Hypocrisy and false authority crumbled. It became smaller than a pebble in the river and scattered like garbage.

The chariots stopped, and people rushed out of the mansion, but no one cried out, "What is happening!" Such a reaction was embarrassing because the scene was so outrageous.

The glorious gates of the esteemed Fey family were nowhere to be seen. The dust amid the debris made it difficult to guess what the original structure was.

A boy stood in the center of the rubble, sheathing his sword and smiling. Someone noticed the smile and shouted.

"It's him! Cursed bloodline! A descendant of Ygraine has defaced the gates of the glorious House of Fey!"

But not many people responded, and rightly so. The gates of the House of Fey had been cut to pieces with a few strokes of the sword. Thick marble had been piled high in arches, and molten iron had been used to decorate them. The strongest wood from the northern coniferous forests of the continent had been chosen for the door. How could a descendant of a witch who couldn't even use a spell cut it to pieces?

The people murmured. They looked around to see if there was another cause. Some wondered if there had been a landslide.

Then Kishi shouted. "That's right, this bastard broke the gate, I saw it with my own two eyes!"

Hearing that, an old man with graying hair approached Edulis and asked. “Is it true what he says, that you broke down the gate?"

Edulis was nonchalant. He answered casually as if answering a question about what he had for lunch.

"Yes, I did. I did."

At that, the crowd was enraged.

"Let's kill him! Let's hang him in the square!"

"Let's burn him! Let's chop up his charred body and use it as fertilizer!"

"Let's cut off his limbs and put them in a cattle pen!"

For a moment, Edulis laughed. She remembered Ygraine's words. She could still hear his nagging voice in her head.

- Captain Bosha always thinks two or three moves ahead, but that's it. He never looks four or five moves ahead. He doesn't look far enough, and that's what puts him in danger, isn't it?

He wonders if Ygraine would have said the same thing if she were here, but even if she could see ten moves ahead, Edulis would have done the same thing.

If he were to pass through the gates, he would break down the gates and throw himself to his death. That is the way of the Bosha.

***

Ygrainne always said. Love people. No matter who throws stones at you or runs at you with a knife, wrap your arms around them in love.

Bosha frowned every time she heard those words. Once, in a fit of rage, he snapped at Ygrainne.

- Why don't you tell me to love the parents who threw me out?

- Yes, that's right, you should love them too. Ygrainne replied.

- Ha! How lovely of them! Giving me every opportunity to become demon food! Who wouldn't want to grow up with that kind of opportunity, would they?

When Bosha scoffed, Ygraine ran her slender fingers through Bosha's hair. Then, as if soothing a young boy, he said, "Loving others is for Commander Borha himself. If you look at the world with hatred, Captain Bosha's heart will always be burned by the flames of hatred. The flames will consume his heart, and his soul, and eventually take control of his body."

- Yes! That's me, red-haired Bosha!

- No, Captain Bosha is not driven by hatred.

- Is that right?!

- No, it's not.

Come to think of it, Ygraine was terribly stubborn; she had never once bent over when arguing with Bosha.

-Only when you strip away the hatred and fill the void with love will Captain Bosha realize who he really is.

Edulis thought, remembering Ygraine's words.

'What is my true self? I still don't know.’

Edulis was a sore sight for the eyes now. Whips tore at his flesh, and stones shattered his bones. His flesh was cut deeply in places, exposing her bones, and the ground was pooling with her blood. Edulis's body was like a rag.

After Edulis tore down the gate, the Fey hammered pegs into his hands and feet and hung her on a crucifixion frame, which was then displayed in the center of the square.

A normal cross would have allowed him to escape, but the one she was hanging from was special. A magic stone was embedded in the center of the frame. A magic stone is an ore that attracts magic and disrupts its flow.

Edulis looked at the crowd surrounding him. They threw rocks at him, spat at him, swung whips and clubs at him.

"Those eyes! Look at those burning eyes! Can those be the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy? They must be the embodiment of the witch Ygraine, and it is right that he should be burned at once!"

"Right!"

As one of the excited men reached for a barrel of oil and a torch, the oldest of the group shouted.

"Stop!"

He shouted, and the man who was starting the fire stopped.

"This bastard must be put to death! If he is the embodiment of a witch, it is only right that the people see him put to death! The descendants of witches must be put to death by the descendants of heroes!"

Voices of agreement began to emanate from the crowd.

"Ah! You are right, we were short in our thinking!"

"It is only right that ten thousand people should see this bastard slain! That way, respect for the Fey family will soar to the heavens."

The older man spoke up.

"Bandage this cursed child, put some water-soaked bread in his mouth, and somehow keep him alive until the Day of the Saint!"

And the people did as they were told.

Edulis watched and thought to himself. "What a bunch of idiots.

Do they know what they're doing, throwing stones at a twelve-year-old and whipping him? They claim to be the descendants of heroes...

Foolish and ugly. He wonders if Bosha looked just as foolish and ugly in Ygraine's eyes? Bosha was consumed with hatred before.

Edulis pondered this for a moment, then opened his mouth to speak, and shouted at the departing crowd.

"You all are swallowed up by lies, blinded by hatred."

The people stopped in their tracks and looked back at Edulis. Then they began to curse at him.

"Shut up, you cursed one!"

"The witch incarnate is about to curse us, plug his mouth!!"

Edulis chuckled and opened his mouth again, though it wasn't a curse word that came out of it. Edulis said.

"In the name of the goddess Lutea, I forgive you."

***

Ygraine had always smelled strange. After days and days on the battlefield in full military regalia, even the most beautiful people can smell rotten, but not Ygraine. Even after marching for three days without washing or sleeping, she still smelled good. It smelled like a spring breeze with flowers, like ripe fruit, like old wine.

"Why doesn't she smell like sweat?

Funnily enough, that was the first thing that made Bosha suspect that Ygraine might not be human.

But now, somewhere, her scent was wafting through the air. So close. It was as strong as the scent Bosha had felt when Ygraine had embraced him.

"Ygraine...?

He wanted to call his name, but the words wouldn't come out. Edulis's vocal cords had been severed. By the enraged crowd.

- To speak the name of a goddess with a filthy mouth!

After his vocal cords were cut, Edulis lost consciousness. He couldn't tell how much time had passed. It was hard to open his eyes. It was painful to feel the wind blowing across his wounds.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

But... something felt wrong.

"Is Ygraine... nearby?”

Ygraine used her magick in a very unusual way. When Ygraine's pure white magick flowed through someone's body, even large wounds would heal easily. While normal healing magic could only stop the bleeding at best, Ygrainne's magic could restore the body to a state of complete unscathedness. It was a magic that could not be duplicated.

People said that when Ygraine used her healing magic, it felt like being embraced by a mother. Bosha didn't know what a mother’s embrace felt like, but he guessed it was a very comfortable and warm place. When Ygraine's magick flowed through her, he felt so cozy that he could fall asleep.

And right now, that's exactly what it was, enveloping Edulis. The pain slowly faded. He could feel the flesh tingling where the whip had exposed her bones.

"Ygraine!”

He said they would meet again and Ygraine doesn’t lie. She came to Edulis to fulfill a promise, to say what she hadn't said!

Edulis's heart soared. The belief that somewhere in this world, Ygraine would be there—that was the driving force keeping him going in this shitty world.

Edulis concentrated all his strength on opening his heavy eyelid determined to see Ygraine once again.

Finally, the landscape came into view. The sun had long since set, and in the distance of the dimly lit square, Edulis could see the remains of the gate he had smashed.

Edulis looked around desperately for any sign of Ygraine. But there was no one. Not Ygraine, no anyone.

It can't be! Surely this smell is Ygraine's.!

Then Edulis realized. The source of the scent. It was emanating from her own body.

The pure white Magick, the Magick of Ygraine, who wouldn't budge no matter what he did, was circling his body. It did so of its own accord, regardless of Edulis' will.

While Edulis' magick was bound by the magic stone, Ygraine's magick was free to move. It didn't seem to be affected by the magic stone at all.

'This is... what the hell....'

That’s when it happened.

Footsteps approached through the dark night. They were headed toward Edulis.

***

“Kurzina, it's getting late."

Said the man who opened the chapel door. The girl he called Kurzina had her long black hair tied back, a shawl over it, and her hands clasped together in prayer.

"Is something troubling you? You've been praying a long time today."

"Father...."

Kurzina unclasped her hands and turned around. It was hard to believe that she was only thirteen years old, but her face showed deep concern.

"I keep... I keep having doubts."

"What do you mean?"

The man was surprised. Kurjina is the most religious child in the Fey family. She prefers to read the Bible than socialize with her peers, prefers to lock herself in a chapel than take a walk in the fields, and admires the goddess Lutea more than anyone else.

What could such a child possibly suspect?

"The boy said earlier that he forgives us....... Forgiveness is the closest thing to a god. How can the scion of a witch speak of it?"

"That's why he's a witch. How wicked to try to deceive us by mimicking the words of a god."

"But......."

Kurzina was not convinced by her father's words.

"The goddess Luthea has spoken. To think only of love. To love your enemies, to embrace them. But we threw stones at the boy, whipped his body, and cut his vocal cords with a knife."

"Oh, Kurzina, my sweet daughter, the goddess Lutea would not forgive the descendants of the witch. The child is the embodiment of a witch, so it is only right that he should be punished. You must not feel sorry for him. Punishing the witch is the right thing to do as a descendant of the heroic Bosha, isn't it?"

Kurzina knew. Her father was right. The witch's offspring deserved to be punished.

She knew it in her head, but it was hard to accept it in her heart. The sight of a boy covered in blood. Was that really what the goddess Lutea wanted?

Kurzina lay on the bed according to her father's instructions, but sleep did not come. The boy's face and his words kept echoing in her mind.

- "You are all swallowed by lies, blinded by hatred.

- In the name of the goddess Lutea, I forgive you.

"Lutea, give me an answer to my foolish question.”.

Unable to sleep into the night, Kurzina left the room. She decided to seek out the chapel once more, for it was there that she felt at peace.

Kurzina crossed the hallway to the chapel. A cool night breeze blew through the hallway that led to the garden.

And then it happened.

Kurzina smelled it. A scent that mingled with the night air.

It was a scent she had never smelled before on the grounds of the Fey manor.

It smelled like milk mixed with honey, like sun-dried wool, like her mother's flesh.

For a moment, Kurzina remembered something she had read in the Bible.

A thousand years ago, the saint Lutea had defeated the demon Ereshkigal. It was said that the goddess Lutea took on human form for a time, leaving behind the scent of the celestial flower Delua, and grass grew wherever she lay.

Kurzina had tried hard to imagine what scent Delua might have. Now, the scent carried by the wind felt exactly like the scent of Delua. Remembering the scripture's description of Delua's fragrance, Kurzina fervently imagined it. However, at this moment, the scent carried by the wind felt like exactly that of Delua. The fragrance that made one feel embraced by a mother, exactly as Kurzina had imagined it.

Instead of going to the chapel, Kurzina walked to the source of the smell. There was a sign that said no trespassing, but she ignored it.

It wasn't hard to find the source of the smell, but it wasn't easy to accept the reality of it. The source of the smell was a bloody boy hanging in the square.

Grassy vines grew from the base of the cross and wrapped around the frame. It was a stone floor where grass could not grow, but the flowers had sprouted from the cracks in the stone, where there was no daylight.

Kurzina looked at Edulis. She stared for a long time, her mind racing, before finally opening her mouth.

"...Is this a miracle of yours?"

Kurzina asked, pointing to the grass, and Edulis replied.

"A miracle? You see a blade of grass grow and call it a miracle?"

Kurzina opened her mouth in surprise. Edulis was talking straight. That, too, was a miracle. Edulis's throat showed no sign of having her vocal cords cut.

Kurzina tried to contain her surprise.

"What... what is a miracle, then?"

At that moment, Edulis remembered a conversation he had once had with Ygraine.

- "Hey, saint. You're a saint, can't you perform a miracle? Let's cause a landslide and wipe out the enemy.

- Captain Bosha, Captain Bosha, you call that a miracle?

- What? What? A landslide is " merely" a mishap?

- That's right. A miracle is...

Edulis spoke to Kurzina, paraphrasing the words he'd heard from Ygraine.

"Happiness shared with others, the ability to find joy together, that is a miracle. Being able to cry together with those who are sad, is a miracle. Forgiveness drives out hatred, and love takes its place, that is a miracle. O blinded child consumed by falsehood, a child who does not know miracles, do you see nothing but a mere blade of grass before your eyes?"

Upon hearing this, Kurzina's expression hardened.