“I actually thought he would be glad to see me. I believed that he would shed tears and throw himself at my feet, just like before, at the slightest gesture from me. But it wasn’t so. His eyes were calm and serene when he looked at me, and his voice carried a strength I hadn’t heard before. The trembling and nervousness, like a goat in my presence, were all gone. He asked why I had come, and when I couldn’t give a proper answer, he begged me not to come again for the sake of both our reputations. I was shocked. No, I was enraged. I pounded on his door, shouting if all those words about being willing to die for me were lies. Even when his siblings dragged me away, I returned to knock on his door again. Every single day, like a madman. My father, unable to bear it, shaved his head, and my mother tore all her clothes apart. With my head shaved, wearing only shimas, I went to him. To confess my love… relentlessly.”
The dusk thickened, and Morin’s face turned a shade of blue. The warm impression of a person who seemed to be good disappeared, replaced by the image of a woman who had gone mad with the fiancé’s change of heart, appearing every time the wind blew, repeating the same scene.
“On a rainy day, I fled the house barefoot, dressed in shimmers, to find him and screamed. Everyone said I was crazy. Still, he didn’t accept me. No matter how I begged, no matter how much I pleaded for forgiveness, he wouldn’t accept me. Because his love for me had already ended. After burning everything to ashes, there was nothing left but ashes. So, on the morning of the wedding day, I slit my wrist.”
Morin pulled up the sleeve, revealing her wrist. There were deep scars.
“When I woke up after four days, he was sitting beside me, crying. He was afraid I would die if he left me alone, so he could only cry by my side. He’s a kind person. I knew he would never leave me.”
Laughing softly, Morin clapped her hands. Niall blinked as if waking from a dream.
“We couldn’t live in our hometown anymore because of the enormous grief, so we came to the capital, and since then, we have lived happily, raising three children. That’s the story of our marriage. Was it boring? Before Niall, no one ever asked about my love story. I’m embarrassed because I seem too excited now that the opportunity to tell it has come.”
Saying so, Morin laughed lightly. It was the same face Niall knew.
“You found the person you love, Morin.”
“Yes. I’m with the person I love. And that’s all thanks to the New Year’s wish I made to be with him. The day before his wedding was New Year’s Day. So, Niall, make a wish tonight. Who knows? Maybe you’ll really meet the Omega husband with a child attached?”
With that, Morin waved goodbye and descended the hill as if nothing had happened. Watching her back in silence, Niall soon turned around.
As night fell, people in the castle town began to move. A quiet murmur spread, and people, as if prepared in advance, held torches and passed through the castle gate, walking up the hill.
In the village below the castle, people could be seen lining up to climb the hill. Everyone held torches. There were many young children holding hands with their parents, so Niall was grateful that the fierce wind that had blown during the day had subsided.
On the hilltop, Niall waited without knowing the purpose. He didn’t even consider grabbing someone and asking what the miracle was. He just waited.
As time passed, people sang hymns in low voices. The quiet praises became a comfort even to Niall, who didn’t believe in gods.
They sang long songs, softly hummed, then sang again several times. As the cheeks of young children turned red and they started to nod off in their parents’ arms, someone exclaimed and pointed fingers at the sky. Standing in the midst of the crowd, Niall, who had been absentmindedly staring at the back of the person in front of him, also lifted his head following that finger.
And Niall saw the miracle.
Locked in darkness, a distant land in the far north sent forth a silvery-blue glow, which darted towards the sky. The light soon engulfed the entire northern sky in a silvery-blue hue, and it didn’t fade away for a long time.
People knelt, reaching both hands toward the sky. Ten thousand bolts of lightning crisscrossed the heavens. Hands dipped into clouds, leaving behind dense patterns of light like veins, repeating before disappearing.
Niall stared, mesmerized by the sight. It was a phenomenon beyond comparison, too bright to be the dying light of the sun and not lightning, which strikes from below.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The silvery-blue light reaching into the sky from the earth below was something that defied the truths of the world. It could only be described as a miracle.
“Obgv Gexf bo Vtlgjiecv, qifjrf qgbafma er.”
C agfwyilcu nblmf yfrlvf Rljii rqbxf atfrf kbgvr jcv fzalcuelrtfv atf mjcvif tf tfiv. Mbiibklcu rela, batfgr rjlv rlwlijg qgjsfgr jcv fzalcuelrtfv atflg mjcvifr.
“Ugbafma er.”
“Kb atf uejgvljc bo atf cbgat….”
“Xgjca er tfjiat.”
“Xgjca er mtlivgfc.”
“Yeg wbatfgr….”
“Yeg rbcr….”
“…Qf qgjs.”
“Oh, protector.”
“Protect us……”
Prayers for the Duke. Prayers for themselves. Prayers for the safety of their families. Each person’s prayer ended as the candlelight gradually dimmed. Niall continued to gaze at the still shining northern sky.
“Because in the north, there is land that responds only to the direct bloodline of the Duke.”
Niall realized that Gerard’s words meant precisely this phenomenon. The legend was real. The Duke possessed a power akin to magic.
All candles were extinguished. The light in the northern sky disappeared. People rose from their knees, brushing off dirt, their faces filled with anticipation for the new year. As people gradually left from behind, Niall, who had been illuminating until the end, also exhaled and blew out his candle.
“Did you make a wish?”
On the way back, Niall met Elmiran. She was riding a horse, holding a torch, illuminating the way with the knights to ensure the safe return of the crowd to their homes.
“Yes.”
Niall nodded.
“Do you believe in miracles now?”
“Yes.”
Once again, Niall nodded. The north was indeed a land where myths and legends lived. Miracles were real. It was astonishing.
However, beautiful and mysterious as it was, Niall’s admiration ended there. To him, the New Year’s wish held a significance far more important than any miracle.
“Now, the Duke will return.”
To Niall, this fact was more important than any miracle.
∞ ∞ ∞
As fitting for a seaside village, the people of Galen believed in many superstitions.
They drank powdered earth from their homeland before sailing—a belief that it would bring them back home. They believed disaster would strike if a rooster crowed—an omen of something bad happening. If they had a nightmare, they would seclude themselves, and if they had a good dream, they would bet money on a game of chance.
Niall had no interest in superstitions. While some called dreams the footprints of desires extending into the world, to Niall, dreams were just dreams.
If you were injured in a dream, you were only hurt in the dream, and if you died in a dream, you only died in the dream. Footprints of extending desires? Niall believed there was no connection between dreams and desires.
Until yesterday. That’s how it was.
Last night, Niall dreamed of the Duke. In the dream, seeing the Duke, Niall ran towards him, not even knowing if it was a dream. His legs felt light as if they were wings.
The Duke also ran towards Niall. Both of them ran like lovers who had endured trials of death, weakly grabbing each other’s hand at the end. It was very realistic, not embracing tightly or passionately kissing, just gently holding hands.
“Duke.”
Even in the dream, Niall flinched at the sound of his own voice calling the Duke.
“Niall.”
But Duke’s voice calling him was so warm and kind that Niall wagged his tail. Of course, he didn’t have a tail, but it meant he felt that good. Truly, Niall wished he could wag his tail if he had one.
When he woke up in the morning, Niall was smiling. He even extended his hand into the air, pretending to continue shaking hands with Duke.
Niall sat up with a dazed expression. He had dreamed of Duke. And it was very joyful and happy. It felt like it had been a long time since he had been this happy. The sound of a happy heart echoed in his ears.
“I’m embarrassed.”
After scratching his head awkwardly, Niall jumped out of bed. He was blushing so much from embarrassment.
The pleasant fluttering continued throughout the day. A subtle sense of happiness flowed on Niall’s face as he met people, to the extent that they asked if something good had happened to him.
“Niall, have you ever ridden a sleigh?”
Even when the balding Deep came to ask, Niall was smiling to himself without clearing the piled snow.
“Why? Doesn’t it snow in the central region?”
Fortunately, Deeb wasn’t interested in whether Niall laughed or cried. He was one of the unfortunate patients Niall had tended to during the Holy War, so he wasn’t sensitive to Niall’s mood swings. Niall quickly straightened his expression and resumed shoveling.
“There’s snow in the central region, but not as much as here.”
“Then you’ve probably never ridden a sleigh, right? Good news. Perad found a sleigh in his shed. He said we should all go sledding together. Let’s go.”
“It doesn’t sound very fun, does it? That’s something for kids to do.”
Niall remembered riding on a sack made of animal hide in his childhood, sliding down the snow-covered hills. And he also remembered eating the sack afterwards, which led to a guilty conscience.
“It’s not just any sled for kids. Let’s go. Perad is eager to sell the sled to the neighbors next door. If we don’t ride today, we might never get the chance again. Huh?”
Niall was intrigued by that. After completing his commission, he would leave the North, and he didn’t know when he would visit this place again. It might never happen again. Then he wouldn’t be able to experience sledding in the North again.
“Where are we going to ride?”
Deeb turned and pointed to a point in the mountain range that encapsulated the castle silently.
“No one comes there, so we can have some fun without anyone noticing.”
Niall chuckled and threw the shovel.
“Okay, let’s go. But if we get caught, you have to explain to Sir Phil.”
“We won’t get caught.”
Deeb chuckled and grabbed Niall’s hand, pulling him along.
Hmmm….I have a bad feeling about Deeb/p
… Uhm well I hope deeb is not acting weird cause he understood niall is an omega or something