Ch.15618100428 (3)

“Thank you.”

“……”

“Everything you’ve done for me has been my salvation.”

Tears were already flowing down.

The thin line crossing her pale cheek was soaking the pillowcase.

Similarly, the dew of the rose touched the boy’s palm.

The girl bit her lip and spoke.

“I’m happy… and that makes me anxious.”

The rose blooming in the night sky was precarious.

As if hoping for some answer, her wet eyes fully captured the boy’s golden hair.

“What if this is all just a dream?”

“Your Highness…”

Elise was anxious.

Afraid that if she fell asleep tonight, nothing would remain.

That the sweet reality would scatter between dreams, and she would once again open her eyes in a dark room.

That Judas wouldn’t be by her side.

“……”

A vivid loneliness.

After a moment’s pause, the boy whispered to the delicate petal.

If everything reflected in your eyes was merely a dream…

“…then I will protect your dream.”

So that you never wake from it.

So that your paradise continues forever, even that way.

“I will stay in your night.”

A calm voice.

Words that were, in some ways, even affectionate.

The rose’s heart was stained by such resonance.

The snake wiped her tear-filled cheeks and spoke.

“Didn’t I tell you? That I would make you happy.”

“Hehe… Yes. You’ve always been that way.”

Elise burst into a small laugh.

The smile that bloomed through her tears resembled forget-me-nots at dawn.

Because dewdrops were forming on them.

-That’s because.

-I want you to be happy.

-For you, definitely a happy ending.

The girl recalled the promise.

The savior who came into her life.

The person who reassured her that he wouldn’t leave.

Her lips pronounced what she had suddenly realized.

“Thanks to you… I came to love the world.”

A world she had only hated.

He had turned around a time filled with resentment, so he was everything that had gifted her life.

To the point where she couldn’t even imagine a world without the boy anymore.

Elise’s heart sank deeply.

She slowly raised her sprawled body.

“So.”

“Your Highness…?”

The distance narrowed.

Following him, his body temperature, scent, and voice became clearer.

Though they had made close contact during every treatment, it was the first time she had approached him like this herself.

The rose embraced the boy’s shoulders with a whimsical sentiment.

Of course, she didn’t stop there.

“Chu…”

She kissed his nape.

Lips that touched lightly and then parted.

Yet the moment felt as long as eternity.

The sensation that made her cheeks burn, the boy’s addictive warmth, and the scent that brushed her nose bleached her mind white.

Her pounding heart was already about to burst.

Like mimicking her own dampness, Elise’s cheeks were bright red.

Drip-

A tear fell onto Judas’s nape.

She didn’t want to miss even such a scene.

The rose carefully removed her lips.

Their gazes crossed.

“Judas.”

The girl now knew.

What the name was for this feeling that made her so dizzy, so happy.

It was something she had learned from the person right in front of her.

“Someday, I have something I want to tell you.”

“…What is it?”

“It’s a secret for now.”

But.

I shouldn’t convey it hastily.

‘I still don’t know you yet.’

Judas kept many things hidden.

He wasn’t the type to reveal himself to others.

She couldn’t even know what kind of story he held.

In such a situation, she had no intention of complicating things for him with unnecessary desires.

She planned to approach him over time.

-Do you know about taming?

-It’s a word that completely weaves relationships between people.

Yes.

Just as the boy had taught her once.

Slowly taming, forming relationships.

‘I… have come to love you.’

The freshness of spring filled a corner of the petal.

The girl held a faint smile.

Completely swallowing her inner thoughts, she leaned against the boy’s shoulder again.

Her lips overlapped with his nape, repeating what had happened just before.

Her mouth opened slightly.

“Chu…”

This time she stayed a little longer.

Just about a minute at most.

Sticky saliva.

A sweet thrill spread from the tip of her tongue.

Teeth marks left on his skin, and a reddish trace suggesting something.

Afterward, Elise, separated from the boy, caressed her own lips as if recalling his warmth.

And then whispered in his ear.

“I will always be by your side.”

Just as you have been for me.

That’s right.

“My life… belongs to you.”

On the bed where dawn had settled.

The boy and girl, embracing each other as if intertwined, were waiting for the starlight outside the window to fade.

The rose would never forget such a beautiful night for the rest of her life.

The mark she had left on his neck.

***

The night just before dawn.

After confirming that Elise had fallen into deep sleep, I was finally able to leave the bedroom.

The sky without a single cloud was filled only with starlight.

Since the dawn air was also pleasantly cool, I headed to the nearby garden.

I intended to take a light stroll.

“……”

Step, step-

Leaves rustling with each step I took.

Until just a few weeks ago, this garden would have been covered in snow, but now it was a nest of life with sprouting buds.

Just by taking a deep breath, I could feel the rich scent of soil and the season.

Spring is really coming.

I smile at the childish sentiment.

“Hmm.”

While savoring a moment of leisure, my hand suddenly moves to my nape.

It was the spot where Elise had left a mark.

“I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”

It was quite unexpected for the rose to approach me.

I thought I would be the one to leave a mark, not her biting my nape first.

I stroke the reddish trace with my fingertips and mutter.

‘A lot has happened.’

Especially today, she must have been emotionally shaken.

Even if she was being clingy, it was within the allowable range.

“I suppose it’s fine.”

Whoosh-

I brush back my bangs with the passing wind.

I was alone in the scenery where stars were falling.

At times like this, I tend to become sentimental and get lost in various thoughts.

In today’s case, I was reflecting on a certain scene.

A scene from a few hours ago.

-Charlotte. Elise.

-Wait… may I embrace you both.

-Thank you for growing up so well… I’m sorry I couldn’t be by your side…

An ending beyond tragedy.

It was also a beautiful moment because they never gave up.

It was enough to be the climax of the episode.

But the bitter point was…

‘That no tears flowed.’

Clearly.

My heart was pierced with pain.

Memories were about to overflow, and emotions raised even more foam.

Yet not even a trace of moisture gathered in my eyes.

Was it because of dried-up emotions?

Had I become numb to sadness?

Or if not that…

‘…No.’

I shake off unnecessary thoughts.

There was no progress in focusing on such things.

Right now, it was enough to feel relief that things had gone smoothly, and pride in the children who had deviated from the original story.

I stopped against the backdrop of falling stars.

“Huff…”

My insides were churning.

Was it the delayed reaction from overusing my life force?

I was fine until I was lying in bed, but it seemed the reaction came immediately after moving a bit.

I crouch down with staggering legs.

And then I cough with suppressed breath.

“Cough…!”

Blood stains falling on the grass.

It was light hemoptysis.

It seemed to be an internal injury sustained during the process of breaking the curse.

Normally I would have recovered by now, but recovery was slow due to my precarious life force.

It seemed I would need to drink some potions for a while.

I needed to regain my original physical condition within a week at the latest.

There were many things to come.

“Haa, haa…”

Rough breathing after prolonged coughing.

Only after completely spitting out the refluxing blood could I calm my insides.

I lightly clean my soiled mouth and sleeve with a lie.

‘Fortunately no one saw.’

It was fortunate that there were no watching eyes.

If the other children had been here, they would have surely made a fuss and put me in a wheelchair like before.

I quietly feel relieved.

Step-

Just as I finished the rough cleanup and was leisurely rising from my spot.

As if mocking my complacency, I heard a presence behind me.

“Judas.”

A familiar voice.

I instinctively pause and answer the call.

“Your Highness…?”

Charlotte.

Looking back, there was a platinum-blonde girl staring at me.

She must have approached during a moment when I let my guard down.

“Are you feeling unwell again…?”

“Ah.”

Eyes of a strangely sad light.

That gaze was fixed on my sleeve, which until just before had been stained with blood.

“……”

I could only remain silent.

Muttering grievances with a mouth I hadn’t opened.

No.

Why do you have to appear at a time like this?