* * *
Death finally swallowed Helid, but there was not an ounce of pity to be felt.
Pity, guilt—these things were all useless.
Considering what the man had done to him until now, and what he would have done in the future, it was a fitting end.
‘No, perhaps he even gave him a peaceful death.’
Carlyle’s swordsmanship was beyond words.
Since he had severed the neck in one clean strike, there would have been no pain or suffering in Helid’s death.
Eren silently observed the entire scene.
He needed to see it with his own eyes to feel that it was truly over.
Only then could he be sure that Helid would never live to threaten him and Ashard again.
As if to welcome Helid’s death, the rain stopped the moment he died.
The sky cleared.
The gaze that had been fixed on the center of the room slowly shifted its target.
Without offering any excuses, Carlyle was looking at Eren.
He neither tried to approach nor move away.
He just looked at Eren with a pitiful gaze, as if that distance was exactly right.
The one who narrowed the distance first was none other than Eren.
He had never willingly closed the distance with Carlyle before.
Yet, this time, he had to.
“Your Excellency Duke Firentium.”
“…Eren. I, I will explain everything…”
As if taking the simple call of his name as permission to begin his excuses, Carlyle opened his mouth, stammering.
“I never intended to deceive you for long. I just, I just wanted to be by your side, even if only for a short time…”
“…”
“What I said to you that day wasn’t my true feeling. Please believe me. Yes! I just spoke foolishly for a moment.”
“…I already knew.”
Carlyle’s face brightened noticeably.
It was not the expression one would expect to wear while covered in Helid’s blood.
Yet, he looked overjoyed just by the thought that Eren had recognized his true feelings.
“R-really? You recognized my true feelings like this—”
“That it was His Excellency, not Ashard-nim. I knew from the start.”
“…What?”
Carlyle’s face, which had been dumbfounded as if he had been struck on the head, crumpled violently.
He only gaped, suspended in shock, and no sound came from his mouth.
Eren’s eyes, watching Carlyle, were terrifyingly calm.
“…You… knew?”
“Yes.”
It was an indifferent reply.
Carlyle shook his head in disbelief.
Even under the gaze that seemed to beg him not to lie, Eren said nothing more.
“But why… why didn’t you say anything? Why…?”
“Well…”
Eren finished his sentence with an expression that asked if Carlyle was asking the obvious.
“I wanted His Excellency to suffer.”
“Are you saying that now, Eren? Even though you knew what kind of feelings I harbored for you…!”
“It was His Excellency who wanted to stay by my side, even if it meant doing that.”
He had known all along that Carlyle’s heart was always directed at him.
So what?
Was he not allowed to know?
Was he not allowed to ignore it even though he knew?
Was it cruel to purposely hurt him even though he knew?
To look this wounded over something so trivial.
It was absurd.
Why was he making such a face when he had disguised his own actions with the filthy shell of merely being a ‘mistake’?
Eren’s face twisted in disgust at the hypocrisy.
“I was simply doing what His Excellency wanted.”
“It seems you view the sincerity of others as mere entertainment.”
“…Sincerity? If His Excellency was sincere, was I obligated to accept it?”
“Wha… what?”
Carlyle’s voice fragmented into pieces in the air.
The sword he was holding fell to the floor, and a sound that didn’t fit the situation echoed lightly.
Carlyle’s breathing grew heavier than when he fought Helid.
“If you were truly sincere, prove it.”
His eyes, which had been wandering aimlessly, fixed on Eren.
Prove it?
Yes, proof.
He only needed to prove how much he loved Eren, how much he cared for him.
Then, Eren would surely recognize his sincerity.
“Tell me anything. I will do whatever you ask…”
Eren took out something he had kept in his pocket and held it out to Carlyle.
It was the dagger that had been carefully placed with the communication orb in Carlyle’s drawer.
A flashy dagger adorned with jade and sapphire.
On the outside, it looked like a ceremonial weapon, but inside the scabbard was a real blade.
“How did you get this—”
“Die for me.”
“What are you… saying?”
“If you truly loved me, die for me, Carlyle.”
A name Eren had never called before.
Eren smiled brightly and placed the dagger in Carlyle’s hand.
His usually steady hand began to tremble violently.
It didn’t take long for his blood-red eyes to be filled with despair.
“Why do you speak such cruel words? And of all things, while offering this to me…!”
Eren’s cold, blue eyes turned toward the dagger clutched in Carlyle’s hand.
He knew that dagger well. It wasn’t originally Carlyle’s; it was his.
When was it?
It was probably when he first participated in the battlefield after being transmigrated.
Back then, when he didn’t know Carlyle was the main male lead, he had offered the most precious item he had to express gratitude for saving him from danger.
That was this dagger.
He had been surprised.
When he opened Carlyle’s drawer to find the communication orb, he found the dagger he had given him lying there.
Despite the time that had passed since then, it was spotless, like new.
He knew without asking that Carlyle treasured it somehow.
However, he wasn’t curious.
He didn’t want to know.
He only wanted to ask why Carlyle had been so cruel to him when he had cherished a mere object given by him so dearly.
His heart was not so shallow that it would soften just because Carlyle treasured that one thing.
It might have held great meaning for Carlyle, but not for Eren.
It was merely an object that had left his hands.
“So your feelings were that trivial.”
“N-no… I truly adore you. I haven’t failed to cherish you since the day I first met you…!”
“Then hurry and prove it.”
Carlyle looked down at the dagger shaking in his hand.
With the same bright smile as that day, Eren offered the blade once more.
The memory of that day suddenly returned.
“Thank you for protecting me. Please promise to always protect me!”
Carlyle’s red eyes wavered like a stormy sea.
Eren, who had planted false hope in him, saying that something good would surely happen to him, who had lived without dreams or hope, smiled again.
Thoroughly crushing the hope he had built.
Completely destroying it so he could never embrace it again.
Carlyle silently gazed at Eren.
Their eyes deeply intertwined in the air.
Realizing the sincerity in those eyes, Carlyle let out a bitter chuckle.
It was true sincerity.
Eren, who had never once asked for anything, was revealing what he truly desired for the first time.
And fortunately…
‘It’s something I can do for him.’
Carlyle slowly reached out his hand toward Eren.
He reached out toward the white cheek he had always wanted to touch, despite the uncontrollable tremor.
Just before touching Eren, he saw the bloodstains on his own hand.
He ultimately failed to caress Eren’s cheek and withdrew his hand.
He was always stained with blood.
Eren was clear and pure. Carlyle only realized it then.
‘Yes, that’s how it was.’
Light and darkness, things that should never be together.
If darkness falls, the light disappears, and if light illuminates the surroundings, the darkness must be consumed by it.
A relationship that could not coexist.
That was the kind of relationship he had with Eren.
“You asked for what you wanted for the first time…”
“…”
“I am glad it is something I can grant you.”
Carlyle slowly drew the dagger.
Though he wished to die by Eren’s hand and wanted to give the dagger back, he simply couldn’t.
He knew it would be selfish even to stain Eren’s hands with his blood.
“I have one request.”
“…Say it.”
“Stay by my side, even until my last breath.”
“I was planning to.”
A smile spread across Carlyle’s lips at the willing answer.
That was enough.
Carlyle, smiling as if satisfied, raised the dagger straight up.
He plunged the blade into a non-fatal area, ensuring that blood wouldn’t splash onto Eren, and that he wouldn’t die instantly but writhe in pain, allowing Carlyle to look at Eren’s face a little longer.
An inexpressible pain washed over him, but Carlyle smiled forcefully.
He was happy that the last sight he saw was Eren.
He could not help but smile because Eren stayed to witness his end until the very end.
‘Ah, just a little longer…’
His vision blurred.
Eren’s face, which had been so clear, faded into the distance.
* * *
