“Excuse me for a moment.”
I thought the timing was just right. How many men would walk past an elf, red-faced and reeking of alcohol, without saying anything?
Like beasts rushing towards their prey, men naturally gathered around Eris.
They stretched out their hands, claiming they were just trying to keep her from falling over, making it easy for me to slip through.
“What the heck?”
“Hey! Don’t just butt in suddenly!”
“What the heck is this…”
A few young nobles raised their voices in complaint for cutting in line.
“Get off me! This is… my woman!”
As Eris suddenly hugged me from behind, the nobles’ expressions darkened in an instant.
Well, she’s not actually my girlfriend, but that would make things easier for the moment.
I shrugged my chin towards the nobles to get lost, and they had no choice but to retreat, biting their lips and clenching their fists, some even on the verge of tears.
“Where are you all going! This is my man!”
“Okay, okay, let’s get some fresh air.”
I forcibly dragged Eris, who was clinging to my back.
I wanted to take her outside the banquet hall, but she likely wouldn’t budge that far, so I took her to the terrace right next to it.
Several people on the terrace, seeing Eris, immediately made way. I gave a slight nod of thanks for their considerate gesture.
“Where in the world did you drink so much?”
There’s no way she was like this just until I fell asleep earlier.
“Hashim gave it to me.”
That damn dwarf.
Why would he give alcohol to someone who’s already tipsy?
“Ugh, wait a sec. I’ll get some cold water.”
“Okay!”
I leaned against the railing, feeling a bit uneasy, but I decided to just get some ice water.
My worries were not unfounded. Eris, who had been standing just fine moments ago, was now slumped over the railing like a pile of laundry.
“Ugh.”
“Han-soo! Don’t stop!”
“Alright, drink this.”
I had heard that elves were particularly susceptible to alcohol, but I didn’t expect her to be this weak.
How much did she drink?
Eris, who had been flapping around, suddenly slumped down and asked, “By the way… where am I?”
“Right behind you.”
Eris, still leaning against the railing, peeked her head back. Naturally, all she could see from that angle was the scenery outside, so she turned her head around everywhere.
Eventually, I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back up.
“Try to drink this.”
“Uh.”
Eris, mouth wide open like a baby bird waiting for food.
In my past life, I hadn’t really drunk, and even if I did, it was only a sip, so I had no idea she had this side to her.
“It’s gonna be really cold.”
As I carefully let the water flow, Eris gulped it down, a refreshing look on her face.
“Wow! Drinking cold water feels… so much better!”
“Is it because you’re an elf? Do your natural healing powers work in places like this?”
“Uh, I guess so?”
Eris, with her ears flushed red, kept glancing at me while looking down, so I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Gyaaaah! No way!”
“D-Don’t imitate me!”
“Seriously, why did you drink so much to end up like this? You could have been dragged off by other nobles if you messed up!”
“Ugh. I’m so sorry. But I couldn’t bear it without drinking.”
“…”
A moment of silence.
In the situation where both of us were pondering what to say, Eris was the first to speak.
“Daniel, do you know something?”
“Hmm?”
I glanced at her, but her expression was filled with a faint sadness, making me involuntarily take a deep breath.
However, Eris spoke cautiously but without hesitation.
“Your gaze towards me felt incredibly special.”
“…”
“I could feel my heart race just from being looked at by you, your eyes were shining.”
After that, there was silence.
Eris didn’t say anything, and it felt as if she was waiting for me to respond.
“What about now?”
So I decided to step forward.
After all, I had already told her once that I no longer liked her.
“Sigh, why of all times…”
Of course, repeating it wasn’t easy. It felt like I was hurting her twice.
“What do you think?”
“…”
I did not expect her to throw the question back at me. I tried to make my eyes look as pretty as possible, but Eris just smiled slightly, turning her body to lean against the railing.
“You know, Daniel.”
“Yeah?”
“What does it feel like to remember a world that no one else knows?”
“…!”
In that moment, my heart sank.
But I felt the subtle scent of alcohol from Eris right next to me, and she wasn’t saying that because she knew something.
“Remember, you told me before. You said you have the ability to see the future and that you’ve seen a future where you and I are happy together. That’s why you started to like me.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I mumbled about how the Goddess of Time had shared the information with me after my regression, and I almost forgot how it had been perceived.
It had been quite a long time since then.
“How do you feel?”
Eris asked again.
Her gentle gaze felt like it was tightening around me, making it difficult for me to run away.
Taking a breath, I answered honestly.
“It feels terrible.”
“…”
“It feels so terrible that it makes me angry. Knowing a world that nobody remembers is a kind of responsibility, Eris.”
You shared your warmth with me until the very last moment, breaking the bonds of distrust I had with others.
Since my regression, the reason I could speak and act naturally with others like this was thanks to you.
“I will never forget them, and I can’t forget them, but they are nowhere to be found.”
I remember Rin, who worried about me even in her dying moments. She never expressed her feelings until the very end.
She forced herself to swallow her emotions, wanting to free me from my own shackles.
“…”
Eris looked slightly shocked, her lips parted as she stared at me.
Maybe it was because it was the first time she had asked such a direct question; without knowing it, my emotional answer burst out.
“Sorry, forget it.”
I took a deep breath and tried to turn my head slightly away, but she gently took my hand and came closer.
“I’m sorry.”
“Uh?”
I was about to ask why she was apologizing, but there was no time for that.
Eris’s warm embrace had gently wrapped around me.
“I’m sorry for not remembering.”
“…!”
Eris’s voice was filled with tears.
She was sincerely apologizing, expressing her heartfelt sorrow. Despite not knowing the ordeals I had gone through, she sought my forgiveness with a choked voice.
In reality, she is just a victim too.
“If only I could share that burden with you.”
At first, I had intended to respond with something.
Like how she didn’t need to apologize, that it was something unavoidable.
But whatever I tried to say just wouldn’t come out.
“One day, at that moment when the God allows.”
It felt like listening to a whispered prayer.
I couldn’t help but listen helplessly to each of her words as if they were magic, settling comfortably within me.
“Or perhaps at the very moment when miracles overlap.”
Even without sensing any magical energy at all, her words settled in me like some sort of spell.
“If the time comes when I can bear the forgotten world you remember, together with you.”
I felt something heavy inside me starting to break away. The rough fragments that had been stuck inside were coming off naturally.
“I will seek you out, not for the world, but for you, who supported it.”
Eris, who gently lowered her head to meet my gaze, smiled shyly while whispering.
“And I will love you again.”
Slowly, I felt the strength leaving Eris’s touch. While I blankly stared at her, I pondered her words with a dazed smile.
“Is such a miracle even possible?”
I was about to add that it probably wasn’t, but Eris shook her head. The night breeze gently tousled her hair.
“How likely do you think it is that a guardian of elves who has lived for centuries would fall in love with a young human?”
“…Very.”
It seemed like this was how it always had been.
When we lived together in the Forest of the Demon Realm, and even now during our conversations in this life.
In the end, it is through my conversations with Eris that I find my answers.
“Very, very little chance.”
“A miracle-like situation is already unfolding before you, so why shouldn’t you hope for another miracle?”
With a light laugh, Eris slowly drew near. Her touch, intertwined with my hand, was too soft to shake off.
For just a brief moment, we shared this time together.
