Chapter 125: We Will Embrace Before the End of the World, If We Are Still There…
Peiya quickly looked through the “chat records” of the magical beasts and noticed that most of them liked to hunt at night.
That also explained why Hunhun had run into them before, shadow creatures usually look for food at night.
“How did they beat you last time?”
Peiya looked down at Hunhun, who was carefully collecting magic cores from the floor. One core rolled from one side to the other.
“They stole my food, and their attitude was really bad! Before, I didn’t know I could beat them, so I just gave it to them. So annoying!”
Hunhun spun once in the air and landed on the table.
Peiya smiled lightly and closed the notebook. “It’s okay. Now that you’re stronger, if anyone bullies you, just fight back.”
“Got it!”
……………………
Deep inside the manor, in a clean and tidy room, Elise went up to the attic. She was looking for old adventure gear that had been left unused in the storage room.
In the past, Elise didn’t care much about these things. With her wealth, if something was gone, she could just buy a new one.
She kept them here not because of the money, but because it felt like a waste to throw them away when they were still in good condition.
Now, opening these old items again… it was probably because of Peiya.
She had a feeling that Peiya would like these little things.
Elise gently held several colorful gemstones in her fingers and sorted them into different boxes. Larger items were left in the corner, she would give them to Peiya when she came.
Or maybe she could deliver them herself… but would that interrupt Peiya’s work?
Lost in her thoughts, Elise suddenly noticed a cloth doll in the far corner of the room. It had been pressed down by other items. When she picked it up, it suddenly tore open, leaving a crack.
She bent down and carefully gathered the cotton scattered on the floor into her arms. Some of the cotton floated upward because it was so light. As she reached out to catch it, the cotton in her arms wobbled like jelly.
When she pressed down one side, the other side popped up again.
By the time she managed to collect everything, a few minutes had passed. A bit messy and tired, she put the cotton into a small box. She no longer felt like cleaning the room, so she brought the broken doll to her bed instead.
She placed a piece of cloth on the balcony, then put the collected fabric scraps on top. From a drawer near her feet, she took out a box of needles and thread.
Elise carefully sewed the torn parts together. The little pumpkin-shaped head slowly returned to its original position, like a clock hand moving back to the center. Then she added extra strips of cloth to strengthen the seams.
After finishing, she placed the doll together with her other “old companions.” She had attached labels behind each of them.
Some dolls were already badly damaged because of old materials. With no other choice, Elise used new cloth to repair them as much as possible.
Some dolls, after being fixed, seemed full of life again, some even looked better than before.
One doll she called “Little White Rabbit” had a cool expression added after repair. It probably reflected how she felt at that time.
Back then, she truly wanted to protect everyone. She imagined herself becoming like the heroes in her books, someone who could guard others.
Now, looking at these old memories, Elise felt a mix of emotions.
It was like a sentence she learned as a child. When you read it at different times in your life, it feels different.
Maybe those childish dreams were what kept her moving forward.
Elise stood up, arranged the dolls neatly, then walked to the bed and looked at the unfinished large doll. She picked up the needle and thread again.
She tilted her head, her eyes falling on a small picture on the cabinet. It was a drawing of Peiya from the time at the tailor shop.
Elise held the needle, pressed its tip into the sponge, took a new piece of cloth, and kept adjusting it based on the picture until it looked right. Then she started sewing again.
She planned to make a bigger Peiya doll. But making it too realistic would feel a bit scary, so she used a book called Fairy Tale Illustrations beside her, which had cute, simplified character drawings.
Using those drawings as a guide, Elise shaped the doll little by little. Once the basic form was done, she let out a small sigh of relief.
Now, only the hardest part remained, the face.
The body shape was not difficult. The real challenge was the expression.
What kind of expression could truly show a person’s personality? Especially for someone with clear traits. If you chose the expression they often used, then even without seeing the real person, you could almost feel them through the doll.
Elise thought for a long time. She imagined Peiya’s slight smile… and also the time when Peiya acted spoiled in her arms.
After struggling for a while, she chose the first one. The second one… she didn’t feel confident she could recreate it well. It was safer to go with the simpler choice.
She kept sewing until the sun sank below the horizon. Only then did Elise finish the doll.
She had spent almost three days making it. During these days, she had focused only on this.
Not just the materials, even the stuffing was carefully chosen. Elise used cotton soaked in special spices. When you hugged the doll, it gave off a light fragrance.
It was the same gentle scent Peiya had when they first met.
She wanted to remember that smell.
She was afraid that too many things in the future would fill her memory, and she might forget the way they first hugged. The angle, the warmth… the way Peiya smiled at her.
And that soft fragrance… and the light of the sunset reflected in her hair.
Everything… she wanted to remember everything about her.
But she was also afraid that if she moved forward too quickly, she might forget that moment when she stood on her toes to hug her, and that would be the end of them.
This feeling of attachment was like a delicious dessert. She wanted to swallow it in one bite, but also wanted to enjoy it slowly.
Elise gently rubbed the doll’s “head,” adjusting it to the right angle. At that moment, her memories slowly came back, as if the scene of the day they met was unfolding again before her eyes.
The juice in her hand gave off a pleasant smell. The girl reached out to her, telling her stories from the past.
And Elise remembered everything, she knew Peiya liked sweet things. Later, she noticed that when Peiya ate desserts, the corners of her lips would lift slightly. Maybe that was when she truly felt relaxed.
Elise softly touched the doll’s face, her memories stretching longer and longer. She slowly tried to hold the doll in her arms.
But feelings don’t lie.
The doll had no warmth. The spices only gave off a strong, uniform scent…
More importantly, it wasn’t her.
Elise slowly let go of the doll. Even though she had sewn the smile so vividly, why did it now feel so fake?
She wanted to touch the real her.
She also wanted to hold her again…