Sigmon closed his eyes.

Even now, when he closed his eyes, that moment still flickered before him.

‘Aria!!’

The one family member left in the world, a treasure he wouldn’t hesitate to give his life for.

The moment his daughter Aria’s time stopped.

‘It’s, it’s okay. Daddy will, Daddy will save you. Daddy is a doctor…’

Holding his daughter, who hadn’t even closed her eyes, he kept whispering.

Like a solemn prayer.

But God did not answer his prayers.

‘Why… WHY!!’

No matter how hard he tried, Aria’s time wouldn’t flow again.

Rather, each time he touched her, his daughter’s appearance became more and more ruined.

For half a year after Aria died, Sigmon didn’t step out of his research room even once.

In the end, it was Winston who recommended an extended leave and a journey around the continent.

It was a situation where he couldn’t complain even if he was fired, but Winston had shown consideration for his circumstances.

‘A journey around the continent… you say?’

‘Yes. Traveling around the continent might help calm your mind a bit…’

Winston had recommended it for stability and rest, but Sigmon interpreted it differently.

‘Perhaps while traveling around the continent, I might find a way to revive Aria.’

After preserving Aria’s body to prevent decay, Sigmon began his continental journey.

But no matter where he went, there was no way to make Aria open her eyes again.

The best medical techniques, powerful magic, nothing could make Aria move.

Just when his spirit was about to break, he finally met God.

She was the miracle he had been desperately searching for.

Without him saying a word, she immediately knew what he desired.

And she possessed the power to make it happen.

She promised to grant his wish.

However, not now.

To fulfill his wish…

‘A sacrifice. A sacrifice is needed.’

With the right sacrifice, Aria could be brought back to life.

“Rom abda… Rom…”

Muttering, Sigmon melted into the darkness.

***

Something is flowing beneath my feet.

Something hot, sticky, and unpleasant.

I slowly lowered my head.

Soon, I realized what had pooled at my feet.

Blood.

What formed a small lake was someone’s fresh blood.

I slowly raised my gaze, tracing the stream of blood backward.

And at its end was.

‘…Cardien?’

Silver hair like moonlight and purple eyes.

It was definitely Cardien.

But Cardien wasn’t in one piece. His left arm had been severed and was gone.

The lake of blood was flowing from his severed arm.

Cardien’s eyes, blankly staring into space, had already lost their vitality, and his skin was as pale as a corpse.

Then I noticed something glinting above his heart.

I slowly shifted my gaze in that direction.

What was positioned precisely aimed at Cardien’s heart was a sharply forged silver sword.

And the one holding that sword was…

A boy with silver hair like Cardien’s but with eyes as red as blood.

I recognized the boy immediately.

Vincent.

His adopted son and my student, Vincent Mercedes.

The one holding the sword was none other than Vincent, who appeared to have grown a bit.

Vincent was looking down at the lifeless Cardien with an expressionless face.

But tears were falling from his eyes.

What on earth is happening?

I stared blankly at Vincent.

Soon, I realized there was another person present in this space.

Behind Vincent, I glimpsed someone’s figure.

At that moment, a snow-white hand reached out from the darkness and gripped Vincent’s shoulder like a snake.

Then it slowly moved down his arm and placed its hand over the hand holding the sword.

Only then did I realize what Vincent, or rather that hand, was trying to do.

“N-no…!!”

I screamed and ran forward, but Vincent’s sword had already fallen like lightning,

Thud-

It pierced straight through Cardien’s heart.

Cardien’s body jerked once before collapsing to the ground.

The flow of blood grew thicker, and soon Cardien breathed his last.

Clang.

Vincent dropped the sword and slumped to the ground, while the snow-white arm that had swept through the air disappeared back into the darkness.

I stared blankly at the vanishing arm.

Grab.

I rushed forward and seized the arm.

“Who are you?”

I know it myself.

This is a dream.

But it was also a reality that had not yet come to pass.

Because this was exactly how Cardien and Vincent’s ending played out in the original story.

I desperately held onto the white hand that was gradually slipping away.

I couldn’t let go.

I mustn’t let go.

My instinct was screaming.

This hand.

The owner of this hand, never even mentioned in the original story, was the culprit who pushed Cardien and Vincent toward destruction.

But contrary to my desperate feelings, the hand slipped from my grasp too easily.

And just as the hand was about to completely disappear.

Something caught my eye.

A thin thread stretched from the tip of the snow-white, thin hand.

I slid my gaze along the thread.

What was at the end of that thread…

***

“-Gasp!”

I opened my eyes, gasping for breath like a fish pulled from water.

The first thing I saw was the familiar ceiling.

A room engulfed in darkness.

Only then did I realize I had awakened from a dream.

Immediately, goosebumps spread across my entire body.

The scene before my eyes was still vivid.

Cardien dying, and Vincent, crying as he thrust the sword into Cardien’s heart.

And the white hand controlling Vincent.

The thread connected to the fingertips was attached to Vincent.

‘…Is this related to the original story?’

In the original story, Vincent also committed the atrocity of stabbing Cardien’s heart with a sword, killing him.

But nowhere in the original was there a white hand controlling Vincent.

Moreover, that hand, I had seen it before.

‘It appeared in Cardien’s dream, too.’

That hand that had reached out, tempting the isolated Cardien.

It looked very similar to that hand.

Snow-white, thin, and slender.

Suddenly, fear washed over me.

Cardien, is Cardien alright?

“…I need to go see him.”

I know it’s a dream, but my racing heart won’t calm down unless I see him directly.

It was the middle of the night, but just as I was about to get out of bed to go see Cardien, without thinking.

“I don’t know what you’re going to see.”

I flinched at the sudden voice and turned my head.

Only then did I realize there was another presence beside me.

Coincidentally, moonlight seeped in at that moment, illuminating that spot.

What I saw was a man with silver hair like the moon.

Purple eyes like amethyst were fixed on me.

A faint chuckle escaped through his crooked lips.

“Why don’t you show some consideration for the person who’s been by your side all this time?”

“…Cardien?”

A dream? Is this a dream?

Am I still dreaming?

‘No.’

It’s not a dream.

It’s the real Cardien.

Not a dream, but the real Cardien.

As I spoke his name, Cardien let out a scoff and mocked.

“Now you’re just freely using my name…”

But Cardien couldn’t continue his words.

His eyes gradually widened as he looked at me.

Beyond his pupils, my tear-streaked face was reflected.

‘Huh?’

Why am I crying?

Confused, I rubbed my eyes with my hands, but the more I did, the more tears overflowed.

‘Ah…’

Only then did I realize why I had burst into tears.

‘Because I’m relieved…’

Cardien was alive.

That was just a dream.

And…

‘Because I’m scared.’

The thought that Cardien might really die like that, that I might helplessly watch him die just like in the dream, filled me with an ominous premonition.

Reading about it in the original story and actually seeing it were shockingly different dimensions.

The image of Cardien dying and Vincent killing him was still vivid in my mind.

So without realizing it, I had shed tears like a frightened child.

Cardien, who had looked surprised for a moment, soon twisted his expression.

“Is it because of that doctor?”

“…Hic?”

What is he suddenly talking about?

“I heard the report. That bastard doctor threatened you.”

It seems Chelsea reported to Cardien while I was asleep.

“That bastard is currently being tracked. I’ll make sure he doesn’t get within a step of you, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

And it seems Cardien is misunderstanding something.

Thinking that I’m crying because I’m scared of Sigmon.

That’s not it.

That’s not the reason at all.