William stared at the fantasy-like scenery as he stood on top of a mountain.
After the three beautiful Deities returned to his side, the Half-Elf left Midgard with them and went to his next destination, Alfheim.
"The three of you, take a tour of this realm and see if there are any interesting things in it," William ordered. "Do not come to find me. I will call for you when the time comes. At most, we will stay in this plane for four to five days before we move to the next place."
"""As you wish, Master."""
The three ladies bowed in unison before taking off towards the skies. Although William's order was basically telling them to go sight-seeing, they didn't find anything wrong with it because his orders were absolute.
As the three disappeared into the horizon, William's body turned into a lightning bolt and flew towards the place where someone had been waiting for him for the past thousands of years.
It didn't take long for the black-haired teenager to arrive at his destination. He hovered in the sky as he used his ability to gaze at the scenery that had played an important role in his life when he was still William Pendragon.
'It's still the same as I remember,' William thought as he looked at the garden which housed the lazy Elf whom he had escorted from the forest where she had been staying previously.
After looking at the nostalgic scenery, William used his abilities to zoom in on a wooden cottage in the distance. Bypassings its walls, he saw a lady with long blonde hair, curled up in a fetal position.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShe was holding onto a robe, and treated it like a hug pillow.
Tear stains could be seen on her beautiful face, as she wept for the person that she hadn't seen for a long time.
After seeing this scene, William felt a pang of ache in his heart because he knew full well the reason for her tears.
Taking a step forward, the Half-Elf traversed the great distance and appeared several meters from the door of the cottage.
Suddenly, a commotion sounded inside the wooden cottage before the door burst open.
The blonde Elf, who usually spent her time sleeping, cried out as she ran towards William with outstretched arms. Her long blonde hair that was dozens of meters long, fluttered behind her as if it was weightless.
Out of reflex, William spread his arms wide and caught the crying beauty in his arms.
Acedia, the Elf who carried the Sin of Sloth, wailed in William's arms, while the latter held her tight.
He didn't expect their reunion to happen like this, and the black-haired teenager could feel the sadness that the beautiful Elf had endured for the several years that he was gone.
"It's fine; I am here," William said softly as he lightly patted the head of the crying Elf who was holding him so tightly. "I'm back, Acedia."
Acedia didn't reply because she was crying like a child. It was as if she had forgotten how to talk, and was only using her raw instincts to tell William how sad she was.
The two stayed in each other's arms for a long period of time. The Half-Elf knew that Acedia was pouring out all of the sadness and loneliness that she had bottled up inside her over the past few years, and William allowed her to do that.
Finally, the beautiful elf looked up at William and cupped his face.
"W-Wel… come… b-back," Acedia said hoarsely. Clearly, she hadn't talked for a very long time, and she was having trouble saying the words she wanted to say.
A moment later, the beautiful Elf's body slackened, as if she had lost her strength on her legs. Her eyes were slowly drooping, and yet, she was fighting it with everything she had.
Acedia was afraid that she was just dreaming, and her beloved would disappear the moment she woke up. Because of this, she bit her lips until blood gushed out of them, alarming the black-haired teenager that was holding onto her.
"Don't hurt yourself," William said sternly. "I'm not going away. I'll still be here when you wake up."
Acedia stubbornly shook her head. It took William a full-minute to calm her down, so he could use healing magic to cure the injury she had inflicted on herself.
In the end, Acedia grabbed onto William's clothes, and held it in a vice-grip before she fell asleep, while being held by the man she had waited for a very long time.
The Half-Elf looked at the beauty in his arms and wiped away the tears that were still spilling from her eyes.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmOne of the greatest regrets in his life was not being able to keep his promise to Acedia.
Now that he was given a chance to do so, he would make sure that the pitiful, and lonely girl, who was exiled by her own race, would once again feel the warmth of someone being by her side.
—-
In the distance, Astrape, Bronte, and Titania looked at this scene with great interest.
They didn't know who the lady in their Master's arms was, but they were very curious to know who she was.
However, before they could continue watching, they saw William turn into their direction, and gave them the "Have you watched enough?" glare, which scared the three Deities silly.
Astrape, Bronte, and Titania, were like wild ducks that flew in different directions after hearing a gunshot. They knew that they had seen something they shouldn't have and William caught them red handed.
Since none of them wanted to face William's anger, they decided to make themselves scarce, and leave the Half-Elf, and his beautiful lover alone till their Master called for them to return to him.
William snorted before carrying the sleeping elf back inside their cottage. The main reason he had ordered the three deities to go sight-seeing was to prevent them from sticking around him, while he reunited with Acedia.
Although the lazy Elf had a carefree personality, she could be quite impish at times, especially when William did something that she didn't like.
In order to prevent Acedia from feeling jealous, he wanted the three Deities to be as far away from him as possible. That was the only way to ensure that the lady in his arms wouldn't have an excuse to wrap William in her hair, and hang him upside down due to lack of delicacy.