"I sometimes think that perhaps all of this is actually a dream."
"...Grand Duke?"
At Fenrir's words, which were difficult to understand, Presepe narrowed her eyes and looked up at him.
"I wanted to at least reach your feet."
"..."
"I thought that if I could just reach that level, I could do anything. And in reality, that was the case."
Fenrir chuckled.
"Even though the situation has changed a lot now, I sometimes get the wrong idea. I wonder if this reality is just a vain delusion I created myself because I wanted to reach you, Lady Presepe, so much."
“That can’t be right.”
"However, I think Lady Presepe is also responsible."
"...Me? Why?"
She hadn't done anything, but Presepe looked a little puzzled.
"Because you look after even my wounds so attentively, worrying about me and caring for me so affectionately. I thought that was something only possible in my dreams. For a very long time."
At Fenrir's words, Presepe could not easily figure out whether to laugh or not. Nor could he know what kind of reaction to show.
After hearing the heartfelt confession, she did a lot of thinking. The conclusion was the same.
She thought that using Fenrir while hiding the fact that we have to leave this world was the only way, but she wasn't sure if it would be okay to do so, neither Fenrir nor her.
So, if she can't even use it completely like that, wouldn't it be right to push Fenrir out?
But Presepe soon realized that there are emotions one simply cannot ignore, no matter how many times one makes such a resolution.
Like right now.
"Your presence is so significant to me, Lady Presepe, yet I knew very well that I am nothing to you."
Presepe hesitated.
Yes, perhaps that was the case in the past. It was even more so when she thought about herself, having forgotten the day she met Fenrir in the tutorial after going through so many things.
But not anymore. To think you're nothing. If that were really the case, my heart wouldn't be this uneasy...
"So, I think I wanted to have an influence somehow. Even when you had forgotten about me, Lady Presepe."
"...I think you must have been disappointed that I was the only one who had forgotten everything."
Presepe muttered with her head slightly bowed.
"I think I would have hated it. If it were me."
“No way.”
Fenrir smiled faintly.
"Since I couldn't approach you, I looked for another way. I felt that you don't necessarily have to face someone directly to have an impact."
"...Grand Duke?"
"Like that vase."
Fenrir's finger pointed at Presepe's vase placed beside the bed.
Presepe stared at the vase with a blank expression.
"I could have found a more ornate and luxurious vase suitable for the imperial palace, but in the end, that was the one I chose."
A charming vase that stood out all alone, completely out of place in the vanity-filled imperial palace where even a single cup was extravagant.
"I thought that suited it better."
"..."
"Because the first and last time I saw you, Lady Presepe reflected in my eyes back then was truly small, cute, and lovely."
"Lady Presepe, do you dislike flowers?"
The question Fenrik had asked while quietly gazing at the vase when he suddenly visited the tower flashed through her mind.
"The person who gave the gift will be happy to know. Very happy, in fact."
The day she left the Imperial Palace. The words he said as he watched her personally pack the vase.
"The person who gave this gift would hope that this vase is always full, wherever you are, Lady Presepe."
Just by opening the window, Presepe could see the profusely blooming flowers at a glance; even the words he said while taking the trouble to pick them and place them in an empty vase, everything.
Presepe realized it only then.
The reason why the flower that was in the vase at the very beginning and the flower Fenrir personally picked and placed in it after she came to the mansion were the same.
And the exact same vase that was in the villa must have been something prepared to remember the memory, even if only by oneself.
"I wasn't hurt or resentful. Not even once."
"..."
"Instead, I was worried."
Presepe still remembered it clearly.
Also, how she felt and how much she cried when she saw the flowers and vase that welcomed her back from the ice prison, back when she was struggling so much in the early stages of the possession that she even attempted suicide by jumping into the lake after escaping the banquet hall.
"How scared must it be to be alone?"
"..."
"How lonely it must be to be all alone."
Presepe said nothing. With her lips tightly pressed together, she simply gazed at Fenrir with her purple eyes, which had already filled with tears.
"I didn't have enough time just to worry, so I couldn't hate."
She received so much. And yet, despite all that, she was the only one who always forgot it all.
Presepe endured countless regressions with the goal of seeing the endings with every male character and leaving the game, but conversely, Fenrir endured the endlessly repeated wars, hoping only to reach her.
To think that he never even felt hurt or resentful.
Is that even possible?
"You told me that last time, didn't you? That it's nice to be in this mansion because it puts your mind at ease."
"I don't know what you'll think, but I like it here. I've never once felt this at ease..."
"That was exactly one of the things I hoped for and wanted most. So, you wouldn't know, not even a little, how happy I was to hear those words, Lady Presepe."
Fenrir slowly reached out his hand. Then, carefully tucking Presepe's disheveled hair behind her ear, he met her eyes.
Fenrir's red eyes gazing at her were incredibly warm. Presepe quietly looked up at her reflection in those deeply shining red eyes.
"Lady Presepe, I am so grateful that you treat my wounds and worry about me, but... please don't look at me with that apologetic expression."
Fenrir continued speaking.
"Because that is not what I want at all."
"..."
"I really like Lady Presepe."
Presepe hesitated slightly.
"That's why, whenever you make that expression, Lady Presepe, it feels like my heart sinks."
Fenrir was an incredibly strange person. The reason for the injury was none other than her, and it was purely her fault, yet he told her not to even apologize. How could he say such a thing?
How can he like her like that, without expecting anything in return?
"This kind of wound heals quickly."
Fenrir took Presepe's hand, placed it on his chest, and spoke.
"I have suffered injuries far worse than this countless times. However, I have recovered safely every single time without fail. It is no big deal at all."
"Still..."
"Of course, Hannah and Kevin teased me, saying that was a talent of sorts, but that was unavoidable."
At Fenrir's slightly teasing remark, Presepe chuckled with teary eyes.
"Above all, since this scar was sustained while trying to protect Lady Presepe, it is practically a meaningful medal to me."
"...It’s going to leave a scar. And a really big one at that."
Even after hearing such comforting words, she couldn't help feeling sorry. However, Fenrir actually smiled at Presepe's words.
"I still have many different scars on my body."
So, does that mean it doesn't matter if one more scar forms? Presepe looked at Fenrir with eyes that clearly bore a sense of apology.
"But there is no scar more valuable than this. So even if a large scar remains, I don't care at all."
"..."
"It's a scar left from trying to protect someone I like, so how could I dislike it?"
Presepe just stared at Fenrir without saying a word.
Presepe just stared at Fenrir without saying a word.
...Even if he confessed all the facts.
Even though she knew she shouldn't, she confessed the feeling of constantly wanting to hug and embrace him, and even if she spoke of the unavoidable wish to return to the original world despite the situation.
If it's someone like this...
Could you please understand?
If it is Grand Duke Fenrir.
"..."
Presepe's small, white hand resting on Fenrir's chest trembled slightly. Fenrir looked down quietly at Presepe with a slightly puzzled expression.
The Presepe reflected in his eyes was not simply worried about him...
She looked like she was seriously contemplating something.
So Fenrir did not say anything more. He simply kept his mouth closed and waited quietly for Presepe to speak first.
"Grand Duke, do you really like me?"
It was only after quite some time had passed that Presepe attached herself, staring at Fenrir's chest wrapped in white bandages.
"...The truth is, even if I am a completely different person from what the Grand Duke knows."
At the words that were difficult to understand, Fenrir narrowed his eyes slightly.
"So even if our relationship cannot last forever."
For a moment, Fenrir's brow furrowed subtly. However, Presepe, who was not looking at his face, did not realize this.
So she continued talking.
"But... will there be absolutely no change?"
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