Chapter 182: Loose Leash
The place we went to was the garden outside the ballroom. The sound of music could still be heard from here. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Cold?”
“No.”
Sigren’s eyes, full of concern, lingered on my exposed shoulders, and he eventually took off his coat and draped it over me, covering them up.
“I’m really fine.”
“Just in case.”
Heilon’s garden felt familiar, like the palm of my hand. I knew every path in this garden, so I walked through it in a relaxed mood while holding Sigren’s hand.
Sigren muttered, “Leaving secretly without a word like this makes me feel like we’re lovers having a secret affair.”
“You’re not one to talk when you come to my balcony every night.”
He grumbled, “We just talk every single time. I’m amazed at my patience every time.”
Wow, how could my cute Sigren say something like that?
“Oh my… I can’t believe you really said that. You were so lovely when you were young…”
“You still like my face now.”
It was sad that I couldn’t deny it.
Sigren grinned at me. “So, let’s make it feel like we’re having a secret relationship, dear fiancée.”
Even though I glared at him, I didn’t reject his hands as they cupped my cheek. Still, I couldn’t help but slowly roll my eyes in embarrassment as I watched his face gradually lean closer. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Wait.
My eyes caught the strange sight, and I subconsciously pushed Sigren’s face away with my hand.
“Fiona…”
“Sigren, look at this.”
I pointed to a dead flower bush in a corner of the garden.
“Why is it like this?”
“So now I got pushed away because of flowers?”
No, our conversation couldn’t go on like this.
“It’s so dry.”
“Isn’t this because of the gardener’s poor management?”
“But I think they were fine yesterday.”
I let out a breath.
“For some reason, it feels so cold.”
I felt a chill despite wearing Sigren’s coat.
“Fiona? Are you okay?”
“Well… I feel strange.”
This feeling was familiar. I glanced at the withered and dead flower bushes. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Sigren, I think she’s here.”
A strong wind blew.
Sigren quickly wrapped his arms around me.
The black, dead flower petals scattered in the wind.
I slowly opened my eyes. Under the moonlight, the dead petals fluttered like snow around where she stood.
I whispered, “Are you here to meet me?”
[Why only you?]
I let out a sigh. “Fiona…”
Would it be right to call her Fiona? Or the darkness?
The music from the mansion continued faintly. Many people were gathered in that ballroom, including everyone I cared about—Abel, Livya, Eunice, Carl… Everyone would die if Fiona unleashed her force here.
I had to send Sigren back. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Sigren, I’m fine.”
Besides, this wasn’t a sword fight, so it would be better for me to fight back.
“What do you want?”
Fiona glanced at Sigren, whose hands were still wrapped around me.
[I come to take it away.]
“Is that it? After you take it away, are you going to leave?”
I was terrified she would kill everyone here.
Fiona muttered repeatedly, like last time.
[Precious? Is he precious? Is everything precious?]
“….”
I considered moving the mana around me but quickly discarded that plan. If I used my power unnecessarily and provoked her, everyone in the mansion would be in danger. I was sure it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes for her to annihilate everyone around me. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“That’s right. They are precious.”
There was no way to win right now.
“However, that doesn’t mean you have to take the lives of people who are precious to me.”
I swallowed hard.
“Because your only enemy is me.”
Fiona, Sigren murmured anxiously, as if he sensed what I was thinking.
“Please, don’t do anything. Let’s just fight between us.”
I felt very guilty towards Sigren, but I couldn’t risk everyone’s precious lives on a gamble with such a low chance of winning—especially not his.
I stepped forward as if to shield Sigren behind me.
“So, if you want to take it away, just take it away from me. Then everything will be over.”
****
[….]
The Darkness looked at Fiona blankly, its entire body black and fluttering like smoke. Fiona, however, gazed at the figure with clear eyes—a mixture of guilt and concern, not just fear.
‘Why the hell?’ Sigren couldn’t understand why Fiona felt that way about this being. However, he couldn’t dwell on that thought for long, as the situation changed very quickly.
In an instant, the Darkness approached Fiona. She tried to stop it, but it was useless. When it touched her fingertips, it scattered like mist—black and white. Then, in a flash, there were two women with the same figure facing each other, as if they were reflections in a mirror. Moments later, Fiona collapsed.
“Fiona!”
Sigren quickly caught her falling body. Her skin was so pale it almost looked blue. He glared violently at the darkness. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
The Darkness seemed unfazed and just kept mumbling.
[Why only me?]
Then it suddenly disappeared like mist. Sigren couldn’t grasp the meaning of it, but that wasn’t important right now. He anxiously picked up the unconscious Fiona and called for help.
***
Fiona did not wake up for several days after that. Heilon Mansion was as quiet as ever. No matter how many healers were called, they only shook their heads. In the end, Abel and Sigren could do nothing but take turns guarding Fiona’s side.
Sigren glanced at Fiona lying on her bed. Somehow, the sight reminded him of their childhood when he first met her. However, the situation was now the complete opposite; back then, it was Fiona who stood by his side while he was injured and unconscious.
“Things have changed….”
Now it was his time to wait for her.
“Please open your eyes quickly, Fiona.”
Sigren carefully held his lover’s fingers, treating them delicately as if they were a fragile glass vase. He was afraid she would never open her eyes again. The Darkness had said, ‘I will take it away.’ What had been taken from her?
Then, Sigren felt a small flinch—a weak movement—from the thin fingers he held. But he wasn’t sure. His senses were on edge, trying to focus. Was he mistaken? However, the next moment convinced him it was not an illusion; the fingers of the hand he was holding slowly bent. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Sigren looked at Fiona. Her eyelids trembled, and her silver eyelashes fluttered. Gradually, her clear red eyes, like rubies, appeared.
“Fiona…?”
Fiona seemed not to have come to her senses yet; she blinked dazedly.
Sigren gently placed his hand on her cheek, feeling the lukewarm warmth of her skin.
Fiona subconsciously rubbed her cheek against his hand like a cat, then turned her head to look at him. Their eyes met—his blue-gray eyes meeting her bright red ones.
“Ah….?”
Her red eyes widened, as if surprised.
Slap!
Fiona immediately slapped away Sigren’s hand and retreated to the corner of the bed, as if she were scared.
Sigren was equally surprised by her unexpected reaction. Did he do something wrong? But soon, he grasped the situation. Fiona, who looked bewildered, stared at him and muttered, “Who are you?”
Only then did Sigren realize what Fiona had lost. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
***
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