Eric, Elara, and Lysandra arrived at the cliff where they had landed earlier.
Eric guessed it was already 2 or 3 PM. He decided it was best to request now and say his goodbyes. He still wanted to find his backstabbing dagger before the sun went down, or maybe Lysandra could also help him with that.
Just as Eric opened his mouth, Lysandra turned around and laughed awkwardly, almost like she suddenly recalled something.
"Ahaha, I forgot something. You kids wait here; I will be right back!" After saying this, Lysandra disappeared into thin air.
Eric and Elara were speechless.
Elara felt it was fine. As long as she was with Eric, any place was heaven for her.
She fidgeted for some time and gathered her courage to ask, "Hm... Eric, what is your favorite color?"
Eric was speechless once again.
Color? At least ask for food or drinks, as he knew those answers very well. The answer for both was the same—fruit!
One shouldn't underestimate the sweetness and sourness different varieties of fruit have. In fact, each mango has a different sweetness, even if they come from the same tree! The most mind-blowing fact was that if one was taking table sugar or sucrose, their tongue would get used to its sweetness and wouldn't feel other sweetness very well for some time—until they at least drank some water. But no amount of mangoes would ever create that effect. It provided a fresh new sweetness with each new mango! It was a miracle!
Eric didn't know what the reason behind it was, but he loved mangoes!
Give him mangoes!
Ahem.
Either way, he didn't have anything else to do, so he might as well chat with Elara until Lysandra returned.
So, he thought deeply about what his favorite color was... and slowly, his expression turned strange.
He liked trees and leaves. So the answer was green!
"Ahem, I like both green and blue—they are gorgeous."
Elara's face quickly turned completely red.
All she heard was that Eric liked her eyes and hair color, as they were both green!
She lowered her head while tightly closing her eyes. She had to do her best to hold herself back from leaping and doing 'this' and 'that' to Eric.
Eric was feeling numb inside his heart.
What was with her reaction? And why did he suddenly feel a threat coming from her out of nowhere?
After that, Elara would occasionally gather her courage to ask questions, and Eric answered.
As they talked and occasionally laughed over some of Eric's stupid jokes, time quickly flew by, and soon, two hours had gone by without Lysandra returning.
Eric was getting impatient—his poor dagger might be crying with regret over the last few days already. He wished to immediately comfort it, but he also couldn't leave without requesting the elixirs.
Soon, it was dusk, heading toward the beautiful night.
Eric decided he might as well search together with Elara—at least Lysandra wouldn't escape secretly by taking Elara without him knowing.
Just as he was thinking of doing so, Lysandra appeared out of nowhere, almost like a ghost.
After getting startled, Eric released a deep sigh. Just as he was about to open his mouth to request, Lysandra walked up to him, patted his shoulder gently, and then spoke with a smile.
"Young man, let's meet again someday. Hopefully, by then, you three will have grown enough to illuminate the world with your 'Wills'."
Swish!
Eric disappeared from his place with a stunned expression.
Elara was shocked, then completely horrified.
She was initially bursting with joy, excitement, and sweet emotions, but it immediately plummeted the moment Eric disappeared in front of her eyes—almost as if he was eliminated from the world.
Before Elara could burst out crying, Lysandra turned toward her, similarly smiled, and waved her hand.
"Let's return."
A 'wind bubble' appeared and covered both Elara and Lysandra in an instant, and then the bubble sped up and crossed thousands of kilometers before Elara could even come back to her senses.
"What are you doing?! Where's Eric?!" Elara screamed in panic.
She felt her heart being ripped apart and was dangling with hope for Lysandra's positive response.
Lysandra wanted to joke around, saying that "Eric is no more in this world" or some other cheeky lines, but she felt she might really one-shot Elara if she did so.
She coughed. "Calm down; he is fine. I just sent him back to the island."
Elara felt her heart had managed to crawl back to its location, but it was still bleeding.
"But why?!" she cried out, her eyes almost about to burst into tears.
Elara was aware that they were leaving, and just moments ago, she was filled with enthusiasm over playing together in the ocean with Eric—now all of this was gone in an instant!
Lysandra's left eye started twitching.
She was feeling the pain that her own mother might have had to go through because of her in the past.
She also realized that her cute daughter from a few days ago was the sweetest. Rebellious daughters were not cute at all!
Lysandra sighed and explained, "I left behind some things for him. You don't have to worry, Elara. If you can become a Mana Wielder and make enough progress, then you will naturally get to see him again in the future."
Elara took a deep breath and tried her best to calm down. Though what her mother just said was reasonable, that didn't mean she could take this!
She was so excited to see Eric every day—traveling to his orphanage and then walking around his town together—but all of a sudden, all of this was over?
Elara felt like someone had shot a lethal arrow into her beating heart. Tears gushed out from her green eyes.
She choked on her tears; her voice, which was like a nightingale, now sounded like an old dying woman.
"N-No, I-I don't want such an end between us. W-we just spent two days together, and now we are parting like this? Without any goodbyes, without any promise to meet again..."
Elara collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
"I-I don't want this to happen! L-let's go back! I want to see him again! Now!"
Hearing Elara crying like that, Lysandra felt quite terrible. Elara was always cheerful and had such a pleasant, sweet voice, but it suddenly turned so rough.
Lysandra worried that if she had broken her daughter completely... but she had already guessed that Elara wouldn't like any kind of farewell, and Eric needed his own time for his growth. Elara barging in with her love-filled emotions and actions at this moment would only slow down both their progress.
Lysandra leaned forward and gently caressed Elara's head.
She spoke in a kind, motherly tone—one who wished to guide her child in the 'right' direction.
"My sweetest daughter, do you wish to walk together with Eric forever or just for a few days?"
Elara paused her sobbing, but her tears were still running nonstop.
She glanced up at her mother's gentle eyes and could see her sincerity, so she declared with full conviction, "For life and beyond!"
Lysandra wanted to roll her eyes and ask—what did she know of 'beyond'?
But knowing pure High Elf love, Lysandra wasn't too surprised.
Great and Ultimate Oaths—though not necessarily taken for romantic purposes—had effects that remained even beyond life and death. And since pure High Elf love was of a similar level as an Ultimate Oath, what Elara mentioned was what she truly meant.
Lysandra sat down within the air bubble in front of Elara and continued her motherly brainwashing.
"If you truly wish it to be that long, then what you need is not worrying about current short farewells or disturbing Eric when he is just starting with his own journey as a Mana Wielder. What you need to do is give him his own personal space so he can calmly make his own decisions in life. If you cry in front of him during farewell, then he would be disturbed and worried for you. So, think for Eric and focus on yourself first, alright?"
Elara listened to Lysandra with total seriousness; even her tears slowed down.
Lysandra nodded to herself. It seemed all mothers inherited child-manipulating techniques after giving birth, but she never had to use them on her other children, so she never knew.
Lysandra coughed and continued with her masterful manipulation.
"If you wish to be with Eric... forever, then you need to have similar strength and mentality to walk beside him and not drag him down—and, if possible, become full support and a cushion for him in his life against every hurdle or trouble he might face."
She was smart and knew that putting Eric's well-being first would calm Elara down completely.
"So, what you need now is to focus on yourself and become a Mana Wielder—become strong and capable, so no matter what comes, you will be able to support him and never become an impediment in his life. Do you understand?"
Lysandra smartly avoided speaking of any good things and only spoke of troubles and struggles—because what young people with their hot blood needed was always trouble! Peace was never acceptable!
Elara kept nodding her head as she listened to her mother's lecture.
She felt what her mother said was completely correct.
Temporary pleasantness was good, but it would never be enough. What she needed now was to become capable enough to walk side by side with Eric.
Elara changed her posture and sat cross-legged while also closing her eyes.
Lysandra was confused about what Elara was trying to do, but she didn't disturb her. She thought that Elara might just want to meditate to calm down.
Lysandra reduced her flight speed and waited.
She was very pleased and praised herself for being so smart—for being a good mother who could manipulate her children masterfully without them noticing a thing.
She was a genius mother!
If only her own parents, advisors, and ministers understood this and left her alone, how wonderful her life would become.
As Lysandra was praising herself nonstop, she suddenly halted.
Her smile froze on her face, and slowly her eyes grew wider and wider until they eventually fell off— that was how she felt at this moment.
The thing she was currently witnessing was so shocking that she felt her experience and knowledge—having lived for so long—had suddenly become complete nonsense.
All logical explanations and reasonable expectations from a situation had suddenly become a complete joke...