The morning of the festival dawned.
Regardless of whether Alex was lost in thought, time passed without care, and even staring angrily at the eastern mountain to stop the flow of time was pointless as the sun rose steadily, illuminating Cantatien.
Alex quietly watched Yona as she changed into her nun’s habit with her head buried in the pillow.
Yona, seemingly uninterested in what Alex was thinking, slipped on the nun’s outfit from her head down, meticulously buttoning up the row of buttons that ran from her sides to her armpits.
While watching her, Alex suddenly became curious.
Now that he thought about it, he had never seen Yona wear anything other than that nun’s outfit. She was always in her nun’s habit, and even if she claimed to have bought new clothes, it turned out to be another nun’s outfit. Since meeting Yona, it appeared she had never worn anything else.
Wrapping the Sacred Barrier around her arm and tugging at the end, it snugly tightened with a satisfying sound.
Once he pulled the end of the Sacred Barrier and attached it to the ring on the shoulder of her nun’s outfit, Yona’s change was complete.
“Yona.”
“What?”
Yona replied to Alex’s call with a nonchalant expression. She had already gotten up and finished preparing, so it was a bit frustrating that Alex was still rolling around in bed.
They needed to get up and eat breakfast soon, and he was still lying there—what was he thinking?
“Don’t you wear anything other than the nun’s outfit?”
At that, Yona stared at him blankly.
Hadn’t she told him? She pondered briefly, but she had indeed never mentioned it.
There was no need to, and since she hadn’t been asked, there was no reason to explain.
“I don’t need to wear anything else.”
“Why?”
In response, Yona lifted the hem of her nun’s outfit.
The sight of her nearly exposed underwear momentarily left Alex breathless, but fortunately, the hem still covered her modesty up to her thighs, revealing just enough of what was under her nun’s habit.
“Because of this.”
What Yona revealed under her nun’s outfit were patterns that Alex had seen before.
Those were the circuits that assisted in the circulation of divine power.
At first glance, they resembled the symbol of the Church of the Celestial God, but these didn’t have broken lines; instead, they were interconnected, densely packed inside her nun’s outfit.
“This is the sacred circuit. It’s also engraved on the Sacred Barrier.”
“Ah.”
Every piece of clothing a priest wore had significance.
Just like the circuit of divine circulation embroidered in the Sacred Barrier, the patterns in her nun’s outfit helped minimize the evaporation of divinity and promoted smooth circulation. These patterns ensured that divine energy wouldn’t waste away into the air.
“So that’s why. But there must be a reason you only wear that.”
Alex sat up from the bed.
He could have stayed lying down, but after Yona had lifted her skirt, it felt a bit embarrassing to remain in bed. Besides, Alex needed to get ready to head out.
“This is all I need. Why would I need lots of clothes? One to wear, one to change into, and one to wash. Three pieces are enough.”
“So that means you can wear other clothes when you’re not fighting?”
“Well, yeah.”
Alex felt like he had found a solution.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect.
Today marked the start of the festival in Cantatien, the so-called Orenzia Festival.
The Orenzia flowers were fairly large, and with just five petals compared to their size, they looked quite impressive.
The flower is quite large, and despite its size, it only has five petals, making it relatively big as well.
The flower is pure white, and its seeds have milk-colored grains with fluffy white wings that spread like snowflakes in the wind, creating a stunning sight.
To the east of Cantatien lies the Orenzia bloom area.
This town of Cantatien is known for its great environment for Orenzia flowers to flourish, and every winter, it famously holds a festival celebrating these flowers.
“Is the meaning of this flower unrequited love?”
“Apparently so.”
Alex and Yona were strolling through the streets after changing their clothes.
It seems the rumors about the festival being famous weren’t lies, as there were quite a number of tourists compared to the size of the city.
Everywhere they looked, people were carrying accessories made from Orenzia flowers or little handbags woven from Orenzia flower stems, creating a truly magnificent scene.
“Why is it called unrequited love?”
“How would I know…”
Caught off guard, Yona sniffed the Orenzia flower she had randomly picked up.
Since the flower was sizable, from Alex’s perspective, it looked like about half of Yona’s face was buried in it.
“It smells really nice.”
“Right? The whole town is filled with the flower’s fragrance.”
At those words, Yona looked around and sniffed, her nose twitching. She had noticed a pleasant scent wafting in the air since entering the town, and it turned out to be the fragrance of the Orenzia flowers.
“So, where are we going now?”
Yona had been told to come along because there was a place to go, but Alex hadn’t mentioned where that was.
He had already made up his mind about the destination when he came out with Yona, but he intentionally kept it a secret from her.
If he told her in advance, she would definitely raise a fuss, and that would ruin the whole vibe, so he decided to withhold the information.
“You’ll find out when we get there. It’s not like it’s going to be a loss for you, so just come along.”
He had already asked the innkeeper earlier about where the clothing shop was.
Alex mentally retraced the directions to the shop as he walked along with Yona.
The distance wasn’t far.
After leaving the inn together and walking for about ten minutes, they were delayed by the crowd and all the sights to see.
But eventually, the two found themselves standing in front of the clothing shop, where Yona halted, glancing back and forth between Alex and the store, frowning.
“You’re not seriously planning to buy clothes, are you? There aren’t many that would suit a bald head like yours.”
“What are you talking about… I’m buying clothes for you, not for me.”
“What? My clothes?”
Yona’s eyes widened at Alex’s words.
She had thought they’d come to the shop to buy clothes, but she never expected it to be for her.
“Why my clothes? I already have a nun’s outfit!”
“You do have that, but that’s it. Are you planning to wear that to the festival?”
“No, I’ve been wandering around in this just fine, so what’s the sudden need for new clothes?”
Yona’s eyes grew wide, then she frowned.
Honestly, no matter how she thought about it, there was no reason for her to buy new clothes.
She had plenty of underwear, including panties and tightly woven cotton.
But buying women’s clothing seemed a bit over the top. The nun outfit was a skirt, but considering her job, she could somewhat understand wearing it.
“I can at least understand it while wearing it.”
“But women’s clothes are just not it, are they?”
“If I wear that, it feels like I’m just admitting I’m a woman, and that’s something Yona definitely rejects.”
“How about trying something other than a nun’s outfit? You can’t go anywhere without being called ‘Sister’ or ‘Healer.’ Can’t you just dress like a normal lady for once?”
“Why should I? Is being a healer something to be ashamed of?”
Yona’s voice was sharp and defensive.
Only then did Alex realize something was amiss.
“I don’t mean it like that. I just meant to try on something else for a change. Whether you’re a woman or a man, it’s the same. New clothes can lighten your mood. You’ve been through a lot; it’s just a suggestion to treat yourself a bit.”
“Then why does it have to be clothes? There are plenty of other things to eat or do! Why clothes?”
“Calm down and listen to me.”
Alex sighed inwardly.
He hadn’t anticipated her response would be this intense.
But backing down now meant all his efforts would go to waste.
“Ha…”
Yona let out a long sigh.
Her already sharp and fierce eyes softened a little.
“Okay, I calmed down. I get that I need new clothes to lighten my mood, but I can’t shake off the feeling that this isn’t entirely for me. Just be honest.”
“… Because I want to see you.”
“Got it.”
With that, Yona strutted into the clothing store.
Alex was taken aback by her sudden change, staring blankly at her, but Yona turned back to him.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”
It’s not that Yona’s aversion to women’s clothes just vanished all of a sudden.
And it wasn’t merely her whims either.
It was simply a response to Alex’s kindness, a form of gratitude, if you will.
Yona wasn’t foolish; she knew just how much goodwill Alex had shown her.
He supported her in every way possible, and when facing Vervaria, he even broke his own rules to use divine power to protect her, despite the pain it caused him.
“I want to enjoy this festival—together with you.”
Just like Alex said, she wanted to enjoy the festival, to have fun with him.
So, even though she still felt repulsed, she agreed to do it because he wanted to see her.
If Alex had kept insisting on the ‘mood-lifting’ reason without being truthful, she would have rejected it to the end.
However, Yona was well aware of her beauty and understood the psychology of men looking at beautiful women.
If someone like her dressed nicely and walked beside Alex, she knew how the other guys’ eyes would be glued to him. She knew it all too well.
That’s why, since Alex was honest, Yona decided to go along with it.
Still—
“This is tough.”
Yona sighed once more as she changed into her seventh outfit.
The blue dress, perhaps due to the underdeveloped dyeing technology, had spots that were unevenly colored. The knotted fabric added a nice touch, but the lack of uniformity in color made it terribly unappealing.
So, this blue dress is definitely out.
Alex shook his head, agreeing with the sentiment, while Yona took off the dress in the changing room and hung it on the rack to be taken outside.
The store clerk accepted the rack and removed the dress, and Yona, noticing that her chest wrap had loosened, tightened it again before changing into a nun’s outfit and coming out of the changing room.
In the meantime, Alex had also brought a navy skirt along with a white linen shirt from somewhere.
He was waiting in front of the changing room with a padded vest that looked quite thick and stuffed with cotton.
As if that wasn’t enough, he was also holding a headband made from dried Orensia flower stems.
With little clay decorations resembling Orensia flowers attached here and there, it actually looked quite nice.
“…You know it’s the eighth one, right?”
At this point, it seemed like Yona had done enough to repay Alex for his effort—at least that was what she thought.
Without saying a word, Yona accepted the clothes Alex offered and stepped back into the changing room.
To be honest, Alex had liked every outfit Yona had worn so far.
The realm of women’s clothing was an unknown territory for him, and not knowing much made it even more so.
Yona’s body was so stunning that anything she wore looked good on her, but Alex had the keen sense to gauge whether she liked what she was wearing or not.
From that perspective, none of the outfits had appealed to Yona until he asked the clerk to bring the most expensive and best outfit, and upon seeing her expression then, he knew it was the one.
“This one’s not bad.”
As Yona stepped out of the changing room, Alex was momentarily left speechless.
A light navy pleated skirt paired with a hefty white linen shirt.
Complemented by a dark gray padded vest stuffed with goose down.
And topping it all off, the headband of Orensia flowers in her hair.
Just as Alex felt it was the right choice, Yona herself seemed satisfied too, her expression showing it.
“I’ll go with this one.”
Unable to tear his gaze away from Yona, Alex inadvertently spoke to the clerk.
*
Yona understood male psychology well.
Walking beside a beauty that was hard to find twice in a lifetime—even if they didn’t link arms—she was fully aware of how that looked among men.
Although she’d thought about wanting to be that kind of beauty, at least…
“I never thought about wanting to be the beauty walking beside someone.”
Ignoring the stares from those around her, she thought about that.
Whatever sense of superiority and accomplishment she should have felt from this moment, that uptight guy next to her was certainly feeling it.
When Yona stole a glance at Alex, she caught him struggling to suppress a beaming smile, making his mouth twitch.
“Hey, you like it?”
When she poked him in the side, Alex flinched and tried to regain his composure.
Yet, that sneaky smile that kept creeping back told her he was genuinely delighted.
“Of course…”
This uptight guy probably never walked alongside a beauty like her in his life.
There’s no way he had experienced the envy and jealousy from countless other guys firsthand.
Yona would bet on it.
But they couldn’t link arms.
She was already pushing the limits by wearing the women’s clothes she hated and rejected to match Alex’s mood, and linking arms would be crossing the line.
This was as far as Yona was willing to go.
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