At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 253
Looking back, even crossing a continent was something other groups couldn’t easily do. They’d survived for quite a while in unfamiliar Caranazion, too.
‘Maybe I’m blinded by love.’
She was well aware that her group had pulled some pretty ruthless moves, yet somehow, it didn’t feel all that bad.
“I’m keeping this one for myself.”
Kaman, humming to himself, had made a locket just like the one Tyrinos carried, and painted Jiwoo’s portrait inside.
Solmih was carving a small white stick of wood, and Lancet and Arven had started making a new bag from scratch. Only Skiass, utterly exhausted from last night, was napping with his head in Jiwoo’s lap.
They really were a handy bunch. Watching them quietly work with what little they had felt oddly endearing.
“It’s a shame, though…”
“What is?”
“If things had gone according to plan, we’d be heading back before the Festival.”
“Oh, right. We have to celebrate Helka’s birthday.”
In El Ragneil, after the end of each season and just before the harshest part of winter, there were six days unmarked on the calendar, known as the Festival days.
Helka was born right before the Festival began, which meant his name, Helkainis, literally meant ‘the 28th of the 13th month’, or ‘the day before the Festival’.
No wonder nobody ever complained about how quickly Helka named his siblings. He’d at least put more thought into their names than his own.
“Our first Festival, we barely noticed it at all.”
Back then, they’d just crossed over into El Ragneil and had been so busy rebuilding the village that Jiwoo barely even registered the passing of time, much less a festival.
“That’s true. El, you should ask Callan to teach you the Festival dance.”
“Why don’t you just teach me yourself?”
“Ah… Callan’s much better at that.”
“Hmm. I thought you’d want to do it yourself, though.”
It seemed odd that Kaman would pass up the chance to do something special with her.
“By the way, that locket Tyrinos had…do you think the woman inside was his spouse?”
“…Probably.”
“I’ve never seen her around, though. Do you think she lives here?”
Jiwoo realized there weren’t any trees here that could give birth to them, nor were there any female manifestations born from those trees. It was strange they even traveled this side of the world at all.
Then again, if there were more female manifestations, these disaster-ridden places wouldn’t exist.
Solmih glanced at Jiwoo before returning to her carving.
“If a female manifestation wants to leave, no one can stop her. Usually, they travel far, far away.”
“They seemed so close, though…”
Had they been separated?
As someone now happily married to her own husbands, Jiwoo found that hard to imagine.
“Sometimes there are unavoidable circumstances. If something happens, you can’t always undo it.”
“That’s true. Like… situations like this.”
“…What?”
“Ah.”
Lancet immediately clapped a hand over his mouth, startled by what he’d almost said.
“What do you mean?”
But just from that short exchange, Jiwoo realized what they were all hinting at.
“Situations like this one?”
Things had been a little off for a while now. Even when they talked about ‘going back’, or ‘once we return’, no one actually said they’d be going back with Jiwoo.
“Are you saying… we might not all be able to return together?”
Solmih gave her a gentle smile.
“What do you mean, not being able to go back? Of course you can return.”
“I mean all of us, can’t we all go back together?”
No one answered right away.
“I thought it was a bit strange lately. You’ve all been rushing to do things with me lately, and I know how laid-back you all usually are. You even made new parchment and ink, drawing pictures, and kept asking for portraits. Kaman wanted a locket with my portrait inside… just like Tyrinos, to remember someone special.”
She stroked Skiass’s hair, still resting on her lap.
“I never really understood why Skiass cried like that, but if it’s what I think, it makes sense.”
He said he’d only just started getting to spend time like this. If he didn’t do something, nothing of him would remain. He thought he’d barely be remembered at all.
It wasn’t that Skiass felt left out compared to the other husbands, but rather, he felt he wouldn’t have much time left at all.
“And Kaman said he was worried about the future, too…”
“El, I…”
Kaman tried to say something, but Jiwoo shook her head and kept going.
“You all wanted to erase even my smallest scars, and you wanted to leave permanent marks on me. Because you might not be able to see me anymore. Isn’t that right?”
The cozy atmosphere was replaced by a long, heavy silence.
After a moment, Solmih finally spoke.
“You misunderstand, Jiwoo. We never said it was impossible to go together.”
His tone and voice are both extremely careful.
“Just as you know, we can’t cross dimensions. And if we even touch the rift between worlds, you know what can happen.”
This world was naturally prone to dimensional overlaps. That’s how Jiwoo had arrived in the first place. But for ordinary people, even contact with a rift could shred them to pieces.
The only reason they’ve all survived so far is because she has been protecting them.
“This time went okay, didn’t it?”
“Yes, and you got ill in the process.”
“But I’m fine now.”
“That was luck. Your recovery was pure chance. If you tried again on purpose, things would be much worse, and you might not recover at all.”