At The End Of The Hidden Greenery

Chapter 67 - The Measure of Happiness

They couldn’t cross the continent right away.

Even if they used Helkainis’s magic, it would exhaust his physical strength if they were to teleport through long distances.

It was a day where too many things happened to Jiwoo as well. She was exhausted both physically and emotionally.

Jiwoo, who fell asleep while being carried, woke up again as the night deepened.

The night was full of stars and the moon was bright. It was in the middle of a forest full of fireflies. The forest illuminated by the moon and stars was shining with a soft light green.

The sky was beautiful? Had she ever rested safely and comfortably enough to lie still and look up at the night sky?

It’s going to be autumn soon. She could still hear the bugs chirping like on a summer night. It seems wrong to think that the sky was the same sky of her hometown, despite having fallen into an unfamiliar world.

Jiwoo, who lived in the city, never had the chance to see the sky like this.

As she followed the shape of the galaxy with her eyes, she felt that this world was made in a round shape.

The sky was so clear.

“Why are you sighing like that?”

“…Ah, Tevon.”

Jiwoo turned her head to look at Tevon lying next to her. She has been carried on his back all day, but he’s not even tired. He’s looking at her without a hint of sleep from his countenance.

She had no idea that she would be lodging outdoors for the night before moving on to El Ragneil. The scene of the night forest was like a dream or fantasy.

“You look conflicted.”

“Umm… Is that so…”

To be honest, she didn’t know what she was feeling.

When Tevon, who has a good sense of humor, said that, she seemed to be really conflicted.

“I thought I risked everything, and thought there was only that, but when I think about it, there are times when that’s not the case.”

And when she realizes that, it was so empty? She vaguely thought she would be relieved, but she wasn’t.

“How do you feel about choosing us?”

“…I don’t know.”

They could have been just a refuge, or they could have been a choice for future happiness.

Jiwoo was too tired to judge now, and she didn’t know much about them. Tevon, who was silent for a moment, spoke hesitantly.

“I was afraid that you might choose him.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve been through a time where I can’t intervene.”

Jiwoo laughed.

She was momentarily overcome by emotion, but even under that circumstance she chose to walk this path herself.

When she thought about it as she calmed down like this, she didn’t think she would choose another option any more.

“He was someone who knew how to take advantage of the fact that I had no desire to go… even if it wasn’t strongly intended.”

Jiwoo, the Akarna, looking at it broadly—this world, beyond the Great Vortex, to Elandos…

Even knowing that it was because of the temple, the Crown Prince chose the safe path. It was a method he chose because he loved her, but in the meantime, Jiwoo slowly died with such a method.