At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 123
Aleph hugged Jiwoo tightly within his arms, restraining her as if he was capturing someone about to flee.
Trapped tightly between the bed and Aleph, Jiwoo received the man’s unleashed lust.
Even while climaxing, unable to hide his excitement, Aleph gnawed at Jiwoo’s nape and ear.
“Hu-ugh…Aahhh”
She couldn’t beg freely. Each time Jiwoo cried out, the penetrating force inside her seemed ready to burst through, releasing more and more.
“Ah, Akarna… Akarna, Akarna…I love you. I love you…”
Aleph kept repeating it in a choked, pleading voice, almost as if he was about to cry, begging or perhaps seeking salvation.
As if asking for forgiveness.
Jiwoo stroked his head, which incessantly tried to confirm his possession while he bit her nape.
Their lovemaking was closer to a violent pleasure than a gentle communion.
It was harsh and fierce, the pleasure mercilessly sweeping like walking through a battle. It wasn’t an easy affair to endure.
Yet, what made it bearable was…
“Akarna, I love you…”
This phrase he ceaselessly murmured as if out of his mind.
Seeing him look like a wounded beast, somehow brought tears again. Even while thrusting roughly, he licked the tears that Jiwoo shed.
It seemed he cared more about her pain than his own long-standing scars. In this rough and challenging affair, the connection was more precious than the pleasure itself.
Jiwoo closed her eyes. Such thoughts were soon washed away by the surging pleasure that came like a wave.
* * *The next day, Jiwoo woke up late in the evening, having skipped morning and afternoon.
Despite waking up late, her body still felt tired and sore, understandably after being tormented through the night and into the morning. Someone had apparently bathed her, as her skin wasn’t sticky.
As she got up from the bed and looked around, it wasn’t long before she spotted Grand Duke Aleph.
Before Jiwoo could even speak, he said first.
“You’re awake.”
Aleph stood at the window, not looking back. The disheveled appearance from the previous night was gone. He was impeccably dressed in a suit so neat not a single lint was visible.
“Are your wounds better?”
“If you’re up, it’s time to go back. You can go back now.”
He spoke coldly without turning around.
Given that she had heard him declare his love while calling her name multiple times last night, his words didn’t sound particularly sincere.
However, his usual words, telling her to leave sounded a bit different this time.
The white bird he had given her, the knowledge it conveyed—it was because of this that she had been able to traverse spaces.
Before she realized what it meant, she thought he was merely asking her to leave the mansion or to go to the outer wall.
“…Where to?”
“To your original home.”
But he had been referring to a different place all along.
Now that she could go back, she seemed to understand what he meant.
“Your original world. You are not from here. Your abilities, Akarna’s abilities, were developed to survive while moving across great distances.”
It was a startling revelation, but it made sense when she thought about it calmly. She remembered what Neseph Reveion had told her.
“Ah, that’s why there are royals who don’t believe in God.”
As if those who knew the truth about the temple naturally wouldn’t.
As if all the royals owed something to the being called Akarna.
“Yes. You are an ordinary person. The empire has no right or reason to hold you, not being a citizen, not tied to this world, just an ordinary person.”
“…”
When she was struggling miserably in the temple, these were the words she had longed to hear. Returning to her original world had also been something she had longed for.
But after meeting him in the north, and experiencing what happened last night, hearing this now felt profoundly uncomfortable.
“So whenever you want, you can go back.”
“It all happened so suddenly, but I thought we had a connection.”
“…”
“I didn’t expect you to say that as soon as I woke up…”
“…”
“Don’t you want to take responsibility for last night?”
It was hard to dismiss it as a mere fling. Their affair had begun in the evening and lasted all night. Aleph had been relentless, pushing himself into Jiwoo with such persistence that it could not be excused as a mere moment of passion.
Whenever he pulled out and his release seemed to escape her, Aleph, spurred by excitement, would thrust back with even greater force, ensuring everything was pushed deep inside her.
As if he wanted to ensure she was pregnant.
After a pause, Aleph said.
“….Akarna is infertile.”
“Ah…”
I see. That was it.
It was surprisingly easy to understand. He was a noble, now the master of this castle and the ruler of the north. An heir would be important…
Even if that weren’t the issue, nobles were known to indulge in fleeting trysts without a second thought.
Silence filled the room while Jiwoo processed this.
“I understand what you mean. It was me who forced my way here, not knowing what might happen.”
Jiwoo bowed her head and stood up.
“No, no. That’s not it.”
But before she could take a few steps, she heard Aleph rush over, and he firmly pushed her back down onto the bed.
“That wasn’t my intention. I’m sorry.”
“…”
“I really didn’t mean that. Look at me. I’m sorry, okay?”
As she was forced to look up, she saw his face, tear-stained and disheveled, as if he had been crying for a while.
“What I meant was, you don’t need to feel anxious. I meant there’s no reason for you to be tied down to me… That was my mistake. I’ll make it up to you somehow…”
“You always say that whenever you look at me.”
Aleph bowed his head and closed his mouth.
“Do I look like I’m expecting compensation? If you think you did something wrong, just ask for forgiveness.”
Aleph’s hand on Jiwoo’s shoulder trembled.
Asking for forgiveness is easy to say.
But even that simple act requires both the sinner and the judge to face each other.
Aleph had committed many wrongs, and Jiwoo was the only one who could forgive him.
The painful life he endured in her absence, and even the act of traveling back in time, had originated from his own foolish mistakes.
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