Persistent bastard.

I thought.

I didn’t think it was going to be easy in the first place.

‘I can’t believe he didn’t get crushed by that statue.’

Eden or something, that snake must have a lot of energy.

A cloud of white dust cleared, revealing the High Priest.

“Your Excellency is a very, very interesting person.”

“…….”

“Not just ordinary, not just special, but very…….”

The High Priestess’s eyes gleamed.

“In more ways than one, you are interesting, too.”

The tension eased, and I straightened my slackened posture.

I can feel the terrible energy on his skin.

He must know now.

I am not a person to be trifled with.

Not the old lady, not me.

“Old lady, do you think we can fight some more?”

“Ugh…….”

She sighs, giving me a tired look.

“Well, are we going to scuffle here?”

“Whatever you say, I’m not going to…….”

Kwang!

While I was distracted from talking to the old lady, a giant red meteor pounced on us.

“Ugh!”

A groan escaped my lips.

‘Wow, I almost got crushed to death.’

I instinctively grabbed the old lady’s hand and held the bell high.

Towards the meteor.

The round, large thing floated in the air, as if blocked by an impassable wall.

“Haha, hahaha!”

The High Priest bursts into an unearthly laugh.

His bloodshot eyes are sickening.

“It is my mission to clear the way for Eden.”

“…….”

“And so, Your Excellency, I would have to ask that you die.”

Ah, this.

The power of that snake.

Unpleasant, disgusting, discomforting sensation, like a bug crawling on your body.

The old lady seemed to feel it too.

The man’s face contorted violently.

“What a …… stench.”

“Old lady, look at his eyes. I think he’s lost his mind.”

“You came here knowing this would happen.”

“We have to prove he’s a fake. Otherwise, he’s dangerous.”

“……Tsk, tsk.”

The old lady looked at me pathetically.

“Such a blunt fellow, where’s the good in that?”

“W, what is good?”

It’s just because I’m sorry.

I’d be sorry if she died because of me.

I focused a little more on getting rid of the rock.

The bell quivered loudly.

‘That’s big.’

I say it lightly, but I can’t help but strain.

I feel like I’m going to shatter the entire bell.

“Old lady, are you sure you’re helping me? If this thing hits us, we’ll both die!”

“I’m not alive, am I?”

The old lady snorted at my words.

She should not be playing with me now.

“Your body can’t withstand my strength!”

“Oh, really!”

As I turned my head toward the old woman, the High Priest walked toward us.

Step by step.

The meteor moved furiously toward us.

“He’ll be so happy to see me get rid of this troublesome woman.”

“……what?”

The High Priest muttered like a man possessed by something.

His throat cleared once in his excitement.

“Can you stop this and stop me at the same time?”

The High Priest crawled to stand in front of me.

His piercing red eyes were even more repulsive up close.

He raised his hand, and the meteor gained strength again.

The force pushed my feet back slightly.

The High Priest’s hand raised high, reached for my face.

“Heouk……!”

You, crazy bastard.

A hand grabbed my slender neck.

‘I’m not good at using my body.’

As the grip on my throat tightened, I was reminded of the Grand Duke.

The man who said he’d do all the physical work.

“You’re not much more than a human.”

“Kuk…….”

Little by little, my feet rise into the air.

As I struggle, the old lady is left to deal with the red meteor alone.

“Hey, get a grip!”

She stomped her foot.

Meteor is pushed back a bit by the blue energy.

“G, g, get off me…….”

I flail my feet in the air, but I can’t overcome the High Priest’s strength.

My breathing is getting a little short.

My heart is beating like crazy, and all the blood seems to be rushing to my face.

‘Shit… ……. Am I going to die here?’

They say that when a person dies, their past flashes by their eyes like a lantern.

It’s all a lie.

Because there was only one thing on my mind.

‘Denver, save me.’

I don’t know why I thought of him at this moment.

I don’t know why I remembered his name.

I can’t think of my mom, who left me, or my dad, who hurt me, or anything else.

I struggled with my anguish, repeating his name in my voice that wouldn’t come out.

“Help…help me, Denver…….”

Oh, am I dying?

The High Priest, whose smiling face I had thought was kind when I first saw him, now looked like a monster.

Blurred vision, a head that won’t turn.

‘After all, here…….’

The old lady said the real world is more dangerous than here.

‘Liar.’

Will I die there, too, old lady?

Just like I’m dying here now.

I remembered a reality where I found no meaning in living.

‘At least here…….’

Because I wanted to survive here.

And I wanted to keep the Grand Duke alive.

That was it.

A single line of meaning in my meaningless life.

I closed my eyes without regret.

For some reason, a tear slipped from the corner of my eye.

“Flotty!”

Everything felt like a dream.

Actually, I’d been dreaming all this time, and now I was coming back to reality.

The pain of not being able to breathe was excruciating, but it was all a dream.

So I thought the voice calling me was also a dream.

‘I can’t stop thinking about him.’

Black hair, sharp eyes.

A man with pale skin that made him look even colder.

A man who plays dirty pranks, the meaning of which is unknown.

A man who sometimes wears a bitter expression.

When such a man’s voice called my name,

‘I’m going to die now.’

I thought.

Because it all felt like an illusion.

My feet gave way, and my arms drooped.

My vision was about to turn ashen.

Kwang!

There was an unearthly roar, and the grip on my throat loosened.

My body plummeted, and someone grabbed me.

“Heuok…….”

I slowly opened my eyes in the arms of a familiar scent.

“……Denver?”

So what I heard wasn’t a hallucination?

The man holding me was the real Grand Duke Noctis.

The High Priest who had been choking me had flown off into the distance once more.

“Flotty, I think you owe me an explanation.”

“…….”

“I went to the prison, and you weren’t there.”

“…….”

“And now you’re about to die at the hands of the High Priest.”

Had he ever felt so cold?

The Grand Duke didn’t even try to swallow his anger.

He stared down at me, his eyes red and bloodshot.

“Why did I do this, you ask?”

“Because ……Omen came to visit.”

He said he’s not just going to kill me, he’s going to kill you.

How can I stay still?

I didn’t even get to finish my sentence.

‘This is so…….’

It sounds like something I’d say to someone I love!

I covered my barely-dried face with my hands.

“I don’t want to die.”

“You didn’t see me coming? That’s what you’re good at, seeing the future.”

I sensed an aura from the Grand Duke, stronger than ever.

Black, wavering.

His voice was low, almost commanding.

“Is that…….”

I honestly didn’t expect him to barge in like this.

He’s royalty, and for the sake of the crown prince, he must uphold the oaths of the goddess Solar.

Besides, I’m just his contracted wife.

So when he called my name, just before I was about to lose my breath, I could only assume it was a hallucination.

“Don’t you think I’d be worried?”

His pupils fluttered faintly.

“No, I’m……”

“When you were taken, you should have at least thought about how I felt.”

My feet touched the ground in the Grand Duke’s arms.

‘Does he really have to be this angry?’

His icy coldness made me forget that I had been on the brink of death just moments before.

He let out a short sigh.

“You should go back to the mansion.”

“Yes…….”

As I said that, the Grand Duke’s large hand came up to my face.

My shoulders slumped involuntarily.

“……I’m sorry, stop freaking out.”

“Ha.”

The Grand Duke let out a short sigh.

“Wait a moment, I’ll be back.”

His large, rough hands were surprisingly gentle.

His fingers were warm as they brushed the corners of his eyes, still wet.

Thump, thump!

A shadow emerged from the rubble once more.

‘He’s persistent.’

Without realizing it, I touched my neck.

I can still feel the pain.

The agony of not being able to breathe.

The Grand Duke glanced at me with a swirling black aura.

“I’m not going to take this one lying down.”

His harsh voice echoed through the temple.

The Grand Duke’s stride was swifter than the High Priest’s as he picked himself up from the rubble.

The High Priest visibly shuddered as he strode forward on his long legs.

“It’s quite nice to see you again.”

“No, Grand Duke Noctis…….”

It was a different story when he was knocked down by his own attack.

It was as if he’d been hit so hard that he couldn’t stand.

Of course, it had to be the Grand Duke who did that.

His aura was filling the temple now.

“If you’re going to do something like this, you’ve got to be prepared.”

“…….”

“Don’t expect to walk out of here in one piece.”

“…….”

“I’d like to slit your wrists and put them in your mouth right now.”

The Grand Duke said in a sullen voice.

“As long as I get all of Eden’s power, that’s when……!”

Kwang!

The noise was brutal to hear.

It was the sound of something breaking.

“Go to hell and tell your god: I’m dead because of you.”

With those words, the High Priest’s head fell to the floor.