Chapter 190
Rose lay asleep on the bed, her face deathly pale.
The vibrant vitality that had once been as fresh as spring buds was nowhere to be found.
She resembled a flower withered and twisted dry, as if she might crumble to dust at the slightest touch.
The aura of death laced in her every inhale and exhale rendered those who beheld it utterly powerless.
It was a helplessness born of knowing that nothing could revive someone slipping away into death.
Kierne slowly approached the bedside.
He gazed quietly at the sleeping Rose.
“……”
How long did his gaze linger?
The eyelids that had been weakly closed twitched faintly.
Her long lashes trembled delicately, revealing pink irises.
Focus gradually sharpened in her hazy eyes.
She let out a small groan, furrowing her brow.
At Rose’s moan, Kierne hurriedly moved to support her but stopped abruptly a moment later.
For if he touched her, the Rose before him might vanish altogether.
His outstretched hand convulsed briefly before slowly clenching into a fist.
And then it dropped limply to his side.
In the meantime, Rose had raised herself up and leaned back against the bed’s headboard.
Even that small movement seemed to drain her, as she breathed raggedly.
“Ugh, haa……”
Rose, who had been groaning in pain, quickly clamped her hand over her mouth.
A dry cough erupted.
When she removed the hand that had covered her mouth,
Her palm was soaked entirely in blood.
Rose stared blankly at her hand before squeezing her eyes shut.
She wiped the blood from her lips with the back of her hand and reached toward the vase on the bedside table.
The vase held bright yellow marigolds.
As if freshly plucked from the garden, the petals glistened with moisture.
But the instant her slender, trembling fingertips touched them,
The marigolds withered in an instant.
The blooms drooped their heads, and dried petals fluttered down onto the table.
Upon confirming the completely desiccated marigolds, tears welled up and fell from Rose’s eyes.
Her voice, trembling violently, leaked out mingled with sobs.
“What do I do…. I, really, what do I do……”
Drenched in pain and fear, she shuddered uncontrollably.
Yet, as soon as she sensed footsteps in the hallway, the girl who had been stifling her cries swiftly wiped away her tears.
She roughly cleaned the blood from her hands with a towel and waited for the visitor to enter.
And the moment the door opened, she beamed brightly and called out his name.
“Welcome back, Kierne.”
Kierne, who had been watching Rose with an impassive expression, slowly turned around.
There stood Kierne from the past.
His face was not much different from now, but the expression was entirely changed.
It was the Kierne who had been arrogant and bored, with an indifferent gaze toward everything, occasionally laced with subtle mockery.
However, in this past Kierne, not a trace of such an expression could be found.
“…Rose.”
The past Kierne, his face pained at the sight of the bloodstained towel, was utterly captivated by Rose.
His hands, carefully wiping away the remnants of blood that hadn’t been fully cleaned, were so tender they bordered on reverent.
Rose touched his cheek playfully and smiled mischievously.
“I’m fine. Not much blood came out. Doesn’t it seem like a bit less than yesterday?”
At her brightly posed question, the past Kierne narrowed his eyes slightly.
He kissed each of her fingers one by one and said discontentedly,
“Don’t lie about being in pain. We agreed you wouldn’t do that.”
Even as he checked to make sure she didn’t have a fever, he sighed and continued.
“I found some decent herbs up north. Let’s try those.”
“Ugh, no. It’s not something weird again, is it?”
“No. This time it’s fruit, so it should taste alright. I hear it’s quite sweet.”
His gentle, coaxing voice was brimming with poignant affection.
It was while watching their conversation intently.
“…Ha.”
Kierne, who had been staring at his past self, let out a short scoff.
“Idiotic bastard.”
Spitting out the curse, he reached out his hand.
As if to strangle his past self.
Naturally, his hand passed right through, and the world began to shift once more.
Gazing at the fracturing past, Kierne murmured with blood-red eyes.
“This isn’t the time for that……”
Yet another new scene unfolded.
This time, Rose was alone in the bedroom.
She had thrown the window wide open and was staring outside.
The incoming wind was cold.
Clad only in a thin nightgown, she must surely be chilled, yet she gazed blankly somewhere as if oblivious to the cold.
More precisely, she seemed too preoccupied to notice the chill.
Cheshire turned her gaze to where Rose’s eyes were directed.
The sky was distorting.
Like a broken and contaminated illusion……
The sky, warping into ominous colors, was a sight visible only to fairies.
Unlike the entranced Rose, those frolicking in the garden below appeared utterly peaceful.
However, since this was a space created by Cheshire’s power, Hailon and Kierne, who had traveled back to the past, could also see the spectacle.
The two men’s faces hardened rigidly.
Cheshire’s expression was much the same.
Rose, the former Fairy Queen, was a being from hundreds of years ago.
In the laboratory explosion, Rose had unwittingly crossed time.
Due to the aftermath of the experiment, she lost her memories and fell into the future, where she met Kierne.
But she was never meant to exist in this era.
Even the smallest being violating the world’s rules would cause issues.
Rose was the queen of the fairies.
For such a powerful entity to break the rules, destruction was inevitable.
For Rose, and for the world sustaining her……
She had probably begun regaining her memories bit by bit as her body started ailing.
And now, with all her memories returned,
Rose had realized the cause of her illness.
“It’s all because of me.”
Because she was an existence incompatible with this era.
However, the price Rose had to pay wouldn’t end with mere physical affliction.
Rose knew.
For now, it was just bodily pain, but if her mind gradually broke as well……
The same thing that happened during the laboratory explosion would occur.
It would turn the Serpent’s Castle, and the entire eastern region, into a wasteland where no life could sprout.
“…I have to go back. If I don’t return, then……”
Muttering to herself, Rose slowly looked down below.
Belzeon and the twins were practicing swordsmanship together as a trio.
Rose, watching the children wield their wooden practice swords with their small bodies, looked up at the sky again.
Gazing at the distorted sky, she clenched her hand resting on the windowsill into a tight fist.
“But what about you?”
Whispering to herself, Rose gently caressed her own belly.
“You, who are innocent…. You, who will suffer because of your mother……”
At her words, Cheshire’s throat tightened.
Biting her lip to swallow the rising emotions, she explained Rose’s situation to Kierne.
Because he deserved to know all of this.
Kierne, who had been listening to Cheshire’s story with an inscrutable face, took a step forward.
He softly embraced Rose from behind as she looked down at the three siblings.
Knowing he couldn’t touch anything, he offered the futile hug and whispered tenderly.
“So where did you go off to, Rose?”
In the crumbling world, Kierne smiled.
With a voice tinged with laughter, he sought an answer from one who couldn’t hear.
“You have to tell me where to find you.”
Another new past appeared.
It was the day Rose died.
