Chapter 109
The fact that the lover she had once dated so sweetly, as if they couldn’t live without each other, had vanished without a trace—and yet he hadn’t even gone looking for her, let alone remembered her existence—was, by any common sense, an absurd story.
However, if someone had used a transcendent power to manipulate everyone’s memories, then at least this phenomenon could be explained logically.
Of course, for a prince living in an age ruled by science and reason rather than magic and superstition, accepting such a mythical explanation was extremely difficult.
But the evidence was right before his eyes. Noxia Decan—an existence whose very name had been forgotten for the past nine months. His first love, his first girlfriend, the owner of his first kiss—how could it make sense that he had completely forgotten her?
Noxia’s story sounded like utter nonsense at first glance, but Elenon, who had regained his memories, had no choice but to seriously reflect on her words.
Elenon tightly held Noxia’s hand and stared blankly into the air, lost in thought. Noxia watched him anxiously, gauging his reaction. A sharp, stabbing pain throbbed at the pit of her stomach with anxiety.
What if he doesn’t believe me.
Even if he treated her like a madwoman, she couldn’t argue. A woman who suddenly appeared after nine months, babbling about gods and curses—he could easily brand her a con artist.
Even if that happened, she wouldn’t be able to resent him. She would only be sad at the thought that she hadn’t earned the trust of the person she loved.
The only tiny shred of hope was that he hadn’t let go of her hand. Not knowing when his grip might loosen and his warmth fade away, Noxia waited in silent anguish.
Elenon, who had been staring vacantly into space, turned back to her. When their eyes met, Noxia instinctively shrank back. Her fingers tightened reflexively around the hand intertwined with his.
“……You really, really went through a lot.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean it. You suffered so much.”
When Elenon finally whispered those words, Noxia doubted her own ears.
“You carried all of that by yourself all this time. Of course, there are two others besides you who have ancient memories, but from what you’ve told me, it doesn’t sound like you were in a position to talk comfortably with them either.”
Karnen Holby, who had been Pellene, and Jade Ranon, who had been Promeon.
At Noxia Decan’s side, there had been two others who carried the same memories as Hermane, but both had kept the secret for a long time, and with Karnen she’d never even had the chance to properly talk about their past lives.
Elenon tried, however imperfectly, to imagine Noxia’s loneliness—something he could hardly begin to fathom. He probably couldn’t fully understand it, but even so, he wanted to reach her, even if just a little.
“You regained your memories of your past life, yet you couldn’t even tell me and had to suffer alone. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you. I’m sorry I couldn’t be someone you could lean on.”
There was a gentle sadness in Elenon’s eyes. Whether she was Hermane or Noxia Decan, he loved the girl standing right in front of him. It pained him that he hadn’t been her support.
“Thank you for telling me now. Thank you for not forgetting me and running all this way. Thank you for worrying about me when you heard I was hurt, Noxia.”
Ah. Noxia’s throat tightened, and she had to pause to catch her breath.
“How… how can you say something like that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Isn’t it strange? Isn’t my very existence grotesque? Are you really okay with touching me like this?”
Strange. Grotesque. A being that should never have been born. I’ve already lived one life, then forcibly reincarnated twice, and now I’m standing before you. And yet why—how—can you…
“If you reject me because you find me disgusting, I wouldn’t have anything to say. Even if you treat me like a crazy con artist, I couldn’t refute it. Objectively speaking, it’s strange, isn’t it? Reincarnation, curses, and all that… who even believes in things like that these days? Even I felt absurd saying it.”
In truth, until she regained her ancient memories, Noxia Decan hadn’t believed in past lives or reincarnation either. She had lightly mocked such superstitious delusions, thinking they existed only as devices in fiction.
So she assumed it would take Elenon a very long time to accept her story. She was sure that if he ever did believe her, that alone would be a miracle. She truly believed that.
“How can you just accept it like this, without even doubting….”
Noxia was on the verge of tears. She couldn’t tell whether the prince was naïve or blindly trusting. Part of her even wanted to lash out at him for it.
Elenon looked at her confusion with affectionate eyes. Seeing the pure love brimming in his sky-blue gaze, Noxia was seized by a vivid sense of déjà vu.
“It’s you. You’re the one saying it. How could I not believe you?”
Ah, those eyes. That unmistakable affection. The sweet, gentle voice. How could it not feel familiar?
She thought she had forgotten it all, but it turned out she hadn’t. Only after reuniting nine months later did she realize just how desperately she had longed for that look in the prince’s eyes.
“I’m so happy you came back to me. Thank you for being honest with me. If I’d kept forgetting you, I would’ve been terribly lonely….”
He wanted to reach out with his other hand and caress Noxia’s cheek, but the arm supported by a splint throbbed painfully, preventing him from doing so.
Even so, he had no intention of letting go of the hand he was holding. He didn’t want to be even a little farther away from her.
If he were to release her hand even for a moment, and she were to scatter like a mirage in that instant, he would probably spend the rest of his life cursing his own foolishness.
“I love you, Noxia. I still love you. I’m sorry, and thank you, and I missed you so, so much.”
Even if his arm hurt, he could still move his head. He tilted it and carefully leaned closer, and Noxia responded instinctively.
Their lips met—long, deep, lingering.
Hating even the slightest gap between them, they pressed their bodies close, rubbing against each other as their heated tongues entwined.
Elenon endured the throbbing pain coursing through his body, and Noxia tried to keep in mind that he was injured, yet her desire kept overwhelming her reason.
When their lips finally parted, damp and swollen, the boy’s and girl’s faces were red like plums ripened in summer.
At that moment, Elenon thought for the first time that perhaps it was fortunate he was injured.
If his body had been unhurt, he might have been swept away by desire and laid Noxia down on the bed, attempting something far more intense than a kiss.
More than anything, if he hadn’t been injured, Noxia wouldn’t have come looking for him after hearing the news. In that sense, he was almost glad that his life had been threatened.
Elenon still didn’t know that the explosion that had pushed him to the brink was the work of an armed group opposing the Tyros royal family. After losing consciousness in the blast, he had remained in the hospital.
He also didn’t know that people had actually died in the terror attack, or that the injury of the prince of Hermeon had plunged diplomatic relations between the two nations into a critical crisis.
Those grave, gloomy, international issues were things he would learn later. What Elenon knew right now was simply that Noxia was in front of him, and that the unchanging truth was that he loved her.
Yes, he was certain of his own heart. As if to mock the months of oblivion, his heart now boiled with desperate affection for Noxia.
Instead, he found himself trembling with anxiety over her feelings. Elenon carefully searched Noxia’s expression.
“And you? Aren’t you dissatisfied with me now?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“You’re the reincarnation of a king. You were such an incredible person in your past life, and compared to that, I’m just a nineteen-year-old greenhorn…”
“Excuse me, Your Highness, I’m nineteen too.”
“But this is already your third life. If you add up all the years you’ve lived, it’s far more than nineteen.”
“So what, you don’t want to date someone as old as me?”
“No, that’s not what I mean! I mean… aren’t I far too lacking compared to you?”
Elenon’s expression was serious, but Noxia let out a hollow laugh, as if she’d heard an absurd joke.
“There’s no way that’s true.”
Noxia gently wrapped both of his hands in hers. She wanted to pull him into a tight embrace, but his battered body worried her. Her heart ached as if she herself were injured.
“I like you, Your Highness. No, I love you. If I didn’t love you anymore, do you think I’d be here like this right now? I wouldn’t have kissed you like that without love.”
“I was afraid that maybe… you accepted me just because you pitied me, out of guilt…”
“Nonsense. You have way too much imagination when it comes to the worst possibilities.”
Noxia stated firmly. Calling the prince of a nation “nonsense” was outrageously bold, but Elenon didn’t rebuke her by flaunting his bloodline. He only shone with delight.
“Really? Truly? You really love me?”
“Yes, I love you. I already told you. I loved you before I left last year, and my feelings haven’t changed even now.”
“Ah, thank goodness… truly, thank goodness….”
“You silly prince. I went out of my way to come all the way here after hearing you were hurt—how could that not be love?”
Even being called silly, Elenon was happy. He smiled in rapture, and his eyes stung with emotion.
Noxia lightly embraced her contradictory, lovable lover, who was smiling brightly while tears welled up. Making sure not to press on his wounds, she gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed his forehead.
“I missed you too, Your Highness.”
Whether she consciously acknowledged it or unconsciously denied it, even while they were apart, longing had always remained in her heart. Now she decided not to deny that fact anymore. There was no need to.
“Thank you for remembering me.”
How Elenon had regained his memories, whether everyone else had also recovered their past, and what they should do going forward—none of that was certain yet.
They still had to consider whether Noxia Decan, still a commoner, could continue to be with Prince Elenon, and how to reintroduce her to others after she had vanished for nine months.
Those things could be solved one by one in the future. Not alone, but together—facing adversity instead of running away, and if they couldn’t face it, then at least enduring it together.
The two kissed again. This time, neither could say who initiated it. It was impossible to tell who leaned in first or whose lips touched first, and there was no meaning in distinguishing it anyway.
With all their hearts, and with their entire bodies, they reunited, and the separation of the past melted away into the present, burning moment.
It was a night filled with hope.
