Side Story 1 (2)

There was only one person, Zano, who Iz was not afraid of. Still confused, she didn’t seem to remember who he was, but as soon as she saw Zano, Iz approached him first and grabbed him by the hem of his clothes. It was the first time since she returned that she approached anyone first.

“Your Majesty, you must eat something.”

When Zano spoke, Iz nodded quietly like a well-behaved child. Barca involuntarily found God and uttered words of gratitude.

Iz did not want to eat what others gave her. Besides, she couldn’t get close to Barca or the maids, so he had no choice but to prepare her meal and wait for Iz to eat.

Once, after Iz hadn’t eaten for over two days and just hunched over, Barca tried to feed her. After that day, Iz became even more wary of Barca and spit out all her food. That’s why he was worried about her getting thinner, but with Zano, at least he didn’t have to worry about eating.

Zano brought the table set by the maids and began to eat it next to Iz. Then he gave Iz some food. Iz watched Zano eat like a first-time eater and began to eat after him. From that day on, Zano always ate together next to Iz when it was meal time.

Fortunately, when she started eating again, Iz’s health improved little by little. Even so, it was not easy to gain weight on skinny limbs. However, the sunken cheeks, like skulls, became human at least, and the bloodless face was slightly blushed.

But that’s it. Even if there was Zano, what Iz ate was very limited. Flat bread and water, which are the most basic ingredients of the meal. That was all Iz ate. There were other more colorful and hearty dishes, but Iz never reached out to them as if they were food that she was not allowed to eat. And yet she swallowed her saliva, glancing occasionally.

“Have some more, Your Highness.”

Seeing Iz swallowing saliva, Zano offered her fruit. But Iz shook her head.

“No, I can’t.”

“Why? If Your Majesty wants anything…”

“No, I, I’m not a queen… I’m a fake…”

Iz’s voice, which was murmuring quietly, became tearful again, and Zano hurriedly changed the topic of the conversation. Barca, who was secretly looking through the curtains, felt like she was being robbed deep in her heart.

The next day, Barca told them to try making Iz’s bread with other ingredients. Then a bread full of meat and vegetables came up soon. Zano ate it and handed it out to Iz.

At first, Iz tried to take it and eat it without saying a word, but when she saw that there was another ingredient in the bread, she freaked out and returned it to Zano. Then she went into the corner, wrapped her head in her hands again, curled up, and began to cry. Even if Zano was comforting, Iz just cried.

When the attempt to be a good idea had the worst result, Barca couldn’t say anything, and told Zano to leave. It seemed that the situation would only worsen if he stimulated Iz more today.

It’s such a deep night. Barca, who was still unable to leave the next room, glanced into Iz’s room again.

“……!”

He thought she was sleeping in a corner, but Iz got up and hesitated near the table where the food was placed. He guessed she was hungry because she didn’t eat anything all day.

There was no one, so she could take the food as she wanted, but Iz was still afraid and could not reach out. After hesitating by the table for a long time, she approached the corner of the table and reached for a small plate. Barca’s eyes grew as she secretly looked at what she was eating.

“No!”

He hurriedly ran to Iz, forgetting that he was hiding. Iz saw him running through the curtains and stood still with a frightened face. Thanks to this, Barca was able to easily hit the thing in Iz’s hand and drop it.

“Ah…”

Iz groaned when she saw the date palm rolling on the floor. Then, she soon came to her senses and tried to run away, but Barca hugged Iz first. Iz, who was caught in his arms in an instant, struggled and freaked out.

“I’m sorry, I was wrong. I’m sorry…”

Iz begged him frantically, probably thinking he was going to hit her. She was so surprised that even her face was white. But Barca couldn’t let her go. For the past few days, she was afraid of him, so it was hard for him to get close to her, let alone touch her. She started eating again, but Iz’s arm in his hand was still more bony than a dry branch.

Barca remembered Akram when Iz returned. Even though Akram’s cities are in a time of life, they have dried up in the past few months, and even the oasis has bottomed out. However, the rain that fell as Iz fled to the desert continued and wetted all over the desert. Thanks to this, the cities of Akram, which had been suffering from a long drought, managed to catch their breath and regain their abundance.

After Iz left, the garden of the royal palace, which had withered, was now lush again. Thanks to this, people believed that Iz was a being that brought prosperity. However, the symbol of richness was so skinny.

“No! Let go!”

Iz now tried to push Barca away when her plea didn’t work. But Iz’s power was too weak to push Barca away.

Eventually, exhausted Iz fell into Barca’s arms and shed tears. Barca couldn’t say anything to her attitude, as if she were a sheep in a slaughterhouse waiting for her turn. It was because he knew that all Iz’s fears originated from him.

Barca looked at the date palm that fell on the floor. The shape alone showed that it was a date palm of Urtalib. Didn’t Iz suffer for a long time because she was swollen after eating this one day? Thinking that she should tell him not to put this out of the kitchen again, Barca picked up the date palm on the floor and threw it out the window.

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