Hello, Readers! I am celebrating my birthday with extra chapter updates, so please enjoy this special chapter release of 4 bonus chapters! 🥳

(Lurelia’s Birthday Bonus – Update 3/4 🎉)

♡ To all readers who purchased these chapters before my Birthday: I can’t express this enough – Thank you for your support. (*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*

Once the floodgate opened, memories from that day rushed in.

‘Let’s go there.’

I quickly turned my feet and changed my destination.

I crossed the corridor and ran down the stairs.

I dashed alone through the nighttime castle, completely devoid of people.

After exiting through a door and entering through a building, what awaited me was:

“……This is it.”

A garden filled with roses.

I looked around the garden with a renewed feeling.

‘This is definitely that garden from back then.’

Just before leaving Aspul, I needed some time alone to rest, so I followed a path with few people and eventually arrived here.

Later, I heard from the Master that this was a garden the Countess had taken special care to cultivate.

So no one except the Countess was allowed to enter this garden carelessly…

‘Back then, the roses were in full bloom.’

I looked with complicated emotions at the roses that were now half-withered with drooping heads.

It seemed to symbolize the current state of the Countess…

Above all, what made this garden special was that all the roses were white.

‘They said she created this garden thinking of her husband, Count Aspul.’

The rose garden with fully bloomed white roses had been extremely beautiful, but the rose garden before my eyes had completely lost its vitality.

The petals that once held dewdrops were now so dry that they seemed like they would crumble at the slightest touch.

As if they had died.

I slowly stepped into that dead land.

‘I met the Countess here.’

When the Countess asked what I was doing here, I, finding it cumbersome to explain, vaguely said I was ‘playing hide-and-seek.’

The Countess, finding it amusing, said she knew a better place and led me there.

“……”

I gradually moved forward.

Relying on that memory, I advanced one step at a time.

Before long, I left the garden, passed through the castle, and crossed a small forest path.

And then…

The view that had been obscured by dense trees suddenly opened up, as if my eyes had been cleared.

A vast sea spread out before me.

The sea, embracing the night sky, was so pitch-black and expansive that it might as well be called an abyss.

In front of it was a precipitous cliff, dizzyingly steep.

Though obviously a dangerous place, the reason I rushed here was because this was the ‘good hiding place’ the Countess had brought me to.

‘The path here isn’t even properly marked, and in Aspul, the sea isn’t a particularly special sight. There’s nothing but sea here, so no one would risk getting lost to come here just to see the sea.’

The Countess had said that, then smiled gently at me as I gazed blankly at the sea.

‘Above all, from here…’

Leaving the Countess’s voice echoing in my head, I approached the cliff.

Because the moonlight was weak, I hadn’t noticed immediately, but someone was standing at the edge of the cliff.

I recognized her at once.

Of course I would, since this was her world and this place was known only to her.

If anyone were here, it could only be one person.

“……Countess.”

I called to her, but the Countess only kept her head bowed toward the precipice, without the slightest movement.

Only the darkness of the black haze rising around her grew thicker.

As if warning me not to approach.

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

After all I’ve done to get here, you think I’ll back away because I’m scared?

Growing stubborn, I moved further forward.

As I did so, I kept moving my lips.

“Countess, I’ve come to get you.”

At that, she flinched and slowly raised her head to look at me.

Her eyes, consumed by darkness, were pitch-black.

But the fact that she showed a reaction meant she was definitely hearing my voice.

There was hope.

I approached her with a gentle smile.

As I did, the rippling black haze transformed into sharp tentacles, threatening me.

I stopped a few steps away from the Countess. It was clear that if I got any closer, I would be stabbed by those tentacles.

Instead, I extended my hand toward the Countess.

“Your husband is anxiously waiting for you. It’s time for you to wake up.”

Whether my words got through to her, the Countess’s eyes began to waver.

Recognizing this as my opportunity, I extended my hand further.

“Come on. Take my hand.”

“……”

For a long time, silence flowed as if time had stopped.

And then.

“……!!”

The Countess slowly began to raise her hand.

Her hand was trembling as if bound by something. Even so, she was desperately raising her hand.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity, I took a big step forward.

At that moment.

Whoosh!!

The black haze that had been rippling around suddenly wrapped around the Countess’s body and dragged her down the cliff.

Simultaneously, I grabbed the Countess’s hand firmly.

“Ugh.”

I barely managed to grab the Countess, but the pulling force was so strong that I felt I might be dragged along too.

I held onto the ground at the edge of the precipice with one hand and barely endured.

But I sensed that I couldn’t hold on much longer.

The black energy, like shackles, bound the Countess and would not let go.

‘What on earth is that?’

Though questions arose, that wasn’t important right now.

“Urgh……”

The force of the energy pulling her grew stronger.

At this rate, I would lose my grip on the Countess, whom I had barely managed to hold onto.

In the worst case, I would be dragged along too.

‘Absolutely not, that won’t happen.’

As long as there are people waiting for me, I must return.

‘Absolutely…’

I gritted my teeth.

That’s when it happened.

Gently…

A warm energy traveled down my hand.

It was a hand that emitted a warm, silver light.

That hand overlapped with mine.

Just then, the black energy that had climbed up the Countess touched my hand.

And then…

Whoosh!

As if it had touched something it shouldn’t have, the black energy burst.

“……”

I couldn’t understand what was happening, but I knew what I needed to do now.

“……You’re finished.”

Grinding my teeth quietly, I leaned my body further forward.

I extended the arm that had been bracing against the ground downward.

‘Just a little… just a little more.’

With trembling fingertips, I reached for the black energy wrapped around the Countess’s waist.

And finally, when my fingertips touched the energy.

Whoosh!

‘It worked!!’

The energy burst with a roaring sound as if screaming. Watching the black haze explode and disappear in a chain reaction, I felt triumphant.

But that was only momentary.

Rumble.

“Wh-what?”

The ground supporting my body collapsed, and I fell downward.

I tightly embraced the Countess and squeezed my eyes shut.

After a moment…

Splash-!!

My body was instantly sucked beneath the surface of the water.

“Hup……”

Even though it was a dream, it was difficult to breathe as if I had really fallen into water. The water was pitch-black, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead.

While holding tightly onto the Countess so as not to lose her, my consciousness gradually blurred.

Then, a soft light appeared from somewhere and began to spread slowly, eventually completely enveloping my surroundings.

“……”

It was neither cold nor dark.

Just before the thread of consciousness completely broke, what I saw was the figure of a woman looking at me.

Not just a form of light as always, but in human form.

‘You are…’

And then my consciousness completely faded.

***

“……Gak!”

“Saintess!”

While walking down the corridor, Celestina suddenly clutched her chest and collapsed, startling the priest who was walking with her.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

Seeing Celestina with her pale complexion and cold sweat, the priest didn’t know what to do.

Biting her lower lip hard, Celestina shook her head.

“I’m… fine.”

But her appearance was clearly not fine to anyone who saw her.

“Please wait a moment! I’ll bring someone right away!!”

The priest who shouted this ran off in a hurry.

Left alone, she slowly opened her eyes that had been closed.

Eventually, her lips parted and a name flowed out.

“……Livia Pellington.”

And with a small laugh, she muttered.

“It’s not much longer.”

The day when you disappear and I become complete.

***

“……tor!”

“……”

“Livi……”

“……”

“……Livia Pellington!!”

“……!!”

At the voice calling me, I opened my eyes wide as if being pulled up from the water’s surface.

Immediately, coughing burst forth like a dam breaking.

“Cough! Cough!! Hah…… Your Grace……?”

“Are you conscious? Can you recognize me?”

I nodded slightly.

How could I not recognize that face?

‘Though it’s a bit overwhelming…’

Cardien’s face was so close that I felt embarrassed.

Pretending to be fine, I sat up and asked.

“……What happened?”

“Ha…… What happened?”

Cardien let out a hollow laugh and glared at me with cold eyes.