healingbonds (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
healingbonds) wrote2020-06-08 12:02 am
healingbonds) wrote2020-06-08 12:02 am
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True Love for the Blossoming Forest | Chapter 2
Chapter 1 << | index | >> Chapter 3
Girl: Um, hello.
Girl: Are you from this town?
Shino: No. We’re visiting for the flower festival.
A few smiling young ladies come up to speak to us. They’re all wearing flower combs and white dresses.
Akira: Arthur, is there any meaning behind their outfits?
Arthur: Yes. During the flower festival, unmarried women all wear white outfits as a nod to the princess who married the wolf.
Akira: Oh, I see! So it’s like a wedding dress.
Girl: Umm.....
Girl: I wonder if they know....?
Akira: (...Hm? Is something wrong?)
The girls all gaze at us shyly as if they want to say something. As I tilt my head to the side in confusion, Arthur takes a step forward and bows.
Arthur: You are a snow-white princess whose beauty outshines even these flowers. From the bottom of my heart, I pray that you are surrounded by blessed love.
Girl: Kyaaah!
Akira: !? Arthur?
Shino: Wh-what are you doing....?
Arthur: I’m sorry I didn’t explain earlier.
If you meet a lady dressed in white during the flower festival, you’re supposed to bless her so she will encounter a similarly blessed and fortunate love.
Shino: A blessing? So that was a blessing?
Arthur: Yes. You offer words of compassion to women... That’s what it means to bless someone during the flower festival.
Akira: Oh, I see. You surprised me for a moment.....
(Arthur started saying sweet lines out of nowhere, so I wondered what was going on.....)
Shino: Hm. So it’s a common festival practice.... If Heath were here, he’d have made a real fuss.
Akira: Heath is shy, after all.
(I can imagine him making all kinds of faces — getting red and then going pale.....)
But I think praising a lady right to her face is difficult for most people, not just Heath.
Shino: Not for me. This is a piece of cake. Sage, we’re going to bless them too.
Akira: Eh!? Me too...!?
Shino: You, with the beautiful hair—that’s the color I love. You shine so brightly that anyone could spot you even in the night. I’m sure you’ll find your soulmate soon enough.
Akira: Ehh, um, miss. Your bright smile is as cute as a kitten!
Girl: Oh, thank you.
Girl: Fufu, thank you!
Akira: (....Th-this is kind of embarrassing, but it’s cute how happy these girls look.)
Girl: Hey, hey.
Shino: What is it?
Girl: While we’re at it, won’t you be my soulmate?
Akira: (Did she just propose...!?)
Shino: I don’t mind.
But you should think a little more before saying that sort of thing.
Girl: Eh?
Shino: Arthur right here is a real prince. But I’m not.
We might be wearing similar clothes, but I’m an orphan and a wizard who was raised in the gloomy Eastern Country.
Anyone here still want to marry a guy like me?
Girl: ......
Girl: Um....
In that moment, everyone goes silent. It’s as if we had all swallowed rocks; nobody could open their mouths.
Shino: Thought so.
Everyone sympathizes for the princess who married the wolf, calling her the "Tragic Bride" — so of course nobody is strange enough to take a servant wizard seriously.
Girl: ....Let’s go.
Girl: Y-yeah.
Arthur: ...Shino, you didn’t have to say it like that.
Shino: You wouldn’t understand. You’re different; you’re a real prince.
Akira: (Shino.....)
Shino doesn’t sound hurt or timid. He just looks as if it’s the most normal thing in the world to say, just like responding with hello when someone greets you.
His accustomed attitude alone illustrates what kind of childhood Shino experienced, and that in turn makes my heart ache even more.
Shino: More importantly, we’re here to fulfill our roles, right? Tell me what kind of problems we’re looking at.
Arthur: ...You’re right. Let me get back on track. We’ve received many reports, but there are essentially two problems.
The first: ever since the day the < Great Catastrophe > approached, the people have been hearing a wolf’s howl; also, it has stopped raining.
Akira: A wolf’s howl.....
Shino: Sounds like the story Arthur just told.
Arthur: That’s why the people are worried.
There’s a rumor spreading throughout town that a white wolf will come to steal a bride away, just like in the legends.
Akira: (Well, the situation is the same, so I can see why they’re worried....)
Shino: What’s the second problem?
Arthur: The flower festival involves an important ritual where a celebratory marriage wine known as "flower wine" is offered to the forest gardens. But this year, the ritual might not happen.
Akira: Why is that?
Chapter 1 << | index | >> Chapter 3
Girl: Um, hello.
Girl: Are you from this town?
Shino: No. We’re visiting for the flower festival.
A few smiling young ladies come up to speak to us. They’re all wearing flower combs and white dresses.
Akira: Arthur, is there any meaning behind their outfits?
Arthur: Yes. During the flower festival, unmarried women all wear white outfits as a nod to the princess who married the wolf.
Akira: Oh, I see! So it’s like a wedding dress.
Girl: Umm.....
Girl: I wonder if they know....?
Akira: (...Hm? Is something wrong?)
The girls all gaze at us shyly as if they want to say something. As I tilt my head to the side in confusion, Arthur takes a step forward and bows.
Arthur: You are a snow-white princess whose beauty outshines even these flowers. From the bottom of my heart, I pray that you are surrounded by blessed love.
Girl: Kyaaah!
Akira: !? Arthur?
Shino: Wh-what are you doing....?
Arthur: I’m sorry I didn’t explain earlier.
If you meet a lady dressed in white during the flower festival, you’re supposed to bless her so she will encounter a similarly blessed and fortunate love.
Shino: A blessing? So that was a blessing?
Arthur: Yes. You offer words of compassion to women... That’s what it means to bless someone during the flower festival.
Akira: Oh, I see. You surprised me for a moment.....
(Arthur started saying sweet lines out of nowhere, so I wondered what was going on.....)
Shino: Hm. So it’s a common festival practice.... If Heath were here, he’d have made a real fuss.
Akira: Heath is shy, after all.
(I can imagine him making all kinds of faces — getting red and then going pale.....)
But I think praising a lady right to her face is difficult for most people, not just Heath.
Shino: Not for me. This is a piece of cake. Sage, we’re going to bless them too.
Akira: Eh!? Me too...!?
Shino: You, with the beautiful hair—that’s the color I love. You shine so brightly that anyone could spot you even in the night. I’m sure you’ll find your soulmate soon enough.
Akira: Ehh, um, miss. Your bright smile is as cute as a kitten!
Girl: Oh, thank you.
Girl: Fufu, thank you!
Akira: (....Th-this is kind of embarrassing, but it’s cute how happy these girls look.)
Girl: Hey, hey.
Shino: What is it?
Girl: While we’re at it, won’t you be my soulmate?
Akira: (Did she just propose...!?)
Shino: I don’t mind.
But you should think a little more before saying that sort of thing.
Girl: Eh?
Shino: Arthur right here is a real prince. But I’m not.
We might be wearing similar clothes, but I’m an orphan and a wizard who was raised in the gloomy Eastern Country.
Anyone here still want to marry a guy like me?
Girl: ......
Girl: Um....
In that moment, everyone goes silent. It’s as if we had all swallowed rocks; nobody could open their mouths.
Shino: Thought so.
Everyone sympathizes for the princess who married the wolf, calling her the "Tragic Bride" — so of course nobody is strange enough to take a servant wizard seriously.
Girl: ....Let’s go.
Girl: Y-yeah.
Arthur: ...Shino, you didn’t have to say it like that.
Shino: You wouldn’t understand. You’re different; you’re a real prince.
Akira: (Shino.....)
Shino doesn’t sound hurt or timid. He just looks as if it’s the most normal thing in the world to say, just like responding with hello when someone greets you.
His accustomed attitude alone illustrates what kind of childhood Shino experienced, and that in turn makes my heart ache even more.
Shino: More importantly, we’re here to fulfill our roles, right? Tell me what kind of problems we’re looking at.
Arthur: ...You’re right. Let me get back on track. We’ve received many reports, but there are essentially two problems.
The first: ever since the day the < Great Catastrophe > approached, the people have been hearing a wolf’s howl; also, it has stopped raining.
Akira: A wolf’s howl.....
Shino: Sounds like the story Arthur just told.
Arthur: That’s why the people are worried.
There’s a rumor spreading throughout town that a white wolf will come to steal a bride away, just like in the legends.
Akira: (Well, the situation is the same, so I can see why they’re worried....)
Shino: What’s the second problem?
Arthur: The flower festival involves an important ritual where a celebratory marriage wine known as "flower wine" is offered to the forest gardens. But this year, the ritual might not happen.
Akira: Why is that?
Chapter 1 << | index | >> Chapter 3