* * *
Vivisian, who spoke calmly, stared at the surprised Hesia, then curved the corner of her lips.
“I promised you. To give you my entire one year. This one year is yours, Sia.”
At her gentle yet heartless words, Hesia showed no reaction for a moment, then wept silently.
Tears flowed down Hesia’s cheeks and fell onto Vivisian’s face.
Vivisian watched him quietly, then raised a hand and wiped away Hesia’s tears.
“Vivi, you truly are cruel.”
Vivisian smiled faintly at Hesia’s form, muttering while tears dripped down.
“And? Do you dislike it?”
At the light question, as always, Hesia shook his head.
Hesia couldn’t say a single mean thing, even as his clear cheeks became completely drenched with tears.
Vivisian gently stroked his foolishly docile face.
Hesia bowed his head following her touch.
Hesia, who buried his face deep in her cold hand, slowly closed his eyes.
Vivisian instinctively slightly curled her hand at the warm breath tickling her palm.
Simultaneously, her neatly trimmed fingernails scratched down Hesia’s cheek.
Hesia wished Vivisian would scratch his face a little harder.
So that a wound would remain, and that wound would turn into a scar, ensuring he would never forget this moment…
Thinking thoughts that Vivisian would be appalled by if she knew, Hesia took soft, even breaths.
Hesia, who rubbed his head against Vivisian’s hand, whispered like a sigh.
“I like Vivi.”
“…I know.”
“I love you.”
“I know that too.”
“I wish you wouldn’t die.”
“I know that too.”
“Vivi really knows everything…”
“I just know you, Sia.”
Vivisian whispered in a soft voice, like singing a lullaby.
Hesia blinked, unsure how to reply, then smiled faintly.
✽ ✽ ✽
And at that time, Herel, who had been wandering the world unable to settle anywhere, contrary to the speculation that he might have died, coincidentally ran into someone who claimed to have seen Vivisian.
Given the circumstances, the information was hard to readily believe.
Therefore, Herel immediately returned to the information guild in the Teian Duchy and investigated whether the information was true.
After persistent cross-checking, Herel, who was convinced that Vivisian was alive, stared blankly into the air.
“Vivisian is alive.”
The fact he uncovered after persistently investigating after Vivisian’s corpse disappeared was utterly shocking.
An existence that returned, defying death… This was truly unprecedented.
‘Did God perform a miracle?’
Even considering that the Teian family was loved by God, this was an extraordinary situation.
However, only God could resurrect a dead person.
“She wouldn’t be an Undead or anything like that. Did God really bring her back? Well, if not, something like this wouldn’t happen…”
He wanted to question why God had been so cruel to Vivisian if this was the case, but Herel didn’t have the strength to do so.
All he could do was curse God inwardly.
Herel pressed his hand to his forehead, spewing curses that a person of faith would be horrified to hear.
According to the investigation, Vivisian was currently in the Merien Duchy.
At first, Herel was puzzled as to why Vivisian would be in the Merien Duchy.
However, Herel soon realized that Vivisian’s whereabouts were connected to Hesia, that young boy.
He didn’t know how Hesia grasped that Vivisian had come back to life so quickly and moved…
“…Ah, perhaps, the Prince, not just God, is involved in Vivisian’s resurrection.”
Herel, who muttered a phrase close to the truth, pressed his throbbing temples.
His head hurt from receiving too much information at once.
He felt he needed to visit Vivisian separately.
But of all places, she was currently in the Merien Duchy, famous for its closed nature.
Herel had things he wanted to say to Vivisian and things he wanted to ask.
And more than anything,
“I want to see her, even just once.”
He wanted to see the face that had smiled calmly while saying goodbye once more.
More accurately, he wanted to confirm with his own eyes that Vivisian was alive.
After Vivisian’s futile departure, he had regretted it for years.
He regretted that he should have persuaded Vivisian while he was alive, and somehow cleared his name.
However, there was nothing more useless than regretting a dead person.
Herel, who recalled the past where he only repeated meaningless regrets, tightly pressed his lips together.
The time had come to break free from regret, from the past.
Herel put his hands together as if praying to God, and placed his forehead upon them.
“May that person be safe and sound.”
If there was a God, then may that person not be hurt by anyone this time.
Herel earnestly prayed, calling out to a God he didn’t even believe in.
Since Vivisian’s death, Herel had barely had a decent night’s sleep.
He couldn’t sleep because the image of Vivisian, who had died with a peaceful face, came to mind whenever he closed his eyes.
Knowing that he could do nothing at the time and regretting the past were separate matters.
Herel couldn’t escape the guilt, even though he knew he had done his best.
If Vivisian knew, he would have laughed and asked why Herel was doing things he wasn’t told to do.
The past Herel, without Vivisian, had no one to stop him.
But finally, finally, a chance to escape that guilt had come.
Herel tightly closed his eyes, savoring the fact that Vivisian was alive.
Ah…
“Thank goodness. Thank goodness…”
Herel wept bitterly like someone who had recovered something he thought he had lost forever, and continuously mumbled words of relief.
How or why Vivisian came back to life didn’t matter.
The most important thing right now was that Vivisian was alive, and that he was cleared of all his infamy.
‘Thank you for everything until now, Herel.’
He couldn’t forget Vivisian, who had smiled freely while saying goodbye.
Herel lowered his head and shed tears at the farewell words that were as vivid as if he had heard them yesterday.
“Thank you for living. Thank you…”
Herel continued to cry, muttering words of gratitude aimed at an uncertain entity.
He cried until the moon that floated high in the sky set and a new sun rose.
Soon after, Julie, who had heard late that Herel had returned because she was in another region, rushed into the office.
Herel greeted Julie with a tear-soaked face.
“Are you returning completely?”
Julie, clutching the doorknob tightly, asked, and Herel moved his face, which was swollen from crying so much, up and down.
At the affirmative, Julie sat down on the floor in relief.
Herel looked at her, then turned his head and looked out the window.
The sky with the new sun was still pale. Herel, who was staring at the sky, wiped his face once and then asked.
“Has Haen De Winter ever commissioned anything about Vivisian?”
“Pardon? Yes, he has. I believe he is still commissioning things… Is there a problem?”
At Julie’s words, Herel stopped feeling relieved and his expression hardened.
Haen De Winter was disgustingly persistent and didn’t even know his own faults.
“…Vivisian is alive.”
“What?”
“It might be more accurate to say he came back to life, but what’s certain is that Vivisian is alive.”
“That is… what… how could such a thing happen…”
“This is not the time to be surprised. Vivisian is currently in the Merien Duchy, and thanks to its closed nature, it is not yet known. But we don’t know how long that luck will last.”
If they just trusted the closed nature and did nothing, the information could flow to Haen, that bastard, just as he had gotten it.
The thought of Haen De Winter receiving the news that Vivisian was alive was horrifying.
The moment he learned the truth, there was no telling what excuse Haen would use to drag Vivisian back here.
And Herel had no intention of letting that happen.
Herel had clearly witnessed how Haen went mad after losing Vivisian.
He would bathe and groom the corpse every morning and evening as if it were a living person.
He would change the dead person’s wardrobe to match the season.
On sleepless nights, he would visit Vivisian’s bedroom as if looking for a close friend.
There was no predicting what someone who performed such acts on a soulless corpse would do to a living person.
“That, at least, is unacceptable.”
Absolutely unacceptable.
Herel, who repeated the same words a few times as if making a vow, looked directly at Julie with clear eyes.
Julie could not help but believe in Vivisian’s resurrection at Herel’s first clear reaction since Vivisian’s death.
It was obvious what Herel would request by sharing this fact with Vivisian alive.
Julie swallowed dryly for a moment, then slowly opened her mouth.
“Then, does the Master wish for information control right now?”
“Yes. Haen De Winter must not learn of Vivisian’s survival, no matter what happens.”
‘Even if it means I have to die by hanging.’
Julie’s lips parted at the sentence revealing Herel’s firm resolve, then she nodded her head.
Herel, who turned his gaze from her and looked out the now bright window, muttered to himself.
“He should be safe and well…”
* * *
