The Damn Family Is Back Again

361. Yggdrasil Project (1)

The weary eyelids that had fallen asleep began to twitch slightly, then lifted to reveal purple pupils.

It wasn’t just the eyelids.

The whole body felt heavy. The body, as if all its energy had been drained, needed rest.

Perhaps that’s why, when the eyes opened, a lot of time had already passed.

A dark, gloomy sky.

Night had already fallen.

“…”

Nevertheless, Harni lay in a comfortable place, even if he had slept for several hours.

Without being covered in dust from outside, he lay on the bed without a speck of dirt on his body.

To have been able to sleep so deeply until the sky became so dark… it could only be that someone had brought him to the inn and watched over him.

Thanks to that, memories from before he fell asleep began to return.

Surely, Harni had fallen asleep exhausted from crying.

Before he fell asleep from exhaustion, he had tried to send someone away.

But.

In the end, he had not returned.

It was not a dream.

It was not a delusion.

It had become an undeniable reality.

“Sigh.”

Harni let out a sigh along with her melancholic heart.

Thinking about the future made her feel hopeless.

A sense of guilt, as if she had grabbed it with her own hands, made her chest tight.

But on the other hand, she didn’t think so.

Paradoxically, a joyful heart coexisted.

She was more pleased with the fact that he hadn’t returned.

Even though she had clearly held him back.

Even though he had abandoned his purpose and stayed here because of her.

In a corner of her heart, she had a selfish thought that it was a relief.

“Karsein…”

The light was on outside. At this time, Karsein was usually awake. Then they could at least have a conversation.

Harni dragged her heavy body to the living room.

“Are you awake?”

Karsein noticed the presence at the table and spoke.

“You must be very tired. Wouldn’t it be better to sleep a little more?”

Even in this situation, he was thinking about her instead of worrying about himself.

She wanted to get angry, but she didn’t have the energy.

“…So, what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t dodge the question. You know how hard it will be from now on, having stayed here instead of leaving.”

The door to reality has closed.

Whether it can be opened again is another matter, but the road ahead is nothing but rough.

He has become a fugitive.

Not just any fugitive, but one who has committed heinous crimes, with the entire empire after his head.

As long as he remains here, every day will be one of pursuit.

The moment he is caught, his head will roll. He can never live in peace, forever chased by the world.

Yet, Karsein replied in a calm tone.

“What else can I do? I have to eliminate the one who orchestrated this.”

“Don’t take it so lightly!” Harniye shouted in frustration.

“You can’t even dream of a comfortable and peaceful life. You’ll always be on the run, living in constant fear. And… and you could really die!”

But why is he so calm?

His demeanor only made her heart feel heavier.

“Why, why are you so stubborn…”

She felt conflicted.

She couldn’t deny that it was because of her that things had come to this.

What went wrong to make him choose this path, she wondered, blaming herself.

“Why would someone like you stay… In the original world, you’d be forgotten after just one night…”

Then Karsein approached and lifted Harniye’s face, which was about to be drenched in tears again.

“…!”

It was close.

So close that I didn’t even realize when it approached.

‘No way…’

I involuntarily took a step back.

I retreated, wanting to distance myself from him.

But the more I did, the closer Carsein came, step by step.

Eventually, I was cornered against the wall.

Harni, trapped with no escape, found herself caught under Carsein’s arms.

This had happened before.

When I was cornered against the wall, so close that I could feel his breath.

But back then, it meant nothing.

This man was dull. He was far from feelings like romance or love.

He was just a puppet-like man, living surrounded by calculations and formulas, only looking ahead.

But that was a story of the past.

Now, his eyes… they were different from back then.

I shouldn’t expect anything.

Harboring expectations itself was something I shouldn’t do.

It was a sin to give lingering feelings to someone who had to leave.

But I can’t help but harbor expectations.

With those expectations, I close my eyes.

─.

Soft lips overlapped.

It was sweet.

Endlessly sweet.

It was a different dimension from when they secretly clashed lips in the middle of the night.

The kiss he had adjusted himself to erased all the negative distractions he had ever had.

The short, clumsy kiss ended.

Lips parted and eyes opened.

After finishing what felt like an endlessly short time, Carsein asked Harnie.

“Do you understand now? Why there was lingering attachment?”

“…”

It wasn’t a question.

It was just an interrogative sentence used in a completely different sense.

Harnie blushed at those words.

Clearly, this wasn’t the time for that.

Rather, she should have blamed, reproached, and scolded him for not returning.

But after hearing those words, such thoughts disappeared completely.

Now, she no longer wanted to blame or resent him.

Now, she was filled with something else.

*

The heat that had flowed through our bodies began to subside.

However, separate from the calming of the overheated atmosphere, an awkward silence flowed.

Harni was clearly worried about me.

That worry extended to a reproach she directed at herself, so I had to stop it.

So, I wanted to express that there was a reason to stay here.

Not just saying it, but truly showing it.

To do that… I had to show my sincerity.

I gathered my courage.

Clumsy and rough, but.

Even so, I thought I used the best method I could.

We only pretended to be fake lovers, never showing the appearance of real lovers.

So, we had to choose the ways of real lovers.

…A kiss.

A kiss that real lovers share, one that can’t be imitated.

But… ever since our lips parted, this awkward atmosphere has continued.

“…”

I glanced at Harni, but… there was no reaction.

I don’t know how much time has passed.

Since a while ago, there hasn’t been a single word, making me scratch my cheek and wonder if I did something wrong.

With her saying nothing like that, I was also worried.

What should I do?

It would be nice if there was some sort of formula for this.

It was too difficult.

In the end, I was spending my time racking my brains over it.

-Ding!

▶Episode XLIV. You are progressing through the five treasures.◀

▶The episode is updated because the five treasures were not used.◀

‘What?’

The episode progresses here all of a sudden?

‘No. Wait. Even though the episode window popped up out of nowhere… it contains quite important information.’

The five treasures were not used.

That alone contained very important information.

▶EX Episode. The true enemy is included in this episode.◀

▶Obtain the five treasures to stop the Yggdrasil Project.◀

Right. It wasn’t strange to have questions until now.

The five treasures exist, but what exactly are they for? That was the question.

It was said that they simply create a portal to reality, but that method was already gone and couldn’t be used. They weren’t actually consumed either.

Then what on earth are they for?

Their true purpose was revealed this time.

“Hey… Karsein.”

Suddenly, Harnie called out to me. But then.

“…So, it only appears to you?”

She must have noticed my gaze, realizing I was staring at something in the void.

In the past, such a question would have made me flinch and sent chills down my spine.

I would have mumbled something to cover it up… but not now.

‘Yes. This is good.’

Let’s reveal everything this time.

“Yes, that’s right. I was looking at this window floating in the void. Not just this time, but every time.”

“Every time…?”

“Remember when you scolded me in the salon, asking why I was spacing out? I was actually looking at this. That’s how I knew a dagger was going to fly towards me.”

“My goodness…”

I had hidden many things from Harnie.

Even if something felt off, she never asked or questioned it.

She knew I was a stranger, that I came from another world, yet she never mentioned it.

For my sake.

But now, I will reveal it myself.

I will reveal everything.

So that it doesn’t lead to the same outcome as before.

*

The quiet Shiren villa.

From that place, the sound of a girl’s crying echoes.

Today, too, the door did not open.

The steadfast period of confinement continued to extend, and although it was called a retreat, Flora could not leave this place.

“Fool… such a fool…!”

There was no family as reliable as that.

Just being next to them gave strength.

A family that could be proudly introduced to anyone.

A family that anyone would understand and exclaim in admiration.

That person was the eldest sister.

But at this point, it is nothing more than a story of the past.

Arina no longer wanted to call her sister.

A family she did not want to introduce to anyone, a person she did not want to call her sister.

That was Arina.

“Arina, you fool! Idiot! Mutt! Worm! Sob, sob…!”

But no matter how much she cried and uttered bad words, nothing changed.

There was nothing she could do.

It had been a long time since surveillance, not recuperation, had been carried out at the Shiren Villa.

The only news that came during that time was that the search had been further intensified.

In her helplessness, all Flora could do was burst into tears like this.

If it were the time when she only turned away from reality.

“…Haah. The youngest lady is crying again.”

“What should we do? If she keeps that up, we’ll get in trouble…”

“What do you mean, what should we do? Let’s go down. We don’t want to get scolded later for upsetting her.”

“True. It would be worse if the butler scolds us.”

The low-ranking knights, hired to keep an eye on Flora who was under house arrest at the Shiren villa, quietly descended.

Whenever Flora cried like today, they would leave their posts, fearing the trouble might spill over to them.

That was Flora’s intention.

‘Good…! At this distance, I can slip away soon.’

She couldn’t just wait for Karsein to be captured at the villa.

She had to keep looking for another way.

She read books day and night, pretending to cry.

Her concentration was terrifying. A book that should take at least three days to read, she had lazily finished in nine days just recently, but now she had reduced it to a third, finishing it in a day.

By reading and studying, she found a solution. From the books she had so disliked.

It wasn’t difficult to divert the attention of the servants and knights with her acting.

Soon, Flora, who had slipped out of the villa unnoticed, started running with a document in her arms.

[ Request for Re-approval of Family Succession Order ]

‘Somehow, if I can just deliver this…!’