I Will Die for You, My Darling! - Chapter 79

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Chapter 79

Even with constant Purifier use, she tired easily and suffered. ‘I suppose I take after Mother. She had the same constitution.’ Arietta wouldn’t know how much that offhand comment had unnerved Isaac. Seia had died before she reached forty. Isaac couldn’t bear to watch Arietta die the same way.

She had to die when and how he wanted, not from something as trivial as contamination mutation. That was why Isaac had made up his mind to attempt something unprecedented, outrageous, and reckless—something no one in the Downstream had ever tried before.

It was after Isaac had conquered the entire Downstream that King Philip had sent word offering him a title. ‘What meaning does that hold for me?’ the eighteen-year-old Isaac had impudently asked. Philip’s messenger had rambled, but Isaac couldn’t recall the specifics now, likely because none of it had persuaded him. Then Isaac had posed a question: ‘Is there a way to breathe clean air in the Downstream without Purifiers?’

He’d declared he would gladly accept a viscountcy and submit to Sky City—at least formally—if that could be achieved.

Three months later, King Philip had contacted him, proposing a “Glass Dome” built using Sky City’s magitek engineering. Isaac had readily accepted. Construction began immediately after he received the title of Viscount Tygra. The Glass Dome was a massive project, extending four meters underground and twenty-four meters high. But Sky City’s magitek engineering was beyond conventional understanding, and the project was completed within a year.

Then came the madness. He began crushing Purifiers, meant for people, and mixing them into the soil. As this extravagant act continued for an immeasurable time, everything within the Glass Dome began to transform. All for Arietta. This artificial sanctuary was dedicated entirely to his prized possession. Its sole purpose was to keep Arietta safe. And yet… she had left it. Isaac slowly closed his eyes in the now meaningless space.

***

Meanwhile, Benjamin’s heart swelled with an unfamiliar exhilaration and hope ever since he decided to take Arietta to Sky City. Something felt buoyant within him. However, he couldn’t simply revel in joy. He had a problem to solve. He couldn’t just take Arietta to Sky City. Only pre-approved items could be “taken” up from the Downstream: Viscount Tygra’s mined bio-cores, pleasure-inducing d***s, prisoners shackled and boarding airships… those sorts of authorized things. Even these had to undergo rigorous quarantine to prevent contamination of pristine Sky City.

Sky City was smaller than the Downstream and much more densely populated. An outbreak from something brought up from below would be disastrous. Disease would spread rapidly, and there would be nowhere to escape. Therefore, bringing personal belongings was impossible for the good of the city.

Even inanimate objects had to pass stringent quarantine, and living things were entirely out of the question. So, how could a person be any different? The Sky City Remains Investigation Unit had allowed Arietta to stay at their Downstream residence. It was an exceptionally generous gesture, likely due to Arietta’s otherworldly beauty and her symbolic status as Isaac’s long-hidden possession.

But that permission applied only to the “Downstream residence,” while still on contaminated ground. Allowing her to stay there and taking her to Sky City were entirely different matters. Besides Arietta being from the Downstream, there was another problem: she was Isaac’s possession.