I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 67
The bitterly smiling mouse leaped from under the bed, revealing a red-haired witch in front of Rufus.
Upon seeing Odr return to her witch form, Rufus quickly got up.
“What are you doing? What if someone sees…!”
“Shush, no one’s coming. Lie down, stay still.”
The witch Odr, with a cunning smile, laid Rufus back on the bed.
“I’ll let you meet her.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll let you meet the person you love.”
The witch Odr lightly sat beside Rufus.
“Think about the person you love. Then I’ll cast a spell to let you meet in your dreams.”
Rufus looked up at Odr, dumbfounded.
“How do you mean? You’ll bring Sarubia here?”
“No, that would be no fun.”
The witch Odr giggled.
“It’s more romantic to meet in dreams, don’t you think? With my magic, I’ll connect your dreams.”
The witch Odr placed her hand over Rufus’s forehead. A sensation cold as a corpse seeped beneath his skin.
“Did you know? If two people think of each other as they fall asleep, they can meet in their dreams that night.”
Magical energy flowed from the witch Odr’s palm. Rufus began to feel drowsy. His body, previously tense with anxiety, finally relaxed.
“Yes, just like that. Good night, Rufus.”
The witch Odr’s voice tickled Rufus’s ear.
…Sarubia.
Struggling to keep his sinking consciousness afloat, Rufus called her name.
Even if others despised him as a traitor, even if they scorned him for abandoning wealth and honor for a mere maid.
It didn’t matter.
He never acted for the respect and recognition of others. He never took pleasure in their praises and adulations.
His only wish, from beginning to end, was one thing.
Sarubia.
I hope you live long.
I hope you live even a day longer than me.
So.
I would fall into hell for you.
Because…
Without you… it’s worse than hell….
Finally, Rufus’s eyes closed.
“…Pitiful human.”
The witch Odr looked down at the sleeping Rufus and murmured.
“Love is a curse. And it will drive you mad.”
Odr looked at her hand. A ring with a small sapphire piece caught her eye.
As she gazed at it, a tingling sensation filled her lips.
—Such a heartless man.
She chuckled, thinking of the man who had given her son his ashen hair.
Soon, a gray mouse appeared where the witch had been sitting.
Squeak, squeak!
The lonely mouse let out a sorrowful cry.
* * *
He dreamed.
In the dream, Rufus stood in front of a mansion.
‘Is this the witch Odr’s magic?’
Rufus looked up at the mansion before him.
It wasn’t flashy but well-maintained. It exuded a sense of gentleness. He knew this place too well.
‘Just as it was.’
The mansion of the barony in his hometown, the Inferna domain.
Compared to other wealthy nobles’ mansions, it was modest. But Rufus longed for a day in this mansion rather than a year in the royal palace.
‘Grandmother, Edel…’
Hiding his fluttering heart, Rufus stepped onto the garden path. Red flowers along the path danced gently in the wind.
They were sarubia flowers.
‘I’ve never planted these.’
Was it because this was a dream? The place before him differed significantly from the Inferna mansion he remembered.
There weren’t many types of flowers originally planted in the mansion’s garden. The fuchsia flowers that Lord Inferna liked, the edelweiss flowers his mother adored, and a few other common ornamental flowers. That was all.
Originally, there were no sarubia flowers in the Inferna mansion. There was already a red flower, the fuchsia, so there was no need to plant another similar color. But why were sarubia flowers here?
As he leaned over to inspect the bright red flowers, someone called his name.
“…Lord Rufus?”
He turned his head reflexively and couldn’t believe his eyes.
“…Sarubia?”
It was Sarubia. She stood at the end of the path.
