The Abandoned Empress

“Oh, nothing, Tia.”

“Well, I know you’re busy. I wish I didn’t ask you to come here.”

“Oh, no. I was just thinking about something for a moment. ”

Allendis tried to smile indifferently, but there was anxiety in his emerald eyes. I wanted to ask what was going on, but even if I asked, I felt he wouldn’t answer. So, I pretended not to know.

When I tried to bring up a different topic, there was an announcement that the second act was about to begin. With the candlelight flickering, the black shadow appeared again on the white cloth.

“Who is the man who sends me a letter? He is a friendly and kind man. Why is he saying he can’t appear before me? I don’t need wealth, honor, or power. Ah! Please come to me.

No matter who you are, I can love you confidently. I miss you, who you call yourself anonymous.”

Now, the young girl began to fall in love with the young man who sent her a letter every day.

The woman, who thought that someday the young man would appear in front of her, refused all the proposals from other guys and only waited for the young man. However, the young man still could not stand before her.

Meanwhile, the young man’s elder brother, who learned that his proposal was rejected by the woman, got sick gradually and finally plucked up the courage to get close to the woman’s house. The woman, who stood near the window waiting for the letter, watched his elder brother returning after hesitating several times. Now, she was convinced that he must be the young man who sent her letters. Deciding not to lose him, she ran out quickly and held him.

“I have been waiting for you. Why have you come to me only now? ”

“Oh, Lyria, you have been waiting for me?”

Her misunderstanding upset the whole applecart. Since his elder brother appeared in front of her, she didn’t receive letters from him anymore, which she received every day.

She soon learned that he was not the one who wrote the letter, but she now began to have good feelings toward this shy and gentle man. She still waited for the letter from his younger brother, trying hard to ignore her good feelings toward his elder brother.

The young man, who felt a sense of crisis when his elder brother and the woman were getting along well, was distressed and agonized so much, and finally decided to confess that he was the anonymous who wrote her the letters.

On the day he decided to confess, the young man headed for her house, dressed up as nicely as possible.

“Lyria, do you remember the anonymous person who wrote the letters to you? No, this is not the way to persuade her. Let me try this. Lyria, please forgive me for appearing before you only now. Oh, not this one. How can I confess to her?”

While he was agonized about how to confess, the young man already arrived at her house. Waiting for her who was returning from her walk, he was pacing up and down near her house with excitement. The moment he caught his breath and adjusted his dress, watching her shadow coming nearer from a distance, he was thrown over his head with dirty water.

“Oh my god! I didn’t know somebody was standing there…”

The woman’s mother, who threw the filthy water out of the window after cleaning on the second floor, screamed after belatedly noticing a young man outside.

“Ahahaha.”

Laughter came from the crowds here and there. Although they felt sorry for the young man, they couldn’t help but break into laughter as the timing was so dramatic. I also found myself unable to control laughter. While laughing inaudibly, I looked at Allendis next to me.

Even though everyone was laughing, he sat silently. Was it because of the candle shade that he looked gloomy? His face seemed to have hardened for some reason.

“Mom, what happened? Oh my god, are you okay? You are all soaked.”

I was a little puzzled by Allendis’s reaction, but I couldn’t ask because of the play.

So, I turned my eyes back to the shadow of the woman.

The villagers who saw the young man’s miserable look laughed, pointing their fingers at him. The woman, who returned from her walk, was so surprised to see him that she took out her handkerchief and wiped the water dripping from his body.

“Come to think of it, I think I saw you around this place. Am I right?”

“… ”

“I’m so sorry. My mother didn’t notice you standing there. Can you come inside and change your clothes? ”

“I’m fine.”

“But…”

“I’m really okay.”

Clenching his fist, he answered bluntly and turned. And he never came back to her house or sent her any more letters.

As the young man didn’t show up, the woman was becoming tired of him while waiting for the letter he never sent. In the end she gave up the man who she loved, and accepted his elder brother’s proposal. Finally, their wedding day came.

“I’m sorry I left without telling you in advance.”

“I wish you attended my wedding. Sorry as you say you have to leave because you’re so busy. Please take care.”

When all the villagers were heading to the temple to bless their wedding, the young man, who congratulated her wearing a pure white dress with a trembling voice, climbed a steep hill overlooking the temple.

Clang! Clang!

A bell ringing the beginning of the wedding mass was heard in his ears as he climbed the top of the hill. Looking down at the small temple, he took out all sorts of letters that he had never sent.

“Why is love so harsh to me? When I saw you smiling, thinking of me, my heart was sweet like honey. But when I see you wearing a pure dress for someone else, my heart is so bitter as if I am drinking poison. Now, all I have is my heart that has already burned white and become ash. Beloved ones, be happy! I will spread the flowers of blessing for you.”

The young man holding a handful of letters spread letters one by one down the hill.

After sending away the last letter, he threw himself down the hill.

People screamed here and there. I, too, could not help but scream.

The last flickering candle was put down when the young man’s shadow threw itself away. Suddenly, the shadow of the young man and the shadows of the couple who had a happy wedding ceremony disappeared, and the tent was filled with darkness.

The announcement that signaled the beginning of the first and second act rang.

“On the wedding day of the young man’s elder brother and the woman, villagers said something like letters were being thrown from the hill like flowers. As they disappeared quickly, there were not many people who saw it, but they thought they were flowers that blessed the couple’s marriage. After their wedding, the young man never returned to the village, but his elder brother and the woman allegedly lived happily ever after. ”

After hearing the last announcement, I was deeply touched. While I was blinking with wet eyes, the candle was lit again. The shadows began to show up one by one behind the white fabric. The woman and the young man’s brother stood hand in hand and bowed. The young man’s parents, the woman’s parents, and the villagers also bowed to the crowds. No matter how long they waited, the young man’s shadow did not show up. Instead, the person who introduced himself as the original playwright of this puppet show came out behind the white cloth and bowed.

“Have you all enjoyed the show?”

Only

“… ”

“Oh my, the atmosphere is too heavy. As you know, it’s a fun festival, but why don’t you cheer up and enjoy it?”

As soon as he said that, several clowns came up on the stage and began to show various talents. A clown doing cunning tricks, a clown who threw and caught a dagger and a clown who acted humorously and kept people in stitches. While I was laughing at the funny acts of the clowns, I stepped back, shocked by the sudden appearance of a shadow in front of me.

“Gosh, I surprised a beautiful lady. I will give you this as an apology. ”

When the clown laughed humorously and waved his empty hand, a red flower was instantly held in his hand before I knew it. My eyes popped up at that. The clown, who laughed out loud, handed me the flower and walked to the other side.

I briefly looked down at the red flower in my hand. Have I ever received this kind of flower?

No matter how hard I traced the memory, it seemed that I had never received a flower from anybody.

“What’s the matter, Tia?”