Chapter 187. A Paradise Born for One Person (17/22)
Many years ago, on a morning by a small path in an unknown forest, an orphanage director named Seliya picked up a baby with pink hair swaddled in a blanket.
The child wailed at her, and pity rose in her heart, so she bent down and carried the child back to the orphanage. From then on, that pink-haired little girl had her first home.
Time ticked by, and a few years later the girl gradually grew up.
On her birthday, she received a fairy tale adapted from an ancient legend.
The legend said that at the end of the world there lay a paradise. The story's protagonist set out to find it, yet everyone said that paradise did not exist.
The protagonist did not give up. He kept traveling, kept searching, and after untold hardships finally reached the end of his journey.
But there was nothing there—paradise truly did not exist.
Even so, the protagonist still did not give up. He shouted, "If paradise doesn't exist, then I'll create one myself!"
He set out once more. Enduring hardships, more and more people gathered around him. They cheered and embraced each other. They finally arrived at paradise. It was right there, at the end of that journey. People leaped for joy and cried out its name—
"Elysia."
From then on, the girl had a name of her own.
An immaculate paradise, an eternal Elysian Realm—A small seed took root in the girl's heart, waiting for the day it would grow into a towering tree.
She began to yearn to seek out paradise, to find a place where everyone could be happy.
Unfortunately, reality is not a paradise.
Before her dream even began, the gloom of reality descended upon the orphanage.
The kind old man who had been funding the orphanage died of illness, and his son took over.
To the old man's son, the orphanage was nothing more than a tool for tax avoidance. As for how the children lived?
Sorry—he didn't care much.
With little income, the once-adequate conditions of the orphanage deteriorated year by year. In the end, even the children's three meals had to be sustained by Director Seliya taking on exhausting odd jobs.
Already one of the older kids, Elysia naturally chose to give up her plan to travel. She secretly put the travel money she had saved for a long time under Director Seliya's pillow. Then, alone, carrying her beautiful fantasies of the world, she walked out of the orphanage.
Sadly, this world is not gentle to a lone child.
After asking around in many places and suffering much hardship, she finally found the old man's son—only to have her hopes doused by his cold words.
She was thrown out.
No one cared how much hardship a child had suffered to walk all the way from that distant orphanage. Hungry, footsore, and nearly unable to go on, she made it thanks to the help of a kind old granny and by asking for directions along the way.
Now, with all hope gone, dirty all over, she sat on the steps by the roadside and looked at the bustling city.
Everyone's steps were hurried. Everyone seemed very busy. They passed by her without even a moment's glance.
A few days later, with the help of the police, she returned to the orphanage.
Seeing the girl with her head lowered in silence, Seliya said nothing—she only held her tightly.
But Elysia did not give up. She stopped asking for help and instead began to take the initiative to ease the orphanage's burdens.
Relying on her good rapport with people, she led the orphanage children to help townsfolk with tasks within their ability, earning a bit of meager pay.
The auntie at the bakery would save all the unsold bread for them every day, and the uncle who ran a restaurant would set aside extra ingredients for them on purpose.
The town wasn't big, and the warm-hearted townsfolk didn't mind helping these adorable children within their means.
As she grew year by year, life at the orphanage got better and better, and finally, an opportunity presented itself.
From the mayor she heard that an orphanage far away in Siberia planned to "hire" one of the orphanages in this region, having its children serve as guides to show their kids around here.
The generous pay attracted many orphanages to sign up. In the end, thanks to the plan she and Director Seliya carefully prepared, Elysia stood out from the many competitors.
Seeing the payment quickly credited to their account, Director Seliya finally let out a relieved laugh.
This funding would be enough for the children for many years.
Still, though both were homes for children, the other side's resources made Seliya a bit envious. Their kids must live with such peace of mind, she thought.
Before long, a group of curious little children arrived at the orphanage.
Naturally, Elysia became one of the guides. For this, she even used the reward Director Seliya gave her to buy a mobile phone.
The trip was fairly pleasant. Even the orphanage kids serving as guides had a lot of fun. And Elysia met a very interesting boy.
Two little girls who were inseparable from him followed at his side. She was the guide for those three.
The boy was stunned the moment he saw her. His first words were, "Big sis, have I seen you somewhere before?"
Hitting on someone at such a young age?
As she grew, Elysia had become more and more beautiful, and she had often received the attentions of boys. Such things were nothing new to her, and she handled it smoothly.
After that, she noticed the two little girls by the boy's side suddenly grab his arms, their gazes toward her full of hostility.
She couldn't help but laugh to herself.
These two little girls were interesting—learning to get jealous at such a young age. How could she possibly vie with such young girls for a boyfriend, especially a boy younger than she was?
Afterward, the four of them played together. The few days passed quickly, and she became much more familiar with the boy. Only, the two little girls' wariness of her still remained, which she found rather a pity.
She had told them she wouldn't steal their little boyfriend, but the two little girls still didn't believe it and were quite resistant to her.
They exchanged contacts when parting, and at the time Elysia didn't think much of it.
The orphanage kids left, and the orphanage here got through its crisis. Elysia's long-dormant plan to search for paradise resurfaced in her heart.
So, a few days later, after packing her luggage, Elysia saw Seliya come to her room.
Director Seliya handed her an envelope. When she opened it, it was the money she had placed under Seliya's pillow when she was little—every last coin—and at the very bottom, there was also a bank card.
"Go chase your dream, Elysia. Be careful out there on your own. The outside world is vast, and there are many unknowns and choices you'll have to face yourself. Don't fret over what the 'right' thing to do is. Follow your heart. Elysia is a smart child—I believe you can take good care of yourself.
"Oh, and remember to say goodbye to everyone in town. Have the uncle at the general store make you some tools for self-defense. Bring more food, and pretty clothes—girls should dress up beautifully..."
Listening to Director Seliya's rambling, Elysia smiled.
And so, amid everyone's blessings and farewells, the girl shouldered her pack and set off.
Just as Director Seliya had said, the outside world was not beautiful, but it wasn't that bad either.
She was deceived. She was helped. She encountered malice. She encountered kindness. Alone, she walked her solitary road, witnessing everything she wanted to witness.
At night, whenever she lay alone on a hostel bed, Elysia would look up at the starry sky.
Then, an unspeakable loneliness would wrap her whole body, and she couldn't help curling up slightly.
She was no god. She was just an ordinary girl.
Often at that very moment, her phone would buzz.
She opened the chat app. Watching the stream of messages and photos pop up, Elysia couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips.
What she hadn't expected was that the boy she had once met would become one of the few comforts on her journey. Chatting with him every day relaxed her whole being, and the loneliness surrounding her faded away—as if that boy were always right there with her.
Their daily chats made them more and more familiar with each other, so whenever she had the chance, Elysia would go to that frigid Siberia using the address the boy gave her. Their relationship grew closer and closer, while the hostility in those two girls' eyes only grew deeper.
Time flew. Each time she went to Siberia, she could see the boy's changes. Inexplicably, Elysia felt a kind of joy in "raising" him.
One more trip to Siberia.
The warm room shut out the bitter cold outside. Feeling playful, Elysia insisted on telling the boy a bedtime story to lull him to sleep—even though by now he was almost taller than she was.
Unable to resist Elysia's cajoling, the boy blushed and agreed, then, urged by her, put on his pajamas, cheeks still red, and slipped under the covers.
A few storybooks borrowed from Aponia were stacked on the nightstand. Glancing at the titles, she was surprised to find a name buried deep in her memory.
A hint of nostalgia rose in her eyes, and she drew out that storybook.
Looking at the obedient boy lying in bed, waiting for her to begin, Elysia smiled a little and started speaking softly.
The story wasn't long, but in Elysia's gentle voice and unhurried narration, the boy grew sleepier and sleepier, his eyelids starting to fight each other.
With the final line spoken, the people in the book finally found their paradise.
Looking at the boy who had already closed his eyes, Elysia's smile gently faded. She sighed and murmured, "What a pity—an eternal paradise doesn't exist. Maybe making everyone happy is something that can only exist in stories."
Having witnessed so much reality, Elysia had lost the path to any paradise.
She thought he was asleep and couldn't hold back from talking to herself—but those words were heard by the boy who was just drifting off.
"No, that's not true~"
In a drowsy voice he spoke slowly, and at the same time Elysia felt her hand being held by one roughly the same size as hers—warm, driving away the chill of the night.
"If there's an eternal paradise in this world, then Elysia is my paradise. I don't know what happiness feels like, but as long as I'm by Elysia's side, I feel really, really happy. I want to be with Elysia forever. That must be the paradise you're talking about...."
The boy's voice was slow and grew quieter and quieter, but those unhurried words stirred ripples in Elysia's heart that she could not suppress.
She never thought that the words of a boy younger than her could move her so deeply.
After a long daze, her expression gradually softened. She gently returned the squeeze of the boy's hand and slowly pressed it to her cheek. This was the first time she had been so close to a boy. Feeling the warmth against her skin, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve into a tender smile.
Yes—just like in the story. Since there is no paradise in this world, then create one. She couldn't build a paradise that would make everyone happy, but if it were for just one person...
Looking at the sleeping boy, Elysia remained quiet for a long time, while that long-silent seed quietly sprouted at that very moment.
Enjoyed the story? Support me and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at: Patr*eon*.com/Resium
Free members can read 10+ chapters ahead of webnovel
Paid member can read 150+ chapters ahead of webnovel
Stories Available
Honkai? No, This Is Daily Life
Hogwarts Pet Master
Pokémon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!
Scrolling Yu-Gi-Oh! Shorts