The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 219

“……”

Even though it must have been a frightening memory, he quietly watched her as she chattered away explaining it well. This was a good thing. Being able to break free from past fears and walk forward on her own two feet was a blessing for her.

Cassis came to the poplar tree where her gaze had reached and gently placed his palm against it. The tree that had produced abundant fresh leaves knew nothing and no mental connection was possible, but he wasn’t disappointed. It was something he had anticipated anyway—the elves hadn’t left this land for no reason.

Their footsteps came to the entrance of the ownerless village chief’s house. Having come around the low stone wall that was too modest to even call a fence, he was looking not at the door leading inside the house, but at somewhere else.

“Lord Cayan…?”

“Is that the barn where you stayed?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go see it?”

Evelyn shook her head.

“No. I went inside the house and just kept sitting there.”

“You….”

Why are you acting like a tree that’s lost its strength, when you could have gone anytime you wanted to.

Cassis, who had almost said those words, took her hand and quietly led her.

The barn where Evelyn had settled after growing from a girl into quite a proper young lady was very clean. Of course it was natural since there hadn’t been much to bring in the first place, but there was something unexpected.

The small bed where she had slept and laid for quite many days. The bed that was cramped even for one person to lie down was still there, and most of all, the sheets that were laid out were spotless without a single yellowed stain. The barn wasn’t strictly speaking a house, so it couldn’t have been maintained this well if human hands hadn’t passed through it.

“Huh?!”

The village chief who had raised her and Faye was, in some ways, even more meticulous than his wife. So he could have easily dismantled this ownerless bed to use as firewood or sent it somewhere else that needed lumber. But… it was still there.

He gestured for her to sit on the sheets. Though it wasn’t as good as what she had enjoyed in Jupiter, tears almost welled up at the warm and familiar texture.

“I… I…”

It was summer. Even though it was early summer, it was still full-blown summer, so the breath escaping her lips shouldn’t have turned into white mist, but it looked as if it had.

That was her misconception. The tears that had already filled her eyes blurred her vision, making her see things wrongly. Cassis had never been here before, yet he instantly understood the meaning of this bed.

“The village chief who raised you cherished you, thinking you might come back someday. Even though he clearly knew that wasn’t possible, he left your spot untouched.”

“Hmph!”

Cassis, unable to overcome his emotion and sorrow, gently stroked her hair as she buried herself in his embrace. As he tightly held her light brown hair, which appeared different due to magic, he felt hot tears slowly seeping into his shirt. He was not one to fail to embrace her sobbing, trembling shoulders.

He knew without seeing why the village chief didn’t make this barn into a more useful space. The heart of a human, a parent, must be like that. But…

The very source of life she desperately needed wasn’t here. This was the conclusion he reached after visiting the spot where the jasmine sapling that had embraced Evelyn once stood. He had searched, hoping by some good fortune a seed from the same tree might remain, but sadly, there was no such trace.

Ultimately, now.

Just like now, she was a body that could only survive if he held her for the rest of his life. Realizing this unchangeable, clear fact, Cassis sighed softly, yet felt a sense of relief.

There was no other method.

No other sanctuary.

No crossroads to ponder which choice was better. Her only path to survival was Cassis.

It would be useless to try and extend a benevolent human hand with desperate hope. Evelyn had become a being who could only breathe and live by being utterly subservient to him.

If her pale complexion bothered him, he would kiss her until her cheeks were rosy. If her breath grew ragged, he would infuse her entire body with his warm breath. If her limbs were too limp from exhaustion, he would gladly lift her skirt and lick her until her lower body was wet.

That would be enough.

He would remember the village chief’s careful affection, but then simply leave without lingering regrets, just as he had on the day he dug up her humble jasmine sapling. However, a day of rest would be fine, wouldn’t it? As his hand patted her back and shoulder a few times, her heartbroken sobs slowly subsided.

“Haa…”

“Evelyn.”

Evelyn, not Lena. As he broke the firm rule he had set for himself, her eyes, still caught in a sea of tears, widened and shot towards him. It was clearly a fierce desire to point out his mistake even while she was crying.

He could just give in, he thought, smiling faintly.

“Since I made a mistake first, it seems I should do as you wish.”

“Ah…”

“Is there something you desire?”

Whatever it was, Cassis was willing to grant it.

“…Kiss me.”

Her wish, uttered after a moment of hesitation, was hardly a wish at all. And it was truly unfortunate. To him, it sounded like an incantation, snatching his desires, which sprawled as chaotically as clouds in a humid sky, and spreading them far and wide. But that was only to his ears.

Cassis covered her eyes with his palm, then tilted his head and pressed his hot lips against hers. As their lips met, he lightly scratched her delicately trembling back. It was the moment her flinching body pressed even closer to him.