2. Time of Awakening (2)

“Hey.”

Saena lost consciousness as she was swallowed by the light rays.

And when she woke up, she found herself in a space filled with white light. She realized she was in a strange place disconnected from the outside.

Where is this? Ah, didn’t someone just call me?

Saena lifted her dazed gaze and turned her head.

“It’s been a while.”

And finally, she witnessed an unbelievable scene.

“……ri?”

A person who looked exactly like Yuri. No, was it Yuri?

A man with the same violet-colored eyes as hers and similar features smiled at Saena.

‘Is this a dream?’

But before she could complete that thought, as if reading her mind, Yuri corrected her.

“It’s not a dream, so why don’t you come and hug me?”

Then he spread his arms wide and smiled. As if telling her to come and feel his existence.

“Really? Is it really… you? Yuri?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

“……”

Saena, who had been standing dazed for a moment, moved her feet.

Slowly. Slowly.

Yuri waited in one spot without the slightest urging as she approached. Just watching her with a smiling face.

Finally standing right in front of him, Saena slowly raised her arms.

“—Ah!”

But before she could wrap her arms around him, his arms suddenly enveloped her waist and lifted her, spinning her around widely.

Yuri laughed loudly, his throat vibrating. The feeling of laughter echoing all around warmed and pleasantly shook her heart.

“Saya.”

After laughing heartily, he set her back down and said,

“I’m back.”

When Yuri would climb trees to escape at night in Delvon, or leave without being able to tell her beforehand, he always left their code.

Their secret code left on the terrace wall.

[I’ll be back soon.]

Like those shapes carved into the desk.

Yuri had returned.

“Yes…. Welcome back…”

Saena murmured while hugging Yuri’s waist tightly like she’s putting shackles on him. Her heart felt so full that even speaking felt difficult.

“Thank you…. for coming back…”

It was the sincerest gratitude possible.

She knew what Yuri had endured for her sake.

That’s why she knew how miraculous it was to meet again like this.

“You made it here well. Worth betting my life on.”

He grinned.

Through fragments of memories she saw during her awakening, Saena could roughly guess the time Yuri had to endure, even if approximately.

He must have walked alone through tedious and indefinite times of hardship.

Seeing him smile as if it was nothing after all that suffering made Saena’s emotions surge. Her hands shot out reflexively.

“—Why!”

Slap- slap–! Sharp sounds rose from her hands striking his back.

“Ow! Hey hey!”

“—Did you!”

Though it felt strangely frictionless since this wasn’t reality and probably wouldn’t hurt at all, Yuri bent over at the waist exaggerating his pain.

“Who–!”

“Ack! Ow!”

“Asked you! To do that?!”

“Hey hey! It hurts!”

“When I suddenly woke up and no one remembered you, I…”

Saena lowered her striking hands and tightly gripped his collar.

“How much…”

Yuri hugged her again and answered in a gentle voice.

“It’s okay. We met again like this, didn’t we?”

Somehow, Yuri gave off a much more mature and grown-up feeling.

Rather than just feeling good about that, it seemed like traces of having lived a difficult life…

They stayed like that for a long while, holding each other without words. Just feeling each other’s existence.

Only after quite some time passed did Saena collect her emotions. Then she asked,

“…Don’t you miss Father and Brother?”

Rather than answering, Yuri casually waved his hand. The empty space transformed.

It became the same scene as the top floor of the tower she had seen earlier.

Yuri sat Saena, who was staring with round eyes, in the chair while he leaned against the desk.

“It would be a lie to say no… but I don’t regret it.”

“……”

“Besides, if Father and Brother knew this result, perhaps they’d say I did well?”

“As if they would.”

How could they when Yuri was their precious son and brother.

“Good thing I was the second son. Brother had it rough.”

Yuri gave a slightly bitter smile but quickly changed the subject.

“Your pronunciation was wrong.”

“…What?”

He suddenly pointed out to Saena.

“The phrase you read earlier. Here.”

The notebook suddenly appeared on the desk.

Actually, that notebook was definitely her translation of the book [Conversations with Guardian Spirits] from her past life, but she didn’t understand why it was in the Kramer Spirit Tower.

Inside the notebook, half was written in her handwriting, and the other half in someone else’s rough handwriting.

Though it was probably Yuri’s handwriting, it was both similar to and different from what Saena remembered. Perhaps as he grew older his writing became more cursive, as the handwriting that filled the latter half of the notebook sometimes looked almost like code.

Yuri had completed the half of the translation that Saena couldn’t finish.

Seeing how he had separately written out the Guardian Spirit contract completion phrase in Arlesian on the last page, it seems that book wasn’t completely nonsensical after all.

Seeing the code carved into the desk, she had suddenly thought there might be instructions in the notebook for how to meet Yuri again, and her intuition was right.

“I’ll say it again. Listen carefully.”

As the clear Arlesian pronunciation spread out, the surroundings seemed to fade for a moment but quickly restored.

“How about that? Killer pronunciation, right?”

“……”

Wouldn’t we need an ancient person to verify whether the Arlesian pronunciation was good or not? Why suddenly pick on someone else’s pronunciation?

‘…Are you a pervert? You find this fun?’

Although Yuri generally agreed with all of Saena’s tastes, even he had shown reluctance about Arlesian. He even called her a pervert…

But now Yuri was more proficient in Arlesian than Saena.

The world works in mysterious ways, one might say.

“It’s because your handwriting was so terrible. I think it’s amazing I could read it properly at all.”

But Saena blamed Yuri spitefully.

Seeing him act so smug somehow made her not want to acknowledge it.

“Hey, what–”

“Yuri, you’re the one with bad handwriting.”

“Look who’s making excuses now.”

He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“And ‘Yuri’? Call me brother.”

“This hasn’t changed either, really. Just 30 minutes.”

How he tried to act like an older brother just because he was born 30 minutes earlier.

“Hey, what’s 30 minutes? Do you know how many years I waited in the spirit realm?”

…What? So the time wasn’t directly connected? He spent separate time in the spirit realm?

“What do you mean?”

“Hah… It hurts to talk about it.”

“What? Don’t tell me you went through something terrible?”

Saena pressed him, worried he might have had to pay an unbearable price.

“Just… well, I was there for a long time.”

“How long?”

“There are some confidential matters I can’t talk about. The flow of time is different here so…”

Was he unable to tell, or unwilling to tell?

Saena stared intently at Yuri, looking for even the slightest sign of a lie.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Yuri emphasized again.

Perhaps it was due to the years Yuri had spent. Her intense observation proved futile. The sincerity that was once easy to read now seemed ambiguous. If he was determined to hide something, Saena felt she could no longer discern the truth.

“It’s true, really! Have you lived your life being deceived?”

“Alright.”

A small sigh escaped, but she didn’t want to probe deeper.

It’s not like hearing about it could erase that time anyway.

“Besides, that doesn’t matter. Hey, even just counting my past life, I lived decades longer than you!”

“……”

When he put it that way, she had nothing to say.

But Yuri was still Yuri.

Saena pressed her lips together, refusing to call him brother. Somehow seeing him so grown up made her even less inclined to call him that.

Then she suddenly remembered.

“Constantine!”

In the joy of meeting Yuri, she hadn’t even thought about it.

“He must be worried!”

“……”

“Where is this? Let me out. Ah, and is he okay?”

Yuri frowned at Saena’s questions.

“He’s just unconscious for a bit, perfectly fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

“You worry about unnecessary things.”

“Unnecessary…? He’s my husband, of course I should worry.”

“That’s exactly it! Why is he your husband!”

What kind of reaction is this?

“I! Tried so hard to stop it! If only you had listened then!”

Yuri acted as if deeply regretful.

Come to think of it, when she said she would marry him, Yolly had been so angry he became depressed.

“Why though?”

“Ha, because he’s not a good guy!”

Not a good guy? Constantine? In what way?

“…Didn’t you receive his help?”

Even just from the brief memories she saw, and how Yuri practically lived in the tower at the end.

It would have been impossible without Constantine’s support and permission.

“That’s— because that bastard has responsibility too!”

“Responsibility? For what?”

“Let’s talk about that later. It doesn’t seem like an appropriate topic right after reuniting.”

Making her so curious only to say later.

It was quite unsatisfactory, but since she needed to check on Constantine right away, Saena decided not to press further.

“By the way, there’s something I really want to know…”

She thought Yuri would probably be able to answer.

“Is that also related to that guy?”

“……”

But somehow his reaction…

Even as Yolly, he would growl and show displeasure when Constantine was involved, and it seems the same when he’s Yuri.

But she really wanted to know this. She had to know.

Saena asked one thing with a determined face.

“Tell me honestly.”

“Hah…. That…”

Yuri’s lips parted.

* * *

Before consciousness fully returned,

Before his eyes opened,

The first thing he recognized was a soft fragrance.

Her body scent that he once madly craved and yearned for.

Naturally, the owner of that scent awakened in his mind.

“Saena…!”

With that realization, the last word he had missed before losing consciousness unconsciously sprang from his lips.

At the same time, his consciousness suddenly rose to the surface.

“…na?”

Since his last memory was of losing her right before his eyes again, as soon as he regained consciousness, he cursed his own incompetence and tried to get up to find her.

No, he tried to get up but froze like a statue at the strange sensation on his body and the intense sight before his eyes.

“Mmm…”

Sae… na? Why was she sleeping in his arms? What had happened? Was everything alright?

Various thoughts crossed his mind, but things were definitely not alright.

Her hair color had returned. That meant something must have happened. However, this wasn’t the time to resolve that curiosity.

He was once again making forbidden contact that would chip away at her lifespan.

Cursing his shameless unconscious self, Constantine suddenly rose up. The soft sensation that had been touching his body until just now felt so vivid that his lower abdomen grew hot, but he gritted his teeth and pulled away.

“Ah.”

But he failed.

She wrapped herself around him as he tried to escape. Not content with just wrapping around his waist, her slender legs entangled with his. It was as if she was binding him so he absolutely couldn’t leave.

“Let’s sleep more…”

She patted his back while mumbling softly.

Hah. A sigh escaped through his teeth.

At that small whisper, that small pat, he wanted to surrender instantly. He felt he could pay any price just to lie beside her and extend this sweet moment a little longer.