Chapter 50

Chapter 50

As Jiwoo coughed several times the alcohol she couldn’t spit out, Enciertes laughed softly while wiping her face with a handkerchief.

“Was it that surprising?”

That kind of reaction was no more outrageous.

“…That’s how you propose, right?”

“That way…”

It was a negative reaction to anyone’s ears. Enciertes blushed and his ears tilt horizontally again. It seemed rather rare that his ears were upright.

“What’s the problem? First of all, I showed you my abilities, and I think our values match well…”

“Did you come to that conclusion because you thought it wouldn’t matter if you omitted all the traditions?”

As Jiwoo sighed, he shut his mouth, like something was embarrassing. Shortly thereafter, Enci spoke in a scathing tone, but in a low voice without confidence.

“What… what can I do?”

“A proposal is usually done on a day when the atmosphere between the people involved is good, and in my culture, it’s done by giving flowers or even a ring.”

“…A ring?”

“Yes, a wedding ring…”

Or an engagement ring. Jiwoo looked down at her hand as she trailed her words. There was nothing on her hand.

After becoming lovers with the crown prince, there was a time when she thought that she would marry him.

However, the crown prince gave an engagement ring to another woman.

Underneath the bright lights of a banquet hall, their hands glistened with large jewels as they danced together.

Suddenly, a white glove came into her view.

“Ah…”

Enciertes took her hand. Enci didn’t seem to notice that she was surprised.

He measured the size of the ring by carefully fiddling with her finger.

Wearing clean gloves, it seemed that the hands he was carefully touching were treated as the most precious thing in the world.

Looking at the serious eyes, sharp nose, and long eyelashes, her face heated up for no reason.

“Is there a set type of jewelry? Or, what is your favorite type of jewelry?”

“I don’t know much about the names of jewels.”

Enci didn’t even look her way and fell into deep thought. What was the big concern he was having?

“Right… This will take at least… an hour.”

“…….”

She didn’t mean that she wanted the ring right now.

When he started fiddling with something on the table, Jiwoo snuck out of the lab.

Jiwoo hurriedly walked, fearing that someone else would talk to her. She went to her residence in this place.

She thought for sure that if they set the mood and proposed again, she would accept it. Because of Enci, that momentum somehow deflated.

For some reason, she thought of going back and resting as she was getting depressed because she had thought of the crown prince.

However, Jiwoo was not a quick walker. Callandein and Lanceil saw her from afar and came running.

“Seo Jiwoo, we just happened to see you. Do you want to go see a nearby lake?”

“Lake?”

“Yes. There is a beautiful place not far away. You will like it too. If you hadn’t eaten, why don’t you come alone?”

It was just past lunchtime and she was starving.

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted from the basket Lanceil had lifted.

Jiwoo felt burdened when others talked to her, but she at least would be comfortable with people she knew by name.

In the end, Jiwoo went against her original plan and followed them.

The place they guided her to was a small lake not far away.

Before coming to this world, Jiwoo lived in a mountainous area.

So, even if it was a lake inside the forest, she would only think of a wide lake with a view of the mountains in the distance.

The place they were guided to was a place where a giant had dug a hole in the forest.

Even so, it was not so small as to be called a pond.

The top was not open, and the willow branches and trunks hung down, making it look even more closed off. The water seemed to be half a mixture of sapphire and turquoise hues. Nonetheless, the water was transparent when she approached.

Jiwoo sat near the lake, dipped her feet in the water, and took the bread that Callan took out of the basket.

Just looking at the surroundings while tearing off the bread the size of a fingernail each time seemed to relieve the fatigue of her body and mind.

Splash.

Lanceil took off his top and dove into the water.

His rugged body, much thicker than the others, was submerged in the clean water. And he held Jiwoo’s foot in the lake.

“Haa…”

She was about to fall asleep quietly at the powerful hand rubbing her tired feet.

She has been dragged around all this time, but Jiwoo recalled that she was actually someone who wanted to become lazy at every opportunity.

She remembered the old days when she was afraid that it would be difficult to adapt to this place.

Even the feeling of longing for her hometown has faded away…

“Ah, Seo Jiwoo. I have something to show you.”

Callan snapped his fingers in the air.

Small ice particles exploded in the air. The ice cubes dispersed the light in the air to create a rainbow. As the golden prism unfolded in front of her eyes, the lake as well as the world seemed beautiful.

And above all, it also served as a very welcome effect to face in the summer.

“It’s really cool.”

“I’m not as good as Helka, but we can all use simple magic. How about it? Marriage life would be comfortable, wouldn’t it?”

Lanceil, who was massaging her feet in the water, also supported Callan’s opinion.

“…If you marry us, you will be served like this every day.”

These series of proposals… She felt something tingle inside her, so she closed her eyes.

“I’ll go with you to El Ragneil.”

In the end, Jiwoo gathered them all together and said so.

“I will go with you to El Ragneil and heal Elandos.”

“Really, Seo Jiwoo?”

Callan’s face brightened like in full bloom. Smiling brightly like blooming flowers, he grabbed Jiwoo’s hands and rubbed his cheeks against them.

Being so happy, Jiwoo also felt a lot lighter.

They told her that she would repay the favor, but in fact, Jiwoo would gain more from this. She realized that she didn’t know how she hadn’t died and stayed alive all this time.

“Yes. I understand why you are so desperate. I have encountered miasma many times, and I know how important Elandos is to drive them away.”

And she knows how much these people value it.

She remembered the day when everyone cried and laughed due to just one white branch being revived. Enciertes, who woke up early in the morning and couldn’t even wake Jiwoo and express his joy, just swallowed his sorrowful feelings and cried.

“And though I’ve said it before, I don’t intend to hold anyone’s life hostage. I won’t ask for an excessive reward or anything like that.”

“Ah, then…”

“But I’m not saying I’m going to get married. That’s… I’m still not sure.”

“…What?”

The lighthearted atmosphere quickly subsided.

“You don’t have to marry me.”

Jiwoo knew why they wanted to get married.

Because she was an Akarna, and if it had not been for her being one, they would not have to go through this.

Even if their situation was desperate and even if they were sincere, once Elandos was cured, this drunken state for a while would surely go away.

The crown prince was enough to want her as Akarna. She didn’t want to go through the betrayal of her expectations again.

“Another good person will appear. You are all capable and good people…”

“Another person? We can’t get married?”

“What?”

“Didn’t I tell you? In El Ragneil, female bodies are born very rarely. There are many more males who never get chosen in their lifetime. Maybe a lot more than you think.”

Jiwoo widened her eyes at his unexpected reaction.

“…Besides, we’ve already been used and worn out, so what woman would like us?”

T-That…

She thought about it from time to time before, but why did Callan have such a predilection for those kinds of words?

“No, then why would you give something so important as a reward?”

They casually asked Jiwoo to choose a man at the banquet, and like it was a matter of course, they came to serve her.

Lanceil tilted his head with a really incomprehensible look.

“Don’t you think you’ve done us so much?”

Enciertes frowned.

“We had very few options.”

Helkainis also spoke quietly.

“Hmm… As I said, I intended to atone for the rest of my life by your side if you allowed me to.”

“That, that’s…”

Jiwoo didn’t know what emotions to express as confusion and embarrassment mixed together.

It was just. It was really confusing. She was flustered.

“Ah… do you feel a sense of responsibility?”

Callandein smiled.

His eyes curled like crescent moons and she smiled, and as if he suddenly felt better, he spoke with a low voice.

“What to do? This body has become a lewd body that only Seo Jiwoo can accept.”

His tone conveyed not a single concern at all.

“What, then what will happen to Helka?”

Tevon, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly pulled Helka in. He rushed in when he noticed the atmosphere swinging in his favor.

“You devoured a thousand-year-old virgin, don’t you feel responsible?”

Helka, with a rare embarrassed face, spoke solemnly.

“…Tevon. Your words are a little vulgar.”

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