Future generations will be as thrilled and amazed as you’re now and will become your willing subjects. I’m just saddened that you won’t be able to witness that spectacle…”
“…”
Ed, who was now kneeling at her feet, gently took hold of Lil’s toes. His hot lips soon fell on the instep of her foot. With the light pouring from all over reached the centre of the inner room, both Lil and Ed glistened vividly through the wetness covering them. Ed appeared to be pure as if he had just been born from that same light…
“I’ll be the first subject of your history.”
– – – – –
Reference:
“No. You said you didn’t know when I asked you on the Bell Rock’s upper deck.” = Chapter 118 = When the Bell Rock was anchored to be repaired after the battle with the Garni merchant ship (Mermaid arc), Lil asked Ed if he knew something about artefacts or heard stories about them on his journey. Ed responded by telling he only knows about murals, clat tablets and some other junk, in order to not raise suspicion.
“…the engraving left behind by humans who survived beyond the mountain range.” = Chapter 66 = Before the story about the Farmer, Ed tells Lil about the beast from the ancient continent. Beasts lived on barren land where hunger was the norm, then one day, a beast was born with a little precious seed. His curiosity to know what was behind the mountain range led to a journey to vibrant lands. His little seed was now better known as ‘the will’.
Chapter 272
Lil’s soaked nightgown clung to her body. Despite it being a fairly thick cloth, Ed could clearly see the outlines of her body because she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
From behind her, Lil suddenly heard a groan but decided to ignore it.
Right after she took off her wet, heavy dressing gown over her head, she once again heard the man behind her make a groaning sound, letting her know that he was still watching her. Lil, putting on a robe, turned around and fastened it in front of her. Before she knew it, only a troubled and bashful face was sticking out of the water. Even though he was courteous enough to attempt to hide his lust, it was quite obvious what was happening under the water anyway.
Lil sat in the recliner next to the pool and admired Ed, who helplessly whimpered and was unable to come out.
“I like what I’m seeing.”
Hearing those words, Ed raised his upper body in retaliation, but Lil simply raised her eyebrows and calmly crossed her legs. With her knee rising through her robe, she was slowly exposing more of her thighs. Consequently, Ed sank back down and wondered how such a small gesture could affect him like that.
“So, what’s the necklace?”
“It’s… Hmm, hmm!”
“..?”
Ed cleared his throat for no reason.
“Have I ever told you something about artefacts?”
“No. You said you didn’t know when I asked you on the Bell Rock’s upper deck.*”
Lil thought she heard mere mutters while she waited for an answer without saying any words of forgiveness to the man who was getting to his feet. Even though Ed had still only his neck sticking out of the water, he was now also slowly moving forward. He eventually draped his arm over the pool’s railing and absentmindedly ran his other hand through his wet hair.
Lil thought to herself.
‘I won’t fall for that.’
“The mysterious power of artefacts is normally thought to come from magic, but in fact, it comes from the divinity. If you ask me how such an unrealistic power still remains in this world, I cannot answer that. However, I hypothesise it’s simply too powerful to be extinguished. And the reason why I call it divine power is because, more than anything, I also have an artefact…”
“…What?”
“Well, of course, I have one too.”
“How? And why do you say it as if it’s something so obvious?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Why?”
“I’ll tell you about it soon…”
“…”
Lil closed her mouth sourly.
“When interpreting myths, there are passages that cannot be understood with today’s common sense alone. For example, whenever Gromer, the God of Thunder, roared in anger, humans would perceive it as thunderstrike. However, whenever a human causes rain and lightning arbitrarily, it’s highly likely that that person borrowed his divine power. This is just my hypothesis, but when a human ‘borrows’ divine power, that power isn’t manifested in the body of that selected human. Instead, it’s a ‘specific object’ that embodies divine power in a way that humans would understand to use. The concept of using those ‘objects’ preserved the artefacts that we have today. And when those artefacts are neither scratched nor broken, they can still exist to this very day.”
“So, my necklace is the embodiment of the divine power borrowed from the God Forma?”
“You can say so.”
“Why did the God of Beauty leave behind a necklace that changes gender?”
“I don’t know that until I start looking up the related myths. But, I haven’t had time to pay attention to your necklace lately…”
“…”
‘This time, I’m sure he’s not lying. Before I woke up from my coma, Ed was preoccupied with keeping me alive. And even after I woke up, our focus quickly turned towards the jailbreak in Gualtiero and Venua’s detainment. Moreover, these days, while we’re preparing for the journey to Obernyu, Ed attends to his naval duties. It’s true that he hasn’t even had the time to properly rest… However, since I have relatively free time, I can look up books on Forma after Ed leaves for naval service today…’
As Lil was making plans for the rest of the day, Ed finally came out of the pool and grabbed a towel.
“Speaking of myths, I want to show you something.”
“…”
Water droplets flowed along the thick muscles of the man who had turned his back to her and was ruffling his hair and neck with a towel. They dripped into the scars he got from various battles, which had become darker over time. In the particularly bright sunlight, these droplets further seeped through his deep shoulder blades and shaded spine, straight down his narrow waistline… But Lil’s view was suddenly blocked by Ed’s act of putting on his gown, making her unknowingly feel regretful before looking up at the man who now faced her.
“Shall we go?”
“Where?”
Lil got up from the recliner while wondering where else they’d go dressed like the way they were as both of them were only wearing dangly gowns.
Ed answered, opening the bath’s door.
“My study.”
“No way. Are you telling me that we’re heading there dressed like this?”
“I didn’t mean my cabinet.”
“So, there’s another study?”
Ed nodded and pushed the wall behind the bed on the other side of his bedroom.
‘…Not surprising. A mansion of this size will have dozens of such passages that only family members know about.’
Lil followed him silently as they passed through several rooms emerging from behind the wall one after the other. They passed rooms with white cloth-covered instruments and medical equipment, ones with beds and couches, or others with tea tables and chairs. Lil even spotted a half-full tea cup on one of the tables.
Only the last room was lit by a candle above the fireplace.
“Here it is.”
Ed pushed the rose-patterned wall next to the fireplace.
‘This study is much darker than the rooms we have passed so far.’
Lil felt the cold on the tip of her nose, confirming that also the temperature was different.
Meanwhile, Ed walked somewhere and pulled back the curtains of one of the windows.
“Wait a minute…”
“…”
Looking around, Lil suddenly noticed what he wanted to show. There were thick red curtains, like those of a theatre stage, that covered the entire wall. Given the number of historical relics and artworks lined up in this mansion, Lil knew she shouldn’t even touch the Retiro insignia on the fabric too hastily.
‘Both my own and Ed’s bodies are still dripping with water droplets…’
Lil asked after taking a step back to get away from the wall.
“What’s this?”
As Ed walked around the inner room, pulling back the curtains one by one, it gradually brightened up the dark interior and revealed the white lambris on the walls. With even the floor being of white marble, it became almost blinding when the last curtain was lifted.
Lil placed a hand in front of her eyes to block the sudden light.
“You can sit there.”
Ed pointed to the small desk behind her. Lil sat down on the desk without saying anything. She figured that perhaps he led her to that spot as it would give her the appropriate eye level to appreciate all of this.
In the meantime, Ed stood next to the curtain and held on to the thick rope made of golden thread. Just before pulling the rope, he smiled meaningfully.
The thick curtains were lifted left and right, revealing a wall. A mottled and yellowed wall. It seemed as if it had been restored by putting together scattered and splintered pieces. Black corroded edges and vivid cracks ran through the centre of the wall.
“A wooden wall?”
“Those aren’t just pieces of wood glued together. Take a closer look.”
Just as he said, when she looked more closely, she observed a red stain. Noticing it formed some kind of shape, Lil tilted her head and muttered.
“…Are those… wood engravings?..”
‘I can see one or two red lines that flicker like rays of sunlight… Below them… it’s clearly land, judging from the combination of gold and green. Then there’s blue… a winding river flowing between them…’
Lil’s eyes widened in surprise.
“This is…”
“…the engravings left behind by humans who survived beyond the mountain range*.”
Colours that had been adsorbed for centuries gradually emerged vividly. With the dye made from pulverised raw grass and smashed wild fruits, the colour that permeates through these survivors’ fingerprints was crushed with their sweat to create a red line…
‘…It’s the sun…’
Such pigment had been touched by exhaled breaths, dried, hardened, and faded over time.
‘The dark red sun is so intense that it heats the earth as if it were hell. But on the other side there’s rain to cool the fiery hot land. It cooled down the entire earth.
…Sprouting vegetation…
A mountain range stands between the fertile land and the beasts, and this mountain range is covered in dark blue pigment. Meanwhile, a beast, wearing a persistent gaze that blindly puts his trust in the unknown land, cuts through the mountain’s insidious vines…’
That strong will that transcended the times overwhelmed Lil. She stammered, unable to take her eyes off it.
“…This… this is…”
‘Rebirth after destruction.’
The sight of the ancient continent filled Lil with a surge of emotions. Her body trembled as it endured her union with the distant past.
With Ed reaching for her shaking hand, Lil barely moved her lips.
“…I can’t even move…”
“Any modern human who sees this for the first time would feel the same way.”
“…”
Lil looked up to see Ed looking directly at her… Or rather, they were suddenly more like face to face… No, she had to look down… Her gaze was gradually going down with Ed’s movements.
“Liloa. If you write a book, it will become history. Future generations will be as thrilled and amazed as you’re now and will become your willing subjects. I’m just saddened that you won’t be able to witness that spectacle…”
“…”
Ed, who was now kneeling at her feet, gently took hold of Lil’s toes. His hot lips soon fell on the instep of her foot. With the light pouring from all over reached the centre of the inner room, both Lil and Ed glistened vividly through the wetness covering them. Ed appeared to be pure as if he had just been born from that same light…
“I’ll be the first subject of your history.”
– – – – –
Reference:
“No. You said you didn’t know when I asked you on the Bell Rock’s upper deck.” = Chapter 118 = When the Bell Rock was anchored to be repaired after the battle with the Garni merchant ship (Mermaid arc), Lil asked Ed if he knew something about artefacts or heard stories about them on his journey. Ed responded by telling he only knows about murals, clat tablets and some other junk, in order to not raise suspicion.
“…the engraving left behind by humans who survived beyond the mountain range.” = Chapter 66 = Before the story about the Farmer, Ed tells Lil about the beast from the ancient continent. Beasts lived on barren land where hunger was the norm, then one day, a beast was born with a little precious seed. His curiosity to know what was behind the mountain range led to a journey to vibrant lands. His little seed was now better known as ‘the will’.
