Ferdin gazed down at Erin. He could hear her weakened breathing, so faint it seemed ready to stop at any moment. Gently wiping the sweat from her forehead, he placed a soft kiss there. 

Though Erin had defeated many monsters, quite a few still remained in the area.

While Ferdin tended to Erin, Alexis created a barrier to prevent the monsters from approaching. He wanted to protect what might be the final moments between the two of them.

With trembling hands, Ferdin continuously caressed Erin’s hand, wishing he could take her pain upon himself. Her eyes had turned completely black, making it impossible to tell where she was looking, but Ferdin knew her gaze was directed at him.

Erin was searching for his face though she couldn’t see it. When her hand wandered aimlessly through the air, Ferdin caught it and guided it to his face.

“I wanted… to protect everyone,” Erin whispered softly.

“…”

“I didn’t mind sacrificing my life if it could change everything…”

“…”

“So I’m fine.”

She had prayed countless times, begging to take on everyone else’s misfortunes herself. Perhaps the goddess had granted her wish better than anyone else could. This was enough, Erin truly believed.

No ending would suit her better than closing her eyes in Ferdin’s arms. Even in her final moments, she could be happy with Ferdin by her side.

“No, Lady Erin. That’s not right.”

“Lord Ferdin…?”

“Without you, no one can be happy. That’s not what happiness is.”

Ferdin smiled at Erin while saying this. Though she couldn’t see his smile, it didn’t matter.

“Happiness only has meaning when shared. It cannot be built on someone’s sacrifice.”

“…”

“So my life without you, Lady Erin, has no meaning either.”

Ferdin truly believed this. The world Erin would live in after surviving this place would be dazzlingly beautiful. He couldn’t let her go like this. He began speaking in a desperate tone.

“I want to see the first spring flowers with you. There’s a lake behind the prince’s palace where I grew up. Near it bloom spirit flowers so beautiful they dazzle the eyes.”

“…”

“I want to smell the fragrance of spirit flowers with you. We could even stand in the rain together. And when we get cold, we’ll go into the palace to dry ourselves…”

While speaking, Ferdin wiped away the tears flowing from Erin’s eyes. Only then did she realize she was crying.

“Or if not that, we could travel aimlessly to places we’ve never seen before.”

Erin smiled faintly at Ferdin’s words. If they survived and returned, Ferdin would become Emperor, making such a journey impossible. Yet neither of them mentioned this fact.

“I want to spend ordinary days together, just like that.”

Just ordinary days. The small, heart-fluttering moments she never had in her childhood. Ferdin was telling Erin he wanted to share those times with her. And Erin felt the same way.

“You want that too, don’t you, Lady Erin? To laugh and talk with the people you love, growing old together. So… please don’t say such terrible things.”

Silence fell between them. Alexis’s barrier was solid. Inside it, Erin felt the illusion that only she and Ferdin existed in this world.

“There are still so many things we haven’t done together. You weren’t happy in the past when I died.”

“…”

“Without you… I’ll be just as miserable.”

Erin’s face contorted at his words. But it was already too late. She hadn’t told Ferdin, but her body had already reached an irreversible, worst-case state.

All her senses had gone numb. Her sight and touch were gradually disappearing. The only sense fully remaining was her hearing, but even that was beginning to fade. She was experiencing the terrible end the Emperor’s curse had promised.

“I…”

Erin wanted to be with the people she loved. She didn’t want to die. Bearing the curse alone was painful and lonely. She didn’t want to feel lonely anymore.

‘I don’t want to be alone.’

She wanted to share moments of laughter and conversation, like the party Princess Asili had once arranged for her.

“I… Lord Ferdin, I actually…”

Just then, Erin felt the curse spreading from deep within her stomach. The pain of her body rotting away continued relentlessly. She suppressed the scream trying to escape her lips.

Erin clutched Ferdin’s sleeve.

“I want… to live. I want to be with everyone. I don’t want to die.”

Ferdin was right. If she died like this, she wouldn’t be happy. She could finally admit the truth she had been trying to ignore.

Erin struggled to keep her eyes open, fearing that if she closed them now, she might never open them again. Fear gripped her. Once, she had desperately wanted to die, but now death terrified her.

“Prince Ferdin! Lady Erin! Surely, surely we’re not too late?”

She heard the footsteps of others approaching. Erin couldn’t tell who had arrived. Were they knights and mages who had defeated the monsters? With her sightless eyes, it was difficult to judge accurately.

Having lost almost all her senses, all Erin could do was try her best to listen to what they were saying. Soon, however, she gave up trying to identify who had come.

With her last remaining strength, she opened her mouth.

“I’m not… happy… actually.”

“…”

“I want to be… with… Lord Ferdin…”

Erin lost consciousness before finishing her sentence. As she slipped away, a woman’s voice she had never heard before reached her ears.

[That’s enough, dear one.]

* * *

Erin opened her eyes. She looked around with a dazed expression. A gentle breeze brushed against her neck, finally bringing her back to her senses.

It was like when she had resolved all the incidents in the west. Standing before her was a woman she had seen several times before. Titi was nestled comfortably in the woman’s arms.

The woman gave Erin a warm smile and began telling a long story.

“Even the goddess has limitations when using her power. To turn back time to the past, she used a great amount of divine power as payment.”

The woman stroked Titi in her arms while speaking.

“Since divine power is limited, the goddess ‘hypothesized’ several futures to avoid trial and error. She couldn’t turn back time again, after all.”

She continued, “The prophecies made by Saints are futures that might have occurred.”

The goddess had observed dozens of potential futures repeatedly. Through this, she discovered that fulfilling her promise to Ferdin—ensuring Erin Liserth’s happiness—was extremely difficult.

“In several futures, Ferdin died. His knights were often completely wiped out as well.”

The woman’s expression turned regretful as she spoke.

“Isis and Hellix could have died in the west.”

“The complete annihilation of the west was also a possibility.”

“There was a future where you couldn’t protect Karon from Count Leon.”

“A future also existed where Marquis Liserth was killed by Corelia.”

These were terrible futures she didn’t want to contemplate—all situations where Erin couldn’t be happy. To prevent these events, the goddess intervened through the Princess.

She had already used much of her divine power by turning back time. Nevertheless, when changing the future seemed impossible, she used her divine power.

A wish for happiness, being abstract, was difficult to fulfill. Despite knowing this, the goddess promised Ferdin she would make Erin happy.

She needed a reason to intervene in the world, and her promise to Ferdin through the sacred object provided a good excuse.

“That’s why you needed to realize what true happiness is. This promise depends on your will.”

A brief vision flashed through Erin’s mind. She saw herself with her eyes closed, leaning her head on Ferdin’s shoulder, enjoying the warm sunshine.

The Princess, awakened from eternal sleep, smiled brightly. Amon and Lilia were arguing while Derek clicked his tongue watching them. Hellix was silently practicing with his sword.

The scene inverted, and the location changed. Erin found herself in a place she had never seen before. She could hear birds chirping, and a lake came into view.

The lake before her was so clear it seemed capable of reflecting even her heart. Breathtakingly beautiful flower petals were floating in the air.

Erin realized this was the area behind the prince’s palace that Ferdin had mentioned. There, Ferdin smiled as he offered her a flower. Then the woman’s voice was heard.

“You already know what you need to do.”

Erin finally spoke for the first time.

“I want to go back. That’s the only way I can be happy.”

Meow!

Titi called out to Erin from the woman’s arms.

“Titi says she’s a very patient cat.”

“…”

“She can wait for a very, very long time. So take your time coming to her.”

Erin couldn’t remember how she responded to those words. All she remembered was Titi’s purring and the woman looking at her with a gentle smile.