Chapter 31
A sound like the sky splitting apart rang in his ears. In that moment, everything seemed to slow down.
Nocturne saw Aria falling from the top of the tower.
As her body was pulled down by gravity, another explosion went off below her.
Beneath her fluttering blonde hair in the air, red flames burst upward.
A massive firestorm opened its flaming jaws wide, as if to swallow her whole.
“Aria!”
With a scream filled with fear, Nocturne threw himself forward. As he fell, he desperately reached out to Aria.
Just before the swirl of flames fully engulfed them, Nocturne wrapped his entire body around her.
Riding the hot wind, he barely escaped the center of the explosion—but after that, all that was left was the fall.
Holding Aria tightly, Nocturne braced for the impact.
Normally, he would’ve wrapped himself in flames to soften the blow. But this time, Aria was in his arms.
Nocturne’s fire might protect him, but it would be another danger to Aria. So he twisted his body so that his back would hit the ground first.
Thud!
The crash was worse than he imagined. He heard the horrible sound of bones breaking behind him. His vision briefly turned completely black.
“Cough.”
Maybe his organs had been hurt by the broken bones, because blood gushed from his mouth.
Barely holding onto consciousness, he picked Aria up. The flames were getting closer.
“Ugh…”
Even though he wasn’t doing anything particularly hard, moving with broken bones was a tough challenge.
Gritting his teeth, he tried to escape the explosion site. That’s when he noticed something.
Aria, in his arms, was way too quiet.
He gently laid her on the ground.
And at that moment, he knew something was terribly wrong.
Aria wasn’t breathing.
“Aria?”
His heart froze. Her face looked peaceful, like she was just sleeping, but her left leg had been burned completely black by the explosion. Her golden hair was soaked in dark blood.
“Wait, wait…”
Nocturne quickly searched his pockets and pulled out an emergency potion. With shaking hands, he opened the bottle and poured it into her lips—but she couldn’t swallow it.
“Aria, please…”
Panicking, he took the potion into his own mouth and pressed his lips against hers, letting the liquid flow down her throat.
But Aria still didn’t open her eyes. As time passed, Nocturne’s worry turned into full-blown fear.
“No… please wake up, Aria!”
Nocturne cried out desperately. Tears fell from his dark blue eyes.
“Ah, hhk…”
Like an answer from the heavens, a faint moan escaped from Aria’s lips.
Her eyelids slowly moved, and finally opened. Nocturne’s heart pounded loudly.
“You awake?”
He asked with a trembling voice, his face showing a mix of hope and fear.
“Just a little longer, people will come.”
Feeling relief and gratitude, he continued.
“You haven’t forgotten, right? We said we’d get married after all this.”
Nocturne kept talking in a rush. Really, it was more like he was rambling nonsense without knowing what he was even saying.
“…We’ll have a huge wedding. I’m ready to sell my whole duchy if that’s what it takes to make it worthy of the next emperor’s bride.”
Lost in chaos and fear, all that was left was the desperate need to keep Aria with him. Her eyes kept closing, so he tried everything to keep her awake.
“If you’re not here, I have no reason to live…”
Then, Aria’s lips moved faintly. She seemed to be trying to say something.
Reading her silent words, Nocturne’s face showed shock.
It felt like… a final message.
“What… what are you saying…”
His voice trembled. He tried to smile, like rejecting reality, but the uncontrollable despair twisted his expression.
“It’s all over now. Let’s go back together.”
But fate had already been sealed. Aria’s eyelids slowly, and irreversibly, fell shut. The last light of life vanished from her.
“Aria, open your eyes.”
She didn’t open them.
“Don’t do this… you can hear me.”
She didn’t answer.
“Ugh…”
Nocturne hugged her body tightly. He didn’t feel the pain of his broken bones anymore. That pain was nothing compared to the soul-crushing grief.
“Don’t leave me…”
Nocturne felt something inside him shatter forever.
As if crumbling from within, his consciousness began to fade.
Soon, only complete darkness covered him.
