I Will End My 10-Year Unrequited Love - Chapter 7
With emotionless eyes, Cyrone still looked beautiful drenched in blood. No, he was more than just beautiful. He resembled a god punishing the corrupt.
Elia let out a breath of relief, finally able to exhale. Had the Empire’s forces nearly suppressed all the rebels? The chaos slowly subsided.
As the room became quiet, Cyrone took his time wiping the blood from his face.
“Cyrone!”
At that moment, a final desperate attempt was made. A thick poison-tipped arrow flew toward Cyrone’s heart. Elia, instinctively sensing the danger, jumped to her feet and ran toward him.
“No!”
Cyrone shouted in panic, but as he tossed his sword aside and reached out to her as the red-haired woman fell into his arms.
It was then. Before Cyrone’s eyes, Elia slowly began to collapse.
The poison arrow, meant for Cyrone, pierced her heart as it dug in deep. Elia clutched at her pierced heart as she crumpled to the ground.
“…Elia.”
Cyrone’s called Elia’s name in a rough voice. Elia barely managed to open her eyes, gazing up at Cyrone, who had stopped in front of her as if frozen.
The woman in Cyrone’s arms was Camille. She had the same red hair as Elia. And she was Cyrone’s fiance. Camille, cradled in Cyrone’s arms, looked down at Elia with fearful eyes.
“…Ha.”
Elia exhaled roughly. She could feel the sensation of her life slipping away. Her chest ached as if it were collapsing, but it wasn’t because of the arrow piercing her heart.
Even in the final moments, Elia was second to Cyrone. The person Cyrone had thrown himself to save wasn’t her.
It was Camille, his fiance.
Lying on the ground, Elia couldn’t even make a sound as she thought to herself. Sometimes, she believed Cyrone was looking at her, but it was all just an illusion.
“Haha, hahaha.”
Elia let out a short, hollow laugh. Darkness seemed to close in, and her eyes felt heavy.
At what she thought would be the end of her life, Cyrone’s face appeared before her. His beautiful blue eyes, the ones she had once thought were the most beautiful in the world, were now shaking as if they couldn’t bear the pain.
Why was he looking at her with such painful eyes?
With a voice that seemed on the verge of breaking, Cyrone called her name.
“Please, please Elia. Please, open your eyes.”
He held Elia tightly in his trembling arms. Elia could feel him shaking as she lay in his embrace.
His scent, which had always been so intoxicating, enveloped Elia’s entire being. At that moment, she was certain.
‘I’m dead. This must be my final dream.’
Ten years. Throughout that long time, you were never truly mine, and I loved you more than I could ever express. Even in these final moments, when you turned away from me, I still loved you with all my heart. The end of this long and exhausting love was finally in sight.
Slowly, Elia reached out and gently stroked his messy cheek. Her voice, breaking with desperation, escaped her lips.
“Cyrone, I regret loving you.”
In that instant, Cyrone’s eyes froze. His face twisted in agony, as if on the verge of tears. The eyes she had once thought were the most beautiful in the world were now breaking with pain and despair.
“If there’s a next life… I’ll never…”
The thought of a next life made Elia laugh bitterly. No matter how much this felt like a dream or an illusion, there was something not entirely unpleasant about knowing that he was crying for her.
“I won’t love you again.”
With those words, Elia lowered her head. Her entire body was growing colder and turning pale. Cyrone, unable to believe what was happening, held her even tighter. His voice that was filled with desperation, was chilling.
“…Elia. Please.”
Cyrone collapsed to the ground. Desperately, he clung to her, as if he would never let her go. But the warmth of her body was slowly fading, turning cold.
“No, no, you can’t leave me. You can never leave me.”
Cyrone cried out in anguish. He, who had been known for his cold and emotionless demeanor, was breaking down in the most painful way possible. Cyrone pressed his face against Elia’s chest, where her heartbeat had already stopped.
“Elia, I’ll forgive everything. I’ll beg for everything. So, please!”
Cyrone, now on his knees, felt as if he was offering everything he had left. He thought he could even forgive the Reiffers name, which he had once resented.
But it was too late. Elia’s hand grew colder with every passing moment.
“Please… Please. You promised.”
You promised you’d never leave me…
The last sound of life, as faint as it was, finally faded away into the darkness. Elia slept for what felt like an eternity.
* * *
“Elia, Elia, please…”
Please don’t leave me. You promised you wouldn’t leave me…
Elia’s body drifted with the wind. Cyrone’s pleading voice echoed behind her, but Elia’s consciousness sank deeper into the darkness.
She descended into a place so low and deep that Cyrone could never follow her again.
