Chapter 88
As I gasped for breath like someone dragged out of water, Heraise, startled, pulled me into his arms.
“Sienna, are you conscious?”
He asked anxiously, but I couldn’t even think straight enough to answer.
I couldn’t tell which one was real anymore.
‘Since I can hear my name, I guess this is reality… but what if it’s not?’
Panicked, I reached out and grabbed Heraise’s hair.
“…S-Sisi?”
He blinked rapidly, unable to hide his confusion as I yanked at his hair hard.
“Ow?”
“Does it hurt?”
“It… it does.”
“Then it’s real.”
I lifted my head and looked at the sky.
‘No rain, no double rainbow, Heraise looks the same, not in a cave, no campfire…’
When the tension drained from my stiff body, all the aches came flooding in.
I forced myself to sit up and asked,
“How long was I unconscious?”
“Not long. About a minute. It was short, but… we shouldn’t have come here. Let’s go back now.”
Heraise reached out to take me, but I coldly swatted his hand away.
“Time doesn’t flow the same in dreams, huh.”
It had felt like half an hour at least.
When I muttered to myself, Heraise frowned.
“Dream?”
“Oh, I’ve been dreaming about your past.”
“…Sisi. We need to get you out of here. It might be contamination—hallucinations from exposure.”
He looked so serious, as if convinced I was hallucinating from the tainted water.
“Contamination, my ass. I’m stuck watching your stupid love life in my dreams, and I didn’t even want to know it!”
“…My what?”
Seeing him blankly stare, I smirked.
“Heraise, you got confessed to on a rainy day. How romantic, huh?”
“What?”
“They say if you confess under a double rainbow, your bond continues in the next life. What nonsense. Fairy tale garbage.”
“Sisi, how could you possibly know that…? Wait, don’t tell me you remember—”
I cut him off coldly.
“She was your first love, wasn’t she? The way you looked at her—so heartfelt. Couldn’t forget her, huh?”
His expression shifted strangely at my mocking tone.
“…Wait. You really don’t know who she was?”
At that, my vision flared red.
“How would I know? You never told me her name!”
Frustration boiled over.
“Move. I need to destroy that thing and get out of here.”
“What? Sienna, wait—”
I shook his hand off and pulled the orb from the tree.
“If you touch that recklessly—!”
“What? What happens?”
I nullified it, stripping away all traces of dark magic, and glared icily at him.
Now just a plain, useless orb, the medium clattered to the ground as I threw it down and stomped on it.
“All you ever do is lie.”
“…Sienna?”
“You knew I’m a nullifier, didn’t you? You hid it on purpose.”
Knowing how cunning he was, he’d probably planned to use me to break the seals.
Right. He’d only approached me for that reason in the first place.
‘Even the forced contract—he only made it to free the damn restrictions.’
Once that thought struck, every moment we’d spent together suddenly felt fake.
My glare turned sharp as lightning, and Heraise flinched.
“Just wait. You’ll see if I ever lift your damn seal again!”
I spat coldly, then turned away toward Ban, who was watching timidly from afar.
“Ban! Come on! We’re going home!”
“Uh, o-okay!”
Fuming, I stomped down from the temple.
“……”
Now that I’d seen it all, I was sure.
I could never win against her.
Even if I were reborn, I could never be Heraise’s first.
And that truth—it gnawed at me unbearably.
* * *
The lake that had been vomiting up deathly water suddenly became still, as if it had all been a lie.
Sensing instinctively that Sienna had succeeded, Ethan seized the moment.
“Now! All priests except the three tending to the wounded, to the lake!”
Following Ethan’s command, the priests hurried to obey.
Their divine power was nearly depleted from working nonstop, but they wrung out every last drop of it toward the lake.
Soon, the water regained its original, purified color.
That day, everyone who had been near the lake said the same thing—
That Lady Winter had lifted the curse.
They had all seen it with their own eyes:
Sienna walking lightly across the deadly black surface that killed anything it touched, plunging into the cursed water without hesitation.
And before long, returning proudly, unharmed.
The people of Mendel declared that every rumor about her had been false—
and looked upon her now with gratitude and admiration.
But Sienna herself felt nothing.
She’d gone from “mad dog” to “hero,” yet she wasn’t in the mood to enjoy it.
“Sienna.”
Noah, who had meant to scold her for recklessly jumping into the lake, saw her expression and instead patted her shoulder.
“What happened in there?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
She answered curtly, her face still hard.
It looked like anger, but Noah knew better.
“You’re sulking.”
“I’m not.”
“Sure you are. You’ve practically got a sign saying, ‘I’m sulking’. Did you fight with Heraise in there?”
Fight? No. That had been more like me venting all my frustration.
A sigh escaped me.
“Ugh!”
Sienna covered her face with both hands.
“It’s not that serious… just—hard to explain.”
How could she possibly say it?
That she’d learned about his past and lashed out like some petty, pathetic fool?
Over her dead body.
“Your body’s okay, right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
When she added that she’d see a doctor if he was worried, Noah finally relented.
“You’ll feel better tomorrow. I know how you are—your moods swing like crazy.”
So yes, tomorrow she’d be fine.
She had to be.
“Sienna, we’re leaving after breakfast. Go to bed early.”
“Okay.”
“And Lucas will be coming with us, just so you know.”
“Lucas? Why?”
Surprised, Sienna looked up. Noah explained what had happened.
“Father offered him a reward for his help, and Lucas said he wanted to join the Winter Knights. When we return to the duchy, he’ll serve under me.”
“I see.”
That was all she said before quickly losing interest.
Right now, her thoughts were fixed entirely on one person.
“You should make up with Heraise by tomorrow.”
Sienna muttered softly, almost to herself.
“It’s not as easy as it sounds…”
* * *
That night.
After her hidden identity and the truth about the lake became known, the lord and his wife immediately changed her room—
to one of the finest in the castle.
Lying alone on the large bed, I tossed and turned.
Ban had noticed my foul mood and run off somewhere.
“I should sleep early…”
But sleep wouldn’t come.
After a long time spent squirming in the unfamiliar bed, I finally kicked off the blankets and thrashed around.
“Argh! Why did I do that!”
Rolling back and forth across the bed, I screamed in frustration.
It was mortifying.
‘What must Heraise think of me?’
I wasn’t even his lover, yet I’d gotten angry at him, pried into his first love, and crossed boundaries that weren’t mine to cross.
There was no worse humiliation.
‘Rio Maze, you bastard. This is all your fault!’
Remembering how Rio had said he liked me while seeing another woman stirred up my trauma,
and I’d taken it out on Heraise like a fool.
The weight pressing down on my chest became unbearable,
so I threw open the window for air.
The view of the lord’s estate spread out before me—
stars glittering across the night sky, gardens blooming under moonlight.
And then, I saw him.
Golden hair fluttering in the wind, blue eyes soft as they curved into a smile.
“Good evening, Sisi.”
For a second, I was too shocked to react.
Then my eyes narrowed at his clothes.
‘He’s wearing the same thing?’
Unlike me in my nightgown, he still wore the clothes from earlier.
‘Didn’t even bother to rest…’
Leaning against the terrace railing, I called down,
“…How long have you been standing there?”
“Since you went to bed.”
“Since then?”
It had been over thirty minutes!
“I was wondering when you’d open your window. Finally, you did.”
“Are you stupid? What if I hadn’t opened it?”
“But you did.”
He said it as if no matter how long it took, that was enough.
I was speechless.
“After what happened at the lake, I didn’t get to see you properly. I just wanted to see you once before you slept.
And right when I thought that—you appeared.”
“…”
A strange, indescribable emotion welled up in my chest.
Just to see my face—he’d waited out here all this time, watching from afar.
I bit my lip and turned away, suddenly wanting to hide my expression.
What should I say?
Apologize for snapping at him?
Or ask why he’d hidden the truth about nullification?
My mind raced, but then Heraise spoke again—
“I’ve seen your face, so I’ll go now. Close your window; it’s chilly tonight.”
“What?”
He’s leaving? Already? I still had so much to say—
Wait, he’s actually leaving?
As he turned his back, panic surged through me.
Before I realized it, instinct took over—my foot landed on the railing.
“Wait!”
The clatter made him turn sharply, eyes wide.
