Shahar placed his hand on my chest and gently pressed down as if he were grasping the heart beating beneath it. My heart started to beat faster. Shahar, who was quietly feeling the pulse, kissed the spot.

Though his marks were already all over my body, around my heart, they were particularly dense and unbroken.

“I’ve always found this really amazing.”

It was a whisper close to admiration. His voice made my heart ache.

I pulled his face closer and pressed my forehead against his.

Unlike my disheveled self, he was immaculate. If he just put on his clothes, no one would know what we had done.

But at least his eyes were no different from mine. Unresolved passion overflowed in them.

Satisfied with that, I smiled with my swollen lips.

As I carefully ran my fingers through his short hair, I impulsively asked,

“Can’t we just stay here forever? I don’t care what happens to my body anyway.”

“Could you really call that living? ‘Dying’ would be a more fitting expression.”

“I don’t think I’d live a great life even if I went back to the surface. I’d probably just wait for death every day. That’s not a proper life either.”

“Humans are blessed with the ability to forget even without drinking the water of oblivion. It may be hard at first, but soon you’ll forget and live your life fully.”

“…….”

How could he say such annoying things?

But I couldn’t argue. He was right.

Despite all my tears, pleas, and anger, after turning back time, I lived happily ever after.

I even completely forgot about Shahar and eagerly hovered around other men.

Compared to Shahar, who followed me to the surface even after losing his memory, my love was shallow. I hated that.

“Do you really want me to forget you again? What about you, Shahar? Will you forget me?”

“Unless in a special case, forgetfulness has never been allowed to me, so my feelings for you will be eternal.”

“I don’t want to think about the future. Tell me you love me now. So I won’t forget.”

The anxiety that I might not hear it again overwhelmed me, and I demanded impatiently.

Without any embarrassment, he looked into my eyes and confessed slowly.

“I love you deeply.”

“How much?”

“More than myself, more than this world. More than all the love I know combined.”

“Me too–”

Before I could finish, he swallowed my words. The tender kiss gradually grew more passionate. Shahar grabbed my waist again.

‘Weren’t you sending me away because you were worried about my body…?’

But the moment his lips touched mine, such thoughts vanished.

We clung to each other, losing track of time.

In the Underworld, there was no need to sleep, which made our time together feel both heavenly and exhausting.

So, when I found out that he had already made all the preparations to send me back, I felt betrayed.

I wanted to stubbornly refuse to leave, but staying longer would make it truly irreversible.

I obediently followed his decision. I would come back anyway.

Before leaving, Iscallion also faced judgment.

There were no lawyers in the Underworld. Before the judgment seat of the Underworld, only the person themselves could argue their case.

But Iscallion was not good with words and seemed to lack any enthusiasm, as if he was ready to accept everything.

I anxiously awaited the verdict. No matter how close I was to Shahar, it couldn’t influence the judgment.

Judging souls was a unique authority of Shahar that even other gods couldn’t interfere with.

The result was banishment.

I breathed a sigh of relief. This was Shahar’s way of showing mercy, giving Iscallion a chance to accumulate good deeds while living on the surface.

Finally, the moment of parting arrived. With the verdict given, there was no more time to delay.

The path from the Underworld to the surface only remained open for a very short time. To reach the entrance, we had to cross the river again.

Shahar urged me as I hesitated to board the boat.

“You, hurry.”

Reluctantly, I took Iscallion’s hand. With the banishment sentence, I had to return him to the surface as soon as possible. Without my guidance, Iscallion would become a wandering spirit lost in the Underworld.

Shahar personally rowed the boat, taking Iscallion and me to the opposite shore.

I watched him for a long time. The River of Forgetfulness, which felt as vast as the sea, now seemed smaller than a stream.

We finally reached the other shore. From here, Shahar could not accompany us. He patiently waited as I slowly disembarked.

After getting off the boat, I was slightly taken aback by the endless barren land.

When I came from the entrance of the Underworld to the River of Forgetfulness, I always followed other souls, but today there was no one.

“Um, how do we go?”

“Think of the people who would miss you the most right now. Then you’ll see the path. Never look back. If you do–”

“I’ll fall back into this place?”

“You know well. Don’t even think about doing anything foolish.”

I flinched, since I was already contemplating it.

Shahar lightly kissed my forehead.

“May this be a very long farewell.”

Unlike before, I neither got angry nor cried this time. Instead, I forced a bright smile.

“Take care, Shahar.”

I barely turned away from him after saying my farewell. Iscallion held my hand tightly, as if to comfort me.

‘The people who would think of me now…’

Without a second thought, it was definitely my parents.

As I focused on thinking about them, a path really appeared.

Taking a deep breath, I forced my heavy feet to move.

I desperately wanted to look back while walking, but I held back.

I could feel Shahar watching me from behind. So I straightened my shoulders and walked confidently.

Using his gaze as my send-off, I walked endlessly.

While walking along the path, I realized that the landscape of the Underworld had changed. I finally understood what Raum meant.

Though there was still no sign of life, crystals and gems grew, forming flower-like structures. And instead of dusty winds, a spring-like breeze blew through them.

“Bea…utiful.”

Iscallion reached out to the crystal flowers, mesmerized.

“Don’t touch them carelessly. I’ll give you something prettier when we get back.”

“Okay….”

Thankfully, he nodded obediently.

How long had we walked?

Finally, I saw the light of the surface.

“We’re here!”

At the threshold of the surface, I paused and hesitated.

‘Even now…’

If I just turned my head once, I could stay by Shahar’s side without experiencing even a brief separation.

“Lou… What’s wrong? Are you scared…?”

“No.”

“Then why the face?”

“It’s nothing. Come on, let’s go.”

I closed my eyes tightly and ran with all my might.

The moment I stepped out of the entrance, bright light immediately poured down. I instinctively closed my eyes.

Once my eyes fully adjusted to the light and I checked the spot where Iscallion had been, he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a transparent, jewel-like crystal was in my hand. It sparkled intensely with a golden hue but had a chipped corner.

As I stared blankly at it, the surroundings suddenly became noisy.

“Lady Dronay…?”

Hearing the shocked cry, I quickly lifted my head.

Only then did I realize where I was.

This place, which felt very familiar and comfortable, was my home.

It seemed like there was some kind of event, as people were bustling around, all dressed in black. Somewhere, I heard the sounds of crying and shouting.

“Why did my daughter have to be the one to sacrifice herself! What’s the point of that damned oracle!”

The person shouting loud enough to shake the mansion was none other than my Father.

“Lou is just an ordinary child. She wasn’t born with any special abilities, nor did she excel in academics or the arts. She’s not even particularly kind. The only thing she has is her pretty face. How could Lou possibly save the world…!”

“…….”

I felt dizzy from the heavy truths my Father was shouting.

But to understand what was happening, I first headed towards the source of the noise.

Everyone I passed looked at me as if they had seen someone come back from the dead.

I understood their reactions.

The place where I had fallen into the Underworld was Pontos, and this was Arcadia. To them, it must have looked like I had risen from the ground.

“Hello?”

I passed by the pale-faced Ines and Duke Poel and finally reached the place where my Father’s voice was coming from.

There, I saw an unbelievable sight.

My parents and the Crown Prince were confronting each other over a large, luxurious coffin.

Even a simple confrontation would have been strange, but the knights from our family and the Imperial Knight Order were throwing punches at each other, and my Father was shaking the Crown Prince by the collar.