In the end.
This moment has finally come.
There were times I wanted to ignore it. When my relationship with her solidified into that of a guardian and a child.
I knew her gaze towards me had changed, but I thought it was just a brief phase influenced by adolescence, so I didn’t give it much significance.
However, even after going through the period of self and personality formation and becoming a proper adult, her gaze has deepened as you can see.
So it was hard to ignore. It was reckless to brush aside the feelings that had remained genuine for five years.
—I thought I couldn’t do it.
“I’m sorry.”
The harsh reality that remained for us.
Did not allow for personal feelings.
“I’m really sorry.”
The answer I had prepared.
Began to trickle out, slowly, like ice breaking.
“I’ve watched you for a long time. I know what kind of person you are to me.”
Her expression was as stiff as ever. It was unavoidable because she had controlled herself to not let even a hint of emotion show.
“To me, you are just a child.”
Confirming the redness around Epherna’s eyes.
Feeling a pain as if a thousand needles were piercing my heart. Ern coldly declared.
“So, please don’t try to be a woman in front of me.”
This was a clear rejection.
To leave no room for any interpretation.
Cruelly and decisively.
Ern turned down her confession.
However, Epherna, despite the slight redness in her eyes, stared straight at Ern.
With a voice that couldn’t hide her quivering, she gently asked for a reason.
“Then… why did you do that to me?”
This was neither a reprimand. Nor was it anger. It was simply a question.
—A possible outpouring of feelings.
Because.
“You said you saw me… as a woman, not a child…”
His contradictory words.
“Why did you kiss my forehead….”
His contradictory actions.
“Why did you keep making me… expect things…?”
Because she had felt hope and excitement.
She wanted to ask.
Was the hope she felt.
The excitement.
Real?
It wasn’t a foolish misconception.
He too had once wavered.
And had thought seriously about their relationship.
It was an emotion worthy of being cherished.
She could understand the inflated expectations.
And wished for an answer that reflected that.
Even if it was a beautifully kicked to the curb.
To eliminate the lingering discomfort, Epherna tried to ask him that.
“Ugh…!”
Before she could speak due to something blocking her mouth.
She felt the softness that covered her lips.
Ern’s lips.
When she realized it, Ern’s strong arms were wrapped around Epherna’s waist.
With her neck held so she couldn’t pull away from his face.
Feeling a strange emotion she couldn’t distinguish between joy, sadness, or pleasure.
Their lips remained pressed together. Time passed. For a moment, short yet long enough to take a sip of tea.
*****
Their lips parted slowly, and Epherna stepped back, pushing against his chest.
“What…! What exactly are you trying to say…!”
A kiss that I had only dreamed of.
Although it happened in reality, there was no joy in the celebration.
Instead, anger surged, and I spat out bitter words.
“Are you playing with me? Is it fun?”
Even though I knew it couldn’t be true, my frustration rose.
There must be some reason behind it.
There was a reason for taking my first kiss after rejecting my confession.
There had to be a way to take responsibility…
I believed that, but.
He remained silent, fiddling with his lips.
His fingers climbed back up and cupped my cheek.
He stroked my warm lips with his thumb, merely smiling.
“What is it…!! What do you want to say!!”
I shrugged off his hand that touched my cheek and shouted, as if screaming for my life.
I wondered if I had ever raised my voice this much in my life. So strongly.
“Please, just say something!!”
But Ern still kept his silence.
His lack of response was so frustrating I thought he might as well be mute.
This made me think more rationally.
The truth was, there had been a strange knot lingering inside me.
His attitude, which seemed unchanging even if the world were to end.
The unresolved past of my brother.
And the Winter Blizzard.
I had been turning my eyes away, steeped in anticipation.
But now that I thought about it, with my anger cooling, looking back with icy eyes, a suspicion arose that the story could continue.
It flashed through my mind in that moment.
Crack—!
I heard something break inside me.
It was the sound of the ‘core’ that had supported me for so long being destroyed.
It had been gradually crumbling for some time, but I hadn’t noticed because my anger had reached its peak. I also learned one more thing too late.
‘Shir.’
My summoned spirit, unresponsive to its master’s danger.
It was merely in a state of sleeping. I had heard it from ‘him’…
‘Ah.’
Now I was sure.
He had a secret from me.
A very big secret.
I tried to guess about him, but my consciousness was already drifting away beyond the other side.
Perhaps my body couldn’t withstand the shock of the core breaking, or maybe it was the opposite.
Without even being able to gather information about the fragments, I had no choice but to close my eyes and accept his last image.
*****
April is the height of spring.
As if to show off that season, the pink flower petals danced lightly in the gentle breeze.
I wished those petals would cover her sleeping face, but instead, they clung to her hair, adorning her even more beautifully.
“When I wake up, everything will really be over.”
As the moment of respite granted by the wind disappeared, Ern stirred the Winter Blizzard within him.
He slipped the energy, carrying the role of a key, into Epherna’s inner world, and upon reacting, she appeared in the real world.
The spirit he had sealed away, Shir.
Crack-!
As the energy he had infused fulfilled its role as a key, Shir broke through the ice and burst out using only his own power.
Looking at Ern, he radiated an extraordinary energy.
[You b*stard-!!]
Releasing a fierce energy, the howl was one that echoed throughout the entire palace, worthy of a summoned spirit that had reached the realm of spirit beast.
However, Ern was also a strong individual who had reached hero level.
He expanded a universal barrier to absorb the shock.
“Shir. I have something to say.”
[Shut up!!]
“If we’re going to save Epherna, I need your power.”
Ern showed Shir Epherna, cradled in his arms, along with the ‘Dragon’ and the Winter’s energy he possessed.
[……!!]
As a spirit beast that had lived for thousands of years, Shir immediately understood what Ern was implying.
The energy of the Dragon King, which should not exist in the present world, the Winter Blizzard, and the shattered Summer Sun.
The anger that had been boiling like lava cooled instantly.
[You crazy b*stard… What are you really plotting…?]
“Don’t ask when you already figured it out.”
The Summer Sun that Epherna possessed was both the source of her life and a poison.
In the past, Epherna’s biological mother, Yuriel Grandeum, had wished for her survival.
The Summer Sun was a request and a wish fulfilled by her desperate plea.
It allowed Epherna’s fragile body to withstand the powerful energy of the essence, teleported her to a safe place, and created dolls to care for her for a certain period.
However, gathering the essence was not without a great cost.
One cost was the life of the almost-dead Yuriel Grandeum.
Another was the isolation of living in a limited space.
The final cost was the ‘lifespan’ that diminished as the time she spent with it increased.
[You lunatic… a real lunatic… So, you want me to become part of master?]
“It’s just three years.”
If Shir could replace the Summer Sun, which was eating away at her lifespan, for just three years, Epherna could live for a long time.
The reasoning behind this was Epherna’s steadily rising magic prowess.
Even at a slow pace, she would reach the level of the continent’s top magician, Bergamot Katia, within three years.
Just as Bergamot Katia, who was granted eternal youth and a long lifespan, could touch the principles of the current world and those beyond, Epherna could also regain both youth and lifespan.
“If we leave it as is, the Summer Sun will be restored again. At least within a week, the scattered pieces will gather and return to their original state.”
So before that, she would transfer and absorb the weakened and scattered Summer Sun into her body.
In that place, Shir would take her place to sustain her life. That was the rough plan Ern had established.
[Alright… Let’s say that’s possible. Let’s say we can save Master like that!]
Shir looked at Ern with his torn golden eyes.
[What do you plan to do?]
[You already contain the Winter Blizzard. With just that, your heart is freezing, and your mind is being eroded. What do you think will happen if you absorb the Summer Sun as well?]
In the entire history of the continent, there had never been a single being that contained more than one essence.
The reason didn’t even need to be stated.
Everyone had died.
“I can hold on for about a week.”
Ern offered a vague smile.
It wasn’t a lie since he housed the spirit and energy of the Dragon King within him.
The claim that he could hold out for a week was also not a lie.
