There I was sitting in the middle of a deep forest intricately covered by trees. The trees were vast and seemed to endlessly stretched all across the field that little to no sunlight managed to pierce through the leaves making the interior of the forest seemed dim despite the time of day. A rush of wind blew through the forest pass the endless sea of trees against my direction.

Feeling cold, I clenched the collar of the cloak I was wearing and wrapped it tighter around me.

I'm afraid. I said with the volume of my voice so low it could be mistaken as a whisper.

"Hm? What are you afraid of?"

A voice answered.

It was the voice that I was deeply attracted to. A voice that gave warmth and comfort.

I looked towards the direction where the voice originated from which was to my left side and saw an extraordinarily beautiful spectacle to behold.

A woman so beautiful that it felt like I was tainting her appearance just by looking at her. Her long beautiful white hair fleetingly danced as the wind brushed against it as if it was enjoying a little dance with the wind itself. Her elegant facial features looked so delicate and flawless like it was molded with the purpose of representing the manifestation of beauty itself. However, in contrast to her soft and delicate facial features, her eyes were sharp and keen. Her emerald eyes gave the chilling yet comforting sensation of mints as one stared at them.

Looking directly at her, I got lost in a mysterious feeling yet not unwelcomed one.

With grace within her movements, she moved and gently sat besides me. The distance between us was shorter than an arm's length but I felt hurt. Her figure was inextricably close to mine yet she seemed so far away from me. I felt that no matter how far I reached, I wouldn't be able to grasp this beautiful figure by my hands.

If I reached out my hands, will I reach her?

Or will I be able to grasp nothing?

Realizing that I haven't answered her question, I hurriedly answered.

I-I'm not... sure.

Hearing my response, she giggled.

Hearing her giggle filled my heart with warmth but the sense of fear remained somewhere.

"You say you're afraid, yet you don't know exactly why you're afraid." She said in an amused tone of voice. "You're really interesting."

I felt my cheeks heat up hearing her compliment me.

"How have you've been?" She asked in an endearing curious tone of voice.

I've no idea what to say exactly, so I just said what was on my mind.

The empire had finally begun to recover from the damage that was dealt to it. Slowly, it will go back to it's glorious days once again, if not more glorious.

"That's good to hear. I'm glad." She replied in an obviously joyful tone.

Just from her short reply, I could feel that the joy she was feeling was genuine. It shows just how much kind and warm-hearted she really was.

Indeed. The repairs would've taken much longer. But with the help of the Sorcerer King, the time required for the much needed recovery was shortened by a great amount.

"I see!" She happily clapped her hands together as if the words I just said gave her an immeasureable amount of joy and a sense of pride. "As expected of Ainz-sama!"

Yes, the Sorcerer King took great care with helping the people of the Baharuth Empire. However, it was because of you that they've finally started to-

Before I could go through my sentence, I felt that sense of fear again. A sensation of dread.

I looked over back to her and saw her looking back at me with a soft smile that gave the feeling of serenity. But within that feeling of serenity lies a fleeting glimpse of loneliness. With such a look on her face, I couldn't continue on with my sentence from earlier.

"Is there anything else?" She asked with a smile.

I could no longer continue on with my words from earlier, so I just started to tell her the events that had transpired and she listened to me with complete attention and a gentle smile.

Was it an hour? Or perhaps it wasn't even an hour at all. It could've been just a few minutes or maybe it was really an hour that has passed ever since. However, It felt so short to me. I tried to think of more topics to talk about and after each topic that I managed to come up with reached its conclusion, that sense of dread started to surface again.

Not just yet.

I tried to stall. To secure more time to spend with her. I dragged on my words and slowed down the speed of my mouth just to savor more time.

Not just yet, please.

"Leinas-san."

Please.

Not yet.

Gracefully, she stood up and walked a few feet away from me before stopping. A rush of wind blew against our direction and her hair once again swayed beautifully. The sight enchanted me so much that I wanted to stretch out my hands, no matter how far, just to reach out to her. But with her back towards me, I felt such a thing was impossible.

So close, yet so unreachable.

"It's time to go."

With those words from her mouth, my body trembled. The sense of fear and dread were once again brought up to the surface.

"It's about time to walk forward."

As I stared helplessly at her back, I finally realized what I was afraid of.

Please.

Don't go.

Even if it's just by a minute or even a second.

Stay with me longer.

"It's not right to be enthralled by this sight forever." She said in a tone of voice that had the unique mix sensations of acceptance and loneliness. Turning her head, she looked at me with kind eyes that looked so sincere and gentle as if she was afraid of hurting me. "After all, this fleeting image of mine is not really a part of me, but a part of you."

She turned her body in order to completely face me. She tilted her head to the side slightly and blessed me with a beautiful smile to behold.

"Because Luntian Spearmint is..."

She opened her eyes and the sight that welcomed her was the orange-tinted sky. She sat up and felt a cold gentle breeze that carried the smell of salt brush softly against her. Looking at the horizon at the end of the sea, she saw the sun slowly setting giving way for the night to envelop the sky.

Sadly, yet with a somewhat feeling of endearment, she gazed over the tranquil waves that weaved through the surface of the sea created by an angel. Lifting one of her hands, she gently caressed the green ribbon at the side of her head that was tied to her golden-colored hair as she continued to wait for the sun to completely set.

"...Luntian Spearmint is already..."