Sion’s brow narrowed slightly as Laila screamed in his face.
“Did you see a ghost?”
“Uh, no. Why are you here…?”
“You didn’t tell me to wait; you didn’t come back.”
Laila was stunned for a moment.
What on earth… Why…
“Could it be… because of the forest?”
A ray of realization pierced Laila’s mind. Come to think of it, Sion had been forcibly thrown into the forest before.
She remembered what the servant who had taken Sion into the forest had said. Dozens of arrows will target him if he attempts to flee from there.
Perhaps the threat lingered in his memory, preventing him from fleeing!
Oh my goodness, how could she not have thought of that…
Laila’s heart sank. She had never intended such a thing, but it seemed like she had put Sion to the test.
She hoped she hadn’t earned his resentment because of this.
Feeling a bit anxious, Laila observed Sion’s expression. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. The furrowed lines on his forehead had disappeared.
Relieved, Laila let out a small smile. Sion’s gaze lingered on Laila’s face.
Not noticing his gaze fixed on her face, Laila clenched her fists.
‘I made a mistake today. Next time…….’
The next day, Laila went out with Sion to the lake.
It wasn’t the lake where the wolves had appeared, but a different one further away.
However, as soon as Laila got off the carriage, she realized something was wrong.
‘……I’m scared!’
Even if she was just a little away from Sion, her body reflexively trembled. The unseen wolves seemed to flicker before her eyes.
She couldn’t even bear to be alone in the carriage; just the thought of not having Sion by her side was enough to make her shudder.
In the end, Laila clung to Sion’s side for the entire trip around the lake, then quietly waited for the next day.
The next day.
The day after…
The day after that…
She couldn’t tell how many outings there had been. Using the excuse of flower viewing, Laila took Sion to a field far from the manor.
The field was filled with blooming flowers, perfect for admiring.
Laila glanced around before distancing herself from Sion.
She pretended to be preoccupied with the flowers before falling asleep in a sitting position, likely due to a lack of sleep from her recent thoughts.
When she half awoke, she found herself lying under Sion’s coat.
“……Sion.”
Why aren’t you running away?
Laila pondered blankly. Then, unexpectedly, Sion raised his eyebrows slightly.
“Running away?”
Huh? What’s this? Did he read my mind?
“Oh, so that’s why you…”
Sion muttered, as if realizing something. Laila blinked slowly.
She was tired.
“Do you want me to run away?”
She heard Sion’s voice as she closed her eyes again. Laila answered in a small voice.
“Yes.”
“I wish I could do what you want… but I still can’t run away.”
Why?
“There’s a reason; I can’t tell you.”
I see…….
“Yeah. So stop going too far. You’re tired.”
Yeah…….
But why do you keep reading my mind?
“…I don’t know.”
Sion whispered back. Go back to sleep. Laila didn’t bother to resist further.
The sound of even breathing could be heard. Sion silently watched Laila, who had fallen asleep.
Sion had realized something not long ago.
He was crazy.
Of course, he had always been insane, but now it was in a slightly different direction.
He remembered the day he realized exactly what it was.
That day, Laila had not returned to her room even past midnight.
Sion started looking at the clock around eleven o’clock.
Then, when the thick hour hand moved one more slot to the right, he went outside.
He remembered how Laila often chose the courtyard over the garden for her walks, so he headed there.
And sure enough, he found her in the back of the courtyard. She appeared engulfed in despair.
He didn’t even think about asking why she was out there. At first, it was obvious.
But seeing Laila’s fragile face, his mouth moved on its own.
Instead of answering Sion’s question, Laila burst into tears.
And then Sion…
At that moment, his thoughts briefly stopped. When his mind started working again, he had already wiped away Laila’s tears with his fingers.
The shock of realizing what he had done engulfed him.
It felt like he was finally facing the monster he had been avoiding.
Yes, a monster.
There was something inside him that should not exist. Sion decided to call it a monster.
He didn’t want to call it anything else. Looking back, that was probably his final act of defiance.
Anyway, Sion faced the monster head-on and acknowledged its existence.
Accepting the monster brought relief. Despite the flood of disgust and self-loathing, he felt refreshed.
After wiping away Laila’s tears, Sion kicked away the “chance to die” that he had been so desperately waiting for.
He had no regrets.
The monster within him was too large to allow for such emotions.
“Laila Hildegarde.”
Sion called her name.
“……Laila.”
Looking at Laila’s unmoving eyelids, Sion pondered.
Could he go to hell?
Maybe he didn’t even deserve to go to hell.
Going to hell means receiving punishment. Receiving punishment means atonement.
Would he ever be given the chance to atone for harboring the monster within him?
Sion often dreamed. It was always a dream with Laila.
In those dreams, Laila whispered the same words to Sion every time. “You did nothing wrong.”
But because of those words, Sion ended up committing even greater wrongs.
He broke the vow he made at his family’s grave.
‘I promised I wouldn’t leave a single Hildegarde alive in this world…’
Laila Hildegarde.
Laila.
Laila Hildegarde.
……Laila.
Sion gazed at Laila’s sleeping face as if to imprint it on his mind.
Suddenly, he felt certain.
He probably wouldn’t even fall into hell.
5: If Heaven were to split in half
Laila stopped going out to give Sion a chance to escape.
Venturing out so far every day had left her utterly exhausted and physically drained…
But most importantly, it was because of a dream.
In the dream, Sion warned her.
No matter how hard you try, I won’t let you escape as you wish, so give up.
Why don’t I run away? It’s better if you don’t know!
…He didn’t exactly say it like that, but Laila roughly understood it that way.
Thus, the seemingly endless outings came to an end.
Life returned to normal. Sion’s swordsmanship lessons, which had been interrupted by daily outings, resumed.
“Are you finally giving Sion his freedom?”
“If anyone hears… no, never mind.”
Taylor seemed delighted to regain time with his disciple.
Laila looked into Taylor’s honest eyes and couldn’t help but smile.
She couldn’t remember when she had grown so fond of him.
Laila watched the cordial master and apprentice in the corner of the training room—the apprentice looking a bit cold—and then her eyes drifted to the sky.
‘When did I fall asleep?’
Has the fatigue accumulated from outings still not dissipated?
Lately, she couldn’t shake falling asleep at most random times.
‘At least I should have chosen a better place to sleep…’
After sleeping on a rough wooden bench, her back hurt. Sion and Taylor approached her as she rose, slightly stiff.
“Miss, are you very tired?”
“I didn’t realize… I guess I am.”
Laila frowned. The dream she’d had during her brief nap was more bothersome than her aching back.
‘…Why did it have to be that kind of dream?’
It was a dream in which Laila was being killed by the grown-up Sion.
If she had to give it a name, it would be something like the ‘Future Dream: Despair Edition’.
‘Don’t you usually dream of hope in moments like this?’
Sion wiped away her tears, and… well, that’s all that comes to mind. But anyway…
He’s so much nicer than when she first met him.
