12. flowing stars – 10
Thus, the long, long winter is over, and the season of spring has arrived.
The snow that covered the continent has melted without a trace, and spring has returned to us with flowers in full bloom in the mountains and rivers.
All nightmares are over. Let’s enjoy the warmth of spring at this moment, shaking off the hard and cold days.
The days of losing a lot and just being sad are now over. For those who remain, we will have to move forward again.
That’s right. this is a happy ending.
The end of the story, which should be filled with happiness.
The story behind the scenes where everything came to an end.
****
“…Are you trying to return to the Great Forest?”
“I will have to go back. It’s not a good thing for an elf to wander alone in the human world. Besides, I have a mission to protect the World Tree.”
To Iris’ question, Kirie shrugged her shoulders and answered.
After the battle with the Winter Witch, Kirie returned to the island and informed Iris that she would return to the great forest as soon as she was healed of her wounds by the saintess and restored to her original condition.
To be honest, I had a little bit of a desire to catch her because I had a lot of affection for the past year, but just like Kirie said, she had a mission to protect the World Tree. It must be a nuisance to hold her any longer.
When Iris nodded her head and expressed her affirmation to Kirie’s words, Kirie smiled softly and asked her a question.
“Come to think of it, what happened to the Winter Witch?”
“The Winter Witch is currently being severely sealed in the basement of the Imperial Palace. Anyway, I’m not sure if the seal itself has any meaning, since only the heart is beating and it’s no different from a corpse.”
After that day’s fierce battle, the witch whose abdomen was pierced by Cain’s single sword never opened her eyes again, but at the same time, she was not dead either. Although it was in a state no different from that of a corpse, the warmth of the whole body remained weak, and above all, the heartbeat was still weak.
“Ah, that’s right. That’s why, still, this world is still maintained like this.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Iris, who couldn’t understand Kyrie’s words at all, questioned her so much, but Kyrie didn’t answer her question until the end about what was so interesting. but-
“…If you want to end everything, stab the witch in the heart. If you do, you might be given another chance.”
Leaving those meaningful words behind, Kirie returned to the great grove.
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Meanwhile, Bianca del Castana and Ariel Thier decided to remain in the Imperial Palace. After sharing the joys and sorrows with them over the past year, they have become close friends who can’t live without dying, so they didn’t stay here. Just as Iris didn’t like them very much, they also didn’t like a woman named Iris very much.
Nevertheless, there is only one reason why they want to remain in the imperial palace.
Cain, it was because of that man.
Fortunately, after a fierce battle with the ‘Witch of Winter’, he was able to regain consciousness within a month.
But that didn’t mean his body was back to normal.
He was currently in a state where he had to lie lethargic, unconscious, for more than half of the day.
…I couldn’t figure out why. Bianca and Ariel tried with all their might to find the cause, but in the end they couldn’t figure out what caused him to be a wolf. There is only speculation that it might have been because of the swordsmanship he used last time.
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Moreover, while he lay unconscious, the life in his body gradually faded. To put it simply, he was slowly and surely dying at this very moment.
Neither Ariel’s divine power, which has the strongest recovery power in human life, nor the cure Bianca created using alchemy, had any effect on him. As if to ridicule their efforts, the vitality in his body was fading day by day.
Whether or not he was aware of their efforts, Cain was just lying on the bed with a calm face. Then, looking at his face with his eyes closed quietly, Iris wondered if he was dreaming of a distant, distant dream.
Yes. he must be dreaming A deep, endless, comfortable dream filled only with peace.
time goes by
“…Do I really have to do that even on the bed?”
Looking at him intently looking through all the documents related to the Duchy of Estel on the bed, Iris let out a pouty voice without realizing it.
It wasn’t that Iris had a lot of free time and could come to see him. No, in a sense, she is one of the busiest people in the empire. Because she was handling all sorts of political affairs on behalf of the emperor, who had taken a step back from the front line. In fact, she was leading a busy life like an emperor of an empire.
However, now nothing was considered useless. For Iris el Devhart, the most important thing was neither the sword nor the empire, but a man named Cain.
…Know. About the fact that this choice of oneself is tantamount to betrayal of everything one had believed in earlier. But it didn’t matter. Now, to a woman named Iris, his existence became the most precious thing.
okay. If only one of them stayed by his side, that was enough. Nothing else was needed anymore.
That’s why at this moment, to her, this time to split time and drink tea with him was so precious, but he was just dissatisfied with him indulging in documents without knowing how she felt.
“Now, there is only so much I can do.”
As he said that, Cain was telling her that he could never yield to this.
…Ah, yes. I know. In the first place, you are a duke to the core.
I know very well that what has moved you so far is not your regrets, but your determination. I, more than anyone else, will not be able to tolerate such a disgusting act of trampling on your pride, at least because of my feelings.
So she couldn’t stop him.
He also couldn’t change the way he lived his life.
…Time seems indifferent, but it is ruthlessly engraved.
Despite the dedication of all the women around him, his symptoms did not improve as the days passed, but instead only worsened.
Currently, he has fallen into a state where he cannot stay awake for even an hour a day, and is virtually no different from a half-corpse. Even so, he did not take the papers from his hands. His responsibility, even at this moment, was pressing heavily on his shoulders.
…In the end, Iris had no choice but to make up her mind. For his sake, I made up my mind that I could take on the role of a villain.
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Match-!
“Are you really crazy?”
Bianca, who seemed to be filled with anger to the top, slapped Iris on the cheek as if she couldn’t hold back her temper.
Chris, the escort knight, was surprised at the disrespect towards the royal family and exploded his flagship, but Iris, who could be said to be the person in charge, faced Bianca with a very calm attitude.
“It wasn’t crazy. I am just extremely rational.”
“No, you are crazy. I’m completely out of my mind! Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to do something like that without consulting Cain!”
No matter what Bianca was saying in her quarters, Iris just met her eyes without blinking.
“Bianca del Castana. Don’t you know too well? Due to the last winter, the population of the Duchy of Estel has drastically decreased, and the land suitable for human habitation has been reduced to an absurd extent. The current Duchy of Estel, in fact, has become worse than a minor territory.”
“So, that’s why you took advantage of that opportunity to make such a modification to incorporate the Duchy of Estel into the possession of the imperial family?”
Saying that, Bianca raised her hand once more and slapped Iris on the cheek, but she just silently greeted Bianca’s touch.
“…Among the people alive today, Cain is the only one who has inherited the lineage of the Duke of Estelle, and Cain is also in a position where he has to spend most of the day lying in bed. Since there was no worthy successor, if he died, the Duchy of Estel would automatically be incorporated into the Imperial Family. What I’ve done is just, I’ve brought it forward a little bit.”
“He is still alive. He is still the lord of that place and the duke of that place. But what right do you have to take it all away from him? answer me! Iris el Devhart!”
“…Yes, it is all my greed. So if you want to resent me, just resent me. Bianca del Castana.”
Saying that, Iris just gently closed her eyelids without any further excuses.
“…dirty bitch. A bitch like a dog who only thinks of herself even in this situation.”
Unlike Bianca, who spewed out such ardent words and disappeared behind her, Ariel just stared at her without saying anything.
“Ariel Thiers. Are you not saying anything to me?”
“Because I already know everything about you. You probably did it just because you wanted Cain to spend the rest of his time on his own.”
“…..”
“What a stupid woman you are. I didn’t have to push myself that hard.”
Saying that, he sighed softly, and Ariel also turned her back on her.
“…Now there really isn’t much left. Please make sure to make him happy, at least for the rest of your time.”
“…okay. I know very well.”
Right before Ariel turned her back on her, Iris got the silly idea that she must have had tears in her eyes.
…Time is being engraved like that without a break.
The time he could stay awake was getting shorter and shorter.
from 1 hour to 30 minutes. 30 minutes to 15 minutes. 15 minutes to 10 minutes.
…Now, everyone has realized. About the fact that the time that everyone would never want to admit is now just around the corner.
He no longer spoke of anything related to the Duchy of Estel. He just treasured the very brief hours he could be awake to spend with the people he knew.
Goddess, please do not impose any more cruelty on us. Please. Goddess-
But in the end, her wish never came true.
…And finally, that day came.
“…Lowering.”
The moment she opened the door to look at his sleeping face, even for a moment, Iris saw him talking to her instead of sleeping soundly like usual.
“…..”
In an instant, I realized instinctively even though no one taught me.
That a miracle hadn’t healed him, but that the moment he didn’t want to admit had finally arrived.
“…ka, in…”
Unspeakable words spilled out of his own mouth. I hated the fact that everything ended like this. For the first time, I hated the goddess who was said to control human destiny to death.
Whether or not he knew what Iris was thinking, Cain took a step closer to her and opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
“I have one request. Could you please listen?”
“…anything I can listen to.”
At this moment, which may be the last meeting with him, I couldn’t show the unsightly appearance of tears overflowing in front of him, so I calmed down my trembling voice and met his eyes.
“…Lowering.”
“…Yes, Cain.”
“Could you please kill me?”
…Ah, why are you trying to make such a cruel request to me? Cain-
“Give me death directly with your sword. Let the sword you wield be my last.”
“…..”
“That is my only last wish and my last request to you.”