At The End Of The Hidden Greenery

Chapter 61 - I Want To Get Married

***

She knew everything about what the temple did already, but why did she have to bow her head to them still? Why must she have to wait for the right time?

That’s a given.

The temple was the last sanctuary left in Caranazion.

As the Akarna would save this slowly eroding land, she had to come out only from there.

Now, it’s come to the point where she’d have to acknowledge the existence of the temple, not just for the Empire, but for the sake of Caranazion as a whole.

Even if the Crown Prince wasn’t in that position in the past and didn’t know much about this, he was still a member of the imperial family.

Still, Jiwoo had no choice but to tell him. Because there was no one else.

“Your Highness, are you going to leave the temple as it is?”

“…Akarna.”

Akarna, who should have been in the bride’s waiting room, ran out and ran to the Crown Prince.

Jiwoo cried and screamed while she grabbed the Crown Prince and shook him.

The servants couldn’t catch Jiwoo as she ran away. The only thing they could do was follow after her.

They were restless, but the Crown Prince raised one hand to stop them, so they couldn’t approach hastily.

The wedding was about to begin soon. But how can she concentrate on the ceremony in such a feeling?

“Y-You should. At least you shouldn’t… if you really love me. Why are you leaving the temple alone?”

“Akarna, no… that won’t happen.”

“Why does the wedding have to be held in a temple? Why do I have to get permission from the temple? What are those bastards saying!”

“My priority is to protect you!”

The Crown Prince hugged her. He hugged Jiwoo who was crying and tried to calm her down.

“It’s painful, but bear with it. I’ll gradually change it. Soon, I’ll make sure they don’t live on this land.”

Suddenly, the servants disappeared. When this talk started, the Crown Prince waved them away, leaving him alone with Jiwoo.

“First of all, I can’t help it because I have to completely separate you from the temple. The new Akarna to be summoned will not live the same way as before. Please… trust me just for once.”

He would soon become the Emperor. So he wasn’t talking about an impossible plan.

But why are there so many things that can’t be helped? The Crown Prince had always put himself behind the inevitable, essential, and prioritized things.

Looking at it, there were many days when he consoled her by saying that she should just understand.

It was different this time.

The Crown Prince acted to protect Jiwoo more than anything else.

However, because of that, he couldn’t protect the outer wall as Jiwoo asked, and he didn’t know how many more sacrifices would be needed in order to summon a new Akarna—a replacement for Jiwoo.

Maybe the Crown Prince had to put his hands on the sacrifices of others just to protect her. He was the Crown Prince with the ambition to protect and embrace everyone.

They destroyed each other. In order for someone to survive, one of them had to be sacrificed.

When Jiwoo asked the Crown Prince to look at her more than others, he only said not to act up. It was embarrassing emotionally, but she fully understood that it was inevitable because of his status as the Crown Prince and her position as Akarna.