R4STWH - Chapter 153 [END]
Chapter 153
Although she still looked scruffy and exhausted, her face strangely radiated light.
“Have you been doing well?” I asked, noticing that her mouth seemed to be itching to say something. She immediately replied, “Yes, I finally feel like I’m really alive now. The god has returned. Well, he did say he never left… But anyway, I can communicate with him again.”
That must be why she looked so happy, even though she hadn't been eating or resting properly. When it gets to this point, faith is no different than love for a lover or family. It was amazing to think that they could love a being they couldn't touch or see so much.
“And…,” the Saintess hesitated, glancing at some point in the air. “The god says to thank you. He said he’s sorry for misunderstanding you.”
“Oh…? Oh… Well, it can happen.”
It would be a lie if I said I wasn't disappointed at being seen as the source of destruction from the beginning, but now I understood why he had thought that way. It was also true that the companions I had brought had caused a lot of chaos in this world.
“And… He asked me to give his regards to the Duke as well.” Looking around, the Saintess carefully delivered the god's message, and Elias nodded his head briefly.
“Well… it's not exactly a reward, but he promised to give your future children the greatest blessing he could give.”
“Ah…! Really?”
“Yes.”
“No matter how many?!”
“……Yes?”
“We’re planning to have a lot of children.”
“Ooh… uh….”
The Saintess seemed very flustered as she glanced around in the air, then she smiled brightly with a look of relief. “It seems that's not something to worry about! He said even just having one will change your mind!”
“……”
I just blinked, not knowing what she meant, and Elias gently wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“That’s good, right?”
“Yeah….”
Since he promised the greatest blessing possible to all eleven of my kids who looked like Elias, and to the one who looked like me, it was greater than any SS-class quest clear reward.
‘If only I’m confident I can raise that many.’
Of course, the god's voice, ‘You won’t hear that voice unless you are confident you can raise them!’ was only in my head, not the Saintess's... It was all in my head.
Anyway, the Saintess’s group and we had different roles to fulfill, so we had to part ways soon.
It was sad to leave the Saintess behind, who had looked so cute while chirping away. I must have become quite fond of her. The Saintess also seemed to have a similar feeling and hesitated to say goodbye.
“Heerin-ah.”
As I watched her, I called out her name, the one I had heard before, for the first time.
“If you have a hard time… tell me anytime. Okay?”
Then she looked at me with her eyes wide open and said, “Okay!”
I gently stroked the head of the girl who had answered so energetically. I hoped more than anything that Heerin, who had gone through more suffering than anyone else, would be happy, as I prayed to the new god of this world who had accepted me.
The night after meeting the Saintess, I had a dream. It wasn't anything special. In my old, ruined world, I saw a small flowerpot in a corner of the tower. There was a tiny, delicate, light green sprout in the flowerpot. It was amazing to see how it could have sprouted in an environment where life could never grow.
Even more surprising things happened after that. A butterfly, as small as the sprout, flew in from somewhere and gently landed on the flowerpot. The moment I saw that, I woke up.
“…….”
I lay there, replaying the scene, and then I suddenly jumped up. ‘A butterfly….’ It felt like I had forgotten something very important. Elias was not in the room, having gone out to handle some unfinished business from last night. However, I couldn’t tell when he would be back.
Just in case, I went into the bathroom and crouched down in the tub. I pressed my hand over my rapidly beating heart and began to do what I had been putting off. I had decided to finally check Elias's memories… His life in countless timelines that I didn't know about. Click.
I carefully opened the door, which I had locked securely. Then memories flooded in like a tidal wave. Stories of a very long life, several times longer than mine, flowed in. I went back, back from the last life where he let Ermitar live, all the way back to his first life.
And there, I finally found it. ‘It’s a butterfly.’ A scruffy little girl, smiling brightly at him. It was me, as a child. I saw the decision he made while wandering formless, watching over my life to the end. “What is this….” I clutched my head. I had always been curious. How did Elias end up making a contract with Neo? Why did he repeatedly lead the world to its demise? I had thought about many possibilities: revenge against those who had abused him, disillusionment with the world, weariness and emptiness.
But it wasn't any of that. He had done everything for the sake of just one girl. He had endured hellish times and fought a lonely battle. All for the sake of one person, me.
He had sacrificed an entire world over and over. Along with himself. “How could he…” Even when I didn’t know him, didn't remember him, he longed for me, cherished me. Despite countless failures, Elias didn't stop. To bring me, who would be left alone to die in a desolate world, to this world, to guide me into his arms, to protect and care for me, he never rested.
“You fool….” It was no coincidence that I had come to this world.
“Ilesha.” At that moment, the bathroom door opened, and I heard his voice calling me. “Elias….”
“Why are you in here like this?”
He quickly approached me, looking surprised, and I stared at him with a face that hadn’t processed all the emotions. “You…” His wide eyes wavered in bewilderment.
I stepped into the tub and buried my face into his arms as he reached out to me. “Why, Ilesha? What happened?” He gently caressed my wet cheek, looking at me as if he was lost. He was so foolish and yet… I couldn't stop the tears from flowing, feeling so grateful and sorry. Even in my loneliest moments, he had been by my side. Even though he couldn't reach me, he comforted and caressed me.
He had thrown his entire life at saving me. He had brought me into his arms, showered me with his love, and showed me happiness. “It’s okay. Everything will be okay.” I could feel his hands shaking as he patted my back while holding me tightly. He must be worried as I was crying so much. He didn't know what to do, but he was trying to comfort me first. “Elias… Elias….”
“Yes, I’m here.” My emotions were still not settled; rather, they were still raging more fiercely, but I couldn't make him anxious any more. “I cried because I was happy… I was so happy.” I looked up at him. “A sprout had grown in the flower pot, and the butterfly that came was so beautiful and pretty. Just like you….”
He stared intently at my face, into my eyes, and slowly nodded. “I see.” Even with my incoherent words, he understood. He knew what I had seen. “So I…,” I looked at him, filling my eyes with his blurry form and swore, “I will make you happy. So that you won't regret any choice you've made…”
He pulled me into his arms once again. The sound of his pounding heart seemed to be his answer.
“Mother.” I looked at the boy who had called me so calmly. “Are you going now?”
How could he be so composed at the age of only six? Maybe the god’s blessing had been too much? I quickly scooped him up and rubbed my face all over his before he could try to avoid it. His soft and supple cheeks smelled as sweet as milk with honey. While I was filling my selfish needs, forgetting all about his role as the young master, the boy gently wrapped his arms around my neck. How could he be so cute…! The boy who looked just like Elias's younger days possessed a cuteness that could destroy the world. “Mel and father are in the flower garden.”
Even though I hadn’t asked, the boy told me where Elias was first. “Okay, let’s go together.” I picked up the boy and walked. I had just come back from the Imperial Palace, where Yumi had dragged me.
For some reason, that girl was more fond of my child than her own. I had barely managed to stop her from holding Melissa’s second birthday party in the Imperial Palace, but she ended up doing as she wanted because Baeksa supported her, seeing how dejected she was. She was truly a tyrant… How should I tell Elias that I had lost?
I was trudging along when I reached the entrance of the flower garden on the east side of the inner palace. “Oh, Father!” I heard the girl's voice chiding her father. “You did a good job, but what’s this at the end? This is not going to work. Let’s give this to Mother instead.” Next to the girl, who was chirping like a small bird, Elias’s eyes were already looking in my direction. Because of that, the girl was still fiddling with the poorly tied flower crown, trying to fix it for her father, not noticing me yet. “Welcome, Ilesha.” In the middle of the flower garden, beautiful and sweet, his smile filled my heart with joy. “Yeah, I’m back.”
Even the simplest greeting felt like a miracle to us. Just as I was distracted by the fluttering of a butterfly that flew over me as he walked toward me, I took a step.
Toward my love, my reward, my savior, that was worth more than an entire world.
The Reward for Saving the World is a Husband.
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