Chapter 224. Teresa’s Tears (2) (1/2)

It wasn’t until a fairly long moment of silence…

“…Ah.”

That Teresa finally reacted.

“Ah, ah…”

Her fair lips eked out meaningless sounds at a loss for words.

Teresa smoothed her face down in a daze. She was belatedly doing her best to act fine, but a look of confusion spread across her face like a plague.

“E-Excuse me?”

In the end, she asked back pointlessly.

There was no way she wouldn’t have understood the first time, yet she acted like she didn’t hear anything, just like Seol Jihu often did.

Seol Jihu shoved his hands into his pockets. He had mixed feelings about this as well.

After the air between them cooled down a bit, an indescribable emotion flowed into him. He didn’t know what to say as Teresa’s reaction had surpassed his expectations.

It wasn’t a long period of silence that Teresa finally rekindled the conversation.

“You’re lying… right?”

“No.”

Seol Jihu instinctively shut his mouth the moment he gave his answer. Teresa’s burning gaze had forced him to go silent.

Her gaze wasn’t blaming or condemning him. It wasn’t a glaring look of betrayal either.

Even so, Seol Jihu couldn’t open his mouth easily. In fact, he didn’t want to face Teresa, who had unknowingly straightened herself up and was staring at him fixedly.

Eventually, Teresa’s tightly shut mouth slowly opened.

“Why?”

And the words she had been suppressing burst out.

“Why? Why are you leaving all of a sudden? There has to be a reason, right?”

Seol Jihu still didn’t answer. His desire to speak had vanished completely at the same time that his body seemed to sink down.

With Seol Jihu maintaining his silence, Teresa looked like she was about to die of frustration; however, she soon feigned a smile and spoke gently.

“I get it. You’re disappointed with the Haramark Royal Family. Right, I get it.”

“No—”

“Ei, it’s fine. I understand. I would be disappointed too. We haven’t treated Haramark’s War Hero properly—”

“Princess.”

Seol Jihu couldn’t bear to hear her anymore and stared at her straight on.

“That’s not it at all.”

He spoke firmly with a deep voice.

Teresa paused. She took in a deep breath, her chest puffing out, and still maintained a smile on her face.

“Ah, then is it about that? Is that why you came to hate Haramark?”

She must be talking about the ‘Hero Besmirching’ incident. Seol Jihu shook his head.

“It’s not that either.”

Teresa spat out a sigh, then pushed her hair up.

“If it’s not this and if it’s not that… then what is it?”

“Let me be clear about this. It’s not that I’m dissatisfied with the Royal Family or that I hate Haramark.”

“Then what is it!?”

Teresa raised her voice in an instant. She quickly went “Ah” afterward. Her eyes widened and even her mouth opened wide as if she made a mistake.

But now that her fuse had been lit, she kept going.

“What is it? What’s the reason you’re leaving? Say something, please!”

Seol Jihu quietly closed his eyes.

“It’s because of Paradise.”

“Paradise…?”

“I have goals I want to achieve. Three of them, in fact.”

He took a brief pause before continuing.

“I’m leaving to achieve these goals. That’s it.”

“Can’t you achieve them in Haramark?”

“I can’t.”

Seol Jihu said flatly.

“Strictly speaking, these three goals are only intermediate steps to a final goal. They’re stepping stones to achieve what I really want to accomplish. Without even a single one of them, I won’t be able to reach my ultimate goal.”

“….”

“The important thing is that one of the three goals cannot be achieved in Haramark. That’s why I’m going to Eva.”

“…And what’s that goal?”

Teresa spoke with a feeble voice.

“Maybe I can help you with that.”

Her voice had subsided, but she was just as forceful as before.

Seol Jihu sighed. This wasn’t something to be dragged on and on.

“Okay.”

So, he decided to ask straightforwardly.

“Then do you have the confidence to become Sicilia’s enemy, Princess?”

Teresa’s eyes widened. Seol Jihu continued without stopping.

“I’m not saying this just to push you away. But if you help me, your relationship with Sicilia will worsen without a doubt. You might be friendly with them now, but Taciana Cinzia is not the type of person to condone anyone who will challenge her authority. This, I can promise.”

Teresa was stunned. She was at a loss for words because she finally understood what it was that the youth wanted.

This wasn’t a question she could answer easily. In the southern region, which included Haramark, even children knew of Sicilia’s name.

And after the war, with Taciana Cinzia revealed to be the Executor of Sloth, Sicilia’s position in Haramark became indomitable like an impregnable fortress.

It was just as Seol Jihu said. Carpe Diem raising an organization in Haramark with the Royal Family’s backing? Aiming for the partner position of the Royal Family?

Sicilia would most certainly react to it negatively. In the worst-case scenario, there might be another repeat of Haramark’s past internal conflict.

Teresa stuttered.

“But, uh… do we need to become Sicilia’s enemy? It’s not like your relationship with them is bad either. Maybe it will work out…”

Right, it could.

Given Seol Jihu’s current relationship with Sicilia, Cinzia might allow his organization to prosper to a certain degree. But that would only be as long as Seol Jihu didn’t interfere with their current exercise of authority.

But that wasn’t what Seol Jihu wanted.

A single ship could never have two captains. Plus, Seol Jihu wanted to rise to a one and only throne.

Interpreting Seol Jihu’s silence as a denial, Teresa clenched her teeth.

“Seol… you are Haramark’s war hero.”

A trembling voice flowed out.

“To Earthlings, it might be different. But to the citizens of Haramark, you are their hero and hope. To the residents of Ramman Village, to the soldiers protecting the city, and to me…”

“….”

“But if you leave…”

Teresa blurred the end of her speech, but Seol Jihu knew what she meant to say without having to hear it. Teresa appealed to sympathy, but Seol Jihu had already made up his mind.

“…Even if I leave, I won’t ignore Haramark when it’s in danger.”

Teresa shut her eyes. She had realized that nothing she could say would change Seol Jihu’s mind.

Her tightly shut eyes waned.

Her throat clogged up, and words no longer came out.

In the end, she covered her face with her hands and dropped her head. Her rose-gold hair fell down like a waterfall.

“How embarrassing…”

A slightly tearful voice flowed out.

“I.. I thought you’d develop an organization in Haramark… haha, I got excited all by myself…”

Muttering to herself, she took her hands off her face.

Her arms slumped down, her head still facing the ground.

Seol Jihu lowered his head slightly in an attempt to look at Teresa’s face, then froze in place.

She was crying.

Tears had welled up around her beautiful eyes, and nudging her just a little bit would likely make them fall.

“I had things I wanted to do… once this expedition ended…”

“….”

“If I knew this was a farewell expedition… I wouldn’t have accepted the offer…”

Teresa tilted her head up. Blinking her eyes, she sniffled and looked up at the night sky.

A gulp rang out, and Seol Jihu heard her turn around.

“Sorry!”

“Princess.”

“I’ll go cool off a bit.”

Teresa left those words behind and disappeared as if to run away.

Seol Jihu spat out the breath he had been holding in all this while.

He had expected to hear things he might not necessarily want to hear. But he had not expected Teresa to react so emotionally.

He was flustered and at a loss for what to do as this was the first time he had seen Teresa cry.

‘Princess…’

Just where did she go in the middle of the night?

Of course, he knew how strong Teresa was, and it was unlikely that any monster would be of any threat given their proximity to Haramark.

He knew this, yet he looked around the area feeling restless.

However…

“….”

Teresa did not return until it was time for the night watch shift to change.

When he woke up the next morning, he saw Teresa curled up in a ball in a corner of the tent. Seeing as she was tossing and turning slightly, she must have stayed up all night.

Seol Jihu thought about calling her, but decided against it and left the tent to make breakfast.

On their way back to Haramark, the carriage was just as rowdy as before.

Teresa also participated in the conversation excitedly. But while her mouth was smiling, her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

Both Seol Jihu and Teresa knew not to ruin the atmosphere of a massively successful expedition.

Seol Jihu replied appropriately, then looked out of the carriage window, using feeling ill as an excuse.

A green scenery quickly flashed by.

After staring blankly for dozens of minutes…

“Oh? Looks like we’re almost there.”

He caught a glimpse of a familiar city.

*

The expedition team safely arrived at Haramark. With this, the expedition had officially ended in success.

Each team member hugged their share of the loot and chatted.

Maria and Hugo raced to the temple after saying half-hearted goodbyes.

But no one blamed them. Everyone wanted to hurry up and store their fortune in safekeeping. As such, the group decided to go to the temple together.

Except Teresa.

She had no reason to go to the temple as the palace warehouse served as excellent storage.

Before separating, Teresa approached Seol Jihu.

A look of determination could be seen on her face.

“Thank you for taking me on this expedition.”

“No problem. I should be thanking you for participating.”

“I will be sure to repay this favor soon.”

Teresa put her hand out after speaking indifferently. Seol Jihu stared at her fixedly before gently taking her hand.

While they were feeling each other’s warmth, Teresa suddenly tightened her grip.

As if she didn’t want to let go, as if she couldn’t let go.

And Seol Jihu…

“I’ll visit you soon.”

“….”

“I’ll convince you. I promise.”

Gently twisted his hand and pulled it out.

Carefully, so that it wouldn’t displease her.

Teresa’s hand followed Seol Jihu’s hand up, then eventually lost its grasp.

Teresa pouted.

“I won’t be convinced.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Seol Jihu replied with a smile.

“Have a safe trip back.”

Teresa sighed lightly and put her arm down. Then, she turned around and started walking away.

Seol Jihu watched her trudge farther away before turning around. Then, he began to walk toward Gula’s temple.

But before he even took ten steps, he felt a gaze fall on his back.

However, he did not look back again.

*

There were two reasons Earthlings paid monthly fees to use the temple’s storage.

The first was safety, and the second was utility.

It didn’t matter which temple they stored their goods at as long as they did so in a city. For example, they could find their items in the temple of Gula, even though they stored them in the temple of Luxuria.

“Whew.”

Seol Jihu smiled brightly after putting his bag in the storage box. Just looking at the bag filled him with joy.

He didn’t leave the temple right away and, instead, headed deeper inside. He then lowered his head in front of the stone statue.

It was all to hatch the egg.

However, Gula gave a piece of unexpected advice.