Chapter 47
“…Resa.”
Through ragged breathing, a hoarse voice came.
Franz wrapped his hand around Aleisia’s neck. Pulling her close, he entwined his tongue with hers desperately.
As if this kiss were the last farewell in the world.
Aleisia tightly shut her eyes. She knew she should push Franz away, but the moment his cold, ice-like body touched hers, she lost all strength.
The metallic taste of blood coming from his lips made her chest tighten.
Aleisia frowned. Franz’s desperate hand tangled in her hair, and her entire body froze.
Or perhaps it was just her heart, pounding violently.
“Resa…”
Franz whispered breathlessly, still holding Aleisia’s tongue captive. His voice was so faint only she could hear it—because they were pressed together.
“Haa…”
Franz leaned his forehead against hers and cupped her cheek.
His hands, trapping her in, were cold.
Aleisia slowly opened her eyes. Blurred golden eyes stared at her.
His gaze felt like it was binding her, and Aleisia quickly tried to sit up. But then Franz’s raspy voice came again.
“…Thank you.”
“For what?”
Aleisia flinched as she tried to push his hand away. She froze halfway and looked at him.
“What are you…”
“I’m sorry.”
Aleisia stared at him, bewildered.
He didn’t seem fully conscious. It didn’t seem like he even knew what he was saying.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be rambling like this.
His eyes, gazing at her, were filled with tears. Aleisia looked at them, disbelieving, as she saw the shimmer in his golden irises.
“Thank you?”
Her gaze shifted—from Franz’s eyes to his sharp nose, then down to his bloodied lips.
“Sorry?”
She grimaced. His lips were covered in blood.
From kissing and rubbing against hers, his face was a mess. Franz was looking at her desperately, as if no one else existed in his world.
Blood…
As she looked at Franz’s lips, her hand instinctively went to her own mouth. She realized his blood must be on her lips too.
But before she could wipe it away, Franz grabbed her hand.
Startled, she looked at him—and he gently lifted his head.
Then, he began licking her lips.
As if to clean off the blood from her mouth.
Franz slowly ran his cold tongue across her lips with his eyes closed.
As it slid across, a chill ran down her spine.
Aleisia trembled at the strange sensation and opened her lips.
“…Stop… ah!”
As she parted her lips to push Franz away, his tongue slipped inside.
Aleisia was helplessly entangled in another kiss.
She closed her eyes.
And as she did, a faint red light sparked between their lips. It grew steadily brighter until it lit up the entire room.
Startled by the blinding light, Aleisia opened her eyes.
It felt like they were exchanging an orb of light through the kiss.
Warmth returned to Franz’s face, and the pained expression gave way to peace.
“What is this?”
Aleisia’s face paled as she realized what was happening.
Mana neutralization. She had been neutralizing his mana without even realizing it.
“Stop… it!”
Terrified, Aleisia shoved Franz away. She wiped her lips harshly with the back of her hand.
Mana neutralization?
This was beyond losing control. She had never imagined something like this could happen.
Her heart and body weren’t listening to her will.
Aleisia gasped, then glared at Franz and began to lash out.
“What are you doing to me? What the hell is this?”
“Resa, I…”
Franz, pushed away, moved his pale lips weakly.
But he couldn’t continue. He only blinked, lost.
She realized now—he’d been rambling nonsense. He clearly wasn’t in his right mind.
“That’s enough. I’m leaving.”
Being swayed by Franz again—this was where it ends. There was nothing left to hear.
She got up from the bed, determined.
But as she tried to move away, Franz’s hand grabbed her. Desperately, he clung to her.
“Don’t go.”
His pleading made a fire ignite within Aleisia. She glared and snapped.
“Why are you holding on to me? You’ve already used me enough. To neutralize mana, on your own!”
“No.”
Franz gripped her sleeve desperately. His trembling hand held hers.
“Mana neutralization can’t happen if you don’t want it. I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me.”
“…What?”
Aleisia went pale at his explanation. It was like being struck in the head.
It wasn’t him?
Then there was only one answer.
“Then it was me?”
She felt the blood drain from her body.
“Don’t waver, Resa. Franz isn’t thinking clearly. He doesn’t even know what he’s saying.”
Aleisia froze and stared at Franz.
His eyes were clearer than before. It seemed the purification had helped him recover somewhat, though his body was still struggling.
He was wracked by violent coughs, his broad shoulders shaking. Blood spattered on the bedsheets.
Aleisia grimaced as she looked at the deep red spreading on the fabric.
“I… cough… didn’t… do it.”
Even while coughing, Franz didn’t let go of her hand. He looked afraid that she’d abandon him.
“That can’t be true.”
Aleisia muttered like someone in a daze. Franz filled her entire vision.
He was gasping for air. Each cough sent his golden hair spilling forward. His body, barely clothed, looked like it could collapse at any moment.
“Cough!”
As he swayed with another cough, Aleisia’s fingers twitched. She reached out instinctively—then recoiled in horror.
She had moved without thinking.
Toward him. For him.
“Could I have…?”
The last thing she wanted to believe pierced her heart like a blade.
Neutralizing his mana—voluntarily?
If it was true, it was devastating.
Mana neutralization is not a conscious act. It comes from the soul. That’s why the partner in such an act is called a “soul-bond.”
Aleisia believed that bond with Franz had been severed when she turned back time. She thought she no longer loved him—that she was immune to his presence.
But to have done this without even realizing?
Her soul had responded before her mind.
And now, she was helplessly distressed over his pain.
Desperate to ease it.
What did that mean?
“Could I still… love him?”
“No.”
Aleisia clenched her teeth.
She couldn’t. She mustn’t. Not when she remembered the child she lost.
Her face twisted with agony.
She couldn’t move. It was as if a deep pit of despair had opened at her feet.
She looked at Franz with crushing helplessness.
“Resa…”
Her reflection shone in his glistening golden eyes. His pale, ghost-like face held a worried expression.
“Are you all right?”
He reached for her.
Still coughing. Still bleeding. But as if she were all that mattered.
“I…”
Aleisia’s vision spun. She staggered, trying to move away.
But she couldn’t. His gaze held her like chains. Her body froze.
“I, I…”
She trembled, panting. Then collapsed onto the bed.
She couldn’t forgive herself.
How could this happen?
All her vows of revenge—empty.
She still loved Franz.
She hadn’t erased the love engraved in her soul.
She wasn’t being shaken by him.
Because her heart had never left him.
Aleisia belonged to Franz.
And not knowing that, she’d dared to dream of revenge.
Dared to believe she’d moved on.
“Ugh…”
Aleisia clamped her hand over her mouth.
She was disgusted with herself.
This was the height of hypocrisy.
If she was never going to escape him—if that was the case, she shouldn’t have sworn revenge in the first place.
When she returned to the past, she should’ve ended it then.
To be abandoned, ignored, humiliated—and still love him?
How could she?
Such a pathetic being didn’t deserve to live.
“Ugh… haah… gasp…”
“Resa!”
As Aleisia bent forward, retching, Franz pulled her into his arms.
“Don’t touch me!”
She shoved him away instinctively. His cold touch made her skin crawl—and simultaneously comforted her.
She couldn’t stand this duality.
“Let me go. Let me die!”
She screamed without even knowing what she was saying. Her neck strained with the force of it, her cries erupting like a storm.
“I should’ve stayed dead! I should’ve died back then!”
“No!”
As Aleisia thrashed, Franz grabbed her shoulders.
Then, he kissed her deeply. He didn’t stop until her frenzy calmed, until her confusion eased. Then he whispered,
“Don’t ever think of dying again.”
His lips brushed the corners of her eyes. He licked away her tears and added,
“This time, I won’t let it happen.”
Franz closed his eyes. He held Aleisia in his arms—gently, protectively.
“I will never lose you again.”
His trembling hands held her fragile body.
Franz, with tears in his eyes, kissed Aleisia once more.
And in that kiss, strange memories began flooding into Aleisia’s mind.
Familiar, yet unfamiliar memories of a distant past.
