Chapter 158
“What… are you so worried about? The healing spell is complete.”
Ah, but something felt off.
Why did her body still feel so cold?
Beneath the shimmering green light, a man with deep green eyes gazed down at her, his expression on the verge of tears.
As she reached out to brush his cheek, Siren felt as if she were sinking into the depths of the earth. And in that drowsy moment, she murmured softly—
I love you.
I love you, she said.
It was the first time in a thousand years that Yasamin had heard her confession.
Some emotions are cruel.
They shake everything to the core, yet take no responsibility.
Seven days had passed since the reversal spell succeeded.
During that time, the South had undergone immense change.
Except for those whose heads had been crushed, throats severed, or hearts ripped out beyond any possibility of revival, the ‘ordinary infected’ had returned to their human forms.
Broken bones mended, spilled organs realigned, and severed limbs regenerated.
Some people became somewhat dull or sluggish, while others found their physical abilities enhanced—some even grew more intelligent.
The results varied depending on how the spell had been reversed and how the infection had originally taken hold, making it impossible to analyze every case individually.
One could only accept it as it was.
Caring for the bewildered was left to the hundred elite warriors and Jin, who had remained at the royal castle—a fortunate turn of events.
For Yasamin had not moved an inch from the depths of the palace, where he held the unconscious Siren in his arms.
“Your Majesty, we have traveled across all of the South. Aside from their confusion, the people’s condition is remarkably stable.”
Jin appeared soundlessly, prostrating behind Yasamin as he delivered his report.
Yasamin did not respond. He merely clenched Siren’s ice-cold hand tightly.
“I will now depart for Idoros to assess the situation there and report on the miracle that has taken place in the South.”
“…Go.”
The infected were gone.
The curse that had gripped the scorching land for countless years was lifted.
And yet, why did Siren—why did Aquafuran—still not awaken?
Unable to comprehend, Yasamin gritted his teeth so hard they threatened to shatter.
He could not accept it. He did not want to accept it.
She had said she loved him.
How cruel, for her final words to be “I love you.”
“You wouldn’t make me wait another thousand years this time, would you?”
If that were the case, then just die.
‘So I can follow you.’
His chest caved in.
The heart he had barely pieced back together was trampled so thoroughly that not even a trace remained.
Like grass ripped up by its roots, despair consumed him. He wept within his heart, screaming soundlessly.
The absence of any outward reaction was, in truth, far more dangerous.
The emotions he had suppressed and repressed were on the verge of exploding.
Yasamin finally realized the limits of his patience.
‘Ah, perhaps I should simply destroy everything you cherish, even ruin myself in the process.’
So that when you awaken, you find nothing left.
Or should I end my life before your eyes instead?
Wouldn’t that be better?
I’ll wait like this until you open your eyes.
Be it a thousand years or ten thousand. Just like this…
“……!”
At that moment, just as Yasamin’s thoughts spiraled into destruction and cruelty—
A faint tremor.
Delicate, pale fingers quivered ever so slightly.
Though it was not a grand movement, Yasamin, who had been watching only her, noticed it instantly.
“Siren!”
He called out loudly, clutching her hand—and for the first time, he felt warmth return to the fingers that had been as cold as ice.
Bloodshot eyes brimmed with tears, and in the end, he sobbed like a child.
Soundless, yet unstoppable.
“Sei. My Sei. My goddess. Open your eyes. Please. Wake up. Everyone else has come back—why are you still like this?”
His voice cracked with resentment.
Ah, my heartless love.
Clutching her hand and pressing his cheek against it, he watched as her eyelids faintly trembled. His chest swelled with joy.
Mere moments ago, he had thought of dying. But now that she was alive, he wanted to live.
If this was not a curse, then what else could it be?
Bound by an invisible leash, unable to move forward or back.
Yet he did not hate this life, tethered solely to her.
“…Ah.”
After a brief pause, bloodless lips parted, and a voice, thick with exhaustion, escaped like a sigh.
And unsurprisingly, it hurled him into a new abyss of despair.
“…Who… are you?”
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