It is finally the big day! Holy Day of God! Year 791, 31st Day of 12th Month!
More than a thousand years ago, when the God of Light Sapriuses was born in the holy land Betye, but the Church’s Calendar didn’t start from that year, because the Church of Light was under the oppression of the Roman Empire. In the eyes of the mythical Roman Warriors, the followers of God of Light were the same as escaped slaves.
Around the time of the start of Church’s Calendar, the Ancient Roman Empire collapse shook the whole political situation of the Westland, countries and nations mushroomed into existence, and the largest of them, the Empire of Titan, accepted the doctrines of the Church of Light. After this, the Church of Light slowly spread across the land as the Divine Empire of Titan started preaching it. At the end of the 1st Century, the Church had entered the Holy City of Rome and started to influence the whole Westland’s culture, social life, thought patterns and more through control and disruption.
As a belief system, by the end of the 7th Century, most people viewed the prayers as just another routine they had to do. Humans like to vent to their deities due to the inescapable situations they encountered, it seemed like the only way was to pray for a miracle.
This had nothing to do with the ruling class, the first Emperor believed the God of Light had granted them the right to rule. As time passes, these ruling class started to seek profit in the name of God of Light. This method was far more rewarding than contributing to the Church. The fortunes the Church amassed had every ruler green with envy. They started planning expansions and raise taxes in the name of God. With time, the public started to equate the Church with greed. In areas where this "Church Plague" was especially serious, the uprising as a result of dissatisfaction toward the ruling class usually include a cry to eliminate the "Church Plague".
As for the Church, over a thousand years of development had allowed this world’s largest for-profit organization to cultivate a perfect control system. From the beginning, the missionaries had evolved into a whole team of loyal followers. The team include the priests at the bottom, clergies who research the doctrine, the pastors who head a church, the bishops who head a parish, and finally the inquisitors in the Holy City of Rome. That’s the place in which the Pope would give his orders, as well as the tribunal with which the Church pressure the world.
Before the Holy Day, be it the Church, the Nobles, or the commoners, everyone would set their differences aside. If going to the churches to pray was just a routine, the preparation for the Holy Day wasn’t! This is the most important, most dazzling, most celebratory day in the whole of Westland.
On this day, everyone would wake up early, fathers would clear the snow in front of their own houses with the kids, while mothers and the older generation would start cooking up a feast.
Due to the difference between nations and races, the prepared feasts differ between the east and west in terms of food variety, and between the north and south in terms of the manner the food is served. In Titan, the Southern mountainous people would make delicate cuisine, like the Farans and the Italians, and their main dish would be turkeys. At night, the farmers of the Western Hetto Plains would grill meats by a bonfire; And on the East is Andrew, simple, passionate, unrestrained are some of the Narcissus People’s specialty. The Army and the commoners would come together to bake massive cakes and share it with people on an empty clearing!
On the North, O’Neil Andrew Morisette inhaled a rush of cool fresh air. This was his first Holy Day after turning adult, which is also his first after being released! He had every reason to be excited!
Prince O’Neil followed the local custom, waking up at dawn like a Northerner. His servants helped him change into his Lieutenant General outfit, complete with the diamond-shaped military cap. Oscar chose a decorative sword from his weapon rack to bring along, and sprinted to get the presents for his neighbors!
Narcissus Knights were waiting at his door, and they followed the Prince around.
Not needing a report-ahead, the servants of a manor opened their gate to Oscar, who went straight to the meeting hall. At the walkway, the host already had someone to receive them. Oscar was treated warmly while he handed over his gift, and received a return gift from the host.
In the next household, the family knew how important the visiting guest was. Everyone, including the old, the young, and the ladies all came out. Oscar met every one of them, and gifted them a huge present.
The household invited Oscar to have breakfast with them, but Oscar refused gently, saying he’s got an appointment with His Elder Highness. Oscar gave the host a slight shock when he refused, but they recovered almost immediately. After all, no one would dare to snatch a guest from the top-tier Imperial Household.
Oscar visited almost every household on his street, his knights had to arrange a carriage to carry all the return gifts Oscar received. Oscar also got on the carriage in the end, he had to go to His Elder Highness Lobble’s residence.
Lobble Alfa Morisette stayed in the Imperial Palace of Sparjoxin, also called the Kimberton Palace, its history could be traced back to the end of 4th Century.
Prince Lobble didn’t seem to like staying in the palace though, in the four years he stayed here as a student, it was told he kept wanting to demolish this palace built with marble.
"Why?" Oscar didn’t understand. "This is the most artistic-looking palace I’ve seen, look at the murals, the design! To be honest, none of these could be copied by the designers of current time. This is the true Imperial spirit!"
Lobble shot Oscar a glare, "It’s cold in winter, hot in summer! Wind blows everywhere during fall, and in spring, everything’s wet! And the murals you talked about? I had to hire people every year to lacquer them with pine tar to keep them intact! Do you know how terrible it smells? Merely smelling it for long durations would give you impotence!"
"Hahaha!" Oscar laughed wildly.
"Stop that!" Lobble waved his hand. With only a few days of meeting the young Prince, he had already considered this kid ten years younger than him his friend.
"Where’s my present?" The Elder Prince extended his hand toward Oscar.
"Let me have mine first!" Oscar was like a rascal. As a guest, his behavior was rude!
"Okay, okay! I’ve judged you wrong, you’re just like how they described you!" Lobble retrieved a big box from under the table as he spoke.
Oscar tossed his cigar aside. Happily, he took the gift, it was Holy Day, it would be wrong not to binge a little.
"What’s this?" Oscar’s eyes bulged.
"Didn’t you see it?"
"I have!" Oscar waved the rolled-up paper in his hand.
"This was the four-season recipe book I took so much time to perfect!" Lobble sank into his seat proudly. "I used to only read it whenever there’s no one around. Now that it’s done, I can finally gift it to my friends formally!"
Oscar didn’t say a word, he handed over a large envelope to the Elder Prince.
"Let me have a look!" Lobble picked away the wax sealing the envelope with the table knife. He was stunned as he identified the document.
"You’ve seen it, haven’t you?" Oscar picked up his cigar. "The one in front is the deed for the land, followed by the transferral agreement of the future Lobb Oscar Hotel."
"Oh… Oh!" The Elder Prince read the document excitedly, not saying a word for a moment.
"Alright, my friend, I believe your father now have the perfect reason to slaughter you!" Oscar laughed out of schadenfreude. "Although… it may be the both of us!"
Lobble didn’t hear Oscar, he was squirming in his seat.
"This… this is my dream! The God of Light will take pity on us!" Lobble’s eyes twinkled like they never had.
"No matter what father wants to do, let him, we… when do we start building this?"
Oscar shook his head, "This is not something we can rush, no one would start a project in the winter. We’ll need to wait at least until spring for any renovation work to be done."
"Yes! Oh yes! I almost forgot!" Lobble nodded like a chick pecking at rice. "I can utilize this time to design it the way I want it built. Spring, the season of resurrection, haha! This is great!"
Oscar was a little excited too. He had followed his instinct on this and had no planning at all.
The breakfast between the Princes was still continuing, they talked about the scary Second Prince, talked about Princess Alanis who was about to visit Faran, they even made a promise to attend the annual masquerade at the Tortoiseshell Cat Square together, as well as going back to Dulin together to visit the Emperor and the Empress.
"I think they will be pretty upset though!" Oscar was a little worried. "Our little secret will definitely be found out by then. Will they…"
"Of course they will!" Lobble interrupted confidently. "I even considered the worst case scenario!"
"Worst case scenario?"
"That’s right! Worst case!" It was Lobble’s first instance of showing a ferocious expression in front of his friend. "My father is not hard to get through, he had done worse when he’s young. The main concern is my mother. Do you believe it? She would have burnt the hotel down, and have me sent to the dungeon."
Lobble didn’t leave out any details!
"My friend, believe me, she had done those things before."
Oscar was surprised. "Maybe… Maybe I’ve invited trouble to you!"
"No!" Lobble waved it off, saying, "If it wasn’t for you, I would never have the courage to do such a thing. No matter what, I want to be able to justify to myself, I want to give my dreams a chance. Maybe I’ll be an emperor in the future, but what I want to be proud of the most, is to have my own hotel and call it a Divine Site!"
O’Neil Andrew Morisette clasped his hands with Lobble Alfa Morisette. Maybe to some businessmen, building a hotel together is not something uncommon, but when it’s two Princes, there’s enough evidence to believe these two would definitely be punished. In the imperial traditions, the passing of power exceeds everything else. When an heir apparent wanted to run from their responsibilities, their choices would usually mean determine if they live or die.
Maybe Oscar didn’t mean it, maybe Lobble was getting too excited with his dream, but it was understandable, if a prince doesn’t do what he’s needed to, his life would become as thin as his dream.
***************
After saying goodbyes to the Elder Prince, Oscar returned to the Imperial Military Academy, getting ready to visit the Second Prince. He had heard a lot about the Second Prince the past few days. This kid liked assembling a large-scale battle plan, he even recruited a team from various departments in the academy. With regard to this, the dean of the academy had commented, "According to His Imperial Highness’ actions, the empire would lose everything within five months! But of course, if we only allowed him the power of one group, the time frame of the empire’s losses would be much, much closer."
Oscar sighed a breath of relief when he was told the Second Prince had left for Dulin before dawn to spend the Holy Day with his parents.
"So… have we prepared the presents for the Imperial Household and all the other important people?"
Sasha nodded, but she looked like she was a little unamused.
"My brother, isn’t it a bit late to think about it now? You’re lucky Aeolia had already prepared everything."
Oscar didn’t say anything but nodded. He had a slight regret toward Aeolia, but only a little.
Countess Aeolia had a higher intellect than most of her peers, this was easy to see. Even though her face had been swollen as a result of being slapped by the Prince, she still dressed up as usual. Oscar didn’t want to know what she had done in the new manor, but the youth had admitted, the Duke was much more decisive when it comes to detailed things like that.
For example, the Countess had discussed deeply with Major General Murat regarding the defense of the manor. According to her, the new manor should be split into three areas. The first area would be the Prince’s bedroom, study, living room, and kitchen. The first three were important for daily living and work, the importance of these areas need not much discussion. As for the kitchen, the reason of including it in the high-risk zone was because Prince O’Neil’s eating habits have shown a higher likelihood of him being poisoned than other noblemen by 97%!
The percentage was definitely calculated meticulously by Countess Aeolia, however… it’s also Oscar’s most despised.
The second area includes the hallway, the resting room of big hall, all the washrooms, dining hall, the large living room, the eleven smaller living rooms, Young Lady’s suite, Countess Antonia’s suite, and Miss Fenrar Donaute’s suite. All these rooms were also ranked by the possibility in which danger will appear.
The third area include the whole outer area of the manor. The garden, bell room, greenhouse and all other places like it had to be guarded with Narcissus Knights at every moment, as well as the employment of guard dogs and alarm bells.
To deal with the hidden spies among the servants, Aeolia also had her ways, those would be arranged to an inconsequential position. Of course, Aeolia wouldn’t doubt there’s still loopholes in the security, but this would mean the Prince was still in safe hands, as he has yet to trigger the confidentiality limitations. The Secret Services and His Majesty would still be at ease about it.
Oscar didn’t want to care about all this, he’s terrified to see Aeolia at the moment, he even reduced dining with the others, but all these seemed naught. Aeolia still acts normally in front of other people, although observant people have noticed her mental shift.
Speaking of his actions a few nights ago, Oscar didn’t know what to think, but there’s one thing he’s clear about, and that it was called attempted rape. Maybe Aya did want it to happen, but Oscar called her out on it.
"That’s why we’ll let Aeolia do whatever she needs to do!" Oscar appeared behind Young Lady, embraced her, and buried his face between her Narcissus-perfume-infused hair.
Sasha evaded with a squeal. Her brother had picked up some really weird habits, like breathing into her neck from behind, that usually makes her super ticklish.
She wasn’t ready yet for physical intimacy.
"Stop it! Please!" Young Lady begged. She wanted to push her brother’s head away, but Oscar tightened his hold on her waist.
"I’m going to be angry if you keep this up!" Sasha steeled her face.
"Ola! Let see here, what have you prepared for tonight’s party?" Oscar stopped before it gets too much.
Sasha still couldn’t get out of her brother’s hold, but she thanked goodness as he stopped breathing into her neck.
"Look! I prepared an angel outfit, the wings were woven together with swan feathers, and the veil is this silk filled with amethyst."
Oscar gave it a little thought, he wanted to state his comment.
"My angel! It’s the Holy Day Parade! I’m sure there’ll be not only hundreds of ladies who will dress up as an angel, I think you should…"
"No, brother!" Young Lady shook her head with conviction. "I want to see if there’s any woman who would fold their wings when I appear in this dress!"
"Oh, of course!" Oscar caressed his sister’s face. "Not only will they fold their wings, they will be thrown into hell! There’s only one angel in this world, and she’s my sister Sasha!"
Young Lady liked hearing the praise, so she leaned back and gave her brother a peck on the mouth.
"What… costume have you prepared for me?"
Sasha exclaimed and unveiled the white cloth on the couch.
"What is this?" Oscar’s jaw dropped. "Are you trying to make me into a black bear?"
Sasha unravelled the large piece of fur coat.
"Don’t make such a big fuss, Oscar! This is not a black bear, it’s a wolverine, one of the fiercest animals! This fur has no flaw on it, it’s very rare! Usually when wolverines are cornered, they would struggle to their death with the hunters!"
Oscar rubbed his head, "Please, my angel! Even if this is a wolverine, it looked just like a black bear to me! You’re an angel, I agree! But do you really want your brother wear… this?"
While talking, Oscar didn’t forget wearing the headpiece made from the wolverine head! How should I put it? Let’s just say his current look would’ve let hunters go crazy.
"It’s a good look!" Countess Antonia hollered from the door, she brought some steeped black tea for the both of them.
"It’s Holy Day today, thank the God of Light! It’s fine if you indulge a little!" Annie twisted the wolverine’s ear, taking him in like inspected her own child.
That’s right! It was Holy Day, or more specifically, the Holy Day of the University Town of Sparjoxin. At this time, it was still a while until the winter holiday for the university students. As a playful bunch, they wouldn’t let go of this chance to indulge in the fun.
Maybe this was why the Holy Day of Sparjoxin was famous. The city, famed for its education and knowledge, had a group of people with the most passionate dreams. They would wear all sorts of dresses and robes, and would dress up beyond your imagination would allow. Snow from the Ollier of far north wouldn’t stop their excitement, they would light massive bonfires reaching a dozen meters, and utilize dances and hard liquor to chase away the cold permeating from every single pores they have.
In the evening, on streets nearby the Tortoiseshell Cat Square, some earlycomer had already met up. They had free drinks from the nearby coffeehouses, talking about the most old-fashioned topics. Students seemed to all be that way, they didn’t know how high the sky was or how thick the earth goes, they think about questions with a logic that’s almost idiotic. Their speaking voice was loud, and when they laughed, it’s almost like they were ducks. These kids thought they were showing off their vast knowledge, but in reality, they were only trying to attract that lady by the entrance, or the barmaid working her hands off.
However, these boys who had yet to learn the art of subtlety would eventually learn that no matter how hardworking they are, knowledge would never be fully understood, the God of Light and the people in power would never create much opportunities for them to be outstanding.
The Tortoiseshell Cat Square had yet to open, and all the entrances into the Square had been closed, like usual. The students with a penchant to cause trouble wouldn’t give it a rest just because it’s Holy Day. They gathered in a crowd, behind the fence, and greeted the soldiers with swear words with increasing frequency. A truly ambitious scholar would be disgusted by these displays of immaturity. Truthfully, these kids who had a little more education can sometimes seem more gangsterish than their unenlightened breathens.
It was Holy Day, we shouldn’t talk about things that get us down. So let’s look at the aristocrats! Right that moment, Dulin University had gathered all the worthy people in Sparjoxin in its main lecture hall. Some of them were professors, some priests, and others were artists and high-ranking military officers. Of course, there would be no gathering without the nobles and the businessmen. Everyone who had been invited into the hallowed halls today had been a somebody, in terms of their socioeconomic status or their money.
Don’t be surprised! This is how patronizing the patrons of knowledge can be! They split the people into labels with standards wherein no one knew from whence it came about. The higher class people looked, the less people there are, and the more power they hold. In that situation, knowledge became the secondary priority, and in most cases, this phrase that symbolizes civilization became redundant and hypocritical.
Such is the state of education! Titan should be the first civilization in the world to provide education to its underage. This Empire had set up schools in each town as the basic administrative unit, and decreed everyone over the age of 13 to be eligible for the admission test for school. However, since some time ago, the Ministry of Education had slowly slapped on an innumerable amount of restrictions to admitting a new student, for example, the parents must be able to pay a certain amount of tax, and another example, the parents must be able to pay for a year of accommodation and food, some even request the parents to be able to take on a part of the school expenses while their children were studying. These restrictions could be set by the local town government, so the Titan Empire had as many restrictions as they had schools.
As a conclusion, the spirit of education in Titan Empire can be boiled down to this: "Show me the money, then we’ll allow education." This principle was easy enough, but it could create so many riches.
With that set in stone, the children eligible for school dropped so much, it’s barely enough. When new students dropped below a certain point, the Ministry of Education would have less income, but there’s a way to combat that. The local government could adjust the restrictions, as long as they loosened the restriction placed on prospective students, those who saved up hoping their children would get into a good school would gladly open their wallets.
Through that, the Ministry of Education would gather their riches again, but its greed would not be so easily satisfied, at this point the local government would request for more money again, over and over again, and over and over again, until you couldn’t pay for it anymore, and your children drop out of school! Then the cycle starts again, and again, and again…
We seemed to have stumbled on another topic that’s not festive.
***************
"Well, I’ll be! After so many years! The best thing that ever happened in the Empire had appeared before me!" Lobble Alfa Morisette greeted Oscar as he stepped through the living room entrance, the Elder Prince’s face was writhing in his attempt to not laugh.
Oscar was wearing a heavy skin of wolverine fur, and his head donned a realistic leather hat. He may have too much on him, as he looked clumsy while waddling through the living room.
"Thank you my friend! Today is Holy Day! I won’t get offended with comments on this, so… laugh if you want to! I worry about your facial nerves if you keep holding it in." Oscar hugged Lobb as he said it.
"Honestly though! Your devil costume weren’t much better! And those ripped strips on you… It only reminds me of the mental asylum patient garbs." Oscar criticized the Elder Prince in an attempt to strike his ego.
"My friends!" Lobble hugged Oscar by his shoulder, showing the male wolverine off to people in the living room.
"I’ll bet twenty golds!" The Elder Prince hollered in excitement. "Our beloved Prince O’Neil is dressed up as a lost… a lost badger!"
Oscar didn’t want to deter Lobble’s excitement, but he still mumbled, "You fiend! You’re going down!"
Immediately, one of the Elder Prince’s followers followed, "I’ll bet fifty gold pieces, Prince O’Neil must be dressing up as a bear, even though I don’t know what bear it is!"
Oscar peered at the voice with disgust, it was a man wearing a major general uniform, and he seemed high-ranking too.
"No, no, no!" Another voice echoed, "Your Highness, I have to say, the fur coat on you must not be a bear’s, that is too dirty. The fur must be from some sort of rare creature! I don’t know the name, but I’ll bet a hundred gold pieces!"
Lobb clapped his hands together eagerly. "Great! Count Hillock offered one hundred gold pieces…"
Oscar tugged at the Elder Prince’s strips of cloth, "That’s enough Lobb!"
He then stepped out to announce the answer to his guests.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I’m sorry to announce, dealer wins! I’m dressing up as a wolverine! The three gentlemen who bet please pay up, but remember, I only receive cash!"
The nobles started making noise as Oscar dragged the Elder Prince out into the balcony. The young major general was still complaining about something, but Oscar ignored it.
The lecture hall of Dulin University had every window facing the Tortoiseshell Cat Square on the South, and the Princes were standing on the only balcony there. Two braziers erected on two sides on the balcony, it is flame struggling against the strong wind.
From the balcony, they would be able to see the aerial view of the Tortoiseshell Cat Square just by stretching their necks a little bit. The square was already open, and hundreds of weirdly-dressed people followed an orchestra around to play demons running loose.
With the tortoiseshell cat statue in the middle, the crowd formed into multiple circles in different corners of the square. Each circle was centered with a bonfire and an orchestra. With their heavy cotton coat and weird masks, they danced and danced until they got cut off by crowds of children, but they would soon rejoin their own formation. Even on Holy Day, these adults didn’t plan to hide their inner greed, they were waiting for the next song, their next dance partners.
On the east of the square, there were temporary stoves and grilling stands, it is also full of people here. The Northerners uncorked their strongest gins, and men raced to chug the alcohol like their lives were depending on it. This sort of drinking can only be witnessed during Holy Day, men during this time could not be reasoned, like they’re all in a mass hysteria episode.
The oil pan sizzled as fried sausages sputtered, people were waiting frenziedly as the sausages turned to a scrumptious red.
Compared to the self-service carts in the Dulin University lecture halls, these food were not free. In the heat of the excitement, people would usually be more willing to empty their pockets.
There weren’t many choices for the ladies, to them, holidays were usually the day they would make mistakes. Partying in a mask had one benefit, which was the loss of an identity to the masses, this on some level increased the fun the women would be having. For example, when a one-eyed pirate swooped past them, ladies would usually be entranced by the neptunian wildness the man exuded.
If the ‘pirate’ was willing, the lady would be more than happy to take off their dresses in a dark alley near the square. But of course, better to not expect a pulchritudinous face or body.
"Who… who’s that lad dressing up as a general?" Oscar stared at the square aimlessly, his hands on the stone railing, his legs crossed, and a large Cuban cigar fitted between his mouth.
"Which one?" Lobble’s eyes were wild, another cigar in his mouth, but it was apparent his cigar was laced with opium or some hallucinogen of sorts.
"The one who lost fifty gold pieces to me!"
"That is Tove Van Sukhoi, everyone here calls him the Walking Stick Torry." The Elder Prince exhaled with a waft of smoke.
"Hey, my dear brother-in-law, don’t you want to try?"
Oscar looked at the cigar in Lobb’s hand, "I’m sorry, I quit a while ago!"
"Don’t make a fool of yourself! What is that you have in your mouth? Opium?"
Oscar choked and coughed! "Your Elder Highness, you have to watch your mouth! I mean I quit the kind that was laced with stuff!"
Lobble shrugged, "I’m sorry to hear that. Losing opium, you must have lost all the fun in life."
Oscar rolled his eyes. He knew the Elder Prince was probably stoned.
"I don’t like that guy, Walking Stick Torry, is it?" Oscar’s vengeful persona came out again.
"That’s right! I hate him too! But my brother likes him, they kept hanging out together."
"But why is he called the Walking Stick Torry?" Oscar was a little confused.
"Hmm… That’s to do with his willy." Lobble stated certainly.
"Please, can you be serious?" Oscar can’t stand the crudeness.
"I’m telling the truth! I heard that lad’s willy is as long as a walking stick, so…"
"Alright, alright! We’re changing a topic!" Oscar turned away, annoyed. He regretted talking about this Sukhoi dude.
"Let’s talk about… about… why you didn’t go home today?"
Lobble spat in frustration.
"What for? Haven’t you seen those people in Dulin?"
"But your siblings and parents were there!"
Lobble spat again! His psyche did seem a little off.
"Two of my sisters are marrying to other countries, they were stupid, so no arguments there! Alanis belongs to you, she likes to call me big bad wolf, because I kept borrowing money from her, dammit! It is not like she doesn’t know my money was all eaten up, you know she kept reprimanding me? And lastly, my brother. Nothing to say there, we were completely different people, it is even difficult to eat with him! So I had this suspicion, either I’m not my father’s biological son, or he’s a bastard!"
"My father…" Lobble swallowed his saliva. "I don’t know if he loves me more or if he loves his mistresses more. We seldom spend time together. His attention was always on either one of his mistresses, or on one of those nobles who caused trouble. And mother… forget about it! Every time after she saw me she’d need to see a doctor, says she couldn’t stand it."
"Ola…" Oscar regretted bringing that topic up. He could only express his sympathy.
"Oh, it’s nothing!" Lobble laughed all of a sudden, "C’est la vie*! Such is the life of a Prince! Ignored by fathers, complained by mothers, teased by brothers, mocked by sisters. But don’t you worry, I’m fine! If there comes a day when I’m no longer fine, I’ll tell you!"
Oscar felt he should be sympathizing the Prince, but as a friend, he had something else to say first.
"No! If you can’t stand it anymore, don’t tell me. Just ignite the Hamilton Palace! I’ll be on my way to fetch you as soon as I see the flame! Don’t forget, we still have a huge hotel, you’re not homeless!"
Lobble hooked his arm on Oscar’s neck and kissed his forehead.
"I will! This is the best goddamn proposal I’ve heard all week!"
Oscar didn’t hear what the Elder Prince said clearly, he was pointing at the square wildly.
"Look! Look at it! The priests are here! The priests have appeared!"
That is right, the clergies have appeared, and the Holy Day would soon reach its climax. The pastor with his wide robe marched right in front, and the clergies inched behind him, carrying a huge sand hourglass. The crowd separated themselves, and devout believers would immediately kneel on the ground as the procession walked by. They were humming the God’s hymn, they were kissing the ground God had blessed his presence upon.
The pastors finally stopped their procession, right in the middle of the Tortoiseshell Cat Square. The hourglass was placed onto a temporary altar, and the pastor followed the millennium-old tradition of flipping open the inscription that recorded the astronomy. As the time neared, the pastor started waving his hands about, recreating the movements the God of Light had taught to the people.
The hourglass turned, started its accurate time check. The crowd went silent, the students calmed, the women held their breaths, and the men let the wine bottle hit the floor spilling alcohol all around, and devout believers started talking to themselves.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"
"Long live the God of Light!"
The sky brightened suddenly as the crowd’s voices combined, flipping a new page on the new dawn. Fireworks rose from the countryside, lighting up the darkness! Colored lights weaved into different patterns, everywhere from north to south and east to west of the city was covered with the blossoming of colorful lights.
Everyone abandoned their hesitations, it is like the celebrations had just begun! Masks were shredded into pieces, dresses were thrown into the fire, the church only allowed this one night of debauchery. That day, on the day of Holy Day, the God of Light was only an immature child!
Oscar and Lobble already had a crowd around them, everyone surged onto the balcony. By Oscar’s side was the angelic Sasha, and the Elder Prince had a pretty man by his.
Oscar kissed his sister’s lips, he was satisfied with all these.
Raising his wine glass, Oscar clinked with Lobble, and felt hundreds of feeling rushing in.
"For the sake of Year 791, cheers!"
"Yes! For the damned Year 791!" Lobble swayed uncontrollably.
So… so be it then, cheers for Year 791! As we knew, this year… was full of events.
Translator’s Notes:
1. C’est la vie, French phrase meaning "such is life", or in a certain millennial speak, "shit happens". I chose this for its appropriateness and for its nod at the French-ness of the story.
It is finally the big day! Holy Day of God! Year 791, 31st Day of 12th Month!
More than a thousand years ago, when the God of Light Sapriuses was born in the holy land Betye, but the Church’s Calendar didn’t start from that year, because the Church of Light was under the oppression of the Roman Empire. In the eyes of the mythical Roman Warriors, the followers of God of Light were the same as escaped slaves.
Around the time of the start of Church’s Calendar, the Ancient Roman Empire collapse shook the whole political situation of the Westland, countries and nations mushroomed into existence, and the largest of them, the Empire of Titan, accepted the doctrines of the Church of Light. After this, the Church of Light slowly spread across the land as the Divine Empire of Titan started preaching it. At the end of the 1st Century, the Church had entered the Holy City of Rome and started to influence the whole Westland’s culture, social life, thought patterns and more through control and disruption.
As a belief system, by the end of the 7th Century, most people viewed the prayers as just another routine they had to do. Humans like to vent to their deities due to the inescapable situations they encountered, it seemed like the only way was to pray for a miracle.
This had nothing to do with the ruling class, the first Emperor believed the God of Light had granted them the right to rule. As time passes, these ruling class started to seek profit in the name of God of Light. This method was far more rewarding than contributing to the Church. The fortunes the Church amassed had every ruler green with envy. They started planning expansions and raise taxes in the name of God. With time, the public started to equate the Church with greed. In areas where this "Church Plague" was especially serious, the uprising as a result of dissatisfaction toward the ruling class usually include a cry to eliminate the "Church Plague".
As for the Church, over a thousand years of development had allowed this world’s largest for-profit organization to cultivate a perfect control system. From the beginning, the missionaries had evolved into a whole team of loyal followers. The team include the priests at the bottom, clergies who research the doctrine, the pastors who head a church, the bishops who head a parish, and finally the inquisitors in the Holy City of Rome. That’s the place in which the Pope would give his orders, as well as the tribunal with which the Church pressure the world.
Before the Holy Day, be it the Church, the Nobles, or the commoners, everyone would set their differences aside. If going to the churches to pray was just a routine, the preparation for the Holy Day wasn’t! This is the most important, most dazzling, most celebratory day in the whole of Westland.
On this day, everyone would wake up early, fathers would clear the snow in front of their own houses with the kids, while mothers and the older generation would start cooking up a feast.
Due to the difference between nations and races, the prepared feasts differ between the east and west in terms of food variety, and between the north and south in terms of the manner the food is served. In Titan, the Southern mountainous people would make delicate cuisine, like the Farans and the Italians, and their main dish would be turkeys. At night, the farmers of the Western Hetto Plains would grill meats by a bonfire; And on the East is Andrew, simple, passionate, unrestrained are some of the Narcissus People’s specialty. The Army and the commoners would come together to bake massive cakes and share it with people on an empty clearing!
On the North, O’Neil Andrew Morisette inhaled a rush of cool fresh air. This was his first Holy Day after turning adult, which is also his first after being released! He had every reason to be excited!
Prince O’Neil followed the local custom, waking up at dawn like a Northerner. His servants helped him change into his Lieutenant General outfit, complete with the diamond-shaped military cap. Oscar chose a decorative sword from his weapon rack to bring along, and sprinted to get the presents for his neighbors!
Narcissus Knights were waiting at his door, and they followed the Prince around.
Not needing a report-ahead, the servants of a manor opened their gate to Oscar, who went straight to the meeting hall. At the walkway, the host already had someone to receive them. Oscar was treated warmly while he handed over his gift, and received a return gift from the host.
In the next household, the family knew how important the visiting guest was. Everyone, including the old, the young, and the ladies all came out. Oscar met every one of them, and gifted them a huge present.
The household invited Oscar to have breakfast with them, but Oscar refused gently, saying he’s got an appointment with His Elder Highness. Oscar gave the host a slight shock when he refused, but they recovered almost immediately. After all, no one would dare to snatch a guest from the top-tier Imperial Household.
Oscar visited almost every household on his street, his knights had to arrange a carriage to carry all the return gifts Oscar received. Oscar also got on the carriage in the end, he had to go to His Elder Highness Lobble’s residence.
Lobble Alfa Morisette stayed in the Imperial Palace of Sparjoxin, also called the Kimberton Palace, its history could be traced back to the end of 4th Century.
Prince Lobble didn’t seem to like staying in the palace though, in the four years he stayed here as a student, it was told he kept wanting to demolish this palace built with marble.
"Why?" Oscar didn’t understand. "This is the most artistic-looking palace I’ve seen, look at the murals, the design! To be honest, none of these could be copied by the designers of current time. This is the true Imperial spirit!"
Lobble shot Oscar a glare, "It’s cold in winter, hot in summer! Wind blows everywhere during fall, and in spring, everything’s wet! And the murals you talked about? I had to hire people every year to lacquer them with pine tar to keep them intact! Do you know how terrible it smells? Merely smelling it for long durations would give you impotence!"
"Hahaha!" Oscar laughed wildly.
"Stop that!" Lobble waved his hand. With only a few days of meeting the young Prince, he had already considered this kid ten years younger than him his friend.
"Where’s my present?" The Elder Prince extended his hand toward Oscar.
"Let me have mine first!" Oscar was like a rascal. As a guest, his behavior was rude!
"Okay, okay! I’ve judged you wrong, you’re just like how they described you!" Lobble retrieved a big box from under the table as he spoke.
Oscar tossed his cigar aside. Happily, he took the gift, it was Holy Day, it would be wrong not to binge a little.
"What’s this?" Oscar’s eyes bulged.
"Didn’t you see it?"
"I have!" Oscar waved the rolled-up paper in his hand.
"This was the four-season recipe book I took so much time to perfect!" Lobble sank into his seat proudly. "I used to only read it whenever there’s no one around. Now that it’s done, I can finally gift it to my friends formally!"
Oscar didn’t say a word, he handed over a large envelope to the Elder Prince.
"Let me have a look!" Lobble picked away the wax sealing the envelope with the table knife. He was stunned as he identified the document.
"You’ve seen it, haven’t you?" Oscar picked up his cigar. "The one in front is the deed for the land, followed by the transferral agreement of the future Lobb Oscar Hotel."
"Oh… Oh!" The Elder Prince read the document excitedly, not saying a word for a moment.
"Alright, my friend, I believe your father now have the perfect reason to slaughter you!" Oscar laughed out of schadenfreude. "Although… it may be the both of us!"
Lobble didn’t hear Oscar, he was squirming in his seat.
"This… this is my dream! The God of Light will take pity on us!" Lobble’s eyes twinkled like they never had.
"No matter what father wants to do, let him, we… when do we start building this?"
Oscar shook his head, "This is not something we can rush, no one would start a project in the winter. We’ll need to wait at least until spring for any renovation work to be done."
"Yes! Oh yes! I almost forgot!" Lobble nodded like a chick pecking at rice. "I can utilize this time to design it the way I want it built. Spring, the season of resurrection, haha! This is great!"
Oscar was a little excited too. He had followed his instinct on this and had no planning at all.
The breakfast between the Princes was still continuing, they talked about the scary Second Prince, talked about Princess Alanis who was about to visit Faran, they even made a promise to attend the annual masquerade at the Tortoiseshell Cat Square together, as well as going back to Dulin together to visit the Emperor and the Empress.
"I think they will be pretty upset though!" Oscar was a little worried. "Our little secret will definitely be found out by then. Will they…"
"Of course they will!" Lobble interrupted confidently. "I even considered the worst case scenario!"
"Worst case scenario?"
"That’s right! Worst case!" It was Lobble’s first instance of showing a ferocious expression in front of his friend. "My father is not hard to get through, he had done worse when he’s young. The main concern is my mother. Do you believe it? She would have burnt the hotel down, and have me sent to the dungeon."
Lobble didn’t leave out any details!
"My friend, believe me, she had done those things before."
Oscar was surprised. "Maybe… Maybe I’ve invited trouble to you!"
"No!" Lobble waved it off, saying, "If it wasn’t for you, I would never have the courage to do such a thing. No matter what, I want to be able to justify to myself, I want to give my dreams a chance. Maybe I’ll be an emperor in the future, but what I want to be proud of the most, is to have my own hotel and call it a Divine Site!"
O’Neil Andrew Morisette clasped his hands with Lobble Alfa Morisette. Maybe to some businessmen, building a hotel together is not something uncommon, but when it’s two Princes, there’s enough evidence to believe these two would definitely be punished. In the imperial traditions, the passing of power exceeds everything else. When an heir apparent wanted to run from their responsibilities, their choices would usually mean determine if they live or die.
Maybe Oscar didn’t mean it, maybe Lobble was getting too excited with his dream, but it was understandable, if a prince doesn’t do what he’s needed to, his life would become as thin as his dream.
***************
After saying goodbyes to the Elder Prince, Oscar returned to the Imperial Military Academy, getting ready to visit the Second Prince. He had heard a lot about the Second Prince the past few days. This kid liked assembling a large-scale battle plan, he even recruited a team from various departments in the academy. With regard to this, the dean of the academy had commented, "According to His Imperial Highness’ actions, the empire would lose everything within five months! But of course, if we only allowed him the power of one group, the time frame of the empire’s losses would be much, much closer."
Oscar sighed a breath of relief when he was told the Second Prince had left for Dulin before dawn to spend the Holy Day with his parents.
"So… have we prepared the presents for the Imperial Household and all the other important people?"
Sasha nodded, but she looked like she was a little unamused.
"My brother, isn’t it a bit late to think about it now? You’re lucky Aeolia had already prepared everything."
Oscar didn’t say anything but nodded. He had a slight regret toward Aeolia, but only a little.
Countess Aeolia had a higher intellect than most of her peers, this was easy to see. Even though her face had been swollen as a result of being slapped by the Prince, she still dressed up as usual. Oscar didn’t want to know what she had done in the new manor, but the youth had admitted, the Duke was much more decisive when it comes to detailed things like that.
For example, the Countess had discussed deeply with Major General Murat regarding the defense of the manor. According to her, the new manor should be split into three areas. The first area would be the Prince’s bedroom, study, living room, and kitchen. The first three were important for daily living and work, the importance of these areas need not much discussion. As for the kitchen, the reason of including it in the high-risk zone was because Prince O’Neil’s eating habits have shown a higher likelihood of him being poisoned than other noblemen by 97%!
The percentage was definitely calculated meticulously by Countess Aeolia, however… it’s also Oscar’s most despised.
The second area includes the hallway, the resting room of big hall, all the washrooms, dining hall, the large living room, the eleven smaller living rooms, Young Lady’s suite, Countess Antonia’s suite, and Miss Fenrar Donaute’s suite. All these rooms were also ranked by the possibility in which danger will appear.
The third area include the whole outer area of the manor. The garden, bell room, greenhouse and all other places like it had to be guarded with Narcissus Knights at every moment, as well as the employment of guard dogs and alarm bells.
To deal with the hidden spies among the servants, Aeolia also had her ways, those would be arranged to an inconsequential position. Of course, Aeolia wouldn’t doubt there’s still loopholes in the security, but this would mean the Prince was still in safe hands, as he has yet to trigger the confidentiality limitations. The Secret Services and His Majesty would still be at ease about it.
Oscar didn’t want to care about all this, he’s terrified to see Aeolia at the moment, he even reduced dining with the others, but all these seemed naught. Aeolia still acts normally in front of other people, although observant people have noticed her mental shift.
Speaking of his actions a few nights ago, Oscar didn’t know what to think, but there’s one thing he’s clear about, and that it was called attempted rape. Maybe Aya did want it to happen, but Oscar called her out on it.
"That’s why we’ll let Aeolia do whatever she needs to do!" Oscar appeared behind Young Lady, embraced her, and buried his face between her Narcissus-perfume-infused hair.
Sasha evaded with a squeal. Her brother had picked up some really weird habits, like breathing into her neck from behind, that usually makes her super ticklish.
She wasn’t ready yet for physical intimacy.
"Stop it! Please!" Young Lady begged. She wanted to push her brother’s head away, but Oscar tightened his hold on her waist.
"I’m going to be angry if you keep this up!" Sasha steeled her face.
"Ola! Let see here, what have you prepared for tonight’s party?" Oscar stopped before it gets too much.
Sasha still couldn’t get out of her brother’s hold, but she thanked goodness as he stopped breathing into her neck.
"Look! I prepared an angel outfit, the wings were woven together with swan feathers, and the veil is this silk filled with amethyst."
Oscar gave it a little thought, he wanted to state his comment.
"My angel! It’s the Holy Day Parade! I’m sure there’ll be not only hundreds of ladies who will dress up as an angel, I think you should…"
"No, brother!" Young Lady shook her head with conviction. "I want to see if there’s any woman who would fold their wings when I appear in this dress!"
"Oh, of course!" Oscar caressed his sister’s face. "Not only will they fold their wings, they will be thrown into hell! There’s only one angel in this world, and she’s my sister Sasha!"
Young Lady liked hearing the praise, so she leaned back and gave her brother a peck on the mouth.
"What… costume have you prepared for me?"
Sasha exclaimed and unveiled the white cloth on the couch.
"What is this?" Oscar’s jaw dropped. "Are you trying to make me into a black bear?"
Sasha unravelled the large piece of fur coat.
"Don’t make such a big fuss, Oscar! This is not a black bear, it’s a wolverine, one of the fiercest animals! This fur has no flaw on it, it’s very rare! Usually when wolverines are cornered, they would struggle to their death with the hunters!"
Oscar rubbed his head, "Please, my angel! Even if this is a wolverine, it looked just like a black bear to me! You’re an angel, I agree! But do you really want your brother wear… this?"
While talking, Oscar didn’t forget wearing the headpiece made from the wolverine head! How should I put it? Let’s just say his current look would’ve let hunters go crazy.
"It’s a good look!" Countess Antonia hollered from the door, she brought some steeped black tea for the both of them.
"It’s Holy Day today, thank the God of Light! It’s fine if you indulge a little!" Annie twisted the wolverine’s ear, taking him in like inspected her own child.
That’s right! It was Holy Day, or more specifically, the Holy Day of the University Town of Sparjoxin. At this time, it was still a while until the winter holiday for the university students. As a playful bunch, they wouldn’t let go of this chance to indulge in the fun.
Maybe this was why the Holy Day of Sparjoxin was famous. The city, famed for its education and knowledge, had a group of people with the most passionate dreams. They would wear all sorts of dresses and robes, and would dress up beyond your imagination would allow. Snow from the Ollier of far north wouldn’t stop their excitement, they would light massive bonfires reaching a dozen meters, and utilize dances and hard liquor to chase away the cold permeating from every single pores they have.
In the evening, on streets nearby the Tortoiseshell Cat Square, some earlycomer had already met up. They had free drinks from the nearby coffeehouses, talking about the most old-fashioned topics. Students seemed to all be that way, they didn’t know how high the sky was or how thick the earth goes, they think about questions with a logic that’s almost idiotic. Their speaking voice was loud, and when they laughed, it’s almost like they were ducks. These kids thought they were showing off their vast knowledge, but in reality, they were only trying to attract that lady by the entrance, or the barmaid working her hands off.
However, these boys who had yet to learn the art of subtlety would eventually learn that no matter how hardworking they are, knowledge would never be fully understood, the God of Light and the people in power would never create much opportunities for them to be outstanding.
The Tortoiseshell Cat Square had yet to open, and all the entrances into the Square had been closed, like usual. The students with a penchant to cause trouble wouldn’t give it a rest just because it’s Holy Day. They gathered in a crowd, behind the fence, and greeted the soldiers with swear words with increasing frequency. A truly ambitious scholar would be disgusted by these displays of immaturity. Truthfully, these kids who had a little more education can sometimes seem more gangsterish than their unenlightened breathens.
It was Holy Day, we shouldn’t talk about things that get us down. So let’s look at the aristocrats! Right that moment, Dulin University had gathered all the worthy people in Sparjoxin in its main lecture hall. Some of them were professors, some priests, and others were artists and high-ranking military officers. Of course, there would be no gathering without the nobles and the businessmen. Everyone who had been invited into the hallowed halls today had been a somebody, in terms of their socioeconomic status or their money.
Don’t be surprised! This is how patronizing the patrons of knowledge can be! They split the people into labels with standards wherein no one knew from whence it came about. The higher class people looked, the less people there are, and the more power they hold. In that situation, knowledge became the secondary priority, and in most cases, this phrase that symbolizes civilization became redundant and hypocritical.
Such is the state of education! Titan should be the first civilization in the world to provide education to its underage. This Empire had set up schools in each town as the basic administrative unit, and decreed everyone over the age of 13 to be eligible for the admission test for school. However, since some time ago, the Ministry of Education had slowly slapped on an innumerable amount of restrictions to admitting a new student, for example, the parents must be able to pay a certain amount of tax, and another example, the parents must be able to pay for a year of accommodation and food, some even request the parents to be able to take on a part of the school expenses while their children were studying. These restrictions could be set by the local town government, so the Titan Empire had as many restrictions as they had schools.
As a conclusion, the spirit of education in Titan Empire can be boiled down to this: "Show me the money, then we’ll allow education." This principle was easy enough, but it could create so many riches.
With that set in stone, the children eligible for school dropped so much, it’s barely enough. When new students dropped below a certain point, the Ministry of Education would have less income, but there’s a way to combat that. The local government could adjust the restrictions, as long as they loosened the restriction placed on prospective students, those who saved up hoping their children would get into a good school would gladly open their wallets.
Through that, the Ministry of Education would gather their riches again, but its greed would not be so easily satisfied, at this point the local government would request for more money again, over and over again, and over and over again, until you couldn’t pay for it anymore, and your children drop out of school! Then the cycle starts again, and again, and again…
We seemed to have stumbled on another topic that’s not festive.
***************
"Well, I’ll be! After so many years! The best thing that ever happened in the Empire had appeared before me!" Lobble Alfa Morisette greeted Oscar as he stepped through the living room entrance, the Elder Prince’s face was writhing in his attempt to not laugh.
Oscar was wearing a heavy skin of wolverine fur, and his head donned a realistic leather hat. He may have too much on him, as he looked clumsy while waddling through the living room.
"Thank you my friend! Today is Holy Day! I won’t get offended with comments on this, so… laugh if you want to! I worry about your facial nerves if you keep holding it in." Oscar hugged Lobb as he said it.
"Honestly though! Your devil costume weren’t much better! And those ripped strips on you… It only reminds me of the mental asylum patient garbs." Oscar criticized the Elder Prince in an attempt to strike his ego.
"My friends!" Lobble hugged Oscar by his shoulder, showing the male wolverine off to people in the living room.
"I’ll bet twenty golds!" The Elder Prince hollered in excitement. "Our beloved Prince O’Neil is dressed up as a lost… a lost badger!"
Oscar didn’t want to deter Lobble’s excitement, but he still mumbled, "You fiend! You’re going down!"
Immediately, one of the Elder Prince’s followers followed, "I’ll bet fifty gold pieces, Prince O’Neil must be dressing up as a bear, even though I don’t know what bear it is!"
Oscar peered at the voice with disgust, it was a man wearing a major general uniform, and he seemed high-ranking too.
"No, no, no!" Another voice echoed, "Your Highness, I have to say, the fur coat on you must not be a bear’s, that is too dirty. The fur must be from some sort of rare creature! I don’t know the name, but I’ll bet a hundred gold pieces!"
Lobb clapped his hands together eagerly. "Great! Count Hillock offered one hundred gold pieces…"
Oscar tugged at the Elder Prince’s strips of cloth, "That’s enough Lobb!"
He then stepped out to announce the answer to his guests.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I’m sorry to announce, dealer wins! I’m dressing up as a wolverine! The three gentlemen who bet please pay up, but remember, I only receive cash!"
The nobles started making noise as Oscar dragged the Elder Prince out into the balcony. The young major general was still complaining about something, but Oscar ignored it.
The lecture hall of Dulin University had every window facing the Tortoiseshell Cat Square on the South, and the Princes were standing on the only balcony there. Two braziers erected on two sides on the balcony, it is flame struggling against the strong wind.
From the balcony, they would be able to see the aerial view of the Tortoiseshell Cat Square just by stretching their necks a little bit. The square was already open, and hundreds of weirdly-dressed people followed an orchestra around to play demons running loose.
With the tortoiseshell cat statue in the middle, the crowd formed into multiple circles in different corners of the square. Each circle was centered with a bonfire and an orchestra. With their heavy cotton coat and weird masks, they danced and danced until they got cut off by crowds of children, but they would soon rejoin their own formation. Even on Holy Day, these adults didn’t plan to hide their inner greed, they were waiting for the next song, their next dance partners.
On the east of the square, there were temporary stoves and grilling stands, it is also full of people here. The Northerners uncorked their strongest gins, and men raced to chug the alcohol like their lives were depending on it. This sort of drinking can only be witnessed during Holy Day, men during this time could not be reasoned, like they’re all in a mass hysteria episode.
The oil pan sizzled as fried sausages sputtered, people were waiting frenziedly as the sausages turned to a scrumptious red.
Compared to the self-service carts in the Dulin University lecture halls, these food were not free. In the heat of the excitement, people would usually be more willing to empty their pockets.
There weren’t many choices for the ladies, to them, holidays were usually the day they would make mistakes. Partying in a mask had one benefit, which was the loss of an identity to the masses, this on some level increased the fun the women would be having. For example, when a one-eyed pirate swooped past them, ladies would usually be entranced by the neptunian wildness the man exuded.
If the ‘pirate’ was willing, the lady would be more than happy to take off their dresses in a dark alley near the square. But of course, better to not expect a pulchritudinous face or body.
"Who… who’s that lad dressing up as a general?" Oscar stared at the square aimlessly, his hands on the stone railing, his legs crossed, and a large Cuban cigar fitted between his mouth.
"Which one?" Lobble’s eyes were wild, another cigar in his mouth, but it was apparent his cigar was laced with opium or some hallucinogen of sorts.
"The one who lost fifty gold pieces to me!"
"That is Tove Van Sukhoi, everyone here calls him the Walking Stick Torry." The Elder Prince exhaled with a waft of smoke.
"Hey, my dear brother-in-law, don’t you want to try?"
Oscar looked at the cigar in Lobb’s hand, "I’m sorry, I quit a while ago!"
"Don’t make a fool of yourself! What is that you have in your mouth? Opium?"
Oscar choked and coughed! "Your Elder Highness, you have to watch your mouth! I mean I quit the kind that was laced with stuff!"
Lobble shrugged, "I’m sorry to hear that. Losing opium, you must have lost all the fun in life."
Oscar rolled his eyes. He knew the Elder Prince was probably stoned.
"I don’t like that guy, Walking Stick Torry, is it?" Oscar’s vengeful persona came out again.
"That’s right! I hate him too! But my brother likes him, they kept hanging out together."
"But why is he called the Walking Stick Torry?" Oscar was a little confused.
"Hmm… That’s to do with his willy." Lobble stated certainly.
"Please, can you be serious?" Oscar can’t stand the crudeness.
"I’m telling the truth! I heard that lad’s willy is as long as a walking stick, so…"
"Alright, alright! We’re changing a topic!" Oscar turned away, annoyed. He regretted talking about this Sukhoi dude.
"Let’s talk about… about… why you didn’t go home today?"
Lobble spat in frustration.
"What for? Haven’t you seen those people in Dulin?"
"But your siblings and parents were there!"
Lobble spat again! His psyche did seem a little off.
"Two of my sisters are marrying to other countries, they were stupid, so no arguments there! Alanis belongs to you, she likes to call me big bad wolf, because I kept borrowing money from her, dammit! It is not like she doesn’t know my money was all eaten up, you know she kept reprimanding me? And lastly, my brother. Nothing to say there, we were completely different people, it is even difficult to eat with him! So I had this suspicion, either I’m not my father’s biological son, or he’s a bastard!"
"My father…" Lobble swallowed his saliva. "I don’t know if he loves me more or if he loves his mistresses more. We seldom spend time together. His attention was always on either one of his mistresses, or on one of those nobles who caused trouble. And mother… forget about it! Every time after she saw me she’d need to see a doctor, says she couldn’t stand it."
"Ola…" Oscar regretted bringing that topic up. He could only express his sympathy.
"Oh, it’s nothing!" Lobble laughed all of a sudden, "C’est la vie*! Such is the life of a Prince! Ignored by fathers, complained by mothers, teased by brothers, mocked by sisters. But don’t you worry, I’m fine! If there comes a day when I’m no longer fine, I’ll tell you!"
Oscar felt he should be sympathizing the Prince, but as a friend, he had something else to say first.
"No! If you can’t stand it anymore, don’t tell me. Just ignite the Hamilton Palace! I’ll be on my way to fetch you as soon as I see the flame! Don’t forget, we still have a huge hotel, you’re not homeless!"
Lobble hooked his arm on Oscar’s neck and kissed his forehead.
"I will! This is the best goddamn proposal I’ve heard all week!"
Oscar didn’t hear what the Elder Prince said clearly, he was pointing at the square wildly.
"Look! Look at it! The priests are here! The priests have appeared!"
That is right, the clergies have appeared, and the Holy Day would soon reach its climax. The pastor with his wide robe marched right in front, and the clergies inched behind him, carrying a huge sand hourglass. The crowd separated themselves, and devout believers would immediately kneel on the ground as the procession walked by. They were humming the God’s hymn, they were kissing the ground God had blessed his presence upon.
The pastors finally stopped their procession, right in the middle of the Tortoiseshell Cat Square. The hourglass was placed onto a temporary altar, and the pastor followed the millennium-old tradition of flipping open the inscription that recorded the astronomy. As the time neared, the pastor started waving his hands about, recreating the movements the God of Light had taught to the people.
The hourglass turned, started its accurate time check. The crowd went silent, the students calmed, the women held their breaths, and the men let the wine bottle hit the floor spilling alcohol all around, and devout believers started talking to themselves.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"
"Long live the God of Light!"
The sky brightened suddenly as the crowd’s voices combined, flipping a new page on the new dawn. Fireworks rose from the countryside, lighting up the darkness! Colored lights weaved into different patterns, everywhere from north to south and east to west of the city was covered with the blossoming of colorful lights.
Everyone abandoned their hesitations, it is like the celebrations had just begun! Masks were shredded into pieces, dresses were thrown into the fire, the church only allowed this one night of debauchery. That day, on the day of Holy Day, the God of Light was only an immature child!
Oscar and Lobble already had a crowd around them, everyone surged onto the balcony. By Oscar’s side was the angelic Sasha, and the Elder Prince had a pretty man by his.
Oscar kissed his sister’s lips, he was satisfied with all these.
Raising his wine glass, Oscar clinked with Lobble, and felt hundreds of feeling rushing in.
"For the sake of Year 791, cheers!"
"Yes! For the damned Year 791!" Lobble swayed uncontrollably.
So… so be it then, cheers for Year 791! As we knew, this year… was full of events.
Translator’s Notes:
1. C’est la vie, French phrase meaning "such is life", or in a certain millennial speak, "shit happens". I chose this for its appropriateness and for its nod at the French-ness of the story.
