648,

One remark, three meanings: it reached Alexander’s heart and made Cyclone’s own position clear.

Most importantly, Cyclone made it clear that Alexander hadn’t hurt him.

The two men understood each other.

Alexander had no intention of turning back. He walked away slowly, his back to Cyclone.

After a rest, there was still work left to take care of.

There were no more surgeries to perform, so Cyclone and Yuna went over to Hilmirya.

The three of them led some of the homeless to a nearby church, and sent the injured who needed further observation to designated care facilities.

By the time all the work was done, it was already late at night.

“Let’s go back.”

Now that the work was done, Cyclone breathed a sigh of relief. He also wanted to go back and look after Elyse.

But just then, Yuna grabbed Cyclone’s left hand while Hilmirya grabbed his right, both of them holding on with both hands.

“Wait a second!?” x2

It was good that Cyclone cared so much about Elyse, but pushing himself too hard would only make more people worry.

Yuna and Hilmirya had already agreed on that.

“We’ve already sent someone to deliver the message. Little Dragon isn’t cooking for us.”

“So if we go back now, there won’t be anything for dinner~”

One after the other, they gave Cyclone reasons he shouldn’t go home.

“It’s fine. I can cook for myself. We don’t have to bother Little Dragon every time.”

The two of them had forgotten that Cyclone could cook, too.

Though he usually spent his time in the kitchen savoring Little Dragon’s body, every now and then he and Little Dragon would actually enjoy cooking together like normal.

Seeing her plan about to fail, Yuna had no choice but to launch a forceful counterattack.

“Can’t you see? You need to rest!!”

“Yeah!!”

The two wives clung desperately to Cyclone, clearly hoping to get him away from Elyse for a while so he could relax.

But Cyclone remained calm and gave them a simple answer.

“Going home means getting some rest!”

That answer left both of his wives speechless.

Yuna let go and looked at Cyclone.

“Are you… are you going to keep pushing yourself like this?”

Yuna asked worriedly.

Cyclone looked at Yuna, then at Hilmirya.

“I’m not pushing myself. It’s just…”

Cyclone looked up at the sky. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do, either.

“It’s just that I really can’t relax right now, and I can’t smile, so…”

After a few brief seconds, Cyclone lowered his head and looked back at his two wives.

“How could I possibly smile when Elyse still hasn’t woken up?”

Yuna understood. If the woman a man loved was lying unconscious, and he could still go on living happily, then he couldn’t truly love her.

Everyone knew it was a simple truth.

“But…”

Even knowing that, even understanding it…

“But…”

Yuna still looked Cyclone straight in the eyes.

“But…”

In the end, Yuna still couldn’t say it.

Yuna was even more worried about Cyclone than she was about Elyse.

And when Cyclone asked her, Yuna couldn’t answer.

The mood grew heavy, and the two of them said nothing more.

Hilmirya didn’t know what to say to lighten the mood, either.

This was an even harder question to answer than Alexander’s.

There was no right answer. Every answer would be wrong.

On this land stained with pain, the first snow finally began to fall.

Attersass, Year 502. Winter.

The snow marked not only a change in the weather, but the arrival of a new beginning.

It covered Kakarl, a city streaked with wounds of every color, in a world of pure white once more.

As if the heavens were giving Cyclone another chance: time couldn’t turn back, but he could keep moving forward and paint this world with new colors.

Step by step, after a stretch of silence, someone ran up behind Cyclone.

“I—I finally found you…”

Panting, Eileen appeared before them.

A flake of snow fell onto Cyclone’s shoulder.

It was as if the world had gently patted Cyclone on the shoulder, giving him another chance. One more chance.

“E-Elyse is awake!!”