Chapter 154: Chapter 154 - Good Bye
The night was silent.
No sounds of joy reached Rosario Village.
No music was heard from the tavern.
All the disputes of the neighbors were gone, and everything was overshadowed with an uneasy stillness that somehow oppressed everyone.
Dark clouds were blown away during the night, and now the sky was full of stars.
Jennie was standing outside the cottage, unable to fall asleep.
She was looking at the horizon where the first lights of the morning were still absent.
Snow was standing next to her.
"You think it will happen today."
It wasn’t a question.
Jennie slowly nodded.
"...Yes."
Roxy appeared in front of them with a new bottle of the medicine.
She looked tired.
Her eyes were red, full of tears.
"I checked the scales again."
"They’ve spread."
Jennie didn’t even ask how much.
She already knew it.
Dragon Shell had reached its final stage.
In the cottage, there was only the sound of the fire crackling.
Deressa was sleeping under the warm blanket.
Her breathing was slowed down and became very soft.
The black crystalline scales covered most part of her arms and neck like dark petals of obsidian flowers.
But...
Her face remained peaceful.
Beautiful.
Serene.
As though she was sleeping just in pleasant dreams.
Luka was sitting next to the bed.
He hadn’t moved all the night.
One of his hands was touching Deressa.
Another hand was protectively covering the soft swell of her belly.
He was watching her breathing.
Silently counting it.
Afraid that soon one of those breaths won’t be heard again.
With time going, Deressa slowly opened her eyes.
The morning light wasn’t in the room yet.
She blinked several times before realizing Luka sitting near her.
She smiled.
"Oh..."
"You’re here."
Luka smiled back at her.
"I am."
She looked at him with curiosity.
"...I’m sorry."
"I still can’t remember your name."
"My name is Luka."
She whispered.
"Luka..."
"What a nice name."
He nodded.
"I think so too."
She giggled.
"I’m glad."
There was no any bitterness in her voice.
Only kindness.
Warmth.
Several moments after, Deressa realized Jennie, Roxy and Snow standing in the doorway.
"Oh."
"We have some visitors."
Jennie came closer.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
Deressa smiled.
"You all seem familiar."
Roxy forced a smile through trembling lips.
"We are your friends."
"I’m happy."
Deressa looked really pleased.
"I must be lucky."
"You are."
Jennie answered in the same quiet tone.
"You have many people who are caring about you."
The light was getting stronger as the morning was approaching.
Golden light was coming through the window and covering the bed.
Deressa was watching it with fascination.
"The sunrise..."
"It’s beautiful."
Luka nodded.
"You always liked watching it."
"I did?"
"You said every sunrise is like the second chance of the world."
She smiled.
"I think..."
"I would have liked the woman I used to be."
"You still would."
Luka answered immediately.
"She’s still here."
He touched Deressa’s hand gently.
After a long silence, she slowly put her other hand on her belly.
"My baby..."
Her voice sounded very softly.
"They’re quiet today."
Luka covered her hand with his.
"They are resting."
She smiled.
"I wanted..."
"...to hold them."
Her eyes slowly went towards the light.
"I wanted to sing lullabies."
"I wanted..."
She hesitated, looking for words that she couldn’t say anymore.
"...to be their mother."
The tears started to flow down Luka’s cheeks.
"You are."
She was looking at him with curious innocence.
"...Really?"
"You loved them every day."
"Even before they were born."
A peaceful smile appeared on her face.
"I’m glad."
Her breathing became even softer and slower.
Jennie realized it immediately.
She lowered her head.
Snow closed his eyes.
Roxy was holding her staff with such force that her knuckles became white.
Nobody dared to speak.
Nobody wanted to interrupt these last minutes.
Deressa was looking at Luka once more.
"...You’re crying."
He quickly wiped the tears from his cheeks.
"I know."
"I’m sorry."
She gently smiled at him.
"Don’t cry."
"I think..."
"I’m tired."
"It’s alright."
"You can rest."
She nodded slightly.
"Thank you..."
There was a short silence.
Then, with a surprising sharpness, she whispered,
"...Please..."
"...take care..."
Her hand was moving weakly on her belly.
"...of our little one."
Luka was bending, and his forehead touched Deressa’s gently.
"I promise."
His voice sounded broken.
"I promise."
The first lights of the sunrise were filling the room.
Golden light surrounded the bed.
The birds outside were starting their songs.
Deressa looked at the window for the last time.
"...It’s warm."
"Yes."
"...Beautiful."
"It is."
A gentle breath escaped her lips.
Then another one.
Then...
Silence.
Her fingers slowly relaxed in Luka’s hand.
The smile stayed on her face.
As though she just went to sleep, watching the sunrise which she so loved.
Luka didn’t move.
He was still holding her hand.
Waiting.
Hopeful.
Praying for another breath that would never come.
Minutes passed.
Nobody moved.
Finally, Jennie came close to him.
She put her hand on Luka’s shoulder.
He didn’t look at her.
His eyes were still on Deressa.
After a long trembled silence, he whispered,
"...She isn’t hurting anymore."
Jennie’s tears were flowing freely.
"No."
"She isn’t."
Roxy was quietly crying near the door.
Snow was lowering his huge head in respect.
The bell of the village rang only once.
Everybody in Rosario Village understood its meaning.
The doors of the houses were slowly opening.
Men were removing their hats.
Women were bowing their heads.
Children were silent without knowing any reason for it.
The word quietly spread through the houses of Rosario Village.
Deressa had died.
Later, the village doctor performed the last examination.
He was standing before Luka with tears in his eyes.
"The illness..."
He hesitated.
"...took them both."
The baby hadn’t survived.
There was only silence in the room.
Luka was putting his hands on Deressa’s folded fingers.
One of them was wearing a simple silver wedding ring.
Another hand was gently covering the child whom they had waited to meet.
His voice was very low.
"I’m sorry..."
"I couldn’t save you both."
The sun was rising above the Rosario Village.
Its warm light touched the flower garden, planted by Deressa with her own hands.
White lilies were swaying gently in the air.
For the first time in many days...
The air was completely still.
As though the sky itself stopped its movement in memory of the woman who was gentle, and the child who wouldn’t have a chance to watch the sunrise beside her.
The bell tolled once.
The reverent sound echoed through Rosario Village.
It traveled down narrow alleys, along worn rooftops, and out into the mountains beyond.
No need to explain anything.
Everyone understood.
Derresa was dead.
The gentle woman whose smile had illuminated the darkest corners of the village took her last breath when the sun arose.
The child she had nurtured within her was gone with her.
There were several long moments...
When Rosario Village stood still.
Jennie silently stepped out of the cottage.
The morning air was cool.
Derresa’s flower garden, which she had tended to daily, swayed gently in the breeze.
Beautiful white lilies blossomed in the sunlight.
She kneeled by them, gently touching one delicate petal.
"They’re beautiful."
Roxy stood beside her, still bearing the tears of her loss.
"She planted every one herself."
Jennie nodded.
"They’ll keep blooming."
Snow gently lowered his huge head.
"They’ll serve as a reminder of her."
The news traveled through the village without raising voices.
A blacksmith slowly put down his hammer.
The metal stopped ringing.
A baker silently pulled the bread out of the oven before snuffing out the fire.
Children who had been playing tag suddenly stopped running around.
One little girl looked toward the cottage.
"Did Miss Derresa leave?"
Her mother gently hugged her.
"Yes..."
"She did."
Even the toughest men in Rosario removed their hats.
Mercenaries with scars.
Assassins with blood on their hands.
Bandits with bloody past.
Men who lived through wars without ever shedding a single tear.
They all silently bowed their heads.
One old outlaw quietly murmured,
"She used to leave soup at my doorstep every winter."
Another quietly smiled.
"She never asked why my hands trembled."
Yet another laughed bitterly.
"She played along that she didn’t know I stole her vegetables."
He gently wiped his eyes.
"And then she’d give me more."
Outside the tavern, a huge scarred man leaned against the wall.
People called him Bear on account of his size.
Very few people had ever seen him smile.
Now...
He silently cried into his sleeve.
"I never even thanked her."
Nobody was mocking him.
Because many people thought just like that.
The village elder slowly planned the funeral.
No fancy coffin.
No noble priests.
No royal guards.
Just those who she quietly changed in life.
Just as she would want it.
By the afternoon, the villagers gathered on top of a peaceful hill overlooking Rosario Village.
It was the same hill where the gentle winds brought scents of mountain flowers.
The same hill where the sunsets painted the valley golden.
Two plain wooden coffins lay under the ancient cedar.
One was for Derresa.
One plain cradle was made from white oak and lay beside her coffin.
It was empty.
It was a symbol of the child she would never have a chance to bring to life.
Luka carved the cradle himself the previous night.
He finished carving it before dawn.
Jennie silently joined in the crowd.
She was wearing plain black clothes rather than her traveling outfit.
Excalibur lay calmly as a silver hair pin.
Leviathan was sheathed at her waist.
Neither of Divine Swords spoke.
Even they understood the meaning of silence better than words at the time of grieving.
Roxy held a bouquet of white lilies beside Jennie.
Snow stood behind them, having assumed the shape of a huge white wolf.
Uncharacteristically for him...
He was not telling jokes.
He was not sleeping.
He was simply watching.
The elder stepped forward.
His old voice trembled.
"Rosario has buried many people."
"Thieves."
"Soldiers."
"Runaways."
"Sinners."
He pointed to Deressa’s coffin.
"But today..."
"We are burying the kindest soul ever known in our village."
Many villagers quietly lowered their heads.
One by one...
People stepped forward.
A former thief placed a wooden toy beside the coffin.
"You made this for my son."
"I never paid you."
A widow placed flowers beside it.
"You visited every week after my husband died."
"I never felt alone because of you."
The village doctor gently placed his worn medicine case beside the grave.
"You thanked me all the time..."
"...even though you failed."
His voice faltered.
"I’m sorry."
"I couldn’t save you."
Finally...
Luka walked up to the coffin.
He wore the same old coat as always.
Tempest lay by his side.
The Divine Sword did not shine anymore brightly.
The crystal on its hilt glowed faintly.
Almost sorrowfully.
Luka stood before the coffin for a while.
Unable to say a word.
At last...
He took off the silver wedding ring that he was wearing around his neck.
This was the ring that Derresa forgot.
The ring she would not be able to wear.
He gently placed it above the white lilies.
His voice was so low that he sounded like he was whispering.
"I’ll keep my promise."
"You don’t have to remember anything anymore."
"I’ll remember enough..."
"...for both of us."
A tear dropped onto the wood coffin.
And then another one.
He smiled through the tears.
"I love you."
"There isn’t a disease..."
"...nor even death..."
"...that can change that."
No applause came.
No passionate speech.
Just silence.
Such silence that was usually shared by people who mourn their beloved who are truly irreplaceable.
Jennie quietly stepped forward next.
She placed a lone white flower by the coffin.
She closed her eyes.
Although they knew each other briefly...
Deressa taught her to appreciate humanity.
Not because they were powerful.
But because their simple kindness affected lives in ways history did not know.
Jennie quietly said,
"Thank you..."
"...for teaching us that."
Roxy placed her bouquet by Jennie’s.
"I’m sorry..."
"I couldn’t find a cure."
Her shoulders trembled.
"I really tried."
Jennie gently put her hand on her shoulder.
"No one doubts that."
With the ending of the last prayer...
Snow walked slowly to the edge of the hill.
People watched him curiously.
The big white wolf raised his head toward the endless blue sky.
And then—
Awooooooooo...
His mighty howl echoed throughout the mountains.
It reached every valley.
Every forest.
Every distant cliff.
It was not the howl of a predator.
It was the farewell of an ancient Divine Beast honoring the gentle human soul.
The mountains answered with echoes.
Again.
And again.
Until the sound slowly vanished in silence.
Even the most hardened criminals, people who hid their emotions for their entire lives, were unable to restrain their tears.
Some people cried openly.
Others silently wiped tears from their eyes.
Nobody felt shame.
Because everybody in Rosario lost somebody dear.
With the ending of the funeral, a gentle breeze swept through the hill.
The white lily petals floated in the air.
Above the graves.
In the bright afternoon sky.
For a brief moment, it seemed as if the wind itself was carrying Deressa’s last goodbye.
Away in the west, beyond the mountains, crimson eyes watched the calm funeral through the veil of dark mist.
The Third Demon General, Draven, was there.
He smiled coldly.
"How touching..."
His hand gripped tightly his black spear.
"Enjoy your tears while you can."
" Jennie..... I mean Leonis KingHeart . "
