Peaceful days passed.

Now, there were no more tasks left for me. Love was fulfilled, and the world was saved.

However, my heart was not at peace. These days, I constantly thought about falling into a comatose state.

As the cold wave receded and the mild spring breeze blew, my heart grew even more restless.

People whispered that I had become surprisingly docile after coming back from the brink of death, but I no longer cared what others said.

“Please make me faint.”

“Again?”

“You’re not a child, why are you playing fainting games at your age?”

Janet looked at me with an exasperated expression.

Our contract was now completely broken. From the start, the last order I gave her was contradictory. I promised her safety but made her fight the wolf.

But for some reason, she, like Michalis, didn’t want to leave my side.

“Hurry up.”

Janet struck my neck firmly with her hand.

‘It must be my imagination that it felt personal…’

With a sharp pain, I fainted.

But, as always, I woke up in less than five minutes.

“How can I fall into a comatose state?”

“If a vampire bites you, you can experience a brief death-like process, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“D*mn it…”

I still hadn’t found a safe way to fall into a comatose state. Michalis said he didn’t know of any drug either.

“Why are you so eager to go to a place you’ll eventually go to anyway? At most, you have only about 80 years left.”

“80 years is an incredibly long time for humans, Grandma.”

At this rate, finding a way to meet Shahar again seemed distant.

But causing an accident on purpose would be shameful to my parents. They planned to fill my coffin with gold to ensure I wouldn’t suffer in the afterlife due to lack of fare.

But is it right to just wait for death like this?

A day feels so long, how much longer must I wait for death to come?

Going out occasionally made me even more depressed.

The trend of carrying stones had passed, but people still carried beautifully decorated stones.

I stared at those stones, lost in thought. Now, just seeing rolling stones made my heart ache. It felt like I had left my heart entirely with Shahar.

The growing emptiness became uncontrollable after hearing about Seren’s wedding.

One night, unable to sleep as usual, someone knocked on my door.

“Miss, are you awake?”

It was Seren.

Feeling melancholic, I gladly let her in.

We lay on my bed, chatting late into the night.

Naturally, the conversation turned to the events in Pontos.

“Anyway, I’ll never follow you again, Miss. Just thinking about that time still makes me dizzy.”

“Is that why you haven’t been around lately?”

Though she grumbled, she had always taken good care of me, but lately, it felt like her mind was elsewhere.

Seren smiled awkwardly.

“Actually… I’m getting married to Dave.”

“What? Suddenly? Who is this Dave?”

“The man we met in Pontos. You gave your permission, Miss.”

“Oh…!”

I finally remembered.

“Will you let me continue working at the mansion? Dave is from a noble family, but as the eighth son, he won’t inherit any property.”

“Of course. As a wedding gift….”

Seren’s eyes began to sparkle like jewels.

I couldn’t help but smile at her honest expression.

“The jewelry box with rubies. Take everything inside it too.”

“What? That’s the one you cherished the most, Miss.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

Of course, the jewels were precious, but I didn’t mind. I wanted to repay Seren for all the hardships she endured for me, and what use was adornment when I couldn’t meet Shahar on earth anymore?

I was simply envious of Seren for finding a partner and getting married.

I helped her with all my heart and soul for her wedding.

“What’s the best thing about getting married?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Seren answered.

“The fact that we can legally bind each other. Before marriage, if we broke up, that was it.”

It was like being hit on the head with a hammer. I suddenly realized why I had been feeling empty and anxious.

Though Shahar and I were in love, that was it. There was no other word to define our relationship. Being so far apart in such a state, it was no wonder my heart was uneasy.

Finally, on Seren’s wedding day, seeing her happy in her wedding dress, it struck me even more that Shahar and I were nothing.

I sincerely wished Seren a happy future, but the bittersweet feeling clung stubbornly to my mind.

* * *

Lately, the weather had become noticeably warmer.

In just ten more days, it would be the first anniversary of meeting Lina and Enril.

Although everything had been resolved, a strange unease lingered. It was a feeling entirely different from my longing for Shahar.

I tried to recall the reason for the unease, but nothing came to mind.

‘Well… it’ll be fine, right?’

And then, that day, I had a dream.

[Lou.]

As soon as I heard the desperate call, I frowned even in my sleep.

“What do you want?”

There was no need to ask who it was. If there was anyone who would bother me even in a dream, it was the Sun God. I was sick of his revelations by now. I responded without hiding my annoyance.

[Something terrible has happened.]

“What is it this time?”

[The conditions to maintain the world have not been met.]

“What do you mean? I confirmed my feelings with Shahar. I clearly heard his confession with my own ears. Do you know how much I went through…?”

[So, did you definitely respond to his confession?]

“Of course….”

‘Wait a minute.’

Come to think of it, we continued our conversation with our bodies before I had a chance to respond….

In the chaos, I had overlooked that.

I cried out in despair.

“So what do I do now? After all that suffering, do I just watch the world end?”

[I’m sorry, but you’ll have to visit the Underworld once more. I’ll explain the detailed method through my descendant.]

I woke up with a start.

I had to return to the Underworld somehow. I was so happy that I cursed involuntarily.

This meant I had a safe and legitimate excuse to see Shahar again.

It felt like my heart, which had been frozen, was beating again.

Since there was no time, everything happened very quickly.

Pinion, who received the revelation through a dream, personally came to the mansion to fetch me.

My parents looked very displeased.

“Why is that emperor hanging around again? Hmph, if he was going to be so clingy, he should have… hmm?”

My father, seeing me humming a tune, gave me a suspicious look.

“You seem to be in a good mood today. You’re not planning to meet that guy again, are you?”

“Of course not. He’s just a business partner.”

I jumped and straightened up, which finally reassured my parents.

“Of course not, right? I’d rather bring Leon in as a son-in-law than see you with that emperor again.”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell my parents that I was going to the Underworld.

I wrote a letter filled with lies about going on a long journey and placed it in a drawer. Anyway, the brunt of my parents’ anger would fall on Pinion, not me.

Although he returned my necklace, Pinion, specially blessed by the Sun God, could enter the lair with me.

I filled my magic bag with carefully selected treasures. It was a dowry for Shahar. This time, I intended to clearly define our relationship.

“Why are you taking so much? The King of the Underworld owns all the veins of the underground anyway.”

“I know. This is just a formal gesture of sincerity.”

“What sincerity?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Whatever your plan is, remember that your soul can’t stay long. Until you die, you belong to this world.”

Of course, I didn’t listen to his advice at all.

He sighed.

“When you return, just follow my voice.”

I slowly closed my eyes.

“I’m jealous, so don’t have too nice of a dream, Lou.”

Before I could retort to Pinion’s absurd remark, my soul was instantly pulled down to the Underworld.

* * *

The Underworld is very deep, and normally, it would take over a week to fall all the way down.

If not for the Sun God, the world might have ended before I could even reach him.

Although the speed of the fall was so fast that I fainted even as a soul, I had no doubt that Shahar would catch me well.

Sure enough, when I opened my eyes, I was in Shahar’s arms.

“What is this, my dear? Where is your body, and why has only your soul returned to the Underworld? Could it be…?”

Seeing him unable to finish his sentence, I smiled.

After explaining in detail how I came back to the Underworld, Shahar’s expression finally relaxed.

“The Sun God has done something unnecessary again.”

“You pretend not to like it, but you’re actually pleased.”

I wiped away the tears that had trickled down and stepped out of his embrace. He seemed even more handsome after not seeing him for a while. Before getting to the main point, I spent some time admiring his beautiful appearance.