Both the girls trudging towards us were Eden's friends—Serin and Nira.

They were the same age as me—18, with Serin having the height of 5'10" and Nira with 5'9.

And both of them were insanely beautiful, certainly being among the top beauties of the Kohra village.

Serin, with her beautiful milk-like skin, E-cup boobs, and big ass, had a body with a narrow waist and balanced curves. Smooth waist-long silver hair mixed with beautiful orbs of amethyst-colored eyes only elevated her charm.

Nira shared the same sinful figure as Serin with the same soft, rose-pink lips. The only differences were her face, her height, and the striking colors she carried—lavender hair cascading to her waist and light grey, beautiful eyes.

Overall, Serin and Nira could have passed for twins if you ignored their height, facial differences, and the colors of their eyes and hair.

...Quite a lot of things to ignore, may I say.

Anyways, with their beautiful bodies and features, they were among the few people who truly answered the question, "What is beauty?"

Even then, they still couldn't rival my mom and sis in terms of beauty. But they had something my mom and sis didn't have—a royalty tag.

Yes, they were royalty, living in the innermost and safest part of the village. Serin was the daughter of the priest, and Nira was the daughter of the village administrator.

As Jonas pointed at them, and I saw them, they saw us too.

But... they both stopped, their bodies freezing mid-step.

"Hm?"

'What happened? Oh, it's because of me.'

Understanding I was the reason for their surprise, I waved at them.

"Hey, I am back."

Not sure why I had said, "I am back," as if I was coming back from the depths of hell. Well, it was too late to take it back, so I rolled with it.

But...

"..."

"..."

There was no response. They were still standing there, staring. Contrary to my thought of them running towards me and hugging me.

"What are you doing?"

"Waving," I glanced at Jonas.

"With that creepy smile of yours, it doesn't look like it." He said.

"..."

'Is my smile creepy?'

"And why are you waving?" He asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"To greet them."

Jonas sighed at my answer, as if understanding something only he could understand. Then, he turned to face Serin and Nira again.

I scratched my head in confusion at his reaction, then shifted my gaze. Serin and Nira were still staring.

Seeing them still staring at us, my brows furrowed. When the hell were they going to stop with their gawking?

"Why are—"

I stopped mid-sentence as both Serin and Nira suddenly punched each other. Serin punched Nira in the face, and Nira punched Serin in her stomach.

"Eh?"

And then both groaned in pain, clutching their stomach and face, respectively.

But... there was a smile on their face.

Smiling, both looked at me and started walking—until their steps turned into running.

Running towards me, both of them hugged me, or may I say, speared me, causing all three of us to fall.

It was a good thing that we fell on grass, and I was not sitting on high ground. Because if not, then I was very sure that I would have experienced second transmigration, if possible.

While thinking about my absurd thought, I lay on the ground, clutched between two girls, whose faces were buried in my chest.

They both kept hugging me for a few seconds before Nira's shoulder started to tremble, and she burst into crying, her grip tightening on my body.

As Nira's tears started to spill, a heartbeat later, Serin showed the same reaction, her body trembling, her grip tightening on me, as she also burst into crying.

Knowing that I should let them pour out their hearts, I rubbed their back gently as their body shook around mine.

And the three of us, me lying on the ground with Serin and Nira around me, stayed like that until they both stopped crying.

During all this, Jonas simply stood at the side, not saying a thing.

...

"No one is going to apologize anymore."

I spoke up, stopping both the girls from their non-stop apologies.

Right now, we were sitting on the grass, with both of them sitting just beside me, pressed closely, with each holding one of my hands.

Seeing that, they were still going to start their nonstop apologies once more. I spoke up again.

"It's not your guys' fault that all that happened in the first place. And I am not angry at you guys, and why would I be? So, let's stop with apologies, ok?"

As I finished speaking, a quiet silence settled over.

Which, after a long moment, was broken when Serin nodded, albeit hesitantly. Her grip on my hand tightened, and her silver hair fell forward, partly covering her face. Through it, her beautiful amethyst eyes stared at me, still swollen and red from crying.

"Hm."

After hearing Serin's soft hum, I gave her a gentle smile before turning to Nira. She sat with her head bowed, body hunched forward, her lavender hair falling like a curtain over her face.

"Hey."

I muttered softly while rubbing my fingers over her hand gently, gaining her attention.

She lifted her head and looked at me through her hair, which was covering her face. Her grey eyes stared directly into my dark ones. Her lips were quivering as she tried to form some words, and her hands tightened more around mine.

"Sorry..."

The word leaked from her lips, like a whisper.

"It's not your fault."

I said it again, trying to quell the guilt that was eating her.

"B-But—"

"It's not your fault. That's it. We are not going to talk about this again."

I knew my words were not enough. But I wanted Nira and others to know that I was not angry. So, I tried my best to convey those feelings to them.

Yet, I knew Nira would still feel guilty, as her brother was one of the people who were always with James. He didn't do anything, as James alone was enough to beat the shit out of the previous Ethan, because he was an awakener.

"Listen," I said, as she stared at me.

"I am not angry at you—" I turned to look at Serin and Jonas. "-Or you guys."

I once again turned to look at Nira. "It's because I only care about what you guys do or think. It doesn't matter what others do or think. The only thing that matters is you guys. So stop blaming yourself for something that wasn't even caused by you guys."

I finished speaking and once more turned to look at everyone, whose gazes were fixed on me. Then, I grinned.

"Let's get out of this depressing environment already," I said with a wide smile. "But, if you are still feeling sorry, why not go to the market and treat me to something delicious? Then maybe I will think about forgiving or not."

At my words, Jonas chimed in from the side, sporting a wide grin.

"Yeah, let's go."

"Hm, eat whatever or however you want. We will cover it." Serin also nodded with a smile.

"Yeah," Nira added softly, with a gentle smile.

Hearing their words, filled with enthusiasm, realization dawned on me.

'I am already full.'

The worst problem. Their expression screamed, "We are going to stuff you like a stuffed toy."

'How am I going to eat anything, dammit?'