As if He had lost, He smiled and wiped the tears from my cheeks.
“I will give you the first and last chance.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
When I finally shed tears of joy at the opportunity I got, I felt a strong force on my shoulder.
“Don’t like it. It is both an opportunity and a test.”
“A test…?”
“I won’t destroy the poor soul. However, in this lifetime, you will not be able to meet that man. And you will be reborn again and again. Losing all your memories.”
The eyes that met were firm.
“Remember each time. Your true self, your mission, and what you must do.”
Obelus’s large hand covered my eyes.
“Take care of yourself. The things you love.”
Consciousness blurred. The voice, which had gradually faded away, soon ceased completely.
***
I heard a voice calling my name from afar.
‘Who is it?’
I didn’t know if the lover in my dream or in real life was calling me .
“Miss Ria.”
I woke up and slowly opened my eyes. Dillian’s worried face was visible beyond his blurred vision.
‘Is it still a dream? Or is it real?’
As I blinked, hot water ran down my cheeks. Dillian, who wiped away the flowing tears, touched my forehead.
“Miss Ria, are you okay? Where does it hurt?”
I shook my head.
“Then did you have a nightmare?”
“… No. It was not a nightmare.”
“Then?”
“… It was a sad dream.”
A very, very sad dream.
When I remembered the face that worried about me until the end and then left me, tears came again.
I wondered why I became like this just because of a mere dream, but I didn’t stop as if my tear glands had broken.
“What kind of dream was it that made you cry so sadly?”
Dillian gently rubbed the corners of my eyes.
“Who made our miss Ria cry?”
As if to appease a child, I poked my lips out at the playful question.
“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“I will scold you if it’s because of another man.”
… How can you have such a good hunch? How did you know?
“It’s not true.”
I turned around and pulled the blanket over. Then, Dillian, who was following after me, walked on the blanket and kept playing pranks on me.
It was an action to relieve my subdued mood.
“Were you crying because of me then.”
“I’m sure it’s not sir Dillian.”
“Ah, it looks like it was a man.”
A hand that reached out suddenly grabbed my cheek. The weight of the cheeks increased with the force of pulling without pain.
It seems the more I chew on it, the stronger the hand feels.
“Who is it, the man who made miss Ria cry? Who is it that makes you cry so sadly?”
Whoever he was, he was someone who would likely erase his existence from the world.
He was obviously smiling with his eyes curved, but he wasn’t really smiling. I felt as if a dark energy had flowed from behind my back.
I rolled around avoiding Dillian. Don’t want to miss, Dillian came after me.
I roll, and Dillian is chasing me.
Nathan, caught in the untimely chase, opened his eyes with a squeak.
“You two, not even a kid, what are you doing! If you’re going to play tag, go outside and do it!”
Nathan groaned in anger.
What makes him angry is that Nathan woke up from being hit by my arm while rolling on the bed, just like got struck by lightning in the blue sky.
“So, sorry.”
“Why is miss Ria apologizing? It’s Nathan’s fault for sleeping there without notice.”
“Forget it. I’m not going to ask you to go out… not that! Dillian, you bastard! Why are you in this room!”
Nathan noticed the strangeness belatedly and jumped up. It was then that I noticed something strange, and I clung to Nathan’s side.
“Right. Sir Dillian, why are you here…?”
“The sun is in the middle of the sky, but no one is waking up, so I came because I was worried.”
Dillian approached the window and rolled the thick curtain. Then the pouring sunlight hit my eyes.
“Uh.”
I didn’t know, as the curtains were drawn, it was already lunch time.
“It’s time to slowly start the day.”
“Yees….”
I groaned and got up.
As soon as I opened my eyes, my mind was cleared from running around, but there was still a feeling of dread in the corner of my head.
I looked at Dillian’s back and called out his name involuntarily.
“Sir Dillian.”
Dillian looked at me at my call.
“Go ahead.”
“….”
When I was about to speak, my mouth didn’t come out.
Dillian. I trust him more than anyone.
He is the one under the curse, and he is as deeply involved in this matter as I am.
But, can I tell you this information, where everything is uncertain? Even I couldn’t confide in information that I wasn’t sure about.