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I slowly opened my eyes.

It was deep night.

The sound of crickets filled the air, and an owl hooted somewhere.

The normally unheard sound of the river flowed through this profound stillness.

How long had I been asleep?

I couldn’t tell, but it felt like I had woken from a refreshing and deep slumber.

The blanket was pulled all the way up to my neck, and someone was nestled in my arms.

This was the first time experiencing such a situation since arriving in this land.

Yet for some reason, the person who had entered my arms felt so utterly natural.

I didn’t even need to look down to know who she was.

Her distinctive floral scent claimed my attention more insistently than my gaze could.

I could tell she was awake.

She seemed to know that I was awake too.

“…Thinking back on it now,”

I muttered to her.

Vivian nodded slowly as if she had expected me to wake up.

“…I feel like you’re the reason I survived.”

“…”

“You were my goal. If you hadn’t been here, I would have crumbled… It was because of you that I tried.”

It was a thought that became clearer even in the midst of dreaming.

It was true that she was alive because of me, but I was also alive because of her.

I know how helpless one can become when they lose their purpose.

There were countless fears around me, and countless hostile glares.

In such moments, I focused solely on Vivian.

Just like when climbing to a high place, I didn’t look down but concentrated on the ledge I needed to grab; I ignored all foes and focused only on Vivian.

Vivian wriggled closer into my embrace.

Even without exchanging words, this distance felt so perfectly natural.

I looked down at Vivian.

“…How many days was I sleeping?”

“…20 days.”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“That’s quite a long nap.”

Vivian muttered as if blaming something.

“…So…”

I scrutinized Vivian’s face.

It seemed she had been through quite a mental ordeal recently.

She looked far more haggard than I remembered.

Moreover, distinct tear stains decorated her eyes.

I chuckled softly and asked,

“You cried, didn’t you?”

Normally, this would be something to celebrate for winning a bet, but the fact that she cried over my situation warmed my heart more.

The loneliness faded knowing she worried for me.

She had forced herself not to cry, vowing never to lose to me, but she broke down only after I collapsed.

This brought an odd sense of satisfaction.

Vivian rubbed her eyes and shook her head.

Desperately trying to hide her tear stains from me, she wiped them away.

“…I wasn’t crying.”

“You weren’t crying? Yeah right. Those tears marks are clearly visible.”

Vivian boldly retorted.

“Did you even see them?”

“The evidence is pretty solid.”

“So, did you see them or not?”

“…I didn’t see them.”

“…See? I wasn’t crying.”

Having sufficiently rubbed her face, Vivian then looked up at me.

I matched her gaze, lowering my head.

Our foreheads were almost touching, and our breaths were already mingling.

“And if I said I was crying… would you leave me?”

Vivian asked.

She had asked me a similar question before.

It must have been at the ballroom.

Did she ask me if I still missed home?

She had hinted at whether I would leave.

But the expression she wore now was different from then.

There was a strange confidence brimming in her face.

“…”

I couldn’t understand how she was able to read my heart so well.

In the end, I smiled and shook my head.

“…I won’t leave.”

…Not now.

Still, right now, I can’t just leave.

If my heart could change just because I was a bit hurt, I wouldn’t have bothered eating in the first place.

“…See?”

Vivian tightened her embrace around me and said.

“You’re mine, Kyle. You can’t go anywhere without my permission. Not even to hell.”

“At least call it heaven.”

She shook her head.

Her soft hair tickled my body.

“You absolutely have to go to hell. I’ll… be going to hell too.”

“…”

We lay in silence for a while.

But then I realized something I had missed; Vivian was wearing nothing but her underwear.

With that sudden realization, I lifted the blanket, and Vivian panicked, covering her body.

Even her gestures to cover up seemed sensual.

“C-Cover me with the blanket.”

I understood that it was done to share warmth, but the fact that she voluntarily did this, blushing, shook me.

Her body was more exposed than ever. Firm legs. A flat stomach. Wide hips.

Even though Vivian was embarrassed, I didn’t hesitate to let my eyes wander over her body.

I felt a desire to bite every part of her.

The definition of femininity lay right before my eyes.

She looked like a sculpture.

“…Want to do it?”

I asked thoughtlessly.

“Huh?”

“Let’s do it.”

Didn’t they say that desire explodes right before death?

I pulled Vivian beneath me, supporting myself with my arms as I looked down at her.

“A-Are you insane? My body isn’t healed yet!”

“So you’d rather wait until your body is okay?”

“That, that’s not it! I-I’ve already said I wouldn’t… that I won’t do it with you…”

Vivian bit her lip, then coldly snapped, avoiding my gaze.

“…Don’t tarnish me, Kyle.”

“…”

Her words chilled my thoughts.

This is definitely not okay.

It seemed like it’s just not supposed to happen.

Maybe because I had already resolved to leave, it felt easier to suppress my desires now.

I suddenly came to my senses and realized what I was about to do.

I clicked my tongue and lay back down on the bed.

Vivian, what on earth was she thinking, after saying that, shamelessly wiggled back into my arms.

If she didn’t want to do this, then why pull this move?

However, since the feeling of Vivian snuggling into my embrace felt too good, I accepted her without a word.

We continued to lie there for a while.

“…Don’t ever do something reckless like this again.”

“Did I want to? I was ambushed.”

“…What was said that tricked you into that?”

“Kelsy said she was being assaulted, so I went to check, why?”

Vivian ground her teeth.

“…Why would you sacrifice yourself for someone like Kelsy? Don’t you know she hates you?”

“Is that the same thing? I just… wanted to keep my conscience clear.”

A chuckle or a smirk, something in between, burst from Vivian.

“People would be shocked to hear that. A rebel like you with a conscience?”

“Do you think the same?”

She shook her head.

“…No. I know you. You’re probably the only one with a conscience wide enough to meddle.”

Taking a deep breath, Vivian mumbled.

“And thank you, Kyle. Even till now… I’ve survived because of your meddling.”

“It’s nice to hear that after almost dying. Getting such words from you.”

This time, Vivian let out a genuine laugh.

She sank deeper into my arm, burying her face in my neck and taking a deep breath.

I could feel the softness of her features against my neck.

I couldn’t hold back any longer and wrapped her tightly in my embrace.

Vivian also accepted me this time.

“…Kyle. Just hold on a little longer with me.”

Was it because it was night that made us more emotional? Both she and I continued a conversation we wouldn’t normally have.

In a whisper, she murmured.

“…I’m almost back on my feet. The tide has changed. If we take down the Korod family, we’ll gain momentum.”

“I heard there’s someone helping Count Korod.”

“…If we catch that guy as well, it will be over.”

Vivian lightly pecked my neck a couple of times and continued.

“Once that’s sorted, no one will dare target me again. I’ll regain the former standing of the Rondore family. No, maybe I’ll rise even higher. The one who revived the collapsed Rondore family and Roktana, ‘Vivian Rondore’. What do you think? Just by hearing it, people will start to follow me, right?”

“That makes sense.”

“…And when that time comes,”

A gentle smile bloomed on Vivian’s face like a bright flower.

It was still a smile that took my breath away.

“…”

Vivian chose her next words carefully.

“When that time comes, let’s go have some fun together. The monster hunting before was fun, but it was dangerous, running from dragons… stargazing every night… and dancing that we haven’t finished. Don’t you think?”

She poured out plans she must have thought about for some time.

The end of our long suffering started to become visible on the horizon.

The end of the lengthy darkness we had pierced together.

It seemed Vivian was envisioning the happiness that lay beyond it.

We wouldn’t have to worry about dying anymore, nor would we need to yield in humiliation and be ignored.

“Even if that’s not the case, just going out to the plains to feel the wind, eating freshly baked bread, and maybe drinking some, wouldn’t that sound fun?”

Vivian looked as happy as one could see, ranking among the happiest faces I’d witnessed.

Even in this darkness, her red eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“…”

I hesitated for a moment, choosing my words.

But ultimately, deciding to not shatter her happy dream, I said.

“…Yeah. Let’s do that.”

However, the words I genuinely wanted to say were different.

Those words left unspoken, I silently conveyed them to her.

…But Vivian,

When that time comes,

When we break through the deep darkness together and achieve peace,

I embraced Vivian even tighter.

…I probably won’t be there.

 

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