Chapter 86…
“Yes. I wanted to ease my guilt somehow, and in the end… that was also just a choice I made for myself.”
…Truly the worst.
As I continued explaining to Tesion what I had done to him in my own words, my heart grew heavier and heavier.
To think I’d only ever approached him with bad intentions… now, even if Tesion told me he despised me, I wouldn’t have anything to say. Cynthia lowered her head deeply.
“Cynthia, please don’t think that way.”
At that moment, Tesion reached out and lifted Cynthia’s lowered chin. Her head rose weakly, and his unwavering gaze came into view.
“I know the heart you’ve shown me.”
“……”
“The heart that felt sorry for me, that pitied me. The heart that truly cared for me, worried for me, thought of me.”
“My lord, I…”
“I have endured until now because of your warmth. So please, don’t think like that.”
Cynthia’s red eyes trembled faintly.
Unlike her, Tesion’s steady gaze and calm words showed absolutely no wavering. In his violet eyes, there was nothing but sincere affection for her.
Cynthia clenched her hands atop the blanket.
If it’s now… then…
She didn’t want to hide anything from him anymore.
“My lord, there is one more thing I never told you.”
“Yes, Cynthia. I’m ready to hear anything.”
“The truth is… I already knew about you. Maybe… much, much earlier than you could ever imagine.”
At those words, Tesion’s eyes widened—a rare reaction from someone usually so unshakable. He acted composed, but he clearly looked startled.
“Not just you, my lord. I knew Lady Elizabeth Bailey, Count Adrian, the magic apothecary Enoch… even His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“How… do you mean?”
“It’s because I already knew this story.”
A momentary look of confusion flickered across Tesion’s face.
But Cynthia couldn’t stop anymore. Whether he understood or not, she wanted to speak honestly.
“But Lady Elizabeth Bailey’s sudden death… that wasn’t in the story I knew.”
“What do you mean…?”
“It may be hard to believe, but I came from somewhere else. In truth…”
Cynthia’s expression twisted.
Remembering her previous life was always painful. Especially the past before she possessed this novel… it was dark, suffocating—whenever she recalled it, she felt as though she were trapped alone in a cramped basement with no air.
After entering the original novel’s world, she had been too busy surviving to think about those memories. Ignoring them was much easier…
“So actually… I…”
Actually…?
Just then, as Cynthia forced herself to recall her past, her voice abruptly stopped. Huh…?
It was as though the fragments of memory had suddenly been cut off. Her mind went completely blank.
Cynthia blinked slowly.
Wait… What was I trying to say?
“…Cynthia?”
Tesion lowered his head toward her, alarmed by her sudden silence.
“Uh… a-actually… I… um…”
Where… where did I come from again?
Something she had always known—something obvious—was suddenly gone, as though someone had sliced it clean out of her memory.
Before awakening in the world of the original novel One. Last. Act., where had she been? What had she been doing?
She knew it clearly… didn’t she?
Realizing this, a dizzying sense of the ground falling away hit her, followed by a crushing headache.
What is happening…?
“Ugh…!”
“Cynthia, are you alright?”
As she clutched her head, Tesion startled and placed his hands on her shoulders. He looked toward the door.
“Wait here, I’ll call someone—”
“N-no. I’m okay.”
“Cynthia…!”
“My lord, I… ah, my head…”
“Don’t force yourself to remember!”
Tesion grasped both of her shoulders and gently shook her.
“Whatever it is, you don’t need to force it. I don’t want you to suffer.”
“……”
“Cynthia, I’ll say this again: it doesn’t matter to me where you came from or what you know.”
The always-calm Tesion spoke with a trembling voice.
“In the endless darkness, I heard a voice like a bright light.”
Weakly, Cynthia lifted her head and met his eyes.
“I waited only for that. I don’t think I’ve ever longed for anything so deeply in my life. Your gentle voice, your spring-breeze laughter, your light footsteps… In the darkness, all I did was remember those things again and again.”
“……”
“When you approached me with an intention, yet accidentally showed your true feelings… when you looked after me without pretense, cherished me sincerely—how could I not love you? How could I not fall for the one who worried about hurting me, who explained everything in her own warm way?”
Cynthia quietly inhaled.
In Tesion’s gem-like violet eyes, transparent tears began to gather.
“When I opened my eyes for the first time… and saw you standing before me… I couldn’t see anything else. You were too bright. Because you were my light.”
Finally, the tears spilled down his cheeks.
“So what could possibly be more important to me? Other than the Cynthia who is right here?”
“Tesion…”
“As long as you don’t leave my side… as long as you don’t go somewhere far away without me, I don’t care what you are or where you came from.”
Cynthia reached out and cupped Tesion’s tear-streaked cheeks. He closed his eyes and leaned into her palms.
“So whatever it is… you don’t have to suffer trying to remember it. Please don’t.”
As he breathed shakily, his wet lashes trembled pitifully.
Cynthia slowly leaned forward and pressed her lips to his eyelids.
It was impulsive.
She only wanted to comfort him—to soothe someone who was hurt yet still thought only of her.
After the gentle kiss, Cynthia spoke.
“Please don’t cry, my lord.”
“……”
“I’m sorry for always trying to run away. When the contract with the Bailey family fell through, I thought I couldn’t stay by your side anymore.”
“Cynthia…”
Cynthia stared quietly into Tesion’s deep gaze.
She still couldn’t clearly define her feelings. Was it sympathy for a pitiful man… identification with a character she once loved… or something deeper?
But she knew one thing for certain: she didn’t want him to hurt anymore. Before he got wounded again, she wanted to stay by his side.
“I’m sorry for leaving without a word. I didn’t think my actions would hurt you so deeply.”
“Then please… don’t leave my side again, Cynthia.”
Tesion said softly.
Cynthia met his gaze calmly.
In truth, as long as she didn’t defy the original story, she had nowhere else to go. The Bailey family was hunting her, her life was in danger, and the little money she had saved was gone after paying debts.
No—she didn’t need excuses.
Cynthia simply… wanted to stay by Tesion’s side now.
But this place is…
Yet she couldn’t ignore the fact that this was still the world of the novel One. Last. Act. And she felt strongly that her reason for entering this world was connected to the memories of the real world she had just lost.
That was why she couldn’t give him an answer yet…
