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Chapter 63 – Dance of Farewell
Once upon a time, when she first woke up in this world, what she saw was an open white altar.
The strangers who welcomed her in this world did not hesitate to point their knives at her, talking single-mindedly about the supposed duty she must uphold.
This was the world where she had suddenly become the savior that they were looking for, and likewise, this was the world where she first met the Crown Prince, her own savior.
Whenever she was having a hard time, she hid in the corner of the temple and looked up at the same sky as her homeworld.
The days when she secretly went outside through the temple’s small opening and secretly played.
This land that she looked down on while riding a horse with the Crown Prince through the meadow.
The Crown Prince she used to smile at.
The first kiss she secretly shared at the dispatch site.
The Crown Prince she loved.
The Crown Prince who held another woman’s hand at the splendid victory party that was supposed to be for him and her.
The Crown Prince whose back she always looked at.
Her fleeting love that allowed her to keep only one memory of holding hands and kissing.
Good memories. Bad memories. Miserable memories. Those days still remained deep in her heart. This was the world where she experienced so much, but could not easily say goodbye to.
The temple was a place that only reminded her of those memories.
All of it was crumbling to pieces.
Helkainis held out one hand.
“Would you like to dance with me?”
“Dance…?”
“Since you accepted our marriage proposal, we should dance.”
She took his hand
The Crown Prince, who had been distant from her, faded from her memory. HIs back leaving her for a dance with another woman that she couldn’t forget.
His wonderful smile came to mind while he was dancing with that woman. His friendly laughter had sounded like a hallucination. The big ring on that woman’s hand had shone brightly underneath the chandelier. The lights at the party were pouring as if everyone in the world was blessing them. The upbeat music that people had played…
Helkainis, like magic, dyed those pure white and sparkling memories black.
He put on a black ring in his black form like a reaper. Destroying the temple with a magic circle that did not emit light.
“Seo Jiwoo.”
Helkainis called to her. Then all thoughts disappeared and only his face was visible.
As he gently led her by dragging her hand, Jiwoo followed with a bright smile. It wasn’t difficult. She always practiced because she wanted to dance with someone.
On top of the crumbling temple, Jiwoo danced the first dance she had been dreaming of while fluttering the white dress that was tailored for today.
Prove that you love me. At least dance the first dance with me.
It was that easy.
Her dress fluttered with each step.
The twigs and leaves embroidered on the hem of the dress glistened in the sunlight. The necklace and earrings made just for today made a cheerful sound as they swayed.
Boom. Boom. The constant destruction of the temple was no different from music only for this dance.
Stepping on the air as though it was a marble floor, with the sunset sky as the light for the party, Jiwoo danced with Helkainis for a long, long time.
Spinning around the burnt temple, she didn’t have any bad thoughts.
She had to move her body to get her breath out, but it seemed like even the blockage had burst.
Hahaha. Jiwoo laughed out loud again. Tevon asked her back then,
‘You don’t laugh well.’
She thought she had lost her smile someday.
But no. Wrong. Seo Jiwoo was cynical at the absurdity, and she laughed in vain when something absurd happened.
She could laugh. Rather, she couldn’t even distinguish the right time, and she didn’t know if she was originally a person who laughed anywhere like this.
“Seo Jiwoo.”
“…Yes.”
Helkainis smiled and stroked her cheek.
He was also the one who wanted her to laugh. Such a person knew how to say cliche things like how her smile is pretty or that he will make her smile a lot in the future.
Anyway, he was one of the people who proposed to Jiwoo, and wasn’t the end of marriage proposal usually concluded in that way?
But what Helka said was unexpected.
“Don’t cry, Seo Jiwoo.”
The smile on her face gradually faded.
“Come to El Ragneil with us.”
As if she had been really crying just now.
“…What will happen here?”
In an instant, she was at a loss for words. The weight of responsibility and guilt that weighed on her shoulders was not something she could easily shake off.
She could hear the voices of people calling her and asking for help.
“Don’t be mistaken. An Akarna is not a god. Not the savior of any race. So it is not for you to feel responsible.”
“But…”
“You are just like the earth, wind, water, and grass that exist in this world. You exist because you can exist in this world… It’s rare and difficult to observe, but the essence is an ordinary phenomenon.”
To the hesitant Jiwoo, the quiet, but infinitely friendly voice spoke, soothing her.
“They are only losing the sun that has been shining for them for a while. Just as humans cry in drought and cry out in storms, now is the time for them to learn how to fear nature.”
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The Akarna was a natural phenomenon.
If so, just as Caranazion had been through, even if the last remaining sanctuary and the Akarna disappeared right away. If they persevere and endure, they will experience it again someday.
“Will the storm clear someday?”
“Yes. It will take time… as long as they don’t destroy their own land again.”
When Jiwoo seemed to hesitate no matter what he said, Helkainis spoke reassuringly in his characteristically low voice.
“Leave them alone. At least you can be as mean as that.”
Rather, since the temple that created the absurdities collapsed in an instant, it might have become easier to build new ideas.
However, for the time being, Caranazion will have to live in a harsh disaster. Until a new Akarna appears naturally, perhaps for a long, long time.
The Crown Prince promised to destroy the temple because he loved her.
But his plan was slow and took time. He was an imperial citizen before he was Jiwoo’s lover, and he could not escape responsibility for the imperial people he had to rule.
He made the right decision as the leader of a nation.
In fact, Jiwoo longed for and loved the Crown Prince’s image.
But that’s why she had wilted while loving him. Their love couldn’t be happy for both of them.
Even in moments like this that she didn’t realize.
Jiwoo recalled the happy times she had with the Crown Prince.
Little memories of dressing up like a commoner, eating dark beer and sausage, going to the night market to buy a cheap necklace, and holding hands in the corner of the temple as if running away.
As long as the Crown Prince was still the Crown Prince of the Empire, such dream-like moments could never happen in the future.
Helkainis’s words were clearing away the notions that had brainwashed Jiwoo. The weight of responsibility and life that weighed on her shoulders as well.
The words the temple had said and the words the Crown Prince had encouraged shimmered like hallucinations.
ㅡYou are the watchman, Akarna, who came down to earth to obey the will of the Lord.
“I am nothing but an ordinary person.”
“Yes.”
—The Empire is receiving great help from Akarna.
“I don’t want to do things as the Akarna.”
“Yes.”
—What do you think of saving the suffering people and increasing the land where they can live in peace?
ㅡI think it’s the right thing to do.
“I don’t want to save people like that.”
“Right.”
ㅡThen will you help us?
“I don’t want to help anyone at my expense.”
“Yes. Life is inherently selfish. It is also the Akarna’s essence.”
ㅡDo you feel the same way as me?
“Come with us to El Ragneil, and become our bride.”
ㅡYour Highness, I love you.
“I don’t love him.”
“I know.”
—Yes, Akarna. We can make a better world.
“Seo Jiwoo, don’t do anything. We’ll love you.”
—I love you, Akarna.
“We will do our best. Seo Jiwoo. Just like a tree that takes root in one place… Please stay by our side.”
Helkainis stroked her cheek. For being an unbeliever, he looked at Jiwoo like the pure white Elandos they worship. No expression appeared on Jiwoo’s sunken face.
What kind of expression should she make at a time like this?
Love saved her life for five years, but it couldn’t stop her heart from breaking.
As her shattered heart tried to eat away at her life, new feelings came.
It wasn’t love that was trying to pick up her broken heart and put it back together.
So what is it? What were these feelings?
Can she try to find out now?
“I understand.”
“Then please smile for me.”
Jiwoo tried to forcefully move the muscles in her face, but she had a teary face. She tried to smile brightly—like a bride about to get married, but she laughed out loud.
Jiwoo wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes.
“I don’t know how.”
“That’s enough.”