Book 14: Chapter 37
“I’ll go with you,” stated Nier.
I turned around to look at Nier, who was behind me. I hesitated for a moment before replying, “Nier, I’ll be fine on my own. This is my own business. I don’t know what I’ll have to go through, and I don’t know what I’ll have to face. I don’t even know what I should go do, so it’s pointless for you to follow me.”
Lucia surrendered on her own accord in the contest. She couldn’t physically match Nier, after all. Nier didn’t go too crazy, however. Instead, she wasn’t willing to go for round two. She just wanted to hug me tightly. She didn’t kick Lucia out, either, so the two woke up in each other’s embrace just as in the Imperial Palace of Duargana, except someone else replaced Mommy Vyvyan’s position.
I told Nier about my body and my uncertain future. She was very calm about it as though she had predicted the possibility a long time ago. She didn’t cry or make a scene. She merely tightened her arms around me and breathed gently. After she woke up, and I told her I was going to search for a way to live, she stood behind me and declared, “I’m still going with you!!”
Nier quickly walked up to me and grabbed hold of my hand. In an anxious, yet resolute, voice, she continued, “You’re my husband and my Prince. I’m your wife and your bodyguard. Your life is currently at risk, so it’s a given that I stay by your side to protect you. I don’t want to leave you no matter where you go or what we have to face. I want to be by your side, Your Majesty, Troy, Dear… I don’t want to experience this again. I don’t want to search for you in tears again. I’ve been living in nightmares these last few days that I’ve been without you. I don’t know what I should do. To you, I’m Nier, but to me, you’re my entire world, Dear!”
Nier held my hand, and suppressed her hoarse voice and tears with her determined voice. I hugged her. I stroked her long black hair behind her. She gently trembled in my arms. She bit down on her lip to hold back her tears. I whispered over her shoulder, “The same applies for me, Nier. You’re an irreplaceable part of my world, as well. I’m very sorry about leaving without a word these last few days, Nier. I really wanted to be by your sides. I dreamt of you all every night when I was out there. I don’t want to separate from you again, not even for a second…”
“Then…”
“That’s precisely why I must leave alone.” I cut Nier off and explained, “Nier, I honestly don’t know what exactly will happen. I want to live on for you all, but I don’t know what I must do, nor do I know what exactly I’ll have to face. Therefore, you can’t accompany me. What are we going to do if something happens to you? I’m supposed to be a dying man, so it’s no big deal if I fall, but not you.”
“I’m your bodyguard; I must protect you if you are in danger.”