At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 177

The first snow was still a long way off, and in the meantime, Jiwoo spent her days preparing for the winter with her husbands.

After discussing with them, Jiwoo’s approach to business trips was changed.

Originally, whenever a request came in for her to treat a tree outside the village, Jiwoo would decide to leave as soon as she read the letter.

The trees were considered sacred, and their health and safety were directly tied to the wellbeing of the people here. Jiwoo couldn’t completely ignore it, especially thinking about her husbands.

However, after realizing that the work was more dangerous than she had expected, she decided to be more cautious.

The new plan involved her husbands going ahead to scout the areas where Jiwoo was requested to help and securing compensation beforehand.

Jiwoo was pleased that this made things safer, and her husbands were happy too, as it prevented any other males from interfering or causing trouble. It was a method that worked for everyone.

While Jiwoo rested in the village, her husbands, who had gone to other areas first, returned with the promised rewards—and with a lot of pleasant gifts.

“What’s this?”

Jiwoo pointed to a particularly striking piece of jewelry among the items they brought.

“Oh, this?”

“It’s so intriguing.”

It looked like a bubble frozen in the sunlight. The surface was intricately engraved with snowflake shapes, leaves, or flowers. A subtle rainbow glow circled around it, making it incredibly beautiful.

“You’ve got a sharp eye. This is tree sap that has hardened over a long time, then was sculpted after being washed up on the beach.”

“Tree sap… you mean amber?”

Jiwoo had only known amber as a yellow or red gemstone, so she was even more fascinated by the white color. Thinking about it, it did make sense that the sap from an Ellandos tree could be white like that.

Aside from the fascination of the object itself, Jiwoo was also intrigued by the new information she was learning.

“By the way, can you really go to the beach? The whirlpools seem too dangerous.”

“If the trees grow in shallow waters, it’s possible. These were made by those who live in the shallow waters around trees like these.”

She had thought that the tree species only lived inland, but it seemed she was mistaken. Even though it was shallow water, Jiwoo tried to imagine what trees growing in the sea would look like as she eagerly examined the gemstones they had brought.

“Since they’re precious, they didn’t want to give them away, but I brought them for you.”

Arven, who had gone on the scouting mission first, smiled as he walked over to Jiwoo and presented the gemstone while bowing slightly.

“…”

As Jiwoo glanced at him with a side-eye, she gave him a quick kiss, and he looked very pleased.

“What’s that? Do it to me too.”

“Me too, please?”

“Alright. One at a time.”

Only after Jiwoo kissed each of the husbands in turn did their complaints subside.

Originally, her husbands were quite reserved when it came to showing affection.

Before marriage, they had been bold in their flirtations, but after the wedding, they acted strangely shy—as though it were the proper etiquette.

However, after Jiwoo started preparing gifts for everyone, her husbands became a bit more active.

Perhaps it could be said that they became more affectionate…

In fact, Skiass, who had originally been distant, came to her first one evening after Jiwoo prepared the dessert.

Anyway, Jiwoo put down the most prominent piece of amber and began admiring the jewelry that seemed related to the beach, then asked,

“Does that mean we might be able to go to the sea… the beach?”

Excited to see what the sea would be like here, Jiwoo asked, but her husbands seemed oddly hesitant.

“Why?”

After a moment of hesitation, they answered.

“We don’t really get along with the sea creatures. It’s not great.”

“And they’re not exactly the most refined.”

“…Really?”

The word ‘refined’ didn’t seem to fit them at all…

I guess it’s true that people here are particularly conservative, as they say.

“And they’re really lewd. They’re obsessed with lust.”

“Ah…”

Jiwoo nodded, pretending to understand, though she was still curious about what kind of place it was.

…Actually, she almost asked if they could really be more lewd than them, but decided against it.

“Anyway… does that mean our next business trip is here?”

“Won’t the winter sea be a bit tough?”

Arven, who had gone ahead to check, expressed his concern. On the surface, it seemed like a gentle, caring smile, but Jiwoo could tell it wasn’t quite as simple as that.

Considering how much they criticized the sea creatures, it seemed clear they didn’t want Jiwoo meeting them.

“Still, we should go. We’ve already gotten all the compensation. And it’s supposed to be something valuable, right?”

Jiwoo knew her husbands were quite jealous, but she hadn’t realized just how much until she started living with them.

It was probably because of their unique way of handling jealousy. They were very different from humans in this regard.

The reason jealousy was often expressed was clear: by showing their feelings, they hoped the other person would change their behavior.

However, for their species, expressing jealousy was too dangerous. The female would quickly become annoyed or even uncomfortable and leave, sometimes leading to violent outcomes.

It was understandable considering how they had to protect what was theirs, and the female had the power to do so.

So, despite feeling jealous, they typically didn’t express it openly.

But recently, there have been small leaks. After the previous incident, they had started to show subtle signs of affection, likely because Jiwoo had lived in the temple for so long, so it had become more noticeable.