Chapter 7A. Impulsive kiss (Part 1)
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It was their first encounter after 7 years. From that day on, Asaya never thought they would meet again. She didn’t know that in the midst of becoming a sinner and being thrown out of the wall and tumbling in a place where demons and plagues, famine and looting, rape, murder, and cannibals, she would meet an unforgettable opponent so quickly. Asaya sighed briefly. The sky was also indifferent. Why did God put a terrible man in front of her on a happy day like today, who she never wanted to meet again?
“l asked why are you here? Did you cross the wall without fear? Who is giving you permission? You didn’t sneak into it, did you? Don’t you know that if a sinner outside the wall forcefully entered this place, there will be a punishment?”
“Let go of my hand because touching you is very unpleasant.”
Asaya raised her voice and shook her hand off of Reibene’s grasp.
“You are still alive after all this time?”
“You look disappointed. Are you sad that the woman who you threw out of the wall to die came back alive?”
“How dare a sinner to make such remarks? Is it because you just roll out of the wall?”
“Is there any difference in the way you speak to me?”
“What?”
“What kind of bishop are you? When you speak you sound insulting.”
Reibene burst into laughter as if he was stunned. Despite Asaya’s insulting remarks, he was lost for words. There was a flower-like woman in his memories that were just beautiful and slender. The little woman, who had become much thinner and insignificant than before, was wearing a dangerous momentum.
Her sharp gaze went beyond the threat and was terrifying. Reibene, who had paused for a moment, quickly woke up and groaned in a low voice.
“What kind? Asaya Lubedoa, are you insane? Have you rolled around in that filthy and vulgar land and now you have completely gone mad?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m fine. It’s not me but it’s you that’s going crazy.”
Asaya had thought about what it would be like to meet again. Would she hate him enough to want to kill him? Was it horrible and disgusting enough to make her go crazy? She had always imagined extreme reactions. She even imagined that she would run straight to him and cut his neck or torture him alive. She envisioned throwing him as prey to the devil and watching him being eaten alive by hungry carnivores. But when Asaya faced him, it was funny rather than upsetting. When a person was too angry, it seemed that his head became cold. Her body, which was trembling, quickly became calm.
“Is it scary that I am alive?”
“Stop spouting nonsense and tell me why you are here!”
Asaya walked closely in front of Reibene. Then she whispered in a small voice into his ear.
“August’s master took me in.”
“What?”
“Edwin Kabelheider, have you not heard that he and I have promised to marry?”
Reibene opened his eyes wide, hesitated, and soon began to frown and burst into laughter. He held his stomach and convulsed as if he had heard a really funny story. After laughing for a long time, he grabbed Asaya’s neck with a straight face.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Whenever you get angry while dealing with someone weaker than you, you will use your hands. Old habits die hard, I guess.”
“You have become a lot worse than this old habit. In the past, you used to be obedient, but now, seeing you try to climb without knowing your place.”
“You are the one who doesn’t know your place!” Asaya shouted.
Asaya grabbed Raibene’s wrist which was wrapped around her neck. Then she twisted it as it was.
Snap.
His wrist broke into a bizarre shape with a sound. Everyone who was watching was amazed by the tremendous strength of such a small woman. Reibene sat down screaming while holding his twisted wrist. His priest who was watching from the side urgently began to heal his hand. Hearing the scream, Leah who was in the house, jumped out. As soon as Leah found Reibene, she grimaced and tried to pull the sword from her waist. But Asaya stopped her.
“Leah, hold on.”
“But…..”
“It’s my job. I’ll do it myself. You go inside, Leah.”
Leah glanced at Asaya and Reibene alternately with an ugly glance before entering the house.
Asaya looked at Reibene, who was being healed, and leaned down to meet his eyes.
“Do I still look like the Asaya Lubedoa, who was pure and stupid 7 years ago? How do you think I lived in that hellish land in the past 7 years?”
“You…!”
“Do you think I could have survived in that land if I had remained that stupid and weak Asaya Lubedoa? That’s where you die if you don’t change. Do you think you and I are still the same after 7 years? Your time must be different than mine.”
In order to survive intact in the land that pushed a person to the limit, she had to take away, protect, fight, run away, sometimes bend…and move thoroughly to survive. When you meet the strong, you stoop down and beg for your life. When you meet the weak, you have to take what they have to live on. To survive in a rolling time, one must change and adapt to the environment more thoroughly than anyone else. It was a place where justice did not exist. Surviving was justice. The name of Asaya Lubedoa, who was just stupid, kind, and ignorant, got abandoned the moment she was abandoned on the land.
“What do you know about how much I’ve lost and how much I’ve lived in a land where there’s nothing to give and a lot to take away. Why am I here? Because I needed to live desperately. Because I had to save my family. So I gave up everything I had and exchanged it for the comfort of my family.”
“It makes sense. What kind of guy is Edwin Kabelheider? He is the one who pierces the sky with his nose as a nobleman. A vulgar woman like you deserve to be with a man like him.”
“You pretend that you know me very well.”
Out of the blue, another voice interrupted. Everyone’s eyes turned to the dazzling man who was walking into the house. Asaya stood up and greeted him, and the priest who was treating Reibene also hurriedly tightened himself. The dazzling man, that was Edwin Kabelheider, the owner of August, slowly looked around and stopped at Reibene’s wrist, which had not yet recovered.
“Why would the bishop who should be in the treatment quarantine doing such a stupid thing in front of my wife’s house?”
Stupid. It was a sarcastic tone. Reibene grinded his teeth and got himself up.
“Did you say ‘wife’?
“Yes, Are there any problems? This woman and I have promised to be married. But what does Bishop Reibene have to do with the reserve Grand Duchess? Do I have an opponent here? “
“No. I just came to consecrate this house.”
“The atmosphere is pretty bloody for that. My wife tends to be shy. Naturally, she feels uncomfortable being visited by a stranger. Don’t you think it’s pretty rude even if you’re a bishop to make such a move without asking for permission in advance?
“I had a short thought. I will be careful, Grand Duke Kabelheider.”
Asaya looked at Reibene with his tail lowered and kicked her tongue. From the old days, he was infinitely weak to the strong and infinitely strong to the weak. He was filled with anger. It was disgusting that a man who had just been shouting and threatening all kinds of things was now bent his knees and lowered his tail. Asaya’s insides feel twisted.
“The Bishop didn’t believe Grand Duke Kabelheider and I was going to get married .”
Asaya wrapped Edwin’s waist out of nowhere. Edwin gently looked at Asaya with a smile, then naturally responded.
“My lady must have been upset.”
“It can’t be helped. Because I’m from the outside the wall. I won’t be trusted by anyone.”
Asaya must have been out of her mind. Still, she couldn’t stop it because of this sudden rising impulse. Reasons had long flown away. Asaya raised one hand and wrapped Edwin’s cheek. Edwin looked at Asaya through the eyes of a bystander, as if letting her know that she can do whatever she wanted. And at that moment, Asaya’s lips touched Edwin’s lips. It was a very sudden move. It was a very impulse-driven behavior that would not be understood for any reason. Edwin was not surprised, but very calm. Asaya thought she would not say anything even if he tried to throw her away and cut her throat after this. It was an act outside of common sense and disrespect. But, for some reason, instead of pushing her away, Edwin wrapped his hands around her waist.
Then the gap between their lips tightly interlocked. Only the moist sound of kissing filled the stillness. Reibene’s gaze turned to Edwin and Asaya and clenched his fist tightly. Asaya stared blankly at Edwin as if she was sorry, then slowly turned her head and looked at Reibene. His crushed pride was revealed in a distorted look. It was a look that Asaya knew very well. It’s been so since long ago. The expression Asaya had made while begging in front of someone who looked down on her. That expression was filled with shame in the gloomy reality. And with that face, she was thrown away by him seven years ago. Desperately grabbed onto him, full of grief and anger, shame and sadness. Asaya wondered if her appearance in his eyes 7 years ago was so pitiful.
“Ah, excuse us. Because we are so in love.” Edwin cheekily told Reibene.
“It was surprising. I didn’t know that a man like the Grand Duke would embrace a woman outside the wall.”
“There is no law that says only trash stays in a garbage dump.”
“I did dump it in the trash for a reason. “
“I don’t know. Sometimes stupid people throw away what they have without knowing the value of it.”
“So how much is this woman worth so that the Grand Duke took it himself? It seems to me that it’s a misjudgment.”
It was a touch of obvious sarcasm. Even with Reibene’s cheap provocation, Edwin remained calm. On the contrary, he even smiled. It was a very gentle and calm smile.
“The value is not determined, it is up to the grant. Then what do you think that adds value, Bishop?”
“It’s not a person.”
“No, it’s power. If I put an expensive jewel in the trash right now, it will become trash.So I wonder if the trash that you called a trash can be called differently if I name it Kabelheider.”
There were obviously arrogant remarks that no humility could be found. However, no one would be able to discuss this remark without permission. Now, it’s no longer possible for Reibene to mock Asaya by referring to her as a heaven man and garbage. A lowly woman who was rolling in the trash? No, she shall be the Grand Duchess who would take over the name of Kabelheider. She shall become a woman of a much higher status than a bishop who was recognized as the equivalent of a count.
For Reibene, that was a bitter reality.
“Anyway, I am sure you are aware that your church is having financial difficulties?”
“l just took over the Bishop’s position. Because the former bishop was rotten and stupid that led to this problem. But I will prove my ability.”
“Whether you prove your abilities or not, I don’t care, and it’s none of my business, so the unpleasant conversation will end here. Do you have time to spare? Patients are waiting for your mission right now in the quarantine.”
“If the plague spreads here, the position of the prestigious church could be shaken. Well, that must be worth seeing.” Edwin spoke sarcastically.
Maybe this was what it meant to be able to kill a man with words.
Despite being of a similar age, Reibene looked like an infinite little kid in front of Edwin. Edwin was adept and Reibene was clumsy. Reibene was already defeated because he was agitated by Edwin’s words and was unable to hide his emotions. Reibene who had been shaking without many rebuttals bowed his head and turned around. Then he took the priest who was waiting next to him and went back the way he had come. Was it the end? Asaya’s complexion faded as she gazed blankly at Reibene moving away. Cold sweat has covered her forehead. Asaya deliberately pretended to be confident because she didn’t want to show a weak figure in front of him, but in fact, she was very nervous and anxious. It was natural. Reibene Schrandel, he was the one who gave her 7 years of hell after all. She was nervous all the time, haunted by the memory of that terrible day. Suddenly her eyes got blurry. Her head felt dizzy. Asaya blinked blankly and stumbled. Right before her eyes closed, darkness came with the feeling that something was about to take her.