53.

His unexpected answer made me stop breathing.

“While I was underwater, it felt like curses were holding me down, telling me never to wake up. Voices mixed with sobs begged me to die, saying they wished I would.”

His voice was surprisingly calm as he spoke.

“And…”

“I heard those voices for so long that even after waking up, they didn’t stop.”

“That’s…”

“At first, I heard them every moment, but it has improved a lot now.”

“……”

“Still, whenever I close my eyes, I hear them without fail.”

Norma whispered this while gently closing his eyes. His face, with his eyes closed, looked so serene, like he was sleeping, that I couldn’t say anything.

I had no idea he was enduring something like that. I couldn’t imagine how he had spent twelve years listening to voices telling him to die.

“The curse… is over.”

At least now, the curse and the seal on him were both gone. But my voice trembled excessively as I said it.

I knew better than anyone that some problems can’t just end. However, lacking the words to express this, I couldn’t say more.

“A curse doesn’t end just because it’s lifted.”

With those words, my eyes began to shake. Each calm sentence he uttered caused my expression to crumble helplessly.

“I don’t think the voice of Igon will ever disappear.”

Such things always leave aftereffects. There are things you can’t forget even if you want to.

“I will never be able to completely forget that day or those voices. It was too significant, and I’m not as great as people say.”

What’s past is past, but it can never be undone. This was something I understood better than anyone.

“But, I—”

Norma opened his eyes again, revealing his golden irises. They seemed to flicker in the candlelight.

“No matter how much those voices call me, I’ve decided not to follow them. No matter how much they wish for my death, I will not die.”

His voice, though soft as if aware of the surroundings, was clearer and stronger than ever.

At that moment, I stopped breathing and clenched my fists. A faint tremor ran through my fingertips.

“All thanks to you, Lady Aisa. I was able to open my eyes because of your voice, saying you didn’t want to die. Your occasional careless words made even a fool like me think I could live.”

“I don’t remember saying anything that significant.”

 

“Every word you said to me sounded like a reason to keep living.”

He smiled at me, and I felt an overwhelming surge of emotion.

So this was it. This was why I felt suffocated and drawn to you. It must have been because I sensed the unique anxiety of someone pursued by death. You were haunted by a feeling similar to mine, and that’s why I couldn’t ignore you.

I felt my expression crumble uncontrollably. As my face twisted into a tearful frown, Norma’s brows furrowed with concern. He spoke in a sorrowful voice.

“My story has made you sad. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Damn it. Just stop talking.

My vision began to blur, so I squeezed my eyes shut. Tears that didn’t make it behind my eyelids fell with a soft plop. I felt Antoinette, who had been sitting quietly on my lap, jump away in surprise.

I bit down hard, trying to swallow my emotions, and opened my eyes wide again. Through my blurry vision, I saw Norma’s face filled with distress.

“…I don’t like seeing you sad.”

He reached out to my face, and I didn’t think to avoid his hand.

In the end, I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer. I started to cry out loud, just like when I first escaped from Tartaros and could barely breathe.

Earlier, I couldn’t even cry. Even when that damned girl left, I didn’t shed a single tear of anger.

“Ugh! This is all because of you! You! I didn’t cry in front of her! I could hold it in! But now, what is this?!”

Norma busily wiped my tears, constantly saying that I shouldn’t cry, that it would hurt my health. He seemed as bad at comforting as he had once admitted.

I was sad, angry, and embarrassed to be crying in front of him, so I told him to shut up. Just like when I was in Tartaros, once I started crying, I couldn’t stop.

‘Damn Nyx. Damned selfish Ophelia. That bastard Morfolk isn’t even worth killing. Raising my nephew was useless, and EriKa doesn’t care because she’s a stranger. I don’t know why Kano is suddenly acting like this.’

Everything seemed sad and unfair. My breath grew harsher and more labored. Norma, who had been diligently wiping away my endless tears, finally spoke up, resigned.

“Lady Aisa, pardon me for a moment.”

Norma stood up abruptly. He sat carefully on the edge of the bed and approached me.

“W-what are you—”

Just like when we escaped from Tartaros and he held me tight, he embraced me firmly, making it hard to breathe. Then he began to rhythmically pat my back.

I instinctively gasped for air in time with his gentle pats. Crying and breathing were all I could manage.

Crying in this ragged mental state quickly drained my energy. Feeling like I might faint, I began to ramble, grasping at my last thread of consciousness.

“You must keep today’s events a secret. If you spread rumors about my crying, it won’t be fun for you.”

“Yes, Lady Aisa. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Damn it. Your life sucks too.”

His hand, patting my back, paused briefly, but I didn’t notice.

“My life sucks too. If we were to compare, I think my life is a bit more messed up, but your life still sucks.”

“Yes. It does, Lady Aisa.”

He patiently answered my incoherent words.

“Why are we like this? Why is my life like this? I’m just… tired.”

“You’ve had a hard time.”

“I hate that everyone would be happy if I died.”

“But you’re alive.”

“I feel like an idiot. It feels like everything I chose and every path I walked has been denied, like I’m fake—”

Just then, the arms that had been holding me tightly relaxed. As the firm grip disappeared, I felt like my heart was sinking.

Why now? I looked at him with a face full of disappointment. His golden eyes were so close, they could almost touch my nose.

“Lady Aisa.”

“Hiccup.”

The sobs turned into hiccups. I wavered between the embarrassment of the hiccups and the lingering fear, widening my eyes. Despite my disheveled state, Norma gave me a gentle smile and spoke again.

“You are here, alive and breathing. You are crying, talking, and making eye contact with me.”

He continued to wipe away my tears and gently removed the hair sticking to my face. His touch was so gentle that I involuntarily closed my eyes.

“I may not fully understand why you feel denied. But your presence tells me that this is real. Knowing you exist makes me aware that I’m alive. To me, you are reality.”

With a sad, furrowed brow, Norma hugged me tightly again and continued speaking. His voice felt like a soothing lullaby, quickly drawing me into sleep.

“All your days have led to who you are now. No one can deny your life. So please, don’t ever say that again. It hurts me deeply.”

“But everything I knew was only half the truth.”

“There was a time when I thought I knew everything. But I didn’t. We can only see the world through what we experience and perceive.”

Norma closed his eyes, thinking of the parts of himself he didn’t know.

“But…”

“You’ve done enough. You are someone who lives with all their might.”

Still buried in his chest, I nodded slowly.

“You are enough.”

‘Enough, am I?’

With my mind in a jumble, his words struck me as true. If he said it, it must be so.

I let myself be carried by the rhythm of his gentle pats. My tense body finally began to relax.

“If anyone dares to deny you, I will make sure they regret it. So, please, rest easy and sleep well tonight.”

Yes, he had said it well.

Mumbling the names of the people who had troubled me today, I fell completely asleep. At some point, even the embarrassing hiccups had stopped.

* * *

“Hah—”

Norma sighed in relief. It seemed Aisa had finally fallen completely asleep. Despite knowing she was asleep, he remained in the same position for several more minutes, afraid that she might wake up.

Outside, it was now the dark hours of early morning. Soon, the darkness would fade, and dawn would break.

Feeling a strange sense of regret, Norma carefully whispered to the sleeping Aisa, who rested against his chest.

“Lady Aisa. Please, sleep well and dream of nothing.”

Then, with the utmost caution, he gently laid her down on the sheets. Her dress looked uncomfortable, but he didn’t dare touch it. Regretfully, he carefully brushed her hair away from her face and reached to pull the blanket over her.

At that moment, something unusual caught his eye. His hand holding the blanket froze.

Scattered across the white sheets were clumps of cut blonde hair.

Norma suddenly recalled one of Aisa’s murmurs before she fell asleep, something about “damn Ophelia.”

‘So that’s why she was crying.’

He looked down at his shirt, damp with Aisa’s tears, and then back at her sleeping face.

The memory of her tearful expression tightened his chest again, and he rubbed his face with his hands. His cheeks were wet. He didn’t remember crying, but it seemed he had done so without realizing it.

It was probably inevitable that he had shed tears. Aisa was the first person he had truly cared for and the person he had seen cry the most sorrowfully.

Norma couldn’t bring himself to leave her side immediately. During that time, she slept without the slightest movement. Her breathing was so faint that even with his heightened senses, he had to focus intently to hear it.

Then, Antoinette, who had been quietly lying nearby, approached Norma and rubbed her face against him.

“Yes, it’s time to go.”

To completely erase his presence, he needed to return to his room. That way, she wouldn’t feel awkward.

However, just as Norma was about to rise, he found himself frozen once more.