Chapter 14: 14

Chapter 14

Jiwoo was guided to a huge tree that served as a residence. Although she was supposed to live in an empty tree, it seemed larger than any commoner’s house in the Empire.

“This… is where I used to live.”

Jiwoo lowered her head slightly, then raised it and spoke politely.

“…Then I’ll be indebted to you for a moment.”

“There’s nothing to see, but make yourself comfortable.”

Lanceil seemed shy about the unorganized interior of the house, but in fact, Jiwoo was so used to a life of divestment in the temple, so she was rather pleased with this clutter. Most of all, it was nice to have a small semblance of living left.

It didn’t look like a complete room, with the wooden walls winding and grass growing all over the house.

They seemed to be a race living in harmony with nature. But surprisingly, there were no bugs in the room.

Lanceil disappeared for a moment while Jiwoo was looking around, and after a while he came with a piece of clothing.

“I brought it the one that is as small as possible, but I think it’s still a bit large.”

“It’s okay. Thank you.”

Even though they had come a long way together, it became even more awkward as there were only the two of them left.

Lanceil looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t open his mouth easily.

Now that she looked at it, she can see why Lanceil said he was particularly ugly. All of the people she saw in the village were handsome enough to be admired.

All of them had blonde or silver hair, and their movements were strangely elegant.

Lanceil had a slightly more crude impression than them. The violet-tinged hair looked even more unusual in the group of pure blondes and silver hair.

Of course, Lanceil was also handsome in Jiwoo’s eyes, but seeing the comparison object, in a sense, she understood his insecurities.

But what was the use of such objective indicators? Jiwoo was more reliant on him now than anyone else.

“Excuse me, Lanceil…”

After staring at his pale violet-colored hair, Jiwoo spoke first.

“What are we?”

Lanceil’s face suddenly turned red.

And after a while, he frowned deeply. Jiwoo’s face turned red as his troubles grew longer.

Did she ask a question she shouldn’t have asked? It wasn’t until the words that she had misspoke came to her throat, Lanceil opened his mouth.

“For now… I will be your temporary guardian.”

“Temporary?”

Lanceil nodded his head.

“Like you said, there are people who will come to your rescue, and you said you were waiting for them too. I thought there would be a place to return to.”

“You said it seemed like there’s no one around me.”

“That’s…”

Lanceil laughed with a low voice.

“Because you’ve been lying down sick for three days and no one has come.”

Lanceil had no doubts that someone would come to pick up Akarna. However, the crying image kept trampling on his heart, and even though he heard that she was okay, he couldn’t leave easily.

He just wanted to make sure she was back safely.

The reason he didn’t approach her hastily after seeing her collapse was because Akarna seemed to reject him.

He thought she would accept the favor like an escort, but it wasn’t even that. He thought it was a good enough first meeting.

However, on the third day after she collapsed, Lanceil couldn’t bear it and picked up Akarna and took her.

“What I said back then was because I was annoyed. I’m sorry I said that even though I knew that humans wouldn’t be able to easily enter this place.”

Lanceil apologized for something he should not have to apologize for. It seemed that he had judged that Jiwoo, who quietly listened to what he had to say, was offended.

“You are beautiful… You are a precious person in many ways.”

She has always lived while taking life for granted. It seemed like the first time she had heard such a direct favor. So, even though it wasn’t a big deal, her cheeks turned red.

“There will be a lot of people waiting, right?”

Jiwoo lowered her eyes.

There will be people waiting. There will be many. The Akarna was an important resource in the Empire and the temple, and if her body could not be found, there was a high possibility of them releasing the search party.

In fact, she came here because she wanted to escape the crown prince. It was unexpected to meet Lanceil and come to such a village. In fact, I didn’t feel like she had come too far.

Jiwoo hesitated for a moment, and then sighed.

“…There was a person who I wanted to marry.”

She didn’t want to lie. And it wasn’t something she wanted to avoid. She didn’t have any freedom.

Perhaps when she returns, she would see the crown prince already married to another woman, and she will live with the label of being the second in any position.

“As expected…”

The reaction expressed how he knew it already, and it came right back, so Jiwoo avoided Lanceil’s eyes. In retrospect, he must’ve thought he was used as an affair? He was sure to feel bad.

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“T-Then I… Which rank am I allowed to be? The second?”

“…Huh?”

Jiwoo, who was about to apologize calmly and continue the conversation, was a little flustered by what he just said. When she lifted her head, she saw him smiling shyly.

What? She couldn’t understand. At least she thought he’d be offended. The second? Is it reasonable to say that?

Did the culture in his tribe not really care about that? Jiwoo frowned in embarrassment, but she didn’t know what to say.

“No? As expected… You are a precious person, so there must be more?”

“That, that’s not it? Hahaha.”

At first, she wasn’t even treated very well. Jiwoo waved her hand. Then she just burst into laughter.

All the negative thoughts she had just made her look stupid.

Why does it all matter? No one is coming to check on her. It’s not like the crown prince’s engagement or the soon-to-be national wedding would be held with someone’s approval.

Even being the first or the second was stupid.

In the midst of such vain thoughts, she suddenly thought that she should admit about the crown prince first.

After all, the crown prince was not her first, nor was she the crown prince’s first companion.

If it’s like that, then why should she have to keep her trust in him?

“Then, can’t you just be the first?”

“Re, really…?”

“Yes.”

Lanceil’s expression brightened like a flower in the sun. With a bright smile on his face, he held Jiwoo’s hand with both hands.

And he knelt before her and placed his forehead against the back of her hand.

“I’m so happy, Akarna.”

His lips, pressed on the back of her hand, tickled like a butterfly.

What is all this? When Jiwoo burst out laughing lightly, Lanceil also smiled. With a flower-like face, he smiles like a flower in full bloom.

When Lanceil looked down at the back of Jiwoo’s hand and lowered his eyes, his rich eyelashes created a shadow. Lanceil carefully opened his mouth, pressing his lips against the back of her hand.

“Even if you return…”

[ Hey, Lanceil! ]

But he couldn’t finish his words. It was because someone called him from outside.

“Tsk…”

Lanceil got up with a click of his tongue. When he opened the door, there were several men she had seen before, including Tevon, standing outside. Lanceil had a serious conversation with them, and he soon returned to Jiwoo.

“It may be frustrating, but you must never go out today. And I’m sorry…”

Lanceil sighed deeply, as if he was really sorry.

“I won’t be able to stay with you tonight. There’s some trouble in the village.”

She remembered that they were talking among themselves that today is a full moon.

“Is it because of the beast?”

“You know it as well. It’s similar.”

It’s impossible for the Akarna not to know. On the day of the full moon, the power of the beasts became stronger.

Even the people of the empire, who are relatively safer than other countries, did not hold big events or even small arrangements whenever there was a full moon. All good days were decided by avoiding the full moon.

The empire had it good enough, but the other countries were worse off. The closer to the place was to the edge of the empire, the easier it was to receive damage from the beasts, and major accidents were usually reported after the full moon.

If there was no such thing as Akarna, the other race was even more likely to hold their breath. And this wasn’t just a logical conclusion.

Having the Akarna’s instincts, it’s easy to surmise that something extremely dangerous was going on here.

Such was the sense of incongruity she felt at the entrance of the village, and the severe injury that Lanceil suffered. They lived here pretending to be carefree, but strange beasts could be felt around this area.

Maybe it wasn’t just a beast. There might be something more sinister.

“Then, I’ll be back.”

However, she was told to hide her abilities, so she couldn’t act as she wanted. Jiwoo calmly sent off Lanceil.

“Ah…”

Lanceil, who was just about to leave, came back. Then he kissed Jiwoo’s cheek and forehead.

“I’m going, Akarna.”

“…Yes.”

Jiwoo fiddled with the place where his lips had touched and looked at the place where he had left for a long time. After a while, she changed clothes and laid down on a nearby bed.

She has been very tired for the past few days, so she fell asleep immediately after closing her eyes.

* * *

“GAAAAH!”

However, when she had just fallen asleep, the piercing sound of screams woke Jiwoo up.

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