“Ah….”

Barmas’s gaze seemed distant as he looked at Romei, perhaps due to her unexpected answer. A sound escaped his lips that could have been either a sigh or an exclamation.

His reaction resembled a balloon that had been fully inflated with expectation only to suddenly deflate, but there was nothing to be done about it. She couldn’t fabricate words just to meet his expectations.

“Are you disappointed?”

When Romei asked, he immediately shook his head.

“No. That’s not it. It’s just… I can’t believe it.”

“What can’t you believe?”

“I tormented you to the point where you wanted to die, yet you chose life again over something so insignificant.”

“…”

In Barmas’s mind, Romei should have thoroughly assessed him, tormented him with trials regardless of time and place, and tested his patience countless times.

Or at the very least, she should have threatened him with his life and forced him to submit like a dog for things to be fair.

That’s what Barmas thought.

Yet the fact that she had opened her heart a little because of that unremarkable garden and his seemingly trivial sincerity felt too generous to him.

Though he didn’t say it aloud, Romei could fully understand these thoughts of his.

She naturally sensed what he was thinking in the quiet moment when their conversation paused.

Romei broke the silence.

“You might not know this, but sometimes people decide to die for seemingly trivial reasons, and sometimes they decide to live for equally small ones.”

“…”

“Just as a person’s death isn’t trivial even if their reason for choosing death seems insignificant, a life isn’t made less meaningful because the reason for choosing to live seems small.”

“Romei…”

“What you did for me might seem minor to you, but it was important to me. Thanks to you, I feel I have the strength to try living again.”

At Romei’s sincere answer, Barmas, uncharacteristically, had tears welling in his eyes. His already bright red eyes appeared even redder from being bloodshot.

Romei added with a playful, joking smile:

“But you know this is a case of causing the illness and then providing the cure, right?”

“…I know.”

Barmas hung his head low and mumbled. He felt embarrassed for showing tears in front of her and also felt the pangs of conscience for the wrongs he had committed against her.

Though he might not be forgiven, Barmas lifted his head again, having resolved to always do his best for her from now on.

In that brief moment, the tears that had pooled in his eyes had completely disappeared.

“From now on, I’ll only provide the cure, so you’d better be prepared.”

“Haha.”

“This gift is just a bribe, too. Though you probably won’t be swayed by such things.”

Saying this, Barmas carefully tapped the necklace around her neck with his index finger. Romei, who had been laughing out loud at his playful threat, nodded.

“That’s right. I won’t be swayed, but it’s still very pretty.”

“Do you like it?”

“I do. But why the sudden gift? I haven’t done anything to deserve one.”

“Well, do I need a special occasion to give a gift? I just happened to see a nice item being sold while out, thought of you, and bought it.”

Of course, Romei vaguely knew his words were a lie. Barmas had always been by her side.

He had never gone out once and had spent most of his time with her in the bedroom. Time with her was always his priority, and he only handled work by giving orders to his familiar from the bedroom, only briefly visiting his office when matters absolutely couldn’t be resolved from there.

Despite this, the fact that he wanted to give her a gift and had obtained something like this moved Romei’s emotions.

“…Thank you. This is light, so I think I can wear it often.”

“That’s good, then.”

Barmas smiled. It was a smile that conveyed both satisfaction and relief.

“Shall we go for a walk today too? I think two laps around the mansion would be just right.”

“Sure. Let’s do that.”

“Tell me if you get tired halfway. Don’t collapse while insisting you’re fine like last time.”

Romei blushed at Barmas’s worried nagging.

She had once collapsed in the middle of a corridor because she had pushed herself beyond her limits in her eagerness to regain her health quickly.

Her last memory of that moment was Barmas rushing toward her with a pale face, and after she woke up later, she had to endure his untimely overprotectiveness.

Recalling that day, Romei replied awkwardly.

“That was because I was being greedy then. I won’t do that anymore.”

“Alright. That’s all good, just stay healthy.”

With those words, Barmas extended his hand toward Romei. It was a small signal known only to the two of them, indicating they should end the conversation here and go out for a walk.

Romei naturally placed her hand on top of his. He then grasped it without hesitation and gently pulled her toward him.

Following his lead, Romei stood up and walked out of the bedroom. With every movement, the blue topaz attached to the necklace he had given her dangled on her chest with a beautiful light.

It was a pleasant tapping sensation.

* * *

【 The Last Dream Before Death 】

“Have you been unable to sleep lately?”

Romei suddenly asked this while eating lunch prepared by a servant after their morning walk. As usual, Barmas wasn’t eating but sat across from her, watching her eat.

At this unexpected question, Barmas raised one eyebrow quizzically and asked back.

“Why are you suddenly asking about that?”

The moment Romei heard his answer, she felt an indescribable sense of discomfort.

It was a simple question, one that could be commonly asked. But his sudden change in attitude and sensitive reaction seemed suspicious.

Putting aside the feeling that some forgotten memory was creeping back, Romei answered calmly.

“Just… your complexion seems to be getting worse as time passes.”

“…”

“At first I thought it might just be my imagination, but today you definitely look more tired than yesterday. Are you okay?”

When Romei asked with concern, Barmas couldn’t simply ignore it and answered while subtly avoiding her gaze.

“I’m fine. I’m healthy. I sleep well too.”

“But you said this morning that you were anxious because of me.”

“That’s…”

Barmas let his words trail off.

It was true that he had been anxious and occasionally had trouble sleeping, but that wasn’t the only reason for his poor complexion.

In truth, Barmas was experiencing serious problems with his life energy supply. The life energy obtained through crystals was clearly limited, and he was experiencing those limitations throughout his body.

He could obtain pure life energy by using familiars created from parts of his shadow, but since they were shadows by nature, there was no way to change their appearance without hallucinogens.

No human would want to have s*x with a pitch-black mass that lacked even proper eyes, nose, or mouth, let alone be attractive.

That’s why Barmas’s complexion was getting worse day by day, but if he spoke honestly, the outcome was predictable, so he had to keep it absolutely secret.

‘But if I say it’s not because I’m anxious, she’ll ask what’s causing my poor complexion…’

Romei was as sharp-minded as Barmas acknowledged. She was also quite perceptive.

Barmas had no suitable excuse to evade Romei’s keen observation. Yet he couldn’t blame his sickly appearance on her either.

After a brief yet long hesitation, Barmas answered.

“That’s true, but it wasn’t bad enough to prevent me from sleeping. So don’t worry about it.”

“…”

“Aren’t you going to eat? You like this salad.”

Seeing Romei staring at him intently while pausing her meal, Barmas changed the subject and recommended the salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

It was clearly something Romei liked, and the taste was excellent, but her gaze remained steadfastly fixed on Barmas’s face, seemingly saying that she wouldn’t be swayed by such temptations.

Just as Barmas was experiencing what felt like cold sweat running down his spine for the first time in his life, Romei spoke. Her tone was like that of a detective certain of the culprit.

“…You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

At that moment, Barmas was so startled he almost hiccupped but managed to hold it back. Even knowing that he should remain brazen in such situations, it had become increasingly difficult since feeling the pangs of conscience after Romei’s honesty had somehow rubbed off on him.

“…What do you think I’m hiding?”

“Are you really not hiding anything from me?”

“I told you I’m not.”

Barmas answered with a sly smile, acting like her unfounded suspicion was rather cute. However, her suspicious gaze didn’t waver.

Romei stared intently at Barmas and tilted her head doubtfully. Then she murmured quietly.

“…That just now was really suspicious.”

“…”

“Are you sure there’s nothing?”

Romei asked once more to confirm. Barmas, employing his devilish talent for lying, responded with a slightly aggrieved tone.

“I said there isn’t, didn’t I?”

“…”

“What could I possibly have to hide from you?”

Only after his voice sounded hurt, suggesting he was offended by her distrust, did Romei finally withdraw her suspicious gaze.

Of course, she didn’t withdraw her suspicion because she truly believed his words.

Barmas knew better than anyone that while there were clearly parts that didn’t make sense to her, she couldn’t press further without evidence.

‘She would have made a good inquisitor or torturer rather than a holy knight.’

His heart was pounding rapidly after being interrogated by Romei. Now he wasn’t just feeling like cold sweat was running down his spine—it actually was.