Chapter 99

"Do you want to live?"

The question was asked lightly, almost casually. Yet the weight of it silenced the room.

Elise’s eyes blinked slowly, dazed, as if caught off guard. I offered her a gentle smile, soft and warm, though not without calculation.

Was this a chance? I wondered silently.

Wiping away her tears was a deliberate act, a careful step forward.

---

Elise was a girl brimming with thorns. Her unfortunate circumstances had pulled her into the depths of despair, transforming her into a pessimist who saw no light in life.

Her twisted personality stemmed from those very reasons.

She often ignored me, brushing off every attempt I made to connect. My kindness was met with indifference, her ears firmly closed to the world’s voice.

It was a significant obstacle.

Treatment required willpower, and she had none.

---

But this time was different.

Though her heart was cloaked in resignation, cracks had begun to form in her ironclad defenses.

Her emotions, shaken and vulnerable, created an opening.

I could feel it. This was my chance.

I could persuade her.

---@@@@

The wilting rose before me wasn’t even trying to raise her thorns anymore.

I had to reach her now, to uncover the truths she hid behind her sorrow.

A rose without thorns could do nothing but let its petals fall.

---

"Your Highness."

I wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip away.

Holding her hand, I felt the warmth of her palm, damp with the tears that had fallen from her cheeks.

"I want to hear your true feelings."

I whispered softly, as if not to disturb the sleeping stars of the night.

"You’ve said you have no attachment to life."

She remained silent.

"But I didn’t believe you. I’ve come to understand parts of your life, even if only a fragment."

"Understand... my life?"

"Yes. You may see it as presumptuous."

---

A terminal illness.

How could I not understand the pain it brought?

"I’ve never experienced it myself, but I’ve known loss."

"What kind of loss?"

"Someone irreplaceable. Someone who was my entire world, as bright as a star."

---

I paused, memories flooding back, sharp and painful.

---

A voice echoed faintly in my mind.

"Brother!"

---

I let the memory fade, turning my gaze back to Elise with a quiet smile.

"That person suffered for years before finally leaving my side."

Perhaps the gods had envied that star’s brilliance.

The light that had filled my world vanished far too soon, fading beyond the night sky.

---

"Living each day while awaiting death," I said.

Her expression didn’t change, but I could feel her listening.

"That person taught me how painful it is."

---

Fear of the end.

Anger at the cruelty of fate.

The loneliness of the struggle.

The torment of the fight.

And the sorrow of inevitable parting.

I recalled the words that person had spoken, each one trembling with emotion.

Gently, I stroked the petals of the rose before me. Elise seemed to be paying attention, her focus shifting toward me.

"That’s why I understand you."

Her warmth, faint but present, touched my chest.

---

"You’re strange," she murmured.

"Am I?"

"Yes."

---

Her quiet reply carried no resistance.

I lightly stroked her head, and this time, she didn’t push me away.

Her bandaged hand rested atop mine, fragile but steady.

I smiled softly.

---

"Don’t worry," I whispered. "I’ll take care of everything."

Elise closed her eyes, surrendering to the warmth she had long been denied.

---

Elise knew she was cursed.

A child swallowed by a spell, afflicted with a disease neither magic, medicine, nor divine power could cure.

Her life had been shaped by harsh realities, leaving no room for dreams of miracles.

She had let go of everything.

---

From the moment she met Yuda Snakeus, she had thought him strange.

His touch, his smile, his persistent voice telling her not to give up—everything about him was infuriating.

She had wanted him to leave her alone.

Yet his warmth, his kindness, his promise of a miracle...

---

She couldn’t deny it anymore.

The hope she thought she had abandoned still lingered, its fragments cutting into her like shards of glass.

---

Elise reached out and took his hand.

She decided, for the first time in years, to believe.

"Fine. You win."

She spoke those words quietly as she lay on the bed.

Yuda sat nearby, watching over her with the same steady presence as always.

---

"You said I’ve lost, didn’t you?" she continued.

"What do you mean?"

"I’ll let you do as you please. Whether it’s rough or invasive or intrusive, I won’t resist anymore."

"That’s a troubling thing to say."

"You promised to grant me my hope."

---

Elise’s surrender brought a smile to Yuda’s lips as he gently stroked her crimson hair.

"I won’t treat you carelessly," he said. "You’re under my care now, and I’ll take good care of you."

"I guess time will tell," she replied softly.

---

They shared a quiet conversation, light but significant.

Then Elise asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Help? Now that you mention it, there is something you can assist with."

"What is it?"

---

Yuda smiled, his golden eyes bright.

"Prepare to leave this place."

"Leave?"

"I’m taking you out of this prison. We’re going to the Academy. All of us."

---

Elise froze, caught off guard.

But Yuda’s words shattered the cage that had confined her for the past ten years.