Chapter 103: The Direction Where The Heart Rests (2)

 

Beneath tightly closed eyelids, memories of the past flickered.

 

“...Hiding here again.”

 

A warm voice called out to Sien.

 

Sien, with her head buried in her knees, looked up at the voice calling her.

 

She didn’t need to see his face to know who it was. His voice was enough.

 

She couldn’t possibly not know who had come to comfort her again.

 

“Sniff...Bell...”

 

Calling him by his nickname, Sien suddenly leaped up and threw herself into Berg’s arms.

 

As she embraced him, a sharp scent of blood wafted through the air.

 

Only then did Sien, startled, take a good look at Berg.

 

“You’re... you’re covered in blood, Bell!”

 

Berg shrugged his shoulders, as if it was nothing.

 

Then, hugging Sien tighter, he gently stroked her hair.

 

Even as she was being comforted, Sien cried out.

 

“Sniff...Again, did you fight because of me?”

 

“...I fought because I couldn’t stand that guy.”

 

Sien knew that Berg’s words were his way of sparing her the burden, understanding that he had fought again for her.

 

He must have fought with the big guy from the orphanage who made fun of her.

 

“Bell...! He was four years older than you...! What if you had been seriously hurt!”

 

She scolded him, anger evident in her voice.

 

Berg often forgot, but now he was all she had left.

 

Her parents had passed away, and she had lost touch with her relatives.

 

The only person she had left to love was Berg.

 

She hated seeing him engage in such dangerous behavior.

 

She wished he would stop.

 

“Don’t you remember how you were hurt last time? Why do you keep-”

 

“-I hate the idea of you getting hurt more.”

 

Berg finally blurted out in response to her anger.

 

Sien frowned.

 

She hadn’t been hurt.

 

What was he talking about?

 

“I am...!”

 

But Sien, trying to speak, found her throat tightening.

 

Berg’s earnest eyes watched over her.

 

She understood what he meant.

 

It wasn’t about physical injuries.

 

He was talking about emotional wounds.

 

Tears welled up in Sien’s eyes again.

 

“...Sniff...Sob...”

 

She couldn’t fathom how he always managed to comfort her like this.

 

Berg gently wiped away her tears as they started to flow.

 

He smiled.

 

“There you go crying again. Stop crying, you little crybaby.”

 

“I told you not to tease me by calling me a crybaby...”

 

Sien hugged Berg again, trying to hide her expression.

 

Berg chuckled and welcomed her embrace.

 

.

.

.

 

Time passed, and they found themselves entangled comfortably once more.

 

Sien lay on Berg’s lap, watching the setting sun.

 

Despite losing her parents... it was Berg who gave her the strength to carry on.

 

His presence was the most reassuring thing for her.

 

With him, she could stand; with him, she could live.

 

Every moment with him was a joy.

 

She could overcome any tragedy because he was there.

 

That made one thing clear to her.

 

Sien already knew what was most precious in her life.

 

Did Berg know?

 

Could he even guess?

 

How much he meant to her.

 

Perhaps she loved Berg twice as much as he loved her.

 

Berg was her treasure.

 

A treasure she wanted to hide from everyone.

 

That was why his handsome appearance bothered her.

 

She didn’t like the attention it drew.

 

Of course, everything else about him overshadowed that minor flaw.

 

With Berg, it felt like their hearts were connected.

 

Without speaking, she could tell what he was thinking, what he was feeling.

 

Right now, he was cherishing her above all else... and Sien planned to do the same.

 

Nothing could come before Berg.

 

Even if the world was harsh, as long as Berg was by her side, she felt she could be happy.

 

In that moment, she whispered to herself.

 

“Bell...?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“...Promise you won’t leave me?”

 

At whispere, Berg chuckled lightly.

 

He replied.

 

“Why would I ever leave you?”

 

“...”

 

“Just take care of yourself. I couldn’t leave you even if I died.”

 

Sien shook her head.

 

“I’ll be by your side forever too.”

 

He smiled.

 

“...You promised.”

 

“Yeah. I swear.”

 

Sien affirmed confidently.

 

There was no reason why this promise couldn’t be kept.

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

Their eyes met, and her heart swelled in unison.

 

Her consciousness momentarily matured.

 

And the only thing the matured Sien could say to Berg was one word.

 

“Love...”

 

With those lips twitching as if in sleep talk, Sien woke from her dream.

 

Berg was gone, and the dark ceiling revealed itself.

 

The words she wanted to say scattered into the darkness.

 

“...”

 

The splendid past faded into memory. His warm presence also receded from her body.

 

Every time she dreamed of Berg, it felt like she was going through the pain of parting again.

 

Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.

 

The unkept promise haunted her thoughts.

 

.

.

.

 

In the early morning, Sien smiled bitterly.

 

She checked the letters returned from the church.

 

Her eyes repeatedly read the same line.

 

‘No change in Berg’s circumstances.’

 

This simple news sustained her.

 

It was for Berg’s safety that she was participating in this war.

 

Just knowing that he was doing well felt like a reward.

 

“...”

 

If there was just one thing she could wish for here.

 

...to see Berg from afar, just once.

 

In these uncertain times of war, she couldn’t appear before him.

 

So, she simply wished to look at him from a distance.

 

Just to see that beloved face once more.

 

Yet, Sien ultimately shook her head.

 

If she were to see him... that would probably be the end.

 

She wouldn’t be able to return to the battlefield.

 

She instinctively knew she’d go mad with the desire to be by Berg’s side.

 

So, she couldn’t allow herself to do that.

 

-Bang!

 

At that moment, the hero Felix slammed his hand on the desk in a burst of anger.

 

Sien, folding the note she had received from the church, put it in her pocket and focused on her companions.

 

“...Those damned Jackson family bastards...”

 

Felix ground his teeth in anger.

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

Everyone understood his rage.

 

The hero party was currently in the territory of the Jackson family.

 

Their goal was to clear the area of monsters and secure the supply route leading to the front lines.

 

However, the operation was proceeding slowly.

 

The problem was the succession dispute in the Jackson family.

 

The late head of the Jackson family, a polygamist, a human, had numerous wives.

 

The issue arose when he died without naming an heir, leading to a battle among his many children.

 

This dispute had thrown the territory into chaos, and nothing was functioning properly.

 

Numerous knights and soldiers were busy taking sides in the conflict.

 

Fighting was out of the question.

 

Centaur Arcan also expressed his frustration.

 

“Felix, calm down.”

 

“How can I calm down! Do you know how much we’re suffering because of those Jackson bastards...! Even at this moment...!”

 

Sylphrien joined Arcan in trying to soothe Felix.

 

“...But Prin-nim promised to support us, remember? We have to trust that-”

 

Prin was the son of the late lord Jackson and his first wife.

 

“It’s not about trusting or not, Sylphrien. You know that.”

 

“...”

 

“We’re short on soldiers. Even if all the soldiers of the Jackson family helped, it wouldn’t be enough. And if we only have those siding with Prin. How can we fight a war like this!”

 

Felix shook his head.

 

“...There’s no answer this way. We have to do something.”

 

Arcan scratched his chin.

 

“Like what?”

 

“...Either we side with Prin to end this succession battle or use the damage they’ve caused as a pretext to lock them all up...! Either way, we can’t waste more time on this fight...!”

 

Sylphrien spoke again, gently.

 

“Calm down, Felix. The angrier you get, the more likely you are to make a wrong decision.”

 

And with Sylphrien’s second attempt at mediation, Felix finally let out a long sigh.

 

Following Sylphrien’s advice, Felix closed his eyes to calm his anger.

 

“As I said, since Prin-nim is on our side for now... let’s use that support to extinguish the immediate fires.”

 

“...”

 

“For the bigger issues, it might not be bad to ask for Gale’s help.”

 

Felix shook his head.

 

“...The master is busy right now.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

As the topic slightly shifted, Felix gradually calmed down. He said,

 

“...There’s news that he went to seek out the Red Flames group.”

 

The focus briefly shifted to Sien.

 

“...”

 

But Sien just shrugged her shoulders.

 

The controversial mercenary Berg, after all, was not Bell.

 

Felix continued,

 

“...Yes, getting help from the mercenaries might be a good idea.”

 

However, Sylphrien shook her head again.

 

“How will we pay for it? It’s also a burden to ask more from the king...”

 

The hero finally let out a sigh.

 

“...Ha.”

 

No one had a sharp solution to offer.

 

****

 

“...Ugh.”

 

Ner woke up with a slight headache.

 

It seemed she had overindulged in drink the day before.

 

She was still tired. Sleep was insufficient.

 

She reflexively reached out beside her to fall back asleep.

 

-Thud.

 

“...”

 

But the warmth that should have been there wasn’t.

 

Ner slowly opened her eyes.

 

There was an empty space beside her.

 

Berg seemed to have already woken up and left.

 

“.......”

 

Seeing his empty space chased away her drowsiness.

 

She still wanted to sleep, but with Berg not by her side, her heart felt colder.

 

Ner sighed and slowly sat up.

 

She looked at the sunlight sneaking in through the window.

 

Yesterday’s events felt like a dream.

 

She still couldn’t quite believe that surreal incident had happened.

 

‘I love you.’

 

Ner touched her own lips.

 

She couldn’t believe she had whispered those words with these lips.

 

“...”

 

Yet, she didn’t want to pretend as if it never happened.

 

Even if she was under the influence of alcohol... her feelings hadn’t changed.

 

It wasn’t a word to be carelessly uttered, even in a drunken state.

 

Especially for her kind, it was a word heavier than any other.

 

All she felt now in the morning was a bit of embarrassment.

 

She could now understand what the old woman she had met before had said.

 

It was hard to acknowledge love when it approached, and even when acknowledged, it was embarrassing.

 

She didn’t want to shout out her feelings, to brag or show off.

 

The more precious it was, the more she wanted to keep it secret and guarded.

 

Moreover, Berg had now become her vulnerability.

 

A love she couldn’t deny.

 

She didn’t want to be caught and swung around here and there because of this weakness.

 

Therefore, she was still cautious about approaching these feelings.

 

Maybe for now, she should just naturally and slowly get closer to Berg.

 

After all, there was plenty of time.

 

A lifetime.

 

They would be together until death.

 

They were already married, and there was no closer bond with Berg than this.

 

There was no need to rush the progress of their relationship.

 

Naturally, all aspects of love would unfold.

 

“...”

 

At that thought, Ner’s heart fluttered again.

 

Her tail wagged uncontrollably.

 

What would someone think if they saw her now?

 

A noble of the Blackwood family, falls in love with a human mercenary from the slums.

 

Would they mock her? Laugh at her?

 

But in the end, it didn’t matter.

 

She stopped entertaining such needless thoughts.

 

Above all, being by Berg’s side was what mattered most to Ner.

 

“...”

 

Suddenly, the quietness of the house bothered her.

 

She waited, but it was as silent as a grave.

 

There was not a single sound.

 

Could she be alone in the house?

 

Ner staggered out of bed.

 

“Berg?”

 

She went to the living room to look for him.

 

He was nowhere to be seen.

 

“...Arwin-nim?”

 

Ner then looked for Arwin as well.

 

But Arwin, too, was not in the house.

 

“...”

 

Suddenly, the surreal moment from yesterday returned to reality.

 

She saw the situation more clearly.

 

She had fallen in love with Berg.

 

...But Berg was a member of the human race.

 

A human, capable of having numerous women.

 

He already had two wives.

 

And he was even dividing his attention with Arwin.

 

Arwin, who once wished Berg to die.

 

She also had an unidentified liquid.

 

Ner dressed in light clothing and stepped outside.

 

She wandered around the village to find Berg.

 

“Good morning, Ner-nim!”

 

The human mercenaries greeted her.

 

“Hello. Have you seen Berg?”

 

Ner asked about Berg’s whereabouts each time.

 

Following the mercenaries’ sightings, she moved on.

 

Soon, she spotted Berg from a distance.

 

“Are you feeling alright?”

 

“Thanks to you, Vice-captain.”

 

He was looking after the village residents.

 

...Hand-in-hand with Arwin.

 

“...Ha.”

 

Ner let out a laugh without realizing it.

 

Her wagging tail suddenly stiffened.

 

Acknowledging her feelings of love, one more emotion became clearer.

 

The depth of love naturally brought a deep feeling.

 

...Jealousy.

 

She had tolerated Berg’s attention to Arwin out of familiarity.

 

But the feeling of dislike was clearer than ever.

 

Had Berg left her early in the morning to be with Arwin?

 

“...”

 

Ner realized her priorities.

 

She didn’t need to worry about getting closer to Berg.

 

There was endless time ahead.

 

...Perhaps, pushing Arwin away might be her first step.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

 

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