Chapter 35
I didn’t know what I’d been thinking.
I couldn’t do anything, yet somehow I’d charged in with ridiculous confidence.
“Come on—take my hand! Ethan, hurry!”
All I could think about in that moment was this one thing:
I had to hold on to Ethan, who was swaying so dangerously.
So I forgot that acting recklessly could make things even worse. Without thinking, I stretched my hand toward him.
“Don’t come any closer, Eunice!”
Even as he lost his balance and collapsed, Ethan tried to stop me.
He warned me to step back—to stay away.
That was the first time I’d ever heard such urgency in his voice.
His voice, usually so calm and unbothered, was completely shaken. That alone told me how desperate he was.
And yet, despite knowing full well that I would normally listen to him immediately…
This time, I didn’t.
Grab—!
“I’ve got you!”
I forced my arm forward and caught Ethan’s hand.
If I could just pull him toward me like this—
“Ah—!”
—I thought it would work.
Of course… things never go the way I want them to.
“Eunice!”
Instead of pulling Ethan toward me, I lost my balance and staggered toward him as he fell backward.
The ground, already unstable from the explosion of mana, couldn’t support the weight of both of us.
Crack—boom!
With a heavy, splitting roar, the ground we’d barely been standing on collapsed completely.
“Aaaah!”
As the earth gave way beneath us, not only Ethan but I too lost my footing and plunged down the cliff.
“E—Ethan!”
Even as my body tilted and fell, I didn’t let go of his hand.
I could clearly feel us being pulled helplessly downward.
There wasn’t even time to wonder if this fall would kill me.
My strength drained away as we fell, my consciousness growing hazy.
Then—
“Close your eyes, Eunice!”
At the same time as Ethan’s voice, I felt warmth shielding me from the chilling air.
The mana that had always felt threatening wrapped around my body.
As if it were protecting me.
Held in arms that felt like they were shielding me, I reached out for Ethan for the first time and hugged him tightly.
“…Ethan.”
…I’m sorry.
Without being able to say those final words, I fell together with Ethan into the depths below.
As my vision slowly faded, all I could see was Ethan’s red eyes burning fiercely in the darkness.
When I finally regained consciousness, everything was pitch‑black.
No matter how hard I tried to focus, my darkened vision wouldn’t return.
I had no idea how long I’d been trapped in that endless darkness.
Eventually, I stopped struggling and accepted it.
“I guess I finally died and went to heaven…”
I’d worked so hard not to die at Ethan’s hands, only to go out this meaninglessly.
If this was going to happen, I should’ve at least cursed him out properly while I had the chance!
Still full of regret, I pictured Ethan’s annoyingly handsome face.
If only he weren’t such a vicious mad dog, he’d actually be pretty great.
“You make such a mess of things and then decide to die on your own?”
…Yeah. Threatening me in that sharp voice—
I froze, my entire body going cold.
My body reacted instinctively to Ethan’s chilling, razor‑sharp presence.
‘…There’s no way Ethan could be here.’
There’s no way a mad dog like Ethan would be in happy heaven.
That would be way too unfair to all the good people who lived decent lives!
Just as I desperately tried to deny hearing his voice—
“You don’t get to die unless it’s by my hand. Get up.”
The savage voice rang out again, and I shuddered as I quickly opened my eyes.
The body that wouldn’t move no matter how much I struggled earlier finally responded.
“…Huh?”
As I slowly opened my tightly shut eyes, a familiar red glow came into view.
Those red eyes—looking somewhat tired—were paler than usual as they stared at me.
Reality crashed over me all at once.
“…So this isn’t heaven.”
Of course it isn’t. There’s no way Ethan would be in heaven.
If anything, he’d be somewhere between heaven and hell… probably closer to the middle.
Half disappointed, half relieved to be alive, I nodded slightly.
Maybe he misunderstood my reaction, because Ethan’s already cold expression hardened even further.
“Judging by the nonsense you’re spouting as soon as you wake up, I guess you’re not dead.”
Though his words sounded dismissive as usual, I thought I detected a faint trace of relief in his voice.
That subtle emotion hidden in his cold tone strangely warmed me.
As silence settled around us, I stared blankly at Ethan in front of me.
He stood with his arms crossed, lost in thought as usual—but somehow, today felt different.
Why was that?
He was the same cold, ruthless mad dog as always.
“Don’t come any closer, Eunice!”
…Ah. Maybe he wasn’t exactly the same.
‘Has Ethan ever called my name that sincerely before?’
No matter how hard I thought about it, the answer was no.
Then again, it wasn’t just Ethan.
“Come on, take my hand! Ethan, hurry!”
In that moment, I had been sincere too.
More precisely… I’d been sincere about saving him.
‘…What was I even thinking back then?’
We’d always kept a careful distance between us, so that was the first time we’d ever been truly sincere toward each other.
I hadn’t thought about anything—just reached out because I needed to grab him.
But now that I thought about it, maybe I’d gone too far.
‘What kind of nerve did I have to ignore Ethan and cause all this!’
Ethan falling off the cliff without being able to react properly…
That was entirely my fault.
If I’d just waited quietly like he told me to, he could’ve used his mana to steady himself.
But because I rushed toward him, he pulled back his mana—afraid it would sweep me up as well.
Feeling guilty, I fidgeted with my fingers and cautiously glanced at Ethan.
“So… what happened to us?”
I asked in a slightly trembling voice, unable to meet his eyes properly.
For some reason, Ethan didn’t brush me off like he usually would.
But he didn’t look at me either.
His gaze was fixed somewhere far away, as if surveying our surroundings.
‘…Am I talking to myself?’
I scratched my cheek awkwardly and stared at him.
Perhaps my gaze was bothering him, because he finally turned his head toward me.
The moment I read the emotion in his eyes, I regretted speaking to him at all.
Ethan’s red eyes were shining far more vividly than usual.
They were—
“Your absurd amount of mana caused the ground to collapse, and we fell off the cliff.”
…The eyes of a predator that had found perfect prey.
“And because you had to come toward me, I didn’t even have time to react before we fell.”
“……”
“Had to.”
“……!”
Ethan deliberately emphasized the part that absolutely didn’t need emphasizing.
I knew exactly what he meant.
“So should I thank you for grabbing my hand? Hmm, Eunice?”
Caught under his infuriating gaze, I opened my mouth without a second thought.
“…I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
Instinctively, I bowed my head toward him—
to apologize… or maybe to beg him to spare me.
Or rather, I tried to.
“Ugh—!”
The moment I moved, a sharp, stabbing pain shot through my entire body.
“A—ah… it hurts…”
There wasn’t a single spot that didn’t hurt. I didn’t even know where to hold as I groaned.
As I whimpered softly, Ethan’s gaze finally grew heavy.
“It would be best if you didn’t move carelessly.”
“…What?”
His voice sank coldly, and I instinctively tensed up.
‘What did I do wrong now, sir?’
I couldn’t bring myself to ask that out loud and just looked up at him instead.
Ignoring my gaze completely, Ethan silently covered my small hand with his large one.
The faint trembling in my body gradually subsided beneath his touch.
He was pouring his mana into me—into someone who’d exhausted hers completely.
Only then did I realize I’d misunderstood him, and I waited for him to speak.
“You forcibly detonated your mana, and then fell suddenly. Your body’s probably seized up.”
“…Ah.”
No wonder my whole body felt stiff and sore.
Now I finally understood why.
Falling from that height… there was no way I’d be fine.
No way I’d be fine—
…No way I’d be fine?
‘If that’s the case… how am I even alive?’
That thought led me quickly to the answer.
