Chapter 280

It was obvious why Camille was in that state. Both altars were filled with Ja’an, emitting a beautiful light.

The reason the Imperial Family accepted Nerys.

Camille’s purpose.

The sordid desire to monopolize the power of the Three Ja’an and gain even greater strength.

The power of just one Ja’an was enough to Seal a dragon. With two, there was no way Princess Camille’s body wouldn’t be burdened—unless this was a reinforced timeline, after the curse she placed on Nerys failed once.

Cledwyn took off his cloak and wrapped it around Nerys, holding her close. His vision blurred, making it impossible to see her face clearly.

“Wake up.”

‘Please.’

“Wake up, Nerys.”

‘We have to go home.’

‘I gathered as many of the people you love as I could, so I could return with you. Hoping you’d be in a little less pain. Hoping you’d be a little happier, even in this damned timeline.’

“You’re not dead yet. Huh? Are you? Huh?”

‘Do you know what?’

‘You are the snow. The snow falling on my frozen land. I am winter.’

‘Do you know how frightening and desolate a winter without snow is? A winter without snow freezes the land, livestock, and people to death. Even when spring comes, the land yields nothing. There has to be snow.’

‘Only with snow can winter harbor life.’

‘Only then can we wait for spring.’

The Eye of Pheros spoke sadly.

I’m sorry…

“Curse this world. Curse everything the Three Heroes created. Let them all die. Let them all be torn to pieces! I perfectly understand my mother’s death and my father’s madness. A world without her is nothing. Just barely clinging to life, stabbing knives into the hearts of others, the sordid…!”

Cledwyn’s lips, which had been spewing nonsense, suddenly stopped. It was because a lump of light had appeared before him, trembling.

Only then able to breathe, Cledwyn murmured blankly.

“…I told you not to come…”

[Mom…]

The lump of light grew fainter and fainter. Tears mixed with her trembling voice.

Not knowing if it meant anything, Cledwyn covered the lump of light with his palm so she wouldn’t have to see Nerys’s body. But the light kept dimming. Cledwyn whispered quickly.

“It’s okay.”

It was a lie. Nothing was okay. But he didn’t want the lump of light to know that.

When the previous Grand Duchess died, the previous Grand Duke showed no interest in his son Cledwyn’s feelings. He acted, consistently, as if nothing in the world mattered.

Only now, in this moment, did Cledwyn realize.

He had cared about the child’s heart. Even if all the air he breathed was taken from him and he died, he still wanted the child to be able to breathe.

He was different from his father.

He could love even the traces of the person he loved.

Just like his strong mother.

The Eye of Pheros flared with a powerful light, along with Elandria’s Jeweled Eyes. The Eye of Pheros spoke as if whispering.

– You… you are not from this place. Little child… my and Elandria’s child, don’t cry. When you return to your time, everything will be as it was.

The lump of light flickered.

Cledwyn took off his cloak and gently covered Nerys’s body. Then he approached the Eye of Pheros and asked.

“I heard that if Camille touches the Seal and the dragon awakens, I should ask her for help. When exactly is that?”

– Ah… so that’s why you came. She’s probably conscious even now. But to borrow her power… do as I say for a moment…

The Eye of Pheros instructed Cledwyn to alter part of the magic circle. Cledwyn followed, carving new shapes into the floor and walls with his sword, or erasing existing ones. The magic circle—glowing gold as if it might explode—gradually darkened.

How much time passed?

The magical wind filling the chamber finally subsided, and the pillar of light surrounding the Eye of Pheros vanished. Then, without a sound, a woman appeared in the secret chamber.

A robe with a mysterious sheen, and golden eyes. The dragon Kion was smiling through tears, as if she knew everything without needing an explanation. Cledwyn said to her.

“Return my wife to her original world.”

– “Take her yourself.”

Just as he was about to ask what that meant, he heard a faint cough, cough. Cledwyn turned around—and collapsed all over again.

Nerys, as clean as if she had never been injured or died, was sitting up. She struggled to pull off the cloak wrapped around her, and when she met Cledwyn’s eyes, she grumbled.

“Why did you cover me up so I couldn’t breathe? You scared me.”

It wasn’t the Nerys of this timeline.

It was Cledwyn’s Nerys.

Cledwyn silently went to his wife and picked her up. Nerys tapped his back, complaining it hurt from the gapless, crushing hug.

Kion approached and said.

– “This is within your memory, child of Elandria. Because you were Sealed within your memory and couldn’t awaken, your husband entered. Hurry and return. It’s not good to remain under this magic for too long.”

Before Nerys could reply, Kion placed a hand on her head. Nerys’s eyes slid shut, and she fell asleep—then shattered into golden light.

– “Now you go back too, child. You’ve suffered a lot.”

Kion spoke to the lump of light this time. Her voice carried a deeper affection, subtly different from how she spoke to Nerys or Cledwyn. The lump of light—already brightening, beginning to shine like the sun—answered brightly, without a hint of shyness.

[Yes, Kion! Can I talk to Dad for a little bit before I go?]

– “You’ll talk to him to your heart’s content when you wake up. Yes, you may say a few words.”

The lump of light flew to Cledwyn, bursting with excitement. Cledwyn smiled faintly as he looked at her.

[Dad! Dad! Do you love me today?]

It was the question that had been thrown at him more than ten years ago, by this world’s timeline—only now finally asked.

Cledwyn answered without the slightest lie.

“Yes. I love you.”

[Hehe. I’m so happy! I love you too, Dad.]

The lump of light shone brighter than ever. The light grew stronger and stronger until it became hard to keep his eyes open.

The lump of light had vaguely taken on the shape of a child around six or seven. Cledwyn said to her.

“I can finally call your name now.”

[Silly Dad. Dad doesn’t know my name, does he?]

“I know. I’ve known for a long time.”

He couldn’t see her eye color, hair color, or expression. But somehow, Cledwyn felt the glowing child was grinning mischievously.

“Arbyone.”

A word meaning ‘light’ or ‘hope’ in the Maindulante dialect.

Arbyone seemed to smile brightly—until the light, like the sun itself, gradually dimmed and finally disappeared without a trace.

Cledwyn turned back to Kion. It wasn’t to thank her, nor to urge her to send him back quickly.

With eyes sunk coldly, he asked.

“When my wife died the first time and time reversed, what happened to the people left behind in that timeline?”

Until now, it hadn’t mattered to him. The timeline where he and Nerys were together was the real world.

But now that he had come here and witnessed everything.

Now that he knew the past she had told him was an abridged version, stripped of emotion.

Everything had changed.

Kion looked through Cledwyn with wise eyes and replied.

– “I cannot know, child of Pheros. It has been separated from your world for a long time.”

“Can I visit that world for a while?”

– “That is very dangerous.”

“Why? You came here.”

– “This place is a world within memory, not a true world. Strictly speaking, it is still within your world. Do you want to be caught in the gap between dimensions?”

“I can’t. I have a wife and child now.”

– “Then go back.”

Kion lifted her hand to send Cledwyn back as well. But Cledwyn shook his head.

“Give me a few more days.”

– “This is only within your wife’s memory. You are not changing the fate of real people. Still?”

Kion asked sadly, as if she already knew what he intended. Cledwyn smiled, showing his teeth.

“I’ve become a dirty person who has to repay a hundredfold for the wounds inflicted on my wife. Consider it practice.”

– “I see. That personality of yours resembles Pheros. He was a noble High Elf who never yielded.”

Kion smiled and placed her hand on Cledwyn’s head.

– “I’ll give you one day. It can become a burden to your wife if you stay too long. Tomorrow at this time, you will return to your world.”

“That’s enough.”

Feeling the magic flowing from the dragon’s hand, Cledwyn smiled.

❖ ❖ ❖

Before he even opened his eyes, the first thing Cledwyn noticed was a pleasant fragrance.

A gentle breeze carried a subtle, refreshing scent, filling his lungs. Then someone softly took his hand.

He knew whose warmth it was before he even heard her voice. Cledwyn opened his eyes and smiled.

“You.”

Nerys glared at him with tearful eyes. Cledwyn pulled her hand closer and kissed the back of it, then asked.

“Are you okay?”

“That’s what I should be asking. I came back three hours ago. Why are you so late?”

“I had something to do.”

“I can guess what. Why are you making me worry about ghosts in my memory anyway?”

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”

Even if he were given a hundred chances, he would do the same thing a hundred times. Still, Cledwyn said what she wanted to hear first and smiled with his eyes. Those impossibly beautiful eyes made Nerys lose her words for a moment.

“It’s been so long since I talked to you. Are you really going to keep making that angry face? Hug me.”

In the end, Nerys hugged Cledwyn tightly and began to sob. Cledwyn hugged her back and smiled.

“Don’t overdo it.”

A voice interrupted from the side. Cledwyn glanced at Ren, sitting at the head of the bed, and asked.

“Why are you still here?”

“What kind of bastard are you? Do you have any idea how much I suffered to save you, when your soul had completely left your body?”

Come to think of it, there had been that. Cledwyn missed the Ren from Nerys’s memory, just a little. That Ren was cuter than this Ren. Only a little.

Ren caught Cledwyn’s rude gaze instantly. Just as he was about to explode, Nerys spoke softly.

“Thank you so much, Ren-sunbae. Could you use your divine power one more time? I’m still worried because he was asleep for so long.”

“Of course.”

Ren smiled brightly at her request and quickly wrapped light around his hand. Truthfully, Cledwyn’s condition was fine, but he stayed still.

After a while, Ren stood with a pale face and said he would rest in another room. He claimed he needed a long rest because he had been using his divine power nonstop for several days. If he said ‘several days,’ then the time the two of them had been asleep wasn’t short.

In the Grand Duchess’s bedroom, left with only the two of them, Cledwyn and Nerys lay side by side on the bed. They held hands comfortably and talked.

“Thank you for doing exactly what I hoped. I’m glad you broke the Seal the day after I fell asleep.”

“Try doing something that reckless one more time.”

The anger he had forgotten while spending nearly twenty years in a different world returned all at once. Cledwyn squeezed Nerys’s hand in protest at being scolded so casually. Nerys smiled like a breeze.

“I thought it was the best choice at the time. After waking up and thinking it over, I think it was a bit reckless…”

“Did you just say ‘a bit’?”

“I know. It was reckless. But it’s also true it was the method with the highest chance of victory. …Don’t be mad. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other.”

Nerys smiled like a child. Cledwyn couldn’t keep strength in his eyes, especially when he thought of what she had endured.

He just held her tight against his chest.

“What happened after we fell asleep?”

“Ren-sunbae kept using his divine power on your body the whole time. Aidan is handling the Imperial Capital. What should we do? There are things you need to wrap up cleanly by going back to the Imperial Capital.”

“Ah, I’m not leaving your side anymore. I’ll move the Imperial Capital people over here.”

Cledwyn bared his teeth slightly.

“It’ll be the longest prisoner escort in history.”

(T/N: Arbyone is soooo cuteeee. Yeah, I will miss that Ren’s version haha. )