/
As she settled down on the circular stone steps, Jeremiah reluctantly sat beside her.
The play was in full swing, so both of them watched the play in silence.
While watching the play, Philomel had other thoughts in the back of her mind.
‘It’s not the time yet. Let’s wait for the time when Jeremiah can open up some more.’
Up until this point, it was quite similar to the development in the book.
Ellencia, a country girl, meets the Mage Jeremiah in the forest one day.
At the time, Jeremiah had left the Magic Tower and was traveling the world.
Jeremiah rescues Ellencia, who is in danger after encountering a wolf in the forest, and Ellencia gives him a tour of the market in return.
It was the largest market among the fairs held near the village where Ellencia lived.
Jeremiah was reluctant, but because he had something he needed right away, he accompanied her and felt a different kind of pleasure there.
It was the first time he had ever experienced a market because he hated crowded places.
Suddenly, he opens the door of his heart to Ellencia and unwittingly reveals his dark side.
And crucially, it’s something that Ellencia said, which helped Jeremiah to open his heart.
‘I am going to say those words first. Then wouldn’t that naturally create a family affection or something similar?’
Even if affection isn’t formed, Jeremiah has  to hear the words Ellencia said in <Princess Ellencia>, from Philomel in advance.
The first time you go through any experience is the most memorable. The second time not as much.
Philomel looked at Jeremiah with a tense face. He was ignorant of his surroundings and was absorbed in the theater.
Then a booming voice hit Philomel’s eardrums.
“Oh, dear! Why don’t you love me? I die in sorrow today again because of your indifference.”
An actress was crying out on stage. Only then did Philomel focus on the content of the play.
The play performed in the amphitheater was a tragic love story that was nothing special. Two lovers fall in love normally but are separated due to opposition from their families, slander from those around them, and trivial misunderstandings.
‘Did they say it’s a huge fad in the capital recently?’
Although she had never seen it herself, Philomel knew roughly the plot after hearing about it from the maids.
It was the man who left first, but he later realized the misunderstanding and regretet it, while the woman grieves and finds new love.
Perhaps it was still in the early stages, it was a scene where a woman clings to her lover who is about to leave.
‘Somehow, it’s kind of hard to see.’
She knew that later the situation would be reversed, but this scene, a woman clinging to man, reminded her of something.
‘Catherine and ‘Philomel’ in the book were like that too.’
Philomel couldn’t comprehend why ‘Philomel’ in the book and Catherine were respectively so obsessed with Nassar and Eustis.
‘I’m determined not to do so,’
Philomel glanced toward Jeremiah, but somehow he looked gloomy.
‘Oh, is it that boring? But considering that, he’s still watching the play quite diligently.’
But suddenly, a memory flashed through her mind.
It was regarding what Jeremiah had said about his mother in the book.
“My mother thought that my father would love her once she gave birth to a child, but my father is an impossible human being.”
A long time after their first meeting, Jeremiah confided that story only to Ellencia as a side note.
“Mother was devastated. She found out too late that her wish could never come true. She left, and abandoned the man she loved and the child who resembled him.”
Just as Philomel thought of Catherine and ‘Philomel’ in the book while watching the play, Jeremiah seemed to think of his mother.
Putting together the contents of the book and the facts she knew, Jeremiah’s mother loved Le Guin.
Because of this, she participated in the experiment and even gave birth to a child, but in the end, it seemed that she left when she couldn’t win Le Guin’s heart.
When Philomel didn’t know the exact circumstances, she thought to myself while reading the book, “It is so nice that he even got married, but his father is too much.”
However, considering that the two were in a contractual relationship, it was impossible to blame only Le Guin. Philomel only felt sorry for Jeremiah, who was left behind.
‘The world is complicated, so complicated.’
Philomel sighed quietly, then opened her eyes wide in realization.
‘Wait, isn’t this an opportunity?’
‘I’m sorry Jeremiah’
Philomel has been waiting for him to show his weak side up until now. Only then was it possible for her to ‘comfort Jeremiah by saying that’ out of courtesy.
Perhaps it was a godsend to induce him to see this play by chance.
Philomel’s conscience was pricked by the use of others’ wounds, but she could not give up her chance.
Anyway, Jeremiah had to stop falling for Ellencia.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Jeremiah’s mood was low even after the play had a happy ending.
Philomel rose from her seat, brushing the dust from her clothes.
“Now, shall we go somewhere else?”
“… Yes.”
Jeremiah, lost in thoughts, followed her without much question.
“I’m sorry that you’re so down.”
Hoping to comfort him a bit, Philomel took him to an ice cream shop and handed him a large two-tiered ice cream cone.
“…”
However, when she saw that he was not ready to eat, Philomel also lost her appetite.
‘I can’t help it. I have no choice but to say that…’
Philomel took him with her to find a suitable place.
The atmosphere is the most important thing in a conversation. Jeremiah needed a place where he would want to speak his mind.
When she reached the river, a natural exclamation broke out of her mouth.
“Wow, it’s pretty.”
Before Philomel knew it, the sun was already setting. The waters of the Klimer River, called the lifeline of the empire, were dyed in a beautiful red light.
‘This seems like the right place.’
The view of the huge river was magnificent and somewhat lonely.
“Jeremiah, this way!”
Looking at the river with the sunset in the background, he was like a painting. The lonely atmosphere made him look more like a work of art.
Philomel approached him and chose what to say.
‘Would it be better to ask first if he has any concerns first?’
Or it’s better to talk about childhood first and naturally induce old stories…
But why?
I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.’
Philomel was taken aback when she saw his face, which looked much more lonely than expected.
Just like Ellencia did,
“I can see the same loneliness in your eyes.”
“I understand your pain. I’ll be your friend.”
I have to say these words…
At that moment, a sharp question dawned on Philomel.
‘Do I understand his pain?’
Here, even if she doesn’t understand, she has to say that she understands, but for some reason, the words didn’t come out easily.
The reality was different from the scenario that Philomel had when she planned.
It was too clear. The loneliness of Jeremiah.
He was not a character composed only of typefaces, but a living, breathing human being, and his pain was the trace of a person’s past intact.
Philomel still thought.
‘I’m arrogant.’
‘I thought I understood Jeremiah just because I read that book.’
She was confident that she could direct his heart in the direction she wanted.
She would have been disgusted if someone else like her had read the book and said that she understands Philomel.
‘Yes, let’s stop doing this.’
Philomel brightened her clouded expression and approached him.
“Jeremiah!”
“… Why are you doing that, yup!”
She stuffed her ice cream into Jeremiah’s mouth.
“Eat my ice cream, too! Don’t worry, I will not say anything.”
“Why me?”
“Eat and cheer up. Why are you so low-spirited?”
Philomel forced him to take the ice cream and walked along the river with a light gait. When Jeremiah saw her back, he was so dumbfounded that he laughed.
‘I don’t know what the hell you’re thinking.’
Then Jeremiah suddenly realized.
‘Why am I smiling?’
The fact that he was excited about doing something untimely today.
He became acutely serious.
If he was his usual self, he would have been angry, but he was splitting things up about what he liked.
‘It isn’t like me to follow her beat in the first place.’
At first, Le Guin, who was behind him, was obviously annoying, so he only complied with his requirements, but at some point, he stopped thinking about his father.
A grump welled up in his heart. It was a kind of reaction and inertia. Wanting to return to their original form.
So he spit out the thorny words that had been at the back of his mind for a while.
“Don’t be conceited.”
Philomel turned around.
“What did you just say?”
“You seem to misunderstand something.”
He said with a fishy smile.
“The reason Le Guin is at your beck and call right now is not because he has affection for you.”
“…”
“He doesn’t love his children, but he at least has the perception that we are his children. That’s why he’s a little more lenient with us than with others.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“There are times when he is generous, mostly to the object of his self-interest. Sometimes it’s an object, animal, or monster, sometimes it’s a human. And you happened to awaken that self-interest in him this time.”
Philomel said nothing.
“That’s why I’m saying, don’t blindly trust the favors he gives you. He is a great person, but he will always turn his back on you if his interest fades. Don’t go expecting that you will be special to him.”
When she didn’t respond, Jeremiah grew impatient, even saying things he didn’t want to say.
“I know a woman like that. A person who hoped and despaired that she would one day become special to him. In case you become like her…”
“You don’t have to.”
“What?”
“I understand everything Jeremiah’s trying to say. It’s okay if you don’t say more.”
Philomel smiled feverishly.
Jeremiah looked at her without saying a word.
“And don’t worry, I don’t expect that.”
A cool river breeze brushed past them. Brown hair fluttered in the wind.
Philomel looked at the other side of the river, which continued endlessly somewhere.
“I know very well that I am no big deal to Le Guin or to my three brothers.”
Jeremiah was stunned.
A question crept into his mind, he wondered if he had just made an irreparable mistake.
Jeremiah thought so, even though he wasn’t sure what kind of mistake it was.