“Elysia.”
Mariela’s lips trembled with difficulty.
“I am Won Yoon-Ji.”
Elysia doubted her ears.
“What?”
Mariela took her hand with a sad expression on her face.
“You’re not Won Yoon-Ji, I am. I am the transmigrator Won Yoon-Ji.”
“What do you mean?”
Mariela looked at Elysia blankly and bit her lower lip as she was getting excited.
Mariela was Won Yoon-Ji.
A twenty-seven-year-old young woman who lived thanks for being ordinary, neither better than others nor inferior.
Those days when she thought it was a little pleasure to lie on the couch or bed and read web novels on her cell phone.
She had a clear memory of buying underwear for her parents because she was so excited and proud when she was able to get a job and earned her first salary.
Elysia stammered the stories out of her mouth.
“I went to the cinema on weekends. I watched ten million movies with my friends. Then, when I happened to see an attractive actor, I took a picture of him…”
“Elysia. Do you remember what year you went to college?”
“Year?”
“What is the bus number you always used to get home?”
“That…..”
She recalled that when the bus crossed the Han River on a large bridge, a red sunset was painted in front of it.
But she couldn’t remember the bus number.
“What is the name of the team leader in your company?”
Elysia did not know how to answer.
“What was the name of the supermarket near your house?”
“That, that…. I’m confused right now, I can’t remember……”
“No. It’s because you’re not Won Yoon-Ji.”
Mariela squeezed her hand.
“These are the stories I told you. When you enter Hadunsha, there will be times when you have to talk to the other priests about the other world.”
Even if she listened to Mariela, she couldn’t understand it.
“When you said that you were a transmigrator, I thought you were going crazy.”
Tears welled up again in Mariela’s eyes.
“But since you said you were Won Yoon-Ji…. It hurt me a lot.”
Tears ran down her cheeks.
“I wanted to save you. But I thought that she might not have really been there for you. You… you… To the point of forgetting yourself and running away… I never thought it would be so difficult.”
Mariela said that it was for her own good. No parent would stand still watching their children die.
Mariela hugged Elysia and began to cry while stuttering in an incomprehensible voice.
Elysia’s mind went blank.
Just a moment ago, she thought of herself as Won Yoon-Ji.
Endless imaginations in many stories.
Did I want to live in this world as Yoon-Ji?
To get rid of all this misery…..
What is this pain?
Elysia was startled to find that it was strangely offensive even in her thoughts.
“Then…. Then, who am I?”
“…You’re Elysia.”
Mariela hugged her daughter and cried profusely.
It was a mournful cry that would make anyone cry.
Mariela’s body temperature was high.
Every time she sobbed, her breath felt hot on her shoulder.
For a moment, Elysia resented it greatly.
“It’s hot.”
And her head ached like it was going to break.
“Elysia!”
Mariela was startled when she saw Elysia’s red face.
“What’s wrong?”
Eleon immediately walked in and walked over to the bed.
His large, cold hand rested on her forehead.
“Fever… It’s serious.”
“I feel strange.”
She felt as if something hot was boiling inside.
She was dizzy and her body was infinitely heavy.
Mariela’s expression hardened upon seeing Elysia’s state.
“…I think it’s because of the poison.”
“Poison?”
“It’s because Sabiel would have wanted Elysia no matter what.”
Sabiel must have thought that if he borrowed the power of a drug, he would be able to control Elysia more easily.
He had a history of not being able to achieve what he wanted even though he had already forcibly annihilated the priests and kidnapped Elysia.
“Is there an antidote?”
“There is. But…. ”
The problem was, the antidote wasn’t here.
Mariela looked once more at Elysia’s forehead and sighed.
“I think you should go to Hadunsha. Iris knows how to make the antidote. But….”
She looked at Eleon as if she was checking him but he answered with disinterest.
“I will keep the promise I made to the Duchess.”
There was no other way.
Because Eleon couldn’t enter Hadunsha.
Mariela sighed and said.
“I will trust you.”
She looked at Elysia once more and left immediately.
* * * * *
Eleon sat up on the bed and looked at Elysia, who was lying there, gasping for breath.
He heard an unbelievable story.
He planned to enjoy a quiet dinner alone with her.
Eleon, who had a lot of experience camping on the battlefield, was able to make something quite edible.
When Elysia was still ‘Rona‘, she had to wait for him, but he stayed in the mansion all the time, so she couldn’t go out.
He said that he would defend ‘his honor’ in front of the Duchess of Yuter, but he found it difficult to roam freely outside his residence with Elysia.
The fact that an unmarried woman, with whom he did not yet have an official relationship, left her mansion in the capital and stayed at a man’s house, was a good topic for wealthy nobles.
He wanted to make Elysia happy. He was planning to please her, who seemed to like going out.
Noble ladies look for a high-end tent that would come in handy when traveling far away. The barracks that Eleon used on the battlefield were quite practical and sturdy. The newly acquired tent contained expensive and impractical silk garland decorations.
Eleon didn’t care about money and bought a lot of things, but he didn’t waste it on unnecessary things either.
However, all his previous sense of money has disappeared somewhere. A dark blue and white garland hung on the off-white tent gave a mysterious atmosphere, and Elysia seemed to like it.
He felt like his head was in some sort of fix.
The life he has led so far, his values, and everything has changed his standard point.
Trivial and insignificant things that he would have rejected immediately flashed through his mind, even for the reason of the assumption that Elysia might not like or like him.
And she disappeared again.
Eleon planned everything to make Elysia happy.
The moment he confirmed that Elysia was not at his residence, a cunning hunch made him run to Mariela, the person who doesn’t want him as Elysia’s partner.
Marriage between nobles, lineage, status, wealth, and honor are important.
There should be no reason for anyone in the Empire to oppose Grand Duke Clevent’s marriage, but Mariella did.
She knew something.
But as long as Elysia stayed by his side, he would let it go lightly, but now that she was gone, he needed to know why.
「“Elysia is gone.”」
As soon as Mariela heard those words, she became contemplative.
「“What do you mean?”」
「“She suddenly disappeared. In just a moment.”」
「“Elysia….”」
Eleon was about to say something.
Tap tap tap
He turned his head towards the sound of the window and saw a pigeon sitting there.
It was the messenger pigeon.
Reluctant to do anything, Mariela ran to the window, opened it, and read the note tied to the bird’s foot.
「“…….Crystal Palace.”」
Among the words that Mariela inadvertently muttered, some words were stuck in Eleon’s ear.
「“Crystal Palace? Is Elysia there now? Sabiel…..why he…..”」
Mariela seemed to be in a fierce conflict. Eleon didn’t rush her.
If she were to pick one or the other, it won’t work if he rushes her. He has to let Mariela make her own decision.
But until she spoke, he was anxious about Elysia’s whereabouts as if his heart was about to burn.
Just before Eleon’s patience ran out and he was about to burst, Mariela opened her mouth.
「“I have something to tell you.”」
Her eyes looked regretful even before she started to speak.
What the hell is it?
Eleon wondered.
Soon Mariela’s story became familiar and surprising.
「“I am from a different world. And in the world I live in, there was a certain book.”」
There is a book with Eleon as the main character, about his love and part of his life.
And it talks about the founding myth of the five gods and Oder, who came from another world to save the world in which they live and became heroes. Even so, it was difficult for an Oder, who inherited the blood of a God descendant, to understand easily.
「“You are the protagonist of this world. So they want you to live your life the way it is written.”」
Elysia is scheduled to die. She is someone who would become Sabiel’s lover and she disappears.
「“Then Elysia and I….”」
「“A different fate awaits you. And it’s not Elysia.”」
「“It doesn’t make sense. Do you think I would believe that?”」
「“You don’t believe it? Elysia is going to die tonight.”
…..I have to pretend that I believe it… To save Elysia.
“E… Eleon.”
A warm voice softly called his name.
“I’m having a hard time.”
Elysia’s warm hand gripped his cold arm.
“I’m tired.”
Eleon loves her.
There was anger and helplessness in the eyes of his lover who was suffering from the side effects of the extreme poison.
Mariela’s words also confused him, but before he could control his feelings, a series of unimaginable things hit him.
“Elysia.”
Eleon wrapped Elysia in a thin blanket and held her in his arms.
Even through the clothes and blankets, he could feel her slender body that was boiling with tremendous heat.
Is it poison?
He will not forgive anyone who did this to Elysia.
Eleon burned with hostility.
Eleon gave Elysia the antidote. Elysia tried to resist the sour, astringent taste, but her jaw was fully up and there was no way she could spit out the medicine.
“Sigh.”
Soon after taking the medicine, Elysia seemed to lose her strength.
“She will sleep for a long time.”
At Mariela’s words, Eleon carefully laid her down on the bed.
“I will listen to the rest of the story.”
Seeing Eleon looking at her with his glowing red eyes, Mariela nodded.
* * * * *
Three days have passed since then.
Elysia was terribly ill with a fever and unable to regain consciousness.
The poison was extremely poisonous. It was a lethal drug.
It wasn’t going to be easy to detoxify her.
Mariela wiped Elysia’s face with a towel.
A small voice reached her ear.
“….Mom?”
Woah! I never see it coming.