The Thirty-Fifth Tale

The moment she opened her eyes, Hyerim was openly welcomed by the sun's rays that seeped through the rustling leaves of a gigantic oak tree.

She had been very lost when she had first found herself in the peaceful forest, with floras and faunas of all sorts of kind. She swore that she had seen a fairy and a gnome zip past her, but quickly shoved the thought aside.

She never really questioned how she got here, nor did she once question the existence of the man with ram horns on his head.

She noted that he spent most of his afternoons reading under an old willow tree.

One time, she had sat next to him, grabbing a thick book from above one of his piles to figure as to what was so interesting about sitting all day long and reading incessantly.

She gave up, not even halfway.

"You spend your time reading all these books. Don't you ever get bored?" she huffed.

The man shot her a look. "I've been reading for the past five hundred years, girl. Never have I ever felt bored reading these books."

She blinked her eyes, craning her neck to stare at him. "Are you a spirit?"

"Close, but not quite," he replied, not trailing his eyes off the book. "A proper term would be a guardian, girly."

"Guardian... does that mean you take care of books or something? And I have a name you know, it's Hyerim."

"You could say that..." he murmured. He closed his book and looked at her in the eye. 

Hyerim crossed her arms. "What?"

The man pointed at a distance. "Ever since you came here, lime trees have all began flourishing the forest."

She raised an eyebrow. "Your point?"

The man sighed. "You're not Hyerim anymore, girl. You're a guardian," he almost spat. "Guardians are born in this forest; they each have a duty that they must fulfil. Yours, it seems, is to protect and nourish the lime trees of the planet, and to ensure that they all thrive peacefully."

Hyerim was silent, scrunching her face in deep thought. She never noticed that the man had placed his hand on top of her head until he spoke.

"Lime."

"What?" she frowned.

"Lime. A befitting name for you, is it not? Start anew, girl. Make new memories. Cherish this new chance of life," the man spoke in a flat tone; a tinge benevolence in his voice.

Salty tears silently poured from her eyes. She knew how cruel and unpleasant her previous life had been. She knew how she had made rash decisions and took even the smallest things for granted.

But now... she was determined. She was going to make the most out of this new life and make sure to properly do her job. She was going to make sure of it.

Lime wrapped her arms around the man, who froze before awkwardly patting her in the head.