Chapter 91
Chapter 91
Knock, knock, knock.
I heard a knocking sound.
I had already been tossing and turning, unable to sleep, so I opened the door right away.
“Cecil?”
“Young master.”
“At this hour… what brings you here…?”
No matter how special the relationship between Cecil and me was, for her to visit her master’s room alone in the dead of night was more than enough to cause misunderstandings.
In fact,
even I could misunderstand it.
Perhaps noticing my thoughts, Cecil gave a faint smile.
“Young master. No… Van Descartes?”
“Huh, huh?”
Without realizing it, I swallowed hard. For some reason, the sight of Cecil in her pajamas looked incomparably more alluring than usual.
“What are you thinking?”
“……”
“Your face is really red. So even if your mind is past your forties, your body is still fresh and young, is that it?”
“……”
Cecil stepped closer to me. Then she slowly placed her hand on my shoulder. She brought her face close. I could feel her breath against my skin.
Her lips approached my ear.
My heart pounded like crazy.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
“Van Descartes.”
Her warm breath. Her sweet whisper.
They dug into my ears.
“No. My Ran Winterbell.”
“……”
Seriously, what is she doing?
What is she thinking?
Is it what I think it is?
All kinds of lewd thoughts flashed through my mind.
I guess instinct couldn’t be helped. Honestly speaking, Ryeong from my previous life had been quite a charming woman, but Cecil in this life was far closer to my taste.
“Our young master.”
“C-Cecil… It’s one thing that you came at this late hour, but getting this close—what exactly are you trying to…?”
“What do you think I’m going to do, young master?”
The alluring scent that tickled my nose didn’t just elevate my mood—it was enough to paralyze my reason and mind.
“Young master. Can’t you sleep?”
I nodded without realizing it. It was true that I had been unable to sleep and was tossing around.
Cecil gently brushed back my hair. Then she softly pressed her lips against my forehead.
A moist, soft sensation spread faintly.
I stared at her blankly.
“Ce…cil…?”
“What were you imagining? How naughty.”
“Ahem….”
“For some reason, your reactions have become more boyish. I don’t think you were like this in your previous life.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“It is. I like how you are now more—it’s nicer and cuter. It’s also quite fun teasing you like this.”
I smiled along with her playful grin. It felt like my gloomy mood was lifting.
“So what’s the real reason you came?”
“What’s the real reason I came?”
Cecil smiled mischievously.
“I wanted to see Van before tomorrow’s match.”
“……Van?”
“Ah, sorry. I should be calling you young master.”
Cecil giggled.
“Sometimes my habits from my previous life come out.”
Since she wasn’t the type to have such habits, I could only laugh.
“Still, I’m glad I can say this now. In my previous life, I wouldn’t have even dared to say something like this.”
Cecil stepped closer again.
“To be honest, Van… no, young master, every time you fought, you looked so cool that it was hard for me.”
“How much of that is a joke, and how much is serious?”
While speaking, Cecil suddenly imitated Ivaki’s voice. Her expression and tone were so identical that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“From beginning to end, I’m serious. Ivaki used to tell me often, ‘Hey, runt. Don’t you have feelings for Van?’ like that.”
“Puhahahahaha!”
It felt like I could vividly hear Ivaki’s voice.
‘I miss him. Ivaki.’
“By the way… are you going to fight in Ivaki’s style in tomorrow’s match?”
“What?”
“At the training ground earlier, it looked like you were charging in recklessly like Ivaki….”
“Cecil! That’s the Winterbell-style swordsmanship!”
“Come on, do you think I wouldn’t recognize it? I fought alongside you for years in our previous life.”
Cecil said playfully.
“And you mixed in Winterbell swordsmanship with it, right?”
“…You caught me.”
If it were Cecil, I thought she might notice. But hearing it directly like this, I was once again reminded—Ryeong was truly Ryeong. Her perception was sharper than anyone else’s.
“Of course. I know everything about you, young master.”
For a moment, my heart felt warm. Cecil really was exactly like Ryeong from my previous life.
Just like back then, when she worried about me with an expressionless face and quietly watched over me.
“If it were Nia, what would she have said?”
I asked.
This time as well, Cecil’s expression subtly changed. Only her expression shifted, yet it felt like I could see Nia.
“Hmm… ‘Van, if you fight like that, you’ll tire out quickly,’ she would’ve nagged like that.”
We both burst out laughing at the same time.
“Ah, young master.”
“Yeah?”
“Tomorrow, I won’t be able to use healing magic… so don’t push yourself too hard, okay? Don’t end up with a hole in your side like in our previous life.”
“That was when we fought the Demon Dragon!”
“I’m still worried, so I’m saying it anyway. In our previous life, I kept telling you that you’d die like that—and it actually happened.”
Her tone was playful, but neither of us could laugh freely. The atmosphere turned cold. Noticing it, Cecil forced a smile, but…
I shook my head.
I wanted to tell her not to force herself to smile.
“You don’t have to force a smile, Cecil.”
“I’m sorry. I came to lift your mood, young master… but I ended up bringing up something unnecessary and making you feel worse.”
Memories of the past that tormented all of us.
Bestia and Saladin.
A long time had passed, yet whenever I mulled over their names, I couldn’t suppress the surging hatred and killing intent. It should have faded with time, but instead, it only grew stronger.
If those trash bastards hadn’t betrayed us, neither I nor my companions would have ended up like that.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Cecil.”
A thick killing intent boiled up within me.
“It’s just… those bastards who were in the wrong.”
“Young master…”
Cecil’s eyes trembled. She must have felt it—the killing intent seeping into my voice. Even in my previous life, she was the only one who could read my emotions.
“Sometimes I think about it. That day—when Nia collapsed. The look in Ivaki’s eyes as he bled while staring at me. And…”
My voice trembled faintly.
“You… that moment when you—when Ryeong was dying.”
“Van….”
Cecil called out softly. No longer “young master,” but simply “Van.”
“Isn’t it ridiculous? Bestia said ‘I’m sorry.’ That was it. The time we spent together, the memories we shared, our friendship… all of it ended with a single ‘I’m sorry.’”
My fists clenched on their own. My nails dug into my skin, breaking it as blood seeped out.
“And that bastard Saladin said all of this was just the ‘will of the Goddess.’ Betraying us, killing us—everything he did was supposedly the will of the Goddess.”
I still couldn’t understand it.
This was the will of the Goddess?
Throwing away members of the Hero’s party like worn-out shoes?
“I understand your feelings… completely, young master.”
Cecil held my hand.
It was incredibly soft and warm.
Just like Ryeong had been in my previous life.
The surging waves of rage gradually began to subside.
“But I’m by your side now, young master. In this life, I will never, ever leave you.”
“I know. I’m really glad I have you, Cecil.”
Silence lingered for a moment. Moonlight shattered softly against the window.
“You know, young master.”
Her tone was hesitant.
It was a tone that felt like Cecil and Ryeong had merged into one.
“Yeah?”
“Sometimes… I miss Ivaki. To think there would come a day when I’d miss that foolish barbarian. I never really imagined it. Hahaha.”
In a way, the two of them had gotten along the best.
They fought every single day as if they were sworn enemies, but to my eyes, there had never been any real malice in it.
A smile slipped out without me realizing it.
“All of a sudden?”
“Seeing you fight like Ivaki earlier, young master… it made me miss that fool. He would’ve definitely said, ‘Hey, Van! You’re stealing my martial arts! You thief!’”
And then he would have properly taught me how to use it. And as always, he would’ve asked if I’d consider marrying his sister again.
“Hahaha! Right. And Nia would’ve said, ‘Mr. Ivaki, your voice is too loud.’”
We looked at each other and laughed. It was a bitter yet warm laugh.
“I miss Nia too. I still remember how she would nag in that gentle voice of hers whenever you pushed yourself too hard, young master.”
“You weren’t much different. Every time I rushed to the front lines, you’d say, ‘Van, you mustn’t overexert yourself.’”
“That’s because I was worried! You always—”
Cecil’s words trailed off. We both knew how that sentence ended.
“Cecil.”
“Yes?”
“Tomorrow, you see…”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to fight thinking that we’re all together. That Nia and Ivaki are there too… that all of us are together.”
Cecil’s eyes reddened.
“Young master…”
“And you… no, just like Ryeong always did, watch over me.”
“Of course. I’ll always be by your side, young master.”
Cecil did not say the word ‘forever.’
Under the moonlight, we looked at each other and smiled.
This time, it wasn’t a forced smile, but a sincere one.
“Young master.”
“Yeah?”
“I will never betray you. The Ryeong of the past, and the Cecil of now—I will never betray you. So please, don’t be afraid, and don’t doubt me. I will always be by your side.”
Slowly, carefully, I pulled Cecil into an embrace. Her eyes widened in surprise.
“…Thank you for always staying by my side. The fact that you are my Ryeong, that you are Cecil—I can’t tell you how reassuring that is. If you hadn’t been by my side, I might have lost my mind long ago.”
“I will never betray you. In my previous life, now, and in the future…”
“I know. I… will never betray you either.”
And just like that, we held each other in silence for a long time. The pain of the past and the fear of the future—at least in this moment, we could forget them.
Countless emotions intertwined, creating a strange feeling.
The past, the present, and the future—
it felt as though they all overlapped in this very moment.
I, who was Van Descartes and Ran Winterbell.
And she, who was Ryeong and Cecil.
Listening to each other’s heartbeats, we stood as if time itself had stopped. Moonlight shattered over her silver hair, and each fleeting breath drew a faint mist in the winter air.
The sound of two souls beating became like an old song, mirroring one another.
Our hearts, reunited after crossing death once,
rang out with memories and reality intertwined.
Memories of protecting each other while bleeding on the battlefield,
glances secretly exchanged in cold corridors,
the final images we etched of each other at the moment of death,
and now, even this warmth felt so close.
Thump, thump.
A heart engraved with the pain of a previous life.
Thump, thump.
A heart singing of a new beginning.
Within the resonance of fate created by two lives and four names, we were finally completing each other.