First Reunion (5)

A heavy silence continued.

Her eyes, red with indignation and shock, stared at me endlessly.

Camille clutched my clothes, refusing to let go.

With a trembling voice, she finally opened her mouth.

“What exactly is it… that the Empress has and I don’t?”

“You already know the answer yourself, Camille.”

“Are you talking about possessiveness?”

I simply nodded without a word.

As expected, it was an issue Camille herself was aware of.

“Haha… was that the problem?”

“Yes.”

Camille, with a miserable expression, let go of my clothes…

She pulled her knees to her chest and gave a self-deprecating smile.

“Helix, I despised that woman.”

“Because she started a war?”

“No, that too, but… because of her crazy displays of affection towards you.”

Camille buried her face in her knees…

and revealed her true feelings in a muffled voice.

“I thought she was vulgar. I thought that woman, who coveted an already married man, was dirty and ugly, and that hasn’t changed.”

“…”

“But you know… you might have been unconsciously drawn to her because of that very aspect.”

“That persistence, that she wouldn’t even hesitate to use any means or methods to achieve her goal, must have felt more genuine to you. Ahahaha…”

Well, I don’t know if I considered it genuine.

But one thing is certain…

I was definitely drawn to it.

“Camille, do you hate me?”

“Do I hate Helix?”

“Yeah, are you resentful that I chose Vivian instead of you?”

Camille couldn’t answer immediately…

She avoided my gaze, wearing a complicated expression.

“It’s my karma… but I can’t help feeling a bit bitter.”

“Because it was Vivian, of all people?”

“No, it would have been anyone but her.”

Camille asked me, her eyes wavering.

“Helix, tell me. If I had… only looked at you, would this have not happened?”

“What kind of answer do you want?”

“I want to hear the truth… because I turned a blind eye to the truth all this time, and that’s why this mess happened.”

Camille wanted my true feelings, even if they were cruel.

If she was prepared, there was nothing I couldn’t tell her.

“That’s right, if you had only looked at me, I definitely wouldn’t have chosen Vivian.”

“Helix…”

“I don’t want to place all the blame on you, but a certain part of it does lie with you, Camille.”

Camille nodded, as if acknowledging everything.

With her acting this way, my heart also eased a little.

“Camille, I’m trying to forgive you.”

“Really…?”

“Yes, although getting married right away, as you wish, might be difficult, I am still considering making a place for you in my heart.”

At those words, Camille’s face brightened as if by magic.

But there was one thing she needed to know before rejoicing.

“So, Camille, I’m asking you.”

“Yes, Helix.”

“Please don’t make a fool out of me for having these feelings.”

“…”

“Don’t make me regret it again.”

“Of course, that won’t happen again…!”

Camille nodded.

Her gaze seemed quite serious, and my knotted feelings almost seemed to loosen a bit, but then…

the old events suddenly surged back into my mind, and I felt a pang.

“Sometimes it keeps coming back to me, every single action and word you say overlaps with the old you.”

“Helix…”

“I am a very narrow-minded Dragon. My heart’s capacity is small. If you clumsily seek forgiveness, you might be the one to get exhausted and give up first.”

Camille shook her head vigorously.

“I never thought I’d be easily forgiven! For now, it’s enough if I can just be by your side! I can wait…”

“Is that so?”

Camille seemed quite confident.

However, she had overlooked one thing.

“Camille, then, if I forgive Vivian, just as I’m trying to forgive you, can you accept that?”

“Huh…?”

Camille blinked, as if she hadn’t expected those words at all.

Her blue eyes trembled violently, clearly showing her confusion.

Perhaps she hadn’t expected herself to be placed on the same level as Vivian.

“That woman deceived Helix and ultimately drove him to suicide, didn’t she…? How can you forgive someone like that?”

“Well, I don’t see it that way.”

“…”

Camille needed to understand something first.

That I was no longer solely her husband.

That if I were to forgive her, the same could apply to my other wives.

Of course, the severity of their sins varied for me.

There were wives like Camille, for whom there was at least some room for forgiveness…

But there was also a wife, like the last one, who had committed an unforgivable act.

Nevertheless, an opportunity had to be given.

“The choice is yours. Though the chances might be low, if Vivian genuinely repents and shows remorse, I am willing to forgive her.”

“Why…?”

“Why, you ask…? Camille, why do you think I decided to forgive you?”

Camille answered immediately.

“Because Helix loves me…?”

“That’s right, Camille. Even though I truly resent you, I still like you. That’s why I’m trying to forgive you.”

“…”

“And I love Vivian too. Just like I love you.”

Camille trembled violently, as if in shock.

As if she didn’t want to believe my words, she clutched the bedsheet tightly…

and asked as if spitting blood.

“You didn’t say that in my previous life… You said Vivian was just a disciple…?”

“Comparing different past lives is meaningless. Memories aren’t inherited.”

At least from the first life to the sixth, even if the ‘me’ as an entity was the same, it was fair to consider them different beings.

Because I didn’t exist based on memories of a past life.

That was what regression was.

“I still hate Vivian. I resent her; she treated me so arbitrarily. That’s why she made me make an extreme choice.”

“…”

“However, the feelings I had for her haven’t completely disappeared. Just as my connection with you was precious to me, my connection with her is also precious.”

The feeling of hatred, and the feeling of affection.

Two opposing emotions intersected.

Neither could be denied.

Because both were true.

However, if one was chosen, the other had to be discarded.

“The choice is mine, but it’s also yours, Camille.”

“I can’t.”

“I’m not forcing you. I told you, the choice is also yours.”

“…”

“But I hope that just as I forgive you, you will also forgive Vivian.”

This was my personal conviction, but at the same time, it was also a measure to confront the Termites.

To fight against them, the strength of both Camille and Vivian would definitely be needed.

But if the two were at odds, it would be difficult for them to exert their full power.

That would only lead to repeated failures.

“Give me time to think, Helix.”

“Of course, but I can’t give you much time. I don’t have that much time.”

“Is it because of those monsters?”

“Yes, I have a mission to stop them. Even if it’s just to end this regression.”

If Camille wouldn’t comply, I would choose another wife instead of her.

I didn’t particularly want to weigh them against each other…

But from the perspective of having to fight the Termites, I had no choice but to act calculatingly.

****

Night passed and day broke.

It was morning, and I was back in my Dragon form.

I subtly turned my head and saw Camille still asleep.

‘Did she cry?’

Her eyes were slightly swollen, as if she had shed many tears.

While I regretted saying harsh words yesterday…

I didn’t think I had spoken too harshly compared to what Camille had done.

Tuk-tuk.

I gently poked Camille’s cheek with my forepaw to wake her.

Camille frowned… then slowly opened her eyes.

“Helix?”

“Kiiik.”

“Did you wake me up?”

The sun was already high in the sky.

There’s too much to do to just lie around like this.

“Are you hungry already…?”

“Kiiik!”

When did I ask for food, woman?

Get up quickly! Shouldn’t we figure out how to crush the Termites that are spread like cancer cells throughout the Holy Dominion?

Feeling frustrated, I used precious Magic to cast Polymorph again.

Woong!!

“This isn’t the time for leisurely meals. There’s a lot to do, Camille.”

“Because of those monsters…?”

“Yes, we need to reduce their numbers as quickly as possible, even by a day, so we can at least stand a chance against them later.”

At my urging, Camille slowly got up, but…

she didn’t seem particularly urgent.

It couldn’t be helped.

Even if I talked about the danger of the Termites, whose true threat she didn’t know, for a hundred days, she wouldn’t truly grasp it.

‘Should I have gone to the World Tree first instead…’

At least the World Tree and the forest tribes were those who keenly felt the danger of the Termites.

Unlike me, who was only concerned with the issue of regression, they were actually facing a threat to their lives, which made it even more so.

‘I don’t want to meet two of them at once.’

As much as I wanted to rush to the World Tree’s forest right away, there were too many tiresome aspects to it.

First of all, my third and fourth wives were both forest dwellers.

Meeting them while my feelings for Camille were still not fully settled would be a bit much.

‘And things didn’t end well with them either…’

Just as I was lost in thought.

“…”

Camille’s obvious gaze brought me back to my senses.

“Don’t tell me, you were thinking about the Empress?”

“No.”

I answered immediately, without a hint of hesitation.

I wasn’t lying.

“At least for the time being, I won’t be going to see Vivian. So rest assured.”

“Really…?”

Camille’s face immediately brightened, as if she truly disliked Vivian.

“Instead, please cooperate in catching the Termites. After all, if we can’t stop them, the whole world will suffer.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Work hard, if only for the sake of the Dragon’s Priestesses.”

Alright, now, shall I go find the old Archbishops and give them a hard time?

It’s time to get down to business.

Those old Archbishops.