“I was too embarrassed to say it in front of Ceres and Arianne, so I put them to sleep first. Funny, isn’t it?”

Snow made a joke as if nothing was wrong. She tried to laugh at her own joke, but her lips twisted strangely. Despite her words, her small shoulders were trembling uncontrollably.

“L-laugh for me.”

Snow stuttered.

“Laugh for me, Elios.”

She said it again. But Elios was biting his lip with his eyes closed. How could he laugh in this situation?

“Snow, do you really… love me?”

Unable to believe his ears, Elios asked again. It was the words he had most wanted to hear, yet it was strange how he could feel so little joy upon hearing them. Snow answered immediately without hesitation.

“I love you. Everything I said about disliking you, feeling uncomfortable, telling you to leave—it was all lies. I was afraid I might hurt you. If you had d-died by my hands, I would really…”

Snow couldn’t continue. Elios took a step toward Snow but then stepped back. He couldn’t approach her. If he too lost consciousness, he didn’t know what would happen to Snow. Despite having no certainty, his heart pounded heavily with an ominous premonition.

“El. Elios. There was something I really wanted to tell you.”

“Tell me.”

“You don’t need to feel guilty about anything related to Freia’s affairs.”

Snow spoke with all of Elios’s concerns in mind. But Elios thought Snow was speaking without knowing everything. So, keeping his distance from Snow, he pleaded:

“Snow, do you know? I was planning to conceal everything the imperial family did to Freia. Even though I learned how she died, how she was used…”

“I know.”

“I still don’t know what the right course of action is. Even after learning that you are Freia.”

“I know that too. I know how much you’ve been struggling with it, El.”

“How, how can you know? I’ve never told anyone my thoughts.”

“I just can. I know.”

Seeing that Elios still didn’t believe her, Snow spoke with feigned lightness:

“Perhaps it’s because I’m the ‘Saint.'”

Elios had been thinking that Snow’s attitude seemed different for a while, but now he was certain. Snow, who had recoiled at the word “Saint” until just now, no longer did so. Elios understood the reason for his persistent uneasiness.

Snow was behaving like someone saying final farewells to people she would never see again. Calling Ceres “Master,” telling Arianne to care more for herself from now on, and now confessing her love to him—it all seemed part of that.

“Snow. Are you planning to go away somewhere?”

Elios asked urgently, suddenly frightened by the thought. Snow paused before answering.

“No, I’m not leaving. I’ll stay here.”

“Then why are you acting like someone about to leave?”

This time the pause was longer.

“Snow? Did I guess right? Are you really planning to leave?”

“No, I’m not leaving.”

Snow denied it again. Elios had clearly witnessed her lying to Arianne just moments ago. Snow had even lied while swearing by the name of the Goddess Amir. So he couldn’t believe her words.

“If I fall asleep, will I see you again when I wake up?”

“…”

“Snow, what are you planning to do?”

“…Elios.”

Snow called his name and took a few steps toward him. Elios backed away. He must not fall asleep. Absolutely not. Both Martadia and Arianne had fallen asleep after embracing Snow. He didn’t know what method Snow had used to put them to sleep, but it seemed that physical contact was essential.

Of course, Snow read Elios’s thoughts and…

“El. Smile for me. I want to see your smiling face.”

Then Snow added one more thing in a small voice:

“F-for the last time.”

The last time? Elios’s heart sank. As Elios tried to speak, Snow stopped him.

“Yes. I’m going far away. I knew the three of you would never approve if I told you, so I was planning to do it secretly. I thought that since the calamity occurs where I am, if I left the Empire and went far away, the calamity would leave the Empire too. So I was going to try it. Elios, there’s no connection between you approaching me and me making you collapse.”

“Snow!”

“I just wanted to say a kind of farewell in my own way. I have more to say, but there’s no time. But if you can’t approach me until the end, at least smile for me once. So I can remember it whenever things get hard.”

Elios wished all of this was just a dream. That night when Snow sobbed against his back saying she had a nightmare—yes, he wished everything since then had been his own nightmare.

Suddenly he wished that when he woke up, it would be a clear morning; Snow would be making some final adjustments to the prayer Elios would recite at his coming-of-age ceremony. That would be the extent of her worries. He desperately wished it were so.

Snow took a few more steps forward, and Elios continued to stagger backward. It seemed like Snow would embrace him, say whatever she wanted, not bother to hear his response or care what he thought, and just put him to sleep. That wasn’t just sleep. To Elios, it was like death.

As Elios backed away, his legs gave out and he sat down hard. His clothes were already soaked and ruined by the snow. He was cold and dizzy, but more than that, the situation was pathologically frightening and hard to accept.

Sitting down, Elios retreated by pushing himself backward. Snow ignored this and continued approaching until she collapsed onto Elios. Pinned by Snow, Elios lay back on the snow. The cold he had felt from his wet clothes suddenly disappeared. It was warm and cozy, like being covered with a dry, fluffy blanket.

Snow embraced Elios’s head with both arms and lay down with her head beside his. The howling wind suddenly died down, and it was quiet and silent as if only the two of them remained in a destroyed world. They were so close that they could hear each other’s breathing.

“Elios. I’m sorry. I’ve hurt you too much.”

“Snow, you leaving me is my greatest hurt. Don’t go. Please.”

Elios said, looking up at the snowy sky. Snowflakes fell near his eyelashes, melted, and ran down his cheeks. His vision blurred, and Elios squeezed his eyes shut. The melted snowflakes kept running down his face. Elios had to somehow persuade Snow. He tried to stay calm. It seemed impossible to persuade Snow emotionally.

“There’s no guarantee things will be better if you leave. It’s best for you to stay here. There are documents about Freia and the Nigritia ducal family scattered around, and above all, since Freia was born and raised here in the capital, all the clues to stopping the calamity must be here too.”

He was speaking fluently, making what even he thought were reasonable points. Snow held Elios tightly without moving. Just as he was beginning to think he might have succeeded in persuading her, Snow spoke:

“After I disappear, the temple’s position will become difficult. The temple will inevitably decline gradually, but Elios, please make sure Ceres doesn’t suffer greatly because of me.”

Snow wasn’t persuaded at all.

“Snow. You could just not leave. Let’s find a solution together. I told you earlier. I’ve given up being Crown Prince and such. My words won’t have much influence from now on. You stay at the temple. I’d rather become a priest and stay by your side. Snow, don’t go. I’ll protect you.”

Elios was desperate. He was now holding Snow so tightly she could barely breathe. He felt that if he let go, she would fly away somewhere. He was afraid, not knowing when Snow might put him to sleep. Before that happened, he had to somehow change Snow’s mind.

“If you’re planning to put me to sleep and leave, just kill me instead. I can’t bear a world without you. Snow, you’re my everything now.”

Still embracing Elios, Snow just shook her head vigorously. Kill him? She could never do that.

“El, your love for me might have been another calamity for you.”

There must have been other women for Elios—pretty like dolls, kind, and normal. Elios could have had an easier and happier love. He deserved that much.

“A calamity? Snow.”

Elios tightened his grip. Snow felt suffocated but didn’t show it; rather, she embraced him even more tightly. The last, the last time. In the future Snow had seen, Elios was definitely smiling. Snow wasn’t by his side. It would be hard right now, but he would surely overcome it and become happier.

“Snow. Loving you wasn’t a calamity in my life but the greatest blessing.”

Elios said firmly. Though it felt like everything was being stripped away from him in this moment, that feeling alone was sincere.

“You know, I would have become Crown Prince when I came of age, married a noble woman chosen by my father, ascended to the throne, and lived a false life wearing a mask forever. I wouldn’t have had time to deeply examine what I truly wanted or what I was thinking. I was born to be that way from the beginning. But thanks to you, my life became richer, and I gained the courage to determine my fate with my own hands rather than someone else’s.”

The white, delicate body in Elios’s arms trembled.

“Ugh, hnngh”, the sound of someone trying to hold back tears was heard. Elios slowly and gently stroked Snow’s head.