Chapter 302
The silver button necklace around her neck bounced slightly with each step.
There was no number on the back, visible at a glance.
‘Is this… how it ends?’
The day the number disappeared, she hadn’t believed her eyes.
Maybe it was just invisible. Maybe the limit set by the divine was still approaching, quietly, step by step.
She had stayed awake through the night with such thoughts.
There were no shifts in the earth’s axis, no rivers flowing backward, no strangely radiant sunlight.
Freesia greeted the morning as ordinarily as ever.
Just like anyone else.
‘I’m not dead yet.’
She had once clung to Izar in tears, terrified of dying. But now that death hadn’t come, her head spun with the overwhelming realization that life suddenly held too many choices.
Yet, when she thought about what she wanted to do first, only one thing came to mind.
〈I’ll wait for you, Izar. For as long as it takes.〉
The very first thing was to continue the waiting that had once been sorrowfully cut short.
* * *
Izar was not lying in the underground lake, but in a sunlit bedroom.
He was naturally a strong man, but the accumulated fatigue over the years and the life-threatening injuries he had sustained made it difficult for him to open his eyes.
Sitting near his pillow, Freesia gently wiped his cheek as she thought,
‘If he hadn’t wandered around looking for me and Nova…’
If he hadn’t spent so long searching, would he have recovered more quickly than this?
Meanwhile, Nova crawled into the space beside Izar, whining softly.
“Papaaaa, Nova’s heree.”
Seeing the child’s innocent behavior brought a smile to Freesia’s lips, despite her exhaustion.
At first, she’d acted like a little rascal only around Izar, but now she clung to him without hesitation, and it was heartwarming to see.
“Nova, do you like Papa now?”
“Yeah!”
Nova nodded enthusiastically.
The father who had come to find her and saved her from frightening people was already a shining, star-like presence in her heart.
But as soon as she met Freesia’s gaze, she hurried to add,
“But I still like Mama more!”
“Hmm.”
“Nova likes Papa just a teeeeeny bit less than Mama… like by the tip of a fingernail.”
That basically meant she liked them equally.
Still, the adorably cautious way she tried to gauge her mother’s feelings was both endearing and a little pitiful.
Freesia chuckled as she stroked Nova’s head.
“It’s alright, Nova. When Papa wakes up, you can tell him you love him more than Mama.”
“Mmm… But Mama.”
“Yes?”
“When Papa wakes up, you say it with me too.”
Nova mumbled as she pulled the blanket up over herself, embarrassed.
“It’s embarrassing if Nova says Nova loves him all by myself…”
She was the kind of child who was lively and mischievous most of the time, but the moment she was given the space to show her heart, she would get shy and squirm uncomfortably.
“Hehe, is that so?”
“Yeah. So Mama, say it too.”
“…Alright. My baby.”
Freesia looked back and forth between Nova and Izar with a soft smile.
But as she watched the peacefully sleeping man’s profile, that smile gradually faded.
Though his expression was thankfully not one of pain, she still couldn’t help feeling anxious, wondering what was keeping him from waking.
‘Are you dreaming right now?’
Maybe it was such a good dream that he was putting off even meeting her, now that her lifespan had been restored.
…Even though he was the one who had fixed her shortened life.
〈There was a time when I had a discussion like this with the Duke.〉
When Riegel had once explained it to her, Freesia had been at a loss for words.
The idea of making a deal with the divine to give up his own supernatural ability for her sake?
〈That’s probably why Duke Izar suddenly lost the use of his power…〉
Riegel hadn’t said more after that, but Freesia had already understood enough.
Questions like “when” and “how” surfaced endlessly, but recalling the confrontation between Izar and Canopus left little room for doubt.
‘Such a foolish man.’
If he’d done something like that, he should’ve woken up and told her properly…
After all the resentment she’d thrown at him, now he was missing the moment she’d finally be able to thank him.
Still, as Freesia looked at Nova and Izar sleeping closely together, she prayed silently.
“Even so, I hope you’re dreaming a good dream, Izar.”
There was a lot she wanted to ask him when he woke, but right now, what he needed most was rest.
And if he truly was dreaming a happy dream…
“I hope I’m in that dream too. And if possible, I hope I’m the one making you happy in it…”
She no longer wanted to be remembered only as Izar’s sorrow.
Even if she sometimes made him feel frustrated or heartbroken, she still wanted to be someone who brought happiness to the person she loved.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.