Chapter 62: Farewell

A celebration could be seen from afar. The Aeonspire Palace was bustling with countless guests. Aelfric waved enthusiastically as Liuz and Rose flew closer.

“Liuz! Rose! Thank goodness you made it!” Aelfric greeted them.

“What’s going on? Why is it so crowded?” Liuz asked.

“A wedding! Princess Kaeylish and Aelion are getting married!” Aelfric replied.

“Married? But they’ve only known each other for a few days,” Liuz said in disbelief.

“How long people have known each other isn’t important! If they already like each other, getting married quickly is even better!” Aelfric said with a grin.

Liuz fell silent, glancing at Rose, who pretended not to hear Aelfric’s comment.

“Unlike someone…” Liuz muttered irritably.

Afraid of being compared, Rose immediately slipped away to look for food. She joined Eldorin and then greeted Kaeylish and Aelion as well.

“Rose, thank you for coming!” Aelion said warmly.

“You really kept your promise to visit us. Are you two leaving for the upper realm soon?” Kaeylish asked.

“Yes, something like that,” Rose answered.

“What a lovely couple! I hope you two return safely to your planet and live happily there! Oh, one more thing—may you be blessed with children soon!” Kaeylish added unexpectedly.

“Thank you, Princess Kaeylish. I also hope we’ll have a child soon,” Liuz replied, suddenly appearing behind Rose.

Rose shot him a look. “Since when were you standing there?”

“Haven’t I always been right beside you, darling?” Liuz said with a face that clearly meant to tease her.

Aelion and Kaeylish exchanged glances and whispered, “They’re so affectionate, aren’t they?”

Rose smiled awkwardly at the comment, but Liuz simply took her hand and smiled warmly at her.

“What a sweet couple!” Eldorin chimed in from behind.

Liuz suddenly pulled something out of the gadget on his wristband. A long, sleek black-silver box appeared—metallic in texture, but the faint glowing engravings on its surface revealed the advanced technology of Liuz’s home planet.

“I’m not sure when we’ll be able to return here again,” Liuz said as he handed the box to Kaelish and Aelion. “So… consider this both a wedding gift and a farewell present for the two of you.”

Aelion blinked slowly before opening the box. As the lid lifted, a soft blue-silver light reflected out. Inside lay a slender telescope-like device, but its center was encircled by three rotating crystal rings that glowed faintly.

“What… is this?” Kaelish asked in awe.

“Stellaris Scope,” Liuz replied. “A star-scanner from my planet. With this, you’ll be able to see constellations across galaxies. And… if you point it toward your night sky, you might even catch the light from our ship when we depart later.”

Kaelish covered her mouth, almost unable to believe it.

“It’s… beautiful…”

“Thank you, Liuz. This is incredibly precious,” Aelion said sincerely.

Rose smiled softly; she hadn’t even realized Liuz had prepared something this thoughtful.

“Wow, that’s amazing! I want one too!” Eldorin said, visibly fascinated by the device.

“What are you saying? That’s a wedding gift!” Aelfric whispered sharply.

Liuz chuckled, then took out two more items and handed one to Eldorin and one to Aelfric.

“What’s this?” Eldorin asked, eyes wide.

A transparent cylindrical container. Inside rested a vibrant green plant, about 30 cm tall, healthy and glowing faintly.

“An apple sapling from Planet Earth,” Liuz explained. “A Sweet-Autumn variety. Cold-resistant, sweet in flavor, and strongly aromatic. I know you love rare plants. This one doesn’t exist anywhere on your planet—so you could say it’s one of a kind here.”

“A–AN APPLE??” Eldorin shouted so loudly that several guests turned to look. “This is incredible! I have a plant from outer space! I’ll take great care of it until it bears fruit,” he said, beaming with excitement.

Aelfric tilted his head. “Then what’s this?”

Liuz raised an eyebrow, opened the plastic box, and revealed several multipurpose tools he had bought on Earth.

“This is a multitool! You’re definitely going to need this. Look!”

“This is a knife, and this is scissors, this one is a lever tool, and this is called a screwdriver—look at the tip. I noticed you have lots of things that can be tightened, so you definitely need a screwdriver. You don’t have anything like this on your planet. And one more! This is a hammer, this is pliers, and these are nails and bolts. You can make something like this from the metals on your planet! It’s for fastening wooden materials together!”

Aelfric gaped, accepting the box as if he had just been handed a treasure.

“Tools from another planet… these are incredibly useful! Thank you, Liuz, you really do understand me the most!” Aelfric said, getting emotional.

“I’m really going to miss all of you, my friends,” Liuz said warmly.

“When exactly are we leaving?” Rose asked, since she hadn’t discussed the departure time with Liuz beforehand.

“Right now! Let’s go home!” Liuz replied.

Suddenly, a spaceship slowed to a hover right above the palace, making everyone stare in shock at the strange craft they had never seen before. A beam of light descended, pulling Liuz and Rose upward.

“Goodbye, everyone!” Liuz called out.

Rose looked overwhelmed, barely having time to say her farewells.

“Everyone…! Goodbye! I’ll miss you all! Thank you…!” she shouted, her eyes glistening.

In the blink of an eye, both of them vanished into the spacecraft, which shot upward and disappeared into the sky.

“The telescope! Quickly, point it there!” Aelion said to Kaelish.

A faint reflection appeared—clearly visible through the star-scope-like device. A spaceship streaked past the planet’s gravitational field and shot into space before vanishing from sight.

“I hope someday you’ll be able to return, Liuz… Rose…!” Aelion said.

The sudden farewell left Rose looking visibly upset; she grew gloomy the moment they entered the spacecraft.

“Why didn’t you tell me we were leaving right now?” Rose grumbled.

“Too much preparation only makes things sadder. It’s better to disappear quickly—it hurts less,” Liuz explained.

Rose glanced at him, remembering how Liuz had once wanted to leave Earth immediately too, but back then she had been drunk and stopped him… and without any preparation, they ended up flying into space together.

“If you’re still sad, you can hug me,” Liuz offered.

“I don’t want to!” Rose refused instantly.

“Why not? Are you afraid I’ll ask you to marry me?”

Rose fell silent and didn’t answer.

“You really are an Earth girl! Have you ever thought about a serious relationship? Now I’m starting to think you’re just playing with me!” Liuz muttered.

“I…”

“What…?”

“I really do like you! I’m not playing with you!” Rose protested.

“Then…? You still won’t marry me, right? And you call that love… nonsense!” Liuz sulked.