Chapter 59
Noxia and Elenon decided, for the time being, not to tell anyone about this.
Even so, anyone who was curious enough would figure it out eventually, but as a couple, they concluded there was no need to broadcast it across the neighborhood from the start.
Other than that, they made no promises. They didn’t try to predict how long this relationship might last, nor did they whisper sweet words about a distant future.
It wasn’t that they thought it was too early to weave future talk into a romance between two eighteen-year-olds.
Age and timing didn’t matter. What troubled them were simply the differences in their circumstances and social standing.
A prince and a commoner becoming involved could lead to unpredictable consequences for both. Even after recognizing their true feelings, they hesitated for a while, weighed down by the realities of their situation.
Then, at last, their true feelings won out. After much calculation, hesitation, and deliberation, they used the excuse of being swept up in the atmosphere of a Sunday night filled with fireworks, cheers, and darkness to steal a kiss.
After that, there was no turning back. That night, they whispered closeness to each other for a long time and only reluctantly parted ways when the festival grounds emptied.
Since then, they had met exactly three times. Twice, Elenon had come to the library under the pretense of borrowing or returning books, and once, Noxia had arranged a secret meeting near the academy after finishing work.
Before their hearts fully aligned, the boy, who had come to the library every day, became more cautious after starting the relationship and reduced his visits.
Noxia understood this and tried not to feel disappointed. The closer and more precious someone becomes, the more natural it is to be careful.
Before the relationship was established, they had boldly ignored the gaze of others, but once their hearts were connected, they became more aware and cautious of their surroundings.
This was proof that they took their relationship seriously. It was a mutual effort to ensure they could enjoy their love without interference and to meet long-term without raising suspicion.
Though they couldn’t openly tell others about their relationship, and though it was a love they couldn’t imagine continuing for the long term, they were happy when they met and touched each other.
“I don’t want to deceive you, and I’m not confident I could, so I won’t deny the relationship itself. But I can’t tell you who it is right now. I’m sorry, Kali.”
“No, Nox. I don’t know your situation, but it seems serious. I’m not going to pester you for details and put you in an awkward position.”
Karnen, the loyal friend, spoke with a serious tone. Then, suddenly, he recovered a playful demeanor and stretched the corners of his mouth into a grin.
“But you can tell me this much, right? How far have you gone? Kissing? Hugging? Holding hands?”
“How old do you think I am? I’m not a child, of course I’ve held hands!”
“Tsk tsk, Noxia, you really can’t be objective about yourself. How monk-like would you have had to live for me to even ask that question? You’ve really kept your distance from romance. Didn’t you live thinking relationships were just a waste of time?”
“I’m reflecting enough already, so stop teasing me…”
For a while, they bickered back and forth. Karnen joked, Noxia countered, and so their usual playful exchange continued.
After finishing their meal and visiting a tea shop, they only parted ways after the sky had turned completely dark. Karnen returned to the marquis’s estate, and Noxia went home to her boarding house.
A carriage and coachman belonging to the marquis’s household appeared to escort the young lady, and they also offered to take her friend home. Noxia gratefully accepted the kindness.
Noxia got out first in front of her boarding house, and Karnen said goodbye to her from inside the carriage.
Karnen watched Noxia through the window. Feeling the gaze of her friend, Noxia waved over her shoulder once more before opening the door to enter. Karnen smiled and waved back.
As the front door closed behind Noxia, Karnen’s expression faded.
“Please, depart now.”
“Yes, milady.”
The coachman replied politely to her instructions, and the carriage soon resumed its journey.
Upon arriving at the marquis’s estate, Karnen greeted his family and returned to his room. After taking off his jacket and hanging it in the wardrobe, he set down his bag and slowly walked across the room to the large full-length mirror.
In the mirror was the familiar face he had known for the past eighteen years: dark blond, almost chestnut hair, light green eyes, and otherwise ordinary, unremarkable features.
He stood quietly, staring intently at the face. As he whispered faintly, the face in the mirror moved its lips in sync.
“Karnen Holby.”
A name he had grown accustomed to, the designation given to him in this life, a brief two-word call for the face in the mirror.
“Karnen…”
He was the daughter of Marquis Holby, once a sickly youngest child in a wealthy family, and was preparing to inherit her parents’ business soon. She was also Noxia Decan’s closest friend.
“…Pellene.”
In the past, she had been called by a completely different name. Not the marquis’s daughter with dark blond hair and light green eyes, but as an entity unimaginable in this era, she had walked upon the earth.
“Pellene.”
In old times, she had been called a god. But now, as that religion had faded into fragments of dim myths, she was nothing more than a trivial wraith.
With no one left to properly call her by her name, her soul trapped in an ill-fitting body rotted day by day in restriction.
In the distant ancient past, humans worshiped many gods.
Later historians recorded this era as the age of polytheism, but in reality, the beings called gods were not much different from humans.
The gods were simply “superior” to humans: stronger, smarter, longer-lived, with keener senses and better memory.
They had the same basic physical forms—one face with two eyes, one nose, one mouth, a torso with two limbs on each side, communicating in the same language and experiencing similar joys and sorrows.
Like humans, gods also fell in love, formed families, and bore children.
They also felt jealousy toward those more capable than themselves, and, like humans, they killed potential rivals or schemed to gain power.
Among the twelve main gods, the one called the father of all gods was particularly licentious, spreading his seed everywhere without taking responsibility—a being worse than most human scum.
Yet humans still praised him as the father of gods simply because he was the strongest. In that way, gods were not so different from humans.
Pellene was a minor god born due to the recklessness of such a god. Stronger than humans but weaker than the principal gods, she grew up despised and isolated by the other gods.
Perhaps this was why she was drawn to humans—those who worshiped, offered sacrifices, and sought help. Among humans, she did not feel loneliness.
In their world, she was not an outcast, and even as a minor god, she became an object of veneration and reverence.
Perhaps she even felt a sense of superiority. Just as stronger gods derived satisfaction and stability from dominating her, she also wanted to rule over humans.
But she was not only calculating. Pellene truly cared for humans. She formed a special friendship with Promeon, the strongest human, and Hermane, the smartest.
“Tell Hermane to be careful, Promeon. There are gods who look unfavorably on them these days. You know why, don’t you?”
One day, when she invited Promeon to the gods’ palace, Pellene guided her friend along the path, anxiously advising him over her shoulder.
“There are rumors that they’ve been constantly doing impious things. If they’re caught even slightly, they’ll be punished immediately. Tell them to be careful.”
“You think so too, Pellene? That Hermane is impious?”
The human man asked calmly. Though it was audacious for a human to speak casually to a god, Pellene did not mind, and neither did Promeon.
“Well… I don’t know. They are a bit unusual. That’s Hermane’s charm, though.”
“Unusual, huh.”
“Yes, unusual. They could live well without causing trouble, but they constantly get themselves into bothersome situations. They plant trees all the time, make things constantly… Didn’t they even make a ladder recently?”
At that time, humans did not know how to farm, build large structures, or handle fire. Ladders, clocks, farming tools, shoes—things that would later be commonplace—were rare and groundbreaking inventions.
But these were human limitations; gods already knew how to use them.
While humans survived by hunting and gathering, gods raised livestock, cultivated fields, cooked with fire, and bathed in warm water.
Humans were able to maintain a basic level of civilization and population because the gods, seeing their faith, bestowed mercy upon them.
The gods provided necessary goods and grains and aided them in times of crisis so humans could live modestly, worship them, and survive longer.
Thus, humans became even more dependent on the gods. Having received practical help, faith arose, and religion solidified.
But the most recent generation of humans was different. At the center of this change were the strong hero Promeon and the clever king Hermane.
“Other gods see it badly, but I think it’s quite admirable. They’re cute. They could just use what we provide, yet they want to make things themselves, ask how things work… It’s adorable. Even though they won’t live long, they put so much effort into everything.”
Pellene smiled warmly, thinking of her squirrel-like friend. Promeon smiled back.
“Yes, Hermane really is cute.”
“You are a god, after all,” Promeon murmured inwardly, something Pellene could not know.
