“How long have you been together with William?” Erinys asked Celine.
“Since he was ten years old,” Celine answered. “He was a real troublemaker back then.”
After the incident earlier, the Half-ling properly stored her Half-Elf hug pillow and managed to convince Celine to not tell William about it.
Fortunately, the beautiful elf agreed, making Erinys feel as if an olive branch had been given to her by the heavens.
“A troublemaker? Well, he still looks like a troublemaker even now,” Erinys commented as she looked at Celine’s swollen belly.
Celine smiled because she couldn’t refute the Half-ling words. Even before William had embarked on a journey to look for her in the Demon Continent, his life had been filled with ups and downs.
He would always be part of something big and wherever he went, trouble hounded him like a mad dog wanting to bite his bum.
Nevertheless, Celine felt a little proud because she had shaped the Half-Elf to be who he was today. Her only regret was that she wasn’t there when his soul had been corrupted by Darkness, after he lost some of the most important people, and things, that he held dear in his heart.
As someone who had mastered the Dark Arts, she immediately felt, and saw the changes in the Half-Elf when he came to rescue her in the tower. These changes made her feel sad, and yet, there was nothing she could do about it.
The only thing she could do was to ease the pain and heartbreak that the Half-Elf was feeling, by giving birth to his children, and raising them with love and care.
“You know, the Underworld is not a good place to give birth,” Erinys said after a moment of silence had passed. “Fortunately, Will found you at the right time. As long as he can bring you to the Surface World, everything will be alright.”
Celine didn’t reply right away. Instead, she lovingly caressed her abdomen as if she was deep in thought.
“I don’t think that it will be that easy,” Celine commented after organizing her thoughts. “Even my Patron Goddess, Lady Lyssa, had to threaten the God of Death to allow me to give birth in a place away from the Underworld. I haven’t told this to William yet, but my Goddess will pick me up soon, so I can give birth without worry.”
“You mean you will not return to the Surface World with William?”
“I probably can, but according to my Patron Goddess, the World of Hestia isn’t safe right now. It will be best if I give birth away from the conflicts. Also, she added that there is a person among William’s women that might harm me and my unborn child. To prevent such a thing, I must not return to Hestia for the time being.”
Erinys’ eyes widened in shock after hearing Celine’s explanation.
“This is just like the scene in the Cold Palace when the Empress sneakily forced one of the Emperor’s concubines to abort her baby!” Erinys exclaimed. “Oh, no! We can’t let that happen. We need to let William know that the Empress is scheming something behind his back!”
“Cold Palace? Empress? What are you talking about?”
“Relax. Trust me, I have nearly four years experience in watching Methflix. I know what I’m talking about.”
“… Okay.”
Celine didn’t understand the term Cold Palace and Methflix, but seeing Erinys’ determined expression, she decided to just nod her head and ask William what the Half-ling was talking about.
While the two were chatting together, thunder claps echoed across the Plains of Wrath, but Celine told the Half-ling to ignore them. The beautiful Elf was certain that it was none other than William who was taking revenge on her behalf, and punishing Felix and his cronies with the power of lightning bolts.
Perhaps, only lightning bolts and the fire of Hell could truly hurt a person’s soul in the underworld. Both were used to purify souls, but since everyone on the Plains of Wrath couldn’t enter the Cycle of Reincarnation unless they farmed a billion hell credits, they had no choice but to suffer William’s wrath, which showed no signs of fading anytime soon.
“Erinys, do you like Will?” Celine asked as she gazed at the doll-like beauty in front of her.
She had already met William’s Half-Dwarf wife, Chiffon, so seeing that the little girl in front of her had feelings for the Half-Elf didn’t come as a surprise to her.
“Actually, I don’t really know,” Erinys replied. “The short answer is, I like him, but I don’t know if this feeling I have is due to loneliness, or because I genuinely like him. I haven’t felt anything like this before, so I am not certain.”
She had decided to be honest about her feelings because she could tell that Celine meant her no harm, and was genuinely curious about her relationship with the black-haired teenager, whom she had accompanied all the way to the Fifth Layer of the Underworld.
“Erinys, William doesn’t belong here in the Underworld,” Celine said. “If you really care for him, promise me that you will not do anything to trap him here.”
Erinys felt an ache in her heart after hearing Celine’s words.
She knew that William did not belong to the Underworld, and would leave sooner or later, but this was something that she had tossed aside at the back of her head. Erinys didn’t want to think about it, so she had conveniently imagined that this journey of theirs would still continue for a long time.
But, now that William had found the last person he was looking for, the curtain was about to close as well.
Her role as his supporter had also come to an end. It was now time for her to give the audience a bow, signaling the end of the story, in which she had briefly appeared as a lead character.
Suddenly, Erinys remembered the words that her friend, Calli had said before they parted in Lust’s Abode.
———
“There is more than one way to bind the living to the Underworld, and it is not just about food,” Calli whispered in Erinys’ ear as if she was a devil tempting her to do bad deeds. “Just imagine… spending eternity with him, wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
——–
The Half-ling lowered her head and bit her lip. She couldn’t look Celine in the eye because the thought to bind William to the Underworld was starting to grow in her heart. In the end, she had to forcefully erase these thoughts from her mind, making her feel teary eyed.
‘I’ll be alone again soon.’
This was the thought that appeared in Erinys’ head as William’s smiling face appeared in her mind.
In truth, after having that dream earlier, a new wish had appeared in Erinys’ heart that she hoped would come true on her birthday.
A wish where William would sing her a happy birthday, and eat her birthday cake with her.
Unfortunately, she had long lost hope that such a thing would ever happen. Her only choice right now was to let go… or to be let go, by the one person who made her feel special in the short time that they had been together.
