Chapter 4 The Vow "Eleanor, I will hold a grand celebration for you..."
"Eleanor, I will give you a grand wedding."
That was a promise they made when they were young, and Andra took it seriously. She always kept every promise very seriously, gradually building up her own reputation.
Andra doesn't like repeating the same things, but this promise... she repeated it three times.
The first time was in a garden full of blooming flowers.
A teenage girl throws a sword into the grass, selects the most beautiful flowers from a variety of blooms, and then removes the thorns one by one to weave a magnificent floral crown for her noble princess.
The second time was in the small barn of the territory.
At that time, Eleanor and the craftsmen were working day and night to develop a tool for hulling millet – a threshing machine.
In her previous life, Eleanor had only seen videos of handmade models on the computer and had no concrete concept of them. She could only lead the craftsmen to try repeatedly based on the existing tools and physical knowledge.
Andra was responsible for leading the security forces to sweep away bandits and wild beasts in the vicinity of the territory.
One evening, Andra dragged a snow-white tiger skin into the barn. She took the little princess's splintered fingers in her hands and gently licked the wounds on her fingertips.
"Eleanor, I will definitely give you a grand wedding." The girl's eyes sparkled.
The third time was in the palace that had just been captured.
Blood dripped from the sword blade onto the dust, and Andra immediately sat on the throne, embracing her lover.
They whispered intimately in her ear, "It's coming soon, the grand wedding... everyone will come to celebrate!"
Andra successfully fulfilled this promise two years after becoming king, thanks in part to Eleanor.
The king and queen walked hand in hand, and the cards they played kept potential opponents from daring to emerge.
No one could shake the well-fed armies and the people behind them; no one dared to meet the king's sharp sword or the queen's all-knowing gaze.
Hetuya gradually settled down, and a grand wedding ushered in a prosperous era.
I wonder how many people will recount the prosperity of that day to their family, friends, and strangers in the decades to come.
Everyone—regardless of their status or position—was in a frenzy amidst the sea of flowers and flowing water that day.
What kind of person could possibly be worthy of the great Anya? It would naturally be—
The palace gates slowly opened, and a decorated carriage adorned with bells glittered as the chariots approached.
The two cars met in a bustling market.
Every citizen has heard of Eleanor.
This Angie possesses a noble birth and illustrious reputation, and uses her extraordinary wisdom and foresight to create many useful and interesting things for everyone.
Reputation is a priceless jewel for a beautiful woman, but on the wedding day, what can convince the audience the most is still her breathtaking beauty?
Angie's veil billowed in the morning breeze. She possessed a pure and beautiful face, her skin as smooth as milk, and one could imagine her sweet scent even without getting close.
Her eyes were clear and bright; if there were a single candle flame, they could surely ignite a shimmering star.
But beauty has its limits, and Hetuya has no shortage of beauties.
A pampered noblewoman, a commoner kissed by the goddess of beauty, a socialite skilled in makeup... they each possess their own unique beauty.
Before Eleanor appeared, countless people gazed at Anya, who was as beautiful as a god, and dreamed that they too could wear beautiful dresses, put on meticulously applied makeup, and stand on the float to receive the king's strong and powerful embrace.
But when the float slowly came to a stop, and the attendants on both sides lifted the white veils to reveal Lilia's daughter, who was the happiest woman of the day, those restless hearts calmed down.
Those were focused, confident, and exceptionally bright eyes; she looked at the king with the same gaze he gave her.
Their eyes were filled with nothing but each other, like a pair of lovebirds spreading their wings and becoming one with their lover, their transparent emotions allowing no gaps.
"Anqi—"
"Your Highness Eleanor—"
The surrounding roar swept over her like a tsunami, and Eleanor tiptoed toward the flower-adorned chariot.
He held her firmly with both hands, and his lover whispered resolute words in her ear.
"Gods above, I, Andra, hereby swear that whether it is ten years, twenty years, fifty years, a hundred years... I will make you, Eleanor, smile forever and live a happy life."
......
Clang.
The silver fork fell from Eleanor's hand, but the people around her continued chatting and laughing without pausing, as if they hadn't heard anything.
Eleanor picked up her fork and continued to rummage through her memories.
Andra... Andra, do you still remember your vow? Or...?
She looked up at the youthful and beautiful attendants of Cupid, their silvery voices echoing in her ears.
Everyone was complimenting her simple attire and elegant bracelet, and subtly discussing festivals and hunting—ah, our king is as handsome as a war god, and everyone remembers how she once killed a monstrous beast that wreaked havoc on the region with a single sword strike during a hunt.
Everyone did their best to mention Andra, as if just mentioning that incomparably handsome king would make the gentle and kind queen in front of them fall into memories and rekindle her already tender heart.
["Perhaps Andra never forgot her vow, she just felt—"]
Like everyone else around her, she thought I was very happy.
This time, Eleanor listened to her heart. She put down her fork, indicating that she was full.
Everyone stood up at the appropriate time and naturally tidied up the tableware and chairs.
A dignified woman dressed in a pale yellow priestess's robe, who reminded Eleanor of the eldest princess, stepped forward and took her arm.
“Do you remember me? Angel.” The priest stopped diagonally in front of Eleanor, looking at her expectantly.
Eleanor examined her closely for a moment, then shook her head. She could only tell from the priest's eyebrows and facial features that she was a typical Hetuan, but she didn't really have any particular impression of this face.
The priest wasn't annoyed. He happily helped her up the stairs, laughing, "Haha, of course you wouldn't remember. There were at least a hundred children like me in the orphanage. We were absolutely thrilled when we heard Angie was coming to visit us..."
The orphanage... Eleanor paused on the stairs.
The orphanage was a charitable facility she and Andra jointly promoted, nominally symbolizing the compassion of the royal family and nobles.
The initial implementation was not smooth, not because the nobles were unwilling to donate, but because they did not have enough manpower to go to the grassroots level to implement a series of things.
Even the most compassionate and radical Hetuan nobles only understood raising orphans as "giving them food and raising them to become our loyal slaves." What about ordinary people who were already starving and had little education?
But Eleanor was unwilling to back down.
Years of war have created a large number of orphans. Whether in Hetuya, Hetuya's allies, or enemy countries, there are children everywhere who are not even as tall as a wheel.
They died one by one on the road like wild ducks, forgetting the past and having no future.
So she lobbied and raised funds everywhere, half-coercing and half-kidnapping nobles to offer their daughters as "coolies," weaving a spiral of mutual supervision with the inheritance rights of past lands and political resources.
Even so, many people still outwardly complied but inwardly defied her, so she had to personally travel by carriage between major cities to prevent those gold coins and lives from falling into another abyss.
As the queen of a nation, such actions were naturally willful and inappropriate, and her behavior initially provoked considerable opposition.
...It was Andra who used sword and blood to teach the opponents to shut up.
Sweetness and resentment were mixed together, creating a bitterness even more intense than coffee.
Eleanor stood on the steps, feeling as if she were looking down into an abyss.
Later... later, some of those who were ambitious and enterprising stabilized the new order, but many more gradually compromised.
Because Andra's army needs ample supplies and the best equipment.
Only by distributing the newly made cake to the strongest and smartest people will they be willing to continue supporting her and maintaining domestic stability.
The priest was unaware of the queen's thoughts; she was simply delighted to see the relieved expression on the queen's face.
“Angie…” She leaned closer, about to say a few more words, when she saw a tear slowly fall down Eleanor’s cheek.
"What exactly have I been doing all these years?"
The woman, who was full of wisdom and compassion and who always possessed boundless vitality and power in the priest's memory, now had a pale face and her lips trembled slightly.
"I... that's all I could do. I could have... saved so much more."
Eleanor bent over in pain, her hands trembling as she clasped them together, like a farmer holding up a pile of falling ears of wheat.
"I don't even know if those children are doing well. I haven't visited them for over twenty years..."
"Angie!" The priest quickly put his arm around Eleanor's shoulder and comforted her repeatedly, "Don't worry, we're all fine. The mothers at the orphanage are all very kind!"
Really.
Eleanor simply nodded, without uttering a sound.
......
Night fell as expected, and Eleanor lay in the most comfortable room in the temple, letting the faint fragrance envelop her.
Two light footsteps sounded beside the bed; it was Manzhu making them on purpose, indicating that she was nearby and watching over them attentively.
Loyal guards stood watch outside the curtains. Eleanor lay on her back in bed, and whenever she closed her eyes, fragmented thoughts flooded her mind.
What have I been doing all these decades? With the help of craftsmen and scholars, I recreated some tools and techniques from the original world, and then—and that was it.
I did indeed increase the productivity of this era. But I started out wholeheartedly in love, then got caught up in endless wars and compromises, and finally collapsed in a hospital bed.
"What exactly are you here for?"
What exactly have I done?
Eleanor clutched her chest in anguish, trying to recall her initial wish upon arriving in this world. But apart from Andra's enormous figure, she could remember nothing.
Andra, Andra—
A note from the author:
----------------------
Regarding the era: Eleanor and Andra lived in a very ancient time.
This world has experienced the Age of Gods (the Golden Age), but as of now, the gods—even those who are gods or demigods—no longer walk on the earth, having become nothing more than myths and legends. Apart from the heroes—those of noble blood who have drunk the blessed water and possess exceptionally good physiques—there are hardly any traces of magic left in this world.
Institutionally, this marked the end of slavery and the formal transition to feudalism. Andra and Eleanor were, in a sense, the gravediggers of slavery; even though Eleanor was plagued by illness and Andra was focused on conquest, they still managed to abolish slavery to some extent.
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