Chapter 14 – A Yellow Flower That Blooms Between Stones (3)
KANG!
“…!!!”
…
“Ha…”
…
Rustle rustle
“Haa…Huh…”
…
Kang!
Kang!
Kang!
“Hot…!”
“…”
That buck that buck that buck
…
Jerk jerk jerk
Dump
“Whoa…”
…
…
Kang!
Kang!
Kang!
Jump up
“Lucca…!?”
…
Kang!
Kang!
“Ah…”
…
Rustle rustle
Dump
…
Kang!
Kang!
“…!”
…
“Ah…”
Being able to sleep even during the day was a blessing for me. You don’t have to see everything.
But now it has become a curse. Can’t see everything
Ellie’s face every time she opened her eyes became haggard day by day. On her face, which was as pure as pure white snow, the shade of her eyes came down thickly, and her dazzling eyes lost their light as the days went by. And most of all, her visibly dwarfed shoulders left deep scars in her heart.
Even so, Ellie always smiled when she saw me. She caressed my cheek, pushing the corners of her mouth up with effort, even though she had a pitiful, precarious smile. And she told a lie that even a child would not be fooled.
“I’m fine, Luca.”
As if it were a spell she was repeating to herself, Ellie recited the lie over and over again. Then sit at my feet again, cold and tired. Then she began to have nightmares with many names: hunger.
I was disgusted to find myself wanting her to give up and at the same time wanting her to last. Knowing how painful her endless waiting was, the selfishness of forcing her to sacrifice made her despise herself. Sometimes I wished this damn round of her body had been torn to pieces and at least turned into a blanket for Ellie.
But even after three days, I was still a lump of stone. A useless lump of stone that only adds to the chill, not warmth. However, Ellie kept digging inside to find her warmth in my arms.
Does warmth come to a heart that is not beating? Longing for a true answer in a proposition that can only be false, I fall asleep again.
“…Luka. Are you watching?”
Today, I woke up to Ellie’s low call. In the sight that slowly regained light, I saw her smiling brightly for the first time in a long time.
“This is what I was talking about. It’s not coffee, but it’s a grass that has a similar effect.”
Ellie shook the weakly hanging leaves at me. She must have said it was the plant Leo taught her. Even a little reluctant, as if she had found something precious, she held it in front of her nose and sniffed her.
“I think this will reduce fatigue at least. Of course, decocting it and eating it would be more effective… But lighting a fire also consumes strength and mana…”
To clear the mind. Ellie, who was muttering to herself to soothe her loneliness, put the leaf she picked up and put it into her mouth and chewed it thoroughly. Looking at the frowning eyebrows, it didn’t seem very pleasant, but she swallowed it all without pretending to spit it out.
“Ugh. This really doesn’t taste good. But for some reason, I feel like I’m drowsy after eating it.”
There’s no way it’ll work that fast. Ever since she closed her barrier, Ellie’s lies increased. She’s not even good at lying in the first place. She put on a smile that seemed to fade at any moment, then lowered her head as if it were collapsing.
“Anyway, after eating, I’m a bit thirsty. It would have been nice if it rained.”
I looked up at the sky with Ellie. The pitch-black sky savagely doesn’t even shed tears. You must be watching all this spectacle. A tragedy like this is nothing to them.
When I lowered my gaze from the heartless sky, I saw snowdrifts piled up like a layer on the floor. At first glance, they look like soft and fluffy cotton candy, but these were no different from seawater that dazzled the shipwrecked on the sea. It was clear that if I swallowed this as it was in a situation where I couldn’t even light a fire, it would become a sharp thorn and pierce my cracked throat.
But she didn’t have much of a choice for Ellie. She pondered for a long time before finally picking up a handful of her eyes and carefully swallowing them.
“…! Cough! Cough!”
As expected, she coughed violently in pain. I wondered if blood might pour out of her fragile throat, and I watched it, frantically.
Ellie, who had been coughing for a while, shook her head and slapped her on the cheek as she slowly calmed down. Her cheeks turned red with the sound of her beating.
“Whoa… I should have melted it down a little and drink it. Even then, nothing would have changed.”
Ellie walked over to me and, out of habit, put her head on her lap. While the pure white breath she exhaled fluttered in front of her eyes, suddenly a bright laughter came out.
“Hey Luca. Do you remember? When I was young, I wanted to eat shaved ice, so I waited until winter and then the three of us collected snowflakes and made shaved ice. It was really good then, right?”
As the nostalgic memories flooded into her mind, which was filled with despair and regret, a warm feeling spread for a moment. Okay. I remember. I ate it saying it was delicious, but the next day all three of them caught a cold and lay down sick for a week.
“But even the snow doesn’t taste good here. It’s definitely the same snow.
That’s not it. We drank rainwater several times here. Back then, Bobby… That pig was like that. It’s a land of demons, but it’s not much different from what comes from nature.
“I hope it’s not. I’m worried because my beauty has been damaged lately, but if it gets worse here, wouldn’t you be sad too?”
…
I’m just. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re alive.
Ellie closed her mouth as if lost in her old memories, and exhaled her breath gently. I, too, cast my gaze toward the endless snow field.
“…You know, Luca. I guess you shouldn’t have left our hometown.”
She occasionally stabbed me in the lungs at unexpected moments. If it was the old days, she would have been angry at me now, asking what that meant, but now she had no choice but to nod her head.
I know.
“If we had stayed at home…What would we be like now?”
Definitely better than now.
If I could turn back time I would…
…
I’ve had this thought before. If I could turn back time, I could make everything right. Even the curse of the mysterious Four Heavenly Kings wouldn’t have been right. Or Leo from the beginning. Bobby. Rick. You wouldn’t have brought those bastards to your party. Or maybe, just ignore Nadia’s words and stay in her hometown.
I thought so. If I could turn back time, I would make everything right.
But now my thoughts have changed.
If only I could go to the past, I want to hug Ellie as hard as I can.
It doesn’t matter if you’re embarrassed. It really doesn’t matter if it’s just for a moment. With these two arms, I want to hold Ellie in her warmed arms and tell her I love her. Thank you so much for being by my side. I want to whisper to you how much it means for you to be with me.
I hoped for a miracle one last time. It doesn’t matter who it is, Almighty You, who has been watching everything until now, please let me put an end to this tragedy and hold Ellie in my arms.
“…Well.”
Then, like a miracle, a voice came down from the sky. After listening for a moment with joy, I realized that the voice was so familiar that I was overcome with despair again.
“Maybe we could not stop the invasion of the demons and everyone died.”
It was a familiar voice, but the cruelly pessimistic tone was very unfamiliar. When I cast my eyes in the direction of the sound, I was overcome with a mixed feeling.
“Sera.”
“No, maybe Luca is the only one who dies, and the two of us could have been taken as sex slaves by goblin chiefs or something. Things didn’t get any better anyway, Ellie.”
“Don’t say that, Sera.”
“I only pointed it out to you because you were dreaming an impossible dream.”
Once best friends, they were wary of each other with an insurmountable line in the middle. Ellie cautiously opened her mouth in the twisted fate.
“How are you, Sera?”
“It’s as you see it. Do you look like you’re doing well?”
“…No. I must have asked something wrong.”
At the cold response, Ellie blurted out her words. Perhaps she just wanted to ask after her dear friend.
“So Ellie, you seem to be doing well at first glance.”
“I can’t bear it… I can’t say no.”
“We both didn’t have to be like this.”
There was a bitterness that could not be erased in Sarah’s tone. When Ellie heard that, she laughed softly.
“Yeah. It didn’t have to be like this…But I guess we really shouldn’t have left our hometown.”
She brought up again my sins that I had been chewing on over and over again. This time, I also smiled bitterly. I know. Everything from one to ten. It’s my fault.
But Sarah didn’t laugh at all. Rather, she frowned and stared at Ellie.
“No Ellie. I’m not talking about that. I’m content to leave my hometown. It was one of the best things I ever did in my damn country town.”
“Then…?”
“I mean. I didn’t have to be like this because of you.”
“Stop.”
Ellie bit her lip in pain and said.
“Stop counting. I don’t want to hear it. Now you are not you. You are…”
“No, Ellie. What I’m saying now is my truth without a shadow of a doubt. Because I can’t lie anymore.”
“It’s not like that. You…Just won’t listen. You’re no longer the Sarah I used to know.”
“Of course. Because Sera, who was easy to fool around with, is no longer like Hogu.”
Upon hearing her words, Ellie covered her ears and bowed her head. Sarah raised her voice a little, as if she didn’t like it.
“Look at me, Ellie.”
“…”
“Look at me!”
But, as always, Ellie couldn’t refuse Sarah’s request and raised her head. Then Sarah smiled contentedly and continued her words.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Why did I end up like this? But I didn’t have to think about it for that long, and the answer came right away. It’s all your fault that I’m like this now, Ellie. Right? I’ve been carrying your burden for the rest of my life. Genius. I had to live under the weight of being a wizard and putting on the thin skin of being a wizard.”
“Sarah. I just did it because you asked. It was like that during the entrance exam. I wanted to get into the academy no matter what. That’s why I wanted to be loved by adults.”
“That’s right. That immature child wished so much. So you said you were right and handed over all the burdens. Right? Since you were smart from the beginning, you must have known all the weight of being a genius wizard.”
“Not at all Sera. If you were struggling so much, I would have quit anytime. But I thought you were happy. So…!”
“No Ellie. You never would have quit, because you got Luca instead.”
In the end, I was there in their old secrets. Sarah burst into laughter and glared at Ellie.
“Actually, you were aiming for Luka from the beginning? Come to think of it, it was like that from the entrance exam. You disguised me as a genius wizard, pushed me into the academy, and left with Luca. You must have taken Luca, didn’t you?”
“No Sera. I…!”
“At first, I thought you sacrificed for me! The glory and honor you can enjoy as a genius wizard. You left me with all my burdens and took every last thing I could have.”
“Sera!”
Ellie eventually couldn’t stand it and jumped up from her seat.
“How could you say that? You and no one else? I… I really gave up everything for you. Even when people compare you and me and point fingers, even when I know you’re silently ignored and bullied in the party, it’s because you look happy. I thought it was okay. How could you say that when you know what I’ve sacrificed for…?”
“You sound like a sacrifice. Lies like that don’t work anymore, Ellie.”
“I… I’ve been living only for you with all my heart, Sera! No one knows what I’ve done, and even if no one compliments me, you’re happy. You’re acknowledged and praised is my happiness, so that’s what I did! Because you’re my Because you’re my only friend. You…”
“I wish I hadn’t been friends with you from the beginning!”
Sera’s last words pierced the chilly night sky. Ellie couldn’t say anything and didn’t move as if her whole body was paralyzed by her words that echoed in her ears.
Seeing Ellie like that, Sera crossed her arms as if satisfied, and sent her a heartless gaze.
“…Well, yes. Maybe you could consider it a concession. I once believed that too. So I thought it should be an unspoken promise to give you Luca in exchange for taking all the honor you should have.”
Ellie still didn’t move. But Sarah’s words continued.
“By the way. Now that I think about it, I wonder if there was a need for that. Once you’ve decided to yield, don’t you have to give everything to the end? That’s true sacrifice and love. That’s why…”
“Sera…”
“Can’t I just have it all?”
Egoistic mind. Jealousy. Complex. A word that tangled all of that fell heavily. Ellie finally opened her mouth.
“But Sera. You’ve already… Abandoned Luca…”
“That’s right.”
The voice of her immediate reply was refreshing. But what she said after her was terribly repulsive.
“But I don’t want to give it to you, even if I die.”
Paradoxically, the night sky began to brighten with Sarah’s words. She shrugged her shoulders and walked back, and Ellie slumped to the floor as soon as the sound of her steps away echoed.
“Ah…”
A low sigh resounded like Ellie’s dying voice. She stared endlessly at the spot where Sera had been before powerlessly lowering her head. As if one of the last supports that had been holding her heart was broken.
Night came again. I opened my eyes like fate
As soon as she woke up, she felt a warm aura at her feet. I thought it must be Ellie, and looked down to see a rabbit rubbing against my leg instead of Ellie. Was it because I was the only one to lean on in the bitter cold? I looked at him pitifully, then raised her gaze to find Ellie.
It didn’t take long. But as soon as I found Ellie, I felt my heart drop.
No.
Ellie was slumped over the snow, now frozen as ice. As soon as I found her down, I scanned her body for evidence of breathing. However, it was not easy to find traces of life on the thick clothes.
Or maybe he’s already dead.
No. It can’t be. I grabbed her anxious heart and eagerly looked at the back of her head. Her black hair was disheveled and smeared like blood over her white snow.
Rustle.
Then, suddenly, her rabbit at her feet hopped towards her. The rabbit, wagging her snow-white butt, stood by her bedside and sniffed for a while. Then, very slowly, Ellie’s hair began to move.
“Ha…”
I let out a sigh of relief only after the white breath smeared with the sound of weak breathing. Ellie very slowly raised her body, looked at her bunny, and threw a very short word.
“…Thank you.”
The guy, apparently understanding her words, rubbed her head against her hand once more, and ran back to somewhere on the snowy field. Ellie and I peered into her eyes at her back and met her eyes at the same time.
…
How is my appearance reflected in Ellie’s eyes? I didn’t know, but at least the image of Ellie reflected in my eyes was miserable. Since she was imprisoned in the barrier, she has never been perfectly fine, but since she talked to Sera yesterday, her condition seemed particularly bad. It wasn’t even a crowd. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat anything. It’s already been five days since I’ve been eating snow instead of water.
I had no desire to say such a thing, but it was a miracle that she was alive.
“…Whoa…”
After looking at me for a while, Ellie suddenly stood up. Her legs, which seemed to break at any moment, trembled like mad and her whole body trembled uncontrollably, but somehow she moved her steps and came closer to me. She barely walked right in front of me and leaned against me as if she had lost her strength.
“Luka.”
As soon as I heard your voice, I felt like crying. Her cracked voice did not belong to a living person.
“…Hey.”
Her arms, which had been dropped helplessly, slowly rose and wrapped around my neck. Ellie continued her words with difficulty as she hugged me tightly.
“I might not be able to hold out any longer.”
No. Ellie.
“That’s why…I didn’t want to do it in a place like this…But…For some reason…I don’t think I’ll be able to talk about it if it’s not now…”
Then don’t do it Ellie. Please. Wait a munite. I’m sure I’ll be freed, so do it after I’m free and wipe out all those motherfuckers.
“Maybe this really might be my last chance…I’m just saying…”
No, ellie. Do not say. I know all about your heart, so tell me directly when this is all over. Ellie please…
A mouth hardened like stone cannot even make a wish. In the end, along with her teardrops that heaven couldn’t pour out, Ellie’s long-suffering words. Fell on the ear
“I am. I’ve really liked you since before.”
…
I thought it was a fact I had known for a long time. The moment I heard it with my own ears, the words took on weight and crushed my heart. The meaning of those words, the fact that he was telling this story now, not at any other time, stabbed his whole body like an awl.
“It doesn’t mean that I just like you as a friend. I love you more than a friend. I love your kind personality, your warm tone, and your handsome face to me so much. Ever since I got to know you, I’ve loved you every single moment. “
Ellie’s weight pressed down on her shoulders, slowly bringing my body down. She must have been cold because she was buried in the snow, but the expectation was so hot that she couldn’t bear it.
“I should have said it earlier… I couldn’t say it because I was so sorry to see Sera look at you. But now… I think I have to say it now. I really love you so much. I think of your face every morning when I wake up, and even when I fall asleep. I close my eyes hoping that I will dream of you. Then all the moments with you come to mind vividly before my eyes, and I feel like my body warms up even in the middle of winter.”
Ellie. Please stop. It’s heavy. I’m really…
I mean it’s about to collapse…
“Hey Luca. So I want to ask…”
Ellie struggled to get off her shoulder and lifted her head. Then she asked me with a messed up smile on her face.
“Do you love me too?”
Love you.
Love you.
Of course I love you.
More than anyone else in the world. More.
Instead of opening my mouth, I poured out that word over and over again. Please let this heart be conveyed. My heart is still beating so I hope you feel this beat.
“Even if you don’t listen, I know that you love me. Because you are my knight.”
Ellie smiled heartily and stroked my forehead. She looked at me so warmly and then opened her mouth again as if she had a good idea.
“You know Luka…So, should we just… Get married here? You and I are idiots who don’t even have the ability to have an affair anyway. So… Let’s just do it here.”
…
Okay. OK. Just. Let’s do it.
“The officiating ceremony was skipped because the rabbit looked after it earlier… And then… Ah. There was this.”
Ellie moved away from me a little and put her trembling hand into her frozen pocket. After probing inside her for a long time with her hardened hands, she took out a small object of hers and showed it to me.
“This is originally given by a man. Granny Emile gave it to me. Specially…I’ll give it to you.”
She put her little something in her outstretched finger. She knew what it was, so she didn’t bother looking at it. But the weight of hers was clearly transferred to her fingers.
As if standing still for a moment was too much for her, Ellie leaned against me and let her cough out once more. As the violent coughing cough had subsided, Ellie squeezed the last of her strength.
“Then I have to swear…But I don’t have the confidence to recite those long words…”
I don’t even have the strength to tremble anymore. Ellie looked at me, her hand on her shoulder, her hand almost frozen like her corpse. She was still a face stained with snow and dirt, but Ellie was the prettiest in this state. Muddy Ellie. Like a flower that blooms from a crack in the stone, a girl who suddenly pops out of my heart.
The girl I loved with all my life told me with a smile that could be the last.
“Then…Let’s do a kiss instead. Is that okay?”
Huh. Ellie.
We. Let’s kiss
As soon as the words in my heart were finished, her face came closer to my eyes. She’s a face I’ve seen tens of thousands of times so far. It was the first time I had seen it so close. Long eyelashes with snowflakes on top. A cute snout like a squirrel. And pale pink lips that look like flesh. When I put all of that into my eyes, an unbearably warm and soft touch touched her lips.
It was the moment she had dreamed of since she was a child, holding Ellie’s hand and kissing her. She thought she would be happy when that time came, but strangely, her tears came first. We kissed for a very long time until tears I couldn’t shed ran down my chin down the corners of my eyes.
Clink!
“Ellie!!!”
The dreamlike moment was shattered in an instant, and Sera’s tearing screams echoed. In an instant, Ellie gnashed her teeth, sprayed white breath, turned around behind her, spurred her on the ground and ran out.
“Sera!!!”
When the barrier was broken, the snow piled up on top of it poured all at once. Sera, leaping as hard as she could through her blizzard, let out blazing flames.
“Aww!”
The flames spewed out with a powerful shout, and when Ellie stretched out her hand, it was crushed into space and crashed to the ground on the other side of her. Ellie didn’t even have time to confirm that she had let go of her attack, she reached out and grabbed Sera by the collar and slammed her to the ground. And she drew her mana into her clenched fist.
“Aaaaagh!”
She screamed and threw her fists out. But in an instant, something that took away my vision stopped her fist.
“Ellie…”
Sarah’s face was terrified. Not a genius wizard, but one that her little Sera used to build. That fearful face. That expression that passed by for a moment stopped her furiously stretching arms.
“Sera…”
And that hesitation was fatal.
Puck.
At some point, Nadia came up from behind and struck Ellie in the back of the head. This time, she seems to have entered the correct way, and Ellie collapsed against her snow as powerless as her doll.
Dump
…
“Ah…”
Seeing Ellie fall, Sera lost her words and stared at the back of her head for a moment. A faint word came out of her hardened mouth.
“Ellie…”
But her voice was lost in Nadia’s shrill voice and scattered between her eyes. Nadia smiled heartily as she approached Ellie.
“Ahaha! Ellie! Look good! I pretended to be like that. After all, it’s nothing!”
“Ugh…!”
Nadia brutally trampled the fallen Eli’s right hand. Ellie just let out a weak moan, but she couldn’t resist.
“Sera…”
She called Sarah’s name until the end. But she wasn’t Sarah who responded to that voice.
“Ellie.”
The sound of footsteps approached from afar. The nightmare that had approached without wavering soon took on a distinct form and smiled wickedly.
“Finally got it.”