At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 254

This was something that happened by chance. Even if Jiwoo figured out how to return to her original timeline, forcing it could cause her serious harm.

Actually, Jiwoo herself didn’t mind the risk. The problem was if she wanted to bring her husbands with her. That’s what made things complicated. Still… it wasn’t impossible. All it required was for Jiwoo to endure a bit of pain or injury.

“Don’t you think I’m willing to take that risk?”

“Yes, I’m sure you are.” 

Solmih replied with a sigh.

“But Jiwoo, please try to understand how hard it is for us to ask you to go through something like that.”

“…I know.”

Jiwoo had faced plenty of situations where she’d been asked to take on risk or pain for the sake of something important. Knowing what kind of life she’d lived, they could never bring themselves to ask it of her.

So she couldn’t really blame them for that. Still, she let out a sigh.

“I know.”

But how many times has this happened already? Sometimes, their attempts to protect her just left her feeling left out.

“I can’t help feeling a little hurt about that.” 

She hadn’t meant for it to sound so blunt, but the words came out sharper than intended.

Skiass, sensing the tension, slowly opened his eyes and sat up from Jiwoo’s lap. With that, Jiwoo stood up as well.

“I’d like to be alone for a little while.”

“Huh?” 

“What?”

Her husbands immediately stopped what they were doing and stood up too. Their ears all swiveled toward her at once, clearly trying to read her mood. Seeing this, Jiwoo added.

“Don’t try to listen to my heartbeat either.”

At her words, Lancet and Arven instinctively clapped their hands over their ears. Maybe because they were born around the same time, they often acted like twins despite having different personalities.

Solmih asked gently.

“Are you very upset?”

“I just don’t want to get angry.”

It must have been just as difficult for them. Once they realized they’d fallen into the past, and that Jiwoo had been hurt, it was clear they couldn’t return easily. How hard must it have been to tell her she’d have to suffer if they all wanted to go back together?

“I don’t misunderstand. I know it was hard for you to bring it up. But I don’t like having decisions about my life made without even asking my opinion, especially when I’m not there. I do understand why you did it, though, so I don’t want to get angry. That’s why I just need a little time alone.”

From the way she felt right now, being excluded hurt even more than being asked to make sacrifices.

Lancet and Arven exchanged glances.

Jiwoo wasn’t raising her voice, but there was no expression on her face. Her tone was so flat and businesslike, it surprised them.

“That’s actually scarier…”

“Be, be quiet.”

Jiwoo shot them a narrow-eyed glare, and both of them nervously twitched their ears, watching her anxiously.

‘Are they trying to be cute on purpose?’

…Honestly, they always made it hard for her to stay angry.

***

When Jiwoo left the lodging alone, Tyrinos’s group asked what was wrong.

“We had a little argument.”

They promptly led her to another spot.

It wasn’t far, just a different part of the village, but it was enough to be alone. Once by herself, Jiwoo hugged her knees and curled up.

When she’d first decided to marry someone from another species, she hadn’t considered problems like this. She’d known their ways of thinking were different, but at times like this, it felt truly foreign.

‘Callan was the same.’ 

Even after their wedding, he’d tried to send her to another group if they could offer her better circumstances. His desire for Jiwoo’s happiness had always come before his own feelings for her.

Now that this sort of thing kept happening, maybe it was just the way their people were.

Would she have to keep accepting it forever?

‘I guess it can’t be helped, if I’m already softening this quickly…’

But the moment she left them behind, it had already become a problem.

When she said she wanted to be alone, all of them drooped their ears and just stared at her until the door closed. Even though she’d spoken so coldly, she already felt sorry for walking out.

And as soon as she started feeling that way, it was over.

Knock.

There was a soft knock at the door.

When she opened it, she found Skiass, trembling and unable to meet her eyes.

“El, are you really angry?”

“Why’d you come by yourself?”

With a scratchy voice, Skiass replied.

“I figured if I came, you’d be… least likely to get mad.”

Jiwoo looked at him slowly. 

His hair, normally soft and curly, looked dry and frazzled, and his eyes were sunken and dark. He’d always looked tired, but now he looked ready to collapse. It was understandable, since he’d just been napping with his head in her lap, completely worn out from treating her small scar.

It was all because he’d wanted to help with her minor pain.

Jiwoo found herself unable to say anything for a moment. She let out a long sigh.

“Haa…Come in.”

She remembered that in El Ragneil, if you upset your spouse, one of the other husbands would go help smooth things over. They’d said it was because they were cunning, but now she thought maybe she finally understood.

Even after coming in, Skiass fidgeted anxiously.

“Are you really mad?”

But if she still found all this adorable, she was probably hopeless.

“I’m not angry.”

What she felt wasn’t anger, but more like a kind of sadness.

The decision had been made because they wanted to keep her from getting hurt. She couldn’t help feeling as if they were giving up on her too easily.

But as much as it stung, she couldn’t be truly angry. They were simply too devoted.