~Chapter 84~
“Are we really just going to leave like this…?”
Amy kept glancing back, clearly worried about Ailins.
“You said you wanted to save her.”
“She’s the only one who can save herself.”
Ailins had enough power. But she chose to give up her name because she was afraid of the sacrifices that would follow.
‘Even if we drag her away, if she has no will to resist, it’s meaningless.’
“You don’t have to save her, you know? Didn’t you hear what I said earlier?”
Penny, who had been listening from the side, frowned deeply.
“Stop bothering my sister! If you want to do it, then do it by yourself!”
“Hey, how old are you, anyway?”
“Old enough to take care of myself.”
While Amy and Penny argued, I quietly slipped out, feeling drained. The boy next to me looked like he felt the same.
Maybe because we were the quiet ones compared to the others, the awkwardness crept in. He stared at me for a moment, then spoke.
“Sis, are you really not going to help Ailins?”
There was a familiar depth in his eyes—something I had noticed before.
‘…That can’t be.’
But I couldn’t ignore it.
“Do you want me to help her?”
“Yeah.”
“Come to think of it, you said you believed she’d save you. What do you want her to save you from?”
He looked like he was thinking deeply. Then, he gave an answer that didn’t quite match the question.
“That little kid said… this is someone’s memory.”
Hmm. For him, this must feel like reality. Was it okay to tell him the truth?
“Thanks to that, I understand now.”
“…Understand what?”
He hesitated, then clutched the hem of my clothes.
“The reason I keep dying.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“It’s the 20th time now. I die… and then wake up again.”
“……”
“I went to Ailins to try and find a way out of this nightmare. But then you saved me.”
That meant… he was here even before we arrived.
The strange familiarity I had felt earlier washed over me like a tidal wave.
I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
I stopped and grabbed his shoulders.
“Is your name… Peril?”
“No. I’m Edwin.”
A quiet sigh slipped through my lips.
Edwin was Peril’s last name.
He was someone who lived forever—he had countless names and faces, changing over time.
But the Peril I knew couldn’t be here. Ailins gave up her name in the past, and Peril gained immortality in the future.
‘They said the magical energy felt strange…’
Could it be because Peril is trapped in this memory too?
“Do you die differently each time?”
“No. It’s always about the same. After I’m killed by someone, I wake up at Ailins’s welcome ceremony.”
“By someone…?”
“I don’t know who. I can’t even remember when this started.”
He shook off my hands and frowned.
“I don’t even remember what kind of person I used to be. I think maybe I did something terrible, and this is my punishment.”
Despair flickered across his face. Just for a moment, those observant eyes looked unbearably sad—and before I knew it, I spoke firmly.
“That’s not true.”
“How would you know?”
“I know. Because I know you very well.”
“What…?”
“And I know you still owe me a favor.”
He looked at me suspiciously. I shrugged like it was nothing, and his stare deepened.
If Peril sank any deeper into despair, I wouldn’t be able to help him. But unlike Idette, I wasn’t that patient or understanding.
And I didn’t have much time. I wasn’t even the heroine of this story.
So—
“You can’t die yet. Not until you pay me back.”
His eyes flared in anger.
When someone’s depressed, the fastest way to get their energy back is to make them mad.
“You say that after everything I just told you?!”
“What else do you want me to say?”
“….”
Edwin looked stunned, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. But at least the hopelessness in his expression faded a little.
At that moment, a long sigh came from nearby.
“Well, I guess that’s good.”
“What is?”
“If I owe you a favor, then you won’t let me die just yet, right?”
“….”
“Let’s see if you can keep up.”
His voice was strangely arrogant.
He was just like Peril from when he was young…
It felt like his future self overlapped with the present.
“Oh! Princess?”
When we arrived in the village, Amy pointed at someone and spoke.
I turned my head and saw Hestia standing there.
She gave me a slight nod, but then let out a scoff, clearly unimpressed.
“Princess! I found a way!”
Amy ran over and shared what she’d heard from Penny.
“…That’s it? Can we trust that?”
“Yes!”
Amy looked at me nervously, waiting for my confirmation.
“Of course. There’s no way she’d lie to the princess.”
I reluctantly supported her story. Hestia sighed and rubbed her forehead.
Running into the unpredictable princess wasn’t exactly fun, but at least Amy found her group, so I figured that was enough.
“Well then, Miss Rowane, goodbye.”
“Y-You’re leaving now?”
I tried to part ways as fast as I could, but Amy called after me in a panic.
“I said I’d stay with you only until we found the princess.”
Amy was tolerable, but I absolutely could not travel with Hestia.
I’d suffocate.
“Amy, you…”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. We just happened to be heading in the same direction.”
Before Hestia could say anything, I cut in.
You’re seriously picking a fight now?
I am not playing this game.
“Y-Yeah! I was only with Miss Bianca for a little while, really short! I’m the Princess’s maid, after all…”
Amy’s voice trailed off as she lowered her head.
Hestia gave her a glance.
“Penny, Edwin. Let’s go.”
“Finally, it’s quiet!”
Penny let out a cheer and quickly walked ahead. I felt Amy’s gaze on the back of my head, but I ignored it.
“So, are we going to that man you mentioned?”
Penny asked.
I shook my head.
“There’s someone I need to find first.”
“Who?”
She looked around, then clapped her hands as if she remembered something.
“The man who sat next to you? The one who spent a ton of money?”
“…Yeah.”
Her eyes sparkled instantly.
I really hope she’s not falling for Ricardo.
“In this chaos, how are you even going to find him?”
Edwin asked.
I just smiled.
“I’ll find him easily.”
Ricardo always leaves a trail.
As annoying as he is, he’s not the kind of person to leave civilians behind in this kind of situation.
Plus, the way he walks screams ‘noble.’ He’s not impatient, but he always keeps a hand near his sword out of habit.
Not to mention, when he’s frustrated, he stares at his watch. And when he’s thinking, he taps things with his fingers.
Thanks to him, I also developed the bad habit of tapping the desk when I’m lost in thought.
[Are you heading to the relief shelter?]
Arkan, quick to catch on, started guiding the way.
A dry wind blew through my hair.
And through that breeze, I saw a man standing in the sunlight.
His pale cheeks looked like porcelain smeared with blood—yet still, he looked like a painting.
There was no emotion on his face—as if he found the world boring. Not even a hint of color in his expression.
He was just quietly looking at the sunlight, which he would never reach.
“……”
At that moment, his eyes turned to me.
Then, the emptiness in them twisted into something else.
As the silence between us lifted, his eyes—like the clear sky—shined brilliantly.
He wasn’t the Ricardo trapped in written pages—he was the man I had come to know.
“…Found you.”
Even in all the chaos, his voice rang out clearly.
