Chapter 159: Traitors (4)

 

Arwin was overwhelmed with confusion.

 

How on earth did Ner find that vial, and how does she know about Mel’s tears?

 

The moment she mentioned Bardi liquor, everything seemed to spiral out of control.

 

Arwin felt her heart sink.

 

Her eyes, widened in shock, slowly rolled towards Berg’s profile.

 

Berg stood frozen, staring directly at Ner.

 

The situation was so baffling that even his anger at Ner had come to a halt.

 

Arwin didn’t know where to start.

 

Her mind was in a whirl as the situation exploded around her.

 

She was suddenly burdened with Ner’s hatred.

 

-Parasarak...

 

Something in her pocket made a noise.

 

With slow movements, she pulled it out... It was Berg’s World Tree leaf.

 

“....................”

 

Her trembling eyelids confirmed the sight of the World Tree leaf.

 

Berg’s leaf was twisted and dried, seemingly more decayed than any Arwin had seen before.

 

“.....Ah...”

 

She could clearly see how much Berg’s heart was deteriorating.

 

In her 170 years of life, she had never felt such pain for someone she cherished so deeply.

 

Arwin blinked upwards at Berg.

 

It felt as though her neck was weighted down with stones.

 

Struggling to lift her head, Arwin’s body shuddered.

 

Berg was gazing back at her, his eyes devoid of strength.

 

“.............What does this mean...?”

 

His exhaustion was palpable.

 

She realized his patience had reached its limit.

 

“...Please...”

 

“...”

 

“...Stop it now.”

 

“...”

 

“...Not you too... Don’t do this to me.”

 

She could sense that he didn’t want to believe Ner’s words.

 

Just as much as Arwin, it seemed Berg hoped the drug was not poison.

 

He appeared to want to trust her.

 

“........”

 

But the burden of trust was Arwin’s to bear... and in this situation, it was impossible.

 

The despair tore through Arwin’s heart painfully.

 

She couldn’t even meet Berg’s eyes as much as she wanted to.

 

Eyes cast down, she blinked.

 

Never had she been so afraid of her father or the Elven elders.

 

Probably because there was no affection in those fears.

 

But Berg was different.

 

She had never imagined she could feel this way about a being she once looked down upon for his fleeting lifespan.

 

She loved Berg that much.

 

She feared his hatred that much.

 

“....Berg… That...”

 

“...Poison..?”

 

“...Ah...”

 

“Poison..., Arwin...?”

 

Finally, Arwin shook her head. It seemed she had to struggle with all her might.

 

“...I....I don’t know.”

 

“.........”

 

“...It’s not...mine.”

 

Ner said to Berg.

 

“Don’t believe her, Berg. Just look at the vial, it’s Elven made...! Mel’s tears is a poison known only to elves..!”

 

Arwin took a deep breath and quickly turned to Ner.

 

She walked up to her and reached out her hand.

 

“....Give it to me, Ner. I don’t know what ‘Mel’s Tears’ is, but this is not what it is.”

 

Ner clenched the vial of poison tightly.

 

And then she shook her head.

 

Rejected by Berg, tears streamed down her face as she looked straight at her.

 

“Don’t lie. This... This is Mel’s Tears, isn’t it?”

 

Arwin swallowed hard and turned to Berg.

 

Then she said,

 

“I’ll... I’ll drink it, Berg. If I drink it, that will prove it, won’t it?”

 

Mel’s Tears alone is not toxic.

 

There seemed no way out since Ner mentioned the Bardi liquor... but before Mel’s Tears mixed with Bardi liquor, she could have just snatched the vial and swallowed its contents.

 

However, her desperate attempt was instantly thwarted by Ner’s outcry.

 

“Berg....! It’s not poison if you just drink it.”

 

Arwin looked at Ner.

 

“...Ner... please...!”

 

She was begging, even to her adversary.

 

But she knew that even she could not stop Ner.

 

After all, it was Arwin who had exposed the diary.

 

Ner, without even looking at Arwin, said,

 

“It becomes poison only when mixed with Bardi liquor.”

 

Berg let out a hollow, almost incredulous laugh.

 

Still, Ner continued,

 

“It’s a poison designed to look like a natural death.”

 

Berg watched the entire scene powerlessly.

 

It was the first time Arwin had seen such a strong being in so much pain.

 

At that sight, Arwin began to deny everything like a fool.

 

“...No... it’s not, Berg...”

 

“....”

 

“Don’t... believe it. Berg...”

 

“Do you need proof...?”

 

At that, Ner pushed past Arwin and went back down to the cellar.

 

Ner’s hurried footsteps echoed lightly in the house.

 

But each sound weighed heavily on Arwin’s heart.

 

Ner brought a bottle of Bardi liquor from the cellar.

 

It was the liquor Berg had loved endlessly.

 

The liquor Arwin had gifted him on their first night... the liquor Berg had come to cherish.

 

At first, he had said it didn’t suit his taste... but it was the liquor he had come to like because Arwin had given it to him on their first night.

 

In the stillness of everyone, Ner, endlessly sobbing, prepared a glass.

 

But soon, even this seemed too much for her, and she stopped.

 

The act itself appeared agonizing.

 

-Drip... Drip...

 

Ner’s tears fell into the glass.

 

After staring at the glass and shedding tears for a while, Ner finally opened Mel’s Tears.

 

Then she let a few drops of Mel’s Tears fall into the glass.

 

-Drip... Drip...

 

Then, she poured into that glass even the Bardi liquor that Berg had so dearly loved.

 

Having completed the drink, Ner turned to Arwin and said,

 

“....Now prove it.”

 

Arwin stared quietly at the glass.

 

For her, whose lifespan was of utmost importance, this was a taunt from Ner.

 

“Just drink it... and... prove your innocence.”

 

“.........”

 

Instinctively, Arwin looked to Berg for help, but even in his eyes, despair was beginning to mix with doubt.

 

Berg, who had always offered her his trust, now seemed unable to believe in Arwin.

 

Arwin felt her heart growing cold.

 

With every step she felt distanced from Berg... it seemed as if the lights of the world were dimming one by one.

 

“....Go on, drink it...!! You tried to kill Berg, didn’t you!! Say it isn’t Mel’s Tears!!”

 

Ner shouted.

 

-Thunk.

 

Arwin, without realizing, found herself kneeling.

 

She, who had been granted a long life and had always maintained a proud stance, was now kneeling.

 

Berg groaned at her action.

 

“.....Ah.”

 

It was the groan of someone realizing the unwanted truth.

 

Life was draining from his eyes too.

 

Arwin spoke first.

 

“I know it looks strange... Berg.... but... it wasn’t meant for you.”

 

At that, Berg lifelessly asked,

 

“......Then?”

 

“....For... for suicide-”

 

“-You were the one who said your lifespan was most important.”

 

“....”

 

“...You were the one who said you wanted to travel the world. You said I was your last hurdle... But... suicide?”

 

Arwin realized her lie wasn’t convincing and scrambled for another excuse.

 

“...Maybe for some distant future... to protect myself...”

 

“...Self-defense?”

 

“...”

 

Berg chuckled dryly.

 

“...........I already heard it from Ner, Arwin.”

 

“......What...?”

 

Each time she heard Berg’s voice, Arwin felt her heart sink deeper.

 

She was being further ensnared in an inescapable mire.

 

Berg asked with a pained smile,

 

“....You wished I was dead, didn’t you? During the Celebrian expedition.”

 

“...................”

 

Arwin’s eyes slowly shifted to Ner.

 

Ner was covering her eyes with her hands, tears streaming down.

 

-....Drip.

 

Arwin felt a sensation tapping lightly on her thigh and looked down.

 

-....Drip...

 

At the same time, the tears that had formed in Arwin’s eyes fell onto her thighs.

 

Tears were flowing.

 

Since when had the tears formed... She didn’t even know how long it had been since she last cried.

 

“....Huh?”

 

But that confusion was fleeting; there was no time to dwell on it.

 

She couldn’t believe the words that came from Berg’s mouth.

 

Had Berg known all along?

 

Had Ner already told him everything?

 

Why hadn’t Berg shown any sign?

 

How much had he endured alone?

 

Yet... had he still affirmed her?

 

Had he still spoken of love to her?

 

As Arwin acknowledged the integrity of the man she loved.

 

......She felt even more distanced from him.

 

Berg said,

 

“From our very first meeting, you, who handed me Bardi liquor...”

 

Only then did Arwin realize that the pain in her heart was intensifying.

 

She realized the worst pain had not yet arrived.

 

“If it wasn’t meant for me... then who was it for...?”

 

“...........”

 

“........Everything points to me, Arwin.”

 

“.......”

 

“.............Doesn’t it?”

 

Despite this, Arwin struggled to regain her composure.

 

She believed she could still solve this with words.

 

She wanted to believe it wasn’t over yet.

 

There was no way her relationship with Berg could end like this.

 

She couldn’t be drifting apart from the man she had wanted to be with, even at the expense of her lifespan.

 

She decided to reveal everything.

 

Ultimately, she chose the truth.

 

“...........I was wrong.”

 

Arwin spoke softly, yet clearly.

 

She didn’t avoid Berg’s eyes.

 

“.....I’m sorry, Berg.... I’m a terrible person...”

 

“...............Ha.....Ha....”

 

“But.... it was because I was struggling... I did it because it was too hard...”

 

Arwin began to explain, hoping that Berg might understand her even a little.

 

“Berg.... I’ve been tortured by the World Tree for 170 years. Born with a long lifespan... I’ve had a much harder time than an ordinary elf...”

 

“...”

 

“For 170 years...! I’ve endured, thinking only of freedom... I’ve lived without trusting anyone... Yes, I accepted this marriage thinking this way. With the poison... if I could kill just one short-lived being... perhaps I could gain my freedom.”

 

Tears streamed down Arwin’s cheeks again.

 

“....I just... wanted to see... the outside world so badly....”

 

170 years of torture was by no means an easy time.

 

What kept her going was the stories of the outside world written in books.

 

That was all she had waited for, all she had hoped for.

 

-Thud!

 

Arwin reached out her hand to Berg and took his hand.

 

-Swish...

 

She pulled Berg’s hand to her cheek.

 

Her expression of longing to be cherished had never manifested in such a way before.

 

It was a gesture the proud woman of her past would never have done.

 

“...I was blinded by greed, Berg... I didn’t know the warmth of someone like you and thought that was the only way...”

 

Berg looked down at her with an expression devoid of emotion.

 

It was the look that Arwin had often given him in the early days of their marriage.

 

Only now did she realize how painful a single look could be.

 

“Not everything about me was a lie... The time I spent with you was truly happy... I couldn’t have imagined such happiness while confined to my estate...”

 

Berg’s eyes momentarily quivered.

 

Arwin felt that her words were reaching him.

 

But that was fleeting.

 

“...I...”

 

“...”

 

“...don’t know where to start... Did you ever show me your true self?”

 

Berg said.

 

“...What?”

 

Berg asked, his hand still on Arwin’s cheek, “When I risked my life for you under the World Tree... did you want me dead then?”

 

“.............”

 

“...When I slipped the ring on your finger by the sea in Dems’ village. Did you want me dead then...?”

 

Berg asked if even in those moments, lit by beautiful sunsets full of smiles and laughter, she harbored thoughts of betrayal.

 

“...Berg...”

 

“...Even when I stood by you after you woke from nightmares, when I taught you how to shoot an arrow... when we shared warmth hiding under a tree...”

 

He began to list all the memories they had shared together.

 

With each memory, the pain in Arwin’s heart intensified.

 

The memories that she would never forget even after hundreds of years were becoming tainted in Berg’s recollection.

 

“When we drank Bardi liquor together. When we spent time in front of the fire. When you asked me for more time...!”

 

“...Berg...!”

 

“When did you finally decide... not to kill me...!!”

 

“............”

 

His voice rising, he suddenly seemed to lose strength.

 

Then he asked with a defeated laugh,

 

“...Behind the smile you showed me... were you thinking of killing me?”

 

Arwin felt Berg’s strength leaving his body through the hand touching her cheek.

 

Her flowing tears wetted Berg’s hand.

 

She tried desperately to regain her composure.

 

She felt his hand slipping from her grasp.

 

As it did, Arwin’s anxiety only deepened.

 

She gripped Berg’s hand tighter.

 

“Now... it’s truly sincere...”

 

Her voice trembled as she spoke.

 

Arwin began to plead with Berg, an idea suddenly coming to her.

 

“...Berg. I agreed to an oath, didn’t I...?”

 

“...”

 

“It’s late, but... I’m finally ready...”

 

An oath that needed to be mulled over word by word.

 

An oath that Arwin was ready to stake her life on and swear to Berg.

 

She was prepared to show her sincerity through that sacred promise.

 

It was a pledge she had rehearsed hundreds of times, choosing each word carefully—her own heartfelt vow.

 

It was the first vow she had ever made in her life.

 

Arwin took a trembling breath and whispered,

 

“Berg... until my life ends—”

 

“—No need.”

 

-Thunk.

 

Berg cut off Arwin’s words and pulled his hand away.

 

It seemed as though she could hear the sound of her heart crashing to the floor.

 

Arwin was rejected even before she could utter the words she had long prepared.

 

She froze, experiencing a type of pain she had never felt before.

 

No torment inflicted by the World Tree over 170 years could compare to this pain.

 

She couldn’t believe such agony could exist in the world.

 

Berg continued,

 

“.........It’s no longer needed, Arwin.”

 

Unable to formulate words through the pain in her heart, Arwin stammered,

 

“...........Uh...uh...”

 

Berg quietly closed and then opened his eyes.

 

He looked back and forth between her and Ner.

 

“The two of you, whom I wanted to love the most.”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“The ones I wanted to give my all to.”

 

His expression hardened.

 

The warm, smiling Berg had vanished, leaving only a man shattered by betrayal.

 

“One of you sought to harm my family... and the other sought my death.”

 

He spoke with resignation,

 

“So this is what my efforts have come to...”

 

Berg let out an uneven sigh.

 

Nodding as if he had come to a realization, he said,

 

“.........Now I understand why Adam Hyung always disliked other races.”

 

“Uh-huh...sob...!!”

 

At his words, Ner, unable to hold back tears any longer, began to sob loudly.

 

She approached Berg like a child, reaching out to him.

 

“Berg... please...!”

 

-Thud!

 

But Berg firmly pushed Ner’s hand away.

 

Pushed aside, Ner looked at her arm as if unable to believe what had just happened.

 

Berg said,

 

“...Don’t touch me.”

 

With a look of disgust, as if viewing refuse.

 

A stark contrast to the way he used to look at treasures.

 

“Don’t ever lay your hands on me again.”

 

Arwin too froze at the suddenness of the situation.

 

The words “don’t touch” pierced her heart like a dagger.

 

Berg, who had never once rejected their touch before.

 

He had always welcomed them with a smile.

 

But now... that kindness was nowhere to be found.

 

What had been taken for granted was no longer so.

 

Was this the end of feeling Berg’s warmth?

 

Was this him saying they could no longer be loved by him?

 

Berg chuckled bitterly.

 

“...I was foolish.”

 

Ner and Arwin could do nothing but watch him.

 

“There was an insurmountable gap... and I failed to see it. I was born in the slums... a human. You were nobility... from another race.”

 

All of Berg’s efforts and attempts to bridge the gap between himself, Ner, and Arwin had vanished, scattered through their minds.

 

Memories of when he had embraced them, comforted them, and fought for them flashed by.

 

At the same time, Berg said,

 

“From the beginning... we were never meant to be compatible.”

 

Berg’s declaration that he would no longer try.

 

His words expressing weariness with them.

 

The pronouncement of surrender from a husband.

 

-Drip...

 

Arwin could feel tears streaming down her cheeks once more.

 

She had shed more tears now than in all of the past 170 years combined.

 

And she knew the tears yet to come would be even more.

 

Her prediction was correct.

 

Falling in love with Berg meant that life after parting with him would be agonizing.

 

But what she hadn’t anticipated was that this time would come 60 years too soon.

 

“...Just let me stay by your side, Berg.”

 

Ner was whispering faintly.

 

She gazed blankly at Berg’s face and pleaded.

 

“...If you say not to be seen, I’ll hide.”

 

“...”

 

“...If you want the house cleaned... I’ll clean it. Treat me like a maid if you want to... just... sob...”

 

“...”

 

“...Just let me stay by your side.”

 

Unable to remain silent, Arwin also spoke.

 

“...You might not believe what I say anymore, Berg...”

 

“...”

 

“...But I’ll be helpful. I’ll be of help to the Red Flames in the future...”

 

She promised to protect what he cherished most.

 

“So... so... please...”

 

Arwin quickly wiped her eyes with both hands and said,

 

“You have to choose one of us, Berg.”

 

Berg looked down at Arwin.

 

His gaze was so cold it felt chilling.

 

Arwin countered the pain with her words.

 

“Ce... Celebrien could be a great help. You know, I’m... kind of unusual among elves... Ah... I can also ask my father for a lot of help.”

 

Arwin stuttered, uncharacteristically.

 

If her own presence was not needed, she hoped her background would be.

 

She wanted to stay by his side for that reason at least. She couldn’t imagine being discarded.

 

The thought of waking up without Berg was terrifying.

 

The Red Flames needed the power of the nobility.

 

After the war, it was certain that the mercenary groups would be one by one restrained and destroyed by the nobles.

 

Although the Red Flames group might now escape this fate... the need for noble power remained unchanged.

 

They needed a solid guarantee.

 

Ner chimed in as well.

 

“Be... Berg. Blackwood can... sob... can also help... right? Please... please don’t discard me...”

 

Berg whispered softly amidst their sobbing.

 

“....Maybe.”

 

“...What?”

 

As Arwin interjected, Berg looked up at them.

 

“It’s possible... I guess.”

 

He continued slowly.

 

“Perhaps... I might need the power of one of your families.”

 

Berg, always prioritizing the Red Flames, spoke.

 

Arwin felt a tiny spark of hope kindle inside her chest.

 

“...But know this. Even if one of you stays by my side...”

 

Then, with cold eyes, Berg looked at them and said,

 

“I will... never love you.”

 

He extinguished Arwin’s flicker of hope coldly.

 

Those familiar words.

 

Ner, and Arwin too, had once said those words to Berg.

 

Now, it was Berg who spoke them.

 

-Groooooan...

 

Arwin felt a tearing pain.

 

-Slump... Thud.

 

Ner also lost strength in her legs and collapsed.

 

“...It hurts...”

 

Ner whispered to herself like a murmur.

 

“...I hurt... Berg...”

 

And as if seeking help, she murmured softly.

 

But Berg did not comfort them.

 

Leaving them behind as if they were nothing, he headed outside.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

 

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