I Will Die for You, My Darling! - Chapter 58
Chapter 58
Don’t take Arietta, Seia. She’s mine. She promised me her life.
Like a rat in a maze, Isaac relentlessly followed the tracks, starkly clear in the hazy world. A foul odor suddenly filled the air. He looked up. The swamp.
At the edge of the chasm, a gaping wound in the earth, Seia stood holding Arietta’s hand, gazing back at Isaac.
“Isaac.” Her voice sounded like Arietta’s. Had their voices always been so similar?
“Arietta doesn’t belong in Downstream.”
No. She was born in Downstream.
“She should have returned to her homeland when she turned sixteen.”
Absurd. That homeland is unreachable. The journey is perilous. They could both die trying.
But Seia’s voice held a quiet certainty.
“She stayed in the surface world too long. It’s your fault.”
I protected her. And we had an agreement. She would die by my hand when the time was right.
The world around him began to distort further, mirroring the twisting unease in his gut. But Seia continued to smile that unsettling smile, and Arietta, still holding her mother’s hand, didn’t look at him.
“Arietta.” Finally, Isaac stepped toward her. But something was wrong. No matter how much he walked, he remained the same distance away. His steps turned into a run. He sprinted with all his might. The distance remained unchanged.
Suddenly, Arietta, who had been impassive, looked at him and smiled.
“I think I need to go back.”
“What are you talking about?” Your life is mine. You agreed to give it to me in exchange for existing by my side until then. You were born in Downstream. What homeland are you talking about?
Both women looked up, their gazes fixed on the shadow cast by the celestial city above. A chill ran down Isaac’s spine.
“Don’t,” he warned, a pathetic plea rendered powerless by distance.
“Let’s go, Arietta,” Seia whispered, pulling her daughter close. She was suddenly frail again, ravaged by illness, on the brink of death.
Isaac understood where she was going.
“No!” He lunged forward, finally able to close the distance. He charged toward them.
But it was too late.
Seia, holding Arietta tightly, threw herself into the swamp, into the viscous, slow-moving liquid that devoured everything.
Isaac couldn’t even grasp a strand of Arietta’s hair.
Pale-faced, he stared down at the swamp. They had just jumped. The swamp couldn’t have swallowed them whole so quickly. Yet, their silhouettes were gone.
Like Arietta had done years ago, Isaac began to circle the swamp’s edge. Back then, he had mocked her futile hope. Now, he clung to a similar desperation.
He saw no sign of them, not a white hand, not a single strand of hair.
Empty-handed, Isaac continued his frantic search. He felt a tug at his ankle. The ground gave way.
“A daughter must return to her homeland,” Seia’s voice echoed in his mind.
No!
***
“Ha!” Isaac shot up in bed, a gasp escaping his lips. The night air was cool. And he felt no other weight in the bed beside him. Arietta, whom he had held as he drifted to sleep, was gone.
“Arietta?” He called her name, his voice hollow. There was no answer.
His face hardened. He would have felt her leave, even in his sleep. He was a light sleeper.
As he rose, his gaze fell upon the wine bottle. He picked it up. At the bottom, he saw undissolved white powder, something he hadn’t noticed before.
He remembered Arietta’s actions. The way she had offered him more wine, her voice sweet and persuasive. The kiss she had given him, wine lingering on her lips as she pressed them to his, urging him to drink more.
Both were typical Arietta, so he hadn’t suspected a thing.
She had drugged his wine. Put him to sleep so she could carry out her plan alone.
The nightmare clung to him, heavy and suffocating.
Isaac rushed out of the room, praying he wasn’t too late.
