Wait, Joey is older than Mister Carmine?
“Joey, how old are you?”
“I’m over a hundred years old.”
“Hie?!”
Liar!
But Joey didn’t seem like the type to lie.
“I’m not human. I’m not an elf, either. Elves live for five hundred years.”
“Th, then Joey is…?”
“Half-elves have an average lifespan of about two hundred to three hundred years. That’s why I still look young.”
Oh my goodness.
Uwaaa! Should I call her grandma?
*But she looks like just a kid on the outside.*
She looked to be about the same age as Elzen older brother.
“Hoho, excuse me for that.”
“Hmph.”
Mister Carmine’s eyes twinkled, and Joey snorted.
I had already fallen head over heels for Joey, and the fact that she was over a hundred years old made her seem so amazing!
“To think you’d find a half-elf over a hundred years old! This will go down in history!”
Beside the two of them, Cedric was clapping his hands enthusiastically.
[The Spirit King of Luck, ‘■■■■■■’, murmurs.]
[Your effort is commendable, Cedric…]
It was then.
*Knock, knock.*
A light tapping came from the door, which had been left ajar.
Everyone turned their heads—except for Joey, who was still focused on her strawberry. Standing there was…
“Elzen older brother!”
“I’m glad to see you look healthy.”
His soft pink hair, usually so vibrant, was drenched in cold sweat. He squinted his long eyelashes as if suppressing a sharp pain.
Elzen older brother walked toward us, his face paper-white and his gait unsteady.
“It’s a relief. I was worried. Because I wasn’t healthy enough to come find you sooner…”
“Are you o-okay? Are you okay, older brother?”
Wrapped in a tight hug, I felt his heartbeat—it was frantic and out of sync.
Looking closer, his shoulders, arms, and legs were trembling.
Elzen older brother looked much sicker than the last time I saw him.
“Second Young Master, please sit down.”
Mister Carmine worriedly offered him a chair, but Elzen older brother stubbornly shook his head.
“I can stand at least this much. I’m going to practice.”
“Second Young Master…”
“It’s only the distance from my room to here. I haven’t gotten so bad that I can’t even stand for this long—”
*Cough!*
Elzen older brother couldn’t finish his sentence before vomiting a mouthful of blood.
My eyes widened. “Blood!”
At the same time, Joey, who had been biting into a strawberry, lifted her head.
“Oh.”
“……!”
It happened in an instant.
Joey and Elzen older brother locked eyes.
A sweet scent drifted through the room—a mix of ripe melons and peaches, dripping with juice, both sweet and tangy.
Then, a soft light began to bleed from Elzen older brother’s skin.
The light coalesced into a ring, a symbol of infinity, and stretched toward Joey.
*Wow… it’s pretty.*
The transparent ring was embedded with five-colored sparkles like jewel dust. As it touched Joey, the ring turned red and transformed into a thin thread, binding their pinky fingers together.
It was instantaneous, yet it felt like an eternity.
“Gasp! W, wait. How can this be!”
“This is… oh my god.”
“Lord! Is there anyone outside? Bring the Lord here!! It’s urgent!”
Excited noises erupted from Mister Carmine. Cedric stood nearby, his hand pressed over his mouth.
It seemed I was the only one who didn’t fully grasp what was happening.
But a few seconds later, I realized it, too.
*Bijou!*
A light twinkled under Elzen older brother’s right eye, and a Bijou, as brilliant as a diamond, slowly revealed itself.
Under Joey’s left eye, a Bijou of the same shape mirrored his.
*It’s a star shape. It’s so pretty.*
For some reason, I was so breathless I couldn’t say a word. I think this is what they call being ‘moved.’ My heart was fluttering, and I didn’t know what to do with myself.
*So this is what an imprint is!*
It was much more beautiful than I had imagined.
The thread of light connecting their fingers vanished, but the Bijous remained, twinkling with an enchantment that stole all my attention.
“So it was you.”
After a long silence, Elzen older brother opened his mouth. His voice was choked, as if tears were welling up inside him.
“I was born to meet you.”
*Gasp*, my heart started thumping against my ribs. I covered my mouth with both hands.
“What’s your name?”
“Elzen. Elzen Pasayen.”
“I am Joey, the eighty-ninth descendant of the weeping oak.”
So that means they’re fated partners. A match made in destiny!
Watching them, I managed to recall something. The thing I bought from the Spirit King of Emotion!
[The Spirit King of Emotion, ‘■■■’, acts smug.]
[Didn’t I tell you? That I’d let you meet?]
Wow!
So that really worked!
“What is going on?”
The two, who had been looking only at each other as if the rest of the world had ceased to exist, finally pulled their eyes away when the Admiral arrived.
“Father.”
The Admiral stopped dead, staring at the sparkling Bijous on Elzen older brother and Joey. He couldn’t speak for a long while.
When he finally did, his voice was hollow.
“Could it be… that this miracle I am seeing right now is real?”
“Yes. It is.”
Elzen older brother reached out and took Joey’s hand. Joey gripped his fingers tightly in return.
They stood side by side, facing the Admiral as if nothing could ever pull them apart.
“A miracle has happened. A miracle… once again, thanks to little Shuperti.”
Elzen older brother looked back at me, his expression softening. But as he did, his body seemed to reach its limit and he wobbled.
*Grab.*
Joey caught him, pulling him into her embrace just as he began to collapse.
With her two pointed ears dyed a deep red, Joey spoke.
“I never imagined I would meet my fated partner here, but such a thing has happened.”
Once again, they looked only at each other. A perfect circle. A world with no room for anyone else to intervene.
Watching them, I felt a surge of awe and envy.
*Will I be able to meet someone like that someday?*
It would be wonderful to choose my own partner. Then, I’d like Rasepher. I’ve never seen anyone prettier than Rasepher.
“Shuperti, are you a gift sent from the sea? How is it that you only bring us such thankful things?”
The Admiral lowered himself and hugged me. I giggled. Seeing the Admiral’s back trembling slightly, I reached out and hugged him back just as tightly.
“Th, then, Elzen older brother isn’t sick anymore?”
I hope so!
At my question, Joey answered immediately.
“Yes. I knew the moment I saw what the problem was. It’s the Reverse Scale Disease, right?”
“……!”
“I have a long lifespan, and now that we’ve met like this, there’s no reason to live that long life without my partner. I will share my life force, and we will grow old and die together.”
It was a cut-and-dry answer, delivered before Elzen older brother could even get a word in.
The Admiral set me down gently and stood up.
“Thank you.”
I watched in surprise as the Admiral bowed his head.
[The Water Spirit King, ‘■■■■’, is sobbing.]
[Thank goodness… thank goodness. It’s a relief. That Elzen doesn’t have to come to the sea. That he doesn’t have to come so soon.]
[The Fire Spirit King, ‘■■■■■’, wipes his nose.]
[Ahem, I’m not crying.]
[The Spirit King of Emotion, ‘■■■’, begins to wail.]
[Huu-eong! Love! Only love can save the world!]
As the Spirit Kings went into an uproar, the glowing text moved so fast it made me a little dizzy.
I just sat down on the carpet with a *plop* and cheered with my hands in the air.
“Our family has grown!”
Because a precious partner is family, too.
“What, what is all this? Why are you showing your Bijous… Gasp.”
Mical older brother arrived late, saw the scene, and looked like he was about to faint.
Next to arrive were Iliad and Naiad, and they, too, were left speechless upon seeing the Bijous.
It was a day where my heart was so full of emotion that I felt as if a shower of star candies might come spilling out.