My breath caught as much as when tasting vivid affection. The trust was too clear. So much so that I felt like I could see its form. I couldn’t give any answer. I was just held by large hands without even thinking to separate our pressed lips.
“Sihyeon.”
“……”
“Sihyeon.”
“……Why.”
It was obvious he would keep calling until he heard my voice, so I forced myself to answer. Perhaps because my throat was blocked, the slowly emerging voice was muffled.
Ruvlian, still with his eyes smoothly curved, blinked a couple of times. Below his golden eyelashes swaying as if shaken by a gentle breeze, his cheeks looked like they were painted with light pink paint. Finally, his red lips opened with both corners of his mouth turning upward.
“Thank you for worrying about me. And I’m sorry in advance for making you see my death.”
“If you’re sorry,”
“Yees.”
After taking one breath, that coquettish voice returned. Unlike me, I spoke as if chewing while escaping from Ruvlian’s hands, who looked to be in a good mood.
“Don’t even plan such things from next time.”
“I will.”
It was a docile attitude. Then Ruvlian lowered his upper body and deeply wrapped around my waist. On my knees came a face that the God must have painstakingly made. He who lay down as if toppling over and embraced me rubbed his face against my knees. It was a ticklish contact.
[Um…… Sihyeon.]
The ticklishness felt on my knees gradually moved up and tickled all the way to my chest. Because of Ruvlian who wouldn’t budge even when I tried to drop him, I gave up escaping and coldly answered the God’s call.
‘What.’
[I didn’t do it on purpose. The divine realm also tried to resolve the sealing as much as possible without others’ help, but when a God directly moves to a world from hundreds of millions of years ago, divine power enters strongly. Then inevitably, the Evil God of the world from hundreds of millions of years ago would notice the existence of the God who crossed over.]
The God made excuses while fumbling and checking my mood. Ruvlian who occupied my knees placed my hand on top of his head. Then he moved my hand back and forth as if asking to be stroked. By the time soft hair wrapped around my hand, a voice rang in my head again.
[But for an existing God created in that era to appear with accumulated years, or for a God not yet created to appear. It’s all strange, right? Since the power the Evil God had at that time is the same size as the Supreme God’s power, it was clear we’d be completely drained of resources, fail at the sealing, and the future would be distorted, so it became like this……]
In the end, it meant the God couldn’t go because the Evil God would feel the divine power’s wavelength and notice the sealing through the God’s existence. Naturally, I had doubts about those words.
‘Can’t they notice mana? Besides, in that era, I’m also a human who wasn’t created.’
[No? Of course they’ll notice.]
It was a tone asking if that made sense. Rather, I was the one who became dumbfounded.
‘If they’ll notice anyway, what’s the difference between divine power and mana?’
[They’ll definitely feel a huge mana wavelength, but since it’s that period. It will be covered.]
The words “that period” caught my attention. I wondered if I was being sent to the middle of some religious war.
‘What period are you talking about?’
[A period of chaos. I thought about it a lot, and to pass off a huge mana wavelength as nothing, there are only two periods total. One is when the Evil God and Supreme God first gave humans a part of their power—that is, divine power, mana, and aura—and humans were in chaos because they couldn’t handle them skillfully.]
‘Then the second would be the religious war.’
[Yes, that’s right.]
Which one would the God have chosen? Without needing to ponder long, the answer came that it was during the religious war.
It was easier to find traces of the sealing and its method, and to go to the period when power was first partially distributed, the mana wavelength that would spread to the divine realm from hundreds of millions of years ago while Ruvlian cast the magic circle to move to the past was too delicate. If it was a mana wavelength felt due to uncontrolled power, it should be rough and raw.
[You’ve probably already noticed, but Sihyeon will be sent to during the religious war. If it’s that period, since they’re fighting in full swing, even if a huge mana wavelength is felt, it will be somewhat covered so it doesn’t matter.]
Then the God added words to appropriately knock out one person and disguise yourself. Also that recognition impairment magic was fine too. I wondered if the God should be saying such things, but since the sealing took priority, I didn’t call them out.
I thought it was all finished, but as if the most important reason remained, the God lowered their voice and continued speaking.
[Plus, if we go to when the Evil God and Supreme God distributed their power, you’d have to be there for several hundred years, so going during the religious war was the only answer……]
Wasn’t there nothing to even ponder from the start? Who would lurk for several hundred years while searching for traces of the sealing? I was dumbfounded.
When the end of the story became visible, Ruvlian noticed it like a ghost. The face that had been buried in my stomach was revealed. His fair face was flushed red.
“Sihyeon, shall we sleep then?”
“We’re not going right away?”
At my words, Ruvlian opened his mouth and widened his eyes as if shocked. The tongue revealed between the parted lips was red.
“Sleep is important, Sihyeon. You also had a hard time being tormented by that uncle during the day, and you need to rest well to properly use your strength, since it’s wartime there.”
Thinking about it, today hadn’t been smooth. From the parallel world Ruvlian who I thought wouldn’t be the Hero’s companion to this sealing story now. Everything.
That’s when it happened. My body was suddenly lifted. It was because Ruvlian held me in a princess carry.
“What are you doing? Put me down.”
“Yees. Just a moment.”
Ruvlian only put me down after walking further. Something soft touched my back and legs. It was the bed.
“Now, let’s sleep together.”
Then Ruvlian who took the spot next to me tightly embraced me and closed his eyes. Before I could open my mouth to ask if he could sleep in this state, faint mana was felt and my eyelids closed. It was sleep magic.
_oOo_
Ruvlian looked at Baek Sihyeon sleeping in his arms. A physique that didn’t feel particularly large to be called a Hero, and fine black hair that seemed to have been smoothed thousands of times, covering his forehead. Below that, dense black eyelashes sat neatly. The light brown eyes that had been full of warmth were hidden by white eyelids.
If a face could wear down from gazes, Ruvlian who had been staring at him enough to wear down Baek Sihyeon’s face and more put a bit more strength into the arm wrapped around his waist.
Though he felt sorry for planning the sealing to show his death, on the other hand, he was also happy. Because that appearance would never be erased forever. It would definitely remain in his memory, and even if affection for him disappeared later, he wouldn’t be able to discard the devotion of giving his life. While believing affection would remain the same for a lifetime, Ruvlian installed one safety device.
Ruvlian who twisted and smoothed the jet-black hair lifted the hair covering the forehead. Then he pressed his lips to the forehead as if rubbing them stickily. He wanted to leave deep marks anywhere, whether the neck or elsewhere, but it was obvious Sihyeon would scold him. Of course, while asking what this was, he would redden all exposed skin.
You wouldn’t know. The real reason I deliberately set as compensation living together in Sihyeon’s inherent world, not my own inherent world.
Ruvlian knew Baek Sihyeon well. As much as he knew himself. Of course, because he had always been watching, and since the first day he saw him, he had never left his mind. He carefully observed what he was thinking, and also put into his mind as if engraving what reactions he gave when.
So he could dare to guess. That Sihyeon hadn’t really adapted to his inherent world.
Before turning back time, it might be possible to be mistaken about adapting by overlaying it with the parallel world Baek Sihyeon’s world, but anything beyond that would be impossible. Though they had the same name and same face, they were strictly different existences. Having experienced himself and that parallel world uncle, there was no way Sihyeon wouldn’t know that fact.
Knowing that and still saying to live there…… because that way complete affection would come only to him. That was all. If they lived here, it was obvious he would reminisce about before turning back time and give affection to his companions while pretending otherwise. Though he didn’t show it, Ruvlian didn’t like that.
[Ugh, you really seem shameless.]
Then the God’s voice rang in Ruvlian’s head. It was somehow a pitying tone. Of course, the object of that pity wasn’t Ruvlian.
[Why does Sihyeon like you? It’s amazing enough to be surprised how much he must like you to not doubt your words.]
Ruvlian immediately realized what they were talking about. It was about the God’s blessing and protection. Actually, he had lied to Sihyeon, saying he didn’t receive the God’s blessing and protection. But what problem was that? Shamelessly beyond compare, he truly thought so.
‘I don’t understand why you’re caring this much. Heroes are common as dirt, aren’t they?’
It was correct. There were many worlds the God managed, and among them, there were quite a few worlds where Demon Kings appeared. In other words, the Heroes the God met were numerous besides Sihyeon.
[Are they the same as Sihyeon? Since Sihyeon is the only Hero living this kind of life, it’s natural to be interested. In the first place, even in the divine realm, they’re particularly concerned about you two.]
‘It must be because of the sealing.’
Though he easily noticed it wasn’t just that, Ruvlian answered roughly. Not enough to capture Sihyeon in his eyes, he didn’t want to have a long conversation with such a dim-witted God.
Sihyeon must have been tired, as he fell deeply asleep even with faint sleep magic. It also meant he didn’t reject Ruvlian’s magic that much. While gently caressing his cheek, he gazed at the peacefully sleeping Sihyeon as if engraving him on his retina.
From the deep blue eyes that Baek Sihyeon loved, affection poured out like a faucet had been opened. It was enough to cause the illusion of wetting the bed.
[By the way, are you really okay with dying?]
The God who had been watching such Ruvlian asked. Though they had attached a bunch of bad nicknames like foal, troublemaker who causes incidents, accident-prone, etc., even hateful affection was affection. So a cold answer returned to that question.
‘Instead of time to worry about me, put more blessings on Sihyeon.’
[Wow…… You’re really unlucky.]
‘Destroy another world?’
It was Ruvlian who received blessings and protection through that threat along with various other threats. However, the God now had nothing to fear. Since there was a barrier magic circle, they could prevent him from trying to destroy other worlds without having to get permission from the higher-ups. With that thought, the God who had become much bolder than before spoke up.
[That threat doesn’t work anymore, you know? I just need to stop you with the barrier magic circle.]
‘Of course I made a counter magic circle too, so be quiet.’
However, at the returning words, the God was mercilessly defeated. To tell him not to lie, Ruvlian was thorough. He was a human who didn’t know mistakes.
In the end, Ruvlian who made the God firmly shut their mouth looked only at Sihyeon until day broke, until warm morning sunlight tickled his eyelids. As if filling in advance the amount he wouldn’t be able to see while dead.
