Point of View: Oligor
Married to Luntia
POPULARITY POLL: 16TH - OLIGOR
NOTHING IN THIS WORLD is truly useless, but in the same vein, nothing is truly essential either.
At least, that’s how I used to think—until I met her. I was more than satisfied with being by myself because I didn’t know the joy of deeply connecting with someone you love. I believed from the bottom of my heart that I alone completed my world.
✦ ✦ ✦
I was born of the light. The first light that pierced a world of only darkness—that was me.
All living things feared the light the first time they saw it, yet they learned to respect and appreciate it. However, as time went on, that the world was full of light began to be taken for granted. As a result, creatures no longer felt particularly grateful or moved by its presence, but I was fine with that. Because the world was always bathed in light, it seemed best if they considered it the norm and took comfort from it.
I loved to ride the breeze as I soared through the sky, gazing down at the creatures below. I enjoyed observing humans in particular. I never grew tired of watching them experience their emotions, whether happy or sad.
But one of those days, I found myself drawn to a particular human girl. She was about ten years old, with red hair that fell to her shoulders. She dipped her hand into a spring, laughing happily as the water she splashed into the air glittered in the light. In contrast, she watched with a solemn expression as the sun began to set behind the mountains, observing the light gradually fading away, beam by beam.
She was grateful for everything and didn’t take any of it for granted. There was something about her that reminded me of when the humans who lived in a world of only darkness saw light for the first time. Her demeanor evoked a sense of nostalgia in me, igniting my curiosity and prompting me to move closer so I could continue observing her.
Still, spirits eluded human sight—that’s why I thought getting as close to her as possible wouldn’t be an issue. However, one day, when I did exactly that, her eyes widened in surprise.
“Who are you?” she asked. “Why are you floating in the sky?”
I had no idea what the words she was saying meant, but her eyes had met mine, so I was aware that she was looking at me.
“Huh? You can see me?”
I couldn’t contain my surprise, but it appeared she couldn’t understand my words either. They probably sounded like beams of light breaking through the sky or the whistle of the breeze, but she watched my lips moving without blinking even once.
I asked her many things, and every time she would stop whatever she was doing and watch my lips.
Ah, I thought, she can’t pick up my words with her ears, but she knows I’m saying something so she’s desperately trying to understand it.
I didn’t understand why she could see me, but the fact that she could and was making an effort to understand what I was saying filled me with immense joy.
From then on, I went to see her every day.
I still had no clue what she was saying, but I did glean that her name was Luntia.
“Luntia.”
When I attempted to say it myself, her cheeks turned bright pink and she giggled happily. The sight of that smile filled me with a profound warmth, as if the sun had wrapped itself around me. I also wanted her to know my name, so I repeated it, “Oligor, Oligor,” over and over. Eventually, after some time, she proudly said, “Oligon.”
Of course hearing that alone made me happy, but I wanted her to say my name properly so I shook my head. After that, I continued to just say “Oligor” repeatedly. After about the two hundredth time, Luntia’s eyes sparkled as she grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
Then, with even more confidence than before, she declared, “Ligon.”
Hm?
Oh dear. Her previous attempt, “Oligon,” was closer to my actual name. Now she was even further off. Still, considering that the only things she could hear sounded like light and wind, I should’ve been grateful that she was able to recognize even that much. I didn’t want her straying even further from my name, so I decided to accept the moniker of Ligon.
Luntia came to my forest daily to gather medicinal herbs. She had an elderly grandmother, and it seemed that she collected the herbs each day to brew and give to her. She had to explain that to me, gestures included, about ten times before I finally understood.
“You’re just simmering the herbs in hot water? Why not use magic to turn them into potions? That would quickly alleviate any ailments she might have due to her advanced age,” I asked, confused. But, of course, since she couldn’t understand me, Luntia just smiled.
“Thanks for helping me search for herbs again, Ligon. You always help me find so many.”
I didn’t know back then, but during that time the use of magic was not widely known or practiced. And even for the few people that did know of it, the method of using internal magic to cast spells wasn’t very effective.
That’s why she continued to brew the medicinal herbs and serve them to her grandmother. And there was nothing I could do to tell her otherwise, as I couldn’t communicate with her in detail. At that time, my greatest pleasure was meeting her when she came to gather the herbs, so I was content with her simply visiting the forest and didn’t think much beyond that.
The first time Luntia cried in front of me was when she was fifteen years old.
“My grandmother, she…she might die. What should I do? I’ve been picking these fresh herbs every day, but it’s my fault for not being able to find anything fresher or more potent.”
I had a pretty good idea of what was going on as I watched Luntia sob as she clutched her basket filled with medicinal herbs. Each tear that fell from her eyes seemed to shred pieces of my own being.
Oh, Luntia. Please don’t cry. Please don’t be sad. It pains me deeply.
I racked my brains, desperate to do something—anything.
Then, imitating the characters that Luntia had once shown me in one of her picture books, I got down on the ground on one knee.
“Luntia, marry me. As long as I am a spirit, I’m compelled to be equal to all and cannot lend any special power to you alone. But if we were to become partners as humans do, I’ll become yours and you can use my power as you please.”
She didn’t seem to understand what I was saying, but when I took her hand and kissed it, she recognized that my actions were exactly like those in the scene from her picture book.
“Oh? Are you asking me to marry you? Is it because I’ll be all alone if my grandmother is gone? Ligon, that’s not a reason to get married… Oh! No, Ligon, please don’t cry. That’s not it! I…I always want to be with you!”
Luntia said a bunch of things I didn’t understand as she threw her arms around me. Then she nodded enthusiastically several times. “Ligon, I want to be with you! Make me your bride!”
That day, when it was time for the sun to set beyond the distant mountains, Luntia and I held a private wedding for just the two of us. We clad ourselves in special garments, made from the unique thread spun by special insects that fed on the leaves of the special plants I raised.
“Oh my! I’ve never worn anything so beautiful before!” Luntia’s cheeks were a rosy shade of pink as she smiled happily. Seeing her like that made joy well up in my own heart. By the time the last rays of light had disappeared from the sky, the two of us were husband and wife.
From that day forward, various stories about our lives were written and preserved for posterity—some accurate, some embellished.
All of our children took on their mother’s lineage and were born human, but they inherited some of my abilities as well. Because Luntia’s blood ran through their veins, I loved them dearly and wanted to support them in any way I could, even helping one of them become the king of the country. Since I spoke constantly from the moment they were born, the children were able to hear most of my words and speak the spirit language to a certain extent.
“Father! That’s big much! Even if Mother wants seeing spring flowers, why make them bloom all over middle of winter?!”
“Heh heh.”
Seeing my smile, my second son asked suspiciously, “…Why laughing at that?”
“I was just thinking how wonderful it is to be able to communicate with my family. Luntia looked so happy when I made those flowers bloom, but I’m sure she said something like ‘Are you perhaps showing me a glimpse of the Heavenly Kingdom before I go there?’ I just made the flowers bloom because I wanted to see her smile, but she came up with her own unique interpretation because we can’t communicate.”
I ruffled my second son’s hair as he fell silent and nodded in understanding.
“Still, even if we can’t communicate, just being with Luntia makes me happy.”
I’d always felt that way, but my children taught me that being able to communicate with your family brought an even greater happiness.
When my oldest son was ten years old, he told me in secret, “On night when Mother married Father, Father made Grandmother’s illness better fast and turned big castle into our home. This made Mother think Father was a guardian angel. She was very happy and grateful.”
The night we married, Luntia’s face had blanched when she first glimpsed the castle, and she’d cried many tears when she saw her fully healthy grandmother. I would never have imagined that she was happy.
That’s why, when my son told me that, I was utterly shocked.
“Mother loved Father from time they first met. But that night, Mother’s love grew even bigger,” he added.
See? Because we were able to communicate, my not-so-pleasant memories of that night were rewritten into something beautiful. Communication is undoubtedly a wonderful thing, but…
Luntia happened to pass by just at that moment, and I ran over to pull her into my arms.
“Luntia, I love you the most in the entire world!”
A happy smile lit up her face as her cheeks flushed pink.
“Oh, Ligon. I love you the most in the entire world too.”
Even if we couldn’t communicate with words, it was still possible for our hearts to understand each other.
I kissed the top of my adorable blushing wife’s head and truly felt from the bottom of my heart that Luntia was the most essential part of my world.