I've been transported into a Western fantasy game, and my dad wants me to marry my sister.

Chapter 42 What?! The clan leader lost the fight for a man and is secretly crying under the covers.

"Chieftain? Are you there?"

It was Elder Thran's voice, carrying his usual gentleness and respect.

I heard a sound.

Elune jerked her head up from under the covers and looked toward the door in alarm.

Her eyes must be red.

Her face is definitely swollen.

Her hair is definitely messy.

clothing……

She looked down at her disheveled clothes and mud-stained robe, and her heart clenched suddenly.

I can't... I can't let Elder Thran see me like this.

"Chief?" Thran called again, gently knocking on the door.

"The elders have some ideas regarding the underground city that they would like to discuss with you."

"Are you available now?"

Elune opened her mouth, intending to respond in her usual calm and cool voice.

But it felt like something was blocking his throat, and he could only make a hoarse, breathy sound.

She frantically wiped her face with the back of her hand, trying to remove the tear stains, but the dirt on her fingertips only made her cheeks dirtier.

She wanted to fix her hair and clothes, but her fingers trembled slightly on their own.

Thran waited outside the door for a moment.

Not receiving a response, she seemed to hesitate for a moment, but perhaps because the matter was indeed urgent, she gently pushed open the door.

"Chieftain, excuse me—"

Seran's voice trailed off the moment he saw the scene inside the room.

She stood at the doorway, her emerald eyes widening slightly, a crack appearing in her usually composed expression.

The treehouse is dimly lit.

But that figure curled up by the bed, wrapped in a messy blanket, long hair disheveled, cheeks stained with tears and dirt, eyes red and swollen—

Where is the Silver Dew Clan Chief who is always dignified, aloof, and composed?

It's clearly a...

She was a disheveled little girl who had been wronged and was secretly hiding away to cry, not yet having had time to tidy herself up.

Elune froze the moment Thran pushed the door open and entered.

She remained kneeling by the bed, clutching the corner of the blanket, and looked up at Thran with a bewildered and panicked gaze, her face streaked with tears.

The air freezes.

The silence that lasted a few seconds felt like an eternity.

Then, Elune saw a clear look of heartache, astonishment, and... a complex emotion of understanding flash across Elder Thran's eyes.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

Elune lowered her head hastily, her voice hoarse and nasal.

She frantically tried to wrap herself tighter in the blanket to hide her disheveled appearance.

She stammered, "I...I just...my eyes are a little uncomfortable..."

"No, I meant to say..."

but.

The more I talk, the more confused I get.

The more I talked, the more my eyes stung.

The tears I had just stopped were starting to well up again.

Elder Thran stood at the door, watching her silently.

This elder, who was always known for his seriousness and composure, had no trace of his usual rigidity on his face at this moment.

She sighed softly.

then.

Turning back to the other elf figures he could vaguely see behind him, he whispered, "You all go to the council hall and wait a moment. I need to speak with the chieftain alone for a few minutes."

A respectful response came from outside the door.

Then came the sound of footsteps fading into the distance.

Thran then entered the treehouse and gently closed the door behind him.

She walked over to Elune.

She didn't speak immediately, but took out a clean, soft silk handkerchief from her bosom, squatted down, and gently handed it to Elune.

Elune did not answer.

She lowered her head, her silver hair falling down and covering most of her face.

just.

Those slightly trembling shoulders already spoke volumes about their emotions.

"Chief, wipe your face first." Seran's voice was soft, with a gentleness unique to elders.

Elune still didn't move.

After a long pause, she said in a barely audible voice, "It's embarrassing, isn't it?"

Elune's words startled Thran.

"Elder Thran saw...me like this."

"Don't you think...a clan leader like this is...useless?"

"Is it...embarrassing?"

Elune's voice was choked with suppressed sobs.

She finally raised her head, her swollen eyes filled with fresh tears, her gaze filled with self-doubt and vulnerability.

"Clearly..."

"He should have been a proper clan leader."

"We should be focusing on settlements and nature."

"But I... I can't help but feel this way..."

"Shedding tears over such trivial matters of personal feelings..."

"I am not...a good clan leader at all..."

Tears streamed down her face as she spoke.

This time, she didn't dodge; she simply let them slide across her stained cheeks, leaving new wet marks.

Thran watched her quietly, watching the girl he had watched grow up...

A child growing up step by step.

From a little boy learning nature magic from his mother, to a young druid gradually showing his talent, and then to the leader of the Silverdew settlement who was appointed to take on the heavy responsibility of chieftain in a time of crisis.

She has always been so outstanding, so composed, and so reliable.

So much so that everyone forgot.

Beneath her status as clan leader, she was nothing more than a young elf who could be moved by love and also suffer heartbreak.

Thran's most tender spot was deeply touched.

She reached out her hand.

Instead of using a silk handkerchief, she gently stroked Elune's wet cheeks with her own warm palms, tenderly wiping away the tears and stains.

"Silly child."

Thran's voice was gentle and loving, unlike anything Elune had ever heard before.

"Elune, in Elder Thran's eyes, you will always be the most outstanding child, the one I am most proud of."

Elune's tears flowed even more fiercely.

It was as if she had finally found someone she could trust, causing the strong shell she had been maintaining to shatter completely.

She stopped suppressing her sobs and let them out, her shoulders trembling violently.

"But...but I feel so sad..."

"It tastes sour and astringent...it feels like my throat is blocked..."

"I don't know what to do..."

She sobbed, speaking haltingly.

Thran gently pulled her into his arms, patting her back lightly, just as he had comforted her when she had nightmares as a child.

"If you're feeling down, cry it out. Keeping it inside will only make it worse," Seran whispered.

Elune cried in her arms for a long time.

He poured out all the unspoken grievances, confusion, self-doubt, and the budding affection that already felt heavy with emotion with his tears.

When the crying gradually subsided into soft sobs, Seran released her, carefully wiped her face clean with a silk handkerchief, and tidied her messy long hair.

"Now."

"Could you tell Elder Thrann what has caused our esteemed patriarch such distress?"

Thran looked at her eyes, which were still red and swollen but much clearer, and asked gently.

Elune sniffed, lowered her eyes, and unconsciously twisted the corner of the blanket with her delicate white fingers.

After a moment of silence, she spoke in a low voice.

To put those thoughts swirling in my heart—

He had an inexplicable and inexplicable concern for Lynn.

Guilt towards Leah.

Concern about age gap.

The perplexity of the natural contract.

And then there was the self-reproach of feeling like a "third party"—which he spoke of intermittently.

She spoke incoherently, her logic was unclear, and she paused and repeated herself at times.

But Thran listened patiently.

Only after Elune finished speaking did Thran slowly begin to speak: "So, the clan leader thinks that falling in love with the Prophet Lynn is a trivial matter of personal feelings, a mistake that shouldn't interfere with the clan leader's duties?"

Elune nodded hesitantly.

but.

Thran shook his head.