I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 37
It didn’t matter. It might not be bad to catch a severe cold like this. It would be okay not to get up from the sickbed forever.
But Rufus is a king. The people won’t let their king die so easily.
In that case, rather…
Rufus raised his hand above the sword he had placed on the ground.
A sword stained with the blood of demons and humans alike. A cursed sword that had devoured countless lives.
He started his life on the hellish battlefield with this sword, and perhaps it wouldn’t be bad to end it with the same.
Rufus slowly drew the sword from its sheath.
That’s when.
‘Don’t cry.’
A whisper reached him through the rain.
Pause.
At the sudden voice, Rufus froze.
“…Sarubia?”
It was a very brief voice, but unmistakable. It was Sarubia’s voice.
“Sarubia!”
Dropping the sword, Rufus quickly turned his head in all directions.
No one was there. The only thing visible was the pouring rain.
In an instant, a melody came to his mind.
If I were to die
I’d become a single drop of rain
To wipe away your tears.
“What song is this?”
“A lullaby.”
It was the lullaby Sarubia had sung to him when they first met, and during nights that sleep eluded him.
At that moment, the last moments with her flashed in his mind.
She had apologized until the end.
She had smiled until the end.
She had looked into Rufus’s eyes until the end.
“Don’t cry.”
Sarubia’s faint smile came to his mind.
In that moment, it felt like his breath was caught in his throat.
The sensation didn’t fade away. Thorns pierced through the emptiness in his heart again. The suppressed intense emotions surged like waves.
He hated it.
It was tormenting.
He wanted to stop feeling it now.
Why?
Why did it still torment him, even though she, who had already died and returned to the earth, continued to entangle him in this way?
Once again, the oppressive feeling, like thorns in his heart, struck him. The intense emotions he had held back for so long rushed in like a wave.
No.
He didn’t want to feel it anymore.
Why?
Why did he still feel this way?
Rufus wanted to see her, even just once more. He wanted to take her, hold her hands, and show her the fuchsia flowers she had wanted to see.
So please, just once more…
Rufus finally collapsed like melting candle wax.
His chest felt tight.
It was as if something was stuck inside. No matter how much he pounded on it with his fist, it seemed like it wouldn’t get better.
His throat felt clogged.
Intermittent sobbing cut through the cold air. There was no one to comfort the man who collapsed and poured out his emotions on the mud-streaked floor.
Shwaa—
The night rain cried bitterly.
Cold raindrops rinsed the necklace in Rufus’s hand, stained with Sarubia’s blood. As the blood was washed away, the necklace started to glow a bright red.
Gradually, through the desolate darkness, a vague figure emerged.
“Do you desire wealth?”
Startled by the unfamiliar voice, Rufus raised his head.
Before Rufus stood Audixus, the demon king in human form.
“You bastard! You’re still alive?!”
Rufus hastily drew his sword and swung it towards the demon king. However, Rufus’s sword merely cut through the air, leaving it untouched.
The demon king Audixus, who appeared before Rufus, continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
“I shall bestow upon you all the treasures in my demonic palace. In return, spare my life.”
“Ah…”
Only then did Rufus realize that the Demon King Audixus in front of him was nothing but an illusion.
Sarubia’s necklace. To be precise, it was the specter of the Demon King Audixus, produced by the demon king’s magical stone.
A specter of someone who had been dead for over a year lingered in a place like this without disappearing.
“If that’s not it, is it fame? I shall order all my monstrous subjects to see to it.”
The specter of the demon king continued to speak.
It was the same. The words he had muttered to Rufus before his death.
Damn demon king. Rufus clenched his teeth, watching the specter of the demon king.
Then, suddenly, the specter of the demon king uttered these words.
“Or do you want to change the past? Do you want to go back in time and get another chance?”
