The origin of honey was the flower, and the origin of the flower was the stem, further extending to the seed.

The seed represented life before sprouting.

She was approaching Raymond’s soul with the most primal force of life, surpassing even spices.

‘It’s dark.’

Yerpi’s consciousness, separated from her body, swam through Raymond’s inner world.

Raymond’s interior was far darker than the inside of the gem where she had once been trapped. It should have been illuminated by countless stars shining brightly within.

The stars had lost their light due to the influence of holy power.

The holy power, which had radiated pure white light from the outside, had become a sticky black liquid inside Raymond, continuing Charlotte’s will.

Within the dark inner universe, soul flames meant to protect the master’s spirit were erupting and burning in various places.

The numerous small and large explosions caused by the clash between these two forces appeared extremely dangerous.

‘It feels like a war is being waged.’

Golden-tinged flames burned the black drool flying in from all directions. Yet the viscous liquid continuously surged toward the flames.

It was as if waves formed from contaminated saliva were sweeping across the cosmos like a black tsunami.

When flame and liquid mixed together, toxic smoke rose and sparks flew.

Instinctively sensing the threat, she crossed her arms to block the sparks.

Clearly, it was not her physical body but her consciousness that was swimming through his inner world. Yet sensations still existed.

‘I could distinctly smell the scent of burning, and the pain from just now was real.’

The ache in her arms made her realize: the ability to feel pain belonged not just to the mind, but to the soul beyond it.

Yerpi was navigating Raymond’s inner world in her soul form.

Wounds sustained by the soul were permanent.

That meant if she accidentally got caught in this war, her soul might burn away before she could even reach Raymond.

The only way to stabilize this place was to quickly find Raymond’s soul and awaken him. Only when his soul opened its eyes could purification begin.

She still didn’t know the outcome of this purification. But judging from the surrounding scenery, she could already guess.

At least one side would likely be annihilated in such an environment.

And that side was more likely to be her. Still, she couldn’t give up. Her love was exactly that kind of love.

Avoiding the flying sparks, Yerpi moved deeper into the inner world.

‘Where are you?’

The deeper she went, the less the black drool appeared. Yerpi looked around.

Here, only golden glowing flames remained. It seemed Charlotte’s power had not yet reached this deep.

Something was drawing Yerpi here.

‘Found you.’

At the heart of the most brilliantly burning flame crouched a massive dragon.

Gazing upon the dragon’s golden soul, she felt overwhelmed, as if admiring the greatest masterpiece of art.

‘Oblious.’

Though the ancient dragon had reincarnated as a human, his extraordinary soul remained unchanged.

A poignant sensation made her chest ache. This was the moment when the pain of love was deeply, acutely felt.

Just as a gemstone reflects different lights from various angles, so too did the dragon’s soul.

‘I see his forms.’

The dragon existed as a soul, yet simultaneously contained images of his past and present lives.

There, she could also see Raymond’s form. Yerpi approached the sleeping dragon.

In her first life, she had been the dragon’s mate. The fate imprinted upon their souls still connected them.

The dragon’s soul, breathing steadily, appeared peaceful. She drew the sleeping dragon’s head into her embrace.

Finally, her soul touched his. The dragon’s eyelids twitched slightly as it sensed Yerpi’s fragrance.

Soon, eyes that illuminated the world opened, beautiful and golden.

Awakening the dragon’s soul from the brink of collapse was, in fact, also hastening his rampage.

So she had resolved to take full responsibility. This was her final hope, chosen even at the cost of her own annihilation.

Yerpi’s abilities had their limits. She planned to squeeze out every last bit of her strength to purify Raymond’s mind.

‘I leave Dante to you.’

There was no fear. Only remorse toward the two remaining dragons. At that moment, the sweetest fragrance spread from Yerpi’s core, enveloping and holding the dragon’s soul.

The radiant scent, imbued with honeyed light, surpassed the domain of golden flames and began purifying the inner world tainted by black liquid.

But it wasn’t limited to just Raymond’s inner world.

The fragrance of Yerpi’s awakened soul purified not only Raymond’s soul and mind, but extended beyond Oblitet as well.

Raymond and Yerpi—both shone, leaning against each other.

Dante watched this scene unfold.

The sweet fragrance filled the air. It was the scent of sorrowful, sugary honey.

As Dante stood dazed, watching the two, suddenly Raymond, who had been motionless as stone, twitched his hand.

The hand raised toward the air gently wrapped around Yerpi.

Light returned to eyes that had been closed as if dead.

The golden irises were now filled with the depth of time. Because of the recent radiance, Raymond had regained memories of all his past lives.

Yerpi remained in Raymond’s arms, her eyes closed.

Only now did Dante, who had regained his senses, approach the two. Seeing Yerpi lying still as if dead, Dante clung to her anxiously.

Dante’s heart grew uneasy, recalling Yerpi’s final words before she left.

Raymond silently stroked Dante’s head. Surprised by the unfamiliar sensation, Dante looked up at Raymond.

It wasn’t because the touch felt strange. For a moment, Raymond seemed like someone else, someone unknown to him.

“She’ll be alright.”

The voice was certainly the same. But when Dante looked into his eyes, something felt different.

His soul now seemed as solid as an ancient tree that had weathered countless lifetimes, awakening infinite memories.

The unfamiliarity Dante felt stemmed from Raymond’s past lives, ones the child had never known.

Though strange, it wasn’t frightening. Even in a different form, Dante unconsciously sensed it was still the same soul.

Now, what mattered was Yerpi. Dante anxiously examined her. Her eyes were tightly shut, but her chest rose and fell faintly with breath.

Tears welled up in Dante’s large eyes. As a tear rolled down the young dragon’s cheek and wet Yerpi’s face, her eyelids trembled slightly.

Startled, Dante opened his eyes wide and stared at Yerpi.

It wasn’t a hallucination. Dante held his breath.

Soon, Yerpi’s lips parted, releasing a breath. Her beautiful green eyes gazed at the world with renewed vitality.

The first things reflected in her eyes were the tearful Dante and Raymond.

‘I didn’t vanish?’

Though her eyes were open, her mind was still dazed. She had carried out the purification, prepared to sacrifice everything.

Yet she was still present in reality. Unable to believe it, Yerpi whispered Raymond’s name.

“…Raymond?”

“Elsia.”

“!”

It was as if the clouds covering the sea had suddenly turned turbulent.

He had not only regained inner peace, but also awakened memories of his past lives, which he had buried in this current life.

Could this be a dream? Overwhelmed with astonishment, Yerpi felt tears welling up.

Instead of crying, she tightly embraced Dante. She didn’t want to cry in front of the child who had wept for her.

Feeling the warmth of his body, the sensation of being alive became even more vivid.

Raymond embraced both Yerpi, who held Dante, and them together.

Leaning her cheek against his chest, she was captivated by the vivid, beating rhythm of his heartbeat. At the same time, she turned her awareness inward.

‘Oblious passed his final power to me.’

The last power Oblious had left behind was now imprinted upon her soul.

That power had sustained Yerpi’s life when she had nearly vanished after expending all her strength.

The salvation the two had failed to achieve in their past lives had finally come to pass.

Yet there was still someone trapped in solitary delusion.

“Why, why do you call Yerpi Elsia? The real Elsia is me!”

Charlotte, having regained consciousness, screamed at them.

She had awakened through Yerpi’s power, but her withered white hair and wrinkled face remained unchanged.

Charlotte was still trapped in her delusion.

Raymond’s gaze turned toward Charlotte. She momentarily felt pleased under his gaze, but only for an instant.

Under his weary and pitiful look—like that of someone staring at a monstrous creature—Charlotte’s shoulders stiffened in dread.