The Queen and the Lion - Chapter 67
After the proposal, all the joy of the festival seemed to fade away. Even at the incredible feats of the performance troupe, Lysian’s mind wandered elsewhere.
In the end, they turned their steps back toward the castle.
The sky above them, as they walked on the way back to the castle, was filled with stars densely scattered across it. Lysian tilted her head back to take in the vast night sky, even wider than it appeared from inside the castle walls. Aslan, worried she might stumble, kept a close eye on her.
After gazing at the sky for a while, Lysian suddenly spoke.
“Before the wedding, my mother and father will come to visit.”
“Where are they now?”
Now that she mentioned it, Aslan realized he had never met the late queen or her consort. He had only heard that the former queen was away from the royal castle in Florea due to health reasons.
He recalled hearing that the queen’s health had deteriorated due to her frail constitution and heavy workload, and the royal doctor from Rosebay had insisted that a successor must be named soon.
As Lysian’s gaze moved along the constellations, she gave a faint smile.
“They’ll be where the sky is bright and the stars are clearly visible. It’s my father’s hobby.”
“He’s an astronomer, you say?”
“Yes. He loved looking at the stars. Though he was often distant due to his duties as consort during my mother’s reign, when we took walks at night, he would recite the constellations one by one. But I’ve never had a knack for star-gazing, so now I can’t remember any of it. I can’t even distinguish them. I must’ve taken after my mother. She couldn’t handle constellations either.”
Lysian’s shoulders slumped.
It surprised Aslan to hear that Lysian, who was good at everything except physical activities and had an excellent memory, couldn’t remember something. Aslan, noticing the pout on the round back of her head, cleared his throat and began.
“That one is the Northern King’s Seat. That one is the Celestial Ladder. And that one is the Red Lion constellation.”
As Aslan recited the constellations, Lysian’s eyes widened in surprise. Her long, pale-pink eyelashes fluttered like flower petals in the breeze, casting a shadow over her violet eyes. She gazed up at Aslan with bright, sparkling eyes.
It was nothing special to Aslan, who had often looked at the sky during the wars, but the way Lysian gazed at it, as if it were something extraordinary, made his heart race, and his breath quicken.
Aslan quickly turned his head away.
Even though they had been so close so many times and, most recently, had just gotten engaged, he still couldn’t believe Lysian was truly his. Aslan tried to hide the rush of heat to his face, pretending to be unaffected as he shrugged his shoulders.
“I may look this way, but my eyes are sharp when it comes to the stars. I’m good at finding my way in the dark.”
“Impressive. No matter how hard I try to remember, I always forget.”
Lysian genuinely admired him.
Aslan, with a slightly awkward expression, glanced down at Lysian from the corner of his eye.
Lysian was muttering the constellations Aslan had told her, as if trying to repeat them. However, perhaps she couldn’t quite connect them to the stars, as her delicate brow furrowed lightly, as if dusting flour on it.
As Aslan watched her fragile expression, he chuckled softly and said,
“I will tell you the names of the stars anytime. Even if you forget them.”
“For a lifetime?”
“For a lifetime.”
Aslan’s answer was as unwavering as the stars, steady and shining with hope for the future.
The hands they held together tightened at the same moment, neither knowing who had done it first. Lysian gently rested her head on Aslan’s arm. Aslan moved his steps slowly, matching her pace.
And so, the two of them walked side by side along the uneven woodland path. The dense starlight of the Milky Way swirled above them, like a bride’s veil, flowing gently over their heads.
The Day of the Blue Parrot.
As promised, Lysian declared to the court officials that she would be marrying Aslan.
The officials finally wore the expressions of having expected it. Since Aslan had now learned the customs of Florea, there was no longer any justification for them to oppose.
After all, Lysian was determined to make Aslan her king, and the officials had felt firsthand just how much she cherished him, especially after the poisoning incident. That event had already led to an unspoken agreement among the court officials. They bowed their heads in agreement with the Queen’s will.
From there, everything proceeded swiftly.
Lysian immediately sent a messenger to the late Queen. Upon hearing the sudden news of her daughter’s wedding, the late Queen was overjoyed and replied that she would prepare her things and head to the royal castle as soon as possible.
Aslan, having lost his parents at an early age, did not have anyone to invite to the wedding. Instead, he sent an official envoy to Heiban.
Excluding the bride and groom, the most excited person in the castle about their wedding was none other than the head steward, Dandelion. Having cherished Lysian like his own daughter, he was brimming with excitement as he prepared for the ceremony.
