No Such Thing as a Chaste Man! Just Give It Ten Tries! - Chapter 6
She had left Korea at eighteen and was now twenty-three. Having spent a quarter of her life in Genève, Seo-ah had become more comfortable with her life here.
Sure, she missed the conveniences of modern civilization, but she was satisfied with her abilities and her honor in this world. Traveling with her expedition team for the past three and a half years had made her fall in love with the natural beauty of this new planet, Genève.
In contrast, memories of her homeland had gradually faded. The thought of resuming her high school studies as a senior to prepare for college entrance exams seemed almost absurd now that her body had grown but she felt no closer to adulthood.
Most importantly, Seo-ah had no family back on Earth, nor any friends she particularly missed.
In other words, there was no beloved relationship strong enough to make her leave behind the world she had worked so hard to protect over the past five years just to return to her own.
“I don’t want to go back…! Why does Your Holiness assume he understands my feelings?”
“When you first arrived, you found it difficult to adapt to the change in environment. It would be painful to uproot yourself now, but ultimately, you would find happiness. That world is your home, the place you yearned for so much…”
“It seems you’ve forgotten, but I’ve grown up since then. I know who I am, I know what I want, and I am responsible for my choices…!”
“Didn’t you once long for your mother?”
“My mom already passed away, you know that?”
“And isn’t the place where she is buried there?”
“……”
“Seo-ah. You were a delicate soul who wanted to return the moment you were summoned here. Doesn’t your homeland have so many things you long for? That spicy hotpot, the macarons, the cream-filled pastries, and that… toppokki thing?”
That’s all just food!
Seo-ah felt like she could explode.
It was true that she missed her mother, but her mother had already passed away when she was summoned to this world. After her mom’s long illness and death, Seo-ah had gone through the mourning period, and, feeling profoundly lonely one day, she had been crying on the school rooftop when she was summoned here.
Unlike what Ephelinus assumed, it was Seo-ah’s resolve to overcome that grief that had helped her adapt better to life in this world.
Still… she couldn’t entirely fault Ephelinus for his decision.
When she first arrived in Genève, Seo-ah was in a miserable state—physically and emotionally. If Ephelinus had misinterpreted something, it was that her sorrow and depression weren’t because she had come to Genève but because she had been consumed by grief over her mother’s death.
After her mother’s death, Seo-ah had lived in a constant state of sadness.
One of the Holy Empire’s priests, Peter, who had traveled with her on the expedition, suggested that Seo-ah might have been summoned to this world because she felt as isolated as if she wanted to die.
Ephelinus had conducted the summoning ritual for Genève’s saint under the god Sol’s prophecy, intended to summon a savior for Genève. Peter speculated that Ephelinus, regarded as the god’s chosen representative, must have placed specific conditions on the summoning target—such as someone with little attachment to their world, or with few remaining ties.
This was likely to avoid the cruelty of taking someone away from a beloved home.
So…
“Your mother, Lady Seo-ah… I will make sure you can meet her again. Somehow, I’ll find a way to send you back. Just hold on a little longer…”
Seeing Seo-ah cry each night shortly after she arrived in Genève, Ephelinus had probably felt regret over his choice, which explained his resolve to complete the ancient reverse-summoning ritual.
In the end… He had managed to complete the reverse summoning ritual, a long-abandoned relic of the old scriptures.
When Seo-ah returned to the Holy Empire, she saw how Ephelinus had struggled with his father, the Holy Emperor, over this decision, proving that it was likely his own independent choice rather than the will of the Holy Empire or the United Elder Council representing the new Genève era.
“After not seeing me for years, Your Holiness is fine with just sending me away again?”
“As one devoted to Sol, it is my duty to pray and wait.”
“So annoying…!”
The most frustrating part was that Seo-ah actually liked this strict, stubborn rule-mule.
The moment she had triumphed in battle against the black dragon after three and a half years of hardship, the first face that came to her mind had been Ephelinus’s divine beauty.
And… he was the primary reason she wanted to stay in Genève.
Since when? Perhaps from the days soon after she was summoned, as she lay awake each night, yearning for her mom and craving hotpot and rice cakes. Why? Because he had been there day and night to comfort her.
With his rare beauty, uncommon in both Earth and Genève, watching over her every night, falling for him had been harder to resist than even returning to Earth. And he had treated her with more care than a princess, which only made it harder.
So Seo-ah had no other choice.
She had to stay in Genève, somehow, some way.
Of course, she couldn’t expect him, the Holy Emperor’s son, to give up his position as High Priest, nor did she wish for him to. But staying in the same world as him and being able to see him was entirely different from returning to Earth and never seeing him again.
The problem was figuring out how.
