May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 22.2
Elizer’s gaze followed her unconsciously and came to rest on the blue waves visible beyond the arched window. Just as she had said, from the balcony attached to the king’s bedchamber, one could see the lanterns flying beyond the horizon better than anywhere else.
As if trying to confirm something, Elizer searched Reyna’s eyes. Reyna did not particularly avoid his gaze.
Only then did Elizer suddenly recall that Reyna, ever the noblewoman, had dearly loved festivals, banquets, and knights’ tournaments.
A strange feeling stirred within him. It was close to restlessness.
And so, somewhat impulsively and unlike himself, he nodded.
The corners of Reyna’s lips lifted faintly.
“Please call my maid.”
Saying that she wanted to look presentable, Reyna set about dressing up for the first time in a long while.
She braided half of her long red hair and secured it with a golden hairpin. When she put on a green dress similar to the color of her eyes, she looked like her usual self again, like the Reyna she once had been.
Though in the meantime she had grown so thin that the dress she once favored now hung loosely on her, as if it belonged to someone else.
Reyna stared at her reflection in the mirror for quite some time, as if finding her appearance unfamiliar.
Just then, the long sound of a horn trumpet drifted in from the sea.
Elizer, who had been watching Reyna in silence, absentmindedly extended his hand toward her.
Seeing the hand offered to her, Reyna blinked several times, then lifted her gaze to stare straight at him.
Only then did Elizer realize that he had once again acted out of character. His brow narrowed slightly in flustered surprise.
Reyna cautiously placed her hand atop his fingertips.
Elizer failed to hide the way his eyes trembled at the sudden agitation that ran through him. Trying to conceal it, he immediately turned and began to walk. Reyna followed him without a word.
The two of them stood side by side on the balcony overlooking the sea.
Just then, the sun slipped beyond the horizon, and the red afterglow of sunset faded away.
The sea, which had been shimmering silver, began to darken into deep blue. Dozens of warships advanced in orderly lines toward the place where the sun had vanished.
As darkness thickened in the sky, golden lanterns rose from the tallest tower of the royal castle.
That was the signal. One by one, people aboard the dozens of ships lit their lanterns.
The flames wavered in the wind, then soon burned straight and true. As the small lights were carried into the sky by the sea breeze, golden afterimages shimmered across the surface of the waves.
Hot cheers and loud songs filled the vast bay.
As if emboldened by them, the procession of lights steadily stretched upward, as though linking sea and sky. Soon, hundreds of lanterns scattered slowly across the darkened heavens, like stars descending early.
Reyna could not take her eyes off the sight.
And Elizer’s gaze lingered, spellbound, on Reyna’s eyes as they sparkled with reflected light.
It was the first time the two of them had welcomed the summer festival together.
The three years after their wedding night, when Elizer had immediately departed for the battlefield, could not be helped. And having spent much of his life as a commoner, he had never been particularly interested in customs or traditions.
Perhaps because of that, although the honor of releasing the first lantern was originally meant for the king and queen, they had never once ascended the tower together.
It was a realization that struck him anew.
Reyna suddenly shifted her gaze and looked at him.
Though she said nothing, Elizer felt as if he understood what she wanted.
Turning his body, Elizer gestured to the palace attendant waiting behind the arched door, signaling for them to bring a lantern.
All of it was behavior he would never have shown under normal circumstances.
Had he been swept up in the fervor of the festival.
Or had he felt an unconscious sense of relief in Reyna’s eyes as she chased the lights.
Elizer did not know why he had grown so careless.
Catching Elizer’s presence, the attendant lifted their head, and their eyes suddenly widened.
Realizing that the attendant’s gaze was fixed over his shoulder, Elizer felt a surge of foreboding and quickly turned back toward Reyna.
Reyna was already standing close to the railing, looking at him.
Everyone instinctively froze. For a moment, Elizer could not say a single word.
“…Come here.”
It was only after a deep breath that he managed to force his voice out.
Reyna reached behind her head and undid the hair ornament that had been securing her hair. Against the golden night sky, her red hair scattered in the wind like waves.
And the tip of the ornament held in her hand looked sharp as an awl, sharp enough to pierce her delicate skin in an instant.
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