At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 194

12. Trip to the Beach

Jiwoo’s next business trip.

After officially accepting Marron and Night, time quickly passed while preparing for the items needed for the trip. At the village entrance, Jiwoo greeted the companions who would be accompanying her on the trip.

The strong Lanset and Arven had packed a lot of luggage, while Solmih and Kaman had relatively light outfits. Skias was carrying a small bag.

The journey was long, so there was more to prepare than last time. It seemed they had over-packed, but it was their first trip with Jiwoo, so it made sense.

“I’ll be back.”

“Will you bring back a gift?”

Jiwoo smiled at the usual question asked before leaving.

“Didn’t we already receive it for this trip?”

The decorative piece made from rare resin was something Jiwoo particularly liked and was wearing on the trip.

“Bring back more. They’ve got plenty of good stuff.”

“Alright.”

Jiwoo exchanged light jokes with her husbands as she finished preparing.

“Marron, Night. Take care, okay?”

Lastly, she greeted Marron and Night, who would be staying behind, before leaving the village.

She felt a little embarrassed that she had spent a longer time in their company, but it had helped them become much closer. Now, it was time for them to bond with the other brothers, so she bid them farewell with some concern.

Marron and Night watched Jiwoo leave while staring blankly.

In truth, ever since their first night together, they had been in a daze, unable to help with any of the trip preparations. They stood there, still stunned, even after seeing her off.

“That’s unfair.”

As Jiwoo disappeared from sight, Night suddenly spoke.

He was directing his comment at the husbands who had just sent Jiwoo off.

“You two had more than ten days of the first night together.”

“What? Why are you bringing that up now?”

Tevon replied, bewildered.

It was an unexpected remark, especially at this moment when they had just seen Jiwoo off. The timing made it feel out of place.

Back then, Jiwoo had to accept thirty husbands. These two had monopolized that time, and when accounting for their individual time, they had spent even longer together. It was ridiculous to complain about it now.

“If you two had that much time together, it’s actually unfair to us!”

“You’ve spent more time with Seo Jiwoo, so of course, it’s my loss. We could’ve spent the whole 28 days together and still not had enough.”

Of course, Night was being cheeky.

This was a trait of younger beings recently grown from the tree. Their level of selfishness went beyond common sense.

So, not just with the first night, but they genuinely expected compensation for the time they hadn’t been able to spend with Jiwoo, demanding it seriously.

“Ha, unbelievable.”

Callan clicked his tongue.

He had known they were young, but they had inherited knowledge directly from the female, which was something they didn’t show off. Now that they were left alone and officially part of the group, they seemed to have no need to hold back.

He had thought that Marron would be somewhat composed, but…

“Are you sure she’ll be back?”

“…What do you mean by ‘are you sure she’ll be back’?”

Even Marron, who had been somewhat composed, suddenly started spouting out random words.

“How could you send a spouse so defenseless to a place full of strangers? Are you confident in this?”

“…”

Callan sighed and simply left. He chose not to engage in the conversation.

“…It would be better to follow secretly, even now.”

“Why bother chasing? They’re coming back anyway.”

Tevon asked as if Marron were speaking nonsense.

“Ah.”

In response, Marron gave a sarcastic smile.

“So, now you’re flaunting your time of faith, something no one else can interrupt?”

Did they lose their minds after the first night…?

What they were really trying to say, even if they used all those words, was that the time spent apart from Seo Jiwoo had been too long, and now they wanted to extend it further. They were pretending to be concerned about the lack of guards just to make it seem like they wanted to go along with her.

“Old man. Could you deal with them…?”

Tevon looked at the leader of the group, hoping for a solution.

“….”

The wise Helka had long since avoided this exhausting situation.

“Lanceil.”

In truth, this was the first time Tevon had really noticed the younger individuals, especially those who had been heavily influenced by the tree, and he seemed a bit flustered, nudging Lanceil with his elbow.

“Haa… So, this is how it turned out.”

Anyway, with Helka gone, it was normally Lanceil who took on the role of educating these troublemakers.

Lanceil grabbed Marron and Night, who was making defiant faces, by their ears and dragged them away.

“Get inside now! You brats!”

“Ouch! Ouch! Ears! Ears! Let go of my ear!”

“What did I say wrong?”

It was an unusual sight for Tevon, who usually got the end of that treatment, now watching from the sidelines.

“Right… Just get inside, you little brats.”

Hmm. For some reason, he was starting to understand why he was always told to grow up…

* * *

This time, Jiwoo set off on a business trip with new team members, bundled up in warm clothes.

Since it was an urgent matter, she thought they’d head straight to their destination, but again, there were many stops along the way.

Along the route, there was a perfectly frozen lake, and they played, sliding across it. When Kaman reached out his hand, they twirled around, dancing on the ice. The cold air filled her lungs, feeling refreshing.

In short, this trip was yet another date disguised as business.

After playing on the lake, she returned to find Lanset and Arven doing something.

“What are you doing?”

They were carving something, and it looked like a club that came up to their waist.

“Oh, this? Wait a minute, step back.”

Lanset and Arven, who had just been carving it, swung the club through the air.

The sound of the wind cutting through the air with a boom was sharp and fierce.