Previously
Mercedes recalls how she murdered Caesar's previous four wives, viewing their deaths as acts of protection or divine gifts. Irenia trains with Richard to control her 'Insight of Fate,' learning that elves like Richard are naturally drawn to dragons like Caesar due to their mana.
I had to put on an act to make it happen. First, I pretended I was on the verge of death after falling into the pond, utterly traumatized by Elda's passing.
I shut myself in my room for days, refusing food and drink, acting as though I had completely lost my senses. I spent hours every day in the chapel praying and suppliant, merely to pass the time and show I was drowning in despair.
I had to look like someone who had lost her mind entirely.
My haggard face was Delfina's handiwork. She drew subtle shadows along my cheeks and cheekbones, skillfully smudging beneath my eyes until I looked as if I hadn't slept in days.
When Giovinetta came to visit, I knew the time had arrived. So I played my part with everything I had, feigning utter terror…
‘Mercedes will surely try to kill me.’
Mercedes was truly dangerous; she had already caused the deaths of five people. The hatred she bore toward me was glaring. It would be no surprise for her to take action against me, anytime and by any means.
What I needed was evidence to condemn Mercedes. Last time, when Elda tried to kill me, there was no proof, so the blame fell upon me.
‘Then I must catch her red-handed.’
At the very moment she attempts to kill me. That is the undeniable proof.
For that reason, I resolved to present the bait. And I am the bait she cannot resist.
I was certain Mercedes would make her move once she learned I went out alone every night.
She had tried before to kill me through Elda, but Elda was no more.
So she would have to act on her own. She surely wanted to be rid of me once and for all.
I will wait for her to take the bait… slowly, until she swallows the hook entirely.
Carrying those thoughts, I went to sleep that day.
I was walking… Where was I? I looked up at the sky; night had fallen. The moon was full, unusually large and luminous.
I had a purpose… I had to go somewhere… But why? Where?
My body moved against my will, indifferent to my thoughts.
With stumbling steps, I arrived at a place I knew well… by the pond.
Where one of the candidates for the Third Prince's bride was killed, and where Elda had tried to take my life before.
I sat down there and began digging at the dirt with my bare hands.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind me:
“Die, you wretched whore!”
A searing pain ripped through my flank, as though a bar of molten iron had pierced me.
For a moment, I couldn't move…
“Ah… ah…”
When I opened my mouth, thick, dark blood gushed out.
I could do nothing but clutch my collapsing body.
“Mer… cedes…”
I reached toward her, but she met me with a sharp blade tearing mercilessly into my stomach, again and again.
“Die! Die! Hee-hee!”
The agony was unbearable…
“Ren! Wake up!”
At that familiar voice, my eyes flew open.
“Aaaah!”
Screaming, I bolted upright in panic. I felt my stomach where I had been stabbed in the dream, but there was nothing. No blood, no wounds.
Still unable to believe it, I ran my hands over my side repeatedly.
“Ren…?”
Caesar called my name softly. He was the one who had awakened me this time as well, looking at me with eyes full of concern.
“C-Caesar?”
I blinked several times, unable to grasp reality. What I had just seen was a Prophetic Vision granted to me by the Insight of Fate.
The thought of death made nausea abruptly surge within me.
“Ugh…”
Unable to hold back, I leaned over the side of the bed, dry-heaving empty air. Nothing came up, but fever flared across my face, and tears welled in my eyes.
“Hah… hah…”
I had dreamed of other people's deaths before… and that had been agonizing enough.
Yet today's dream was of my own death… being stabbed.
My entire body trembled, and a chill racked through me.
I could not shake the shock. I knew the Insight of Fate showed nothing but the truth…
And that truth was suffocating me.
As if I had been sentenced to die.
“Ah… ah…”
Suddenly, it felt as though my lungs were collapsing. I tried to draw breath, but it was impossible, as if a massive boulder were blocking my airway.
My mouth and nose felt sealed by heavy lead. That dead weight crushed down upon my chest, and I couldn't breathe.
“Ren! What's wrong?”
Caesar noticed my strange state, grabbing and shaking me with worry.
Yet I could not answer.
“Ah… ah… cough…”
I opened my mouth desperate for air, but none rushed in.
Worse still, I seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
“Ah… ah…”
How do people breathe? I forgot how!
Panic seized me; I tried to cough, but only a muffled sound escaped my throat.
My tears spilled over.
My fingertips went numb.
My head began to spin. My lungs were screaming for oxygen.
I clutched at my chest, burning with pain.
“Cough… ah…”
Everything spun around me, and my consciousness began to fade.
I saw the ceiling…
‘Am I going to die like this? After everything I did to survive? Just like that?’
With that, my eyes drifted shut.
*******,*
Then, I felt a breath…
It saved me. It seeped into my lungs.
Like a cool breeze moistening a parched throat.
I clung to it with every shred of my will to live.
That breath of air cleared the path, and the air I had been holding back burst forth:
“Haaah! Hah… hah!”
As oxygen rushed back into my head, a terrible headache struck.
I opened my eyes, but before I could process anything, I felt a touch on my lips.
Soft, warm, enchanting.
I held onto it, unable to pull away.
With it, a sense of safety returned.
Slowly, my senses began to return.
I inhaled the air, yet my head was still clouded.
What had happened to me? Gradually, blood flowed back into my limbs, and warmth returned to my fingers.
I opened my eyes once more, and the first thing I saw was Caesar's long eyelashes.
Their shadows were so thick and beautiful that I could only stare.
Then his face drew closer again, and I unconsciously closed my eyes.
The scent of Lavender drifted over me.
After that recent incident in the bath, it seemed he had begun paying more attention to his hygiene…
The thought brought a faint smile to my face.
I felt his hand brushing the back of my neck.
It was warm—or perhaps I was simply too cold.
Then, our lips met once more.
They were tender, like a scrap of soft silk…
And in that moment, I could think of nothing else except:
How truly wonderful this felt.
Yet it was a dangerous feeling…
Even so, all thought melted under this gentle warmth,
and nothing remained in my mind except… stillness.
I merely received the incoming air, inhaling slowly, exhaling, and drawing it in again. My strength began to slacken, as though every muscle in my body had surrendered to tranquility. I gently opened the eyes I had closed.
“Hah…”
I breathed out a heavy sigh that had been trapped in my chest without me realizing. The moment it escaped, Caesar's face drew near once more, and at that instant the fog in my mind cleared, my half-open eyes widening in astonishment.
“W-Wait, just a moment…”
Just what on earth had we been doing?
I began to piece things together slowly. I remembered I had been suffocating… and then, after that…
“Ah, ah…”
Just then, Caesar's lips brushed against my cheek; he was hovering over me, gazing down into my face from above. His gaze was pure, innocent, untouched by any blemish.
His face, innocent to the point of childishness, made me feel as if I were the only one reading another meaning into what had happened, while he appeared not to have thought anything of it at all.
“C-Caesar? I… I'm fine now.”
Caesar did not answer, merely offering an innocent smile and that gentle gaze carrying nothing but solace. Trapped between his arms, I didn't know what to do with myself, flustered and stammering.
“It's, it's just that I… I couldn't breathe…”
He had saved me from suffocating. What he had done was nothing more than an attempt to save my life, entirely devoid of any hidden intentions. Yet, as usual, I was the only one reading too much into the situation.
I tried to push his body away.
“Ah, uh…”
His frame was solid and unyielding; it didn't budge an inch. From where I lay beneath him, looking up, his lips seemed so very close… those rosy lips…
Those lips that had… just touched mine…
And according to what people called it, that was…
FADE OUT