Chapter 59: Ok, Let’s get married

He’d received Estelle’s confession a few days ago.

She’d confessed her love, saying she couldn’t stop thinking about him, that she couldn’t live without him, and that she would do anything for him.

He knew her confession was sincere.

He knew she loved him and that she was willing to devote herself to him.

That was natural, because he also liked her.

A woman in her prime, whispering sweet nothings to him, always putting him first, acting for his sake.

Beautiful, kind, devoted, and lovable.

He was blessed to be loved by such a woman.

A woman he could spend his life with loved him.

However, precisely because of that, because she was such a good person, because she was someone who kept her promises, because he liked her… he didn’t accept her confession.

‘I can’t do that.’

He was living on borrowed time.

He could only live for 30 years at most. He couldn’t let a momentary emotion lead him to inflict a lifelong scar on Estelle.

Moreover, he was a flawed man who would forget all his feelings for her the moment this life ended.

If he retained his emotions, he would do everything to find her again, but without them, he would never… seek her out. Just like how he wasn’t looking for Ha-yeon now.

Rejecting her confession was heartbreaking, tearful, and suffocating, but it was the right thing to do, for both of them.

Even though it felt like his heart was being torn apart, watching her cry, he couldn’t deny that this was the right decision. There was no need to experience a predetermined tragic future.

He erased the love, suppressed the feelings.

‘I don’t like Estelle.’

He didn’t love Estelle.

They were just companions.

He had never liked her.

With each phrase he etched into his heart, tears streamed down his face.

‘I’m sorry.’

For being an idiot who couldn’t even remember his own feelings.

He’d let his guard down.

He’d been hit by the curse of Echidna, the Demon King’s last army commander, a curse she’d completed by pouring all her remaining energy and lifespan into it just before her death.

Distraught over Estelle, he’d been careless, and Echidna, having cursed him, died with a smile.

And the moment she died, his heart began to race uncontrollably.

“Yu-won!”

He lost consciousness, his last sight the faces of his companions, the people he cherished, rushing towards him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the countless people he had killed.

–You killed us.

–We just wanted to live…

–Why did I have to die…?

–I curse you for eternity, Kim Yu-won.

All the people he’d killed were dragging him down into the abyss.

The weight of his sins was too heavy, too viscous, for him to escape.

–Feel it too.

–The pain we felt…

–You have to feel it, killing your loved ones with your own hands…

It wasn’t just the people he’d killed.

–You promised to be my friend forever. Did you forget me?

–Didn’t you say you loved me?

–Yu-won, have you forgotten me?

The phantoms of past relationships also weighed him down, pulling him deeper.

He had to break free from them, to escape, but his body wouldn’t move.

His feet sank, his knees sank, his waist sank, his neck sank.

The darkness rose past his neck, covering his mouth, silencing his voice, covering his nose, erasing all scent.

It covered his ears, deafening him, and when it reached his eyes, he could no longer see.

With his last remaining sense of touch, he felt only a part of his head remained above the surface.

‘Is this the end…?’

Was this how this life would end, consumed by the curse-induced nightmare? He didn’t want this.

He didn’t want to die.

He’d known he would eventually lose his feelings for them. But not now.

He wasn’t ready to lose them. He had to survive, somehow.

Struggling, he managed to move one arm, pulling himself slightly above the surface of the nightmare.

But that was his limit. The rest of his body wouldn’t budge.

‘I don’t want to die… I haven’t even said goodbye…’

Just as his hand, which he’d pulled free with so much effort, was being dragged back down, something grabbed it.

A small, warm, yet strong hand.

It slowly began to pull him up.

When his eyes emerged from the darkness, he saw Estelle’s hand.

–Oppa…!

When his ears were free, he heard Estelle’s voice.

When his nose emerged, he smelled her sweet fragrance, the only pleasant scent in the blood-soaked abyss.

“Estelle!”

When his mouth was free, he cried out the name of the person he loved in this life.

With her help, he escaped the abyss and ascended towards the sky.

Countless specters tried to grab him, but each time, Ludric’s hand, Violeta’s hand, Luina’s hand pushed them away, helping him rise.

When he reached the sky, he briefly lost consciousness.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw… his companions, covered in blood and unconscious, and Estelle, with a hole in her abdomen, caused by his own hand.

“Uh…? Uh…?”

“Oppa… you’re finally awake…? Sleeping in so late…”

Even while coughing up blood, Estelle managed a smile.

“What… what have I done…?”

There were no enemies around.

They hadn’t suffered any significant injuries while fighting Echidna, whose power was primarily mental manipulation. Everyone should have been fine.

Which meant he alone was responsible for this carnage.

Consumed by the nightmare, he’d nearly killed his entire party.

Estelle’s injuries were particularly severe.

“Could you… pull your hand out…? I think I’m going to die…”

He pulled his hand out, and more blood gushed from the wound. She used most of her remaining divine power to heal herself, and the wound partially closed.

He caught Estelle as she collapsed, cleared the debris on the floor with his foot, and gently laid her down.

He had to ask.

“Why… didn’t you kill me…? You could have all died… It would have been better to just kill me…”

Even a ten-year-old knew that subduing someone was far more difficult than killing them.

If they’d used their full power, they could have easily killed him and wouldn’t have been injured like this.

Judging by their condition, they’d barely survived. If he’d regained consciousness even 10 seconds later, they would all be dead.

“How could we kill you, Oppa…? We would rather die than kill you to survive… You would have done the same for us…”

He couldn’t deny that. If Ludric, Luina, Violeta, or Estelle had gone berserk, he would have done everything to save them. He now understood why they hadn’t killed him.

“And… how could I kill the person I love…?”

“You…”

A few days ago, he’d said terrible things to reject her.

That he didn’t like her, that no one would accept her feelings, that he was disgusted by her, and that she should leave him alone.

He’d repeatedly said cruel things, hoping she would give up on him, hoping she would see him as a truly terrible person, someone unworthy of her love.

Yet, despite all that… she still said she loved him.

“Oppa… do you know how obvious you are when you lie? Your ears turn red, the usual sparkle in your eyes disappears, and you… fidget with your left index finger…”

She knew his unconscious habits.

“It hurt… hearing you say those things… It felt like nails were being driven into my heart… But then I thought…”

“What did you think…?”

“How much must it have hurt you, Oppa, to say those things to me…? Why would you, someone so kind, who’d never said a harsh word to us, go so far…?”

Her gaze was fixed on him.

“You like me too… but is there a reason… why you can’t accept my feelings…?”

She’d seen right through him.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke with a resolute expression.

“Yu-won, Oppa, I’ll say it again. I love you more than anyone in the world. I can’t live without you, and I’m willing to accept whatever circumstances you have.”

She reached out her weakened arm and grabbed his collar, pulling him closer.

“If you don’t accept my confession, I’ll bite my tongue off and die right here, then haunt you as a vengeful spirit for the rest of your life. So if you don’t want to commit the sacrilege of turning a Saintess into a ghost, just marry me.”

She said, covering his lips with hers.

‘Alright… I can’t hold back anymore.’

He didn’t want to think about the situation or anything else.

He felt like he couldn’t live without expressing these feelings.

Breaking the kiss, he declared,

“Okay. Let’s get married, Estelle.”

Before the surprised Estelle could respond, he covered her lips with his, starting another kiss.

He wouldn’t hold back anymore.

‘I love you, Estelle.’

More than anyone in this world.