The Damn Family Is Back Again - Chapter 357
357. Choice (3)
-Minhyuk-ah.
-Minhyuk-ah!
-Mi, Minhyuk-ahhh…!
-Tsk. Minhyuk, you.
-Minhyuk… ah?
-Kyaa! Minhyuk-ah…!
“…”
The voice that occasionally echoes.
It was a voice heard in a dream.
Truly, it was a strange dream.
In that dream, there was always a friend who was familiar.
Countless scenes passed by, but I remember all of them. I remembered when, where, and what I did without forgetting.
I was a little surprised myself.
There aren’t many good memories in my life, so I hardly remember them… but I remembered every single memory with that friend.
But, why?
It was so vivid.
Despite being a dream, it felt as vivid as reality.
It felt so vivid that it seemed like it wasn’t a dream but reality.
The content of the dream was so explicit.
It was too explicit to say it was just a dream, a vague imagination, a coincidence, or an overinterpretation.
Every predetermined time.
The events that occur at that time.
The reactions to the familiar scenes and events.
The things I saw in the dream… were completely overlapping with the reality here as if they were overlaid.
It was a complex feeling, hard to pass off as just a dream.
I even wondered if it was really a dream.
Because of that, I wake up early.
It was a different day from yesterday.
It was a day when the rules that had been in place were broken.
Even though Harnié was beside him, he had to wake up without having slept deeply.
However, he was not the only one who woke up early.
“…”
Disheveled eyes. There was a slight shadow under the violet pupils. As if he had particularly restless sleep today.
It was not only Karsein, but also Harnié.
Yesterday, things happened as they did. The heart, which had not been able to calm the restless mind, kept beating endlessly as it accepted kindness.
With every heartbeat, a battle broke out and broke out again.
A heart that wanted to protect only its pure desire.
A heart that had to endure by suppressing that desire.
The fight between these two made Harnié’s heart beat several times.
Harnié had to hold onto his wildly beating heart all night. Controlling the desire that was trying to sneak out, an hour or two had already passed.
As he conflicted and conflicted again, he eventually ended up having a restless sleep. Even though he could sleep most peacefully when Karsein was beside him.
Nevertheless, Karsein gets up.
‘I need time to organize my thoughts, even if just a little.’
He needed time to think.
How should he lead the conversation to convey everything to Harnié?
To bring out all the words that had been kept inside without saying anything all day yesterday, he would need quite a bit of contemplation.
This was not a time to be wasted carelessly.
‘No, this won’t do. I need some time apart, even if just a little.’
And Harnie, not wanting to waste this time, also got up.
The conflict deepened just by being close to Karsein all night.
Greed arises just from being nestled in those two gentle arms.
As if intoxicated by the time spent in his embrace, the greed swells.
Even if his face is not visible, even if his voice is not heard, just being by his side makes this greed exponentially expand.
We must not stay like this.
Even a little distance is needed to quell the desire to hold onto him.
Though my eyes are hollow and my mind is tangled, today is so clear.
This day is the most important for both of us.
There are things that must be said, in one way or another, so time is needed to calm the mind and prepare.
But… unfortunately, the time to calm the mind has vanished.
“…”
“…”
Their eyes met.
With the other who had risen at the same time.
Even if I try to calm my mind, it’s hard to choose words when he stands there like that.
An awkward atmosphere continues.
Neither can easily start speaking.
In the endlessly short silence, the two, having found their answers, each postpone their words.
“You’re up early today?”
“Early today? I always get up at this time.”
“Oh, come on. Lies. Have you forgotten I’ve never seen you up this early?”
“Looks like today’s the real reveal of my wake-up time, then.”
In their own ways.
They tried their best to maintain their usual selves.
They had to.
Both of them knew it.
That this time was the last.
*
The last day began.
The end was definitely approaching, but it wasn’t over yet.
The chase wasn’t finished, and the wanted order for Karhn Vagrand was still valid, so the fact that they had to remain on high alert, every fiber on edge, hadn’t changed.
They meticulously crafted their plan.
They thoroughly investigated and moved to fulfill the conditions of the note left by Karhn Vagrand.
First and foremost, they needed to secure the fifth treasure.
As long as the final treasure wasn’t in their possession, they couldn’t relax yet.
That’s what I insisted.
Harnie actively agreed with this.
The closer they got to the goal, the more careful they needed to be.
The priorities were set cleanly without a single objection.
…But that’s just an excuse.
A cowardly excuse to buy time because I hadn’t decided what to say yet.
I thought that spending a little more time would clear my mind, but it didn’t.
No. It only got more complicated than yesterday, not a single thing was sorted out.
It got more complicated because of what happened yesterday.
I was busy thinking about what her intention was when she kissed me while I was sleeping.
The dream I had while sleeping made it even more complicated.
Strangely enough, Harnié overlapped with Ji-eun’s appearance.
…I needed time.
More time.
So, once again, the conversation couldn’t continue.
It wasn’t difficult to get out of the city center.
There were no pursuers, no bounty hunters recognizing me and rushing at me.
It seemed that the chase hadn’t reached this far, or the search was delayed, or it couldn’t reach me.
Except for the occasional monsters blocking the way… there was nothing unusual.
…However.
A bigger problem arose.
-Snap.
‘…What is this.’
Although we had reached our destination, Harnié warned that we needed to be cautious as we entered the outskirts of the village. So, Harnié was observing the movements of the merchants to gauge the situation in the outskirts.
Meanwhile, as I looked around, I discovered something that made me doubt my own eyes.
“Phew. It’s quiet around the outskirts, probably because we’re outside the city center. I’ve been watching the movements of the shops, and it seems safe to wait here, Karsein.”
I couldn’t hear a word of what she had just said.
-Ding!
Even the status window was informing me of this.
▶There have been changes to the episode.◀
▶New information has arrived.◀
[ Harnié Theresia has been registered as a wanted person. ]
[ Date of registration: December 31 ]
From noble mtl dot com
I grabbed Harnié by the shoulder and asked bluntly.
“…Why did you hide it, Harnié?”
“What? Hide what?”
“Why did you hide the fact that you’ve become a wanted person!”
I shouted, showing her the wanted notice I had just found.
I couldn’t believe it.
Even seeing it, I couldn’t believe it.
Harnié said that there was no valid reason or sufficient evidence for her to be listed as a wanted person.
For that reason, she always went in first to scout the surroundings, and if she deemed it safe, she would call me. She said she would gather information while moving around safely. She also emphasized that it would be fine as long as she returned to the Theresia Marquisate.
However, contrary to Harnié’s claims, the status window indicated that she was already a wanted person.
December 31st. Since the time my name was listed as a wanted person.
Then… the story is different.
Despite being the same wanted person, he first observed the situation.
No matter when or where something happened, he took the risk on my behalf.
He lied, saying it would be fine since he wasn’t officially wanted due to lack of solid evidence, and set out to gather information.
Even though he could be wanted at any moment if he slipped up.
Even though he could be caught by bounty hunters blinded by money.
Even though he might be beheaded by assassins or mercenaries hired by other families seeing this as an opportunity.
“…What does it matter?”
Even though I shouted like that, Harnié turned his head as if it was nothing.
I became even more distressed.
“What were you thinking if you got caught? Did you expect me to use you as a pawn?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then why did you hide it!”
“You and I are in different situations. After all, I’m a noble of the Marquis of Theresia, so even if I’m caught, it won’t be that dangerous.”
“Harnié!”
Anyone who isn’t a fool can see.
This… really is a life-threatening situation.
“I… never wanted this. I never wanted you to be in danger─”
At that moment, a bright light emerged from Harnié’s jewel.
That wasn’t all.
Each of the four treasures was emitting light.
“No way…”
A gap opened between the sun and the horizon.
Another light leaked from the ancient tree, dropping a single flower petal.
The petal melted away into the light, and the five beams began to connect.
The connected light merged into one, forming a rectangular door about 10 meters ahead.
In front of the rectangular door…
The reality I was familiar with unfolded.
The portal to the reality I had longed to return to. The time had come to leave this world and return to my reality.
“Is that the world you lived in?”
…What?
I turned my head like a creaking doll.
“What did you just… say?”
Harnie smiled faintly.
“…I happened to overhear. Your conversation with Pollux.”
“What…?”
“You called yourself… a stranger, didn’t you?”
With a trembling voice, I asked, and Harnie replied with infinite calm.
“I know everything. How you were dragged into this world without knowing why, how you almost died countless times, how you barely survived by hanging on, how you said you weren’t a Carsein, how this world wasn’t the one you originally lived in, and how you wanted to escape this world as soon as possible. I know it all.”
She told everything without leaving anything out.
She heard everything right there.
She heard the entire conversation with Pollux, who had come to deliver the prophecy of Beneris.
But more importantly…
‘You knew everything, but pretended not to know.’
You, who were looking at something else.
You, who hid your true purpose, not to mention the existence of the original world.
You, who didn’t inform me that this would lead to our separation.
You knew all those facts that I hadn’t mentioned a single word about, and yet you pretended not to know.
“Even though… you knew everything…”
-Ding!
▶Episode XLIV. The Five Treasures? Pro!ceed!@#!@#!◀
▶Do not return to reality. You must not return.◀
▶Do not return to reality. You must not return.◀
▶Do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return, do not return◀
…
…