Chapter 17 : Resurrection

After the S-rank Gate Seocheon Flower Garden was raided, contrary to my original plan, I focused on restoring my physical body while waiting for Bari and her group.

I knew how to use the flower the moment I received it.
All I needed was to hold the intention of using the flower while the corpse was intact.

I heard Bari’s parents had their bodies restored using the Salsali Flower and Pisali Flower, but… Caspar hadn’t, right?

(TL Note: Salsali Flower (살살이꽃) – likely ‘Flesh-Living Flower’, Pisali Flower (피살이꽃) – likely ‘Blood-Living Flower’.)*

I didn’t know what effect my dark magic might have had on Caspar’s body.
Since the Jade Emperor thankfully prevented the Honsali Flower from vanishing, waiting was the right choice.

“Hooo… Thank goodness. I really thought I was going to die. How was it? Inside.”

Lee Yulha, who had vomited blood profusely while using the Time Nail outside the Gate, spoke with difficulty.
Even while struggling, she seemed to be writing something continuously.

“Ah. It’s the report for the Association. It’s fine to send a rough draft for now, so just give me some information first. From the important stuff. Keuk. Cough.”

“…Well. The subjugation is finished. This is the spoils. Four Hunters died… Bari safely gave birth to triplets. They’ll probably be out soon.”

A briefly solemn atmosphere hung in the air.
Yulha, after a blood-tinged cough, asked something else.

“Um. Just in case… Did Bari-nim’s children look alright?”

I nodded slightly.

“Probably. At least they didn’t look like monsters. There was some erosion progressing, but when I last saw them, that had subsided too.”

The erosion of Seocheon Flower Garden dyes newborn babies with its colors.
Bari’s children couldn’t be an exception.

In fact, it was rather severe.
The environment was, in many ways, close to Seocheon Flower Garden.

“Good. I heard last time that she was prepared to even die by having her belly torn open by her children. Thanks to you, Hunter-nim, many people were saved.”

Yulha, regaining some color after resting briefly, stopped writing the report and stared intently at me.

“…What?”

“No reason. Just. Just… feeling sentimental. It’s an S-rank Gate, isn’t it? You might not know, Hunter-nim. The fact that I played even a small part in raiding an S-rank Gate. That feels surprisingly amazing.”

Right. She said there were only two in Korea.

And now there were none.

A short while later.
Bari appeared, looking tired, holding the triplets.

“…Agathe-nim? Now. The flower…”

“Ah. Bari-nim. I will explain that.”

Thanks to Yulha quickly explaining about the unused Honsali Flower, Bari, thinking she couldn’t save her parents, didn’t grab me by the collar.

“A blessing. Yes… There was such a phenomenon. Hooo… Truly. Now, it’s over.”

Bari swayed for a moment as if tension had left her, then quickly came to her senses at the babies’ cries and patted her cheeks.

Wearing a business suit with a baby carrier strapped on might look comical, but I didn’t find her amusing at all.

“…”

Because Bari’s bright smile as she looked at the baby looked truly happy.

Until Saradoryeong handed me the Sumsali Flower and other flowers, I blankly watched the harmonious scene of the newly born family.
(TL Note: Sumsali Flower (숨살이꽃) – likely ‘Breath-Living Flower’.)

Someday.

Thinking I wanted to become a mother like that too.

The journey to revive my lover felt light as a feather due to anticipation, and heavy as a mountain.

With every step I took, my wildly pounding heart made it difficult to control my emotions.

I could have met Caspar sooner by contacting the Association and having the coffin moved, but I prevented anyone from approaching his coffin.

Entrusting Caspar to someone else’s hands was simply out of the question.

And so.

Crossing mountains and fields, I entered the royal castle again and retrieved my lover’s coffin.

I swallowed tears stemming from emotions I couldn’t identify and prepared for his resurrection.

Caspar’s coffin was moved directly to the house where I lived.
I couldn’t leave my lover in such a gutter anymore.

“Hooo…”

Wash the body dirtied by soil and dust, change into clean white clothes.
Sit demurely before the coffin in neat attire.

Amidst the buoyant atmosphere, the widow who lived because she couldn’t die finished preparing to welcome her lover.

Before my beloved.
Showing an unsightly appearance was out of the question.

Click.

With trembling hands, I opened the coffin.

A faint stench wafted out.
Though the body was preserved as much as possible, decay couldn’t be completely prevented.

I used the Salsali Flower.
Then flesh filled the hole pierced in Caspar’s heart area.

I used the Pisali Flower.
Blood began to circulate, and a healthy color returned to his appearance.

I used the Sumsali Flower.
His lungs moved, and he began to breathe.

And…

I used the Honsali Flower.

“Aahh…… Thank you. Thank you. God. Heuk. Heu…”

The soul.
Caspar’s shattered soul returned from beyond the river of reincarnation and coalesced into one.

Finally.
Caspar was resurrected.

I carefully touched Caspar’s cheek.

It was warm.

“Heuk. It’s real, it’s real. It’s warm.”

Not a stiff, rigid corpse.

Though still asleep.
It was clearly the appearance of a living person.

His cheek was soft, with a faint healthy glow.

Tears streamed down.
Tears flowing down my cheeks wet my lips and fell from the tip of my chin.

How long had I yearned for this moment?

It felt unreal.
Because it was a scene I had seen too much, imagined too much.
And so, even more.

It was a nightmare I endlessly saw in dreams.
Because I thought it could never become reality, the momentary happiness was an incomparably miserable nightmare to the real me.

But.
That nightmare, sweet like a drug but which soon made me weep on the cold floor…

Became reality and approached before my eyes.

“…Heu. Hooo. Right. Slowly. There’s plenty of time.”

I calmly collected my breath.
My excited breath came out irregularly.
The sound of my heartbeat seemed to pound in my ears.

My lover was already resurrected; there was no need to rush further.

I knew that rationally.
But my body kept wanting to embrace the lover before me.
It was driving me mad trying to soothe my impatient body.

The sight of you breathing catches my eye.

Your sleeping form was very different from your dead state.

The book of memories containing recollections of you, which I had replayed countless times.
After its final page, new words began to be written after years.

How sweet is the sound of a lover’s heart beating?
And how about the way you frown when my hair occasionally brushes your face?

Each time Caspar’s chest slowly rose and fell as he breathed, I stared intently at the sight, engraving it into my memory.
As if not wanting to miss a single changed detail of my lover.

You were always seen through a layer of glass wall.

Even the clothes dampened by my tears came as a new stimulus to me.

“…N-Now. I need to. Wake him. Up.”

Caspar was sleeping deeply.

It was likely an instinctive measure to protect his body, weakened just after resurrection.
If left alone, he would probably sleep for months.

If I had my way, I would shake Caspar’s shoulder right now, wake him up, and see his golden eyes once more.

Though his body probably wasn’t in a normal state yet, if I protected him, being awake would allow faster recovery.

Tap.

Just as I took another step forward and grasped Caspar’s shoulder, my transgression blocked my path.

Enhen.

My poor younger sister… who fell into hell because of me.

Conflict arose.
Was waking Caspar now really the right thing to do?

I know myself well.

I am a weak person, a worthless blockhead strong only in power.
Though my face is somewhat pretty and I did Caspar a great favor in childhood, that’s all there is.

The person I am fell short of being Caspar’s lover.

We somehow ended up together, but our relationship almost broke down many times due to my immaturity, and in the end, I put a bullet hole through Caspar’s heart with my own hands.

I am that kind of person.
Therefore…, I could also guess my actions after reviving Caspar.

I would likely abandon my poor sister and be preoccupied with sharing love alone with Caspar.

Caspar didn’t know Enhen’s soul was taken by a devil; he would care for me even more to console me for Enhen’s death.

Then, if I were to become intoxicated by the sweetness of reality, it would be the end.

Enhen would forever resent me from the bottom of hell, and I would indulge in false happiness in a paradise built upon my sister’s screams.

“Right…… So not yet. Not yet.”

Now is not the time to taste this sweet fruit.
Now that I’ve confirmed Caspar is alive, waking him from sleep must wait a little longer.

After I rescue Enhen from hell too.
When I am ready for a complete happy ending.

When my mind has matured enough not to argue foolishly with you again.

Only then will I be able to declare before you.

That I. Like you very, very much.

Ask you… to accept me as your wife.

Not lovers joined by a one-night fling, but a couple promising eternal love.

Yes.
Since I’ve prepared a perfect happy ending as a dowry… let’s say all you need to do is love me back.

Haven’t I sworn this countless times?

I haven’t forgotten that vow.

Before your corpse, clutching the coffin, crying until my voice was hoarse, pleading desperately, but at some point giving up – that vow.

If the miracle that cannot come true is granted to me once more…

Then I will truly make choices without regret.