“Hello, my esteemed Buck Buck.”
The envoy of the Mu Empire bows his head politely and greets Buck Buck.
"The Emperor of the Empire is deeply moved by your generosity. Your mercy has reached across the seas to Babylonia, Egypt—and even the Empire of Mu."
Buck Buck smiled bitterly inside.
Reduction of tribute, generous treatment towards Cyrenaica.
There is no way that the changes in Atlantis will go unnoticed.
The spies of the Mu Empire seem to be diligent.
“This is a gift from the Mu Empire to celebrate Buck Buck’s birthday.”
Buck Buck glances at the shiny boxes behind the delegation.
My birthday?
I don't know about birthdays, but you little bastard, you received tribute from a foreign country for your birthday present?
"I'll gratefully accept this gift. But from now on—you won't have to cross the ocean for my birthday present."
The envoys of the Mu Empire face each other.
“Rather than that, how about we talk about something more constructive?”
####
The banquet welcoming the delegation from the Mu Empire has been going on for over two hours.
Because, according to Atlantean etiquette, the envoys introduce themselves one by one.
“I am the son of Sabrago, grandson of Sabragora, and son of Madeia, priestess of the glorious goddess Zaratu, who presides over the territory between Taklatzikan and Enfianatu, and the two pillars of Hercules…”
Buckbuck glances up and looks for Lyra.
The captain of the guard stands guard within 50 paces of Buck Buck, his arms folded as if he is used to it.
“I feel like a rat is going to come out of my body.”
“Sir, just bear with it for a bit.”
“If you keep calling me ‘uncle’ here, you’ll get in trouble….”
“Anyway, no one is listening to me right now.”
Buck Buck looks around.
The banquet, especially the banquets of the Empire of Mu and Atlantis, were customarily long.
While the court slaves were carrying new wine, the boring self-introductions of Sabrago ...
“Yes. Welcome to Atlantis.”
“Eternal Buck Buck, I hope my daughter will study in the ivory tower… Although she lacks intelligence and looks, she has a very good personality.”
“Let’s look into it positively… Talk to the archivist tomorrow.”
It's like this.
Because it's rare to get a chance to meet Buck Buck directly.
Sabrago or something, he leaves the audience seat as if satisfied.
“I’m going crazy….”
Lyra chuckles and points her finger at Buckbuck.
"huh?"
“Sir, there are only 10 people left.”
While Buck-Buck sighs, the next audience stands before the throne.
“It is an honor to meet you, Everlasting Buck Buck. May the light of Mithra, the One who has given you, always protect Buck Buck.”
“She is a saint. She is very kind.”
The archivist approaches Buck Buck stealthily and whispers in his ear.
“Saint?”
"Among the priestesses who serve Mithra, the god of the Mu Empire, she is a chosen woman. As you know, Mithra's priestesses, like us, handle ether, but... the saintess is said to be the most special of them all..."
One of the envoys of the Mu Empire coughed.
The archivist bows his head politely and steps back again.
A simple, white robe, with a simple cross-shaped knot draped neatly underneath the robe.
It is a symbol of the priests who believe in the almighty god Mithra.
"I heard that Buck Buck has been providing relief to the poor recently. I'm sure Mitra will be very pleased."
“….”
Buck Buck forgot a lot.
Memories of being beaten for a piece of bread, or crying in the rain because I missed my mom.
Because such memories sometimes become nightmares and eat away at my reality.
So, Buck Buck erased that memory from his mind.
But, there is something that Buck Buck has not forgotten.
There is something I can't forget.
"day…?"
Her voice.
“This voice….”
The saintess of the Mu Empire raises her head and looks up at Buck Buck, her hands clasped together.
It seems she hasn't forgotten either.
Fate is sometimes cruel.
And sometimes playfully.
####
“Your Majesty, you even broke up the banquet and suddenly had a private meeting with the Saintess of Mu?”
“Oh my goodness, you’ve been treating women like stone and wood lately….”
“That saintess, her hair is a coral-pink color. Her body is also very…”
“Does the Mu Empire select the temple’s saints based on their appearance?”
“But, you wouldn’t choose a foreign woman for Buck Buck’s party, would you?”
"I don't know about that. Love has no borders. Let me tell you about my marriage…."
The after-party, with nobles, court ladies, and the vagrants all giggling and laughing.
A palace hallway shimmering with ethereal light.
The chatter suddenly stops.
“….”
As the captain of the guard, his cloak fluttering, and his sword drawn, passed among them.
That appearance, at first glance, feels like life.
“Wow… what’s going on? Why is that cow boy so angry?”
“What do you want to know? Sister, it’s better than that….”
Lyra ignores the muttering.
Past the banquet hall, past the grand gallery, to the central palace where Buck Buck's bedroom is located.
It's already well past shift change time.
The time promised to Buck Buck.
He said he had something important to say, something he had to tell me, and that we should meet at this time, just the two of us.
I promised you that.
Arched passage leading to Buck Buck's cell.
Two guards are standing guard in the evening.
“Captain…? Why are you here?”
“Open the passage gate immediately. I need to see Buck Buck.”
The air in the palace passage turns cold.
But, the guards are the guards.
The best of Atlantis.
“You can’t come in.”
“Get out of the way.”
"Even if you're the captain of the guard, it won't do. Right now, Your Majesty, you're having a private meeting with the saint who came from nothing."
“I told you to go.”
Eckax, strangely resonating as if sad.
Lyra gestures to the guards guarding the Buck Buck passage to get out of the way.
“Ah, Captain, why are you acting like this today? You know it won’t work… In the first place, why did you want to meet with Buck Buck at this hour?”
“History is made during the day, so please be patient until the day.”
A Carthaginian veteran, quicker on the uptake than the other guards, tries to appease Lyra with a sly expression.
Lyra's eyes are distorted.
Her beautiful white skin trembles with a strange, crushed emotion.
“…I made a promise.”
"yes?"
“Buck Buck and… I promised to meet you today at this time!”
The guards face each other.
The veteran shakes his head towards Lyra.
"Captain, I think I have a rough idea of your situation, but within the Atlantis palace, rules must be followed. You know that better than anyone else."
“….”
“After the audience tomorrow morning, let’s talk to Buck Buck.”
“I can’t wait.”
"yes?"
“Not even until morning….”
The guardsman looks at Lyra's gauntlets.
The silver gauntlets are gripped tightly, as if they could shatter even a rock.
“I can’t wait an hour, thirty minutes, no… even a minute.”
"colon!"
The Ekejax is pulled out of its scabbard with a squeak.
The flickering light of the blue lightsaber brightly illuminates the palace passage.
“Get out of the way!”
"colon!"
“Captain, are you crazy?”
The guards also draw their lightsabers from their scabbards.
In an instant, three lights create a halo within the palace at night.
"colon…."
“Because I think I’m going crazy.”
“….”
“More than when I was crying alone in the street, more than when I was raped by that bastard, more than when I was beaten by the captain of the guards for the first time while holding a sword, more than when I got wounded in my first fight and had to wrap my arm in a bandage….”
Eckax cries to suit his master's mood.
Like a female wolf who lost her husband.
“Because I’m going crazy! So get out of the way right now!”
"colon…."
A veteran guard gently pushes Lyra's Ekejax away with his sword.
“You know that, right? That’s not allowed.”
“….”
“The captain knows better than anyone else.”
“Eww!”
Lyra, holding Ekejax, strikes the innocent vase.
The vase breaks exactly in half and falls to the floor along with the flowers.
The two guardsmen simultaneously aim their swords at Lyra.
However, if Lyra wanted to, it wouldn't be a problem for her to slaughter two people.
"shit…."
That moment.
Under the dim lighting of the hallway, a rustling sound can be heard.
The sound of a long white robe gently brushing the floor.
“Saint.”
“Saint!”
The guards take a standing position with their swords down.
"I am a priestess of the Empire of Mu, not a saint of Atlantis. Don't be so polite."
"however…."
Anat, the chief deity of Atlantis, is actually quite similar to Mithra, the chief deity of nothingness.
Some priests serve both gods concurrently.
Of course, officially it is very irreverent.
Of course, Atlantis is also full of citizens who believe in Mithras, or in both Anat and Mithras.
“Captain.”
The Saintess of Nothing calls Lyra in a soft voice.
Lyra's blonde hair, slightly damp with sweat, clung to her white skin.
Like a wounded lion.
“BuckBuck is looking for you.”
####
From the central passage of the palace, the path to Buck Buck's private chamber is only about 300 steps.
Yet, to Lyra, that distance felt like an eternity.
The beautiful saint with pink hair simply quietly guided Lyra along her path.
“Captain, are you curious?”
“….”
“Why did Buck Buck want to talk to me alone?”
Lyra bit her lips and said nothing.
“A long time ago, there was a boy and a girl.”
“….”
"They were both dirty, shabby, and trembling over a single piece of bread. But they were children who cared for each other more than anyone else."
Lyra recalls the fragments of the story Buck Buck had briefly hinted at.
Poor boy.
ghetto.
And memories of the past that were not spoken of.
"But, a cruel fate separated those children. Far away—somewhere across the sea, beyond reach, no matter how desperately they called."
“That girl.”
The saint does not look back at Lyra.
Even Lyra doesn't see the saint.
The two just talk, looking straight ahead at the passage.
“Did that girl love the boy?”
“To that boy, that girl was everything.”
Now, it's not far to Buck Buck's room.
“To that girl, the boy was everything.”
Two women are standing at the door.
The laurel wreath pattern symbolizing Buck Buck is draped on the left and right.
Buck Buck's door.
“Please come in.”
The pink-haired saint smiles brightly.
"you are?"
“I’ve already had enough to talk to you, Blue-Eyed Sword Saint.”
Lyra doesn't even look at her and goes into the room.
“Someday, you will know.”
The saint slowly lowers her hands, clad in pure white gloves.
A ring slipped off my finger.
The fake ring made of ether turns into pure white vapor and disappears into the atmosphere.
“Because I love you.”
In the saint's eyes, a very small tear.
Falling down her white robe.
“That you might swallow it.”
####
Lyra sees Buck Buck sitting next to the table.
Behind the Orichalcon mask, there was a Buck Buck face I had never seen before.
But Lyra could guess what Buckbuck's expression was like right now.
“Have we talked about this before?”
The captain of the guard sits down next to him without saying a word.
“The story of a boy who ran around the back alleys of District 3?”
In Buck Buck's hand, Lyra is holding something she has never seen before.
"that…?"
"Cheap stationery made from scrap paper from District 2. It's hard to find these days."
Lyra carefully accepts the letter that was handed to her.
“To me, one day was everything. To one day, I was everything.”
I send them far away because I love them. Because I want them to be happy.
We break up because we love each other. Because that person's happiness is more important than our own.
So then, what is love anyway?
Even if I don't become the most precious thing to that person.
Is that still love?
“Lyra, look at me.”
Lyra puts the letter down and turns around.
"ah…."
Buck Buck's Orihalcon mask is placed on the table.
“This is me.”
It was not the face of this world.
Congenital skin diseases, stunted growth due to starvation, and congenital deformities.
It looked like a twisted corpse dug up from a graveyard of fallen soldiers.
Only lips that sing a beautiful voice.
It was shining brightly.
“This is my true form, Lyra.”
"I am…."
“This is your uncle’s face. What’s written in that letter is your uncle’s true identity.”
Lyra's cheeks tremble.
Blue eyes, unable to hide their bewilderment, are distorted beneath their eyebrows and lose their way.
"I am…!"
Lyra's eyes are drawn to the side of the table.
Something small wrapped in a pretty gray envelope.
Gray envelope, oak seal, purple knotted cord.
The thing that Atlanteans use when proposing.
It's a ring package.
Lyra runs out of the room, pulling her cloak up.
With a heart shaken by delusion, I let out a silent scream.
The black star in the wall ran out into the dark, empty passage.
Buck Buck, left alone, quietly picks up his mask.
The saint, walking alone in the courtyard, silently looks up at the starry night sky.
Geumseong, whose heart is trembling with excitement, runs out of the palace.
now.
Hearts intersect.