"...An."
I barely managed to squeeze out the voice that was not coming out and called out again. Rhodnes looked at me in the same frozen position. The eyes that had been darkened flashed as if a light had been turned on. They were the half-turned eyes I had seen at my graveyard.
“Trust me. No, you have to believe me.”
Really, what can I say?
Rhodnes shook his body. It was a gesture that made it impossible to tell whether he was crying or laughing.
'Maybe he just doesn't want to believe that she's dead, so he's waiting like a madman for her to...tell him that she's actually Adrienne.'
You must be punished for making such a stupid wish.
“Stop driving me crazy and just leave me like this...”
“I’m sobbing,” said Rhodes, without even shedding a tear.
“If you want to laugh at me as I go mad by seeing Adrienne in you, then do as you please. No matter what, I will never betray Adrienne. I will never...”
“I was definitely dead... I could clearly feel my lungs losing their breath, but it was definitely like that. When I woke up, I was in this Blie Acacia’s body.”
Rhodnes stared at me intently. There was no expression on his face that I had ever seen before. His gaze, which had sunken into the distance, searched my face desperately.
“If you don’t believe me... I’m as good as dead.”
No one will remember me for long, and no one will care about my feelings when I'm dead, I whispered sadly.
"An."
I grabbed hold of the wet hand of Rhodnes who was staring at me blankly, and pulled him towards me. His hand, which was always hot, had become cold.
“I was so stupid and dull that I didn’t realize you were inside.”
“I, I...”
“...Adrienne.”
I held his hand tighter as his eyes wandered through the air, not knowing what to say.
“Adrienne... That’s what you called me.”
“!”
“Even when everyone said I was dead, that I had disappeared from the world. Even when everyone called me Blie... you were the only one who called me Adrienne until the very end.”
I took a handkerchief out of my bosom and stopped the blood that was still flowing. Rhodnes did not stop me.
“Nonsense... No way....”
The emotion reflected on Rhodnes' strangely distorted face was not unpleasantness.
“You made me want to live as Adrienne when I had to live like Blie.”
I was so surprised that the tears that had briefly closed in finally burst out. I couldn’t even make a sound and just let the tears fall. Rhodnes’ face, which had been agonizing over whether I was an illusion or whether this was real, was now distorted beyond all else. His eyes, which had been dry and dry, suddenly crumpled, and hot tears burst out as if a dam had burst. Seeing Rhodnes’s eyes, which had changed into something desperate in another sense, I approached him even closer.
“...!”
At the same time, Rhodnes, who was holding my hand, pulled me towards him. As if caught in a whirlpool, I was instantly sucked into Rhodnes’s arms. His arms tightly tightened around me. He was shivering just as much as I was, witnessing him attempting to take his own life. A sob that he couldn’t swallow was seething from the corner of his throat. It was the first time I had been held so desperately by someone. The silent sobs continued for a very long time. I held him close enough to suffocate, and as soon as I felt his tears flowing down my neck, I pulled him away for a moment.
Against the backdrop of the night sky, the sparkling interior of the room was right before my eyes. His lips, which I had always thought were sensual, trembled and opened.
“I thought you... really were dead.”
Ah.
“I couldn’t even properly convey my feelings...”
Ah. Do you really believe this ridiculous situation?
Ah. This was the voice I had been imagining. Now it felt like I was dreaming.
“I’m so... thankful. I... I...”
A voice inside, low and sweet as if crawling on the floor.
“...Because I didn’t abandon you.”
Because I was drawn to you again. His softly mumbling soliloquy seemed to break and crush everything in me and rebuild it. His great love, who had tried to kill himself because he was afraid that being drawn to me again would be a betrayal, was no longer something that suffocated me. It was the power that carefully shaped my broken and crushed soul into Adrienne Piretta, not Blie Acacia.
“Noevian Trovica, I will kill you.”
“!”
“You are now out of the danger zone.”
The words that Rhodnes, whose face had been soaking wet and frozen, spat out with his breath were quite shocking. This was after I had briefly explained the situation so far. Rhodnes, who had been sitting as if collapsing, grabbed my arm tightly so that it would not hurt, got up, and his eyes sparkled.
“I’ll be grateful for the help, but you’re the one who has to stay behind.”
Rhodnes' head turned straight towards me. His gleaming eyes looked very dangerous.
“The end of a love filled with deception...”
The word 'love' coming out of my mouth shook Rhodnes' eyes greatly. He immediately realized that the 'love' full of deception meant Noevian. I continued speaking while looking directly at Rhodnes with darkened eyes.
“My past mistakes, when I was foolish and naive...”
Rhodnes's hand, which was holding my arm tightly as if I were going to disappear, was trembling.
“...Let me finish it with my own hands.”
I held his trembling hand and this time I spoke with shining eyes.
I barely managed to squeeze out the voice that was not coming out and called out again. Rhodnes looked at me in the same frozen position. The eyes that had been darkened flashed as if a light had been turned on. They were the half-turned eyes I had seen at my graveyard.
I clasped my hands, which were already trembling, tightly. As my personal suspicions solidified into perfect conviction due to Rhodnes’s reaction, it was difficult for me to calm down as well. Furthermore, the blood flowing down Rhodnes’ neck and drenching his front chin made me even more anxious.
***
The dry laughter of Rhodes split the cold and dark air. He buried his face in his large hands for a moment. In a situation where even tears could not fall, laughter leaked out ceaselessly from between his parched lips.
"...An."
"Stop."
The voice that came out of him sank heavily to the floor. The nickname 'An' was a name that only he and Adrienne knew in this world.
"...An."
"Stop."
The voice that came out of him sank heavily to the floor. The nickname 'An' was a name that only he and Adrienne knew in this world.
On a winter night with sadly beautiful stars pouring down, Rhodnes sank down with his body growing cold. He felt as if all the strength in his body had drained away. He could end his life with a beautiful ending. It was also the only way to prove his feelings for Adrien. His broken heart after confirming the body, and his heart did not want to be the last with the woman who reminded him of Adrienne.
Leaving all those feelings behind, he went to Adrienne's side, where he would be lonely. It was quite meaningful to end his life on Starlight Hill where Adrienne had wanted to come with him so much. He didn't know if he would be able to go to where Adrienne was, though, because his hands were so bloody.
While he was washing his face with his arms on his bent knees, he remembered that this place where he heard the name An was not heaven, but the reality where Blie Acacia was driving him crazy. Was he really crazy, crazy, and even hallucinating? Did he bite his tongue and die on the spot the moment he saw Adrienne's body?
If not, he couldn't possibly explain it, and he didn't dare to ask that woman how she knew that name. However, when Rhodnes looked into Blie Acacia's eyes, which were unwavering unlike his own, which were shaking without mercy, he felt like his throat was blocked and he couldn't say a word or make a sound.
“Trust me. No, you have to believe me.”
Really, what can I say?
Rhodnes stared blankly at the trembling woman speaking. It was like a dream.
“No, no, please... believe me.”
Eventually, he buried his face completely in his large hands, trying to stifle the laughter that was about to burst out, while at the same time feeling a surge of contempt for everything that surrounded him.
“...You might as well call it a dream.”
“No, no, please... believe me.”
Eventually, he buried his face completely in his large hands, trying to stifle the laughter that was about to burst out, while at the same time feeling a surge of contempt for everything that surrounded him.
“...You might as well call it a dream.”
Rhodnes shook his body. It was a gesture that made it impossible to tell whether he was crying or laughing.
'Maybe he just doesn't want to believe that she's dead, so he's waiting like a madman for her to...tell him that she's actually Adrienne.'
You must be punished for making such a stupid wish.
“Stop driving me crazy and just leave me like this...”
“I’m sobbing,” said Rhodes, without even shedding a tear.
“If you want to laugh at me as I go mad by seeing Adrienne in you, then do as you please. No matter what, I will never betray Adrienne. I will never...”
***
I finally broke down at the sound of Rhodnes muttering as if he were vomiting. I approached Rhodnes, who was still in despair, with his face buried in his hands. Then I placed my hand on top of his hand that was covering his face.
“No, no... I am Adrienne. My body is dead, but my soul is still in this body.”
Rhodnes slowly shook his head.
“You’re not crazy, and you didn’t betray me. I’m the one who’s at fault. I was foolishly fooled into giving my heart to another man.”
Rhodnes shook his head as if he thought all this was nonsense, but he couldn't take his slightly revealed eyes off me.
“I suddenly had a seizure in the middle of the night and swallowed some medicine. I startled everyone in the house... and that’s how I died.”
“...”
“No, no... I am Adrienne. My body is dead, but my soul is still in this body.”
Rhodnes slowly shook his head.
“You’re not crazy, and you didn’t betray me. I’m the one who’s at fault. I was foolishly fooled into giving my heart to another man.”
Rhodnes shook his head as if he thought all this was nonsense, but he couldn't take his slightly revealed eyes off me.
“I suddenly had a seizure in the middle of the night and swallowed some medicine. I startled everyone in the house... and that’s how I died.”
“...”
“I was definitely dead... I could clearly feel my lungs losing their breath, but it was definitely like that. When I woke up, I was in this Blie Acacia’s body.”
Rhodnes stared at me intently. There was no expression on his face that I had ever seen before. His gaze, which had sunken into the distance, searched my face desperately.
“If you don’t believe me... I’m as good as dead.”
No one will remember me for long, and no one will care about my feelings when I'm dead, I whispered sadly.
"An."
I grabbed hold of the wet hand of Rhodnes who was staring at me blankly, and pulled him towards me. His hand, which was always hot, had become cold.
“I was so stupid and dull that I didn’t realize you were inside.”
“I, I...”
“...Adrienne.”
I held his hand tighter as his eyes wandered through the air, not knowing what to say.
“Adrienne... That’s what you called me.”
“!”
“Even when everyone said I was dead, that I had disappeared from the world. Even when everyone called me Blie... you were the only one who called me Adrienne until the very end.”
I took a handkerchief out of my bosom and stopped the blood that was still flowing. Rhodnes did not stop me.
“Nonsense... No way....”
The emotion reflected on Rhodnes' strangely distorted face was not unpleasantness.
“You made me want to live as Adrienne when I had to live like Blie.”
I was so surprised that the tears that had briefly closed in finally burst out. I couldn’t even make a sound and just let the tears fall. Rhodnes’ face, which had been agonizing over whether I was an illusion or whether this was real, was now distorted beyond all else. His eyes, which had been dry and dry, suddenly crumpled, and hot tears burst out as if a dam had burst. Seeing Rhodnes’s eyes, which had changed into something desperate in another sense, I approached him even closer.
“...!”
At the same time, Rhodnes, who was holding my hand, pulled me towards him. As if caught in a whirlpool, I was instantly sucked into Rhodnes’s arms. His arms tightly tightened around me. He was shivering just as much as I was, witnessing him attempting to take his own life. A sob that he couldn’t swallow was seething from the corner of his throat. It was the first time I had been held so desperately by someone. The silent sobs continued for a very long time. I held him close enough to suffocate, and as soon as I felt his tears flowing down my neck, I pulled him away for a moment.
Against the backdrop of the night sky, the sparkling interior of the room was right before my eyes. His lips, which I had always thought were sensual, trembled and opened.
“I thought you... really were dead.”
Ah.
“I couldn’t even properly convey my feelings...”
Ah. Do you really believe this ridiculous situation?
My heart swelled as Rhodnes began to speak as if he believed me.
“If I had gone to your wedding, even if it felt like my heart was being ripped out, I would have been able to remember you smiling brightly in a wedding dress as the last thing I remember.”
I suffered every day just thinking about such stupid things.
“If I had gone to your wedding, even if it felt like my heart was being ripped out, I would have been able to remember you smiling brightly in a wedding dress as the last thing I remember.”
I suffered every day just thinking about such stupid things.
The wet face of the whispering Rhodnes seemed to show the resentment that had been building up in his chest flowing out along with tears.
“When I heard you died, I couldn’t sleep every night. When I did, I dreamed of you crying.”
I kept dying like that.
“And Blie Acacia...”
He lowered his head. His shoulders, which he had always thought were broad, trembled dangerously.
“Every time I see you in this woman’s eyes... I curse the day when I keep wanting to help you, my eyes go to you, and thoughts like that.”
A trembling voice as if making a confession, kept flowing into my ears.
“The moment I saw your body, I immediately thought that I shouldn’t leave you alone in such a cold and dark dungeon. So...”
I was out of my mind thinking that I had to follow him and be by his side.
“But you, you...”
"An."
At the single word “An,” his face distorted again and he began to shed endless tears.
“I told you to take me to Starlight Hill...”
How could I forget that?
“When I heard you died, I couldn’t sleep every night. When I did, I dreamed of you crying.”
I kept dying like that.
“And Blie Acacia...”
He lowered his head. His shoulders, which he had always thought were broad, trembled dangerously.
“Every time I see you in this woman’s eyes... I curse the day when I keep wanting to help you, my eyes go to you, and thoughts like that.”
A trembling voice as if making a confession, kept flowing into my ears.
“The moment I saw your body, I immediately thought that I shouldn’t leave you alone in such a cold and dark dungeon. So...”
I was out of my mind thinking that I had to follow him and be by his side.
“But you, you...”
"An."
At the single word “An,” his face distorted again and he began to shed endless tears.
“I told you to take me to Starlight Hill...”
How could I forget that?
It was an apologetic thing to say to him as he continued to sob, but the tears sparkling in the starlight were so beautiful and sorrowful that I couldn't take my eyes off them.
"...Thank God."
"...Thank God."
Ah. This was the voice I had been imagining. Now it felt like I was dreaming.
“I’m so... thankful. I... I...”
A voice inside, low and sweet as if crawling on the floor.
“...Because I didn’t abandon you.”
Because I was drawn to you again. His softly mumbling soliloquy seemed to break and crush everything in me and rebuild it. His great love, who had tried to kill himself because he was afraid that being drawn to me again would be a betrayal, was no longer something that suffocated me. It was the power that carefully shaped my broken and crushed soul into Adrienne Piretta, not Blie Acacia.
Even if the whole world called me Blie Acacia, I could become Adrienne in front of this man. Without any acting, without telling any lies. With that one fact alone, the terrible loneliness that made me feel like I was the only one left in the world seemed to fly away to the edge of the distant sky.
***
“Noevian Trovica, I will kill you.”
“!”
“You are now out of the danger zone.”
The words that Rhodnes, whose face had been soaking wet and frozen, spat out with his breath were quite shocking. This was after I had briefly explained the situation so far. Rhodnes, who had been sitting as if collapsing, grabbed my arm tightly so that it would not hurt, got up, and his eyes sparkled.
It was just before dawn when the sun was slowly rising. Rhodnes, who placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and stroked it forcefully with his thumb, had an expression that seemed to want to end everything in another sense. If I had nodded even slightly, it seemed like he would ride out on his horse like a knight who had received orders. However, I did not want to dirty An’s hands with my mistake.
I sighed deeply. I had not tried to drag Anne in because I thought this might happen.
“I’ll be grateful for the help, but you’re the one who has to stay behind.”
Rhodnes' head turned straight towards me. His gleaming eyes looked very dangerous.
“The end of a love filled with deception...”
The word 'love' coming out of my mouth shook Rhodnes' eyes greatly. He immediately realized that the 'love' full of deception meant Noevian. I continued speaking while looking directly at Rhodnes with darkened eyes.
“My past mistakes, when I was foolish and naive...”
Rhodnes's hand, which was holding my arm tightly as if I were going to disappear, was trembling.
“...Let me finish it with my own hands.”
I held his trembling hand and this time I spoke with shining eyes.
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