As I finished the croissant, I dismissed the bird, starting to feel the strain of keeping it alive for so long on my body.
Picking up a mug of mint tea that was left on my bedside, I enjoyed the sweet and minty taste while staring out the window.
The garden of the royal Elven pce was the only ce in this entire world to have cherry blossom trees.
Watching the pink leaves sway in the soft breeze that rolled in every once in a while, and the lush green grass below them all brought me a sense of serenity.
This was the good life...
At the same time, a sense of disappointment and sadness washed over me.
If I wanted to, I could be living this life every day.
Waking up in a mansion on the city''s outskirts with amazing food and beautiful scenery everywhere...
Sipping a hot beverage while resting on the balcony of my mansion''s bedroom and bathing in the sun''s rays while simply enjoying the beauty of nature.
Yet, instead of doing all of that, I decided to take the path of hardship and adversity to ensure this world''s safety.
That was why these beautiful and amazing moments were bittersweet for me.
It just reminded me what I was missing out on.
I wasn''t immortal or anything.
Every moment was valuable... but here I was, risking my life to save the world and carrying the burden alone instead of enjoying life.
However, despite all that, a smile was resting on my face as I gazed out the window and saw the blooming of the cherry blossoms outside.
Because, deep down, I knew it was the decision I wanted to make.
No one made it for me. It was what I wanted to do.
That was why I had to enjoy these small, fleeting moments where I could rx to the fullest... as I didn''t know how many of them I had left.
Death coulde at any moment; that was true.
But that didn''t mean you had to spend every single waking moment of your life worrying about it; instead, make the best of your life before it''s gone.
Don''t have a single regret.
*KNOCK*
Snapping me out of my thoughts, I heard a soft and gentle knock on my door, prompting me to respond.
"I''m awake."
I didn''t just teleport to the Elven royal pce after cking out in the fairy-tale-like space; someone would have had to bring me here.
As the door opened, revealing the figure of Liana, I put down my mug of tea and waited for her toe in.
However... she just stood there.
After a moment of awkwardness, she stepped into the room and sat on one of the nearby desks.
Finally breaking the silence, she turned to face me and asked.
"You seem to have healed."
"Yeah, I needed the rest."
"Not just physically... emotionally too."
Gazing out the window and at the beautiful, swaying cherry blossom trees, I curiously asked.
"Aren''t you at all curious?"
After all, I had just randomly intervened in her ritual and stolen her portal entrance. Then I had just shown up with a bunch of bloody wounds on my body and magically saved the World Tree.
Shaking her head at my question, Liana replied.
"We can talk about those thingster; you''ve just recovered."
As more memories of my journey to save the World Tree resurfaced, I let out a sigh while staring at the rabbits hopping around in the garden.
"What is it?"
I hadn''t nned to tell anyone in the world about my possessing knowledge of the future, so sitting in front of someone who knew that truth made me worried.
It was uncontroble; no matter how much I tried to convince myself that she was a good person and would never tell anyone, the doubts and worry still entered my thoughts.
My second-biggest secret was now at risk of being exposed... even if the chance was probably less than 0.0001%
Turning around to face Liana, ready with an excuse, I realized that I actually didn''t have toe with any.
In her hand, Liana was holding the mask that had fallen off my head at some point during my ckout with an awkward expression.
"...yeah that mask..."
Putting the corrupted mask on the desk, Liana immediately started reaffirming to me repeatedly that she was very grateful and that she would never expose my identity unless I gave permission.
Simply nodding my head over and over again, Liana finally took the hint and changed the topic by asking.
"So, Celestial Academy, you go there as well?"
Seeing no reason to lie to someone who already knew one of my biggest secrets, I nodded my head and replied.
"Yeah, I''m a first-year."
Almost immediately, Liana''s expression lit up as she enthusiastically replied.
"Oh, a first year!? My daughter is one, too."
"Yeah, it''s hard not to know that... Alya is one of the most well-known students."
Ignoring my response, Liana silently began to scan my face and body for a second before standing up.
"mhm, yep, perfect. It''s settled."
"...what''s perfect? What''s settled...?"
"Oh, don''t worry about that; it''s time I gave you some more time to rest. We can go over the important details once you''ve recovered."
As Liana left the room, I checked my phone, seeing a barrage of messages from Han and Jin alongside a school email.
[Jin: Ey bro, this is your final strike. Did you really sneak out without us?]
[Han: You''ve been acting really suspicioustely, Ren.]
[Jin: Seriously, if you knew a good spot, you could have brought us along with you.]
Seeing tensions rising, I attached an image I had taken earlier in preparation for this exact situation: a picture of me pretending to work after being punished.
[Ren: (Image) Does this really look like fun to you guys?]
[Jin: ...]
[Ren: Jin, you still down toe?]
[Jin: uhhh, I would.... but I''m actually busy..]
[Han: Getting caught is a rookie move, Ren.]
On the other hand, the school email was simply telling us we would leave the Elven realm in two days, so I returned my gaze to the beautiful scenery outside.
Then, remembering something very important, I immediately picked back up my smartwatch and went to the messages app.
[Ren: Long time no see... or I guess, depends on what we say "see" means]