Even Death Was Taken Away by That Obsession - Chapter 4
I was the next partner.
It was unwelcome news, but I calmly accepted my situation.
“You are to become the god’s companion.”
His people welcomed me with bright smiles.
“Go in and state your name. If he calls your name again, you’ll be staying here with him from now on.”
A month? Half a year?
I followed their instructions obediently, estimating how long I might be able to stay here.
“My name is Haine.”
And I believed. That before a year had passed, our relationship would come to an end.
“Haine……”
The moment my name was called, that modest belief was chained.
He was a being who could snatch me even from death.
***
As not all memories had returned, my time with him was as confusing as a book with pages torn out here and there.
But I could understand.
At some point, I wanted to escape from him.
The endless time was overwhelming, and I wanted to let go of everything.
So I died countless times. Even though I had already become unable to die because of ‘him’, I didn’t give up.
In the meantime, I repeated numerous lives.
From noble status to a woman on the streets, I ran away, died, came back to life, lived different lives, got trapped, ran away again, and was caught.
‘How many… lives have I lived…’
I gasped as if water had filled my lungs, under the weight of the memories pouring in.
Feiden willingly supported my body.
“He gave you ‘immortality’ and a special ‘power’. Thanks to that, you became a body that couldn’t die even when you died, only falling asleep and soon reviving.”
My head ached from memories that felt foreign as if they weren’t mine.
I couldn’t even tell who I was or what kind of person I was.
Feiden lifted my chin with his finger.
“Don’t you remember everything? That you’re an immortal being, that you received his power.”
Then he grabbed my shoulders with both hands and roughly turned me around.
It was towards a mirror with a curvy frame on one side of the room.
“See, like this.”
Feiden held my face like a puppeteer controlling a doll and closed his green eyes.
When his eyes opened again, they were a vivid golden color.
Like a beast eyeing its prey in the darkness, his eyes glowed with the use of his ‘power’.
The power to manipulate people’s will at his discretion.
Those eyes that made him worshipped as a god, able to make others submit, dominate, kneel, and do everything as he pleased.
As I faced those eyes gleaming with a beastly color, my vision blurred momentarily and my head spun.
“Let’s make a bet.”
“A bet with our wishes at stake.”
“We’ll both erase our memories and start over from the beginning.”
I wanted to escape from him, even if it meant dying.
So I proposed a bet to him.
Believing this was my last chance.
“If I, having lost my memories, fall in love with you again, it’s my loss.”
“Then I’ll give up everything and stay by your side forever.”
“But if I fall in love with someone other than you, let me go. Let me be able to die.”
“I really want to escape from you, even if it means dying.”
“Now I want to live like a human and die like a human. That’s my last wish.”
Feiden, whose eyes had returned to their original ash color, playfully pushed my forehead.
“Didn’t I tell you? That I would help you.”
I couldn’t hide my bewilderment as I touched my forehead.
“Help me?”
“You asked for help, didn’t you?”
“…I did?”
“Hmm, it seems you don’t know because your memories haven’t fully returned yet.”
Feiden aimed directly at my pupils.
“This power, I received it directly from you.”
A chilling shock struck my head.
This isn’t a special power, but a chain and collar to bind me to him.
Knowing that better than anyone else…
“Me? Directly?”
“Then did he give it? You wanted to keep me by your side so much that you gave me power.”
“Why?”
“Because I was your only friend.”
“……”
As I glared at him, Feiden, who was proudly shrugging his shoulders, quickly added.
“I’m the only one who can make the medicine to stir up memories, and the only one who can help you.”
Feiden, who had been consistently showing a crooked attitude, finally seemed to pity me and frowned deeply.
“Don’t make that face. We’ve come this far, passing through even greater despair.”
“……”
“It’s all my choice. The immortal body, being by your side. So I’ll help you.”
Feiden placed his hand on my shoulder, which had lowered at some point.
“I’ll do my best to help you escape from him.”
“What do you gain by helping me?”
“You’re still interesting.”
He laughed softly. Then he said with a serious face.
“How can you doubt me when our friendship is so deep.”
For the first time, a pure white smile befitting the High Priest appeared on Feiden’s face.
It was a noble and sacred expression that didn’t suit him at all.
“I’m the savior who will lead the bet to your victory.”
Those kind words, saying he would help me to be able to die.
Because of that, I couldn’t easily trust this person who claimed to be my friend.
It was then.
“My lady.”
Bonnie’s knock was heard, having returned after preparing the bath.
Feiden regretfully shook the empty test tube and whispered.
“I’ll prepare the medicine again. Won’t you be less wary of me once all your memories return?”
“……”
“You still don’t seem to believe that I’m your friend.”
“Ah, my lady, are you asleep?”
As Bonnie called for me again, Feiden concluded playfully.
“We’ll talk about the unfinished conversation at our leisure. As you know, we have more than enough time, don’t we?”
With that, Feiden exchanged a nod with Bonnie as if changing shifts and turned to leave.
Bonnie didn’t find it particularly strange that he had been in my room and hurried with her guidance.
I, who hadn’t had time to sort out the memories that had rushed in, followed her like a creaking doll.
As the bathroom door opened, misty air obscured my vision. It was hard to tell if it was steam or fragrance.
“This way, please. I’ve lit some incense to relieve fatigue… Are, are you alright?”
Bonnie stuttered, sensing that I might be uncomfortable.
“Ah… yes.”
“While you’re soaking, the maid who will formally serve you will arrive…”
As I immersed my body in the warm water, everything from meeting Ian and coming to the mansion to the distant past Feiden had poured out felt like a dream.
Leaning against the edge of the bathtub, dreamy streams of water flowed down my hair, making the golden strands float on the water like autumn leaves.
I gently closed my eyes as the sturdy decorations adorning the bathroom dazzled me. And I imagined.
If I opened my golden eyes and used the ‘power’, I could order anyone in this mansion to mercilessly destroy this place.
I could even thrust its debris and fragments into my neck.
‘But I still wouldn’t die.’
I would just fall asleep and wake up again.
That’s the kind of being I was.
A monster with a body that can’t be called human because of ‘him’.
“Excuse me!”
At that moment, along with a brief knock on the door, a cheerful greeting like a cute bird chirping was heard.
The door opened slightly, and a young girl with orange hair peeked her face through the gap.
“I’ve come to wash you, is it alright for a moment?”
When I nodded in permission, the girl hurriedly entered, checked the water temperature, and dampened a towel.
“Oh my, you’re like a doll from head to toe! I knew it from the moment the young master brought you here so preciously!”
The young girl spoke to me naturally as if we had known each other for years.
“Bonnie said the same thing earlier. She said when she handed you the nightgown, she felt like she was standing in front of a large doll.”
I frowned, remembering the somewhat shy-looking Bonnie.
‘A large doll…’
My chest ached as it didn’t seem particularly wrong.
“Ah! I’m ‘Dantea’. I’m the maid who will serve the lady most closely from now on.”
A few strands of orange hair fell across Dantea’s face as she finished her bright introduction. It was as vibrant as midsummer.
“Nice to meet you, Dantea.”
I responded, imitating a girl of her age.
“Yes, my lady! You know, I’ve been wanting to greet you ever since I caught a glimpse of you earlier! The benefactor of our young master!”
Her voice, a tone higher than others, was as cute as a small bird’s chirping.
“Our young master, with his impeccable character and abilities, is respected by many in Aintz despite his young age.”
“…That’s right.”
“He’s perfectly suitable as the Grand Duke’s successor!”
What? The Grand Duke’s successor?
I widened my eyes, feeling my spine rapidly cooling.
‘Ian? Of this Grand Duchy?’
And I silently screamed at Ian’s unimaginably high status.
Unaware of this secret outcry, Dantea gathered my golden hair and moistened it with fragrant oil.
“By the way, how did you two meet?”
I bit my lip slightly at the awkward question.
“It must be like a fairy tale!”
It was a moment when silence was the answer.
