I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 8
The grandmother extended a single sword to Rufus. It was a sword that only the legitimate heir of House Inferna could inherit, and it had a unique design, coated with highly pure silver known to be fatal to the demonkin.
“Go and cut off the demon king’s head. I believe you can do it.”
Rufus remembered the trembling hand that passed him the sword, the hand of his grandmother.
“You did it,” she said, tightly gripping Rufus’s hand. “Thank you for coming back alive.”
“…”
Rufus embraced his grandmother without saying a word.
Her already thin arms were even more delicate now, more so than a wisp of hair. Not only that, the eyes that had always shone brightly for her two grandsons were clouded, and the hands that had prayed for them were now without strength.
His grandmother had aged rapidly without him realizing it. As Rufus lived another day, she seemed to be losing a day of her life.
“Grandmother…”
As he called her, it felt like something was stabbing his chest, blocking it.
He realized the fact he had forgotten while desperately trying to survive. The time he had left with his grandmother was now very limited.
“…How is Grandmother’s condition?”
After the Inferna family was brought to a room, Rufus quietly asked his younger brother, Edel.
“…”
Edel struggled to speak. Rufus could understand the meaning of his silence.
“Grandmother… She might find it difficult to make it through this year.”
After hesitating for a while, Edel lowered his head deeply.
“Lies.”
Rufus immediately blurted out, ‘Lies.’
“I’m sorry.”
Edel couldn’t lift his head.
In truth, Rufus knew it too.
His grandmother would soon pass away.
But he didn’t want to admit it. He wasn’t prepared yet. That’s why he wished someone would tell him.
That his grandmother wouldn’t die just yet. That she would live a long and happy life together with him, the one who had returned from the hellish battlefield…
Then, a face suddenly crossed his mind.
‘Right.’
She’s the one who could tell him.
The saintess who could foresee death. She had predicted his return from the subjugation war. So this time, she should be able to tell him.
His thoughts led his body into action.
Rufus ran out of the villa where he had been with his family.
“Brother!”
He heard Edel’s desperate shout in the corridor, but he didn’t want to look back.
He just ran and ran. He sprinted toward Princess Sordid’s magnificent palace.
“Ah, Lord Rufus! What brings you here…”
The knights guarding Princess Sordid’s palace recognized Rufus at a glance.
“Sarubia.”
“Yes?”
“Is there a maid named Sarubia in this palace? Bring her to me.”
“A… maid, you say?”
“Now!”
The knights, startled by Rufus’s urgency, scattered.
A short while later, they brought a woman before Rufus.
Compared to Rufus’s memory, she had grown into a mature woman, but he recognized her instantly. Even though she had transformed into an adult, it was unmistakably her.
The woman with ivory-colored hair, emanating a gentle aura.
There was no doubt.
“Sarubia.”
Rufus uttered that unforgettable name once more.
The memories of that day came flooding back.
The day when, oblivious to everything, he had asked the king for Princess Sordid and had been dragged away to join the subjugation army. That day, when he was gripped by the fear of imminent death, she had whispered a single phrase to him. And as her reward, she had stolen his lips.
She was the strange woman who had done so.
After that, Rufus had faced the brink of death several times while fighting against the demons.
The horrors of the war could drive a person insane.
The anxiety of being buried in a wretched land where no one would ever know. The uncertainty of when the war would end, whether he could return alive, the moments of hellish uncertainty.
Each time, the reason he could endure it was solely due to her words.
“Um…”
The maid blinked her eyes like they were made of gold and stared at Rufus in puzzlement.
And then…
“Do you… know me?”
With a tilted head and a tone like this, she asked back.
“What…?”
Rufus’s expression contorted instantly.
What do you mean, ‘do you know me’. What kind of question is this.
“Do you not recognize me?”
