“Claude!”

I ran to the end of the pier and waved my arms around wildly, crying his name as loudly as I could. Whether or not he could hear me, my desperate, pleading voice carried across the water.

‘I need to speak to you once more…’

But a ship is swifter than frantic legs. By the time it had shrunk to the point where I could no longer make out his face, I was standing at the end of the pier with nothing but water beneath my feet.

“Claude!”

One last time, I hurled his name into the wind. At that final shout, his head turned as though my voice—by some miracle—had reached him. Gripping the rail dividing earth from sea, I must have looked like a madwoman because a dockworker came running over.

“Miss, you can’t go any farther! It’s dangerous here — one slip and you’ll end up in deep water!”

But Claude — tall and wearing a dark coat and fedora — was already a silhouette against the setting sun. White spray curled behind the ship as it pulled away. The moment it disappeared beyond the harbour’s reach, I finally burst into tears.

Even if he had heard me, it wouldn’t have made any difference. The ship had already set sail and was drifting further and further away from the shore.

He was gone.

Reality pressed down like a stone. The sunset-stained ocean responded with perfect, merciless silence.

“Are you all right?”

The dockworker asked, still holding my shoulders as though I might leap after the departing boat.

I gripped the railing so tightly that my knuckles turned white, staring down at the churning blue water.

‘Should I jump? What if I swam after him?’

What a foolish thought, especially since I can’t swim! Ultimately, I was powerless to do anything but stand there like an idiot, realising that I had to let him go. This knowledge drained my strength and I collapsed to the ground. My tears splashed onto the white stone of the quay, staining it with my grief.

The dockworker, clearly at a loss, finally let go and said something I didn’t catch. All other voices faded, leaving only my own ragged sobs. They were raw and uncontrollable, and the distant ship blurred into a smear behind a curtain of tears.

When even that had disappeared, I finally bowed my head.

‘Did you truly come to love me, Claude?’

Pointless questions echoed in my mind as I stood and watched the crimson glow of dusk spread before me, turning the whole world the colour of heartbreak.

“Hey… don’t you have anyone with you?”

The dockworker was still lingering beside me.

I opened my mouth and murmured in the local language.

“… I’m sorry. I won’t do anything reckless.”

At that, his voice softened right away.

“Ah, I was just worried you might jump. I don’t know what happened, but I hope things work out for you.”

Having decided that I was no longer in danger, he offered me his gentle consolation and stepped away.

The passers-by who had been whispering nearby slowly drifted off once he left.

Even those who had been waving farewell to loved ones leaving began to disperse, one by one.

I was the only one left, still staring at the ship that had become a mere speck on the horizon.

It was sailing beyond where the sky met the sea, growing smaller by the second.

The clouds overhead had turned a deep red. It was breathtaking—a scene beautiful enough to sting the eyes.

‘Are you seeing this same sky from the ship, Claude?’

I couldn’t follow him. I couldn’t even write to him.In that country, I was already dead.

 “…”

Fine.

‘Think of another way.’

I would write to Crown Princess Verche.

I would tell her that I wanted to see my ex-husband, Claude, again.

I would send her a letter. Somehow—

That’s when I realised that something had changed.

The air had grown too quiet.

I lifted my head and turned not towards the sea, but towards the port.

A silhouette was outlined in the blood-red glow of twilight.

I couldn’t speak. I simply stared.

The backlight made it difficult to see clearly, but I could make out that the figure was slowly walking towards me.

When I wiped away my tears, my vision sharpened.

The closer he came, the more I froze.

I knew that posture. That stride.

“…Claude?”

Even when he drew close enough for me to see his face, I couldn’t move. I sat there, still, as if rooted in place.

But it was really him.

‘Claude.’

He came right up to me, dropped to one knee before my seated form, and gently met my gaze.

“Diana?”

His wide, stunned eyes were fixed on me.

Still reeling from the rush of emotion, I took a shaky breath. Without saying a word, Claude reached into his coat pocket and took out a handkerchief. He gently wiped the tears from my cheeks.

It was a reflex, as natural as breathing.

But his tender gesture only made the tears well up again.

Above all, it was proof — he really was Claude.

“Why… why are you still here?”

I asked, my voice trembling with emotion.

Still dazed, he blinked and finally replied.

“The ship hasn’t arrived yet.”

“What?”

“The one I’m supposed to board comes in an hour.”

“… Ah.”

So that’s what it was!

The figure I’d seen on the departing ship hadn’t been him after all.

I’d mistaken someone else for him.

I felt an overwhelming sense of relief, but it was accompanied by a sudden wave of embarrassment.

After all, I had cried my heart out in front of strangers and screamed his name at the sea.

And now, he was still here. I was so glad, but also so embarrassed that I couldn’t bring myself to look up.

“Diana, can I ask why you were crying here alone?”

My throat tightened. No words came out.

“I heard you calling my name, was it…?”

There was a pause. His voice was gentler still.

“Was it because you came looking for me?”

He was so close that our eyes met from barely a breath away.

I bit my lip, then slowly nodded.

“……”

Claude’s eyes fluttered once, twice. Then his lips trembled faintly and, in the next heartbeat, he pulled me into his arms.

“Claude—”

“Diana.”

His embrace tightened around me.

“Truly…”

“……”

“I don’t ever want to wake up if this is a dream.”

“……”

It all felt so surreal that I wondered if I was dreaming.

Then I had a flashback of his wrist. I pulled away and took his hand. Claude remained silent and still, letting me do as I pleased.

I pushed up the cuff of his shirt. A single, stark gash ran the length of his wrist — it was far deeper and more serious than I had realised earlier. A wound made by a blade.

“What is this scar?”

He said nothing.

“Did you… did you try to kill yourself?”

At my question, his eyes dropped. That was answer enough.

“You—how could you…!”

Claude? Slashing his own wrist? I choked on a sob, and he pulled me into his arms again, resting his forehead on my shoulder.

“I thought you were… dead. Again.”

“..…”

“I thought I’d lost you once more.”

His arms tightened. I squeezed my eyes shut.

“But still—still! How could you even think of dying?”

This was the first time I had ever raised my voice or let my feelings pour out like this, but I hardly cared. My head was burning and fear churned inside me.

What if he had really died without my knowledge? The thought was unbearable.

“Never—never even consider it again. Promise me.”

“Dia—”

“You really are a terrible man.”

Claude’s brow furrowed, as though my presence was causing him pain. Yet the corners of his mouth lifted in a mixture of laughter and tears. Against the backdrop of the setting sun, his beautiful face seemed to shimmer.

“Diana. I’m sorry – so sorry. I won’t do anything like that again.”

Hearing this brought me such relief that I was overwhelmed. I cried loudly enough to make everyone on the pier stare, but I didn’t care — my heart felt as though it were about to burst.

Claude wiped my cheeks, utterly helpless to soothe me, then pressed his lips to my brow.

“Have I made you cry again?”

His voice was a gentle murmur and, at last, my tears slowed. He pulled away slightly and rested his forehead against mine. His hair fell forward, allowing the twilight to come in.

When my hiccups finally eased, he kept our foreheads touching and breathed almost too softly to be heard.

“May I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“May I ask why you’re crying like this?”

I raised my gaze to meet his. His clear eyes looked only at me, and I already knew the answer in my heart: I knew why I was crying and why I was terrified. I dropped my gaze and spoke in a small, wavering voice.

“I want to ask first.”

It was the question that had been haunting me.

Gently, Claude eased me back so that he could see my face.

“What is it?”

“The day I… died—the carriage accident. You tried to say something to me at the very end.”

My own curiosity felt strange in this moment, but I needed the words.

“What was it?”

Claude cupped my cheek with care.

“That…”

His fingers skimmed beneath my eyes, smoothing the tear-wet skin.

“…That I didn’t want to divorce you.”

“……”

“I hadn’t prepared anything when I called your name that day.”

Claude murmured, as if making a quiet confession.

“It was a sudden, impulsive instinct. But I think I would have told you that I didn’t want us to part ways.”

His voice was soft and hesitant, as though he were admitting a sin. I blinked, momentarily stunned.

“Claude… that means…”

“Diana, I’ve loved you for far longer than I dared admit. I was a fool to realise it only after I thought you’d died.”

“…”

“If I’m too late now…”

He trailed off, unable to finish the thought, his head bowed.

But I was done holding back. There was a truth I had buried—denied, even to myself.

But not anymore. I wanted to say it now. I needed to say it.

“Claude… I think I still love you.”

The words escaped my lips in a trembling whisper. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, so I kept my eyes lowered as I continued.

This was a future that I had only ever dared to imagine; one that I had always told myself could never happen.

“I want to start over with you.”

Not as the puppet of House Cassel, nor as the abandoned princess of the Empire—but simply as two ordinary people, living quietly in a small village.

Even as I spoke, hesitant and unsure, he remained silent.

Then I felt the hands cupping my cheeks tremble ever so slightly. When I finally looked up, I saw that he was staring at me.

His eyes were rimmed with red.

The man who had never cried before wore an expression I had never seen on his face before.

“Is that true?”

His voice cracked as he spoke.

I couldn’t answer. I simply nodded.

Then, slowly, he leaned in.

My vision blurred with tears once more as his lips touched mine, tasting faintly of salt from the sea breeze.

The warmth and scent I had longed for enveloped me.

As we kissed, the last image I saw was the radiant sunset over the ocean.