Chapter 33
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Chapter 33
As I tilted my head in confusion, Rachel panicked as if he'd misspoken and closed his mouth.
"That's only for men and women, isn't it?"
"...."
"We're both women, so why can't we?"
"...Anyway, we can't."
Rachel stood up urgently from his seat as if afraid I might grab him.
I whined and followed after Rachel as he tried to leave the room.
"Rachel, really, won't you sleep with me? For several days~? Really?"
Once that overprotective father Dias Hessen returns, I won't even dream of staying out!
This might be our first and last night together(?)
'It would be such a waste to spend the night like this.'
But....
Rachel opened the door and looked at me for a moment.
"Sleep well."
With only those words, he truly left the room.
I pouted my lips and stared at the door that Rachel had coldly shut behind him.
"Why did you even suggest staying at the Villa if you're going to be like this?"
Bathing, sure, I could wash separately since it's embarrassing.
But staying at a friend's place means having pajama parties, or snuggling under blankets with your friend and chattering all night before falling asleep—it's supposed to be about playing together for a long time!
Our noble Princess Isella apparently couldn't tolerate chattering late into the night, no matter how close friends we were.
"Tch, Rachel is an idiot."
I muttered words the person in question couldn't hear and lay down on the bed.
'Still, the bed is soft and nice.'
A spacious bed, a cozy blanket and pillow that smelled of warm sunlight.
Though it was an unfamiliar environment, I felt like I could fall asleep quickly if I just closed my eyes.
...
...Not until I felt the Forest's presence again.
I jolted up from the bed and approached the window.
Beyond the window, far in the distance, lay the Forest, darkness settled over it, appearing entirely black.
As I gazed quietly at that invisible Forest, I carefully opened my mouth.
"What are you? Why do you keep calling me?"
If someone had seen me like this, they might have thought I'd gone mad.
But this was no longer a figment of my imagination or an auditory hallucination.
'It's calling me....'
Yet even after waiting a moment, no answer came.
When I ignored it, it called so persistently, but the moment I responded, there was no reaction at all.
Suddenly, a fear I'd never once considered pierced me like an awl in my pocket.
'Could it be... that I've actually gone insane?'
The original story and all that—could it all be because I'm mad and seeing things that aren't there?
Thinking about it that way, I felt like crying.
If it wasn't that, then....
'A ghost? Or a demon...? Only I can hear this voice...!'
Suddenly, horror movies I'd seen in my past life flashed through my mind, and the temperature of the large room where I was alone felt bitterly cold.
At the same time, my heart began to race and goosebumps spread across my skin.
The darkness in the room felt like it was crushing me, suffocating my breath.
As fear rapidly consumed me, the first face that came to mind was....
"Dad...."
But Dad wasn't here right now.
Trembling as fear tightened around my throat, I eventually fled the room, clutching my pillow.
What I ended up finding was Rachel's room.
Rachel might already be asleep, but I was too frightened to think that far ahead.
Knock, knock.
"Rachel, are you...?"
The moment I thought I might wake Rachel if he was sleeping.
The door opened and Rachel came out.
Fortunately, it seemed he hadn't been asleep.
"What's wrong?"
That face, which was described with a frightening and eerie atmosphere in the original story, was simply a trustworthy, precious friend to me.
That fact struck me anew in this moment.
"Rachel, I'm scared to sleep alone... can we sleep together?"
Whether the tension that had been wound tight with fear loosened, my voice came out trembling without my realizing it.
Rachel stared at me for a moment, then pulled my hand.
"Come in."
Only when I was held by that warm hand did I realize my hands had been trembling.
Rachel could have found me annoying or made fun of me, but he didn't ask anything.
He simply made space on the bed without a word.
As I climbed onto the bed and lay down, Rachel turned on the lamp beside the nightstand.
I looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Aren't you turning off the light?"
"I was going to read before sleeping."
Rachel, sitting beside me, picked up the book that had been on the nightstand and opened it.
Only then did I understand.
'He left the light on because he was worried I'd be scared.'
The moment I realized that, my chest felt as if it were being filled with cotton candy.
And the fear that had been crushing me just moments before felt like nothing at all.
I thought that even the things I couldn't tell Dad because he might worry, it would be okay to tell this person.
"You know, Rachel."
Instead of answering, Rachel turned his gaze from the book to look at me.
"I keep feeling like something is calling me."
"...Something's calling to you?"
"Yeah. But I'm the only one who can feel it, and that scares me. I'm not going crazy, am I...?"
"Well, you are a strange one, that's for sure."
I bristled at Rachel's casual acknowledgment of my oddness in such a serious moment.
But there wasn't a trace of jest in his expression, which only made my irritation worse.
Yet the words that followed carried that familiar, effortless tenderness that defined him.
"It's not because you're strange. It's because you're special."
"Special?"
"Exorcists typically hear the voices of spirits, don't they? And among spirit mages, there are some who can hear spirits' voices too."
"Oh! Right, people like that do exist, don't they?"
The original story never mentioned that Vivian possessed the qualities of an exorcist or spirit mage.
But hearing Rachel's explanation, I began to wonder—maybe I wasn't losing my mind after all. Maybe I really was special, just as he said.
At the same time, this situation no longer felt entirely terrifying.
"Still, I wish I wouldn't hear it when I'm sleeping."
"Are you hearing it now?"
"No. But... I'm afraid it'll come back when everything gets quiet. Could you keep talking to me until I fall asleep?"
Rachel closed the book he'd been reading, but remained silent for a while. He seemed to be searching for something to say.
But in the end, he apparently couldn't find a suitable topic.
"...I don't have much to say."
Well, it's difficult to talk constantly, after all.
'Rachel was never one for many words to begin with.'
I was beginning to feel sorry for burdening him with such a request when—
Suddenly, a soft humming began to drift through the air. It was Rachel singing.
I opened my eyes wide and asked.
"What's that?"
"A lullaby my mother used to sing for me, but I don't remember the lyrics."
"I've never heard it before."
"...Not good?"
"No! It's lovely. Your singing voice is beautiful too."
At that, Rachel's brow furrowed slightly.
"You say everything is beautiful."
"Because it is beautiful."
"But a voice can't be seen. Doesn't the word 'beautiful' seem out of place?"
"Well.... You can't see it, but you can feel something, can't you? Your voice is like the sound of leaves dancing in the wind on a summer day in the forest—it's beautiful."
Rachel's voice was like the wind itself—seemingly cold and detached at first glance, yet tender like leaves that willingly sway with the breeze.
Rachel gazed at me as I chattered away, then let out a small laugh as if he'd conceded defeat.
It seemed my words about his beautiful voice had pleased him.
Hearing that laughter, my eyes began to close. The tension had finally released.
Just before my heavy eyelids shut completely, I fought off the drowsiness and murmured.
"...Thank you, Rachel."
A feeling I truly wanted to convey.
A brief, peaceful silence flowed, and beyond my gradually fading consciousness, I heard Rachel's voice.
Rachel sang a lullaby he didn't even know the lyrics to, earnestly.
Continuously, until I fell asleep.
"Sleep well."
In the soft darkness where light seemed to dissolve.
With that gentle whisper as the final thread, I sank into a deep slumber.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org