At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 176

They even cleaned the steps that wound around the tree, replacing the decorations with new ones, making the tree shine brightly.

“It’s so beautiful…”

“Is taking care of the tree something that makes you so happy?”

Jiwoo could feel her heart beating as if she were on a date, and Callan asked.

“It reminds me of Christmas back home. It’s a day when we decorate a big tree and exchange gifts. And, our tree is big and beautiful too.”

The Christmas tree wasn’t quite this large, and the type of tree was different, of course.

Maybe it’s because it’s the tree she has nurtured and lived with, but she has never seen anything as beautiful as their tree. She thought it would look lovely even if they decorated it.

Callan was intrigued after hearing a brief explanation about Christmas.

“Did you have a tree care culture over there?”

“No, it wasn’t about the tree itself, it was more a day to celebrate the birth of the most famous saint. Actually, I’m not really sure why we decorate a tree on that day.”

“A saint?”

“Yes.”

“Is it you?”

“Oh, haha. I suppose it is.”

Even with playful teasing like that, Jiwoo had grown used to responding in kind lately. Though her face did turn a little red.

Callan was right. While she lived here as an ordinary person, in Caranazion, she was exactly in that position.

“Then, we can’t lose to you. Seo Jiwoo, when is your birthday?”

Jiwoo was momentarily surprised by the question and blinked.

“…I’ve never been asked that before.”

“Didn’t they ask you that in the Karbauude Empire?”

“I was literally celebrated as a living saint, so they commemorated the day I descended into this world.”

It was the day Akarna descended, but in reality, it was the day the temple humans summoned an otherworldly being.

Anyway, being asked about her birthday as a human was something Jiwoo had never experienced. Acknowledging that birthday would reduce its symbolic value.

A birthday…

She realized how much she had forgotten over time.

“It’s the first time anyone’s asked me as a human about my birthday.”

“You could celebrate both…”

Skiass, who hadn’t spoken during the conversation, suddenly spoke up.

“You are… our goddess.”

Jiwoo shut her eyes tightly, feeling embarrassed.

She had gotten used to her husbands’ flirtations, but apparently, not this one yet.

However, Jiwoo couldn’t exactly say when her birthday was.

“But the thing is…”

While Jiwoo hesitated, the husbands, who had all been interested in the word ‘birthday,’ gradually gathered around her. It seemed they had finished their tasks.

Lanceil asked again.

“Do you celebrate your birthday differently?”

“No… um… It’s very similar to where I lived originally, but still, it’s a bit different.”

Skiass asked.

“How? Is it the seasons that are different… or is it the calendar?”

“Exactly, the calendar is different.”

A year in this world is 370 days, and the Empire divides it into 10 months of 37 days each, so the calendar ends at the 10th month.

Jiwoo’s birthday was in November. In fact, it didn’t exactly align with a 10-month calendar, so it wasn’t easy to calculate.

“What’s the climate like?”

Not knowing how to explain, Jiwoo rubbed the back of her neck.

“There are four seasons, harvest seasons, and a major holiday around autumn, so it’s somewhat similar. And just like that, we divide the year into months in a similar way… but I feel like the day here is a little longer.”

It’s a matter of perception, but the days felt longer and the nights too. While a day in the original world was 24 hours, here it felt like there were one or two more hours.

“Ah… So it’s pretty similar.”

It made Jiwoo realize again how different the worlds were. They say that even small changes in the environment make life hard for people, and she couldn’t help but think that she had been lucky to survive in such a world.

But perhaps it was because this place was similar enough to the original world that it didn’t feel like much of a difference.

“Am I lucky to end up in a world so similar?”

“If it weren’t similar in the first place, it wouldn’t even be possible for Akarna to exist… For example, if you fell into a world where only lava and the insects living in the fire existed, no matter how much you tried to eliminate the surrounding threats, humans wouldn’t be able to survive…”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So…”

As Jiwoo continued to react with curiosity, Skiass hesitated for a moment before elaborating further.

The world here and the one Jiwoo originally came from were generally similar, but Skiass pinpointed the subtle differences that Jiwoo had only vaguely noticed.

For example, the plants in her original world would likely have been smaller than those here, or that if Akarna’s power faded, she wouldn’t just become an ordinary human—she’d become weaker and more frail.

As he explained, words like sunlight and air circulation passed through the conversation.

Then, Skiass seemed to realize he had gone a bit too far, glanced around, and cleared his throat.

Everyone’s expressions seemed to say, ‘Can you summarize and get to the point?’

Anyway, after drifting off-topic, the conversation returned to the main subject.

“We… divide the year into 13 months, and the remaining 6 days are celebrated as festivals.”

“Festivals?”

“Days not recorded on the calendar.”

In El Ragneil, the last 6 days of the year were seen as a time of rest, as the world prepared for a new spring after winter.

Given how beautiful this land appeared, the way they marked the end of the year had a romantic connection with nature.

However, the more Jiwoo heard the explanation, the more she found herself unable to pinpoint her birthday accurately.

As Jiwoo sank into deep thought, Skiass tried to explain again, but Solmih, who had been listening seriously the whole time, simply suggested,

“If the seasons were similar for you, you could just tell us the season.”

“Ah.”

Understanding that suggestion, Jiwoo smiled.

That was something she could answer.

In her original world, at the very end of November…

Thinking about the season she felt, it was still far away, but her heart raced happily in anticipation of her birthday this year.

“It’s when the first snow falls. That’s my birthday.”

Perhaps this wasn’t just the first birthday she would be celebrated for in El Ragneil, but the first true birthday she would have since coming to this world.