Chapter 301
"Wait. If it"s a Lombardi, that"s what I said before..."
"Yes, that"s right. The family with powers that even the imperial family can"t do anything to them!"
She was more pleased and Avane Rophili nodded.
"Meeting a member of the Lombardi is actually like picking the stars in the sky, but since you said you definitely met him in Shan"s dream. It will definitely be possible!"
Shan covered her mouth involuntarily.
All the pieces seemed to fit together.
"Gallahan, Gallahan Lombardi".
She didn"t even think that he might be a person with the same name.
Intuition was telling her.
That"s the name of that man.
"Hey, Shan, I was going to talk anyway."
Avane Rophili cautiously brought it up to Shan, who was still pondering the name.
"I think I"ll probably leave the forest soon. I"m finishing my research."
"Oh..."
A sadness that could not be hidden appeared on Shan"s face.
At first, it was a relationship that began with simple curiosity about outsiders.
However, in a long conversation, the two naturally became friends.
Shan can"t believe Avane"s leaving the village.
She already couldn"t hide her emptiness in her heart.
"I can"t believe your research is coming to an end. It"s something to celebrate, right?"
Still, she can"t make the person who was leaving feel uncomfortable, so Shan smiled hard.
And Avane Rophili grabbed Shan"s hand and asked.
"Would you like to go outside with me?"
"With... teacher Avane?"
"Shan will be much safer than moving alone. And more than anything, if Shan"s destiny is Gallahan Lombardi, shouldn"t you meet him at least once?"
She meets Gallahan Lombardi in person.
Just thinking about it made her heart beat faster.
She remembered his warm eyes and smiles that looked at the children.
Will you smile at me like that too?
Young blush appeared on Shan"s both cheeks.
However, there was no immediate answer.
Avane Rophili, who realized that something was prolonging Shan"s troubles, hurriedly added.
"If I made an offer that was too burdensome..."
"No! It"s not like that! But there are some things to think about."
After hesitating for a while, Shan finally explained with a small sigh.
"There are two rules of Chara tribe that teacher Avane doesn"t know yet."
"What is it?"
"Once you leave the forest, you can"t come back."
"...What did you say?"
"And those who go outside can"t even talk about the special power of the Chara tribe. When you leave here, you just have to bury everything in your heart."
"Such a rule..."
Avane Rophili, who was unable to speak as if in shock, soon realized that something was wrong.
"But Chieftain Soura allowed me to do research on the Chara tribe and publish a book?"
"That"s right. My mother thinks that the Chara tribe should now step out of the world."
How surprised the villagers were when Saura first showed its meaning by bringing Avane into the forest.
Shan smiled broadly, recalling the time.
"Maybe for my mother, teacher Avane"s book is like the first step toward the outside."
Shan was very proud of such a mother.
Until she suddenly forbade her meeting with Avane Rophili.
"That"s why I don"t understand. I can"t believe that someone like her would be so mad at me, her real daughter, being so close to teacher Avane."
But that"s not enough, if her only daughter says she will leave the forest.
"But it might be a good thing."
Soon, Shan clenched both of her fists.
"Maybe I could be the trigger?"
The first person to freely move between the forest and outside.
She is the daughter of the current chieftain, and she has been appointed as the next chieftain, and there is no one better suited for it than herself.
"If I explain well what I saw in my dream, my mother will agree. I"m sure it is."
That"s what Shan believed.
"Besides, I don"t go out alone, especially with teacher Avane."
Shan promised as she held Avane"s hand tightly.
"I"ll talk to my mother and bring you good news!"
***
The meeting of the elders ended only at sunset.
Until then, Shan had wandered through the woods to find something that Soura might like.
It was because she needed to make her feel good before starting her full-fledged conversation.
Then she came to a meadow on the outskirts of the village.
"It"s a field of bomnia flowers."
Red flowers were in full bloom in the wide field.
"This is good enough."
Tea made from bomnia petals was one of Soura"s favorites because of its mild sweetness.
Shan hummed and began picking flowers carefully.
Bomnia flowers quickly piled up on top of the cloak that she had taken off to use as a subst.i.tute for a bundle.
After a while, Shan patted on the back and lay down on the field.
"Oh, I"m tired".
She said so, but Shan was smiling.
In fact, she didn"t even know it was difficult.
She just wanted to talk to her mother.
So it was totally unintentional to fall asleep.
"Shan, would you like to wake up for a second?"
A friendly voice was heard.
On the warm, sunny bed, she liked the feeling of the warm bedding, so she rubbed her face.
Then a low laughter that was good to hear above her head rang.
When she slowly opened her eyes, she met green eyes filled with warmth.
"Ugh, Gally."
When she playfully called him by his nickname, a look of embarra.s.sment crossed his white face.
"I wanted to let you sleep a little longer, but Tia kept looking for Shan."
Shan"s gaze moved at Gallahan"s words.
What he held dearly in his arms was a small baby who seemed to be just a few days old.
The moment she saw the baby"s white face, Shan could tell.
That this child is the fruit of the love she and Gallahan have created.
"Hi, Tia."
Shan quickly accepted the baby.
The baby, who was likely to get hurt with a little force, was still too small.
Nevertheless, breathing hard and wriggling her arms and legs were amazing and proud.
As if something didn"t feel right, and the baby"s forehead with her eyes closed tightly was frowned.
"Our Tia must have missed her mom."
Shan whispered softly so that the child would not be surprised.
Then, like a lie, a small smile bloomed on her face.
Shan thought someone had taken her breath away.
Otherwise, her heart could not be filled like this.
Whether she knew her mother"s happiness or not, the baby just smiled with her red mouth open with a face that resembled Shan and Gallahan little by little.
Shan carefully raised her index finger and stroked her child"s cheek.
And the moment she touched it because she was amazed by the fingertips with small nails like crescent moon.
"Oh..."
The baby"s little hand clasped Shan"s fingers tightly.
As if she"s telling her not to go anywhere. Like that.
Her eyes lit up with hot tears.
As she slowly raised her head, Gallahan kissed Shan"s forehead.
It was a very careful kiss as if the petals were falling.
Shan opened her eyes to the sensation of something tickling her forehead.
When she reached out in surprise, a red bomnia flower came along.
Only then did Shan realize that she had fallen asleep, and she sat up and muttered.
"Oh, baby..."
Her face turned red like the bomnia tea.
"With that man..."
She remembered the baby who was still babbling.
The tip of her finger, which the little hand was holding, was tingling.
As if the warmth had been taken away.
Shan jumped up from her seat.
She hurriedly picked up bomnia flowers as well.
After she got home, she was even busier.
A pile of bomnia was spread out in a sunny place, and she cleaned the house.
She also water the garden in the backyard, and prepared dinner with fresh ingredients.
But she didn"t even know it was difficult.
Even if she sweated a little, it was refreshing.
At the same time, she didn"t know how many times she looked out the window.
She couldn"t wait to share the contents of her dream with her mother.
"She must be very happy."
After her father pa.s.sed away early, Soura and Shan were always the only family.
Although she did not find a match for her in the forest, Shan knew her better than anyone else, whom she would cherish more than anyone if she had a granddaughter.
"Tia. You were Florentia."
Shan nodded and smiled brightly.
It was then.
Soura appeared on the road in front of her house.
Shan, who hurriedly ran in front of the door, quickly opened the door wide and welcomed her.
"Welcome home!"
"...Something good must be going on."
Soura"s lips, which had been firmly hardened throughout the long meeting, was loosened.
Even Soura couldn"t help it in front of the bright face of her daughter, whom she had not seen in a long time.
"I"ve prepared everything, mother. First, sit here. Do you want to eat first?"
"I don"t want to have an upset stomach because of your impatience while eating. Say what you want to say."
"Well, that"s it."
Originally, she was going to talk in a good atmosphere while eating.
She can"t help it.
Shan cleared her throat once and opened her mouth.
"Teacher Avane"s studies are coming to an end soon, mother."
"She seems to be progressing a lot faster than she said at first. That"s great."
"Right? That"s why. When teacher Avane leaves the forest, I wonder how it would be if I went with her."
"...What?"
Shan hesitated for a moment at the colder reaction than she had expected, but Shan continued to speak up with courage.
"My mother always said that disconnection from the outside should be over now. So, how about I try to start it? Actually, I"ve been dreaming lately..."
"You can"t."
Greuk.
As Saura got up from her seat, the chair scratched the floor roughly.
"Listen a little more, mother. I have good news for you, too."
"Stop! If you can"t, then can"t!"
Eventually, Soura shouted.
"You should never leave this forest!"
"...Why?"
It was a question that did not expect an answer.
She has asked her several times, but it"s no use.
"You won"t tell me again this time. I just want to know that..."
"If you leave this forest, you will die, Shan."
"...What?"
"That"s why you can"t leave."