It was ten minutes to midnight.

Kylance stood in the dressing room of his bedroom, changing into the knight’s uniform that Ariel had once said looked best on him.

If anyone were to witness his actions now, they would surely think he had lost his mind.

Dressing up like this to celebrate the birthday of his late former fiancée.

Well, they wouldn’t be wrong – he wasn’t in his right mind. But he didn’t care.

No matter what anyone thought, he refused to face Ariel’s birthday in a dishevelled state.

Besides, this would be her last birthday that he would remember. 

Her birthday would be his last, too.

According to the teachings of Lumen, the God of Light, a soul remains in the state it was in at the moment of death. So it was only fitting that he should be properly dressed.

After all, once he had atoned for his sins, there was a chance that he would be reunited with Ariel in the world of the divine.

Atonement.

Yes, even in death he could not be reunited with Ariel immediately. That much was clear from the teachings of Lumen, who spoke of what comes after human death.

In the scriptures of the afterlife it is written:

“Only pure souls who have committed no sins in their lives can come into my arms. Those who have committed grave sins will have their souls dragged away by demons and will have to pay for their sins in the fires of hell before they can return to my arms.”

The Creator God, in making this world, proclaimed:

“For the righteous, peace as a reward; for the wicked, the torment of hellfire.”

It was essentially a warning to the living: “Commit no evil while on this earth, lest you face divine punishment.”

Some 500 years ago, this teaching was effective. But as the power of the gods waned and divine revelations ceased, belief in the Creator God’s teachings about the afterlife all but disappeared.

While divine power was tangible and undeniable proof of the gods’ existence, no one had ever seen a demon come to claim a soul after death.

As a result, the doctrine of the afterlife was now dismissed as an old tale, used only to frighten children.

Kylance had once dismissed it too.

But now… he fervently wished for an afterlife, even if it meant that demons would come to claim him. He needed it to exist.

Even as he was dragged away by demons and his body burned in the fires of hell, the Scriptures promised that once he had paid the full price for his sins, he could return to the embrace of the Creator God.

Ariel would undoubtedly be resting peacefully in the arms of the Creator.

So wouldn’t it be possible to see her again, even just once?

He could no longer look for her in this world. She was beyond his reach.

But in this world he longed to meet Ariel – just once, even for a fleeting moment.

Not to seek forgiveness.

He knew only too well that his sins were unforgivable.

Instead, it was to atone before her, for he feared that he had left even the smallest shadow on her heart.

He wanted to make sure that her soul could truly be at peace.

Adjusting his uniform as he looked in the mirror, Kylance furrowed his brow.

Unlike the morning when he had been sprawled on the sofa like a wreck, Kylance now stood properly dressed in his knight’s attire. But there was one thing that bothered him.

His sunken cheeks, the result of neglecting proper meals.

He ran his fingers along the hollows of his cheeks and the sharper contours of his jawline.

“Pitiful.”

But there was nothing he could do about it now. Time had already run out.

Perhaps this appearance suited him better.

No matter how well he dressed, he was still a sinner.

“Yes… it fits.”

Kylance turned away from the mirror and walked to the table in his bedroom.

The tea table, right next to a large window, was a prime spot. Sitting there, one could take in the sweeping view of the Grand Duke’s extensive gardens.

His gaze fell on the table set with wine, fruit and cheese.

He had personally instructed the steward to prepare everything down to the last detail.

And all of it – every single item – was made up of things Ariel had loved.

Kylance sat down at the table. The first thing he did was uncork the wine bottle with the opener. A rich aroma of grapes wafted out. True to Ariel’s taste, it was a sweet southern wine, with more sugar than bitterness.

He poured the wine into a glass.

Trickle.

As the glass filled, memories of Ariel flooded his mind.

“When we are married, let’s visit this vineyard together.”

“Visit the vineyard? Is that really necessary? You can drink this wine whenever you like.”

“Of course I know that. But this wine is special, isn’t it?”

“Of course it’s special. It’s your favourite.”

“Not just that”

“Not just that…?”

“Tsk, Kylance, you really do tend to forget things like that.”

Kylance’s expression turned sheepish as Ariel broke into a soft smile and explained.

“This is the wine we had the night we had our first dinner together.”

“Ah… I remember everything about that night – your eyes, your voice, everything about you. But… the wine? I don’t remember. I’m sorry.”

At his sincere apology, Ariel let out a small laugh.

“It’s fine, really. It’s not like you have to remember everything.”

Ariel said she understood. She knew how nervous he had been during that first dinner, how completely focused on her and nothing else.

Then, with a knowing smile, Ariel added.

“I know exactly how much you cared that night.”

“Now that you remember, when we get married, we’ll make sure to include this vineyard in our travels, OK? Let’s go there and make our own wine together.”

“Alright. That sounds good.”

Thud.

As he set the wine bottle back on the table, the sweet memory faded into emptiness, leaving only silence.

The empty chair in front of him.

Even if he closed his eyes and opened them again, Ariel wouldn’t be there.

“This is my reality.”

Kylance’s cold, dark voice echoed in the heavy air. His gaze lingered on the empty chair across from him before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silk pouch. Carefully undoing the tightly bound opening, he poured the contents – fine white powder – into his wine glass.

All of it.

The poison, which was said to dissolve one’s insides within minutes in even a trace amount, was emptied into the glass.

‘To make sure there would be no mistakes.’

The white powder quickly dissolved into the red wine. As the last traces disappeared into the liquid.

dong-

The clock struck midnight.

Kylance raised his glass.

“Happy birthday, Ariel.”

Then he drank. Every last drop.

As he put the glass down, it slipped from his hand.

crash!

“Guh-!”

An excruciating pain shot through his body, leaving him unable even to scream. He collapsed sideways with a heavy thud.

“Urgh… Kghk…”

Dark blood, thicker than the crimson wine, gushed from his throat, spilling out as his body convulsed in agony.

The thick, dark blood spread across the floor.

Kylance coughed up blood again and again, his body convulsing as the agony consumed him.

Finally, as the pain began to subside, he felt a strange, chilling calm. Slowly, his eyelids fluttered shut.

And then silence enveloped him, except for the faint chiming of the wall clock.

—

Dong-

The chime of midnight echoed through the quiet halls, startling Lowell, who sat up abruptly in bed.

It wasn’t the sound of the clock that had startled him.

He hadn’t been asleep.

“You’ve been working hard lately. Take the night off and leave early.”

Those words from Kylance earlier that day replayed in his mind, leaving a feeling of unease that he couldn’t shake.

After his bath, Kylance had instructed Lowell.

“Take the night off. You’ve been working hard lately.”

To be honest, Lowell wasn’t tired at all. In fact, he had been overflowing with joy at the thought that Kylance might have regained his will to live.

Even if Kylance had ordered him to stay up all night to complete overdue tasks, Lowell would have gladly obeyed, his excitement barely contained.

But to be told to leave early? Lowell had felt a pang of disappointment.

He’d wanted to say that he wasn’t tired at all, that he could stay and help. But the words never came.

The lingering shadows on Kylance’s face had stopped him.

And so, without protest, he quietly left early and returned to his quarters in the annex.

But once there, Lowell couldn’t shake the unease that was gnawing at him. It was so strong that even closing his eyes brought no relief.

‘I feel like I’ve missed something.’

Lowell’s soft murmur broke the silence of the night, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what was troubling him.

An inexplicable feeling of unease remained.

Earlier in the day, when his master had risen, Lowell had been overwhelmed with joy. But as the hours passed, a strange sense of foreboding began to creep in.

“Had His Grace truly let go of Ariel’s memory and begun to move forward?”

The nagging doubt gnawed at him.

With a heavy sigh, Lowell remembered the moment earlier that day when Kylance, who had been as motionless as a man in a coffin, suddenly stirred and spoke.

“Lowell, what day is it today?”

Caught up in the flood of emotion, Lowell had hastily replied.

“Today is Imperial Year 456, the 22nd of November.”

The moment replayed vividly in his mind, adding to his unease.

And then… His Grace had said…

“It’s time to go.”

At that moment, Lowell had been so overwhelmed by the mere fact that Kylance had risen that he hadn’t given it much thought. But the more he thought about the words, the stranger they seemed.

Wasn’t it strange?

‘Saying ‘it’s time to go usually meant having a specific destination in mind.’

If he had regained his will to live and wanted to start afresh, wouldn’t it have been more natural to say something like “It’s time to get up again” instead?

‘But “It’s time to go”…’

Of course, he’d gone to take a bath right after that, so maybe that’s what he meant – *to take a bath*.

‘What am I even thinking?’

Lowell groaned, annoyed with himself.

He let out a deep sigh, realising that his own thoughts were becoming absurd.

Surely his master wouldn’t make such a decisive and significant statement just to announce his intention to go to the toilet.

So what exactly did he mean?