/
Did she happen to do something irreversible? Everyone seemed to be looking at her like a sad wet puppy.
However, as soon as she heard the word ‘thousand years’, Jiwoo suddenly felt a sense of distance from them.
It was because she was once again faced with the realization that they weren’t human. It was also a way out of this situation.
“Um
 a thousand years
 that’s enough, I’m sure a lot of differences will come out in my lifetime. I won’t live that long.”
However, Enci immediately refuted.
“That doesn’t matter. You’re an Akarna.”
“What’s the difference?”
Enci tilted her head.
“Your time must have almost stopped when you came over here? The aging that this world gives you can also be said to be a primary threat to the Akarnas.”
Her body’s time has stopped? Hearing those words, Jiwoo remembered something she had thought was a flaw.
“Well then
 I
”
“You can live with us as long as you want.”
“
That’s not it.”
After becoming an Akarna, her monthly periods had also stopped coming.
The crown prince treated it as a flaw that the imperial family could never accept, and Jiwoo had always thought it was her own fault.
The reason she couldn’t marry the crown prince was because her body had become like this. She thought that maybe it was because she kept purifying the dirty miasma with her body, or maybe it was because she only met the sick. She blamed herself endlessly.
She didn’t know the exact reason. She just thought that she inevitably became broken after she had crossed dimension, or perhaps it was because she was under too much duress at the temple.
“Not being able to succeed is also
 a big flaw
”
“Oh that? What’s wrong with that? You’re the Akarna. Of course.”
“Ah
 I, I see.”
It’s the first time she has heard that it’s so casual and natural. It was a shock comparable to hearing that an Akarna was just an ordinary person.
Jiwoo held her hands as she was cornered. Wiggling her fingers was the best she could do now.
“But still, I’m human
”
Jiwoo’s voice grew weaker and quieter.
Even if they could communicate, they were of different races and people from another world.
She didn’t know what it was like now, but there would probably be some awkward parts because her values didn’t match with the children of Elandos.
Jiwoo was realistic in this respect. Even for Jiwoo, there was a time in the past when she dreamed of a love that floated like a dream.
Yet the more she lived in this world, the more she became ensnared by the reality of it all.
No matter how much she focused on the good sides and stayed true to her current feelings, it was unknown how long that would stay the same.
She became a coward.
While living with the crown prince, who was human just like her, she had to adapt to life in the empire and life in the temple with great difficulty. It was hard for her to live day by day.
“Human? What
 Did those stupid Imperial bastards treat you like a mere human?”
“

.”
Jiwoo’s expression darkened even more than before.
Tevon, who instantly grasped the atmosphere, threw a stone at Enci’s head. It was the same thing he did to Enci, who was rude when they first met.
“That’s enough. You’re old, so you talk a lot about this and that.”
As Enci was rubbing his back and forehead nervously, Tevon blurted out.
“Seo Jiwoo, I like you. That’s why I want to marry you.”
“What?”
“It was love at first sight.”
“W-What?”
“I liked you from the first time I saw you.”
“

”
Su, suddenly?
It seemed as if she had been hit with an attack that had a time lag, which kept pushing and then came back to her.
Jiwoo tried to cover her face with one hand, but she couldn’t stop the heat from rising to the top of her head, turning completely red. When the crown prince first said he would keep Jiwoo by his side, he didn’t tell her any such words—that he liked her.
As a blue-blooded aristocrat, he spoke in a noble manner, but did not directly confess his feelings.
Even their status of becoming lovers did not start with any words. Was he of the same mind as she was? She remembered thinking that many times.
Come to think of it, she first heard that he loved her only when he said he would marry another noble.
The crown prince knew that Jiwoo loved him and was hanging onto him. He knew how effective those words were. Maybe that’s why she cared so much about just one word?
Perhaps because she had experienced her first love that way, she felt that Tevon’s words were very easy and light.
A light remark that could be taken as a joke.
However, it was a long time when she was hung up on just that one word. Jiwoo, who had been hit by it, could not easily pass it over.
Jiwoo couldn’t make eye contact with any of them. She kept her head down and tried not to show her expression, but they had all of Jiwoo’s reactions in their eyes from earlier. There were five of them and just one of her.
And they quickly realized that a few words from Tevon were far more effective than any other condition they had ever put forth with effort.
Everyone held their breath and watched Tevon’s behavior, which would normally be free spirited.
No one stopped Jiwoo even though they could see that she was feeling troubled.
It was the first time they had seen Seo Jiwoo like that.
“And did you forget already? I told you to be comfortable with me.”
“I haven’t gotten to know you that well yet
”
“It’s not? I fell in love at first sight.”
“


”
“It will get better with time.”
Jiwoo set all the good conditions. She immediately thought of a way out. However, she couldn’t really refute those words.
“Then, even after Elandos is healed, will you accept me if this heart remains the same?”
“

”
“I like you, Seo Jiwoo.”
“I, I see.”
In the end, Jiwoo surrendered.
“
Give me time. I’ll think about it positively.”
“Just get married and have a good time. I’ll run to you anytime, anywhere, you know? We have good ears.”
“
Yes.”
Her face flushed as she stared at the floor. It wasn’t even a fight, but she felt like she had lost.
* * *
A few days later, Helkainis greeted everyone at the entrance of the village to leave.
“I’m leaving for a while to connect the passage to El Ragneil.”
“Is it difficult?”
“It’s not difficult, but your safety comes first. I’m trying to find a time when the storm will calm down a bit. I’ll be right back.”
“Ah yes
”
“When I get back, I hope your answer will be ready.”
Helkainis knelt down and kissed the back of Jiwoo’s hand.
“And then you’ll be comfortable with me too, right?”
And he smiled with his lips on the back of her hand.
She thought that there was no emotion in the black eyes that absorbed all the light, but when she looked closely, they had more heat than anything else.
As Jiwoo stared into his eyes, her face heated up. She just nodded.
Since that day, time in the village had become quite relaxed. Everyone looked forward to returning to El Ragneil.
And they started to organize their life here. Those who interacted with other places also returned and were waiting in the village.
The words that they had been begging Jiwoo to get married from time to time completely disappeared, but the sweet attitude of all of them remained the same.
Surprisingly, no one had confessed their feelings since Tevon. If it had been that way, she would have said that Elandos was so important that it even deceived their feelings or that they were deceiving her.
But the only one who confessed his feelings to her was Tevon. So she felt as if she was going even crazier.
The people here made it so that Jiwoo couldn’t sharpen her vigilance. Her body was absorbed in something soft and sweet like jelly, but she felt like she couldn’t go out even after knowing it. Maybe she would be swallowed like this.
“Seo Jiwoo.”
“
Ah, Tevon.”
“Where are you going? Did you eat? Is everything okay today?”
Jiwoo received another flower from Tevon. She accepted it so easily at first that she couldn’t refuse it now. She didn’t know how many days it had already been.
Since he said he liked her, Tevon has brought her a different bunch each day.
The color and shape of the flowers changed every day.
At one time, he put a pile of mushrooms in a basket and showed them to her, but Jiwoo recalled that it was a pile of bright red mushrooms that he had looked at strangely when he and Jiwoo went out to see the forest together.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the bouquet that he had carefully brought, one by one, in case even a single petal would be damaged.
She felt like I had to say something.
“You see, Tevon
 I
”
Boom.
It was then. The ground shook.
Boom.
Boom.
It wasn’t just the ground. The entire atmosphere shook with heavy energy.
“What?”
Tevon’s reaction was quicker.
A huge seal floated above the village. It was like a pattern surrounding the village in a circle.
“That’s
”
Her heart seemed to stop. Jiwoo knew what that was.
She knew this because she had followed him through the battlefield and treated the wounded.
Every time she saw him, she always thought he was so admirable, so she couldn’t forget him.
She just didn’t know that it would be projected in the air where she was staying.
A large maned lion and a snake.
A dark red pattern representing the imperial family. It was the pattern to be stamped on the battlefield when the crown prince was declaring war.