The guild members returned to the villa and gathered at the rooftop by dusk. They lit a campfire underneath the orange sky and began grilling barbeque.
Rachel looked at the peaceful scenery of her guild members chatting, the gentle breeze blowing from the sea, and the campfire crackling in the background. Such a peaceful sight felt unfamiliar to her.
She looked around seemingly downcast before spotting Kim Hajin. She decided to approach him and whisper in his ear, “Hajin…”
He turned around with a smile, “Yes?”
“…”
She wanted to say a lot of things, but felt afraid.
Did Kim Hajin also feel the strange sensation from before? Or did he not feel it? She wasn’t sure which answer would scare her more.
“No, it’s nothing,” Rachel replied and shook her head.
Kim Hajin smiled and held her hand as she bitterly smiled.
“Hey! Put that down!”
The guild members’ rowdy shouting interrupted them. Marcus had snatched the expensive whiskey that Fermin brought. He acted as annoyingly as possible while running away from Fermin chasing him. The guild members laughed while looking at them playing cat and mouse.
Rachel ended up laughing at them as well. She looked up at the night sky again. Bright, sparkling stars littered the sky with the moon shining brighter than all of them. The view looked surreal.
“…”
She tightly held Kim Hajin’s hand and he tilted his head at her before smiling and locking their fingers together. Rachel’s face turned bright red before she shifted her gaze to Evandel, who fell asleep beside her. Evandel looked so innocent as she slept.
Then, Rachel suddenly recalled what Evandel said earlier in the day.
— Don’t you want to go back?
She knew she hadn’t heard wrong and she felt certain that Evandel was referring to this world…
Crackle!
Rachel flinched when the fire crackled and spat out embers. Kim Hajin smiled at her.
Only then did the guild members finally notice the two of them.
“Ack!” Rachel shrieked in surprise and quickly carried the sleeping Evandel.
Evandel peeked her eyes open and looked at Rachel. She buried her face in Rachel’s shoulder and went back to sleep.
Everyone found the sight of Rachel hugging Evandel quite cute and heartwarming. All of them looked on with gentle smiles.
***
The English Royal Court’s preparation for their dungeon raid went smoothly. Rachel oversaw the entire process and didn’t forget to take her breaks.
She thoroughly enjoyed her time with Evandel as they went to the amusement park, aquarium, concerts, theatrical plays, movies, etc. Things she couldn’t enjoy due to her usual mountain of work. Of course, Kim Hajin tagged along.
“Ack!” Rachel frowned and screamed in the center of Seoul.
The slender crane was either too weak or unwilling and kept failing to grab a doll.
“Ugh! Hey!”
Rachel failed to grab a doll for the nineteenth time today. She couldn’t help but scream in frustration.
Evandel sighed as she watched Rachel screaming in frustration. She patted and comforted Rachel.
“It’s alright. We can just order one online.”
“Let me try,” Kim Hajin stepped forward.
Rachel moved aside while ferociously glaring at the crane in the machine.
You punk… I’m going to smash you to pieces if you don’t properly work this time!’ she inwardly threatened.
“Huh?”
However, the crane obediently listened to Kim Hajin. Its three arms shook a few times before grabbing and delivering the Pororo[1] doll that Evandel and Rachel wanted.
“Here,” Kim Hajin gave the doll to Evandel.
Evandel smiled and tightly hugged the doll, but Rachel puffed her cheeks as if to say, I like dolls too!
Kim Hajin immediately went back to the machine and grabbed another doll after he noticed Rachel sulking.
“Thank you…” Rachel said in a small voice and smiled while hugging the doll.
The sight of her smiling and hugging the doll looked exactly like Evandel.
Kim Hajin laughed and said, “Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah.”
Rachel and Evandel replied at the same time.
“Run! Run! Run!” Evandel excitedly shouted as she ran through the streets.
Rachel and Kim Hajin busily chased after her. Kim Hajin suddenly held Rachel’s hand and their fingers interlocked. Rachel couldn’t suppress her smile. She could only hide her embarrassment by pulling down her hat and pushing up her sunglasses. Of course, she smiled like a fool underneath all that.
“…!”
Rachel suddenly stopped in her tracks and everything around her stopped as well. Evandel shuddered and immediately turned around.
“Hmm?” Kim Hajin tilted his head at her.
Rachel looked at him and saw his face turning blurry like a mirage.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head and replied, “It’s nothing…”
Rachel composed herself and took a step forward. The world around her began moving again.
She continued walking as if nothing happened, but felt the corners of her eyes growing wetter. She wiped her eyes and found tears.
“Ah…”
Why was she crying? She couldn’t pinpoint the reason why, but wanted to know.
“Evandel,” she called out through the busy street in Seoul.
“Yes?” Evandel replied and slowly walked to Rachel.
Rachel patted her head as the sun shone on them. Evandel’s eyes sparkled even brighter while looking at Rachel.
“Shall we go back?” Rachel asked in a trembling voice.
The same strange sensation spread throughout her surroundings and disappeared, but she only focused on Evandel’s response.
Evandel looked around before flashing a sad smile, “Not now. Let’s play a bit more and go back when Rachel wants to.”
“Okay…” Rachel said before hugging her. She patted Evandel on the back and muttered, “Thank you…”
I still want to do a lot of things here. I want to be a bit happier. If this is all a dream, then I want to enjoy it a little longer. I’m allowed to be happy to my heart’s content, right? Really… that should be alright…
***
Rachel’s days went on as usual. These normal days made her so happy. The happiness from each passing day snowballed into even greater happiness. It allowed her to forget about her burdens and even her traumas.
She felt just as scared as she was happy. Rachel feared waking up from this dream. She didn’t even know if she had the right to be happy like this.
However, those negative thoughts slowly disappeared as time went by. Soon, she realized that she couldn’t delay her decision any longer. She knew she would become trapped in this world the longer she remained happy in it. She would slowly fade away like her negative thoughts.
Rachel couldn’t let that happen. She was the princess of a nation and the leader of a guild. She wouldn’t abandon her duties just to be happy and engraved this conviction in her heart so she would never forget or throw it away.
Rachel went to the Cornwall Lighthouse to sort out her conflicting thoughts. She sat on a bench and watched the waves crashing against the rocks. She had to make her decision now.
She couldn’t afford to stay forever even if it allowed her to be the happiest person in the world. She could continue to be happy here and forget everything about the real world.
Of course, she could close her eyes and turn a blind eye to reality. She could live happily ever after if she closed her eyes like Lancaster told her.
However…
“What are you doing here?”
Kim Hajin popped up when she least expected him. Rachel looked at him and tried not to look surprised. After all, the Kim Hajin in this world showed up whenever she wanted him to.
Kim Hajin sat beside her on the bench and Rachel naturally held his hand like they always did.
“Hajin,” she whispered while holding his hand.
“Yes?”
“I… Puuu! Puupuuu! Puuuu!”
She was about to say something when a strong sea breeze messed up her hair and a handful of hair went inside her mouth.
Rachel tried her best to spit out her hair.
“Hahaha!” Kim Hajin laughed at her.
Rachel puffed her cheeks and grumbled, “It’s not easy having long hair, you know?”
“Then cut it,” Kim Hajin nonchalantly replied.
“You said you liked long hair last time…” Rachel grumbled.
Kim Hajin reached out and arranged her hair. His warm touch patted her head and he tucked her hair behind her ears.
Rachel felt her heart skip a beat and something deep inside her shook. She wanted to stay like this longer and squeezed his hand tighter.
Rachel faked a cough and asked, “This place has quite a nice view, right?”
“Yes, it’s quite nice here,” Kim Hajin replied while looking at the steadfast lighthouse on top of lush green grass and the never-ending sea beyond.
This place had a stark contrast in colors and was quite famous. Heroes always had to run over and kill the sea monsters whenever the lighthouse sent a warning.
“You see…”
“Yes?”
Rachel leaned on his shoulder.
Kim Hajin looked down and saw his feet beside hers. A mischievous thought flashed across his mind. He took off his shoe and placed his feet on top of hers.
“You see…” Rachel repeated.
“Yes, tell me.”
“That is… Ack!”
Kim Hajin lifted her feet and placed her leg on top of his.
Rachel screamed in a panic when he lifted her. He lifted her by the knee as his hand supported her back like cradling a baby.
“Why?” he asked with a smile.
“Ah… That’s… no, it’s nothing…” Rachel muttered in embarrassment and avoided his gaze.
A little game of him chasing her eyes ensued. He smiled while continuing this mischievous game and found Rachel to be quite cute.
“Eh… Ehhh!” Rachel exclaimed before she mustered the courage to tightly hug him.
“Hey, wait a minute. This is…”
“Do you think I like you?” Rachel asked while Kim Hajin became flustered from her sneaky counter-attack.
She was strangely asking someone else about her own feelings that even she wasn’t certain of. She felt that she would never find out if she didn’t muster the courage here and now.
“…?”
Kim Hajin seemed taken aback by her sudden confession, no, question. He soon smiled and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
“Who knows… I have no idea… I mean, how could I know?”
Rachel smiled at him, “I guess so, right?”
“Yes,” Kim Hajin replied with an awkward smile.
Rachel decided to ask a slightly different question.
“Should I just give up?”
Kim Hajin had no clue what she would give up on, but he smiled and shook his head.
“No. I don’t know what you’re going to give up on, but not giving up suits you much better… just like a knight full of conviction.”
Was this answer enough for her?
Kim Hajin didn’t seem satisfied with his own answer and rubbed his chin deep in thought. Then he added in a serious tone this time, “I hope you won’t give up because… I felt that this world was worth living in thanks to you, Rachel.”
Rachel’s eyes widened. This was the first time she heard him say something like that and her heart wildly fluttered. It didn’t matter to her if this was the real world or not.
Kim Hajin looked straight into her eyes and confessed, “I’m not a person from this world.”
Rachel felt surprised again. She pondered what he meant, but couldn’t understand no matter how much she racked her brains.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m from another world. It’s probably safe to call me an alien. That world doesn’t have monsters, mana, or even heroes. It’s a peaceful, yet not-so-peaceful place. Yes… the world we saw together in our dream… that’s the world where I’m from.”
“Huh?”
Rachel found everything difficult to understand.
Kim Hajin continued without minding her confusion, “That’s why I didn’t want to live in this world. I wanted to return to my world. After all, my loved ones are in that world and this world is nothing but a fake.”
The sea breeze blew stronger, but Rachel’s hair didn’t end up in a mess this time as Kim Hajin already tied it for her.
He looked deep into Rachel’s eyes and said, “But now, that’s no longer the case…”
His eyes seemed to be telling her that she was the reason for the change.
Rachel stared back into his eyes as she reached her limits, “Hajin…”
Her heart fluttered.
Am I really dreaming right now? Will all of this disappear once I wake up? Will all of this really disappear?
“Thank you, Rachel.”
She suddenly thought of something. It didn’t matter if all of this disappeared and the dream ended once she woke up. As long as she didn’t forget…
“Then… just a bit longer…” she leaned back on his shoulder and continued, “Let me stay by your side for just a bit longer…”
The wind blew and the sun shone on them.
Rachel wanted to take in all these feelings and engrave them deep in her heart. She didn’t want to forget this moment. She had no idea how to describe her feelings… this anxiety coupled with a warmth that felt so familiar, yet foreign…
Now that she thought about it, she never asked for these emotions. Rachel slowly closed her eyes and a voice called out to her.
— Princess…
A familiar garden appeared in her mind and she somehow saw Lancaster standing in it.
— You won’t be happy if you leave this place.
Rachel nodded. She knew she wouldn’t be happier anywhere else than here. Kim Hajin wouldn’t feel the same way as now once she returned to the real world.
Nevertheless, Rachel acted according to her heart.
“My happiness comes from my country’s peace and prosperity. My great-grandmother said that this is the duty of the royal household.”
— Those are just excuses…
“I know. I know they’re just excuses, but it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve decided not to give up.”
Her response rendered Lancaster speechless. He turned into dust and scattered away in the wind.
“Ah…”
Rachel opened her eyes with Kim Hajin still beside her.
She brightly smiled at him and felt satisfied spending her days in this world that didn’t feel like a dream and this person who felt so real… even though this was all just a fleeting dream.
“Hajin,” Rachel called out his name and wrapped her arms around his neck.
She closed her eyes and muttered, “Thank you too…”
Rachel looked at his face, inches away, and closed her eyes again. She slowly moved her lips towards his.
Their lips met.
It was her first kiss.
His lips felt dry and rough, but also tender for some reason.
He seemed surprised as his lips remained stiff. She wanted to open her eyes and look at his expression, but abandoned such thoughts.
She only wanted to focus on this moment right now.
The only thought on her mind during this magical and beautiful moment was…
I don’t want to forget this memory even when I wake up.
I hope these memories will always stay with me and give me strength when I feel like giving up.
That’s all I want and all I’m asking for…
1. Pororo is a Korean cartoon penguin beloved by children. ☜
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