By Zephyria 
All night long, we were constantly intertwined, never resting for a moment. We talked about memories from the times when we couldn’t meet each other in our childhood, and exchanged lighthearted stories about what we wanted to eat and see. Then, when our eyes met, we would lick and suck again, copulate, and after it was over, we would talk about this and that again.
We repeated this until the dark sky brightened and the sun was high in the sky, and then we started to doze off. Occasionally, when I opened my eyes, I saw Aska’s sleeping face.
Was it okay for him to sleep like this? If he was in a state of suspended animation, it would mean that his bodily functions had almost stopped, so simple sleep must not be related to his heart.
I fell asleep again while thinking such thoughts in my sleep. And when I woke up after sleeping as much as I wanted, the sky was dark again.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
Aska asked, already awake. I couldn’t even open my eyes properly and mumbled while rubbing against the blanket.
“I’m not hungry, but I feel dazed.”
“Maybe it’s because you slept too much.”
“When did you wake up?”
“A little while ago.”
“You should have woken me up.”
I staggered to my feet and went into the bathroom with Aska. After leisurely washing my body and coming out, I shivered. Was it because I was in a warm bathroom and then came out to a relatively cool place? The blanket was soft, and Aska’s voice felt so good that I started to doze off again.
“Can I just go naked?”
“Then go naked, how else are you going to go?”
“No, I mean, shouldn’t we pack something…?”
I answered half-asleep and then opened my eyes.
“Pack what?”
“Clothes or food?”
“You can just go into any store and buy that stuff when you need it.”
“What if there are no stores?”
If there weren’t any, what, would we have to hunt? Then I suddenly remembered eating a wild boar in the forest when I was young. Even though I had almost lost my sense of taste, the strong fishy smell that I felt was still vividly remembered. It was a situation where I had to recover my strength because of the war, so I chewed and swallowed it somehow, but it was too much of an ordeal.
“When I worked at the guild, I used to carry jerky with me. Something simple to eat. Or hard bread is good too. It has a long shelf life. It becomes soft again when you soak it in water.”
Aska’s voice, as he stroked my hair, sounded somehow excited.
“You used to eat that kind of stuff?”
“No, I hardly ever ate it. I carried it around to give to my companions or people I met while traveling.”
“You’re so kind.”
“Not every time, only when I went to remote areas…”
Aska coughed awkwardly. Come to think of it, Aska adapted to the environment better than I thought. He slept anywhere and ate anything without complaining.
I was clearly raised like a flower in a Greenhouse, so what happened during the last five years? I heard a lot last night, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Or is this Aska’s original personality? Maybe he grew up in a slum and is strong in survival skills.
“Let’s look for the biggest cities first and search around there.”
I nodded and repeated the words of the long-eared blonde woman.
“Birch forest, a spring with lilies of the valley, a tree with cornelian cherry fruits, a stump with mushrooms…”
She said more after that, but I couldn’t hear it properly. For now, these were the only clues I remembered. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but there was no other way.
“What’s that?”
Aska tilted his head and asked as I muttered to myself. I turned my head and stared at Aska, who was full of curiosity, and rubbed my lips against the corner of his eye.
“What the woman in my dream said.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. Let’s find out if there’s a birch forest nearby first.”
“Okay.”
Aska smiled brightly and chuckled at something trivial. I laughed along with him and said.
“Should we look for a spring with lilies of the valley in the birch forest?”
“Isn’t that right? Otherwise, there’s no reason to list those words together. Doesn’t it mean she’s near those things?”
“I thought so at first, but lilies of the valley and cornelian cherry fruits don’t match seasons. They can’t exist together in the same space at the same time.”
Or is it different in countries I haven’t been to? I need to find that out first.
As soon as the sun rose, Aska and I went to Mahir. Now that we had a task to do, there was no reason to stay here any longer. It was a matter related to Aska’s safety, so we couldn’t delay.
“Birch forest?”
Mahir tilted his head at my question.
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
I briefly explained to Mahir what had happened.
While I was talking, I stood behind Mahir and stroked his long hair with my hands. Mahir was puzzled as to why I was doing this suddenly, but he didn’t stop me.
While pretending to tidy his hair, I secretly took off the ornaments attached to his hair or shoulders and put them in my pocket. Aska stared at me in disbelief as I suddenly started stealing.
While stealing earrings and necklaces one by one, I leisurely told him about my condition.
I thought he would be surprised, but Mahir was surprisingly calm. I tilted my head without realizing it, and Aska whispered softly next to me.
“I told him in advance.”
I widened my eyes at those words.
“What?”
“That you might die soon. But that I’ll try to save you somehow.”
“……”
I dropped Mahir’s hair, which I was holding in both hands. He told Mahir before telling me?
Mahir glanced at me and looked at me.
“Stop joking around and sit down.”
He seemed to have something to say. It didn’t matter since I had already stolen everything I could. I carefully sat down on the chair, being careful not to let the ornaments in my pocket make a noise.
Then there was a knock on the door. While Mahir was talking to the Servant for a while, Aska whispered softly in my ear.
“Why did you take off all the ornaments?”
At that question, I also whispered softly in Aska’s ear.
“Let’s sell all this and use it for travel expenses.”
Aska’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t expected that.
“I have money too.”
“The more money, the better. So save yours. You worked hard for it.”
“Still, shouldn’t we not do that? Can’t we just ask for some pocket money?”
In fact, I also had a lot of wealth, so I didn’t have to do this, but there was no reason not to. I kept whispering while watching Mahir’s reaction.
“Let’s go to a hot spring on the way with this.”
“Really?”
“The place you were looking into last time? There.”
Aska’s expression, which had been sullen, brightened up in no time. The guilt of condoning theft seemed to have disappeared completely with the thought of going to the hot spring.
And when the conversation was over, the Servant went out again. Mahir, who had been robbed of all his fancy ornaments, looked at us in his plain appearance.
“There is a large birch forest nearby. I told them to bring a map with the exact location marked, so you can find it by looking at that. Are you planning to leave today?”
I nodded and said.
“There’s a higher chance that she won’t be there, so I’m just going to go and check it out quickly. And I might go somewhere else right away. I don’t think I’ll be coming back here.”
“Then if you leave today, I won’t see you for a while.”
I was speechless at those words. I couldn’t say anything and just rolled my eyes, and Mahir laughed.
“It would be a lie if I said I didn’t have a lot to say and wasn’t worried, but I know that your condition is beyond human help. The journey will be difficult, but if you get tired, come back anytime. Even if there’s no other way. Then let’s think about other ways together somehow. Do you both understand?”
Aska and I nodded at the same time like young students. Suddenly, my chest felt ticklish and I started to sweat, so I quickly picked up the teacup.
I gulped down the slightly cooled tea, and Mahir continued.
“Nadia and Nasser also miss you a lot.”
I couldn’t help but be puzzled by the names I heard for the first time. Could it be that my memories haven’t all come back? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t remember, so I swallowed the tea in my mouth and asked.
“Who is Nasser?”
“Your nephew.”
“What?”
“Pfft…”
I was momentarily stunned by Mahir’s nonchalant words. Aska was the same, and he followed me and drank tea, but ended up spitting it out.
“N-Nephew? Then…”
“He is a prince.”
The prince of Actan meant that he was the son of Mahir and Nadia. When on earth? No, why this… I was flustered and jumped up from my seat and shouted.
“Why are you telling me this now!”
“Why are you suddenly shouting?”
“No, why are you telling me this now!”
“You didn’t ask.”
“Cough, cough!”
How would I know to ask that? Aska seemed to have a bad case of choking, and he bent over and kept coughing. Even in the midst of my bewilderment, I patted Aska’s back hard and said.
“F-First of all, congratulations. But a little sooner… No, how old is he now?”
“Four years old. He’ll be five soon.”
Crazy… Then almost immediately after we disappeared… Oh my god, a nephew? I have a nephew… I was almost having trouble breathing and gasped for air, and this time Aska hurriedly started patting my back.