Episode 3
“Luiche?”
Seeing my stiffened expression, he rushed over with a worried look and cupped my face.
“What’s wrong?”
“……What’s wrong with you?”
He smelled freshly washed. His clothes were neat without a wrinkle, his hair cleanly trimmed.
But the cuts peeking from under his collar, and that dangerous aura clinging to him — those couldn’t be hidden.
He’d clearly fought for over a month without purification.
A surge of emotion rose in my chest.
“Why—why didn’t you get purified?”
At my question, his eyes darkened.
“I’ve got no intention of letting some other guy do that to me.”
No purifier would ever like their partner being purified by someone else —
but this wasn’t about feelings anymore. It was about life and death.
“Are you out of your mind? You could die!”
Tears burst out. My fury wasn’t just at him, but at my own helplessness —
that I couldn’t save him, even when he was falling apart right in front of me.
“Romance, devotion — those matter to me.
That’s why purification from anyone else doesn’t work.”
There were rare cases like him — those who could only be stabilized by one specific purifier, even without any divine mark.
“You’re insane.”
“Yeah. Madly in love with you.”
Then his burning lips crashed against mine.
No matter how much energy I poured into him, it was never enough.
Even as dizziness took over, I kept going — praying that, somehow, I could lighten his burden.
But it was like pouring a single cup of water into an endless ocean.
That was when it started —
my obsession with my training scores.
Only the top five purifier cadets would be given the chance at the “Ascension Rite,”
a direct blessing from the High Priest himself.
Most received nothing from it, but a few — very few — rose in rank on the spot.
Four years until graduation, though — that was far too long.
“Let’s break up.”
To save him, I had to be the one to let go.
“Cold. Don’t leave your feet out,” he muttered, pulling the blanket over me instead of answering.
I threw it off.
“I’m sick of all of it! You disappearing for days, coming back injured,
and me being too powerless to help! I can’t do this anymore!”
I wanted to sound resolute, but my voice shook pathetically.
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
He silently took off his uniform jacket and draped it over my knees.
“Pretend you didn’t say that, and we’ll move on.”
“I’m saying it because I don’t want to move on.”
“When you cry because of me, it makes me want to lose my mind. So don’t—”
He brushed my lower eyelids with his thumb.
“Don’t even think about doing something reckless in my name.”
“You don’t even realize how bad your condition is.”
I pressed my face into his shoulder, sobbing like a child.
He wrapped his arms around me quietly, rubbing my back over and over.
“Let’s run away.”
“……What?”
“Let’s throw it all away and go somewhere no one knows us.”
I lifted my head, my vision blurry from tears.
“But your family—your mother—”
“I told you, Luiche. We’ll leave everything behind.”
I knew better than anyone what his family’s honor — and his mother — meant to him.
For him to say that… it meant he’d already chosen to throw everything away.
Crushed by guilt and desperation, I could only nod.
If it meant he’d survive, I’d do anything.
But it wasn’t impulsive.
He’d planned everything — meticulously.
“I’ll spread false reports of a monster attack at the Bellota Harbor.”
He held me gently as he explained, his voice calm and kind.
He’d destroy part of the port to fake an explosion, then disappear —
as though his body had been lost to the sea.
That day, Jerred Castion would die — at least in the eyes of the world.
My part was simple:
as soon as the explosion went off, I was to board a small marked ship and escape.
He drilled the route and signals into me again and again.
He never hesitated — as if this had always been his single, unshakable goal.
But when the day came, I didn’t go to Bellota Harbor.
Maybe it was that delay — or maybe his already unstable powers finally reached their breaking point.
He lost control.
He destroyed the entire harbor.
It took dozens of high-ranking purifiers to subdue him.
And when Jerred finally regained consciousness—
I was gone from his memory. Completely.
Three years later — Present Day.
“Oh my goodness, what happened to you, Luchi?”
Arpina pressed a handkerchief gently to my cheekbone.
Even that soft touch stung like fire.
“It’s fine. It’ll heal after one night.”
She sighed heavily, looking as if she had been the one hurt.
“What if it leaves a scar? It’s my fault… I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes shimmered, full of tears — she looked like a porcelain doll on the verge of breaking.
Dragged to a temporary cell and interrogated — yet I was the one comforting her.
“It’s fine. You’ve got nothing to apologize for.”
No — the real fault lay with Jerred,
that lunatic who’d lost his mind from heartbreak.
“I’ll go to Lord Castion myself and make him apologize to you.”
“What? Are you insane—no! Don’t you dare. I’m fine. I delivered your dress safely, I got paid — that’s enough.”
The last thing I wanted was to see Jerred again.
I refused flatly.
Arpina sighed and handed me some ointment.
“Luchi, as I always say…”
“That I should take better care of myself? I know. Thanks. But I’ve got homework to finish, so I’ll go first.”
Sensing the long sermon coming, I stood up quickly.
“If you need it, I’ll tell my personal doctor to look after you. He’s very kind.”
“Thanks.”
“And really, thank you for always delivering my dresses. You’re the only one I trust with them.
I’m glad you’re my friend.”
“……Right. You should head to class too.”
“I will. Oh, but Luchi—”
Halfway to standing, I froze and turned.
“What do you think of Lord Castion?”
Her tone was flat — emotionless. I couldn’t read her intent.
What kind of man was he?
Even the sound of his name made storms rage in my chest.
But the truth — that we’d once been lovers — was a secret buried even from him.
“He’s… an admirable man.”
“I see.”
Arpina smiled softly at my evasive answer.
“Ah, I don’t need this.”
Her eyes flicked to the ribbon lying on the floor, then back to me —
as if wondering why I hadn’t already picked it up.
