Chapter 19

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 19

The man stood in wonder as he stared down at Yuria. Usually, even if a person only just grazed his hand they would shrivel, so despite his abundant love for small and cute things he couldn’t express his feelings else they would die. Furthermore, the place man inhabited was very difficult for small and cute things to survive in, although a few small creatures sometimes survived, they weren’t adorable in the slightest.

However, despite being small, cute, and lovely Yuria didn’t crumble like the others. Even after facing his aura and grabbing his hand, she was completely unscathed. With that petite hand of hers, she held his hand and endured the pressure of his presence.

Cute, small, and lovely, but strong! The man was thrilled to discover that such a thing could exist. He thought it was something he’d never see till his death. When he awoke from his sleep, the annoyance he felt being in an unfamiliar place was instantly relieved at the sight of Yuria. He immediately wanted to take Yuria home with him, and keep her from harm’s way while showering her with care so she could only smile. At that thought, the man’s energy boosted, no matter where he was it wasn’t difficult to return home, but for some reason, the man couldn’t go back. The man frowned, embarrassed that the energy he had released vanished at once after taking the form of his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Yuria, noticing that the strength of the man’s grip had loosened, promptly ran with her axe in hand, stopping to look back only after there was a good distance between the two.

Although kind of strange, I don’t think he’s a bad person… She tried to ignore him, but his lonely figure pricked her conscience. However, not completely trusting the man, Yuria decided to offer him advice as a sort of half-kindness.

“If you go down that road, you’ll find a village.” Once saying this, Yuria continued to run away, hoping to avoid getting caught by the man. I told him the way to the village, so that should be enough. Now that he has come to his senses, he shouldn’t freeze to death by choosing to sleep here in this cold weather.

The man, who was distracted by his energy mishap, belatedly realized that Yuria had run away. Even the energy she left behind was sweet, resembling her loveliness. Although hazy, it wasn’t difficult to follow her energy and find her, but before that, there was something he had to do, no, something he had to find out; the reason why he suddenly opened his eyes in this new place, and why he couldn’t return with his energy. Only after finding out the reason would he be able to return home with that cute, small, and lovely, but strong woman. He will need to make preparations before he takes her, so in the meantime, he would leave her alone.

However, if someone tried to steal his lovely thing… A rough, murderous energy emanated from the man’s body as he quietly muttered, “I won’t leave them alone.” The energy devastated his surroundings and shattered all the nearby trees, clearly displaying the man’s violent emotions. A radius of 10 meters around him was reduced to dust.

Fortunately, Yuria, who had escaped before that, slowed to a walk after confirming that the man was out of sight and breathed a sigh of relief. He was a strange man. Both why he was sleeping in the frigid woods, and how he got there, was unknown to Yuria. Yuria thought this part of the forest was out of human reach, it was the first time she’d seen a person so deep in the forest. So, the discovery of the man itself caused her to feel bothered and become extra cautious, but she tried to soften her vigilance knowing she would just be stressed.

Who the hell was that? For a human being, he felt heterogeneous and out-of-place. His black hair and eyes that resembled Fren’s were stuck in her mind, and the same went for the man’s behavior after he opened his eyes. With one gesture he drew out his sword, blew the axe away, and brought it back again. It would have been impossible if he had been an ordinary human being, but it never occurred to her that the man might not be human. She might’ve considered the possibility before, but after meeting Fren, Yuria knew where this place was from her knowledge of the novel. There were no races other than humans in this world. Since Fren is a mixture of human and demon, the fact that demons exist was known, but there was no other demon besides Fren in the novel. So, Yuria chose to accept that the man was simply a unique human.

That atmosphere, really, it’s quite hard to forget. The moment she saw him, Yuria felt a strange sensation of something like pleasure and familiarity, even she wasn’t sure what those feelings were. She could only feel the strange atmosphere engulfing her body. Fortunately, though, the man didn’t try to harm Yuria, he just showed some incomprehensible behavior, and somehow, Yuria was confident that the man was not a bad person. She couldn’t tell for sure whether it was because of the aura that fluttered towards her or the warmth of the unknown man’s gaze.

Either way, I should quickly- She had left Fren alone to go cut down some firewood, saying she would be back soon. However, she met a man by chance and it took more time than expected. Before it got too late, she had to cut down a tree and head home to Fren, who would be waiting for her. When she’d left Fren behind, his eyes were still teary. She felt sorry for the situation and wanted to go out together, but it was too dangerous for him. Since she was lazy, Yuria used to cut down long trees to collect more firewood, so she ended up deforesting about ten meters around her each time. Sometimes some trees fell on others creating a domino effect. This was the reason why Yuria, who couldn’t hold the boy while wielding an axe, knew that leaving him behind was unavoidable. So, she was thinking of cutting down a bigger tree than usual, even if it was harder. That way she wouldn’t have to leave Fren for a while. Yuria hurriedly started searching for a good tree. If she kept dawdling, the day might end. Fortunately, it didn’t take long before she saw a tree of the size she wanted. Yuria approached the tree and swung her axe without hesitation, felling the tree with one sharp swing. She lifted the fallen tree now familiar with the process. The disparity between Yuria and the ginormous tree made it hard to tell whether she was picking up the tree or the tree was picking her up, yet, she seemed fine. Due to the size of the tree, which was much larger than usual, she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to lift it, yet, the tree felt lighter than she thought. It felt the same as picking up a rock from the street. Yuria neatly carried the tree over her shoulders and headed home.

Upon arriving home, what greeted Yuria was a barefoot Fren, crying out loud in front of the cabin, looking as if he had lost the world.

“Fren.” Yuria called to him in shock. Aside from being barefoot in this cold weather, Fren wasn’t wearing a proper coat either. Since when on earth he had been waiting? Fren’s face was frozen blue and red from the cold. Yuria was startled and threw the tree she was holding onto the ground with a loud thud and rushed towards him, causing the ground to vibrate for a moment.

Thankfully, Fren’s condition was better up close than from afar and her worries subsided. His feet were clean, without any visible wounds. Nonetheless, his feet were as frozen as his cheeks. It was heartbreaking to think that he had stood on the hard ground and endured the cold with those puny, soft feet. She didn’t ask why he came out crying without waiting patiently inside the cabin. In his young mind, he must have been worried and anxious that she would never come back. Left wondering if she had abandoned him or suffered something terrible. He must have been thinking all kinds of things with that little head. It was not the child’s fault he lacked trust in me or waited patiently. It was my fault to have worried the child to such an extent he would walk out barefoot in the cold. How anxious must he have felt since I was sick yesterday? It was impossible to guess how much anxiety and worry had accumulated in this little child’s heart. Yuria hugged Fren tightly in her arms, feeling sorry.

“Yuri didn’t- Fren waited. But it was scary. But, here… thump thump a lot.” Fren, intermittently, with difficulty, explained how he had felt. Yuria promised she would be back soon and Yuria is a good person, so he thought she wouldn’t break her promise. However, seeing that she didn’t return, the anxiety that had budded in his heart slowly grew. Every minute felt like a year, every hour an eternity. Fren had never waited for anyone in fact, there were more days he wished they would not come than did. Regardless, Fren waited for Yuria, because he wanted to be with her; he wanted her to be by his side for the rest of his life. He felt happy when he was with Yuria like he was floating in clouds. So he got anxious when the time she was gone prolonged, afraid that Yuria might have abandoned him and disappeared. It was a feeling he’d never felt before, many had abandoned him in the past, but he’d never felt anything like this. It didn’t hurt, it was rather relieving. It meant that they wouldn’t hurt him anymore. However, the mere thought of Yuria abandoning him made it difficult to breathe, as if all the darkness had searched him out and swallowed him. There was a difference between losing and being thrown away. Losing and letting go are two different things. It was sad to lose things, but being abandoned and thrown away was much more painful and sorrowful. It felt like his heart was being shattered in the flames of pain, the shards burning to ash then disappearing without a trace.

Being thrown away, I hate it. At least from Yuria. It didn’t matter if he was abandoned by another.

“…Don’t throw me away.” Fren whimpered, inside Yuria’s arms, with a voice so frail it seemed as if he was about to collapse. Yuria was so cozy and warm like a spring day, yet the sun could easily be overshadowed by the clouds, making him even more anxious.

“I will never leave Fren.” Even if, despite her own efforts, Fren becomes a darkened villain that will destroy the world as in the novel, Yuria vowed to stay by his side.

I can’t do much for him because I don’t have anything of value, so I just want to alleviate his loneliness. If it hadn’t been for Fren, her life would have flown by without purpose. If she could dedicate her life to giving someone a little warmth and shelter, that was enough to give reason to her existence. It’s not that death wasn’t scary, but it wasn’t difficult to sacrifice her own life for Fren. The moment of her death, she would be confident by his side.

Fren only grabbed the hem of Yuri’s clothes. He believed Yuria, but it was hard to believe again. Everything was new and unfamiliar to Fren, and even small hopes and expectations felt unsure and terrifying.

What should I do? What should I say to make Fren feel safe? I can’t let him be this anxious forever. She would spend her life with Fren, but that didn’t mean she could always be with Fren. She would need to leave to chop trees again someday and like today she would have no choice but to leave him alone. Then, in the meantime, Fren would be restless, afraid, and anxious again. Yuria knew how hard it was, anxiety was a seed that ate and gnawed at people’s minds. Once it bloomed, it wasn’t easy to get rid of it. So, somehow, she wanted to relieve Fren’s anxiety. After much contemplation, Yuria carefully opened her mouth.

“Fren, will you be my family?”

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────