96.

 

Norma stopped abruptly in the middle of the bridge and slowly turned his head. His gaze fixed on empty air.

“…Uncle?”

Archie called out uncertainly.

Norma turned his head in Archie’s direction, as if responding to his voice. But even as their eyes seemed to meet, Archie realized his uncle wasn’t truly looking at him.

Standing frozen at the center of the bridge, Norma’s lips moved, but Archie couldn’t make out the words. The boy’s face twisted with worry.

On the opposite side, Von sensed something was wrong. Before he could even think, he lunged toward the center of the bridge, but in that split second, Norma collapsed to the side like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Sir!”

“Uncle!”

Von shouted in alarm, and Archie, a moment slower, ran toward Norma.

But before Von’s hand could reach him, Norma plunged into the pond with a loud splash. Without hesitation, Von dove in after him.

‘Damn it, I let my guard down. Where is he? Where…!’

Von cursed under his breath, eyes wide as he frantically searched the water. But strangely, he couldn’t see Norma. The pond was darker and vaster than he had anticipated, but still—he’d followed immediately.

‘This doesn’t make sense. Why can’t I see him?’

The water stretched out around him, vast enough to resemble a sea. Despite his best efforts, it felt like he was the only one there.

Confusion swept over Von. Briefly, he wondered if playful Norma had somehow resurfaced in the short time it took for him to dive in. Given his penchant for mischief, it wasn’t impossible. Von swam to the surface, desperate to check.

“Sir Bains, why are you alone? Where’s Uncle?”

Waiting for him above was Archie, panic etched across his young face.

“What… Sir Diazi—Norma—didn’t he surface?”

Archie shook his head. Silence hung heavy between them.

“This is… impossible.”

Though the weather had warmed, the water was still icy. Shivering and pale, Von felt panic creep in. He barely registered Archie’s shouts, his voice muffled as though from a distance.

Snapping back to himself, Von plunged back into the water. Harry, quickly assessing the situation, restrained Archie, who was struggling to jump in after them. Holding the boy firmly, Harry issued orders to the knights to search for the lord of the house.

* * *

“Norma.”

It was a voice he hadn’t heard in a long time. At the same time, it was the most familiar voice to him. For over a decade, it had been the only voice he listened to.

“Norma. Please.”

The precarious tone called to him again, and instinctively, Norma turned his head toward the source. It was an old habit, despite the familiarity of the voice.

“Die for me.”

The desperate plea made his brow furrow.

Norma suddenly realized it had been a long time since he’d heard Igor’s voice. Recently, he hadn’t heard it even when he closed his eyes. The fear of never waking and the dread of unconsciously following Igor’s voice still kept him awake at night, though.

Why now? Norma wondered. He knew this voice wasn’t the ‘real’ Igor but a hallucination.

Then, he heard another voice—a faint cry of “Uncle.” Only one person in the world called him that.

Norma turned toward the voice instinctively, searching for the boy with violet eyes.

But instead of Archie, he saw someone else—a boy with black hair and golden eyes like his own.

It was Nicholas as a child.

Norma’s breath caught in his throat. In an instant, time and space warped, and he was back on the day Igor betrayed him.

The old trauma gripped him, paralyzing his legs. That terrified face—the one he could never forget, not even in his dreams—appeared before him.

And the figure clutching Nicholas’s neck…

“Igor.”

Norma’s lips moved on their own as he stared at the indistinct figure, a mass of swirling black dust.

The moment he spoke the name of his long-lost friend, it felt as though his heart was being ripped from his chest. Never before had the memory of Igor’s betrayal been so vivid.

“Norma.”

As the scene unfolded before him, Norma lost himself in it, forgetting that Igor’s voice was nothing but an echo of the past.

His heartbeat thundered in his chest, and the overwhelming guilt he harbored for Nicholas spurred him to act. Driven by instinct, he reached out toward the boy, his legs moving automatically.

But instead of moving forward, he felt himself plummeting endlessly. Though his eyes were open, he saw nothing, and an icy chill consumed him, like being submerged in cold water.

‘This feels just like…’

The sensation was eerily similar to the time when he was sealed away. As the realization struck, Igor’s voice broke through.

“Norma, die for me. Please, just die. If you’re gone—”
“You said I was your dearest friend. So for me—”
“You’re the only one standing in the way of her looking at me.”
“Please, just die.”

Drifting through the black void, Norma listened to Igor’s voice, laced with curses. The words were familiar, ones he’d heard before. Like a chant designed to rob him of focus, it repeated endlessly.

Everything felt just as it had during his time sealed away.

But this time, there was one difference: Norma was thinking. He wasn’t simply listening to Igor’s voice. He closed his eyes, hearing the familiar plea, and began to think.

“Die.”

“I’m sorry, Igor,” Norma said, answering the voice for the first time.

“Please. I’m your dearest friend. For me—”

“You are my dearest friend. In the past, I might have followed you. Perhaps, in the end, I would have gone with you.”

“Die. Please die.”

“You were precious to me, and I wouldn’t have been able to refuse such an important request.”

“Please.”

“But not anymore. I want to stay by Aisa’s side. She said she wanted to live, so I have to live too.”

“Norma. Die.”

“I can’t die. I don’t want to.”

“Die.”

“…In the end, I suppose I’ll never be the person you wanted me to be. Just as you said, I couldn’t be good to you, not even for a moment.”

“Die. Please, die. For me—”

“I’m sorry, Igor. Truly, I mean it.”

“Norma.”

“But, Igor, my world is here now.”

With those words, Norma opened his eyes.

“And I’ve merely fallen into the pond. The time I was bound to you is long past, and I know it.”

At the same moment, a horrifying screech echoed in his mind, like claws raking across steel. The terrible sound lingered, turning into a piercing ringing. But Norma didn’t flinch. He simply waited for the noise to subside.

When silence finally returned, the faint outlines of his surroundings began to come into view.

Norma slowly raised his head, gazing upward. The world was still dark, yet the water around him was clear. Above the surface, faint light shimmered.

‘I need to return.’

Though he felt as if he was leaving Igor writhing in agony at the bottom of the pond, Norma cut through the water without hesitation, heading for the surface.

He couldn’t let himself be trapped any longer. More than anything, he wanted to see Aisa.

* * *

Von had been scouring the depths of the pond for nearly ten minutes, and tears began to sting his eyes.

‘I’m a disgrace as a knight. No matter how well he seemed recently, I let my guard down with someone whose mind isn’t fully stable. Stupid, stupid! What do I do now?’

Adding to his panic, the lack of oxygen was becoming unbearable. At last, Von had no choice but to resurface, gasping for air.

He clung to the bridge where Norma had been standing, his chest heaving. The world blurred before him, whether from water or tears, he couldn’t tell.

“Sir Bains, compose yourself. It would be wise to switch out now.”

A calm voice spoke above him. Von instinctively lifted his head.

There stood Harry Forn, calmly removing his long robe. He was stationed beside young Archie, who had yet to leave the bridge. Though Harry’s expression was stern with tension, he maintained his composure better than anyone.

But Von couldn’t bring himself to leave the water. He stared bitterly at the surface.

A person disappearing into a pond—this was absurd. The situation defied logic, leaving him incapable of rational thought.

“This pond isn’t imbued with any holy power, nor have I heard stories of it swallowing people. The lord must still be in there. I’ll go in. For now, please look after the young master,” Harry said evenly.

Von reluctantly nodded, wiping his tear-filled eyes with a rough hand. Efficiency over emotion, he reminded himself. This was no time for crying.

Even the little lord, who stood motionless like a stone statue beside Harry, wasn’t crying.

Archie’s pale face was fixed in a grim expression as he stared at the dark waters. His stillness was less composure and more the kind of shock that left one too stunned even to shed tears.

‘Get a grip, Von Bains. Crying won’t solve anything. Lord Diazi is “Diazi.” He won’t die from spending a few minutes underwater.’

Von clenched his teeth, struggling to calm himself. As Harry crouched and extended a hand to help Von out of the water, he offered a polite nod.

“Thank you, Sir.”

As Von took Harry’s hand to climb onto the bridge, a quiet voice interrupted.

“The lord…”

“Yes?”

Harry, gripping Von’s hand, mumbled in a dazed tone. His expression was one of shock, as though he had seen a ghost. Normally so composed, Harry’s face was uncharacteristically slack.

Harry’s gaze was fixed on something behind Von. Curious and alarmed by his reaction, Von turned to look.

But before he could, Harry’s grip faltered.

“What—ah!”

Von lost his balance and tumbled backward with a loud splash, announcing his sudden re-entry into the pond. He flailed awkwardly, water spraying as he tried to steady himself.

A hand reached out, grasping Von’s arm with surprising strength, and pulled him out of the water. Whoever it was had the power to haul a fully armored knight out of the pond with just one arm.

“Cough…! Thank you…! I… owe you—”

Still coughing up water, Von struggled to catch his breath, his face a mess of wet hair and pond water.

He assumed it was one of the McFoy knights who had helped him, and he prepared to express his gratitude.

“I told you to be careful. It’s deeper than it looks,” came a low, slightly weary voice.

Von froze, disbelief washing over him as he turned toward the speaker. The tone was unusually languid, but it was unmistakably Norma’s voice.