Epilogue

“Elerina?”

“Yes?”

We were relaxing in our home. After peace returned, the alliance gave us a huge sum of money as a reward, so we decided to help others by putting that money to rebuilding. We didn’t just repair old abandoned buildings, though. With the help of the townsfolk, most of whom still remembered Elerina, we made a sweet little home for ourselves. The townsfolk offered to rebuild the mansion as well, but that could wait. Or rather, we didn’t exactly want it rebuilt.

Elerina had mixed feelings about that building. On one side, it was her childhood home, where she was born and raised, but on the other hand, a lot of the fake memories took place there as well. Even if they were fake, they weren’t easy to forget. Like everyone else, she needed space and time to recover, hence why we built this house instead.

We were relaxing in the living room, sitting side-by-side on the sofa, enjoying the warmth coming out of the fireplace in front of us. It had been six months. I spent my time jumping between worlds, since I still have responsibilities back on Earth, so I couldn’t stay here. That said…

“I have been thinking about this, but now that the condition has stabilized… I think it’s time.”

“It’s time?” Elerina tilted her head.

“Did you remember your dream?”

“My dream…?”

“The night after you touched the first shrine.”

Elerina tapped her chin. “Oh, you mean the tall buildings and the carriages?”

Many tall buildings, bright lights, and carriages that filled the streets. A view of my world. She wished to see it. Our time following the end of the war had been filled with various activities surrounding the recovery. We only had some time now. I looked to the world outside. It’s getting dark, and since time moved similarly to Earth, it should be dark out as well.

I extended my hand. “Shall we?”

“I’m surprised you even remember,” Elerina answered, holding my hand firm. I casted the magic words.

“Transport.”

Within a split second, the building we were in changed. From the small, warm log cabin, we appeared in a cold concrete building on the seventh floor of a tower. Elerina let out a gasp upon arriving. This marked the first time she arrived on Earth.

“Welcome to my world, Elerina!” I switched on the lights.

“Woah!”

Elerina ran around, examining my laptop, bed, wardrobe, and various other things inside my room.

“I’ve seen these books before!” She looked at the light novels. They were the ones I stuffed into my backpack when we were checking for the portal’s weight limit.

“I’m surprised you still remember.”

“Of course, that day is an important day to me.”

“Same here.”

The day when it all started.

She then checked out the bathroom, then went toward the window that led to the balcony.

I went there and unlocked the lock. The entire window slid open. Elerina carefully stepped onto the balcony, gazing out at the city. The other towers, the nearby shopping mall, and car-filled streets. What I thought was dull, everyday things were sparkling in her eyes. She looked just like a kid, whose world opened up for the first time ever.

It was a charming sight to see.

“They’re going so fast! Oh, and that’s a small carriage! Wow!” Elerina pointed at the cars and motorcycles driving below. “There’s so many of them!”

“There’s too many.” I let out a chuckle. Elerina hadn’t suffered traffic yet. I wonder what her reaction to being stuck on the road for hours would be. Although, to be fair, she used to go around at speeds much slower. It’s probably not a big change to her.

“There are so many things…”

“And this is just the beginning.”

There are still a lot of things to experience here in my world, and the same could be said for me in her world. Experiences that we could share together.

“Oh, but first things first,” Elerina turned to me, then let out a chuckle. “We need to get married here.”

“You’re right.”

The second the meeting with the alliance leaders ended, we went and legalized our marriage there. The process was quick and simple. I hadn’t introduced Elerina to my parents yet, so there are still a couple of things to do here.

Speaking of parents, Elerina’s father, Duke Willeherima, already approved of us. It was one of the first things we talked about after he regained his consciousness. Despite no one else knowing about what he did, he still retired from his position. Elerina also rejected the position. That said, he’s currently busy with the reconstruction efforts, so it’ll be a while before he could come here.

“It’s probably too late to do it tonight, huh? Oh, and I need to meet your parents as well.”

I stood beside her, looking out at the world on the balcony. It looked much more colorful, much more beautiful with my wife next to me.

“I’m sure they won’t believe me.”

Elerina tapped on the sword by her side. “Maybe I can do some tricks?”

I laughed. “That’ll just scare them.”

“Oh, right, the people of this world aren’t used to such things, right?”

“Yes.”

I’m sure there are better ways to convince my parents about her origin.

“Wait, I could just take them there?”

“That’s one way to do it, although you probably shouldn’t do all that at once. They’ll faint from shock.”

“Haha, yeah. We’ll go at it one by one.”

Just like how we faced all the troubles standing on our way up to this point, we’ll continue our journey forward together.

“Elerina.”

“Yes?”

“Come in for a bit.”

Elerina nodded and closed the door behind her. I went to my desk and pulled out a small red box the size of my palm from its drawer. Elerina looked at it, confused.

“That’s…”

“You remember when we touched ears?”

Elerina’s face reddened and she nodded meekly.

“This is my world’s version of that.”

I opened the box, a ring waiting inside. The ring had a dark green jewel on it, reflecting the light from the lightbulb above.

“Woah… Isn’t that?” She covered her mouth, her cheeks reddening. “It’s beautiful.”

“Will you marry me?”

Elerina smiled. “Yes, of course.”

I took the ring out of the box and asked for her hand, then slipped it into her ring finger. She lifted her right hand and brought the ring to her face, examining it closely. “Thank you, thank you so much for everything you did.”

“No, thank you for being with me, Elerina.”

I stood up and stared into her eyes. She reached out her hands and pulled my head closer.

“Nicholas…”

“Elerina…”

We shared a kiss.