Tevon, who once gave the most straightforward answer that it was ‘love at first sight’, was now giving a more complex response.

“Your heartbeat is still quite complex. That’s why you have to tell me to understand.”

Among those who communicated through their ears and had a better sense of hearing than anyone else, Tevon, who had the sharpest hearing, ironically couldn’t read Jiwoo well because his hearing was too good.

It was truly contradictory and complicated.

“I’m not good with words, so I don’t know what to say. Callan might be better at this.”

Callan. The person who had secretly confessed his love to Jiwoo when he thought Jiwoo couldn’t hear.

Jiwoo had never heard those words from them, not because they didn’t love her, but because Jiwoo was afraid of those words. She found it hard to believe and sometimes wanted to run away. But paradoxically, at times like these, it made sense to say those words. Right now, she needed to be sure.

But Jiwoo hadn’t seen Callan since she returned to the village.

“I… I haven’t talked to Callan lately. Maybe he’s been busy.”

“Huh? Really? He’s nearby, he hasn’t been doing anything lately.”

“Really? I haven’t seen him.”

Jiwoo instinctively looked around, but she couldn’t see anything.

“Then, should I go catch him?”

Tevon chuckled, his nose wrinkling. He had a very mischievous expression, typical of his personality.

* * *

Tevon was quick, both in words and actions.

While talking to Jiwoo, he darted off somewhere and soon dragged Callan back.

As Tevon had said, Callan was indeed nearby. All children of Ellandos were all skilled at hiding their presence in the forest, so Jiwoo hadn’t realized that he had been moving around her the whole time.

“No, wait, what in the world are you doing?”

The startled Callan, who had been on the verge of screaming, looked at Jiwoo in surprise and then firmly shut his mouth.

“Then talk to each other. Hey, if you have nothing else to do, please comfort Seo Jiwoo. She’s anxious before the wedding.”

Tevon left the scene, and until he did, Callan remained silent, as if he had become mute.

“Why do you keep avoiding me, Callan?”

“A, avoiding? Wh, when did I do that?”

This person was good with words but couldn’t really lie.

“You’ve been avoiding me. You are stuttering.”

“Not at all. I’ve just, been busy… As someone who used to handle village affairs a lot…”

“You’re not doing any work.”

“Well, that’s… How would that punk Tevon know? It’s something not very noticeable…”

Callan spoke vaguely while glancing around as if he was about to run away again.

“Callan, don’t go. Talk to me.”

“Why do you want to talk to me?”

“Is there a reason not to?”

Callan seemed like he had a reasonable explanation to give but decided to keep their mouth shut again.

In just a few days, his appearance had become slightly haggard. Jiwoo noticed a different side of his gentle demeanor. The darkness under his eyes made him appear a bit sharp and irritable.

“…It’s fortunate that your hearing isn’t as good as ours.”

“What?”

“You wouldn’t know what I was thinking. You’re saying this to me because you don’t know anything either.”

“What don’t I know?”

“You don’t know what emotions I had for you.”

I don’t know. That’s why I want to talk about it.

“Callan, that night… I heard you say that you loved me. I want to talk about that.”

It was something that had happened before coming to this continent. Jiwoo said she didn’t know love, and Callan said he would try loving. And then he kept his promise by saying ‘I love you’, and Jiwoo thought it might be an answer to her confused feelings.

“…As expected, it’s because of that word. I made a mistake. I didn’t know you would hear it. It’s probably better to say it clearly now.”

Without meeting Jiwoo’s eyes, Callan looked down at the ground.

“Seo Jiwoo, I don’t love you.”

After days of avoiding Jiwoo and not saying a word, Callan finally blurted out this sentence with a determined face.

“…Really?”

But… could there be any less convincing way to say that?

Who, while saying such words, had a face that looked more like a confession of love than anyone else?

Callan’s face seemed like it would explode any moment. His face, which had turned as red as an apple, was even redder around the eyes. Just poking his cheek with a finger seemed like it would make tears burst forth.

The ears that the children of Ellandos boasted rarely showed much movement. It was as if he was intentionally blocking Jiwoo’s reactions right in front of him. The emotion he emanated was more of fear than rejection.

“Don’t you know, too? I approached you with a calculated plan.”

The Callan who usually spoke softly now spoke with a trembling voice.

“We don’t have Ellandos, so I thought having you, who could drive out the miasma, would be useful. And then, I became more obsessed with you, thinking maybe you could heal our sick tree.”

“I know.”

“Are you sure you know?”

“…I know. When you wanted me to heal Helka, your attitude changed afterward. I thought you were testing if I could really do it.”

“….”

“At that time, Helka was tainted with miasma and was transforming like a beast, and you left me alone.”

He, who thought it didn’t matter if the stranger died, pushed her to that position and Jiwoo, who thought it didn’t matter if she died, only said yes.

“It, it was like that… You shouldn’t have said it.”

Callan’s voice gradually became watery. He spoke with a trembling voice that seemed like he would start sobbing any moment.

“Who says that’s love? There are no people in this world who call that love.”

“But why did you do it?”

“….”

Callan still didn’t look this way and chewed his red lips.

“You wished for me to make a good choice, and you said you would send me to where I wanted to go. You spoke as if you knew I would be uncomfortable and still sent me away.”

“Because I thought that was love. I thought it was the path for your sake.”

Callan let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

“But it wasn’t like that. I thought I could fake love, but it wasn’t my true intention. You don’t know. You don’t know how dirty my thoughts were.”

Jiwoo frowned because she didn’t understand.

Then, after a moment, Callan’s confession continued.

“When you lost your power, do you think I was worried about you like the others? No.”

“Really?”

“I was actually happy. I was pleased. If you weren’t Akarna, those other groups wouldn’t even have wanted you or flocked to you. You’re too innocent to understand. These people here are so calculating and hypocritical.”

Callan included themselves when speaking of those calculating and hypocritical people. However, while speaking in such a mocking tone, Callan looked pitiful like a flower bent and soaked in rain.

As if this place was meant for a love confession, and like a person who was rejected before hisconfession could even be heard.

“I knew you had nowhere to go so I took advantage of it. The women here can’t have anyone restrict them, no matter who she meets. It was me who created the atmosphere that once the connection was formed, she must accept us.”

First, after Jiwoo took their body, he looked only at Jiwoo like a sunflower, and made the atmosphere that Jiwoo must take responsibility for their living.

“Even if you used us and then tossed us aside, we are people who can be satisfied and live with that one time alone.”

“…Callan, are you seriously saying this right now?”

“You don’t really understand this place.”

__