Chapter 33: Confronting The Past

"So, what's your solution? Tell me."

Hearing Irene's question, Selene gave her a calm answer:

"I think you shouldn't keep this bottled up inside. I can see that you're scared, but if even you are afraid and unwilling to face it, what's the point of staring out the window all the time?"

"Confront it. Go back to the village where you abandoned her, find her, and face this problem."

Selene's words were very direct, so direct that they could easily be annoying.

Irene asked softly again, "And after confronting it?"

Selene softened her tone a bit: "Make amends, and then try to forgive yourself."

As Selene spoke, she poured herself some wine. Noticing Irene's stunned expression, she raised her glass to her.

"Although I think you look even more beautiful with this cold, lonely look, I don't think he would prefer you like this."

Selene tapped her lips with her left index finger. "Hmm... Let me think... He clearly prefers you with a gentle smile."

After a long pause, Irene finally clinked her glass with Selene's and said seriously, "Thank you."

Selene responded just as seriously, "You're welcome. We're friends now, after all."

Friends?

Irene's hand holding the glass paused.

The word "friends" had been distant from Irene for a long, long time. In her view, people had to know each other well and have a stable relationship for a long time to be called friends. The only person who met this criterion in her 400 years of life was Belserion, the Wise Dragon.

Previously, she considered Selene more as a sort of collaborator, a connection tied through Aegon.

She began to reevaluate her relationship with Selene.

Irene's tone carried some surprise, "Are we... friends?"

Selene nodded very calmly, "Of course. As the sharer of your secret, we are certainly friends."

Selene wasn't particularly good at comforting people.

As a dragon who had lived alone and had only started learning human life for a short time, this was the best she could do.

Selene simply chose to think from Irene's perspective and understood Irene's feelings.

Even though she hadn't experienced these things herself, she didn't think she could make better choices than Irene if she were in her position.

So, she offered the best advice and support she could as a friend.

Selene raised an eyebrow and looked at her teasingly, "I'm curious, why didn't you tell Aegon this but told me instead?"

Irene's lips curled into a strange smile,

"Because of love, there are some things I can't tell him... People are sometimes like that; the closer they are, the more they worry. But when facing a complete stranger, they can let go of these worries."

Selene clenched her fists, gritting her teeth. "So you're saying I'm that kind of irrelevant stranger? What about being friends..."

Irene looked at her with bright eyes and chuckled softly, "That was before; now it's different. If it were now, I probably couldn't have told you this."

It turned sunny quickly.

Selene quickly brightened up, stretching lazily and flaunting her impressive chest. "Hmm... I'm going back to sleep."

If it weren't for her curiosity, Selene wouldn't have woken up from her warm bed so early.

Irene didn't speak, watching Selene climb the stairs. The clock on the wall ticked away,

"Confront it... and then make amends?"

She took a sip of wine, as if finally setting down a heavy burden that had weighed her down, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

Returning to bed, Selene was quickly embraced by the still-sleeping Aegon, so quickly that Selene wondered if he was pretending...

But the steady breathing from the man's nose didn't seem fake. The wine-induced drowsiness and her familiar sleeping posture quickly made her sleepy.

Looking at the man's close eyelashes, she thought, well, who cares if he's awake or not, let's sleep.

...

At lunch, Aegon noticed that Irene's mood had improved.

There was no doubt, he was very sure.

Irene didn't pay much attention to the food, lightly holding her teacup and looking out at the bright scenery through the window. The view was almost the same, just at a different time, but in her eyes, the colors seemed much brighter, and a spontaneous smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, radiant in the sunlight.

Since Aegon mentioned traveling to Ishgar, Irene had seemed a bit melancholic, even distracted while playing billiards last night...

When he woke up, Irene's mood had brightened. Aegon couldn't help but look a little puzzled,

'I didn't do anything...'

Noticing Aegon's expression, Irene put down her teacup and smiled faintly, "When we get to Ishgar, can we go somewhere first?"

This was the first time Irene had made a request of him. Aegon nodded without much thought, "Sure, where?"

Irene slowly uttered a place that had been buried in her heart for over a decade, "Fiore Kingdom, Rosemary Village."

Even though she hadn't thought about it for years, Rosemary Village remained clear in her mind.

After a long pause, he nodded slowly, "Okay."

Selene raised an eyebrow, a proud look appearing on her face, and turned to Mera.

"Mera, did you hear that? Our destination is Ishgar, Fiore Kingdom, Rosemary Village."

"Yes!" Mera nodded and quickly got up to the helm to adjust their course.

Selene's expression couldn't hide anything. Seeing her proud little expression, he quickly guessed that Selene had influenced Irene's decision.

After the meal, Selene and Irene gazed into the distance on the deck. They didn't chat, but the silence wasn't awkward.

Humans, before getting to know each other, can be very cold, but once they do, they strive to get closer.

Previously, Irene had been helping her, adapting, and learning how to be human.

But today, after persuading Irene to some extent, Selene felt a great sense of accomplishment.

'Why does it feel like... their relationship has suddenly improved?'

Even Aegon, lying on the lounge chair, noticed that if unfamiliar people stood together, even two socially adept people could only awkwardly chat,

Let alone Irene, who was not socially adept at all. But he didn't sense any awkwardness between them.

However... this was definitely a good thing for him...

He quickly experienced it. While playing billiards, Irene and Selene coordinated so well that they almost defeated him completely...