At The End Of The Hidden Greenery

Chapter 33 - The Alchemist of the Outer Wall

Helkainis, who went to pick up a friend who lived far away, didn’t come back right away for some reason. She asked Callan about Helka, but he also seemed puzzled.

Still, since no one came to her immediately with contact, Jiwoo spent a few days without thinking much about it.

No, to be more precise, Jiwoo was taking a proper break after such a long while.

When she was still being dispatched by the temple to many foreign places, she had to be called here and there, and she practically shed blood and sweat with how much she worked, whereas they weren’t asking any of that from Jiwoo here.

As a matter of fact, they were determined not to make her work—that’s the kind of treatment she’s getting from the location she was sent to, which was in the farthest and most barren land of the empire.

It’s only natural for her to be sick and bedridden for a few days after fulfilling her duties as the Akarna, but that wasn’t the case here. Further, she even became anxious because she had no work at all, perhaps because she was so used to being so busy for several years now.

So Jiwoo, who felt uncomfortable, asked Callan if there was anything she could do here.

“Excuse me, Callan. Are there any injured or infected people here?”

“Hm? Why are you asking that?”

“Because that’s what I can do.”

“Nonsense! You want to work here now?”

Callan looked rather shocked at those words. Every time he saw Jiwoo, his friendly expression changed to a stern one.

“Have you forgotten that you are sick?”

“Ah…”

Right. In the temple, even if the Akarna was sick, she never treated her as a patient who needed to recover quickly. Rather, she would get worried every time about whether they would kill her or not if was too sick to work.

“Besides, you are our guest, right? Furthermore…”

“…….”

“Did you forget that we’re courting you with marriage in mind?”

“That’s it, that’s…”

“Let’s talk a little bit.”

During the leisurely time when she had no duties or anything, Jiwoo would always chat with Callan. And Callan always came to this conclusion.

“You need more rest.”

So, during the day, Jiwoo spent most of her time lying sprawled under an old tree decorated in the likeness of Elandos. She fell asleep while looking at the birds flying and the leaves that were so thick that they blocked out the light.

Still, in the meantime, if she were to just stay still, the crown prince kept coming to mind. The memories were painful, and thinking about how he was now engaged and about all the things that had happened between them tormented her. She felt frustrated just thinking about the temple forcing her on schedules she didn’t want to. So she tried to get away from it, but surprisingly, that seemed to be the correct answer.

Sunlight filtering through the leaves softened the lump that had hardened like a stone in her heart. At the unreal sight, she didn’t even think about it, as if she had just fallen into a distant world.

Furthermore…

“Why don’t you think about who to marry and when?”

Callandein said it like a joke, showing a smile that was brighter than the green-gold sunlight of this place. Even if she could think of something else, her mind could only think of the courtship.