“Your Highness.”
Amid the trembling din that seemed to shake the chapel’s very foundations, Noah drew Claudia’s sleeping form into his arms and whispered softly.
“There is something I vowed I would tell you when you finally awoke.”
Her body was limp and cold as ice, even as he held her close. The chill brought to mind a long past cold winter’s day when Claudia had clung to him while laughing and had told him, “You’re so warm.”
With the hand not supporting her, Noah slowly combed his fingers through her hair, that familiar soft brown color.
“I have long regretted the words I left unspoken.”
He had once been able to touch it every day. But for the past three years, nearly a thousand days, even that had been forbidden to him.
“So...” he continued. “I shall hesitate no longer.”
He brushed his hand against her cheek as he watched her.
“Your Highness...” he began.
No, that isn’t right.
As a boy, he had mimicked the manner of the adults around him. He had wanted to grow up quickly—to gain the strength to stand by Claudia’s side and lighten the burdens that she had always carried alone. The burdens of a woman who had once chosen to give her life for the sake of the world were heavy, indeed.
“Lady Adelheid... Dia.”
He had called her by many names during their long travels to fight against the encroaching darkness.
For her part, Claudia had called him by other names too. “Leonhard,” of course, and she had even once, mischievously, called him “Your Majesty” when he had taken the place of Ashbal. That particular memory made him squirm even now.
But most importantly, she was his...
“Princess,” he said with reverence. “My one and only princess.”
He pressed his forehead lightly against hers and closed his eyes.
He held a fierce possessiveness toward Claudia. Perhaps it was arrogance to think that he had the right to desire to live and die by her side. Regardless, that unshakable desire now compelled him to ask her a question he had once asked her before.
“Do you really think a dog can live properly if he loses his owner to death?”
He opened his eyes and caressed her cheek once more.
“Please awaken soon. I miss the feel of your hand on my head, Princess.”
With his thumb, he gently traced the curve of her lips. It was a touch no mere retainer should ever put upon their liege. Yet even knowing this, Noah chose to do so.
“I will do all that is in my power to bring you back.”
He trailed his fingers along her chin, tracing the outline of her face, and spoke words that no magic could undo.
“I love you with all that I am.”
Then, with a prayer stilled upon his lips, Noah leaned down and kissed her.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Nghhh... Agh!” Leonhard clutched his head in pain and fell to his knees at Claudia’s feet.
“You’re a good boy, Leonhard,” Claudia said, still in the world of dreams.
“I...” He gasped, his voice caught by something.
“Noah is calling for me now,” she said gently. “I must go to him.”
Claudia could feel Noah’s warmth beating in her chest. It was a gentle, yet powerful, guiding heartbeat, and she knew without a doubt it was a gift from him.
“You can’t,” Leonhard managed to say.
The world around them began to twist and buckle. Darkness swallowed all, their surroundings included.
Everything is fading away.
Only Leonhard and Claudia remained.
“I won’t let you go anywhere.”
Leonhard’s voice was raw with pain, yet he strained forward, seizing her ankle with desperate fingers.
“Stay here—with me.”
She watched him with pity.
“You are... You are my witch...!” he growled.
Claudia knelt and touched his trembling hand. “I’m sorry, but I cannot grant that wish.” She firmly took his hand in hers. “But I will bring you with me.”
Leonhard jolted at her words, and for a moment, something other than anguish flashed across his face.
“All this around us is not real. It is an illusion my mother left behind. But you...” She smiled. “You truly are my adorable Noah.”
Perhaps this world was merely one of the countless futures that could have happened.
“You really are a good boy, aren’t you, Leonhard?”
“Adelheid...”
A soft laugh escaped her. “There, there.” At peace, she stroked his hair. “I will not leave you incomplete. Come with me.”
Leonhard lifted his face and, once more, reached out his hand to her.
Yet rather than grasping her fingers, he drew Claudia into his arms and pressed his lips against the curve of her neck.
Ah... The dream is ending.
Claudia closed her eyes, softly and slowly.
A moment later, she felt the world tip and turn, and after that strange sensation of inversion, she opened her eyes to a brilliant light.
Claudia realized she was cradled in someone’s arms.
As she blinked slowly, her blurred vision slowly came into focus. Gazing down upon her were eyes of a deep, obsidian hue.
“Do you know me?” asked the man.
The answer was obvious.