NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30: Weddings
Tired of entertaining people all day, Gregor finally returned to the hotel just before sunset.
He removed his hat to cool off, letting his hair fall over his left eye.
As he was about to head straight to his room, he noticed Eleanor sitting at the reception desk with a tired yet annoyed expression.
He walked toward her to ask if something had happened.
"Are you alright, Eleanor?" he asked.
Eleanor looked confused, wondering how the clown knew her, but then remembered that Gregor was a clown.
"You look very different in your costume, Gregor. I barely recognized you," she said, chuckling softly.
Gregor smiled as he placed his hat back on, completing his costume.
"I decided to perform today since I had nothing better to do," he explained, then changed the subject. "Anyway, why do you look so tired? Did something happen?"
Eleanor shook her head before answering. "Don't worry. It's just that my older sister is pregnant and has decided to get married before giving birth. She's already eight months along. I told her she should wait until after the baby is born, but once she sets her mind on something, there's no changing it."
"Why does she want to get married before giving birth so badly?" Gregor asked. Even though it wasn't the type of question one should ask someone they barely knew, he decided to be bold and ask anyway, since anything serve as a lead for his investigation.
"She's scared of the murders happening in town and wants to get married quickly. She said that the wheels of fate would favor a happy family and wouldn't let anything bad happen..." Eleanor said the last part with a hint of mockery in her tone, as if what her sister said was just nonsense.
"Wheels of fate?" Gregor asked, confused. He tried to remember the term from his memories of the novel and his memories as Michael, but he still couldn't recall hearing the term before.
"It's something from the Church of the Living Wheel." Eleanor explainded, "Even though there isn't a church here, to avoid conflict with the Church of Light, most of the town are believers of the Living Wheel."
Since Eleanor seemed willing to talk, Gregor decided to ask more questions.
"What do you mean the town doesn't have a church to avoid conflict with the Church of Light?" he asked.
"You don't know?" Eleanor responded rhetorically. "Division Bell is a town very close to Intis's border. As you probably know, the Church of Light doesn't have a good relationship with the other two churches on the continent.
"The Church of Light doesn't want a cathedral of the Living Wheel so close to its domain; because of that, Division Bell is prohibited from having any churches to avoid an international conflict between the churches."
Eleanor's explanation was followed by a question: "Do you believe in any deity, Gregor?"
Even though religion was a sensitive topic, Eleanor felt comfortable enough to ask Gregor about it.
Gregor thought for a second. He considered mentioning a deity of his original world, but immediately decided against it since he didn't want to give hints about being a transmigrator.
Gregor wasn't scared of being considered a heretic; different from the Church of Light, believers of the Living Wheel were mostly respectful of other faiths.
He chuckled with a smirk before saying, "Yes, I'm a believer of the Ancient Sun God."
Before Eleanor could ask anything about his faith, Gregor redirected the conversation. "When does your sister want to get married?"
The curiosity on Eleanor's face was replaced by indignation and frustration. "Next Tuesday! Can you believe it? Less than a week! That's nowhere near enough time to prepare a wedding. And even if it were, the stress of planning a wedding is too much for a pregnant woman to handle!"
"I want my niece or nephew to be born healthy! This kind of stress isn't good for her!" she exclaimed.
Gregor was about to ask why they didn't already know the baby's gender but quickly remembered he wasn't in the modern world anymore.
Before he could say anything, Eleanor continued, "She says she doesn't care about having a big wedding and just wants to get married quickly, but that's not enough time to even send invitations to the other family members who live in other cities..."
It seemed Eleanor had been waiting for an opportunity to vent all day. She didn't even care that she had only met Gregor the day before.
"I think I know how to cheer you up," Gregor said, shaking his left hand. Suddenly, a card appeared between his fingers—the King of Cups.
He looked at the card as though it had been a mistake, though it was clearly intentional. "Wrong hand. Sorry."
He tucked the card into his inner pocket before shaking his right hand. This time, a small rose appeared between his fingers.
He handed her the flower with a smile and walked toward his room.
As he did, Eleanor called out curiously, "How do you do that?"
Gregor turned to look at her, placing his index finger to his lips, "A good magician never reveals his tricks."
"I thought you were a clown," Eleanor said, confused.
Gregor chuckled. "I'm a little bit of everything."
Gregor entered his room, finally taking the clown costume off. He took a shower and thought about what he had discovered that day. He went to bed around 21:00.
....
Saturday, April 27, 428. 10:00.
Gregor woke up early to have breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. Afterward, he went back to his room and changed into more comfortable clothes. A simple brownish jacket, a plain white shirt underneath, black pants, and brown shoes. Clothes that he had taken from Lana.
That day, he decided to explore the city as a tourist. He hoped to meet new people, use the Eye of Providence to see their visions, and find more clues for his investigation.