To You, Who Will Die Alone in Paradise Chapter 54

If you looked at it closely, Kellewen was the one who acted arbitrarily first, yet everything had become Dandeleon’s fault. Dandeleon felt that was unfair.

“You try to do everything your way.”

His chest feeling tight, Dandeleon finally snapped at him. It was practically asking for a fight, but Kellewen didn’t get angry with him. He just smiled weakly.

“If I don’t at least do that….”

Kellewen’s voice trailed off. An awkward silence lengthened before ending with a sigh.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe.”

Kellewen said. A deep weariness was in his voice.

He must have been very worried. Because he felt that fact so keenly, Dandeleon couldn’t protest any further. This is cowardly. Thinking so, Dandeleon kept his mouth shut.

A bird chirped near the window and then flew away with a flutter. A group of people entered the inn, making a noisy clamor on the first floor. Kellewen stood up.

“Then let’s go back now.”

At those words, Dandeleon’s breath caught in his throat.

He didn’t say where they were going, but the only place for him to return to was the palace anyway. And that was the one place he truly didn’t want to go back to. If he went back now, he would surely never be able to leave until he died. Growing desperate, Dandeleon grabbed Kellewen’s sleeve and pleaded.

“Can’t we not go?”

Kellewen paused and looked back at him.

“Let’s just run away like this. To a place that is neither Benoit nor the Elf Forest….”

The Kellewen of the past would have surely refused, but it was different now. With a premonition that he would listen if he asked sincerely, Dandeleon clung to him with all his might. Kellewen looked at Dandeleon with a pained expression.

“I really don’t want to go back. You know why I’m like this. Kellewen, please….”

“…Back then, I thought that was the path for you.”

He suddenly said something incomprehensible, and Dandeleon was flustered.

“What do you mean?”

“But now… I know that the palace is the safest place. I don’t want to take any more chances. Even if it’s selfish….”

Kellewen muttered to himself, not even answering Dandeleon’s question. Dandeleon recalled the Kellewen of yesterday again. The Kellewen now was very similar to the one who had suddenly grown anxious at the mention of Zellos’s name and rambled on by himself.

“Let’s go back. We have to go back, Leon.”

In the end, that was the conclusion Kellewen came to.

Dandeleon felt a sense of rebellion but didn’t resist any further. Kellewen’s state was unusual, and it scared him a little. He had a premonition that if he voiced any more opposition, Kellewen wouldn’t hesitate to use rough methods.

The carriage on the way back was much more spacious and comfortable. The speed was not excessive, so the motion sickness was much less severe. Nevertheless, Dandeleon felt nauseous the whole time and dry-heaved several times. He was so uncomfortable. He felt like a prisoner being dragged to the execution ground.

In just a few hours, the walls of the royal palace were visible outside the window. Dandeleon listlessly rested his face against the carriage window, observing the familiar scenery, and then suddenly grimaced.

The atmosphere was strangely chaotic. The number of soldiers guarding the gate had clearly increased, and the security check was much stricter than usual.

“What’s going on?”

Kellewen opened the carriage window and asked. A soldier, recognizing the High Elf’s face, was startled and bowed his head.

“Greetings to the High Elf…!”

“You’ve heard from His Highness the Crown Prince, I assume?”

“Yes, I heard you were returning from a short outing. But, um….”

The soldier looked around and then lowered his voice to Kellewen.

“The order is for you to return directly to the Céleste Domaine without the need to come here. A monster appeared inside the palace last night, and a state of emergency has been declared.”

“……!”

Kellewen replied calmly, but Dandeleon, who was listening beside him, was so surprised he doubted his own ears.

A monster in the Benoit royal palace. Benoit was close to Roalante, which was protected by the lighthouse of Jellokal, so it was relatively free from monster invasions. But for a monster to appear not just outside the palace but inside, there was only one possibility that came to mind.

“Kellewen.”

Dandeleon said in a trembling voice.

“It seems the monster Herma brought has escaped.”

The first trace of the monster was discovered the previous evening, in a small garden near Ardenberg. It began when a servant passing by smelled a strange stench. He followed the source of the smell deeper into the garden and witnessed a horrifying sight.

A human-like monster was crawling in the middle of the garden. A trail of purplish-black demonic energy stretched from the direction of Ardenberg all the way to the garden.

The stench scattered by the demonic energy was nauseating enough, but to make matters worse, the monster had no lower body, only an upper torso. The sight of such a thing crawling while letting out bizarre moans was difficult to gaze upon with a sane mind.

The servant, scared out of his wits, screamed and fled. A short while later, two royal guards and members of Tuella Deum rushed over, but the monster was already gone. Only the blood left by the monster remained in a large pool, contaminating the surrounding ground and expanding its territory.

The news was immediately delivered to the king. King Charles III was furious. He had certainly allowed the monster to be brought in, but that was because Herma had promised it would be safe.

But while the monster had escaped and was contaminating the royal palace, Tuella Deum hadn’t even noticed. This was a serious incident, serious enough to hold the Elf Forest responsible.

Herma apologized to the king but didn’t fully admit his fault. He claimed to the king that his seal was perfect and insisted that someone had intentionally released the monster.

“Who would do such a thing, not valuing their own life?”

The king’s reaction was cold.

“And even if that were true, it doesn’t absolve Tuella Deum of responsibility.”

Herma gritted his teeth and promised to take responsibility for all damages. He divided his subordinates into two groups, one to purify the garden and the other to track the monster.

The purification work went smoothly, but the tracking did not. Herma led the tracking team and searched all over the palace until late into the night, but the monster’s traces had vanished without a clue, as if someone had erased them. Herma couldn’t find even a single hair of the monster.

Dandeleon looked out the window of the Céleste Domaine. People holding torches were searching here and there in a commotion. As the night deepened, the torches alone couldn’t drive away all the darkness. The thought that the monster was hiding somewhere in that darkness gave him the chills.

It was then, as Dandeleon shivered and rubbed his arms.

“Are you cold?”

Kellewen approached him and draped an outer garment over him. As Dandeleon was fastening the garment, his eyes widened at what Kellewen had brought into the room. On the table were two glasses and a bottle of liquor.

Kellewen smiled a little awkwardly.

“Care for a drink, Leon?”

Pop.

The sound of the liquor bottle’s cork popping was refreshing. A reddish-brown liquid poured into the transparent glass, its fragrance blooming like a flower. Dandeleon swallowed his saliva without realizing it.

Dalento 13-year-old. It might be an exaggeration to say it was as expensive as its weight in gold, but it was a liquor precious enough to be compared to it. After acquiring a bottle of this liquor by chance, Dandeleon had drunk it so carefully, reluctant to even let the aroma escape. Although one day, in a fit of anger, he had chugged it straight from the bottle.

The reason he had chugged it from the bottle back then was because he had gotten entangled with Kellewen, and now, he was pouring him Dalento 13-year-old. Live and learn, as they say.

“I never thought you’d be the one to suggest a drink.”

Dandeleon said. Kellewen, who was pouring liquor into the second glass, smiled silently.

“Alcohol has never killed you before.”

“……?”

Dandeleon tilted his head at the strange remark, then found the answer himself.

“Ah, a hangover? That’s right. I don’t know why, but I never get hangovers.”

“Even though you do get drunk.”

Kellewen filled both glasses and then pushed one towards Dandeleon. Dandeleon gladly accepted the glass.

It was too precious a liquor to down in one gulp as soon as he received it, like he usually did. Dandeleon inhaled the fragrance that pooled above the glass to his heart’s content. A refreshing scent like crushed lemons brushed his nose very slightly, and the aromas of plum and cherry immediately followed.

Imagining warm, cooked fruit, Dandeleon swirled the glass gently. His heart pounded as he recalled the taste it would have in his mouth.

“Do you remember what you said when you were drunk before?”

“What did I say?”

Dandeleon asked, his eyes still fixed on the glass of liquor. His thoughts were slow, intoxicated by the aroma. When was I drunk in front of Kellewen? Was it when I offered him a cigarette? Anyway, I wonder if I can drink it now.

It was just before Dandeleon brought the glass to his lips.

“You said you hated me.”

“……”

It was a good thing he hadn’t taken a sip of the liquor. If he had been drinking, he would have been so flustered that he would have spat it out or spilled it.

Dandeleon put down the glass and looked at Kellewen sheepishly. Kellewen said with an amused expression.

“You said it was absurd to devote a lifespan of over a thousand years to a single tree.”

“I did? Haha, I must have been really drunk.”

“I replied that you live only if the guardian tree lives, and then you….”

Kellewen lifted his glass and emptied half of it in an instant. The sound of his Adam’s apple moving as the liquor went down was clearly audible. Kellewen winced as he finished his sentence.

“You said it didn’t matter at all, that you were going to die soon.”

Dandeleon couldn’t say anything. Kellewen wiped his mouth and gave a bitter smile.

“I really can’t get used to liquor.”

Kellewen’s cheeks were already flushed. It was understandable, since he had downed a strong liquor all at once.