NOVEL NEXT Chapter 400
Chapter 399
Extra: Final Story – 6
Time had slipped away unnoticed, as it always does.
It had been a year since Eclipse began living with me in my small apartment. So much had happened during that time, and there was never a dull moment; it was all quite buzzing.
One representative event among all those happenings would be the delay in the development of Brightest Darkness 5.
After Eclipse officially moved in, the development of Brightest Darkness 5 had been put on hold. It was because I allowed it.
Of course, I wanted to see Brightest Darkness 5 as soon as possible, but at the moment, spending time together was more important. After all, I could always rewind time as much as I wanted on Earth.
Just like when we captured the Creature that Devours the World and returned to Earth.
“You….”
In response to my consideration, Eclipse became misty-eyed and thanked me profusely. Seeing that made me feel a little guilty. Had I been pushing her too hard all this time?
However, aside from her teary gratitude, Eclipse didn’t rest for long. Seeing me being considerate only fueled her enthusiasm. Of course, she hadn’t forgotten to spend time with us all.
She mentioned it would take about three years, in Earth time, to complete. I could wait that long, so I nodded readily.
I had waited aimlessly for a whole decade, so could I not wait another three years?
When I said this, Eclipse just smiled ambiguously. It was that goddess-like smile of hers, yet distinctly Eclipse.
Time once again continued to flow. In the meantime, I finished my long break and returned to school.
Thanks to Eclipse creating a new identity for herself in advance, attending school with my girlfriends wasn’t difficult. My girlfriend was officially just one, so we had to switch roles and take turns every day.
And there were no campus life adventures. We just stuck together all the time. I kept my distance as much as possible, while my girlfriends built a fortress against the guys.
Some friends even stuck their tongues out when they said they wouldn’t breathe in the same classroom without me.
“Son, when’s the wedding— Ugh!”
“This guy! Can’t you keep your mouth shut around kids who haven’t even graduated yet! Son, ignore this foolish uncle and only get married when you truly want to. Don’t keep your girlfriend waiting too long.”
As graduation approached, the topic of marriage began to arise at home. Dad seemed eager for us to tie the knot right after graduation, while Mom was okay as long as it didn’t happen too late.
Honestly, I was a bit surprised. It felt like their roles had switched.
For reference, I managed my military service somehow with Eclipse’s help. So at 23, I had completed my fourth year in college while also having been on active duty, but no one bothered to question it.
“As for changing common sense or values worldwide, that’s now possible. As long as it’s not to the extent of completely restructuring the Earth itself.”
“Didn’t you say stopping the integration was impossible?”
“I still can’t stop it 100%. It’s only possible to slow the speed drastically.”
Eclipse had found a way to prevent her world and Earth from merging.
Although she couldn’t fully stop it, as long as I didn’t overuse my power, there wouldn’t be any problems until I completely finished my life on Earth.
Right. Until I completely finished my life there.
Someday, I would have to leave this world and settle fully in Eclipse’s dimension. That reality weighed heavily on me. I had often found myself lost in thought about it, secretly.
Unlike my parents, who likely wouldn’t live beyond another hundred years, my girlfriends and I had effectively become immortal after accepting divinity.
“What if we live forever? What a strange question, son. You shouldn’t ask. Just don’t.”
“What would it even matter if we lived that long? Stop talking nonsense.”
Even so, when I couldn’t bear my anxiety and cautiously asked, my parents flatly denied it and launched into a lengthy lecture about why eternal life is meaningless.
Though it outright denied the path my girlfriends and I were on, I felt somewhat lighter after listening.
“… Aren’t you going to ask me, brother?”
“Whether you live or die is up to you.”
“Wow, that’s harsh.”
“The harshness is your conscience.”
Baek Yujin finally got the chest she had always wanted. Unlike the chaotic version of herself before, now she treated me as an older brother at least on the outside.
Her inner thoughts remained unchanged, but I planned not to fix that.
After all, she had me by the chest; it was clear she wouldn’t dare act up with me, plus as long as she kept it hidden, it was fine.
“If you want, I can grant your parents divinity—”
“It’s alright.”
I steeled my heart. My parents emphasized ‘friends’ a lot in their speech. Even if only our family enjoyed eternal life, it would all be meaningless without relationships with outsiders.
Of course, if I wanted to, I could give my parents’ friends eternal life too. But doing so could lead to an uncontrollable number of connections expanding to their friends’ friends.
To avoid that endless growth of relations, it was best not to give even the slightest excuse from the start.
“It’s alright. Even if that time comes, we’ll always be by your side.”
Eclipse shared my inner thoughts with the girls, and I found myself surrounded by the thirteen who barged in, being pulled to bed for some comfort.
As always, it wasn’t sexual comfort but genuine comfort—embracing me, whispering warm words, and pats on the back.
I remained like that for quite a while.
“I never imagined I’d live like this. Not during my dragon days, nor when I first polymorphed into a human.”
Parnari, whom I hadn’t seen in ages, had adapted perfectly to the human world. The slight stutter in her speech had corrected, and she no longer didn’t know about external affairs.
She still seemed unable to adjust to the atmosphere of the mage tower, which was all about studying, though.
“What life are you talking about?”
“The life of living as a human?”
“Don’t you remember when we first met, you were in human form?”
“I was human, but I lived alone. I couldn’t even associate with other humans like I do now.”
That was true. The place I met Parnari was deep in the forest.
“Ah, right. I can’t believe I forgot how to return to being a dragon.”
“It’s definitely something unimaginable.”
“… Don’t tease me.”
Parnari pouted.
I chuckled. What kind of dragon forgets how to polymorph back after living as a human? Parnari must be the only one.
In fact, there was no need to go that far; she was the only dragon remaining in this world anyway.
“If you want, I could look into how to return to being a dragon.”
I made that suggestion, but Parnari shook her head.
“No thanks. I’m comfortable as a human. If I returned to my original body, it would just be unnecessarily large and inconvenient. Plus, if I become a dragon, I can’t enjoy stuff like this, can I?”
She pointed to the empty chicken box she’d left on the desk. The dragon in front of me was one of those ‘people’ who had developed a taste for Earth food.
Eclipse had recently been seriously considering whether to spread the recipes of Earth food in her world. I told her to do whatever she wanted since it was a world she had inherited.
At this point, discussing it while the air conditioning was blowing strongly in the imperial palace would be a lost cause.
“With my original body, I couldn’t even you know what. I couldn’t reach my thing.”
Cough! Cough!
After receiving such literature from Minerva, Parnari had unfazedly started talking like that in front of Minerva and me. Minerva really messed that up while getting some water wrong.
I averted my gaze from something placed around the room in various sizes. It was probably just something that coincidentally resembled a woman’s self-pleasure toy, used for other purposes.
“It’s all thanks to Minerva, isn’t it?”
“Isn’t that a good thing, child?”
“What on Earth do you mean?”
“That you’ve come to understand the joys of being a woman.”
Having hardly visited the mage tower recently, when Minerva heard that Parnari had changed, she burst into laughter and dragged me to find Parnari.
After exchanging all sorts of words, the two of them abruptly ended the conversation with Minerva wrapping her arms around me, revealing her possessiveness.
“This child is not up for grabs.”
“Either way, she’s not my type. Too skinny.”
Parnari firmly stated she couldn’t stand me being too skinny either, saying her preference was for men who were much bigger, more robust—like beasts.
I had to work hard to dissuade Minerva when she was about to say something about being a beast on the bed.
“Face the wall and raise your hands.”
“Kid…?”
Returning home to my place and getting scolded was an extra.
Lana might as well be at the top tier among those whose lives have become drastically easier by being involved with me, aside from my girlfriends.
She went from being in constant dread about when she might get hurt or die under the trash that claimed to be Aurora’s father, to becoming the empress’s head maid, knowing truths no one else was privy to.
“When will you have children with Lady Aurora? That way, I can take on the role of nanny.”
Now, she even boldly demanded to play the nanny role, knowing her position.
“Nanny? You, Lana?”
“As it happens, I raised Lady Aurora. If I could also take care of her child, it would be the greatest honor for maid Lana.”
“Definitely, you’d end up being old enough to be a mother.”
“…”
Lana couldn’t argue back, trembling instead.
It had been a feeling from the start, but no matter how much their appearances didn’t let them distinguish age, women in this world seemed to be quite sensitive about it. The reason for this was unknown. Was it some instinct as a woman?
“So, what’s your true intention?”
“I’m just bored lounging around. I want to work.”
“Can’t you just do that in the imperial palace?”
“Not under that strict maid; something more relaxed.”
She even threw a fit at me. If the head maid of the imperial palace or anyone from the Holy Kingdom heard that, they would foam at the mouth and jump around.
But Lana had enough right to make such a demand. She had been the one to protect Aurora before I met her. Plus, she might become someone who receives divinity together with Aurora.
If both Aurora and Lana wanted that, of course.
“Did you say you would build a mansion underwater?”
After some thought, I asked her to manage the future waterside property of Minerva. No one else would be at the Holy Kingdom’s sacred sites, but Minerva’s mansion would be different.
When I asked her what she thought about a mansion submerged in water and maintaining a garden underneath, Lana’s eyes lit up, saying it sounded fun. She didn’t even care for my teasing about whether a maid could do that.