Chapter 10 (Side Story) The Fate for a Romantic Death of a Certain Being (Part 3)

Thousands, tens of thousands of people die and are born every day. 

Therefore, finding a single soul on that path is like finding a needle among countless grains of sand. He looked desperately at the people walking by. It was like a procession of ants. 

Where are you? Where are you? Where on earth are you, my dear… 

And then it happened. 

With a swoosh, someone was seen shooting an arrow. A soul running off the path was hit and fell. 

He recognized who it was at a glance. It was the woman with the soft brown hair he loved so dearly. 

“No, stop immediately!” 

At his piercing command, the Grim Reapers nearby turned their gazes as if to ask what was going on. But soon, someone explained it was nothing serious, and seeing their leader rushing off, they assumed it would be resolved and returned to their tasks. 

By that time, Nathaniel saw Cordelia, who had been hit by the arrow, running somewhere, and he followed her. 

“Where are you! Cordelia! Cordelia!” 

His steps brought him to a forest path. 

The boundary area near the entrance to the afterlife was lush with trees and flowers, making it difficult to track any traces. 

But then it happened. While he was turning his head, searching aimlessly, suddenly Skoll, his horse, began to run somewhere in a hurry. It wasn’t unusual for his impatient horse to act on its own, so he immediately scolded it, but Skoll, despite the pulling reins, shook its head and led him somewhere. Then it abruptly stopped at a certain point. 

“What on earth… Cordelia?” 

It was then that he saw the figure of a fallen woman. It was Cordelia. 

Taking a deep breath, Nathaniel jumped off the horse and rushed to her. He hurriedly reached out to check her condition. When her body touched his fingertips with a thud, he suddenly felt as if his breath had been taken away.

“I can… touch you…” 

Well, now she was no longer a being of the living world but could only exist in this realm. She had finally joined him on the same plane. 

He immediately picked her up and mounted Skoll again. Then he spurred the horse toward a deep forest cabin he had once built and abandoned. 

“Open your eyes… Please. Cordelia. You mustn’t scatter like this. You mustn’t vanish… Please.”

The arrow that struck her was a weapon used by the Grim Reapers to completely obliterate an impure soul. Thus, she too might soon disappear. 

He laid her on a soft bed and, holding her pale hand, pleaded with tears. However, despite his tearful wishes, her body gradually stiffened as if she were dying. 

At this rate, he would lose her. He would lose her right before his eyes… 

Panicked, he instinctively did something he shouldn’t have. He shared his life force with her. 

He pressed his lips to Cordelia’s pale ones and slowly breathed warmth into her. Deep in his heart, he wished for her to live. He wished that she would open her eyes and see him, even for a moment. He thought it would be fine if he were the one to die, as long as she could live. 

He shared his life force so many times that he fainted and woke up multiple times. His long life meant nothing if he couldn’t see her anymore, so he didn’t hesitate. In the end, he even wished their fates would switch. He was willing to give her his eternal life, even if it meant he would only open his eyes briefly and die, as long as he could be reflected in her beautiful green eyes at that moment. 

‘Then Cordelia…’

It was then that Nathaniel suddenly realized the meaning of the “singularity” assigned to her. 

It was said to often influence many deaths, and he was the one who dealt with it. And she was directly connected to his death. 

He realized that the deity had arranged for him to meet her as a romantic way to end his existence. Everything was destiny. He was not an outsider. He found it quite ironic that he only realized this now. 

He lay down beside her, breathing heavily, exhausted from transferring so much energy. His vision blurred. 

“…It doesn’t matter.” 

Nathaniel spoke to himself. Holding her pale hand carefully, he continued with a voice full of affection. 

“It doesn’t matter… Can’t you look at me just once? Cordelia. Don’t disappear like this… Can’t you look at me and say my name just once?” 

“…” 

“I hope you reincarnate. I want you to be happy in your next life. I actually wanted to make that happen for you…” 

His voice slowly faded away. 

He lost consciousness, sensing the end was near.

***

“Excuse me… What exactly are you saying right now? Who are you to say such things about me? I’m still single. There’s no way an unmarried woman like me could have had a child or suffered from puerperal fever.”  

It was sometime later when he woke up again. He felt something was amiss.

It was surprising that he didn’t die despite exhausting his life force, and the situation unfolding before his eyes was even more bewildering. 

Nathaniel couldn’t understand what was happening. 

Why hadn’t he died after giving away almost all his life force, and why was Cordelia saying things that contradicted what he knew? 

He was so confused by the situation that he asked her directly. 

“What do you mean by that? Are you joking?” 

She furrowed her brows and tilted her head, looking puzzled as if he was the one confused. 

“What do you mean, joking? I’m saying that you’re clearly mistaken. And I’m not joking.” 

“You… How much do you even remember right now? What’s your name? Your age? Do you know where we are? Answer me.” 

“My name is Cordelia… and I’m eighteen this year. My hometown is a rural village called Hoberin in the southwest. I was on my way in a carriage to get married. But I think I must’ve dozed off along the way. So, the woman you’re talking about isn’t me. I haven’t even met my husband-to-be, Levin, and I’ve never experienced anything like married life.” 

He stood there, frozen in shock, his lips moving soundlessly. He quietly observed her. Although he couldn’t understand how it happened, one thing was clear from the situation before him. 

She was alive. She had awakened without being obliterated, though she seemed to have lost some of her memories in the process.

Nathaniel was hesitating, pondering where to begin explaining, when she suddenly asked, her eyes sparkling, 

“Are you Levin? My husband?” 

In that moment, he was overwhelmed with the urge to cry. The fact that those beautiful eyes he had longed for were looking directly at him, and that he was addressed by a title he could never truly possess, pierced his heart. Husband. Her husband. A title he would have given his entire life to claim. 

He knew he should deny it. But he couldn’t bring himself to dismiss the words, so he looked down, clenching his fists, and changed the subject. 

Hadn’t all his wishes come true? She hadn’t died, and she was looking at him.

So, he should let her go now, hoping she would find happiness in her new life. However, she reacted quite differently from what he expected. 

“Do you even realize what would happen if I left like this? What am I supposed to do, just walk out? How can you say something so frightening out of nowhere? I have no memories. That makes everything about this situation confusing and overwhelming for me. And now, you suddenly tell me to leave, making me feel like I’m being thrown out. It’s sad and hurtful.”  

“No… I didn’t mean to drive you away. I just thought… that now might be the perfect time for you to leave…”  

“No, it’s not.”  

His heart wavered again at her reply.

“Let’s do this instead.” 

“What do you mean?”  

“Let’s start our marriage over again.”  

Her face, which he looked at again in disbelief, already showed a desire to become closer. He felt breathless. At the same time, he recalled their first meeting. Back then, she had looked at him with such a beautiful face and then passed by. But not now. His face was clearly reflected in her eyes. She was asking to be with him. 

This is unbelievable. 

He felt as if he were being strangled. He wondered if this was a dream. How could the woman who was once just an unattainable dream now be asking to be with him? 

“Or… could it be that you’re the one who doesn’t want to live with me anymore? If you’d feel more at ease with me gone… then I might actually consider leaving.”

At her dejected question, he found himself speaking without realizing it. 

“That’s… not it.” 

He immediately regretted it, but it was too late. Her face was filled with joy, and his heart ached again at the sight. 

Then, temptations whispered in his mind. 

Think about it, this isn’t the living world anyway. 

They said

Her life ended painfully and miserably; there’s no need to remind her of that. Here, she deserves to be happy. And she already thinks of you as her husband, so now you can make her happy. 

Isn’t this what you wanted? 

‘What I wanted…’ 

He returned, having used the excuse of fetching a soft towel, deep in internal conflict. 

“Come here for a moment.” 

At her beckoning, he felt like a dog happily approaching its shepherd. It was just a small gesture, but the fact that it was directed entirely at him made him happy. His heart ached with joy. As he approached her closely… 

A soft kiss touched his cheek. It was an unexpected sensation, yet one he had imagined countless times. And as expected, it was so soft and warm that it filled his heart with emotion.

“Then let’s try living well together again. If someday another child comes to us, we can love them enough for the one who left. I hope we won’t torment each other anymore over things we can’t change… Can you help me with that?”  

There was nothing he could do about it. 

Nathaniel pondered those words, closing his eyes quietly. He then felt his own heartbeat thudding and briefly envisioned a future with her. 

How happy those days could be. But was such happiness truly something I was allowed to have…? 

He suddenly recalled the time he had pleaded with tears to the deity about the meaning of his existence. And then, the day he realized, ‘This is all destiny.’ 

Could it be that this was the deity’s mercy granted to me? Was that really the case?

Nathaniel decided to stake his fate on this possibility and test it. Even if it was false, even if it was only for a very short time, if he was granted even that much, he wanted to fulfill his wish. 

He wanted to let her sleep in a soft and warm place, plant the flowers and herbs she liked, never let her get hurt, never let her suffer alone, and love her completely. He wanted to show her that she was someone worthy of love. 

“…Yes, Cordelia.” 

As he slowly opened his eyes and looked at her, a happy smile spread across Cordelia’s face. He watched as she truly approached him this time. Unlike the past when she had just brushed past him, he could now feel her complete presence. As expected, she was small enough to fit entirely in his embrace, soft, endlessly warm, and incredibly lovable. 

Ah, it was love, after all. I was in love with you. I had fallen in love… 

The moment he realized his feelings, her tongue slipped into his mouth. Nathaniel shared their first kiss, feeling dizzy and tender. It was a happiness that felt like a lie. It was as if he had gained the whole world. 

Then he made a promise to himself. 

He would save her as many times as it took. He would give her the rest of his life. If he could be with her that way, he wouldn’t hold back at all. 

‘I will cherish you sincerely. I will be your paradise. For as long as possible… I will make it so.’ 

Even if she didn’t know his ‘true’ self, it was okay. Even if she called him by another’s name, it was okay. Even if it was all a misunderstanding, it was okay. Even if she later accused him of being a liar, it was okay. He just wanted to love her. He wanted to make her feel warm and not lonely. He wanted to make her happy. 

It was that kind of love.