/
“Theon, Ray!”
Just then, Julia ran from afar. She stopped next to the two of them, and, like Theon, looked at Rey and her eyes widened.
“Ray, you seem to be in a good mood today.”
“Yes, very good!”
“Are there many branches opening in the garden?”
“No. I decided to do something fun with Dorothea.”
Ray smiled, revealing his white teeth.
“With Princess Dorothea?”
“sshht, this is a secret, but I and Dorothea decided to make a support center.”
“A support center?”
“So, it is a place that supports people with disabilities who are experiencing hardships in life. It’s not just about handouts, it could be job training, medical support, or creating a community.”
“That’s a big plan.”
“Yes, and there were a lot of people who were disabled and retired from the military. I plan to provide support for such people as well. It is still in the planning stage.”
“A disability center is a plan I’ve never heard of.”
Then someone interrupted their conversation. When Ray turned his head, Nereus was standing there.
“You have a knack for doing crazy things, Ray.”
Nereus looked at Ray and burst into laughter.
Nereus, Prince of Hark, entered Episteme later than his peers due to problems such as adapting to spirits but maintained excellent grades. He was popular for his exotic appearance, and because he was noble and aristocratic, it was highly appreciated among students.
“I can’t tell if it’s a compliment or an insult because you say it’s absurd, Nereus?”
Ray smirked and said.
Rey was a nice person, but when talking to Nereus, his tongue was strange.
“It means doing something meaningless. How many disabled people are there in the world? Invest wisely.”
Nereus laughed.
“The money of the imperial family is not only used to play scales like merchants, Nereus.”
Nereus shrugged as Ray responded with a smirk.
“Did His Majesty allow such a thing?”
‘There’s no way he would allow such a thing.’
Ray also responded with a smile to Nereus’ questioning.
“I don’t think it’s the Prince of Hark’s business, This is Ubera’s problem.”
He spoke in a friendly tone, but in the end, that meant not getting involved in Ubera’s politics. It was quite an insult to an Episteme student who later had ambitions to go into politics.
Nereus hardened his face coldly, then smiled and muttered.
“The day will soon come when Ubera will be destroyed..”
“What?”
Julia, who was listening to him, asked with anger.
“I am not wrong. In the imperial family, the power of the spirit is already being cut off.”
Nereus snapped his finger and a blue spirit hovered around him.
Ray’s face, which had been smiling all the time, also hardened.
He was talking about Dorothea and laughing at the imperial family.
“Why, am I wrong? She had a pretty face, but it’s a shame…”
Nereus smirked as Ray stiffened.
Ray clenched his fists and walked towards Nereus.
But Nereus stood calmly without fear. Because he knew Ray wasn’t going to hit him.
Because the fight between the two could become a political or diplomatic dispute.
And Raymond Milanaire hated quarrels and disputes. He always chose peace, no matter how much he suffered or lost.
‘He is such a coward.’
Unsurprisingly, Ray stopped in front of Nereus and did nothing.
However.
“Even if Dorothea can’t handle spirits, she’ll be better than you. I heard that you had a fight with Dorothea once and lost.”
Rey whispered softly in Nereus’ ear.
The fight between Dorothea and Nereus in Cerritian was not good for diplomacy, or reputation, so everyone kept their mouths shut and kept quiet.
Nereus’ face turned bright red when he remembered the past that had been buried like a secret.
“And we never know. Hark might be destroyed earlier than Ubera. How will we know the rise and fall of the world?”
Rey whispered in Nereus’s ear and smiled brightly again.
Theon had to hold his lips, which were about to come out with laughter.
“Isn’t that right, Theon, Julia? In fact, we didn’t know who among us might die first?”
Ray looked back at Theon and Julia and asked.
“That’s right. Ray. We never know what will happen in the future.”
Instead of Theon, who shut his mouth to hold back his laughter, Julia answered with a nod.
“So, Nereus. Let’s live hard. It’s a waste of time in life when you meddle in other people’s business. you never know when you’re going to die.
Ray tapped Nereus on the shoulder and left with Theon and Julia.
* * *
The plan to establish the support center went more smoothly than expected.
Fortunately, people were not averse to the idea of a fancy building going up with the imperial name on it.
“However, we have to change their perception.”
Dorothea believed that negative perceptions of people with disabilities were the biggest obstacle to her work.
People used to think that disability was punished for committing many sins in a previous life, or that God was cursing them because of wrath.
“Anyone can have a disability. You can have an accident or get sick. There is no difference between disabled people and non-disabled people, wouldn’t such a statement convince them?”
At Ray’s words, Dorothea shook her head.
“No one knows that. They don’t realize it until they get hurt.”
Healthy people have a belief that they will be healthy for the rest of their lives. So, they don’t take care of their body when they are healthy, but they take care of their body only after they get really sick.
Dorothea didn’t blame them. Even Dorothea made a promise to live a good life only after she had ruined her life once and returned.
‘I wish I had lived a good life from the beginning.’
“I wish I could make a different image for people with disabilities.”
“Hmm…It’s difficult.”
“I can’t change it overnight, but I  should try.”
Dorothy piled thick books in front of Ray.
“Hey, what is this?”
“I’m going to collect stories.”
“story?”
Dorothea nodded her head.
Stories of people with disabilities. A story that has never seen the light of day and tucked away in the corners of legends and history books.
Dorothea picks up every story she could find of people with disabilities in legends and history books.
A blind prophet, a great hero who lost his leg in the war, a great writer who wrote a great epic poem with one arm, a clown with a crooked mouth but has the wisest answer, and the story of a fool who found a treasure that even a king could not find.
“But what are we going to do with this?”
Ray, who was helping Dorothea, asked.
“It’s a story. we’re going to tell it.”
“Tell the story?”
“Ray, did you say you support the playwright William Schiller?”
“uh? Yes. Everyone is passionate about sponsoring the art world.”
“I’ll ask you one favor.”
“Hug?”
“….”
“Okay, I’ll just do it!”
Ray nodded coldly as Dorothea stared at him with her mouth shut.
Meanwhile, Dorothea had the story she and Ray had discovered carved into the exterior wall of the building.
There are 4 stories engraved. A talented sculptor was hired to carve the figures in relief so that the story would be completed by walking along the wall.
The main characters in the paintings on the walls were all beautiful and majestic.
“Will it work, Princess?”
Clara was worried that what started because of Anton would bring Dorothea’s name into disrepute.
“People will just have fun watching it as if they were reading a storybook. They don’t think much of it, or they’ll see the quality of the carving and think it’s wonderful. He’s a famous sculptor called Buonarroti. If it’s his work, the nobles love it.”
“Then it’s no use, is it?”
They’re just looking at the sculptor’s work. No one thinks about the disability.
Then Dorothea nodded.
“Yeah. They just look at it like it’s nothing. A story about a disabled person.”
“Oh…!”
‘They don’t think of it as strange, they don’t think of it as different.’
Just like reading a story. Sometimes touching, admiring, and thinking it is beautiful.
Before her return, Dorothea pushed hard whenever she pursued this kind of work. She just shouted that it had to be done, that it was the right thing to do, and that everyone should just shut up and go along with it.
But now she knows. Regardless of right or wrong, in order for things to be successful in the end, you have to slowly change people’s thinking.
Therefore, Dorothea was also planning to spread the story by making it into a picture book or illustration.
With the most beautiful illustrations, it would be pleasing to the eye and fun to imagine the story.
“I’m going to make it available for everyone to see their story.”
Clara wrinkled her nose as she watched Dorothea’s calm and meticulous plan.
“You must be a real genius!”
“I haven’t done anything yet, Clara. What are you going to do if you are disappointed later?”
Dorothea said bluntly, but Clara was fine with that.
Even if nothing changes, Clara is so grateful that there are people who work hard like this.
* * *
After a year of hard work, the support center was successfully opened. Thoughtfully built with the meticulous cooperation of Anton and others, the support center is beautiful to look at and hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“You know, I didn’t know there were so many disabled people in the Lampas until I did this job.”
Ray said at a celebration of the center’s opening.
A larger number of people attended the application center than expected. The reason why the number of attendees is so large even though they have limited mobility is probably because they have been waiting for such an opportunity.
Theon and Julia, who came to celebrate, were equally surprised.
‘Where were all these people hiding?’
“They didn’t come out, because they couldn’t”
They are people who take a lot of determination just to get out.
Even though they were picked up by a big horse and carriage, they could barely come out. Even when they came out, they had to face the stares of people. So they lived as if they didn’t exist.
“Dorothea, I think you did a really good job with this.”
Ray looked at the scenery and said.
There are still many things that are confusing and lacking, but it felt like something no one would have started if they hadn’t started now.
“There’s still a lot more to do.”
Unlike Ray, who looked on in amazement, Dorothea said bluntly.
This can be said to be a fairly successful opening, but in her eyes, it was lacking. It would take an enormous amount of work to ensure that there was quality job training and support to meet this expectation.
Ray smiled at Dorothea. It was lovely to see Dorothea full of enthusiasm.
“Dorothea, can I hug you?”