Chapter 442: A Stubborn Wife Who Won’t Give Up

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Riven was still worried, he immediately approached her, extending his hands to help her stand, but Elisa shook her head.

"Wait, let me try!"

"Eh?"

She placed one hand against the ground and slowly began pushing herself upward.

It wasn’t easy.

Her balance was still somewhat unstable, and she had to rely on the mechanical armor to support her body. However, she wanted to do it herself, even if it took her several attempts.

Riven watched closely, ready to catch her if necessary, but he didn’t interfere.

One leg forward, then the other.

Slowly, she rose again.

"Ah...!"

She finally managed to stand, smiling proudly as she looked at Riven.

"See? I can do it!"

"That’s amazing, Elisa!"

"Hehehe!"

The mechanical armor around her legs helped her move seamlessly. The paralysis remained, but now, it slowly began to feel more and more natural.

There were still some strange sensations that she couldn’t quite explain. Sometimes, she felt as though she was moving her legs herself, while at other times, she could only feel the mechanical components responding to her intentions. But the more she moved, the easier it became to understand how the system worked.

She tried bending her knees, moving her feet, and shifting her weight from one side to the other.

The armor followed her movements.

It was almost like learning how to walk all over again.

With Riven’s help, she held his arm and slowly walked outside into the garden, on her own.

Every step required some concentration, but she was getting better. Riven stayed beside her, keeping his arm available whenever she needed additional support. He didn’t want to hold her too tightly or make her feel like she couldn’t move independently, so he simply walked at her pace.

When they finally reached the garden, Elisa stopped.

Her eyes brightened and sparkled under the sunlight as she felt the nice breeze and saw the grass waving in the wind.

The sunlight fell across her face, and she instinctively raised one hand to shield her eyes. She had spent so much time looking at the world from the perspective of someone sitting in a wheelchair that being able to stand and look around from a different height was an unexpectedly wonderful experience.

Even the smallest details seemed different.

The flowers growing along the edges of the garden, the trees moving with the wind, and the distant clouds drifting across the blue sky.

She could walk toward them.

She could approach them.

She could experience the world without constantly needing someone else to move her around.

Somehow, the world had changed completely, and before Elisa realized it, the world had regained its colors and beauty like she never thought possible.

"It’s a beautiful world, right?" she wondered, glancing into the blue skies and the passing clouds.

Riven shed a small tear as he heard her talking like that.

He had been looking at her with a smile, but those words made him pause for a moment.

Despite everything they’d endured together, despite everything this world had to offer.

From all the ugly things built by human hands, and born from the apocalypse itself.

This world... was indeed a beautiful world worth protecting.

He had seen countless terrible things since the apocalypse began. Monsters, mutants, people who had lost their humanity, and entire settlements destroyed by the dangers that surrounded them. There were so many things that could make someone hate this world, and he had experienced more than enough of them himself.

But there were also people like Elisa.

People who could still appreciate the simplest things, even after enduring so much suffering.

And perhaps that was why he continued doing what he did.

"Yeah," he nodded with a faint smile. "It really is a beautiful world."

He held her hand as Elisa chuckled, then she approached her lips toward his face and gave him a big smooch.

"Mwah!"

"Ahaha...!"

"Thank you, Riven...!" she said with a bright smile. "I-I don’t know what to do or say anymore. I... I want to walk more!"

She was practically overflowing with excitement, and Riven couldn’t help laughing as she began moving around the garden.

She ran around the garden, sometimes stumbling but quickly getting up herself.

Every time she managed to take a few more steps without falling, she became even happier. She tried walking faster, turning around, and moving in different directions, testing the limits of the machine and becoming increasingly familiar with its responses.

Riven was worrying to death as he watched her practicing her walking, but he didn’t intervene, letting her get used to the sensations and experiences of her new ability to walk.

He knew that she would probably fall several times, and that was perfectly fine. The armor was designed to protect her, and he had already made sure that its safety systems were functioning properly.

Even if the ability itself came with a lot of restraints and its own problems, he didn’t want to take away the fun from her at all.

There was still a long way to go before she could move as naturally as someone without paralysis, but that wasn’t something they needed to worry about right now.

For now, she could walk.

And she was happy.

He stared at her and then helped her walk somewhere, then let her go wild, running, falling, standing, and running again.

At some point, Elisa noticed a ball lying around in the garden. It seemed to have been left there by someone who had been playing with it before, and she immediately became interested.

"Riven! What’s that?"

"Hm? Oh, that’s a soccer ball."

"Soccer?"

"Yeah. Do you want to play?"

"Can I?"

"Of course!"

Riven picked up the ball and gently kicked it toward her.

Elisa watched it roll across the grass before attempting to stop it with her foot. The first attempt wasn’t particularly successful, as she moved her leg too quickly and ended up sending the ball in the opposite direction.

"Ah! It went away!"

"It’s fine! Try again!"

"Hehehe! Okay!"

And so, they started playing soccer, kicking a ball and trying to catch it.

At first, Elisa struggled to control her movements, but the machine adapted to her intentions as she continued practicing. She eventually managed to kick the ball properly, sending it rolling toward Riven.

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