Aya Ran Away - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 14
At his words, Aya’s eyes widened in surprise, growing even rounder than before.
She seemed to deliberate for a moment, then shook her head firmly.
Nahal nodded as if he understood.
Even so, he did not rise and leave.
‘So you’re saying you’ll wait for me.’
With her face brightened, Aya searched even more earnestly for the ring.
She had no thought for dignity, pressing her head down as she felt carefully along the floor.
Such innocence in a princess struck Nahal oddly, and he exhaled a soft sigh.
Unlike her father, who emanated that strange, unsettling power, the princess was small and delicate.
Save for her beauty, the two seemed so utterly different that it was hard to believe they shared blood at all.
Once, long ago, Nahal had been able to observe the princess up close for some time.
He recalled how her silver eyes had gleamed brightly from beneath the shadows cast by her long, dark brows.
It had looked just like the moon.
‘Found it!’
At last, having located the ring, Aya threw her arm up triumphantly.
Then she placed it directly into Nahal’s palm.
“This is…”
It was a ring set with an opal the size of a river stone.
At first glance it was clearly of the finest quality—unmistakably either a gift from the king or tribute received from another power.
Opal was a stone that symbolized strength and authority.
He had seen high-ranking officers of noble birth carry opals into battle as if they were talismans.
‘…But why is she giving this to me?’
Nahal’s gaze shifted between the opal ring resting in his palm and the princess herself.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, the princess began rummaging through her sleeves and spilled out a cascade of other jewels.
His hands were soon filled with an armful of precious ornaments.
As Aya scattered these jewels forth, her eyes shone brightly with joy.
Looking at it this way, the pale, glittering opal she had pressed into his hands seemed to mirror the color of her own eyes.
‘She’s giving them to me.’
When Nahal hesitated, caught in thought, an impatient Aya took his hand and curled his fingers closed around the stones.
Then, employing both her hands and feet, she attempted to explain something.
Though he could not grasp every word, Nahal thought he grasped the general meaning well enough.
The princess was offering him her thanks.
And urging him to flee.
It struck him as remarkable that he could understand so much of what the princess meant to convey.
‘Then these jewels are meant as travel money.’
At the unwitting innocence of the unknowing princess, Nahal barely managed to suppress a smile that threatened to break through.
As he looked down, her silver eyes met his, shining with perfect clarity.
When Nahal stared down at her steadily, the princess fidgeted with the cloth covering her mouth and averted her gaze.
‘Why is he looking at me? Does he understand?’
With their faces drawn so close, she felt an unexpected warmth rising within her.
When Nahal received the ring but said nothing, Aya tapped his arm insistently.
‘Take it.’
Nahal noticed that the headdress the princess wore had become tangled in her hair and was slipping loose.
It was a miracle it hadn’t fallen before now.
“If I may.”
Nahal carefully adjusted the princess’s headdress and set her coronet back in place.
His hands, having never touched a woman’s headdress before, were clumsy yet extraordinarily gentle.
While he worked, Aya remained willingly nestled beneath his arm.
She gazed up at his face, which had drawn so near, as though enchanted.
He was beautiful.
How could a person’s face be crafted so perfectly? Before her visual admiration had even faded, the tenderness she felt at her fingertips drew a soft sigh from her lips.
Without thinking, Aya reached out and carefully touched his hair, which shone as though crowned with gold.
Nahal did not stop the princess, but let her touch him as long as she wished.
A breeze swept through the Garden.
Having adjusted the princess’s headdress, Nahal placed the opal ring back into her palm.
Aya protested with a half-laugh, shaking her head firmly.
Her eyes held a stern resolve, as though she were remonstrating with a child.
“I will not flee.”
Nahal repeated the very words he had spoken before the king.
Yet this time, it felt altogether different from before.
Perhaps it was because the princess before him seemed genuinely concerned for his wellbeing.
Aya gazed up at him in anxious silence.
There was no wavering in Nahal’s eyes.
They shone as they had that distant day she’d glimpsed him from afar.
In those eyes, luminous with vitality, she saw an unyielding spirit that endured hardship without flinching.
There was much she wished to say, yet she could not bring herself to speak.
No words seemed capable of swaying Nahal’s resolve.
Aya lowered her head slowly.
‘At least take this with you.’
She extended the ring toward him once more.
Nahal looked down at the princess, wilted as withered grass, and spoke with sudden impulse.
“Then I shall keep this in safekeeping.”
‘I said take it with you.’
“And when I return safely from my task, I shall return it to you.”
It was a promise that he would come back, that she might meet him again.
Aya’s eyes fluttered at this unexpected vow.
“I pray you return unharmed.”
With those words, Nahal rose and bowed deeply before her.
Aya remained kneeling, watching him recede into the distance.
The warmth of his touch seemed to linger at her fingertips.
Her heartbeat echoed in her ears.
* * *
In recent days, Aya’s heart had been unbearably restless.
It had been so ever since Nahal’s departure.
The anxiety was beyond all words.
She regarded him as one might a child left alone by the water’s edge.
She found herself constantly seeking news of his welfare.
Leaning on her walking stick, she crept into the adjoining room next to her bedchamber, beneath the kitchen window where the palace attendants gossiped, eavesdropping on their whispered words.
“They say the demons couldn’t approach at all?”
“No, that’s absurd.”
“Even the High Priest couldn’t manage such a thing.”
“But they’ve reclaimed Sel Village of Ragas! It had become a complete demon stronghold!”
Against all expectation, Nahal seemed to be succeeding remarkably well.
In gratitude for the good news, Aya struck down and scattered the small evil spirits that clung to several of the palace attendants.
Yet even these favorable reports could not truly comfort her.
This anxiety would only end when she saw him return alive.
After their meeting at the Pond Side, Aya had allowed herself to deepen her connection to him unbidden.
‘Truly…….’
If she could, she would wrap him in the softest bedding and shield him from all threat.
Whenever time permitted, Aya prayed for him.
A merciful god would surely hear this desperate prayer, even without cries uttered aloud.
With an almost audacious heart, she flung open the window and knelt beneath it, bowing her head.
Please, she begged the divine, let them know the ache within my heart.
On moonlit nights, she prayed for his safe return while listening to the wind rustle through branches and the chirping of insects in the grass.
Yet she felt no sense of being answered.
Though perhaps such things could not be felt.
If anything, she only heard laughter—mocking laughter—from above.
‘I trust you’re not so petty as to begrudge me this.’
Aya bowed her head flat, thinking irreverent thoughts.
‘I’m troubled.’
After a long time, Aya picked up her loom again and reflected.
According to rumor, the King was in a foul temper over Nahal’s victories.
Considering everything that had transpired, Aya worried even if Nahal returned safely.
It was plain the King would only hunger more desperately for his death.
‘Why does he cling so obsessively to Nahal’s destruction?’
Whatever might dwell within him, the body still bore the mark of the crown.
He should know that slaying a capable general would bring no advantage—yet somehow such murderous intent had taken root in him nonetheless.
As Aya pondered the reason, a sudden thought made her pause.
Now that she considered it, something was indeed strange.
‘……But then why won’t you lay hands on this yourself?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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