TEB Ch 110

Humans call that kind of thing “lovers”.

Liev laughed and smoothed out the disheveled hair of Renard, who was very embarrassed, and continued.

“Now that I know you still like me even though you’ve lost your imprint, I feel relieved that the time we’ve spent together so far up to now didn’t mean nothing. I was just happy with the fact itself.”

Finally, when Liev himself spoke about these overwhelming emotions, he felt like he was about to cry again. Renard likes me. Just like a newly hatched chick following its first sight, it wasn’t just a one-sided instinct, but the fact that he truly liked him made his heart swell and tingle. He didn’t know what expression to make, as all these emotions were both embarrassing and happy. Renard noticed his strange expression and gave a serious warning.

“You heard Mahatra’s words earlier. Now you can’t go anywhere. We’ll be together forever from now on. Is that okay, though? Are you really happy? Liev can’t die now. Are you crying because you don’t like that?”

The answer to that question was already within him, without needing to think about it for long.

“What are you talking about? I’m crying because I’m happy. I’m glad.”

Liev quickly pulled Renard by the neck and pressed their foreheads together. Then he smiled, facing the slightly surprised, blood-red pupils.

“Breaking up with you was the scariest thing in the world for me too.”

Oh really. Liev hugged Renard tightly with a bitter smile. When he first made the plan to leave Renard, he thought that by fully maturing him and making him independent, he could complete his growth. Just like how wild animals become fully independent beings once they leave their parents. That’s why, even when he decided to stay by Renard’s side, the uneasiness in his heart didn’t completely disappear.

I am afraid that by continuing to stay by Renard’s side as his personal guardian, I might have a negative influence on him. Am I depriving Renard of the chance to grow into an adult because of my presence? However, now that the imprint is gone, I was finally reassured by the fact that Renard still loved me.

He had always denied it before, but now Liev was admitting it. He has only grown physically and filled his mind with knowledge. But his mind has refused to mature, like an adult who has remained a child. He only likes animals and dislikes people. How ridiculous it must have seemed to Renard for him to emphasize the importance of getting along with people while he had grown into a petty adult who always ignored and avoided interactions. So now he wanted to learn together with him. Time is eternal and so overflowing that it lasts forever, so that the two of them can become true adults together.

Renard, who had been making eye contact with Liev in silence for a long time, very carefully placed his lips on Liev’s lips. It was a timid and delicate kiss, as if he was carefully asking for permission. The trembling was so out of place and cute that Liev couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hyah, Hyah….are you okay!?”

The sound of hooves could be heard in the distance, getting closer and closer. When he turned to look in the direction of the familiar voice, he saw that the knights and soldiers from the kingdom were running towards them. It’s too late! The situation is already over, what’s the point of coming now? Liev was frowning in bewilderment for a moment, but Sigrid could be seen from afar, smiling and waving at them. What are you laughing at? Liev twitched the corners of his mouth at the thought of holding him and questioning him. As soon as Sigrid, who was in the lead, stopped in front of the two, Renard complained.

“You’re late! It’s all over now!”

In response, Sigrid just laughed and said, “Sorry. We had a lot of business to take care of on our end too. We were investigating a monster breeding facility that was under the control of the Empire, so it took us a while to gather evidence. I trusted that you would be able to protect Liev without problems.”

Liev suppressed the desire to reveal his emotions and replied.

“Could we talk for a moment? I’m sure you have a lot to say.”

Sigrid smiled and said, with a smirk,

“As much as you want. You’ve done more than I could have hoped for, Liev.”

Liev wanted to punch Sigrid’s face, but he held back, not wanting to reveal his intense desire in case Renard would actually be the one to fulfill it for him.

***

Liev immediately flew with Sigrid and Renard to a temporary barracks that was located an hour’s ride away. The barracks were enchanted to prevent any noise from escaping. Ahem, Liev got straight to the point.

“What the hell is going on? Was it you who brought me here?”

Then Sigrid chuckled.

“Where do I even begin? Do you know that Renard already knows you’re not from this world? I’m the one who told him, and I’ve been urging him to cooperate with me out of gratitude.”

“What?”

Liev looked at Renard with a bewildered expression, and Renard replied nonchalantly,

“Liev is originally mine, and nothing is more important than that.”

“No, when did all this happen?”

Liev was surprised and alternated between glaring at the two. Sigrid spoke again.

“That’s not important. Okay, let’s leave Renard out of this for a moment.”

Sigrid raised his hand and snapped his fingers, time around him stopped, just like when he was dragged to Mahatra’s lair. This time, even Renard was completely frozen.

“It’s going to be a long story, so listen carefully. It might be a bit overwhelming, but you can calm down with your breath.”

And then, as promised, Sigrid started a really long story.

“It’s the first time we’re seeing each other face-to-face. We’ve talked a lot through emails right?”

The story that followed was beyond absurd. Before Suhyuk was murdered and the author also died in an accident, when he opened his eyes again, he was the protagonist in the novel he wrote. And just as he thought the story would end there, the protagonist’s life, which he thought would end, began all over again with his death. It was all too unbelievable.

“I’ve defeated Renard 938 times! I was so bored to death. I even tried to commit suicide. Of course, I actually tried to die, but when I opened my eyes again, I saw the same ceiling. As I repeated the same story over and over again, I realized something. This is a world I created into a story anyway. As I could see the essence of the world. From then on, I was able to change the story.

Sigrid, who could change the world on his own, said he had tried various things. In some instances, he was born as a prince, and in others, he was born as a woman. He even tried becoming a dragon five times. But the outcome was always the same. It ended with defeating the same villain and ascending to the same throne.

“But you know what? After fighting the same enemy hundreds of times, you even develop sympathy. This guy probably wasn’t born wanting to be like that. I was the one who created and made them into villains in the first place.”

Sigrid continued to speak, regardless of whether Liev was still looking at him with shaking eyes.

“Of course, I know that’s the role of the character. But once I started to care, I wanted to see a different story. A story where “Kevades” wasn’t the villain. But as I said, I repeated this nearly 900 times. I’ve already tried every variation that I could think of.”

And so, the method Sigrid chose was to “bring someone from the outside to help.” Since he had personally become a dragon, it wasn’t difficult for him to figure out how to bring an outside entity beyond the dimensional barrier into the story. He had an endless amount of time and opportunities. The conditions for summoning someone from the outside were simple. They had to be someone who knew about this world and had more interest in Kevades than the protagonist. Sigrid then continued with a shocking revelation.