Chapter 112
‘It’s useless now anyway.’
Lynette swallowed down the bitter feeling. She wanted to tell him not to cling to something impossible, but the words wouldn’t leave her lips. She knew all too well what kind of heart he had while searching.
She couldn’t bring herself to say anything at all.
Euphen reached his hand toward her cheek, then slowly drew it back. As if he had reached out without thinking, and only then realized he shouldn’t touch her.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t done the guiding yet today, have we?”
Lynette extended her hand. The man quietly looked down at her for a moment, then carefully took her hand.
She gently pulled his hand to her cheek. Maybe because he hadn’t used his ability, the pain was light enough to endure.
She couldn’t feel the warmth of his body temperature or the calluses on his palm.
Resting her head against his palm, she felt his thumb brush her skin once, carefully, before he quickly pulled his hand away.
“That’s enough now.”
His voice was filled with bitterness. She wanted to tell him he could touch her as much as he wanted, but instead Lynette only clenched the hand that still held the dull ache.
He looked at her silently with those deep blue eyes, then turned away without a word.
***
She had a servant return the book she had brought from the Imperial Library.
She had decided not to dig any deeper, yet Euphen still seemed to be searching for a way.
Having made up her mind, she only grew sadder as time went on. It meant the moments she could spend with Euphen were dwindling. She had known it vaguely, but it had never hit her this hard before.
‘I wish I could stay with him a little longer.’
Those days she had spent idly with him, without any problems or worries, felt like a dream now. These days Euphen was so busy she felt guilty even disturbing him. She couldn’t exactly cling to him and beg him to stay with her. After all, wasn’t it Lynette herself who had forced him to assert his presence as a ‘Prince’ in the first place?
Lynette gazed at the Mage Tower outside the carriage window.
‘How many days has it been since the last time I came here?’
It had certainly been over a week. Before her regression, she had stayed attached to Euphen almost every hour. If they were apart for even two days, she’d be in unbearable pain, but once she began minimizing their contact, her visits to see Shirin had significantly decreased as well.
When the carriage stopped in front of the Tower, Eric, sitting across from her, got out first and offered his hand.
“Please wait in the carriage.”
“Understood.”
He answered without protest.
The first time he had followed her, he’d been insistent about seeing things through to the end, but after witnessing what she went through with his own eyes, he had willingly stepped back. He must have understood how much she didn’t want anyone to see her writhing in pain and screaming.
Lynette informed Shirin that she had arrived. Even though she had clearly sent word ahead to prepare, the haughty mage never followed orders obediently. It wasn’t the first time, and Lynette knew that even if Euphen himself gave the order, Shirin wouldn’t follow it immediately, so she waited quietly.
The room Lynette had used before entering the Sisstein Detached Palace was still empty. No mage would use such a cramped room, so it was only natural. She perched on the hard bed inside.
When she first returned here, she had so many thoughts.
“Haah…”
Letting out a deep sigh, she laid down slowly.
Having gotten used to a soft bed, this one only felt uncomfortable.
‘Going round and round, in the end I’ve only made the same choice.’
Once again, she was leaving Euphen.
Once again, making him sad.
Lynette gave a bitter smile. Perhaps their connection had been destined to end this way all along. No matter how much she struggled, they would have to part, leaving behind nothing but sorrow. Maybe she should be grateful that at least she wouldn’t have to show him her death.
She let out a dry laugh and stared blankly up at the ceiling.
‘From the start, the regression wasn’t for me or His Highness the Imperial Prince, was it?’
If everything had happened for the sake of one person, Sillian, then perhaps it was only his fate that was meant to be changed. ‘Lynette’ was merely allowed to live a little longer thanks to that man.
Her thoughts linked one after another.
When she’d been focused on removing or reversing her ability, that was all she had thought about, but now she was filled only with useless thoughts.
She erased the things that tangled up her mind one by one, and with effort she emptied her head.
As she stared vacantly at the ceiling, Lynette fell asleep without realizing it.
“…”
When she opened her eyes, she was in an empty space with no distinction between above and below. The surreal sight immediately made her realize this was a dream.
‘Should I wake up?’
She was debating whether to pinch her cheek or not, when she suddenly felt her body being pulled somewhere. She tried to scream, but no sound came out.
As she inhaled, it felt as though water was flooding her lungs.
Lynette thrashed desperately.
Even knowing it was a dream, the sensation of dying overwhelmed her and she couldn’t think rationally.
It felt like both an instant and an eternity of suffering.
Only when her consciousness began to fade in the dream did she finally manage to breathe.
“Hhhk! Haah.. Haah…”
She forced air deep into her lungs.
And at that very moment, her body was dragged somewhere once again.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.