In Ark Simulator, why do I always get a tough start?

Chapter 136 The "ice and snow" in Yeragand's heart finally melted...

"Care, don't care, care, don't care..."

After escaping from the holy mountain, where is Yela hiding at this moment?

It turned out that she had come to the royal tomb alone, to the tombstone of Chen Qi that had been dug up by Ensiodes and his group.

Squatting before the grave where she had shed countless tears, Yela plucked the petals of the white flowers that her tears had turned into, sinking into endless self-pity.

If an ordinary person witnessed this scene, they would surely regard Yela as a widow who had just lost her husband and was in unbearable grief.
If someone knew Yera's true identity, they would probably be utterly astonished.

Where is there even a trace of the guardian deity of Sherag now?
She's just a little girl who's heartbroken and helpless, hiding in a deserted corner, using this childish method to relieve her distress.

"call."

Just as the petals nearly covered Yera's feet, accompanied by a strange magical fluctuation, Chen Qi's figure slowly emerged from the void.

And then came the sound of the sacred bell, which sounded very familiar to Yela.

"—Why did you hide here?"

Guided by the Holy Bell, Chen Qi finally found Yela and cast a rather helpless glance at her, softly asking:
"More than a decade has passed, and there are many places in Shelag that I am not familiar with."

"However, it's not too late to find you now, is it, Lord Yeragand?"

"……snort."

However, as Chen Qi slowly approached her, Yela's previously troubled expression softened for a moment, then quickly changed to a feigned haughty look as she asked in an annoyed tone:

"What brings you here again?"

"Why aren't you with your beloved Miss Jian? What are you doing here looking for a country bumpkin like me?"

"...Only a little over a decade has passed, and all you've learned is how to be jealous? This doesn't seem like something the loving and tolerant Jeragand would do."

Quietly, Chen Qi sat down next to the silent Yela and reached out to calmly take the white flower, half-plucked from Yela's hand.

"Even the Yela I know is definitely not such a jealous woman."

"..."

Yela did not respond.

Or perhaps, her silence at this moment is her best answer.

Chen Qi gazed silently at the flower in his hand, a flower that only Yera's tears could transform into, his eyes unconsciously sweeping over to his own tombstone beside him.

Even though the tombstone had been dug up, the area around it was still covered with traces of these white flowers.

This is enough to prove just how heartbroken the goddess beside him was when he "died."

"I'm sorry, Qi."

At this moment, Yela, who had been silent for a long time, finally responded.

The jealousy she felt when facing the mace was gone from her calm tone. Now, she understood just how out of control she had been.

"I almost hurt the person who is most important to you... Am I disappointing you in this state?"

"But I can't control myself."

"Whenever I think that from now on, my one and only true friend, whom I have finally regained after thousands of years of hardship, will soon no longer belong to me."

"I just couldn't help... revealing this hideous, jealous face."

"It's as if a demon in my heart has devoured my reason."

Recalling her previous burning jealousy, Yela belatedly realized just how terrible she had been.

This was a dark side of Yela, who had remained peaceful and loving for thousands of years, that she had never been aware of.

"Qi, you speak."

"Am I no longer worthy of being called 'god' in this state?"

Feeling lost and confused, Yera turned to her only close friend for help, hoping he could give her an answer.

Soon, meeting Yela's gaze, Chen Qi smiled and gave his reply.

“Yela, you seem to have misunderstood something.”

"To the Sherag people, you may be the 'god' they speak of, but you have never been a true god, only a 'behemoth' with power beyond human imagination."

"In the end, you've always been just an ordinary person."

"It's just that too many people's expectations and worship have added constraints to you, making you live like the 'god' that people expect you to be."

As Chen Qi murmured softly, he reached out and gently touched a strand of Yela's naturally falling hair.

He could see more clearly the goddess's earlobes, which turned slightly red the moment he touched them.

For some reason, at that moment, even the snow beneath me seemed less cold, and even the biting wind no longer felt piercing.

"But, for me..."

"Yeragand is just a head lady-in-waiting who has always been by my side, an ordinary person with her own joys and sorrows."

“I have never regarded her as some kind of high and mighty deity. I know that she has been lonely for thousands of years because of this ‘divine position’.”

"She doesn't need to be treated like a goddess anymore. I just hope that she can be a free person who belongs only to herself."

As he spoke, Chen Qi moved his hand from the ends of Yela's hair to her beautiful hair.

With the shy goddess's tacit consent, his hands gradually began to caress her slender waist and her flawless cheeks.

He gazed silently at the goddess whose eyes trembled and whose heart was racing, and whispered softly:

"I may not be able to withstand the goddess's wrath."

"But I'm quite good at dealing with my partner's little temper tantrums."

“If now, this goddess is willing to lower her divine status and become the head maid I know again.”

"So I think I'd be happy to forgive her for this little bit of moodiness that's caused by me."

Boom!

As soon as Chen Qi finished speaking, Yela's heart skipped a beat, and an unnamed snow-capped mountain in Shelag trembled violently once again.

Just as everyone's attention in Shelag was drawn to the trembling snow-capped mountain...

But no one noticed.

Their "Sherrag" has already embraced the "spring" they love.

Yera's lips were cool, like the never-melting ice and snow of Shelag.

However, as long as spring lingers long enough, even the thickest ice and snow can be melted by the warmth of the spring breeze.

In particular, when the solid ice that has endured loneliness and bitter cold for thousands of years, at the moment the spring breeze caresses its face, it has already deeply fallen in love with the warm spring day and vowed to keep this spring by its side forever.

"boom."

"It's so cold... Qi, how come I've never felt this before? My body is so cold."

With just the right amount of force, Yela gently pressed Chen Qi down beneath her. The warmth she had longed for for thousands of years was now so close; Yela could hardly tell if this was reality or her illusion.

She simply shed two lines of tears, a mixture of emotions welling up within her, wanting to find compensation for the loneliness and bitterness she had endured for a thousand years in the person before her.

"It's you, it's all your fault."

"You gave me warmth without my consent, so that I can never go back to the coldness of the past."

"I want you to make it up to me, Qi. I want you to hold me like this forever."

"Until all the ice in my body and in my heart melts away in your embrace."

"—I'd be extremely happy to."

However, Chen Qi did not resist Yera's demands, who had been lonely for a long time.

He simply gazed lovingly at the goddess before him, guiding her, indulging her, and letting her release all that she had suppressed for so long.

……

"So much time has passed, hasn't brother found Yela yet?"

At the top of the holy mountain, after waiting for a long time without any news of her brother, Enya, anxious and restless, paced back and forth beside the colossus of Yeragand.

"I don't think you need to be nervous."

However, unlike Enya's anxiety, the other side, Jian, and Ensioudis who arrived at the scene, appeared remarkably calm.

While listlessly tracing words in the snow with his greatsword, Jian calmly replied:
"If even your brother's sweet talk can't persuade that goddess back, then there's no use in you worrying."

“Enya, your sister-in-law is right.”

Having gained a general understanding of the current situation, Enshiodis nodded in agreement and said:
"We can't help you with this, brother. You should just sit down and wait."

"...But I don't quite understand why Lord Yeragand, who clearly said he had no feelings for his elder brother, would have such a big conflict with you today?"

However, when faced with Ensiodes's puzzled question, both women, Jian and Enya, exchanged a glance and both sensed a hint of helplessness in each other's eyes.

Finally, it was Enya, who was closer to her, who stepped forward, patted her second brother on the shoulder with a complicated expression, and whispered in a low voice:

"Second brother, this topic is still too early for you. It's normal that you don't understand it."

"Sigh..." Enya sighed, her eyes filled with pity as she spoke to her second brother:

"In the end, it's also my brother's fault. He shouldn't have always raised you as his successor, which has made you so clueless about relationships."

"Sigh, second brother, you're not getting any younger. It seems that continuing the legitimate bloodline of our Shiva'ish family is still a long and arduous task."

"?"

Faced with his sister's inexplicable pity, King Kalan, Enshiodes, who was known for his wisdom and decisiveness, felt for the first time what it meant to be completely bewildered.

Is this what love between a man and a woman is like? It seems even more troublesome than being the King of Kalan.

"Ok?"

However, just as the group was filled with their own worries, the mace that was writing on the snow sensed something strange and made a surprised sound.

The next second, before Jian could react, a tree suddenly burst out of the snow!

At the same time, it wasn't just at the feet of the mace.

Holy mountains, other snow-capped peaks, even cliffs—

Wherever the land belongs to Sherag, trees begin to sprout from the soil and grow at an astonishing rate, sprouting green leaves and blooming with pink flowers like those of a young girl.

For the first time, this country, which was forever covered in ice and snow, blossomed with colors other than white.

Soon, the people of Shelag were astonished to discover that this miraculous scene was not yet over.

The ice and snow that have covered Kherag for millennia are beginning to melt at an alarming rate.

Green grass, colorful flowers... all sorts of colors that not only the locals of Shelag had never seen before, but even foreigners, began to bloom in this land of ice and snow.

Full of vitality, everything is in full swing.

It was like a sudden spring breeze that melted away the cold of the snow-capped mountain and brought unprecedented vitality to this land.

The spring breeze not only melted the ice of Shelag, but also nourished all living things in Shelag.

In the large and small collective farms of Shelag, all the crops that had just been planted grew rapidly within an hour, quickly ushering in a bumper harvest.

At a deep, resonant call, the pack animals that were born on the ranch all gave birth to seven or eight cubs at once.

Even many creatures that had disappeared from the land of Shelag have begun to reappear in the jungles and snowfields, stretching out their heavy bodies that have just awakened.

This miraculous scene, which only a god could create, caused all the people of Sherag to drop everything they were doing and rush to the foot of the holy mountain.

Faced with the sealed-off holy mountain, the people of Sherag knelt down in reverence before the colossus of Yeragand atop the mountain, chanting in unison:
"By Yelagund!"

This time, it wasn't just the locals of Shelag.

Even countless foreign tourists, after witnessing this scene that defies scientific explanation, joined the ranks of those kneeling in worship at Yeragand, offering their piety and respect.

On this day, the number of believers in Jeragund reached an unprecedented level.

Unfortunately, Jeragund, who was still enjoying the spring breeze, probably didn't have time to hear the prayers of these believers.

"...It seems your eldest brother has lived up to expectations."

Scanning the changes around her, Jian gradually understood what had happened and smiled faintly, reminding Enya, who was still in a daze:
"Your Holiness, shouldn't you fulfill your duty and explain this scene to the believers of Jeragand?"

"—Oh, right! I almost forgot! I need to hurry and explain to everyone in Sherag, otherwise it would be bad if it caused panic!"

Realizing what was happening, Enya nodded quickly and hurried down the mountain, dragging her skirt along.

As for Ensiodis, who had barely recovered, Jian still chuckled and teased:

“Your Majesty, it seems that the wedding you are preparing in the palace will have to be expanded again.”

"Your arrangements are sufficient to entertain a powerless sister-in-law like me, but they would be an embarrassment for the wedding of a goddess."

"—Sister-in-law, you flatter me."

However, Enciodes, having regained his senses, responded to Jian's words with an unprecedentedly radiant smile.

"To me, any woman who marries my elder brother is my sister-in-law, regardless of her status or rank."

"As for my elder brother's wedding, I will do my best and will never let him and his wife down."

Jian was slightly surprised to hear this, but after realizing that Ensiodis's words came from the heart, she smiled with relief.

She seemed to understand why her man valued this younger brother so much.

But... he actually succeeded! He managed to get involved with a "god," making him probably the only person in all of history on this land to do so.

For a moment, even Jiang couldn't tell whether he felt jealous or proud.

However, when she gazed at the beautiful, vibrant scene of everything coming back to life in Shelag, she couldn't help but smile from the bottom of her heart.

At least, this will be a decision that none of them will regret.

(End of this chapter)