Chapter 24
제24화
Come to think of it, the fact that I made a contract with the Castline family is a bit of a concern, but oh well.
The <Insignia of Gloriana> has already fallen into their hands anyway.
Once I’m dead and Imperial Consort Elaine is gone, those unconscionable princes will probably try to mess with Bibi, but the Duchy of Castline will take care of that on their own.
“I’m fine. …Now, Young Duke Raymon will be fine too.”
That’s right. If I die, he won’t even have to force a breakup. If I’d known things would turn out like this today, I wouldn’t have bothered worrying about the future.
I smiled, my eyes flickering as they grew dim. My vision was blurry.
I was so drowsy that I didn’t even know if my words were coming out properly. It felt as though if I closed my eyes, that would be the end.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
Is there any reason to hold on and not close my eyes here? There isn’t, is there?
Imperial Consort Elaine will finally be truly free. Raymon and the Castline family, who were tied to an unwanted fiancée, will also find peace.
Prince Adrian, with whom I formed a quasi-alliance, might feel a bit of regret, but since the connection we shared was shallow, he won’t be deeply grieved.
That’s right….
A resignation akin to rest spread through my chest like a mist. It was cold, as if my heart were freezing over.
Perhaps it would have been better for everyone if Titania had never been born.
I wasn’t unaware of this fact.
In this world, from the moment I regained my memories and first lifted my eyelids, I knew.
That ‘Imperial Princess Titania’ was a being who would never be welcomed anywhere.
That the memories of those I loved and who loved me were merely fragments of a past life.
“…That’s not true.”
I snapped out of it at a strange sensation I suddenly felt.
Bibi was gripping my hand tightly. As if she would never let go.
The blue eyes I suddenly met sparkled with determination.
“I—I’m not okay! I haven’t even repaid my life’s savior yet, so I can’t let you go like this!”
“…….”
“I—I am the daughter of the Duchy of Castline. We never forget a debt or a grudge; I must pay it back.”
With eyes brimming as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment, Bibi did not cry.
“Where in the world is there a person whose death is okay?”
Lovely Bibi.
Bibi, who never gives up at any moment.
Right, it’s because she’s this kind of girl that she’s the protagonist. A smile escaped me naturally. As expected, I don’t regret saving Bibi.
“…Yeah, thank you.”
Now I was truly, terribly sleepy.
To the point where it didn’t matter how anything turned out from here on.
“Wake up, wake up, Titania unnie! You mustn’t close your eyes!”
Faintly, my consciousness slipped away.
Was it just my imagination? In the distance, something seemed to explode, and I thought I saw Young Duke Raymon rushing toward me with an incredibly desperate face… as I…….
If the members of the Castline Duchy had one thing in common, it was their keen intuition.
After intimidating the Emperor with what was essentially a threat, Raymon used every means possible to scour the Imperial Palace.
After confirming that a young girl presumed to be Bibi had been spotted near the maze, he charged in without looking back.
He smashed through the central passage leading to the floor below.
After slaying the demon beasts that rushed at him with bared teeth in a single stroke, Raymon ran forward, his face crumbling with emotion despite himself.
The scent of blood wafted toward him.
His heart throbbed so dangerously it felt like it might burst. The moment he saw the scene before him, his heart plummeted.
“Big brother!”
A sobbing Bibi. And the girl who had lost consciousness while holding Bibi as if she would never let her go.
Raymon felt his mind go white.
Though she was covered in blood, Bibi was surprisingly fine. Only Titania was a mess.
From the deep gashes—just how much had she been mauled by the beasts?—vivid blood was still gushing out.
With hands that trembled despite himself, he gathered Titania into his arms.
Her face, which had always looked pale whenever he saw her, was today… as pale as a corpse.
He felt no weight from her at all. From the amount of blood pooled on the floor alone, it was certain that her life was hanging by a thread.
“…Imperial Princess Titania?”
Raymon felt a lump form in his throat.
It was strange. He had seen many sides of Titania over time. When they were younger, he had felt a faint sense of pity, but as they grew, it had gradually extinguished every time he dealt with her.
Since she had suddenly started showing a different side of herself, he had even wondered if she had been deceiving everyone all this time….
“Sa—Save unnie, big brother! Get a priest! She’s lost too much blood, right now….”
Now, nothing else came to mind.
He didn’t know why this person was dying in this state here.
Was he worried about Bibi?
Or Titania?
Was it just the shock of seeing a scene he hadn’t imagined?
He didn’t know. He couldn’t tell. Even though he had seen several people dying so miserably before…?
Raymon brought his trembling fingers to the tip of Titania’s nose.
…He felt nothing. He was terrified because the person held in his arms truly felt like a corpse.
Is she dead?
Just like this, so vainly?
“…Titania?”
Ironically, this very moment was the first time Raymon had ever called the Imperial Princess solely by her name.
It was right then.
Titania’s flickering eyelids opened once, then closed.
It was a fresh green, like a newborn sprout in a thousand-year-old field, like sunlight reaching the deepest bottom of a lake.
The heart that had surely stopped pulsing beat once more. Raymon caught his breath for a moment.
Was it a miracle?
Was it the final struggle of someone exerting their last strength before death? Either way, it didn’t matter.
“…Since it’s… okay…….”
It was a faint voice, like the cry of a dying bird.
“…Save… Bibi… first…….”
“…Save your strength; you must not sleep. Stay conscious.”
Raymon spoke through gritted teeth. He felt angry because the person in his arms was too light.
Surely, she was once a girl who would rage as if she wouldn’t be satisfied even if the most precious things in the world were laid at her feet.
Now that she was in a body that looked like it would breathe its last at any moment, why was she worrying about someone she had likely met for the first time today?
When blood is scarce, a person cannot think properly. Even more so for a critically ill patient whose life is at its limit.
The Imperial Princess Titania he had last seen….
Right. At the very least, she didn’t seem like the type to show such a side.
Even if her behavior had been somewhat incomprehensible, she had the aura of a noble person who would at least maintain her own dignity.
Why was the word she squeezed out with all her might in her final moment merely someone else’s name? Even until this moment?
Not the name of Raymon, whom she had claimed to love so much, nor the existence of her parents—as if none of it mattered at all…….
A misery he himself could not understand filled his lungs, and Raymon ran toward a priest with Titania in his arms, never looking back.
It was a sensation he was experiencing for the first time in his life.
[The Covenant of Rod (Род) is activated.]
…As the twilight has not yet ripened,
It is too early
For the veil of light to be withdrawn.
I am the dawn bird that dreams of spring
And endures the night.
I am the end of the dying
And the one who does not die.
Open your eyes, O living one,
For to you, the end is the night beyond the veil.
O seeker of choice,
You are the candle wick of the dawn.
[The death of the contractor ‘Titania’ is deleted.]
And while Titania drifted within death, she dreamed a dream of the past, the present, and the future.
It was inside a tower.
It was entirely desolate, as if the claim that it had been empty for nearly several hundred years were true.
Not a hint of warmth from a living being could be felt.
At the very least, there was only one being here breathing and alive.
Even that being was not in a normal state.
In a condition worse than a beggar abandoned in the slums, Titania stared into the air without a word.
A hazy form spoke to her from the air. It was a dry voice, rather than a seductive one.
—I shall grant your wish.
“…….”
—Shall I turn back time? Shall I make that man named Raymon love you? Do you wish to become the Emperor of the Empire? Do you want all those who looked down on you to kneel at your feet?
“…What happens if I don’t make a contract?”
Titania fell silent for a moment after hearing the other’s response.
“I…….”
Titania agonized.
Titania was envious of Bibi.
She was truly envious of her for receiving Raymon’s love.
But now….
“I want to meet… a proper family. I want to experience the love of proper parents. …And….”
She wanted to live properly.
Properly, without being swayed by anyone. She wanted to judge for herself and live her life.
At least in the right direction.
Like Bibi.
“…I want to try living again.”
That was the true desire Titania had buried deep within her heart.
