"The Helpers were controlling the dukedom, with Louis Dunst at the center. If you became the Duchess, it would be like throwing you into their hands. That's why he wanted to keep you by his side, not too close, not too far. To buy time to build up power by pretending to obey the Helpers' will..."
Now, Angie understood his intention. Kyle worked hard to recover on his own so that he could live a normal life without Remedy. But he was still not completely at ease. He wanted her to look like a government, not Remedy, in the eyes of the helpers, so that they would no longer be able to reach her.
“You’re comfortable now, Kai.”
Angie's hand brushed Kyle's eyes, which were glowing with a sinister glare.
“Now there is no one who can harm me... us.”
The wall that had been standing for a long time crumbled and fell down defenselessly. He pulled her close to him and hugged her, whispering faintly.
“You’re right. It’s all over now. From now on, I’ll always be by your side.”
He would protect her with more than his life. Not only this moment, but from the day after tomorrow when he finally returns to the Citadel, and forever. Until death do them apart.
“I can’t wait to show you, you and Noah. How excited will Noah be to see his dad?”
“I want to see him too. I can already picture it in front of my eyes just from the description you gave me...”
“He really looks a lot like you. No matter how much you hear about it... you’ll be shocked when you see it in person.”
Angie's voice brightened with excitement. She was looking forward to their first meeting. In hindsight, Noah might have looked more like her mom. In fact, he liked it better that way.
Now, Angie understood his intention. Kyle worked hard to recover on his own so that he could live a normal life without Remedy. But he was still not completely at ease. He wanted her to look like a government, not Remedy, in the eyes of the helpers, so that they would no longer be able to reach her.
“You’re comfortable now, Kai.”
Angie's hand brushed Kyle's eyes, which were glowing with a sinister glare.
“Now there is no one who can harm me... us.”
The wall that had been standing for a long time crumbled and fell down defenselessly. He pulled her close to him and hugged her, whispering faintly.
“You’re right. It’s all over now. From now on, I’ll always be by your side.”
He would protect her with more than his life. Not only this moment, but from the day after tomorrow when he finally returns to the Citadel, and forever. Until death do them apart.
“I can’t wait to show you, you and Noah. How excited will Noah be to see his dad?”
“I want to see him too. I can already picture it in front of my eyes just from the description you gave me...”
“He really looks a lot like you. No matter how much you hear about it... you’ll be shocked when you see it in person.”
Angie's voice brightened with excitement. She was looking forward to their first meeting. In hindsight, Noah might have looked more like her mom. In fact, he liked it better that way.
“Noah is such a lovely boy. I’m sure you’ll truly love him too.”
"No."
Kyle kissed Angie's forehead and stroked her golden locks of hair.
“I already love you. Because you gave birth to the child.”
“Your child too.”
He nodded in agreement with her addition. He would have loved Noah even if it wasn't his child. After all, it was from Angie's body. Even if she had given birth to a strange being that wasn't human, he think he would have loved and accepted it unconditionally.
At Te Deum, just before he pulled the gun on Louis Dunst's head, he became aware of the child's presence. Pure surprise and joy, rapture, some inexplicable awe and admiration mixed with the murderous intent toward Louis, and then quickly separated completely. He doesn't think he'll ever forget that moment.
Angie gave birth to a child. Angie and I have a child. And...that life, you, the followers of the devil, dare to take it as a sacrifice.
He didn't hesitate for a second before pulling the trigger. Louis Dunst had been a loyal servant of the Blackwell family since before he was born. And as he grew up, she had been faithful to two conflicting roles, both helping and ruining him.
As the word helper suggests, she had been addicted to Eternity since Kyle was born, slowly assimilating him. And then she brought innocent lives to Remedy to use them as tools and discard them without any hesitation to restore his body. So he also had no hesitation in condemning Louis Dunst.
Kyle still can't believe it. How did she survive for ten months with such a small and fragile body that seemed like it would break, and how did she live as a mother for three years?
The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a miracle. Even now, with her in his arms, he is so careful. He is afraid that she might break. He is afraid that she might be hurt if he applies even a little force.
“Kai. Wait a minute. I need to get up and go for a walk. I’m going back to the Citadel the day after tomorrow, so I need to recover some of my strength...”
“It’s still too cold. Let’s stay a little longer, like this... Yes?”
Kyle held her tighter, unable to let her escape as she writhed in his arms. His heart was about to burst at the thought of her returning to the Citadel the day after tomorrow, registering as a citizen, and filing for marriage. Not Angie Ridsdel, but Angie Blackwell.
“Angie. You’re not going to put it back in your name first? Really?”
“Yeah. I like it this way. Of course, the name Amber Wynn is precious, but... I have more memories of living as Angie.”
She nodded again. She had talked to him a lot over the past few days when she had fully emerged from her coma.
She told him about his lost and found childhood memories, her journey from the nine years on Cullinan Island to reuniting with her blood relative Martin and settling down in Vintergar with Bryn and Uncle Willem, and most of all, the blessed days when Noah was born and grew up.
But on the day she left the island, she kept quiet about that tragic turning point and the sins of her family. Thinking of her adoptive parents still made her feel a pang in her heart. Although the Ridsdel couple loved and cared for her like their own daughter, they secretly wanted to erase her memories through the reset.
So Angie no longer blamed or resented Kyle. She no longer held him responsible for their deaths, but the moment when her adoptive parents were shot one after another still remained a painful memory. But now she had to put it in her heart and move on.
“I don’t want to forget all the memories from the island. There were definitely happy times. Even if everything was like a script... like something on a stage set up... The small emotions that the Remedy kids, including me, felt in our daily lives must have been real.”
And also the time between you and me.
A pair of green eyes met sky-blue eyes filled with mixed emotions. It was beautiful, like the gentle ripples of waves, the sea that held countless stories and legends. Kyle was such a beautiful person. He didn't seem like someone from this world.
Angie blinked, not knowing that the other person was thinking the same thing as her. But that appearance wasn't everything. Behind that pretty face, there was a more genuine reason why she loved him.
Their souls were one and two, two and one. It was like an indescribable, fateful pull.
At this moment, the two were in a quiet miracle. Just by looking at each other, they could see clearly what each other was thinking, what each other was thinking about, and what each other's inner selves were like.
“I...I think I must have met you somehow, Kai. When, where, how... I don’t know, but somehow.”
“Angie.”
His voice was trembling with emotion. He couldn't bring himself to say it, but he was grateful for one thing amid his family's terrible evil. He was grateful for that moment when he brought Angie to Remedy and let her into his bedroom six years ago, and he was grateful for that moment, past, present, and forever. Meeting Angie, that one thing, was a blessing from God.
“Me too, Angie. Of course. It was our destiny...”
The grandfather who had tragically disappeared by the axe of another grandson. The Duke of Blackwell, who was alive but dead. He wanted to offer the greatest blessing to his eternal destruction. With all his heart.
“Well, Angie, how about naming your daughter Amber?”
Angie suddenly raised her head. Her sparkling eyes looked like breaking sunlight.
“Daughter... Our daughter, right?”
Kyle smiled and nodded, his gaze never leaving his green, sunlight-like eyes.
“Noah would be happy to have a younger sibling. Of course... it doesn’t have to be a daughter.”
Anything is fine, Angie. If it's something you carried for ten months and then gave birth to. If it's something that came out of our love.
“Wasn’t it hard giving birth to Noah...? Let me correct that, Angie. If you don’t want it, I don’t want it anymore. Noah is enough.”
He held Angie's hand and gritted his teeth quietly. It was dizzying to even imagine. How much pain and suffering she must have felt alone. He had no intention of making her go through that pain again.
“No. I want it more, Kai. If it’s a daughter, I really want to name her Amber.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. Just thinking about the girl who looked like Kai and herself made her heart race. Her heart was already swell with joy and anticipation. If Noah were in front of her, she would grab that adorable finger and laugh out loud.
Noah, would you like to have a little sister? You'd like to have another cute and pretty little sister like Patty!
Angie buried her head in the crook of his neck, leaning back so Kyle could lean more comfortably against her. She should get up now, but his warmth felt so good that she wanted to linger a little longer.
“Just a moment... Just stay here for just a moment longer. Then take me to the greenhouse garden. It’ll be less cold there.”
Yes, Kyle replied softly and affectionately and laid his head gently on her chest. His heart felt like it was going to burst from the overflowing happiness. Then he silently recited the prayer he had not finished earlier.
Thank you, Grandpa. For letting me meet Angie...
If the helpers, the subordinates who had been with his father Edward, had not brought Angie to Remedy, then she would have been sent back to Lorsha or Revan Village from the orphanage facility as planned and lived her own life.
She would have lived a quiet and smooth life. Without knowing of his existence. A life was unrelated to the descendants of the cursed dukedom, who were stranded on Cullinan, a remote island in the Trieste Territory, dying day by day.
It was dizzying to even imagine. Just thinking about that terrifying possibility alone made the previous Duke so grateful.
So please rest in peace in hell...
Kyle buried his head in Angie's chest and repeated one last time.
God bless your destruction.
-END-
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