44 - Astilbe (15)

"I'm an old man!" Eriu said right in front of Noah, "You might think I'm ridiculous, but I have two memories, and one of them is over 20 years old!"

"So..." Confident that Noah would change her mind, Eriu opened one eye to look at Noah. But contrary to what Eriu thought, Noah did not avert her eyes and even seemed to misinterpret Eriu's meaning: "I am long-lived! After all, 20 years old is like 1 year old for an elf!"

"Uhh, no, that's not what I meant..." Eriu shook his head.

He was currently sitting in front of Amiley with a disbelieving look at the person in front of him, and that person just smiled casually like it was no big deal. 

"You, you really want to set me up with her? Really? Aren't you afraid of what I'll do to your daughter?"

After Amiley had healed his wounds, she didn't send him out but had a short chat in her office, so Eriu immediately let out all the words that were stuck in his throat.

With her hand supporting her head, Amiley threw the paper that suddenly appeared in her hand in front of him, "She's always sending letters to her brothers, but the problem is that I don't want them to get in touch."

"?" Why are you telling me your problem now?

"If she falls in love with you, all problems will be solved and he will write to you more often than to them."

Eriu just remained silent, confused and aware at the same time. Of course, he still remembered Eros' words about their family not being harmonious, which was why they had separated. But why separate children who just wanted to play together? 

"I know what you're thinking." Amiley looked at him for a while and sighed, "Although the three of them are close, I'm not sure about those two brothers."

"They hate each other." Amiley's statement let Eriu know what she meant. Elves chose those who were perfect, but if they were both perfect, one of them would try to cause trouble for the other. Well, who would want to be trapped in a flower and melt inside?

"Ahh... But you still can't do that without my permission!" Eriu frowned, "If my parents asked me why you suddenly chose me as your son-in-law, I wouldn't know how to explain it to them!"

"They must think I'm someone who likes to play with people's hearts!"

Amiley didn't even change her face, she just shrugged her shoulders with an indifferent expression, "That's indeed your problem. Didn't Noah herself say that she likes you?"

Eriu opened and closed his mouth, feeling like an unfriendly sentence was about to come out. But before Eriu could counterattack, Amiley asked about the previous incident again, "Get rid of this first."

"You better explain the earlier incident to me."

Seeing Amiley get serious, Eriu paused and returned to his rather calm self, "Do you remember my words about the roaring bird?"

"If I remember correctly, the bird looked like a cuckoo, but because it was screaming, I thought it was a cockatoo. The cockatoo bird is a bird that can imitate people's voices, similar to the characteristics of a cockatoo on Earth. But the problem is that this bird is cuckoo-shaped! That!

It is said that the cockatoo bird and the cuckoo bird are mortal enemies, but they care for each other. He knew this because his mother used to tell him about her journey with his father before they settled down in the village.

It was said that whenever the two birds were put in the same place, they would start attacking each other, although his mother said it looked very cute. The cuckoo bird itself is a parasitic bird, unlike the cockatoo, which is loved as a pet because of its uniqueness. While other birds kill the cuckoo's eggs, the mother cockatoo makes another nest for the cuckoo's eggs. 

It's absurd, but the world is already absurd, so anything can happen.

Even absurd things like that.

She said that these two animals are very numerous in the Pholoe Arc Forest, which is inhabited by the Pentaur race. What is the Pentaur race anyway? All he knew was that the protagonist was being chased by many rich men. However, because the name of the race sounded like a fantasy, he remembered it. 

"Hmm..." Seeing Amiley's frown already made Eriu realize that this was no ordinary matter. Eriu paused for a while before continuing, "There, I also found a strange creature that stared at me and even attacked me."

"It had fox-like ears, but human feet."

"I even smelled very thick blood and a foul odor from that 'fox', as if I smelled thousands of corpses in one place." It was those two animals, the bird and the fox, that were strange, not the long worm that came out of the bird's stomach. Their existence gave him goosebumps. 

Amiley paused for a moment and raised her head to stare at Eriu with a sharp look, "That 'fox' doesn't have a face, does it?"

".... Yes." If only he hadn't realized what the demon meant by giving him advice. Since their visions were combined, he would have been able to see the 'Fox' more clearly than before.

Immediately, the atmosphere became eerily quiet, filled with a gripping aura.

"...Can I talk to your demon?" Amiley, who had been silent, looked directly into Eriu's eyes. "Sure." Eriu agreed. It felt like a lot of new problems had arisen during his time here. He was sure that the real 'Eriu Grith' had a smooth life unlike him. Maybe because he came from another world, it took him a while to adjust...

"Alright, you can go. But don't forget to come to the dining room."

"Okay."

Eriu returned to his room. Then he began to search for his diary. Indeed, he had read it and even remembered the traits of each character, remembered the end of each route, though not all of them because 001 did not know everything, they only glanced at his old memories. 

Slowly, Eriu began to open page after page, rereading and closing them.

She didn't find the key, and that was okay.

And another thing was that the demon didn't know anything about the game in his memory. Even after being asked, the demon was even more confused by his questions. Did 001 do something like this diary?

Let's just forget about it for a moment.

Although he wanted to show her Eros, he felt it would be rude to use him as a shield. So he decided to give up the idea. Eriu had not forgotten that when he thought of marrying Eros instead of going through that long and uncertain road, seeing Amiley counterattack made Eriu realize that he was very similar to Amiley. Although he was not as determined as she was.

During the half-hour wait, Eriu left the room and went to the dining room where the two people were waiting for him.

Gaze...

Every time Noah looked back, Eriu averted his eyes. During dinner, only silence surrounded them, Eriu sat in his usual place and ate with a sense of calm, pretending not to notice the looks directed at him. Even after his meal was finished, Eriu looked at Amiley with a nod of his head and said thank you.

With his plate in his hand, he left the dining room.

Noah's eyes watered, "Am I ugly?" Of course, Amiley could hear her little voice in the silent room. Noah, realizing this, immediately closed her mouth. Noah felt that everything was messed up, felt that all this mess was because of her... If she hadn't looked at Eriu with a frightened expression, Eriu wouldn't have stayed away from her.

"Is my face ugly?" Amiley asked Noah with a nonchalant expression. Hearing this, Noah immediately shook his head, "Of course not! Mom is very beautiful!"

Amiley smiled, "So are you, you're my daughter. In a low voice, Amiley began to reveal information about Eriu's 'friend', "The boy who is close to him is a 'friend' he met just half a year ago, and of course, they can be close because their mother supports them both, but if you try hard again, he will definitely like you."

"Really?"

"Um, I'll send out another letter, so try to approach him, don't lose out to his new 'friend.'"

Noah's face brightened, and she nodded to Amiley, "Thank you!" She got up from the chair, carrying the dishes, and went to the kitchen before going to the guest room.

To meet him, of course!

Noah ran down the hallway with tuneful steps. She realized that her life had changed after meeting Eriu, her little world was slowly becoming more colorful and very outgoing! This friend of hers was a very nice boy, he invited her to play, gossiped with her, and they even shared each other's embarrassing stories for laughs.

She hated that feeling of loneliness and didn't want to feel it anymore, so when she saw that he didn't come to visit her anymore, she felt lonely and sad.

Like petals scattered in the spring.

And after spring is over, I will wait for you even when summer and autumn come.

The astilbe flower waiting for you to save it.

Who will give life to the flower when spring returns and winter is full of love.

I will be in wait for you all the days of my life.

.

.

.

The woman had a pale face sitting in front of the fireplace, even though it was raining, the sound of the water drops seemed to freeze in the small room, and even the warmth of the fire could not reach the woman. Behind her, someone was hanging himself, and the man's hands were very black for someone who had just ended his life. Like her, the woman couldn't accept that she had lost everything, all the crops had withered, her first child had died, her baby had stopped breathing, and now her first love had decided to end it all.

What was left for her?

Is there even hope for her?

With a blank stare, the woman throws her wedding ring into the fireplace, all the photos are turned upside down to hide the picture.

She goes out with her last wish.

...

Everyone said the boy was the cause, but at first, she rejected the idea. To her, he was just an innocent little boy full of kindness. As those people said, it must all be because of that child! If he hadn't lived in that village, if that child hadn't appeared... things would have been different, her family wouldn't have been ruined like this.

...

Since the death of her son and her baby, she kept hearing voices mocking her for being so stupid to think that the child was just an ordinary child. The more she heard it, the more disgusted she felt. 

Her last wish was just to see them one more time. That was all.

In the empty playground, the woman picked up a branch and began to scratch the ground she had stepped on.

Don't blame him. 

He's just a child.

Strangely, there was no one there, like a place that was abandoned, and empty, leaving the woman to hang herself from a tree in the middle of the playground. Slowly, a thick black cloud of dust appeared, staining the inscription a blood-red color.

Tess...

The blood dripped from the woman's hands one by one. 

4 seasons have passed for 32 years. This is the end of my story.

A mother's final confession.

Tak.

A girl walking to the playground, if only her sister hadn't left her things, she wouldn't have to come here! One day the village chief told everyone not to go out when the clock struck 7 p.m. Only those who were sent by the village chief to stand guard to prevent anything bad from happening. This made some young people, like herself, curious, and slowly the story turned into a ghost story.

In the past, young people who were very curious about the truth began to sneak around to find the rumored ghost, but what they encountered was a group of people gathered in the playground. Caught, the boys were arrested and severely scolded by the village chief. After the incident, the boys often said that they heard whispers every time they went to sleep, making the ghost story very famous among the villagers.

"Take that thing and go straight home!" The girl patted her cheeks and walked bravely to the playground.

Seeing a strange shadow on the tree, the girl narrowed her eyes, "What is it?" She approached the tree and immediately fell when she realized what was hanging from it. "AHHHHHHH-!"

***

"..." Ariadne, who was cooking in the kitchen, suddenly felt manna appear next to her and in an instant, an envelope appeared in the middle of the air, at high speed Ariadne immediately picked up the envelope. There were two envelopes, one marked for her and one about Eriu's condition.

A week ago, Amiley had also sent a letter and the content was about Eriu's situation and about her daughter Noah. The content of the letter already showed the writer's desire to match these two children. She had read it before and she answered with a no. She didn't want her son to get into trouble there. Of course, if the two of them got married, Eriu would be directly involved and his existence as a chimera would be directly revealed.

When she told Eros about Eriu's situation through the letter, Eros immediately cried because Ariadne didn't read to him, and well, she kept the fact that Eriu had been proposed to a secret.

Ariadne put the two envelopes away in the storage room and quickly prepared dinner.

"Dinner is ready!"

"The letter from them came today, so hurry up and come here!"

"Oh!" Eros reread their conversation in the little book, got up from the bed, and ran downstairs.

Ramiel said that the book Eriu was holding was damaged, which made him panic because the spell on the book would activate if the owner who wrote the book was in danger. Luckily, he had prepared something else besides the book.

Candy.

As long as Eriu ate the candy, nothing could harm him for a while, and everything would change in Eriu's favor.

The question was, why was the spell from the book active?

Ramiel herself said that the book could not be taken to the dream world, so what harm could happen there?

And the possibility for the fortune-teller to act was very small.

Eros immediately sat down where he usually sat and looked at Ariadne with curious eyes, Ariadne smiled at Eros' behavior. Louise, who was also casually sitting in the front yard of the house, immediately got up and hurried to the kitchen.

He even forgot to bring a cane with him to help him.

"What is going on? Why did the letter come all of a sudden? Is he hurt? Is he all right?" Louise approached Ariadne curiously. Compared to the two of them, Louise was the one who showed the most concern to an unnatural degree, he was the one who completely rejected the method, even to the point of not approving of it.

His relationship with Eriu was not too close but not too distant either, like a typical father-son relationship, they were usually close when hiding each other's secrets.

"Calm down, sit down first, then I'll read it."

"Sorry." Louise stood up stiffly and, after taking a breath, sat down in the chair next to Ariadne. Ariadne opened the envelope and began to read the letter.

"Ekhem." 

"It was an honor to meet your son, Eriu Grith. He is truly an amazing boy, I cannot help but praise him."

"I know you don't just want to hear about that, do you?"

"Then I'll tell you about his current situation. He managed to make the demon his owner and I heard from Eriu that the demon is very open with him, Wow, really!" Ariadne was pleasantly surprised. She couldn't have been more proud, even Louise, who had been tense, soon sat down comfortably.

Ariadne made a fake cough, "Sorry, I'll continue."

"Eriu said that the hallucinations that often afflicted him have diminished, even though he hasn't seen them for a few days now. Eriu is very grateful to all of you, he sends his regards to you, and he thanks you for trying for him. That's all."

"I, as Eriu's temporary guardian, would also like to thank you, because Eriu's arrival made Noah more active than usual."

Ariadne and Louise didn't look surprised, but not Eros, who tilted his head.

Noah? Ah, the aunt's son.

"Noah has become smiling and talkative after Eriu's arrival, that alone makes me happy. Every time I see the two of them interacting, it makes me very happy."

Ariadne, unable to stop herself, said before she realized it, "Like I said, they're a really good match, aren't they? How about setting them up as a match?"

Louise looked away, even though he was shocked. It could be said that he didn't like his wife's friend, she blatantly told his wife to find a replacement, but his wife didn't notice at all.

As if ignoring the previous sentence, Ariadne closed the paper and folded it, "That's it, let's continue eating." The atmosphere became a bit awkward. Even so, Eros' face was still normal, he didn't cry or get angry when he heard it. Just the usual smile.

 Louise whispered, "What's your answer?" Ariadne, hearing it, shrugged, "I don't know, I'll think about it."

Louise suddenly snapped his fingers and instantly felt the shaking beneath them, the front barrier surrounding the house exploded, exposing the other barrier behind them. Another big explosion was heard. Ariadne stood up, "I'll go check, wait here."

Ariadne then rushed out, leaving them behind. Louise also got up and walked over to Eros and patted him on the head, causing Eros to raise his head, his mouth opening and closing.

"Sorry..." 

Hearing this apology left Louise speechless, this incident must have traumatized this boy.

"Don't think too much about it."

"Hmm."

Despite the sound of his heart beating fast, Eros' gaze was very cold, "Papa."

"Yes?"

"All this time, I have been collecting that merchant's letter." Eros reached into his pocket and handed it over. Louise frowned in confusion and surprise, "Uncle Axel?" 

"Yes."

"Why?" 

"Because this man offered me wealth by marrying a nobleman." The paper in Eros' hand was torn, and the edges of the paper were also black as if burned. 

"!" Louise paused, of course, because he was angry to hear it. Axel was relatively young. Still, the two of them trusted Axel, not because of his sad story, but because of his ability. That's why they decided to choose him because to them he was a hard-working person.

"I refused right away, but when Eri came to look for me, that uncle suddenly acted very strangely. He asked if Eri had heard their conversation or not, and during the few days he was here, he also asked Eri about Mom, Dad, and even me.

"Even though he saw that we were fine.

"That's why I got suspicious and followed him..." 

"But, uh, but because I thought he would do something wrong to Eri if I told you, so I hid it..." The voice that had been calm slowly became hoarse and tearful, "I should have told you, huuu, sorry..."

"..." Louise touched Eros' shoulder, "Can you read to me?" Eros nodded slowly, "Hmm."

***

"What the hell are you doing?" Ariadne shouted at the people throwing magic bombs right at her house, "What are you responsible for?" Her gaze was filled with anger, but the people who had gathered did not stop, they seemed to feel that they were the righteous ones. 

They had done nothing wrong!

"If you hadn't taken care of that immoral child, none of this would have happened!"

"You don't even want to acknowledge him as your son because you are afraid of being kicked out of here!"

"What a curse!" One of them shouted and threw the bomb back, and barrier spells appeared one after another to block the bomb's powerful explosion.

"Why isn't that barrier destroyed!"

"Tch, you're just a prostitute, how dare you show up here!"

"How dare you bring your illegitimate child here, because a whore like you is the God of Hope who curses us!"

Some tried other means and some just followed. These were real people who just accused out of hate and destroyed someone without taking responsibility for their actions. 

Those who stayed quiet were mere observers, ready to recount this tale.

Ariadne looked at them with an angry look, she couldn't help it and wanted to cut them down one by one.

Before her anger reached its peak, a red aura surrounded them and the red aura broke into the water, drenching the people. 

"Does this make you feel superior? Do you feel like a great person?" Louise's calm voice broke the chaos. "If you're going to take the law into your own hands, I have something to tell you."

Louise then pointed at the two people who had insulted Ariadne as a prostitute, "Didn't you two have a lot of sex in the forest?" 

"Hah! What's with the baseless accusations?"

"But I didn't accuse as you did, that's the truth. After all, you aborted your first child because you didn't want to get caught, right? And where is the responsibility of the person who made that child?" 

Everyone was shocked and stared at her, including the husband next to her. The husband was silent but didn't argue with Louise's words, "See, her husband knows about your affair."

"I'm sure he didn't corner you because he was afraid the others would find out."

Everyone was silent, looking at the woman and man whose face was red. Before anyone could do anything, a huge amount of water fell and drenched them again. The splashes grew until some bounced off. 

"You'd better get out of here before I blow you up like you did our house barrier." Louise tapped his cane, and with each tap, shards of water came out of nowhere and hit the people.

They immediately covered their faces and ran away one by one.

Ariadne's eyes widened and she laughed, "You still have your bad eavesdropping habit?" Louise pretended not to hear and took out some papers, "You better read this."

"? Okay." Ariadne glanced at Louise before taking them and started reading as she walked in with Louise by her side.

I'll take you dancing in the middle of a grand ballroom.

Our story in the beautiful castle tower, I promise you.

That I will take you up the steps of the throne and make you a queen.

Put a crown on your head, serve you, and we will meet again when the moon is not perfect.

And I will tell you once again that I love you.