32
Three to four smoke balls rose to the clear sky and red, blue, yellow, and green smoke pillars can be seen soaring high into the sky, and popping sounds resounded with a time lag.
It was the signal for the beginning of the harvest festival, and Yaquel was looking up at the multicolored columns of smoke from the window of the palace.
Every year, Yaquel goes out with the members of Hana-Hana during the harvest festival. A national festival was held every year on that day and there were less customers, so the shop was closed and he was participating in the festival with everyone.
The lively and gorgeous royal capital showed even more bustle, with stalls selling locally harvested crops and fruits, as well as folk crafts and miscellaneous goods related to them.
Yaquel’s role is to stop Aria who buys all the fine and beautiful miscellaneous goods she sees, Retana who tries to buy a large amount of rare regional fabrics, and the clerk who buys more food than he can hold in his hands. And he would look at them pleasantly as they beggingly looked at Yaquel saying, “Just these ones, please~!” Yaquel also loved the Harvest Festival where everyone walked around the stalls while laughing.
I couldn’t go this year….
Behind Yaquel as he stared outside and sighed a little, Alton put his hands on the wall as if to enclose him. Although he thought that he was big, as expected, Alton’s height was still slightly taller than him.
“What’s wrong, you’re even sighing?”
He asks Yaquel while putting his lips on Yaquel’s ear.
“I see that today is the Harvest Festival.”
“It is, I made a speech in the plaza with Hylm earlier.”
“So that’s why you weren’t here.”
“Did you miss us?” (TN: I just wanna tap this guy with an ax attached to a wrecking ball.)
He’s not missing him. But, he felt that such a decisive answer would hurt Alton’s feelings, so Yaquel could only lower his brows as if he’s embarrassed.
“Father. Yaquel is feeling troubled.”
Hylm freed Yaquel from Alton’s arms and directly pulled him towards the sofa and sat him there.
“Did you want to attend the Harvest Festival?”
“Yes, because everyone in Hana-Hana always participated it every year…”
“……It’s Hana-Hana again?”
Hylm exaggeratedly sighed in exasperation.
Yaquel has been pleading with Alton and Hylm that he wants to go home regularly ever since that day. But the two didn’t reject him, but held Yaquel alternatingly as if to dodge it. He should just forget about Han-Hana. He only has to focus on us. With that thought, they relentlessly embraced Yaquel repeatedly. But it was Hana-Hana that was always in Yaquel’s mind, so the two gradually came to hate Hana-Hana.
I will no longer endure it. What an annoying existence, to monopolize Yaquel’s thoughts.
“Yaquel, you should forget that shop already.”
“He’s right. Such an obsolete brothel doesn’t suit you.”
“In any case, they were just using you to their advantage, right? If not, they won’t become this rough.”
Alton, who came close, took Yaquel’s hands and caressed his palms with his fingers.
“Besides, you no longer have a place there.”
“Yaquel, you’re already dead to them.”
“That’s correct, everyone in the shop was already informed about it.”
“So Yaquel, this is the only place you can belong to now.”
The two who finally exploded in dissatisfaction spoke ill of Hana-Hana in front of Yaquel and revealed that they had made a false death report to Retana and the others.
“Yaquel, all these should have made you give up by now, right?”
“Please don’t mention the name of that shop anymore. We might do something to it out jealousy.”
Hylm tried to caress Yaquel’s cheek but he shook off his hand with a snap, he also pulled back the hands that Alton were holding. And then, Yaquel, who had been silent, quietly opened his mouth.
“I’m going back.”
It wasn’t his usual calm tone, but a deep, angry voice.
“Yaquel…?”
“What’s wrong?”
Yaquel stood up and grabbed a nearby chair. As he approached the window, he swung his chair down and smashed the window.
“Yaquel!”
“Stop!”
Alton and Hylm hurriedly approached Yaquel to stop him, but they stopped upon seeing the shard of broken glass on his hand.
“Until today, I have stayed here for the sake of His Highness, for His Majesty, and for the sake of this country. I listened to the both of you in silence even though I’ve been hoping to go back to Hana-Hana, thinking that even someone like me can be of help to you.”
“Yaquel…”
“But, I can’t take it anymore.”
He was so angry that he was unable to pay attention to his speech. They spoke ill of Hana-Hana and hurt his family who are more important than his life.
They surely must be crying upon hearing of his death. There is no one in that shop who won’t feel sad upon hearing someone’s death. Retana is surely regretting letting him go to the palace. The clerk, Aria, and Nila are without a doubt blaming themselves for not stopping him from going to the palace. The other workers must be feeling sorry, thinking that there must have been other things they could have done for him.
“What you two need is just my a$$hole. I know that. But everyone in Hana-Hana needs my heart.”
He personally doesn’t know just how good his own a$$hole is. However, Guinn, Sajis, Eunick, Hylm, and Alton unanimously praised it. That can be the only reason why they need him, since he has a low status and doesn’t look attractive. But everyone in Hana-Hana is different. They wholeheartedly acknowledge the hardworking Yaquel and praises his heart. They also call him their family, and they care about himself.
“I can’t stay here any longer.”
He has to return to Hana-Hana even just a second faster and assure them that he is alive.
“If you still wish to stop me despite that, then please do what you want. I’ll leave this a$$ behind. I will definitely craw back to Hana-Hana even with just my upper body remaining.
Yaquel aimed the piece of glass on his waist.
“Stop, Yaquel!!”
“Please don’t do it, Yaquel!”
“We understand, we were mistaken! We’ll apologize! We’ll apologize, so please don’t do something so dangerous!”
Alton clung to Yaquel’s waist to protect him. And Hylm was overwhelmed by Yakuru’s momentum and collapsed on his knees on the spot.
“Then, will you allow me to go back to Hana-Hana?”
In order to show that he was serious, Yaquel displayed his bloodied hand that had been cut by the glass in front of Alton.
“…Yes, I allow it.”
Not even a shred of dignity and majesty befitting that of a king could be seen on Alton, he was simply trembling as he clung to Yaquel’s waist.