The hand clutching D’hiver’s clothes tightened until the veins stood out white.

Then it slipped, falling limply to the floor.

“…Truly?”

“Yes.”

His voice dropped, cold and steady.

“I promise.”

As if bewitched by the weight of that moment, I leaned in and kissed him.

Startled by my sudden action, he caught both my arms.

“Violette, you—”

“Please… stay with me.”

I clung to his gentleness without restraint.

I appealed to the part of him that might weaken at the sight of me—pitiful, begging, relying on what little mercy I believed he held.

Because right now, I didn’t want to be alone.

Because I didn’t want to be left alone in this cold world.

Because somehow, I wanted to keep the person before me by my side, no matter what.

“Like that day you said you’d become my love… like that moment… please—”

Rescue me from this abyss!

Make it so that I can’t think of anything at all.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I lowered my head.

My hand, clutching at D’Hiver’s clothes, slipped weakly away.

He gently cupped my face, lifting my trembling chin once more.

The moment our eyes met, D’Hiver wore an expression I couldn’t name.

It was beyond anything my small world had ever known.

Without a word, he carefully wiped the tears from my cheeks.

Slowly.

Again and again.

It was as if he were trying to wash away my pain.

By the time the last fragile traces of tears had dried beneath his fingertips, he whispered.

“Don’t cry.”

Then his lips met mine.

At first, it felt comforting, but the warmth of his breath quickly intensified.

As always, he pulled me in closer, holding me tight and lingering on the kiss, stirring something soft and vulnerable within me.

It was a kiss I had grown used to, yet this time it felt entirely different.

As his touch lingered, I let out a quiet sound unintentionally.

“…Mm…”

As if that had been a signal, he slipped his warm hand beneath my clothes.

He pulled me closer and closer, his touch no longer restrained, but filled with quiet, aching urgency.

A new sensation spread through me, leaving my body trembling.

Something buried deep within me stirred to life.

Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around his neck, my trembling fingers clutching at his clothes.

His body was firm and solid — so different from mine.

I traced it hesitantly, my fingertips brushing over the strength of his back.

This unfamiliar contrast made everything feel vividly real.

My heart trembled.

His lips, which had been drinking me in, slowly moved downwards.

His breath became uneven.

Leaving soft, lingering touches on my skin, he moved slowly; each faint mark was a quiet echo of where he had been.

“…Beautiful.”

His voice was low and heavy with unspoken meaning.

His lips followed, brushing against mine with a warmth that took my breath away.

The sensation blurred everything.

The quiet night was filled with the sound of my uneven breathing.

Before long, he settled above me, his gaze fixed on me.

“Violette.”

“…Yes.”

“If I am the reason you live…”

Through my blurred vision, I saw him slowly brush my cheek with the back of his hand.

“Then you… become the reason I live as well.”

I nodded, as if entranced.

In that moment, he claimed me as his own.

His touch sought me out and held me, burning through the night’s darkness.

From that day on, it felt natural.

I fell asleep in D’Hiver’s arms each night and woke up in them every morning.

The next morning was one I would never forget.

The moment I opened my eyes, I heard his voice.

With our bodies still pressed close together, I felt him pull me even tighter into his embrace.

“Did you sleep well?”

I tilted my head.

D’hiver, who looked at me with eyes untouched by sleep, curved his eyes gently.

With quiet affection, he pressed soft kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, and my lips.

Still wrapped in his embrace, I blinked.

“Were you like this all night?”

“Mm.”

“Why? You didn’t sleep…”

My words trailed off.

In the morning light, you suddenly looked like a solitary, untouchable being.

“As one of the most special moments of my countless nights.”

A faint, unplaceable loneliness lingered around him.

He gave a bitter smile and added,

“I won’t forget this moment until the day I die.”

“D’hiver…”

“You can’t die.

If you never forget this moment, won’t you always carry me with you, even after I’ve disappeared from this world?

I knew what it was like to be left alone in the world.

That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

Instead, I asked something else.

“…It’s only natural that you’re special to me. But… am I that kind of person to you as well?”

“Of course.”

His warm hand brushed my cheek.

“There was no one before you, and there won’t be anyone after. I won’t ever meet someone more special than you. My life has been unbearably long… and it still stretches on.”

As he spoke about his life, a hollow smile lingered on his lips.

And so we became one entity, composed of two individuals.

Within the confines of his castle, we shut ourselves away from the outside world, filling each other’s lives with nothing but ourselves.

It was by his side in that place that I began to learn who I was.

What I liked and what I disliked.

What I wanted.

What I did not want.

Ultimately, I wanted to be loved.

To love.

D’Hiver.

D’Hiver.

D’Hiver.

In my world, where even Suki had disappeared, D’Hiver was the only person I liked and loved.

He was the only person to ever love me.

Without him, I could not exist.

I wasn’t even something that could be defined.

But he—he, on the other hand—as despair slowly closed in on me, the world faded into complete darkness.

There I stood, alone, taking uncertain steps along a path that led nowhere. I was walking forward in solitude.

How long had I been walking?

In that endless darkness, a single ray of light appeared.

I turned towards the brilliance that bathed everything in white.

There stood Blanche, her face as gentle as ever.

“…Blanche.”

My eyes welled up.

As I stepped closer, Blanche opened her arms and looked at me longingly.

I rushed into her embrace, but I felt no warmth. I whispered desperately.

“I missed you… I missed you so much.”

“So did I.”

Her answer came, soft as a passing breeze, laced with a faint smile.

“Our young lady has grown so much. Your eyes have deepened… but they’re still that beautiful violet.”

“…You haven’t changed at all.”

“Of course not.”

Her gentle hand stroked my hair.

“I am someone who has already died.”

“Don’t… say that…”

It felt as though my heart dropped.

Even in dreams, the voice I had longed for echoed like a fading memory.

“Miss, after Lady Ripe left… you became the joy of my life. I always prayed that the path you walk would be filled with light.”

Blanche gently pushed me away.

Our eyes met.

Looking into her blue eyes, which were full of age, I could sense the boundless affection she had for me.

I lifted my hand to touch her cheek, but I still felt nothing.

Blanche simply placed her hand over mine and smiled faintly.

“From now on as well.”

Instinctively, I knew—she was leaving.

I clutched her hand tightly.

“Don’t go.”

Even if she were just a ghostly presence, I wanted her to stay.

I wanted her by my side, even if she were just a passing spirit.

But Blanche shook her head and took a step back.

“Blanche, please…”

Hearing my desperate voice, Blanche lowered her head.

Something glimmered along her cheek.

Was this the distance between life and death?

No matter how hard I tried to reach her or how many times I called her name, she only drifted further away.

In the end, all that remained was empty space.

That emptiness terrified me.

As I cried out in anguish, an old woman with ashen eyes appeared before me.

“Miss.”

At the sight of her, tears finally fell from my eyes.

“Oh dear, you’re still such a crybaby.”

That familiar, peculiar way of speaking, I called out to her in a breaking voice.

“Suki… Suki…”

“Yes, Miss. Haven’t I always told you? If you keep crying, you won’t get any presents at the end of the year!”

At that, a faint laugh escaped me as I wiped my tears.

“…Do you still think I’m a child who would fall for that?”

“Ah… if only you could remain a child forever. Then we could have stayed together for a very long time.”

…But Suki, too, did not remain.

Just like Blanche—she vanished, like smoke.

Once again, only darkness was left by my side.

“…You told me to live a long life.”

I murmured blankly at the place where Suki had disappeared.

“You said you wanted to watch me grow… to see all of me. So why… why did you…”

“Why did you close your eyes so soon?”

Had D’Hiver done that too?

There were so few precious things in my life, and yet they all left me.

I stood alone in the darkness, embracing the world’s loneliness.

And at the very end—

“Yes. I used you.”

His voice echoed in my ears like a distant reverberation.

And then, at last, I understood.

So all of this had been part of your plan.

Meeting you.

Sticking by your side, only to end up alone.

Losing everyone I could trust or rely on, until you were the only one left.

Until my entire world became you.

Yet you, the person who had become everything to me, were planning to leave me behind.

To go somewhere I could never follow: death.

At last, the darkness before my eyes cleared.

When I lifted my tear-filled gaze, there you were, just as always, looking at me.

“Violette.”

“……”

My lips trembled faintly.

Then, as if trying to turn away from you, I closed my eyes.

Only now could I finally define what you were to me.

You, D’Hiver Keith, you were the one who saved me from a terrible abyss and cast me into an even deeper, more merciless one.