NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 154 - 42. I Wish That Would Happen to Me. (3)
Fanora began to descend the hill after completing her mission to obtain Europa.
“Goodbye!”
In the distance, a woman’s voice is heard saying goodbye with her back to the sunset sky. The black-eyed noble turned around, arranging her hair that was fluttering in the wind.
“There’s one last thing I want to hear!”
“!”
“It’s not about holy relics!”
This time, it was a question that really popped up. It was also the last thank you to the person who gave away the holy relic eternal life and wished her good luck.
“Can you tell me your name?”
The woman on the hill answered the noble lady’s question slowly. The two were so far away that her voice couldn’t be heard, but Fanora could tell what she was saying just by the shape of her mouth.
“…”
When Fanora heard that, she stood there in silence.
“Europa.”
The color of the sunset was already established in the black eyes that opened wide.
“…”
That was their last conversation.
The black-haired noble lady soon went downtown, and the middle-aged woman disappeared at the edge of the salt hill from that day on.
* * *
It was in front of the town square in the capital.
“Carl, take this. It’s the item you’ve been searching for like that.”
“
Gasp
!”
It was the day after that, in a quiet morning. They met in front of a dragon-shaped statue and ended the long deal. Fanora handed over the holy relic of eternal life to Carl.
“Oh my god!”
“It’s all done now, right?”
“This is really…! Really…!”
Oh god! Carl shouted in a loud voice and held the bag she handed him into his arms. His eyes were shining. Europa, whom he had hoped for his whole life, was truly in his hands. He couldn’t contain his excitement.
“Thank you! My wish came true. This is all thanks to Lady Fanora!” There were even tears in his eyes as she expressed his gratitude.
Is he that happy
? It wasn’t even something he would use. Fanora smiled softly as she saw his innocent reaction.
He said he’s using his sister-in-law to relieve his guilt, but… in my eyes, he just seems too kind.
But a little later, the man, who was hugging the holy relic and rubbing it on his cheek, rose up and said, “By the way, Lady Fanora! If you don’t mind… Can you come to the West with me?”
“Why the West out of the blue?”
“I’m going to tell my sister-in-law this right now…”
Like a rabbit, the man with bright red eyes rolled his gaze back and forth. Where did his scary figure on the battlefield go? He always looked like a gentle sheep in front of Fanora.
“I’d like to introduce her to Lady Fanora…”
“Yes?”
“Ah! That doesn’t mean anything strange! This isn’t what I got, right? Wouldn’t it be better to at least reveal who brought it?”
Don’t you think so? Carl asked for her consent and gave her a detailed reason.
Fanora thought, watching the situation with quiet eyes.
When I heard her explanation, there was a reason why the old woman made the condition that the next master of the holy relic should be ‘young and healthy’ while she searched for that person. Can a person named Haniel be able to handle this?
She wanted to meet his sister-in-law, who would be given the holy relic.
“Okay, Carl.”
Fanora readily accepted his offer. Instead, there was a small condition.
“But let’s set the departure time at about 4 PM.”
“There’s still a lot left until 4 o’clock. Does it take a long time for you to get ready?”
“Yes.”
If she was just packing clothes, she could leave in the morning. But Fanora had one more thing to pack for his sister-in-law. So, they were able to depart West only a little late in the afternoon.
* * *
It was in the Angelique Territory of the Kingdom Kasius.
I thought it would be a distant territory like Marchioness’s territory because it was called the West.
The area where his sister-in-law lived was unexpectedly close to the capital.
“Lady Fanora, the road is rough from here, so it will be a bit bumpy.”
“It’s all right.”
Fanora looked at the window of the carriage and looked at the spirit of the estate. The climate here was warm, and the village was overall quiet, perhaps due to the small population.
Is there a nursery center nearby?
Just when she thought she could hear children laughing from somewhere far away. They were finally able to reach their destination. A quiet villa in a quiet suburb welcomed them.
“Lady Fanora!”
Carl, who got off the carriage first, seemed to have learned carriage only at this age. He smiled broadly and held out his hand to hold Fanora.
“What’s with the social etiquette now? I’m okay.”
However, the reaction that returned was dry. Fanora said, “Actually, I feel more comfortable this way,” and got off the carriage by herself.
Carl followed her back and clenched his outstretched hand into a fist.
I was trying to help her get off comfortably… No, I thought it would be nice to hold her hand…
He chuckled to himself and slightly slumped his shoulders.
“Carl, can we just go up this road?”
Although Fanora didn’t have any thoughts.
Soon, they came across a noble lady standing on a garden bench.
“Sister-in-law~”
That person is the one who married Andras’s eldest son. Fanora looked at her and thought she was impressive.
“You came early.”
The woman named Haniel was a noble lady with a look that she could have imagined. She had wrists that looked like they would break if struck, a flimsy neck, and thin white hair. A cane was also placed next to the bench as if she had difficulty moving. She was a person who seemed weak in many ways.
The Andras family seemed to be sensitive when it came to their in-law’s health.
Fanora watched them with blinking eyes as they exchanged greetings.
“I ran non-stop from the capital.”
“The horses must have had a hard time.”
“So when I go back, I will take my time.”
Haniel treated her husband’s younger brother as friendly as her own.
Even though she looks like that, is she quite old?
Judging from the way Haniel treated him comfortably, it seemed like there was a big age difference between the two. In any case, it was fortunate that they got along well.
“But do you know why I came today?
“Well… Today isn’t my birthday… It’s not even your birthday…”
“I’m here to give you a present!”
While Carl was talking with her, he suddenly turned his head. And then he stretched out his hands towards Fanora. It was to get back what Fanora had temporarily stored away.
“Present? You didn’t force yourself to get money again, did you?” Haniel showed signs of unease as she looked at the package he had prepared.
Haniel always felt sorry for her husband’s younger brother. It was thanks to him that she didn’t starve to death despite losing her fortune and marriage, but this wasn’t a responsibility for someone as young as him.
“Sister-in-law always disapproves of me getting money.”
“Because it will burden you…”
“It’s okay now. It ends as of today. I’ve said it a long time ago. Once I get ‘that thing,’ I’ll quit everything.”
Anyway, that thing. Carl’s sister-in-law opened the present he gave her and smiled lightly. “
Haha,
then is it Europa inside of this?”
There was no way he could get the holy relic of eternal life, so Haniel raised her eyebrows, thinking he was joking. However, Carl and the lady he brought didn’t laugh at her joke at all.
“
Hmm
?”
Because the object inside of it was the real Europa.
“Earrings?”
She faced the earrings wrapped in a thick cloth. Her slender hands began to tremble as soon as she saw the cow symbol engraved on the earrings.
“…?!”
“You were surprised, right? This was my present today.”
Meanwhile, Carl opened his mouth with a smile on his face, not knowing how shocked his sister-in-law was feeling.
“I finally kept my promise. I feel so relieved! It’s been my lifetime wish to give Europa to Sister-in-law…!”
“…”
“Ah, and actually, the person next to me is the one who gets the holy relic.”
“Greetings. I’m the eldest daughter of Count Celsius.”
Seeing Carl calmly saying that he had gotten the holy relic, Haniel eventually couldn’t hold back and shouted loudly. “D-do you think that makes sense now! Carl, how did you actually get this time! That doesn’t make sense!”
“It’s not me, but this person who found it.”
“How can I accept such an important thing! If…”
She only raised her voice, but it seemed like it was straining her body. She pointed to Fanora while coughing. “Did you threaten this person with force…!”
“Yes?”
“Yes?!”
Despite the two people’s questions, Haniel looked at Fanora with a worried face, but the gaze returned to her was calm.
Ah, there’s no way a man like Carl Andras would threaten others.
She seemed to be worried a lot, perhaps because of her nature.
Fanora just accepted her words lightly.
No… wait for a second. On the contrary, it was me who threatened Carl, right? There are more than one or two things I told him to do obediently because I will give him Europa.
Fanora immediately spoke in a quiet tone as if telling her to calm down. “I personally received a favor from Carl, so I prepared this item in return. I don’t need it, so you can keep it.”
If she said they made a deal for no reason, she might get scolded and say, ‘What did you do to a young master like him?’
So Fanora didn’t mention it. It wasn’t wrong.
Now, everything is back in place…
Moreover, from the moment she was released from prison, it had been a debt in her heart that she would have to repay someday. So she also felt relieved.
“…But, this… is Europa…”
“That’s right.”
“How can you give this to someone else?”
The noble woman with white hair had a bewildered look on her face as if she still couldn’t believe it. However, Fanora was stubborn.
“I’ve already decided to hand it over to you. There will be no reversal of this decision.”
“Lady Celsius…”
“Or maybe you just don’t like that item?”
The holy relic of time was said to bring its owner endless life and unchanging youth. With such a precious treasure in front of her eyes, she couldn’t say that she didn’t like it.
Haniel eventually revealed her thoughts to them. “No. I just got something I wanted so badly, so I wonder if this is a dream or reality…”
Fanora gazed at the earrings in her hand and opened her mouth carefully. Handing over power as great as a holy relic wasn’t a matter of throwing things anyway. “But before you use it…”
“Yes?”
“There’s one thing you need to know.”
“Are you talking about the price?”
Haniel looks at a strange woman with dark hair. Fanora shook her head in front of her gaze.
“No.”
Before coming here, Fanora used Europa herself to check for any possible side effects from the holy relic. As expected, as soon as she put the holy relic on her body, the instructions for using it vaguely flowed into her mind. As the previous owner had told her, there were things to be careful about.
“No matter how much you use Europa, it doesn’t damage your body like other holy relics.”
“…!”
“On the contrary, it protects the body of the person who uses it. As the old legend goes, you will never grow old.”
Fanora scanned Haniel’s fragile appearance. Then, what came out of her mouth was a subdued voice.
“It’s just… the way Europa keeps your life is a bit…”
“What…?”
“I’ll be straightforward. Did you say you’re Lady Haniel Felton? Lady Felton will have to live a long time in today’s body condition.
At her words, Haniel opened her mouth slightly.
Do I have to live forever with this sick and thin body?
“Europa’s power allows you to return to the ‘body you had when you first used the power of holy relic’ at certain intervals.”
“…!”
“It’s different for each person, but if it’s a 3-hour cycle, your body will be in the same state as it was at 11 AM every time 3 hours pass.”