I reincarnated as an elf .......and married the yandere villainess.-Chapter 35:Self destruction

Atheline didn’t stop until the forest started to thin around him. The twisted trees had turned straight and the air smelled of jasmine.

Her scent. He didn’t even know which part of the forest he was in. The wind had carried him blindly as he guided his power forward.

He stopped at a small clearing his breath ragged as he looked around but only trees and the blue sky.

’It’s past noon’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He walked around trying to feel in control but it didn’t help. His mind wouldn’t stop moving.

".. Queen... Villainess...haa.." he muttered over and over under his breath.

He subconsciously bit the inside of his mouth until he tasted iron.

Everything felt wrong.

’Just where had I gone wrong? I shouldn’t have thought with my dick... but...’

"...No."

He shook his head and kept walking forward faster, blindly.

"She’s not.."

His voice choked.

"... she’s not like that."

The wind around him moved in confusion as though not knowing how to respond to his erratic emotions. Atheline had always been calm and this was something his power couldn’t even react to or place.

The wind didn’t know what to do.

Atheline himself didn’t know what to do he was too confused to think straight.

He just walked forward, running away.

His core shook the cracks that had eventually closed and started to reappear with each little breakdown.

"At the training ground, the way she fought..."

His steps slowed.

".. the way they looked at her. Gosh am I this stupid... or just blind"

His chest tightened. He grabbed his robe around his chest twisting the cloth as though it was his own heart.

Atheline felt like crying but he didn’t know how to even do that.

An incredible sadness filled him as he walked. His gaze moved up to the sky.

’Why didn’t she tell me?’

No answer, only the rustling of leaves. He stepped on a stick the cracking sound filling the quiet surroundings.

In the quiet of his mind, Atheline came to a very disturbing creeping realisation. She never had to tell him anything at all.

At that moment, he froze. The singing of birds and the occasional roars of animals had quieted down.

That was when his wandering mind came back to him. He looked up.

Infront of him was a place he was a place he was totally familiar with. A step away the ground was fully black. There wasn’t any grass or plants on the soil.

A border for something darker.

Another forest stood in front of him. Unlike the former which had grass and looked like an overgrown tropical forest, the forest in front of him was just plain dark.

Only dark trees stood without a single leaf hanging on their branches. The ground was plain and mist poured out of the forest and stopped at the border.

Atheline stared at it. He knew the place, everyone did. No one entered and anyone who entered never came back alive.

’You’re self-distracting Atheline’

The thought passed through his mind but he pushed it back with a weak excuse.

"I just need to think," he said.

But he stepped forward anyway.

.

.

.

.

The moment Atheline crossed the boundary the trees opened as if providing him a road into the forest a temptation that proved too hard to resist in his confused state.

He glanced back at the dangerous yet familiar forest and shook his head.

"They’re probably still there..."

He didn’t want to think about anything at the moment. He stepped into the path. Behind him, the forbidden forest closed and returned to its normal self signs of his entry having disappeared unless careful searching.

The moment Atheline was inside the forest, the wind that was always beside him and inside of him died. Completely.

Atheline froze a frown on his face.

"What?"

He raised his hand converted Aether directed in his hand but nothing happened. There wasn’t even a small breeze.

Atheline’s heart skipped a beat, for the first time in years, his element wasn’t responding to him.

A flicker of panic rose but he pushed it down.

"Okay, that’s not funny," he muttered to himself.

He tried again, harder this time.

A faint gust started to form but before he could even celebrate it, it collapsed on him.

He tried to summon again but the wind seemed to have completely vanished.

Atheline looked behind him but everywhere looked the same. Slowly, he followed his steps back but it was only a minute later that he realised he was going in circles.

He took a deep breath and looked at the front where the mist had fully covered.

He knew he should try harder to find the exit, find a way to ask for help but Atheline didn’t, he just couldn’t.

’I’ve already tried leaving anyway’

Despite the fear, panic, and pain he was feeling at the moment, he stepped forward into the mist drawn by something he himself couldn’t understand.

".. just... one thing at a time..." he muttered.

Despite the small reassurance, Atheline knew nothing would ever be the same. His carefree sheltered noble life had eventually come to an end, the reality of the world had finally caught up to him.

.

.

.

Through the forest, the only things he saw were large shadows that eventually morphed into trees. He had expected to be attacked but nothing happened.

The forest was surprisingly normal except for the trees. The sense of normalcy allowed his mind to wander back to Lily.

"Was it all a lie, a game for her," he mummbled, "Is this the end?"

He burst out in laughter but it turned into a suppressed sob, and he didn’t even understand his own emotions. He couldn’t cry even when he felt his heart was being torn apart.

Atheline didn’t have a sense of time as he moved forward. He had been walking for a while when he saw a small light in front of him.

He hesitated but at that moment, the ground trembled, and then a large crack appeared right under him.

Atheline jumped back, his body strength propelling him despite the lack of his power.

"What in the world?"