Side Story Chapter 11. Bella Bella La Bella

“I’m sorry, everyone. You all must be surprised. I didn’t expect her to act like this either. Haha. Anyway, I will be taking her for today. Okay, let’s go. Stop crying now, and let’s go out first.” Chi-Woo apologized while bowing to each of those who looked to be the empire’s highest-standing officials and took Eshnunna outside by her arm. All the officials stared in shock as Eshnunna let herself get pulled by Chi-Woo, and no one said a word even after the two left the palace. A heavy silence circled around the space the empress had left. Then, one official with a long white beard began.

“Perhaps…” As all eyes shot towards him, the old man opened his mouth after organizing his thoughts. “It seems that time has come.”

“That time? What do you mean?”

“You know what the Empress brought up every once in a while,” the old man said, and others simply stared back at him with a dawning realization as they chimed in.

“Wait a moment. Does that mean…?”

“Yes, that seems to be the case. Everyone, recall the statue situated at the center of the square.”

It was then all the officials’ expressions noticeably changed.

“Do you mean that man was the hero whose name has been passed down through legends…?”

The old man said while stroking his beard, “Yes, it appears we just saw the hero who saved Liber during a grave crisis and opened a new era a thousand years ago.”

***

“A lot has changed since I was here,” Chi-Woo exclaimed as he looked around the streets. “I didn’t realize it when I saw Shalyh, but it’s really hitting me now. Is this the former Salem capital? It really looks as if a thousand years have passed.”

As Chi-Woo said, the capital had changed so much that it was basically unrecognizable. It wasn’t simply that the city had grown bigger or the population had increased in size. For example, if one just raised their head, they would see a train station that seemed to be floating and a train running across the sky with a circuit flowing with mana. Liber now appeared like a cyberpunk world with a good mix of magic and science.

“We ought to have gotten some things done in one thousand years,” Eshnunna said a bit peevishly like she was still sulking.

“I dived into research whenever I was bored and studied the AI Armor that Ms. Yeriel left us. Then, I chanced upon a clue…” The fact that Eshnunna received a hint about developing her civilization through Yeriel’s item explained how things had reached this state; Yeriel did come from a family that had reached the pinnacle of the science of magic engineering.

“This isn’t a level that you could reach with just boredom. You must’ve been quite serious about this.”

“It’s all because of you!” Eshnunna yelled. “I was hoping to be recruited as a hero by the Celestial Realm. But no matter how many crises I resolved and how many titles I accumulated, I heard nothing from them. And I thought you would visit me at least once, but you didn’t show yourself even a little bit. How could you not visit even once in a thousand years…!” It appeared Eshnunna became more enraged the more she thought about this.

Chi-Woo smacked his lips. Perhaps he shouldn’t have thrown away the Celestial Realm’s influence on him. He simply thought things would be fine since not much time had passed while he was on Earth. He didn’t realize how big the difference would be between receiving protection from the flow of time and not. Of course, he could’ve known if he really tried to learn about it…but if he had to confess the truth, he simply wasn’t that interested.

“So, what else could I do but put my all into research in the hope of meeting you again even if I had to pierce through the universe?” This was the true origin of the tremendous development that had taken place in the Salem Empire for the last thousand years—to think the great glory of those thousand years was simply the result of a woman’s wish to meet one man again. Chi-Woo made an awkward smile.

“Ahaha. Really? Why would you go so far?”

“Are you seriously asking that now?” Eshnunna’s voice lowered instantly.

Chi-Woo only intended to change the topic, but it appeared that he had struck a nerve.

“Mr. Choi Chi-Woo.” And Eshnunna continued in a business-like tone. “Do you really not know why I did that?”

“Huh?”

“Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know? Or is it that you don’t want to know?” Eshnunna spoke at a rapid speed. Then, seeing that Chi-Woo appeared truly clueless, she shouted in great frustration.

“It’s because I like you!”

“…Huh?” Chi-Woo’s eyes widened. “You like?” He pointed at Eshnunna and pointed back at himself, asking, “Me?”

“Yes!” Eshnunna’s face reddened like a ripe apple while admitting the truth. For the past thousand years, she had been regretting her hesitation to confess every single day, and now that she finally met Chi-Woo again, she planned to not leave any room for future regrets. Thus, she got to the point from the very beginning.

“Did you really not know?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know.”

“Wow, that’s really amazing. How could a person be that dense—”

“No, what? That seems a bit unfair.”

“How is it unfair?”

“You have no right to say I’m dense. Don’t you remember that time?”

“Which time?” Eshnunna appeared a bit taken aback by how confident Chi-Woo sounded.

“You remember that one time when I tried to hit on you? That time when I was deeply immersed in training, and you came to visit me at the cave with Ms. Noel?”

Eshnunna thought she sort of remembered, but couldn’t.

“I’m telling you now that I wasn’t the one who said those words, but do you remember how you responded to me at that time?”

“No…” Because Eshnunna couldn’t remember, Chi-Woo showed the memory of that day through a moving projection.

—A worry, you say? Your worry is mine, milady. Thus, don’t hesitate to confide in me.

—Actually, please do so. Even if my body breaks in the process, I will remove what is tormenting you.”

—L-Lady?

—…Have you gone mad?

—No—

—What is it suddenly? Are you really the same person I knew?

—No, no. I’m sorry. It’s because I was getting…a bit lonely these nights.

—Lonely? Nights?

After seeing the video, Eshnunna finally remembered what happened that day. “No, that’s—” She was about to say something, but stopped when Chi-Woo jerked his chin for her to go on.

‘No way—’ She thought to herself and asked, “Is it because I rejected your confession that time that you thought I had no feelings for you, and you thought you should never try to do anything with me? Did you think you should cut off all possible romantic feelings and the like?”

“I’m telling you once again that the confession wasn’t made by me, but what you said is pretty true. I’m not the type to be clingy.” Chi-Woo nodded while crossing his arms.

Eshnunna stared at him blankly and yelled suddenly, “Hey!” It was so loud that Chi-Woo flinched, and Eshnunna pointed at Chi-Woo and looked utterly baffled. “Y-You! We hadn’t even known each other for that long at the time! Do you think I will just fall for anybody instantly? And who the heck would think something like that was a confession? Are you crazy!?” She shot out words like missiles.

“A-Are you talking informally to me?”

“Unbelievable! What kind of nonsense confession was that?”

“Uh…oh by the way, Eshnunna. I saw a gigantic statue at the square on my way. Is that perhaps…me?”

“Don’t try to change the topic!”

Chi-Woo worked hard to calm Eshnunna at peak rage. It was difficult because she kept rushing at him like someone with nothing left to lose.

“All right! I got it! Let’s go first!”

“Where now…!”

Chi-Woo forcefully grabbed the berserking Eshnunna and kicked off the ground. ‘Ahhhhhhh!’ And Eshnunna’s screams faded far off into the sky.

***

Chi-Woo brought the struggling Eshnunna to where Hawa was: it was the La Federation’s territory. Though it wasn’t difficult to go there, the problem started after they arrived. An enormous group of people were circling and praying toward the center of the building where Hawa resided. The atmosphere was very solemn.

Still, Chi-Woo planned to walk inside as he did with Eshnunna to meet Hawa, but Eshnunna told him to remain still because of how tense the atmosphere appeared. Then, she took the lead saying that she would try talking to them. Chi-Woo thought it would cause less of a commotion if Eshnunna used her status and waited quietly.

“It can’t be done, Your Majesty.” But surprisingly, Eshnunna’s request to meet Hawa was instantly denied by a woman who hurriedly came running out after hearing that the iron-blooded empress personally came to visit. Seeing how she oozed with strong divine energy, she appeared to be a saintess who acted as a medium for a god.

“Currently, the La Federation is in the middle of a great rite. Of course, I’m sure that you came all this way for an urgent matter, but because this is a very important ritual for all the tribes that make up the La Federation, I ask for your understanding. During this rite, our great prophet sternly warned us that she must never meet anyone…” The saintess trailed off while looking at Eshnunna. “Perhaps it would’ve been preferable if you had given us prior notice…” Though she spoke in a roundabout way, she was basically telling Eshnunna, ‘Why are you bothering us when we already have our hands full? Stop making all this fuss and piss off.’

Eshnunna looked very displeased by the situation. She had told Chi-Woo to trust her but was turned away in the end. She failed to keep her face.

“What? She won’t meet us? Does she not even want to see your face?” Chi-Woo asked curiously, and Eshnunna cautiously whispered back to him.

“No, that’s not it…it appears that they are in the middle of conducting a ritual.”

“A ritual?”

“Yes, unlike our empire, the members of the La Federation are still very religious. Furthermore, they are in the middle of holding a great ritual that only happens once every ten years to celebrate all the gods that exist for the La Federation…thus, it seems we might have to wait.” Though it hurt her pride as the empress to say this, it couldn’t be helped since they were dealing with her counterpart, who ruled the continent on equal grounds as her. Furthermore, such an abrupt visit was a tremendous offense in diplomatic relations. Thus, even the thousand-year empress had to back down.

“Really? Then how long do we have to wait?”

“Probably about a month…”

“A month? That’s too long.” Chi-Woo frowned. His meeting with the Seven Stars was going to start soon, and he didn’t have a month to wait. It wasn’t possible.

“Seriously? Can’t you do something? They can always do a ritual later like tomorrow?”

Eshnunna looked stunned. As she said before, everyone at the La Federation was very religious. Ignoring this was the same as picking a fight. As expected, the saintess and the people around her looked red-faced and angry after hearing such an offensive remark.

“…What a cheeky fellow.” It seemed they were still repressing their feelings, considering that Chi-Woo was the iron-blooded empress’s companion. “Since the empress came all this way only to leave empty-handed, we will pretend we haven’t heard anything and pass over this matter. But we will not let things slide a second time.” In other words, they would let things go once for Eshnunna’s sake, but they should quickly leave.

However, Chi-Woo had not even the slightest intention of backing down. He needed to quickly meet Hawa and make her say ‘Hawawa’ and die of embarrassment.

“Okay, I will try talking,” he said.

“What are you planning to do?”

“Since they are in the middle of a rite, I can ask for her understanding.”

“Who are you going to ask?”

“Who else could it be?”

Eshnunna looked at him anxiously as Chi-Woo walked forward.

“Hey! Bella!”

Then, her heart dropped when she heard the shouts that followed. It seemed that La Federation’s saintess and those who followed her hadn’t caught on to what was happening yet if the confused look on their faces was anything to go by.

“Bella Bella La Bella! Come out for a bit, and let’s talk!”

When they realized who Chi-Woo was calling out to, they all stood frozen in pure astonishment. It was at that moment that the solemn rite site flipped completely upside down.