Chapter 39
Ninia finds herself unexpectedly close to Tarahan, lying against him. It’s the first time they’ve ever been this near without doing anything. Unsure if she’s making him uncomfortable, she tries to adjust her position, but he holds her still, telling her not to fidget.
Resting her cheek on his chest, she listens to his steady heartbeat, which sounds to her like the deep whispers of the sea. She remembers an old myth that said humans were born from the goddess’s tears, and those tears became their hearts. If that’s true, then she wonders where Tarahan’s heart came from — it feels different, not divine but something darker.
The silence between them feels oddly calm rather than painful. When Ninia finally speaks, Tarahan teases her, mimicking her polite tone and asking if she always calls her husband so formally. She hesitantly calls his name — “Tarahan” — for the first time, and though he doesn’t answer, he doesn’t seem displeased.
He appears different tonight — calmer, almost gentle — and it stirs emotions in Ninia that she’s long kept locked away. She asks if something happened to him, since he had returned late and covered in blood. He deflects her concern with a faint smile, asking if she thinks he looks like a dying man.
Then, in a tone that’s both comforting and chilling, he tells her not to fear being abandoned again: “If I fall into hell, you’ll be there with me.” His words sound sweet, but there’s steel behind them — a reminder of control.
Ninia isn’t worried for herself, but for him. Yet Tarahan misreads her concern as pity or fear. When he touches her face and studies her eyes, he senses emotions in her that unsettle him — sincerity, perhaps even affection.
Ninia admits she couldn’t ignore someone who returned drenched in blood, and that she’s worried because he seems different. He presses her to keep talking, challenging her to speak honestly if he’s misunderstood her. She struggles — afraid of saying too much, afraid of herself — because every time she opens up, he drags buried feelings back to the surface.
Their tension builds until he touches her hair and quietly tells her that if she truly worries, she should try to comfort him. The moment grows heavy and charged, and despite her fear, Ninia can’t escape the closeness between them. The scene ends with her realizing she’s completely caught — body and heart — in Tarahan’s grasp.
