God of Wine Festival

Letting a child raise a small animal was a great way to cultivate empathy. As a possible future monarch, empathy was something he needed to possess.

Aside from the animal being a little large, there was no harm in it.

"Mmm! This beef is delicious!"

Arthur wolfed down the steak on his plate with knife and fork, the utensils clinking crisply against the porcelain.

Compared to Arthur, Alicia was far more graceful. She sat upright, knife in one hand and fork in the other, eating in small bites.

"This is beef brought back from Saxili, isn't it?" Alicia said.

Shaya nodded. "Have you been there?"

"No, but I've had this beef before," Alicia replied. "Are you planning to move there? I heard it's quite beautiful."

Shaya smiled. He seemed about to say something, but the noise outside caught his attention, and he turned to look through the window.

The gate was currently in Eagle's Horn Town. Through the window, they could see people streaming along the streets. Compared to this time in the past, there were far more people outside.

Some were locals, while many were unfamiliar faces from elsewhere. Some of them were dressed splendidly, like nobles from the Imperial Capital.

Young men dressed as porters carried crate after crate of wine up the slope.

"Shaya! Look, what a huge ship!"

Arthur cried out from beside him.

Beyond the houses opposite them, a massive wooden sailing ship was docked at the harbor. It had a huge curved stern and an enormous bowsprit. Several square sails were mounted on its foremast and mainmast, while its mizzenmast bore a triangular sail.

It looked to displace more than six hundred tons. Built from a mixture of iron and wood, it was an astonishing vessel for this era. A long, broad plank connected the ship to the harbor, and porters were carrying cargo across it one load after another.

"Why have so many people suddenly come here?" Shaya asked.

"Because the God of Wine Festival is about to begin," Alicia said from behind him.

"The God of Wine Festival?" Shaya recalled that Mr. Foster seemed to have mentioned it before.

"What is that?"

"You could also call it the Dionysus Festival," Alicia said. "It refers to any festival held in the religions of Ancient Greece and Rome in honor of Bacchus, the god of wine—Dionysus.

"This festival had existed as early as Ancient Greece. Every March, Athens held this event to show reverence for Dionysus, the god of wine.

"The improvised songs people sang at banquets to honor Dionysus were called 'dithyrambs.'

"The end of February was Anthesterion. The first day of the festival was the opening of jars of aged, fermented wine.

"The second day was the Water Jar Festival, when people drank new wine and gambled at public banquets;

"On that day, people also held secret sacrificial rites—the highest-ranking magistrate would offer his wife to Dionysus, the god of wine."

Shaya raised one eyebrow with an odd expression.

"But it was only a symbolic wedding ceremony," Alicia said.

"Then the third day was the Pot-Boiling Festival. On that day, people would set out a pot of cooked vegetables as an offering to Pluto and the spirits of all the dead.

"Finally came Elafebolion, which was the beginning of March. During that month, people held the Great Dionysian Festival.

"The boys held parades with songs and dances. At sunset, people drank freely on reclining couches.

"They also spared no expense in putting on tragedies and comedies for the public. The government invited everyone to feast on meat and drink to their heart's content, bringing the festival atmosphere to its peak.

"Although Greece and Rome had both perished, Europe, including Britannia, inherited Rome's legacy, and some towns still celebrated the God of Wine Festival.

"Eagle's Horn Town was one of them, and it was quite famous. Many nobles and merchants came here to take part, and every year, the town sold enormous quantities of wine during the festival.

"But it had been banned for the past two years."

"Why ban such an interesting festival?" Arthur asked.

"Because far too many people got drunk on the day of the festival, and with so many drunk people, the number of those causing trouble while intoxicated soared as well. Violent incidents occurred during almost every God of Wine Festival," Alicia said.

"That's what I heard from Mrs. Foster. But Eagle's Horn wine hasn't sold very well these past few years, so at the request of the townspeople, the God of Wine Festival was reinstated this year."

Arthur's eyes widened, gleaming brightly.

"When does it start!?"

"Today is the Pot-Boiling Festival," Alicia said. "Tomorrow is the Great Dionysian Festival."

After a pause, she added, "But we have no way to attend, do we? There's the Wilderness Witch on the streets."

Alicia's words were like a basin of cold water mercilessly dumped over Arthur's head, extinguishing his excitement and leaving him instantly much more dejected.

Then he said angrily, "That damned Wilderness Witch! She's such a terrible villain!"

The little lion in his arms seemed to sense Arthur's anger. It opened its huge maw, bared its sharp teeth, and let out a fierce but childish roar.

"Roar!"

Alicia looked at Sunny curiously. "Is this really a cat? Why does it sound so strange?"

"It won't seem strange once it grows up," Shaya said.

"Grows up?" Alicia said in astonishment. "This cat isn't fully grown yet?"

"Some cats can grow rather large, can't they?" Shaya said.

Alicia nodded. "That's true. I heard the largest Maine Coons can be over a meter long."

Hearing that his cat would still grow, Arthur looked at the little steak remaining on his plate. He speared it with his fork and fed it to the little lion, murmuring softly.

"You need to eat more and grow up quickly."

Watching this, Shaya smiled. Choosing Saxili had indeed been the right decision. Meat was cheap there, after all, since livestock farming was its main industry.

They would have to buy quite a lot of meat to raise this lion in the future.

That night, Eagle's Horn Town was no longer as peaceful as usual. It had become noisy and bustling, and the air of celebration grew stronger by the hour.

For the people of this town, the God of Wine Festival was the most important festival of the year, comparable to the New Year. Every household came out to help prepare for it.

It would be a sleepless night, but the festival's clamor seemed to have nothing to do with the castle.

When they rose the next morning, the entire street had completely changed. Colored streamers and lanterns had been hung overhead.

All the shops and street stalls along the main street by the sea had packed up. Forget fish—there was not even a single fish bone in sight.

The streets were packed with people, some even crowding up to the castle gates, as waves of noisy voices rolled through the air.

Arthur held the little lion and leaned against the window, pressing himself close to the glass as he tried to see the scene on the main street.

Over there, a group of young men with bare upper bodies, rippling muscles, bronzed skin, and Ancient Greek-style battle skirts sat atop a parade float. Holding swords and shields, they struck them against one another, and the booming rhythm, accompanied by war drums, made it seem as though one could see the courage of the Spartans at Thermopylae more than a thousand years ago.

Several more floats followed behind, carrying specially dressed dancers who danced upon them.

Yet this was only the appetizer to the festival.

At the end of the parade route, on the marshy plains to the north, food and wine had been laid out everywhere. A night-long revelry would be held there.