Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 547

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 317.
Beneath the Almond Tree (60)
The two of us giggled as we hurried about. The guests would arrive soon, yet the table remained unset. We’d barely arranged a handful of star-shaped flowers in a vase and were tasting the soup when a knock sounded at the door. Anarose called out.
“Just a moment!”
“A moment? What grand preparations are you making?”
Stchoan pushed the door open without hesitation, and Anarose’s expression fell in dismay. Behind him came Kelsniti’s voice.
“May I come in, miss?”
“The lady is terribly busy. If you wish to help, then come in.”
Stchoan, who had already been wandering through the living room, spotted something and promptly picked it up, extending it toward Anarose.
“Did you make this yourself? Wow, the great sorceress can sew too.”
“I can’t sew! Put that down at once!”
“Well, this is embroidery, so it’s a bit different.”
Icabon set down the chair he’d been working on and wagged his index finger.
“Look here, you rude guests. If you must come, arrive early enough to help with cleaning, or wait until the lady has finished cooking. That’s proper etiquette.”
Stchoan deflected the criticism.
“Well, our Duke has finished repairing all the chairs, and I must tell someone of this remarkable fact.”
“Someone? A furniture repairman, that’s who. Now, enough lecturing—bring out your gifts. Surely you didn’t come empty-handed?”
“Our Duke absolutely despises being taken advantage of for free.”
While Icabon bickered and bought time, the table was finally set. Kelsniti sat in his assigned chair and waited with a gentle smile.
“The soup smells wonderful.”
Soon we all gathered around the table. The cake in the center had sunken in the middle, and Anarose seemed troubled by it. Kelsniti quickly seized a knife and handed it to Icabon, who caught on immediately and cut it into several pieces.
“Delicious.”
“Not a shred of meat, yet you all eat so well.”
“We eat meat aplenty at the Castle. Why indulge here?”
“Our great sorceress worked hard preparing this meal. It’s strange, isn’t it? Why can’t cooking be done with magic?”
The last remark was Stchoan’s musing. Anarose bristled.
“Why can’t cooking be done with magic? I simply choose not to.”
After the meal, the guests took charge of the cleanup. When Icabon came into the living room and sat down, he noticed a burn mark on Anarose’s finger, and he gently pulled her hand toward him and kissed it.
“….”
Anarose, worried the others might see, tried to pull her hand away, but Icabon only smiled. Eventually, she smiled too.
“Thank you for the meal. Next time, I’ll make roasted hazelnuts for you.”
“Isn’t that just roasting hazelnuts?”
“No. First, you have to thread them onto skewers.”
Anarose smiled gently.
“That does sound difficult.”
Evening fell. Stchoan went out for air—really to smoke his pipe—while Icabon went upstairs for a moment. As Anarose dried the dishes and cups in the living room and put them away, Kelsniti approached.
“The time is nearly upon us.”
My hands trembled. I nearly dropped a small plate. Kelsniti gazed at me with sorrowful eyes.
“There is one last thing I must show you.”
Kelsniti gestured for me to come to the Backyard. He had me sit beneath a certain window. Through it, I could see a corner of the living room. He told me to wait there, then stepped inside.
Shortly after, Icabon descended the stairs.
“Has our young lady gone out?”
“She said she’d take a walk.”
“Good timing. Kelce, we need to talk.”
The two of them sat facing each other across the living room table. Anarose couldn’t see their faces, but their voices carried through to her.
“About the marriage.”
From the tone of their conversation, it seemed this wasn’t the first time they’d broached the subject. Anarose rested her head against the wooden wall. Through the open shutter came two voices in alternation—one soft and gentle, the other confident and swift, the voice of the one she loved. It was a distant memory.
“Yes. Have you spoken to her about it?”
“Not yet. There’s something troubling me that I’ve been thinking about. That’s why I wanted to discuss it with you.”
“What is it?”
“None of Anne’s family will come to the wedding. She won’t show it, but it will be sorrowful. I wish at least one person could attend.”
After a moment, Kelsniti’s voice came.
“Yes, that’s certainly worth considering. It would be difficult to persuade her mother, but perhaps her sister could be convinced?”
“Eilerose?”
“Yes. I spoke with her when she visited last time.”
“You did?”
Kelce laughed softly.
“It seemed we might find some common ground.”
The sound of fingers snapping echoed. It was Icabon’s habit.
“That’s excellent. That’s a wonderful idea. I should write her a letter. Thank you. Whenever I confess to the Priest, something always comes to mind.”
Laughter rang out.
“That’s precisely the work of a priest. Though this will delay the wedding further.”
“If it’s delayed, I’ll be the most disappointed. But I want Anne to marry with her family’s blessing.”
After a brief pause, the sound of someone rising came.
“Then I should go out and check on things. Our young lady might lose her way in the night.”
“Don’t forget that Anne is a great mage.”
“Even a great mage, and yet our Priest still doesn’t understand why I worry.”
Anarose tilted her head back to gaze at the eaves, then closed her eyes. Warm tears traced down her temples. If this were a dream, she would sleep for a thousand years and dream it eternally.
A hand drew near and wrapped around Anarose’s shoulders.
“Anne.”
When I opened my eyes, I saw Kelsniti’s face. The eaves were gone now. The wooden wall I’d leaned against, the beautiful villa—all of it had vanished.
“Thank you.”
I rose to my feet. Darkness surrounded me on all sides—as though I were truly lost. But Icabon would not come searching for me. Not into the black tomb where I was imprisoned.
“Were you happy?”
I nodded slowly, looking down at my feet. A cluster of white star flowers bloomed softly there. That alone remained.
“Now tell me—where is this place?”
“This is inside Joshua’s World.”
A bitter smile crossed Kelsniti’s lips.
“You’ve heard that I’m trapped within Joshua’s World, haven’t you? During those six months when I entered the boy’s body to save him, my consciousness mingled with his, and my abilities gradually transferred to him. From Joshua’s perspective, it’s a form of possession. It’s something I once tried to prevent, but there was no other way in the face of death.”
Kelsniti had long avoided not only possession but even contact with Joshua’s body. He’d feared that if his priestly abilities transferred to Joshua—already a powerful medium—it would strain the boy’s mind, which was already struggling to bear such overwhelming power.
“I possess the power to temporarily manifest worlds from my memories. That power transferred to Joshua, allowing him to create this place within his world. In other words, everything you just witnessed came from my memories.”
Anarose fell silent in thought, then laughed softly.
“Yes, it was slightly different from what I remember. So Kelce actually arrived much earlier that day, but deliberately waited when he saw me flustered.”
Kelsniti smiled back at her.
“I was planning to appear later, but Stchoan kept urging me to go inside, so I had no choice.”
Anarose nodded. Remembering that day and laughing about it sent a dull ache through her heart. She glanced around, then asked.
“But if this is Joshua’s world, how did I enter it?”
“You passed through the Wish Mirror, Anne. That mirror sends anyone to the place they most desire to go in this world.”
“Then….”
Kelsniti laughed again. The wind caressed her long hair, sending it dancing.
“I knew it would be here.”
Anarose closed her eyes and nodded. The vivid memories she had just witnessed swirled through her mind. Even after centuries, memories remained so crystalline, so alive. The years she had spent trying to forget folded like a single page in a book. The evening dinner at the Villa, the laughter of a summer night—they were closer than the pain between that day and now.
“I won’t try to forget anymore.”
Kelsniti gazed into Anarose’s green eyes.
“Yes. Don’t forget, Anne.”
Kelsniti stepped back and looked up into the black void, as if speaking to someone. Anarose called out to him.
“What happens to you then? The mirror?”
“….”
Kelsniti’s form grew translucent, then began to glow. He transformed into something like a drawing made of shimmering dust, then scattered into the air.
“Kelce!”
Anarose stepped forward and reached out, but could not grasp him. Like trying to catch the dust a butterfly sheds, he dispersed and drifted away.
「Anne. I cannot separate from Joshua’s consciousness and leave this place.」
The faint outline spoke. Anarose stared at him in a daze. The golden dust gradually lost its luminescence.
「If I remain like this, I will eventually be buried in Joshua’s consciousness and never awaken again. I thought the only choice was to depart before it’s too late. Fortunately, the wish that has kept me as a spirit until now has been fulfilled. There is no need to remain any longer.」
“That means….”
「I will return, Anne. Just as Icabon and I first set out in a small boat to find you, I will find him once more and go with him.」
Light fell like tears. Not even an outline remained now.
“Kelce!”
「Farewell, Anne. Farewell, Joshua. Even if I am reborn, I will protect you both.」
The dust scattered. It no longer shone. Left alone in the warm darkness, she carried the Priest’s final words—he who no longer existed in any world.
16. Beneath the Almond Tree
The light extinguished
I rose from my seat
And searched for where you had been
No one was there
Only an empty chair remained
Did you leave, did you hear my performance
I cannot know
But I bowed low
And offered my respects, as if you were still there
That was my best.
Now I withdraw.
I descend behind the Stage.
I vanish, as you vanished.
What remains for me
is what I shared with you—
only my heart, everything I could give,
contained in this song alone.
Joshua’s eyes opened.
“Kelce.”
Below the Hill, Hispania sat cradling Joshua upon her lap. The sun descended in golden slants across the sky. Joshua pushed himself upright. Before him stood Riche, Aurelia, and Maximian as well.
Maximian asked.
“Where is Kelce?”
Joshua rose without a word and surveyed the surroundings. The cornerstone had already vanished. That casket, which had also been Icabon’s, must have returned to the Tomb alongside Anarose. Joshua spoke softly.
“She has been laid to rest.”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Publishing
The copyright to this book belongs to the author and 14 Months Publishing.
To reuse all or part of this book’s contents, written consent from both parties is required.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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