The Monster Duke Mistook Me for His Wife Chapter 137

Light, you say?

Understanding what that meant, I shook my head, my face turning pale.

“No way.”

For a divine beast, returning to light meant death.

“That can’t be. You’re a divine beast. A divine beast isn’t supposed to die this easily!”

I strongly denied it, but I knew the truth too.

Even divine beasts, who seem like they would live forever, eventually face death.

‘But not like this. Not so empty, not so painfully……’

The hand I placed on the platform trembled.

“Ria.”

Dillian came closer and gently wrapped my trembling hand. I bit my lip at the warmth.

“We just met, we can’t part like this.”

“That goes for Arest too, it seems. He’s opened his eyes.”

“What? He opened them?”

“Arest! You’re awake?”

At Dillian’s words, the divine beasts rushed to the platform in a flurry.

Arest, struggling to lift his eyelids, looked at us with unfocused eyes.

“Arest!”

With droopy eyes, Arest mouthed something.

“Huh? What was that?”

I brought my ear close, and a faint voice reached me.

“……So, noisy. Shut up…….”

In short, he told us to shut up.

“You……”

After all this time, and that’s the first thing you say?

I opened my mouth in disbelief, then burst into laughter.

“Seeing your nasty attitude’s still the same, I guess it’s not your time yet.”

“Exactly. All that worry for nothing.”

Nathan and Samiel shook their heads with exasperated chuckles.

“Arest! I really thought you were going to die!”

“Hanisha. But don’t go jumping on him.”

As Hanisha looked ready to tackle Arest with a body slam, Mika stepped in to block her.

Arest frowned at the sudden market-like chaos around him.

“……Die? Who’s dying? Cough, I’m sleeping, so all of you, scram.”

After scolding the divine beasts—who were practically family—Arest’s next target was me.

“And you, why are you sitting there with that ugly face? What, are you at a funeral? Stop looking so gloomy…… You leave too.”

“Maybe he’s dying after all. His eyesight must be going.”

Was it that he was bothered by being called ugly?

Dillian began revving up.

“Or maybe his sense of beauty is just different? Calling someone as beautiful as Ria ugly—unbelievable.”

“Which idiot doesn’t know his place…… Lysandro?”

Arest’s limp body twitched.

“That punk Lysandro is alive?”

“I’m not Lysandro. I’m Dillian Sinaise.”

“……Reincarnated, and still a rude brat.”

Arest muttered in disgust and slumped again. His briefly lively voice faded.

Aaron jumped in at the perfect moment, clapping his hands.

“I understand the joy, but it’s not good to cause a ruckus in front of the patient. Let’s step outside and calm down first.”

“You too, get out.”

“I must care for Lord Arest.”

“……What a sly snake.”

No matter how much Arest raged and cursed, Aaron calmly handled it all.

‘Is that what experience looks like?’

His skill was no joke.

“Then, we’ll see you in a bit.”

At the clear order to leave, we trudged out of the room.

The slamming door felt cold and heartless.

Dillian gently wrapped his arm around my slumped shoulders, trying to comfort me.

“It’s a relief that Arest is okay.”

“Yes, I’m glad he regained consciousness.”

He wasn’t fully okay, but the fact that he opened his eyes and still had that temper—was a good sign.

Then I suddenly realized something.

Aina hadn’t said a single word until now.

“Aina, are you okay? Are you really shocked?”

“Ah, yeah. It’s just… I remembered how I got scolded by Lord Arest for talking when he was in a bad mood… I don’t want to get yelled at during our first meeting.”

Aina gave an awkward smile and shrugged.

‘Just how badly did he scold you…?’

For Aina to be that wary, he must’ve been pretty harsh.

“But it’s really a relief he woke up.”

“Yeah.”

We lingered around outside Arest’s room, unable to leave.

“Since he woke up, that’s a good sign.”

“Right. There’s no way that grumpy Arest would go back to the gods so soon.”

“Let’s try to find some way to treat him.”

As Samiel brought it up, Hanisha and Mika nodded in agreement.

“The best way would be to return to Arest’s temple, but……”

At Nathan’s words, the divine beasts all shook their heads.

That was impossible.

A divine beast’s power source comes from their own temple.

The faith of the people and the pure, sincere hearts of the priests combine to strengthen a temple.

But Arest’s temple was a place where all of that had collapsed.

Faith hitting rock bottom, and priests drowning in corruption.

The temple that should always remain clean and sacred had long been abandoned.

And Arest, disappointed by such humans, had turned away.

‘It was the perfect setup for Coma to strike.’

The more corrupt the temple became, the easier it must’ve been for Coma to enter.

With the temple no longer functioning, Arest couldn’t fight off the encroaching darkness.

It was already a place that had failed to protect him.

Trying to heal Arest in such a decayed place was close to impossible.

‘That’s why we pinned our hopes on the Substitute Temple.’

But even the Substitute Temple ended in failure.

“What if we asked Father……?”

“Right! That’s it!”

At my mumble, Nathan seemed to realize something and flapped his wings excitedly.

“There’s a way?”

“Ria, you’d know it. The edge of the world, where the oak tree stands.”

“No way……”

“Yes.”

That place was where Coma had been sealed a thousand years ago.

And it was also a place familiar to both Dillian and me.

Because it was the Forest of Tippy.

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

The Forest of Tippy.

Now, Wilhelm marks the border of the Roheim Empire, but back then, Wilhelm was the end of the world.

Beyond that lay nothing but wasteland, which no one could ever settle.

They say a lot can change in ten years.

So what about a thousand years? Never mind a few mountains—an entire world changing wouldn’t be strange.

And it was only natural that Tippy, who had held the darkness inside for a thousand years, had fallen ill.

“I’ll come as soon as you contact me.”

Kanae’s face was pale from nonstop teleportation magic over the past few days.

“Thank you, Kanae. And I’m sorry.”

Worried she might collapse, I relieved some of her fatigue, then set off on our way.

Returning to Wilhelm after a long time, we walked toward the Forest of Tippy.

The group was small.

Just me, Dillian, Nathan, and Arest.

The four of us planned to quietly heal Arest and return.

Since the darkness had vanished and the forest’s curse was lifted, there was no need for a large group.

“That monster we saw back then—the one that looked like a golem—was it sealing the darkness?”

“Yes.”

Having rushed here, I hadn’t explained the past and the Forest of Tippy properly, so I briefly filled Dillian in.

“When the seal broke, the forest was fully cursed, but its strength had already been fading before then. There were even rumors a hundred years ago that the forest and the mountain were dying.”

Tippy, unable to overcome Coma’s curse, had gradually weakened. Around a hundred years ago, it must’ve started deteriorating rapidly.

Then, the moment Tippy lost all his power, Lextor and Manus conveniently appeared and released Coma’s seal.

“He must’ve had a really hard time, all alone.”

I frowned, recalling the black thorns that had pierced Tippy’s body.

It didn’t sit well with me—I felt like I had pushed too much of a burden onto him.

It had been a choice for the world, but in the end, that choice had poisoned Tippy.

“Will he come out to greet us again?”

Would he have been disappointed that I didn’t recognize him?

Even if no one else did, I should’ve recognized Tippy.

“Of course he’ll come.”

Nathan, now robbed of his spot by Arest and hanging off Dillian’s shoulder, nodded.

At last, we arrived at the entrance of the forest and looked around with a strange feeling.

“It finally looks like a real forest.”

“Yes, it looks healthy.”

“Even the mountaintop is covered in fresh green trees.”

I beamed at the green energy not just in the forest but covering the entire mountain.

The snow had melted, and spring had come. The forest looked nothing like the black, rotting death of winter.

No one would ever call this forest, or this mountain, cursed again.

Who could speak ill of such a beautiful forest?

“Miss Ria, look over there.”

At Dillian’s call, I turned my eyes and saw a familiar house.

“Our house.”

“And still in ruins.”

Dillian called it “our house” with a proud smile, but I looked at the collapsed building with a bittersweet face.

A whole year spent there, and all the memories of meeting Dillian rushed back to me.

“Our first meeting wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it was fun, wasn’t it?”

Every day was filled with trouble and chaos, but now that it’s in the past, even that feels nostalgic.

I miss those days—when I lived smiling, unaware of anything.

“I think I’d like to live in that house again. It’d be fun, like before.”

I said it without much thought, just casually, but it seemed to hit Dillian differently.

He suddenly started saying something unexpected.

“Shall I just buy this land? I’ll build you a pretty house you’ll love, Miss Ria.”

“Out of nowhere?”

“You said you wanted to live here. That old house was too small and worn down. A grand mansion would be more comfortable.”

“And we’d all live together? With guests visiting often?”

Wouldn’t just the three of us in a big house feel lonely…?

At that moment, Dillian’s face dropped.

“That was careless. A big house is just harder to clean. A newlywed home should be cozy, just big enough for two. Like the one we lived in before.”

“Just admit it. You want to live with me—just the two of us.”

“You already know. Why ask?”

We joked and teased each other as we left the forest and climbed the mountain.

“Miss Ria, watch your step.”

“This much, I can manage.”

It wasn’t hard to climb, thanks to a well-worn path from so many people walking it.

How long had we walked?

‘Ria!’

A warm breeze brushed my ear.

‘Did you come to keep your promise?’

A playful, laughter-filled voice called out to me.