At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 261
“No, no. You don’t have to explain any further. That was rude of me, sorry.”
“Yes. It is rude.”
Apparently, even considering the possibility of meeting another manifestation was already crossing a line.
But given how much they clearly loved each other, Jiwoo couldn’t help but wonder.
“How did you end up separated?”
“…Well.”
Tyrinos seemed defensive at first, but after a short silence, he deflected with his own question.
“Don’t you ever miss your original world?”
“My original world?”
“Yes. Don’t you ever want to go back home?”
Home… The thought did cross Jiwoo’s mind from time to time. Probably the same way most people feel about their hometowns. But she’d already forced herself to let go of those memories after coming to Caranazion.
To say she didn’t miss it at all would be a lie, but by now, she’d spent so much time in this world that going back was no longer an option she’d consider.
Just thinking of her husbands, she already felt a longing, she missed them even though they hadn’t been apart that long.
“We settled that a long time ago. I had my chance, but I decided not to go back.”
“I’m jealous.”
Tyrinos covered his face with one hand and bowed his head.
“I’m so jealous it drives me crazy.”
That alone gave Jiwoo a good idea of what Tyrinos’s group had been through.
“…Our El. She really missed it.”
As if out of habit, Tyrinos touched the spot on his chest where he kept the locket.
“One day, she gave me a gift like this, and then she was gone.”
“….”
Jiwoo suddenly remembered how the entire group had reacted when she’d given them marron glace.
Was it common to think of farewells when receiving a gift like that?
“You’re probably wondering if we weren’t enough for her. If we failed her somehow. Or if, as people who couldn’t even care for the trees and probably did more harm than good, we mistreated El.”
Tyrinos sighed.
“…We were together for a thousand years.”
They had loved for a thousand years. But in the end, they had parted.
“But our El apparently lived for two or three times that long in her world. She said she’d come back just once, because she missed us so much.”
“I heard that if you leave, you can never return.”
“…Our El wasn’t exactly ordinary. She was extraordinary in every way.”
Are all children of Ellandos hopelessly sentimental?
“Was your El from another world?”
“…Who knows. They say the manifestation is born through the tree.”
The information that followed was new and unfamiliar.
“Strictly speaking, if an overwhelmingly powerful force from another dimension comes into contact with this world, the tree gives them a body that suits this realm. That’s what happened to our El.”
“How do you know all that?”
It was information Jiwoo had never heard from the children of Ellandos back in El Ragneil.
“…Our El taught me.”
Was it normal for someone as big as Tyrinos to get so sentimental, talking about ‘our El’ over and over?
“And I know you’re someone who can touch the gateway between worlds.”
“Do you know how?”
Tyrinos drew a dagger from his coat.
“…What, are you going to stab me with that?”
“If you get just a little hurt. If you’re weakened a bit, you’ll be able to make contact.”
He quickly added another condition.
“Here, in this spot.”
Normally, the sight of a blade would have made Jiwoo flinch, but this time, she wasn’t so afraid.
Maybe because it actually seemed like a solution.
“If I use that method, can I return home? With my husbands?”
“That…”
“Don’t sugarcoat it or leave anything out. I want the truth.”
“….”
“Swear on your El.”
“…Hah.”
For the children of Ellandos, even an average one like Tyrinos, it was clearly a big deal to swear on that name.
“Let me just confirm one thing first.”
“Yes?”
“You said you lost something, right?”
“Yes.”
“…All right.”
As if realizing how important this detail was, Tyrinos lifted both hands in a gesture of surrender.
“I swear on El, my one true love, that you can return to your original time with your husbands using this method. But I doubt you’ll come through unscathed.”
That was probably too much to hope for. But just knowing how was enough.
“That’s all I needed.”
Whatever.
Jiwoo swept her hair from her forehead.
There was no way her husbands would ever approve of this, but maybe that’s why Tyrinos, who had no intention of currying favor with her, could suggest it.
“But if my husbands find out, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“That’s why I wanted to talk alone.”
Tyrinos muttered.
“I came looking for you because I heard you’d had a fight. But honestly, you two looked as close as ever.”
“Ahem.”
Jiwoo had no intention of dragging out the conversation.
“Then explain how it’s possible here.”
“You said you’re always in pain here. It’s because you’re acting as a substitute for the tree.”
Tyrinos explained that, with no tree here, this place was on the verge of collapse. It was a perfect environment for dimensional collisions.
In other words, it was a world teetering on the edge.
“So that’s why you wanted me to stay?”
“….”
They didn’t need someone to care for the tree. They just wanted some way, any way, to see their loved one again.
“Got it. But my goal is to take all my husbands home with me. Shouldn’t we gather everyone first?”
“If it works, physical location won’t matter.”
“Is that so?”
There was no time to get caught up in details.
“All right, let’s do it.”
Tyrinos pointed the dagger at Jiwoo. The blade looked razor-sharp, the fuller cut deep. If she got stabbed with that, there’d be a lot of blood.
She’d be weakened quickly.
She knew there was a reason for all this, but her heart pounded in her chest.
Thump. Thump.
Watching the blade draw closer, her heart beat even louder.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
‘I’m scared, after all…’
Maybe it was better to close her eyes. And so, at the last moment, Jiwoo squeezed her eyes shut.
rivier
Wah saya sangat penasaran dengan kelanjutannya