Chapter 217 – For You for Me (6)
“Daejangnim. Time to cough.”
Closed eyelids are lifted. The flickering focus was gradually coming into focus.
“Ah…”
The maid who came to wake her up is familiar. Linea surveyed her surroundings with her half-awake eyes.
The translucent ceiling let in sunlight, and vines growing here and there entwined several antiquely carved pillars.
At the end of the elongated pillar, you can see a huge magic stone surrounded by an iron ring and driving. It was the nucleus of the World Tree, which sealed the entire Great Forest and supplied mana.
Weiying-
Linea stared blankly at the core of the World Tree emitting a brilliant light. The lifeless eyes blink silently.
The maid who was worse than that let out a deep sigh and knelt down on her knees. Lynea, who was lying on her jeweled sofa, turned to her handmade involuntarily.
“Really, Grand Master.”
Said the maid.
“What if you are sleeping in the temple again? She told me several times to sleep in the public residence. It was built with great care to serve the Great Grand Master from our clan, but if this continues, the clan’s face will be lost…….”
Lynea got on the floor of the sofa and struggled to get herself up. Her flowing silver hair was as soft as silk.
“…… When do it.”
“Yes?”
“Inheritance ceremony.”
“Ah. It starts at midnight. Because today is the day with the highest mana density of the year.”
“Okay….”
Upon hearing the answer, Linea lay back on the sofa and closed her eyes. She had plenty of time before midnight, so she tried to go back to sleep.
That did not make sense to her maid. It was not another day, but the day of the succession ceremony, and instead of being happy, she was showing a lazy and lethargic appearance.
Is she really the child of the World Tree, who said that this woman always acted intelligently with a bright face? What kind of things have you been through in the world of humans to make you so exhausted…….
The lady-in-waiting, who had been looking at Linea with her concerns of her, cautiously opened her mouth.
“Daejangnim. You must eat.”
“It’s okay…”
“You’re not going to get over it. In fact, the elder requested a meeting. So cheer up and get up. I bet you wouldn’t refuse the elder’s request either.”
Her closed eyes her slowly open. Linea, who had been staring at her with her half-open eyes, weakly nodded her head.
“Okay. I’ll go.”
Like her father her, she could not bear to refuse the request of the elder who had taken care of her.
*
The Elder’s room, with tree trunks supporting the ceiling like pillars, and magic stones floating in the air forming the light source.
Hamdar, the elder sitting in front of a rough wooden table, grabbed a teacup. The warmth she felt in her hands made her feel better.
Ten minutes of meditation while listening to the chirping of birds outside the window. Hearing the sound of footsteps in the hallway, the elder turned his gaze toward the door.
I can see Linea walking through the arched door with no screen.
It is unfamiliar yet familiar to see him wearing various jewelry made of gold and wearing the robe of the Grand Master made of pure white cloth.
‘Linea….’
Nearly two months had passed since Linea returned to the Great Forest, but Hamdar had never seen a smile on that shadowy face.
Hamdar knew why. According to her lady-in-waiting her, in her sleep her, Lynea sometimes called the name of a human man named ‘Theorad’.
That’s why it has a seat like this. I didn’t want to let Linea, like her daughter her, make a choice she would regret for the rest of her life.
“The elder.”
Linea comes through her door and puts her hand on her chest and bows her head. Hamdar, who was similarly polite, pointed to the chair across from him.
“Sit down. Before the succession ceremony, I would like to have a private discussion with Grand Master.”
Nodding her head, Linea sits across from Hamdar. Her expressionless face was quite bloody, but Hamdar didn’t mind and grabbed the teapot.
“The trip took longer than expected. I thought I would die waiting.”
“…… I’m sorry.”
“What is there to be sorry about? As long as Grand Master was happy, I would have been fine with never seeing him again. However, I can see that the present Grand Master does not look happy at all.”
As if she were a sinner, Linea lowered her gaze. Hamdar laughed and poured tea into an empty cup.
“Daejangnim. I’ll ask you honestly. Why do you want to become a guardian spirit when you don’t even want to?”
“…… It is a yoke that a being born as a child of a world tree with red eyes must bear.”
“Who is that? The children of the world tree should become guardian spirits.”
“I read it in a history book.”
“It’s a book.”
Hamdar pushed a cup full of green tea to Linea. Green tea with warm steam makes you feel at ease just by looking at it.
“History changes with the times. In the past, the reason we honored the children born in the World Tree as guardian spirits was to protect the great forest from the dragons’ ambitions. Am I right?”
“Right.”
“Then ask me one more time. Now that dragons are extinct after a long war, are guardian spirits essential to the clan?”
“That…”
It is not a necessary existence. It’s just a tradition that keeps it alive, and no one forces the child of the World Tree to become a guardian spirit.
“Even the Grand Master must know. The moment you accept the power of the World Tree through the Succession Ceremony, you cannot take a single step outside the Great Forest. Are you sure you won’t regret it?”
Linea bit her lip and fell silent. Hamdar, who felt sorry for Linea, continued to speak slowly.
“Even Senia, the current guardian spirit, is reluctant to pass her life on her to her descendants. Life with limited freedom is painful and painful. However, Grand Master knows all of this and yet intends to hold a succession ceremony. Can you tell me why?”
Why do you, who have no desire for power, throw yourself into a painful and painful life? In response to that subtle question, Linea decided not to hide her feelings any longer.
“Because once you become a guardian spirit, you cannot leave the Great Forest.”
“You want to be a guardian spirit because you want your freedom to be restricted. This old man doesn’t quite understand.”
“…… I have a man I love.”
Creeping voice. Linea, who put strength in his hand her on his lap her, continued.
“I am a person who is worth giving my all to. I was able to experience many things and build precious memories while staying by Theorade’s side. A year with him is the most valuable thing in my entire life.”
“Is that so. But why did Master Daejong leave such a precious person behind and return to Daesurim?”
“Because I am an uninvited guest.”
Tears welled up in Rina’s eyes. Linea raised her hand to the teacup and suppressed her emotions as best she could.
“Even though I love him, he doesn’t love me. Because there is a woman who promised the rest of his life by Theorard’s side.”
Seeing the scene of Essily and Theorard making love at her wedding, Linea was convinced. Even without me…… No, I think you can be happy without me.
“So I came back to the Great Forest. If you become a guardian spirit, you won’t be able to have bad feelings anymore. You can pray for happiness for the two of you here…….”
“Are you imprisoning yourself in the great grove for the happiness of a man named Theorad? Indeed, Grand Master decided that disappearing unexpectedly would benefit the two of them.”
Sad and pitiful It was good to see that Linea’s choice her would eventually shape her regret her, so Hamdar couldn’t stand to see it.
“But why did Grand Master think that he was not loved by a man named Theorad?”
A sensitive question cuts through her heart.
Linea’s fingertips her, which held onto the teacup, turned yellow.
“Theorard had never whispered love to me before.”
Theorard was a sweet, warm, and infinitely selfless man. To the extent that he forgave everything and treated her with goodwill, even though he had been harassing her severely.
However, he couldn’t see that forgiveness and goodwill were infused with love. There was only affection to care for the poor, close to sympathy.
“I have never…… I never heard him say I love him.”
Is it really right to stay by Theorard’s side, longing for an impossible love? No matter how you think about it, it wasn’t. Because unconnected feelings only hurt each other.
A sigh escapes from Hamdar’s mouth as he watches Linea. Hamdar reached out his wrinkled hand and lightly stroked the back of Linea’s hand.
“Linea. You stupid kid You made a hasty decision based only on your assumptions.”
“It is not a hasty judgment. It was a decision I made after much thought. We may be hard on each other right now, but Theorard will forget me someday and-“
“Did you ask?”
Linea’s words stopped. Hamdar muttered calmly, meeting her eyes with Linea, who raised her head in a daze.
“Did I ask a man named Theorad if he loved me?”
Didn’t ask. Because I was afraid to hear the answer ‘I don’t love you’. The mind that has been hurt by humans so far has unconsciously developed a defense mechanism.
“If you haven’t asked, everything you’ve said so far is just delusion after all. Theorard, in fact, he could have been in love with you. Perhaps, even now, somewhere, he may be sadly calling your name.”
A single tear ran down Linea’s cheek her. Then her lips twisted and her eyes narrowed. Linea, who shrunk her body her, sobbed sadly, but she clenched her teeth.
“What is the meaning of this conversation?”
Her weeping voice her echoes faintly. Lynea took her hand off the table and wiped her eyes.
“I’ve already left him…….”
Her shoulders her tremble and the words she spits out are miserable. She continued to wipe the corners of her eyes, but her newly welling tears her only flowed down against Linea’s will her.
“Now, now it’s irreversible…….”
Even the wrong choice was a choice in the end. There was no way he could shamelessly go back to the subject of leaving the mansion without a word.
So he had to be punished here. For whatever reason… It was true that he had made things difficult for Theo Rad. Because it was an undeniable truth.
“…….”
The chirping birds stop and the teacup cools down. In a room filled with only cries, Hamdar could not offer any advice to Linea.
