Every time the boy made a gesture, a soft wind flew away and returned again and again. It seemed like he was using the wind to scan the forest.
The eyes that were staring at the endless forest glanced at the easternmost territory.
"Dreal Stein must have arrived in Arhon safely by now, right?"
The boy muttered to himself and snapped his fingers.
Many winds traveling around the world gathered in the boy's hands.
"What about Drial?"
In response to the boy's question, several winds whispered what he had seen and heard. The boy who nodded his head looked happy.
"Rune Helid asked for a divorce? Well, it's not unexpected. I heard from a friend of mine that sometimes her parents divorced and sometimes they didn't. What will happen in this world?"
The boy who was talking as if he was having a conversation caught the wind as he approached him.
The boy now named Cookie, who had been sniffing the scent mixed with the wind, narrowed one eye.
"There's already black land?"
Cookie instantly turned into the wind and flew away somewhere.
Cookie, who was crossing the moonlit forest, eventually found a pitch-black trail and returned to his human form.
He looked down at his feet with a stern face. The forest was black and dead as if it had been burned.
The forest wasn't burned. Someone has stolen the vitality of the forest.
Cookie couldn't hide his disappointment..
"I didn't know it would be this easy to find..."
His face was full of worry as he scratched his cheek.
He had no idea that he would also see the black land that he had seen so many times during the Frost Giant War here.
This situation was not unexpected, but the scale of the black land was unusual. He had to tell Drial about this before it was too late.
Cookie turned into the wind even though there was no spirit. The wind blew strongly towards Arhon.
Something that turned the forest pitch black was heading towards Arhon.
***
Lares took the oil lamp and left the room.
Although it was a long way before the sun rose, one of Lares' duties was to walk on the castle walls and make sure there were no problems.
Lares, who was leisurely lighting up the darkness, suddenly looked towards the east of Arhon.
In the blowing wind, there was a terrible smell coming from the corpse. It was a smell that only Lares could smell.
Lares, unable to hide his displeasure, clicked his tongue.
"Not only did you bring the frost giant out of hell, but you also targeted Arhon. It's pretty stupid, I guess."
Lares snorted and looked away. Two rooms with lights on caught his attention. One is Rune's office, and the other is...
Lares' eyes narrowed.
"Look here."
Lares approached the guardian who was on guard duty.
"Since when was the light on in the lord's bedroom?"
"It was on all the way after the banquet. I think he was drunk and was sleeping with the lamp on."
That was nonsense. Drial Stein was a very typical wind Elementalist.
The Wind Elementalist was the type of person who drank alcohol like water, just like the Flame Elementalist. Lares lived a very long time, but he had never seen a drunken wind spiritist.
Moreover, the flame of the oil lamp lasted for two hours at most. It had to be constantly refilled with oil to keep the flame burning all night long.
Lares, who told the guards to work hard, went down the castle wall with a complicated expression. He sighed naturally.
"I thought you were fine, but you came back sick."
***
This was before the dawn light that colored the sky completely disappeared in the morning sun.
Rune headed to the garden as always. In her hand was a bouquet of baby panthus flowers that Lares had made.
An old gardener and his young grandson found Rune and greeted her politely. Workers were already working in the garden.
The gardener watched Rune's helpless steps as if she was floating, then turned his head to the cool breeze. A cool breeze blew, unsuitable for the approaching summer.
The blue wind shook the hem of her skirt, but Rune did not turn around. She just walked slowly looking around the garden covered in morning dew.
When Drial could not bear the marriage and ran away to the battlefield, instead of crying as she watched him retreat further and further away, she swore to the Gods that she would protect Arhon.
The wind doesn't stay. It is said that staying somewhere is not the wish.
However, Rune made Drial the lord of Arhon.
Because she had to take responsibility for her own choices. Rune protected Drial's new home, Arhon.
Not for herself, but for Drial, in the hope that Drial would come to love Arhon even a little, where he would have to stay from now on.
After Drial left, a guard was quickly formed to drive out the monsters. Since she did not know how to hold a sword, she fought like she was crawling on thin ice.
She learned about Auror by chance. It was then that she found out that she was pregnant.
He had a clumsy first night under the pressure of adults and she must have gotten pregnant at that time.
The first night was terrible for both Rune and Drial. She never even thought she would have a baby.
The first thing Rune imagined would be Drial's reaction when he found out there was life inside the ship.
Will Drial really love the child she is about to give birth to?
She hoped the baby would be like Drial because she felt like he wouldn't love him for some reason. Then she thought Drial might like the baby just a little bit.
Even though Rune was pregnant, she fought a battle every day. As the ship became heavier, the number of high-level monsters attacking Arhon increased.
She was so scared that she cried alone every night. And when the sun rose, she led the guard with an expressionless face.
"She fights bravely while pregnant. Be strong too. What if something goes wrong with the baby?"
People talked nonsense, but Rune was not hurt. Rather, Rune had expectations for the coming future.
The expectation is that once the baby is born and Drial returns safely from the battlefield, they may be able to live as a family no matter how complicated their feelings for each other may be..
For some reason, she felt like her baby would do that...
Rune loved her unborn baby more than anything in the world. However, Rune was in a position where she could not avoid fighting monsters.
Every time she raised her sword, she begged the baby to hold on just a little longer.
"No matter what shape you are born in, I will love you unconditionally. So, baby, even if it's hard on your mother's stomach, just endure it for one day. Just endure today's battle."
Looking back, the world has never been on Rune's side.
She had never made a decision easily, but when she looked up and looked at life, her body and mind were broken like glass that had rolled down a slope.
She didn't want to try to patch up her shattered life. Now she didn't have the strength or will to do that.
People praised Rune Helid for protecting everyone from the evil black dragon. But Rune failed to protect the most important thing.
"Hello, baby..."
Rune arrived under the tree and said hello to herself. A flat tombstone with nothing written on it was buried between thick tree roots.
She put down the bouquet and caressed the smooth tombstone.
Every time she comes here, she reflects on where she went wrong.
Fighting while pregnant, failing to stop Drial from going to war, choosing Drial as her husband, being born into the Helid family, and coming to the Stein family...
The only thing she could turn around was her marriage to Drial.
Rune woke up while watching the morning sunrise under the tree. There was a familiar person standing at the end of the street.
She met golden eyes but pretended not to notice. She followed carefully as if the wind was pleading with her, but she did not turn around.
Instead of catching Rune as he passed by, Drial silently followed her with his eyes. The staring eyes were heavy. Even though the sun was rising, it was dark for both of them.
At that time, a young bird flapped its wings and sat on the tombstone. The tail feathers were unusually long and blue.
The bird stared at Drial and Rune from the tombstone and then flew up into the sky.
The small flap of wings cutting through the wind was very powerful.
***
"Do you know where Arapi Village is?"
While the servants were busy cleaning the main castle, Drial suddenly appeared in a gust of wind.
No one could answer that question. He was so surprised that everyone just looked at Drial. The only one that was fine was Lares.
"Arapi is probably a village north of the main castle. It's a village near the first bridge on the left on the river crossing the Arhon."
"I'm going to visit Arapi Village for a moment. It will take about an hour."
"What business do you have in that village?"
"I don't know either."
Lares narrowed his eyes at the strange response.
"You're making fun of an old man."
"I'm going because I really don't know. I'll come back and let you know what happened."
When Drial became one with the wind spirit again and tried to disappear, Lares grabbed his sleeve.
In an instant, the wind dispersed. Something interfered with Dreal's power.
Drial, with wide eyes, looked back at Lares. Lares was looking behind his back as he asked when he grabbed his sleeve.
The expression on his face was so shameless that Drial looked around without even thinking that Lares had done something.
"Did you sleep well?"
Drial, who was looking around, stopped. Drial couldn't look straight at Lares and cast his gaze somewhere else.
"What? Yes."
Lares giggled mischievously at the unnatural movement.
"You should learn how to lie."
Drial was embarrassed and covered his face when he realized that Lares had already noticed his condition.
"Please take a look. Where is the wind spiritist who is good at lying?"
"Have you spoken to your wife?"
"She's still suffering from her own problems. But how can I bring up my story? If I tell her, it will be more difficult for Rune."
Lares hid his surprised expression at the unexpected answer.
It's as they say. Drial's sleeplessness began on the battlefield.
If she found out the truth, Rune would blame herself greatly. Rune's self-esteem was completely eroded by regrets stemming from her choices.
The good news is that Drial knows Rune surprisingly well. It seemed like he had a vague understanding of what kind of state of mind Rune lived during the three years.
There are people who break down after regret and people who become stronger. Rune was the former and Drial was the latter.
Lares liked Drial's adult side. Drial seemed to be trying to deal with his regrets in a different way than Rune.
"I'll keep it a secret for the time being. But you should talk to your wife sometime soon. Hiding it is not the best solution."
"What if the other person refuses to talk?"
"The person who wants to talk has no choice but to make an effort. It was said that if you keep knocking on a tightly closed door, it will open even if the sound becomes irritating."
Drial chuckled at Lares' analogy.
"Thanks for the advice. I'll try my best until the door opens."
Drial turned Into the wind again and departed somewhere.
Lares looked in the direction the wind was blowing and sighed.
"The core needs to be resolved well."
***
As Drial flew to Arapi Village, he repeated what Rune had said.
"The woman you love lives in Arapi Village."
What a loving woman.
Drial never loved anyone.
"The woman who tried to run away with you on our wedding day. She settled in Arhon with her family after you left for war."
Dreal arrived at the bridge across the river and released his unity with the spirit.
It is true that he ran away because he did not want to marry Rune. But no woman tried to run away with him. He didn't understand who she was talking about.
At that moment, a person from Arapi village crossed the bridge. Drial grabbed the resident and asked.
"Is there any family that settled in Arapi Village three years ago? At least one member of the family must be a young woman."
"You know. I live at the edge of town. We are a family of four, and each couple has a son and a daughter."
"What is your daughter's name?"
"Te, te. What was it.."
“Terea?”
"Oh, yes! That's right. Terea!"
When a vague memory came to mind, the resident smiled as if he felt relieved.
Drial, who guessed the name, sighed with an embarrassed look on his face.
Terea.
The woman was a maid who showed Drial, who was running away from the wedding, a safe escape route.
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