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Chapter 182

The child, still too young to shed his boyish appearance, had an unusual heat flickering in his bright brown eyes. Receiving such penetrating gaze head-on was, for Alkeinea, an entirely unfamiliar experience.

The woman had been living for ages in a place as desolate as a lonely island lost in a boundless sea. In fact, she would have preferred the sea itself.

Her faded memories, passed down through generations from her ancestors, contained images of the ocean.

It was a remarkably beautiful sight. The sunlight was scorching, and the salty breeze felt a bit sticky, yet the sparkling waves reflecting the sun and the endless horizon, accompanied by the lively sounds of life, were delightful.

But Alkeinea was afraid. What if all of it was merely a romanticized memory?

What if the outside world wasn’t as beautiful as she imagined, and life was so painful merely living that it felt like her guts would tear apart?

Even after leaving a broken world behind for a new one, what if nothing changed? What if moving to a world where she was still alive allowed the ‘destruction’ consuming her own world to spread like a plague…?

Since taking refuge in a tiny cave, her whole clan had those thoughts. A decade-long accumulation of negativity shackled her, binding her hands and feet like chains.

No one acted on the theories they developed in their minds. Alkeinea understood why. Because of the child. She had to pass on life to this child in its wholeness.

Their clan, the Gildrins, had been conditioned to recognize the corpses of their kin before their eyes as nourishment the moment they were born from an egg.

Perhaps it wasn’t always like that in the distant past, but ever since they were trapped in this cave, cut off from any means of nourishment, it had become so.

As a parent, all she could leave for her child, the gift given in the name of love, was nutrition.

Most parents wish for their children to be a little happier. They hope for them to live a little longer.

As for the question of why they wouldn’t even try to go outside, it was because if parents attempted something that would shorten their lifespan, that shortened life would be passed on to their children.

They didn’t want to reduce the days they could keep their children waiting for a happy day that never came to them.

A love that felt like a curse, or perhaps a curse that felt like love. Yet, the clan accepted it. They had no choice but to accept it because they all loved their children too much.

…And that’s why Nea ultimately came out. Because she realized that her most precious child was in the outside world. Since the moment the child vanished, she had not ceased to think of Shar for even a second.

It could almost be called madness how deeply Nea immersed herself in her research. She couldn’t help it. The disappearance of Shar had led her to lose the meaning of life. She didn’t care what cost in lifespan it took.

After nearly a decade of sleepless nights frantically sorting theories, Alkeinea found herself outside.

She remembered bits of how it all happened. The original body had fallen asleep while her doppelgänger emerged. It took an enormous amount of strength just to pass through.

‘…It’s like sunlight.’

Alkeinea thought the boy’s gaze resembled the warmth of sunlight.

It was the warmest sensation she felt since coming to this world. She puzzled over how such warmth could come from the sun alone, but she was a bit surprised to find that the gaze of a child she had no relation with matched that warmth.

*

“…Yeonwoo.”

The first to break the silence was Claire. Her expression looked quite strained as she spoke.

Though she unconditionally trusted Yeonwoo, it seemed she took time to accept such a shocking story.

“If it’s something Yeonwoo said, then I believe it. I don’t think you’re the kind of child to tell such lies.”

“For someone who believes that, you look pretty tired, huh?”

“Of course anyone would be tired!! I’m barely able to believe it because it’s me, okay!?”

Claire’s heated outburst eased the atmosphere a bit. Alkeinea propped her chin on her palm, gazing at Yeonwoo.

This time, Yeonwoo didn’t flee from that gaze. He resolved to meet it head-on.

“…Will she be out there?”

Claire, who had been staring at the two with a baffled expression, spoke up. Alkeinea replied without taking her eyes off her.

“Could you make that happen?”

“Sure, Yeonwoo has grown strong enough to handle this, and looking at your expression, it doesn’t seem like you’ll attack recklessly.”

“You should have enough time to intervene. I’m counting on you.”

With a deep sigh, Claire stepped outside the boss room. It was only after the door closed that Alkeinea spoke again.

“Why aren’t you trying to persuade yourself using Shar?”

“It wouldn’t be appropriate to use my daughter for that. I didn’t want to.”

“…I see. Then can we now hear from my daughter as well?”

“Of course. I was struggling to hold on anyway.”

As if waiting for those words, Yeonwoo broke into a bright smile. With that, a burst of mana was released.

In the blink of an eye, golden mana took shape. It formed the likeness of a girl who looked remarkably similar to the woman right before her eyes.

A girl showering tears flew into her mother’s embrace.

“Mommy!!!”

“…Shar, ah, it’s you, Shar.”

As soon as they confirmed each other’s faces, the brown hue in Alkeinea’s hair began to shimmer with golden light.

“Wuwah, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy…!”

“Yes, you’ve grown so much since we last met… What should I do? I wanted to see you grow up.”

Nea gently stroked the head of Shar, who was crying into her arms, and tears began to fall from her eyes as well.

It was nothing less than a touching reunion. A shadow writhed in Yeonwoo’s embrace, overwhelmed with various emotions.

“Pfft, Tae-oh came out to see Mommy too, right? Can you hold on for a moment?”

“Yep, Tae-oh can wait. Even though Tae-oh missed Mommy too, Shar sister must have wanted to see Tae-oh way more than that. Tae-oh is an adult, so he can wait.”

With his arms confidently spread wide, Tae-oh said so, and Yeonwoo stroked his head.

What a good child. It perplexed her how such a good child was born into a family like that and had to suffer.

“…But, I wonder if Mommy would like Tae-oh.”

Tae-oh, glancing at himself and comparing his appearance with Alkeinea’s, muttered quietly. Yeonwoo thought that he worried too much.

“Tae-oh, Tae-oh. You still don’t know anything, do you? I didn’t start loving you because you’re my child. I fell in love with you because you’re lovable. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure Mommy will understand you.”

“…Hehe.”

Hearing Yeonwoo’s words, Tae-oh snuggled into his chest. The slight loneliness growing in his heart vanished like washing it away.

“Daddy is the best.”

“Ugh, flattery.”

*

After the cries subsided, Shar and Nea pressed their foreheads together. Yeonwoo was gently stroking Tae-oh’s back, who had fallen asleep in his embrace.

What are they doing, she wondered, as she waited blankly until the two separated their foreheads.

“…A lot has happened.”

“Yeah, so much happened. I didn’t expect to meet Mommy this soon, though…”

As Nea spoke, she pulled Shar closer, and Nea’s face took on a shadowy hue. They looked more like sisters than mother and daughter as Yeonwoo and Nea exchanged smiles that met each other’s eyes.

“To be honest, I have no consciousness of being married to you. The memories I just received from Shar are limited to what she has seen; I cannot know the feelings possessed by the original self before regression.”

“I figured as much. I understand.”

“Now then… where should I start? For now, let’s agree that you have a contract as Shar’s father. If Shar recognizes you as her father, I have no choice but to acknowledge that too.”

Nea’s complicated emotions turned toward Tae-oh.

Well, that would indeed be complicated. Not only was she unexpectedly treated as a married woman, but now she also had a son who wasn’t even her own.

“…I’ll try to see him as a son too. However, I won’t acknowledge that we are married.”

“Thank goodness we didn’t file a marriage registration.”

“Even though you love me… I know. With such fiery glances, there’s no way I wouldn’t realize. However, to form a marital bond with a dragon, a process is needed.”

“…Huh? But she never mentioned that!”

Considering how composed she had been since they met, this was a rather clumsy explanation. Could it be that she felt embarrassed? Yeonwoo hoped it was.

“Of course. Since the moment you entered the nest, that process must have been fulfilled. That’s why she was able to love you.”

“…Ah, I understand. You mean there’s a need for a process to understand with the heart?”

“Exactly. And that’s the problem. The current me cannot understand you with my heart.”

“…Huh? Why not?”

That was something Yeonwoo couldn’t understand. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have a heart, so why? If it was because she didn’t have a nest, then surely she could build one somehow.

“……? How do I appear to you?”

“You’re incredibly beautiful. I’m super happy that the Nea I’ve always pictured in my mind is right in front of me.”

“…W-well, thank you, but that’s not the point!”

“Shh! Tae-oh is sleeping!”

“I-I’m sorry…! But I do want to eat!”

Surprised by Tae-oh’s tossing and turning, Alkeinea’s words made Yeonwoo burst into a chuckle.

Although Nea appeared stern, Yeonwoo knew better than anyone that she was a lovely woman, not much different from others at her core.

‘Like mother, like daughter.’

“What are you looking at me like that for…! Anyway, I wanted to express that as a doppelgänger, I can’t output enough power to read a whole person!”

“Ah, I see. No wonder the mana I feel is quite different from what I know of Nea.”

“You knew and tried to dodge the question, didn’t you…!?”

“Of course. How could I not see that?”

“Feigning ignorance, huh? You’re a mean one…!”

At Nea’s resentful tone, Yeonwoo chuckled.

“Even if the mana has dwindled, it doesn’t mean you’re not Nea, so I didn’t worry about it at all.”

“~Ugh, ugh!”

(To be continued in the next episode)

 

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