I thought back to what Albert told me before. His intuition really couldn’t be ignored.
As I recalled the conversation I had with Albert in the restaurant, I shuddered slightly.
“…It was someone who resembles you.”
“I’m not projecting. But right now, I can’t deny that she resembles you when it comes to her personality and way of speaking.”
Even as I had possessed the body of Rosé Artius, Albert quickly caught onto what kind of person I truly was.
Once I’d meet Albert again, I would meet him in the form of the Jung-in from his childhood memories.
What kind of reaction would he have?
Would he be pleased to see me? Or would he pour out words of resentment because I had left him. …Honestly, I wish I’d hear words of resentment.
In any case, I wanted to try to make Albert happy during my days here.
I think I came back to the past not just for the ordeal, but for the opportunity to bring happiness to Albert.
I was hung up on not being able to contact Blanc, but I believe in him. Blanc said he’ll live. He said he wants to live.
And I can have faith in Blanc, whose growth I watched with my own eyes as he was by my side.
As I thought about it over and over again, I came up with another hypothesis.
The reason I had to leave suddenly.
Of course, once Blanc would finish his transformation safely and would become an adult, I’d also be able to return to the future.
To where Albert, who loves me, is waiting.
But if Blanc couldn’t safely become an adult, I would inevitably die with him.
Perhaps I erased Albert’s memories because I didn’t want to let him know that I had died.
However, even if I really would die, I felt no resentment against Blanc. He must have worked so hard.
Of course, this was the worst case scenario.
Albert said that he definitely saw a fully-fledged dragon when he had been a child—a dragon that was white, just like Blanc.
It’s unlikely that it wasn’t Blanc.
As long as I still existed, this meant that Blanc was still enduring through his ordeal. So, I shouldn’t be too anxious.
Leaving my trust to Blanc, I contemplated what I could do now.
I should send telepathic messages to Blanc several times a day, full of all the words of encouragement I could give him.
[ Blanc, you know this right? That I love you, always and forever. You have to stay strong… Until we meet again. ]
I had no physical body, and so I could feel no pain. The ordeal I was faced with now was not wrought with suffering but was a shining opportunity.
It was a precious opportunity for me to spend time with the young Albert. It was the only chance for me to instill happy memories with him at this time.
I opened the window and stepped outside.
Stepping out for a moment, I went on my way to get a gift for Albert so he could start the day positively after waking up tomorrow morning.
* * *
Blanc was breathing roughly as he was inside the Dragon’s Nest.
His head was spinning and it was as if his mind was foggy, and it felt as if he was being ripped apart by knives stabbing him all over.
“Uugh…”
It hurts. Everything hurts.
He couldn’t breathe properly because of this pain that he had never experienced before in his life.
And he could hear voices constantly in his head.
‘Give up. Just give up. It’ll be easier. I’m more important than anything. There’s no need to endure this pain.’
He was in so much pain that it was making him want to run away.
Unlike other dragons, Blanc had avoided going outside and only slept his days away throughout the centuries. He had a strong tendency for avoidance.
Compared to other dragon cubs, he was more emotionally sensitive, so he felt fear even more easily.
Therefore, Blanc so easily wanted to accept his fate.
This was the reason he thought that, on the day he’d turn 500 years old, it would be the last day of his life.
There was only one way for a dragon to escape the pains of growing into adulthood—to die.
In the face of such excruciating pain, death seemed oh so sweet.
However, being emotionally sensitive also meant that he could feel the emotions of others more palpably.
Blanc gritted his teeth and shook his head. He did not answer the temptations that came from within him.
I want to live.
If this had happened in the past, he would have been different. If it had been before he met Jung-in, before he could even know the existence of happiness that he could feel in his daily life, he would have humbly accepted his death.
More than he could imagine, he was so much happier as he spent time with someone who cared about him.
There were still so many things that he wanted to do with Jung-in.
Blanc shook his head several times, and the devil’s temptations that had plagued his mind gradually died down. Blanc curled into himself.
There was no end to what a fully-fledged dragon could do.
An adult dragon would be able to alter the fabric of reality by traversing through worlds, to change the future by going back to the past. Therefore, the process of becoming one was utterly brutal.
Fortunately, Blanc was sharing some of the pain with Jung-in.
Although she wouldn’t feel any pain because she was a soul without a body right now, the pain that Blanc was receiving right now had clearly been reduced.
Besides that, he could feel Jung-in’s presence from time to time, and this alone also helped Blanc endure the pain.
Even if she wasn’t here.
I thought back to what Albert told me before. His intuition really couldn’t be ignored.
As I recalled the conversation I had with Albert in the restaurant, I shuddered slightly.
“…It was someone who resembles you.”
“I’m not projecting. But right now, I can’t deny that she resembles you when it comes to her personality and way of speaking.”
Even as I had possessed the body of Rosé Artius, Albert quickly caught onto what kind of person I truly was.
Once I’d meet Albert again, I would meet him in the form of the Jung-in from his childhood memories.
What kind of reaction would he have?
Would he be pleased to see me? Or would he pour out words of resentment because I had left him. …Honestly, I wish I’d hear words of resentment.
In any case, I wanted to try to make Albert happy during my days here.
I think I came back to the past not just for the ordeal, but for the opportunity to bring happiness to Albert.
I was hung up on not being able to contact Blanc, but I believe in him. Blanc said he’ll live. He said he wants to live.
And I can have faith in Blanc, whose growth I watched with my own eyes as he was by my side.
As I thought about it over and over again, I came up with another hypothesis.
The reason I had to leave suddenly.
Of course, once Blanc would finish his transformation safely and would become an adult, I’d also be able to return to the future.
To where Albert, who loves me, is waiting.
But if Blanc couldn’t safely become an adult, I would inevitably die with him.
Perhaps I erased Albert’s memories because I didn’t want to let him know that I had died.
However, even if I really would die, I felt no resentment against Blanc. He must have worked so hard.
Of course, this was the worst case scenario.
Albert said that he definitely saw a fully-fledged dragon when he had been a child—a dragon that was white, just like Blanc.
It’s unlikely that it wasn’t Blanc.
As long as I still existed, this meant that Blanc was still enduring through his ordeal. So, I shouldn’t be too anxious.
Leaving my trust to Blanc, I contemplated what I could do now.
I should send telepathic messages to Blanc several times a day, full of all the words of encouragement I could give him.
[ Blanc, you know this right? That I love you, always and forever. You have to stay strong… Until we meet again. ]
I had no physical body, and so I could feel no pain. The ordeal I was faced with now was not wrought with suffering but was a shining opportunity.
It was a precious opportunity for me to spend time with the young Albert. It was the only chance for me to instill happy memories with him at this time.
I opened the window and stepped outside.
Stepping out for a moment, I went on my way to get a gift for Albert so he could start the day positively after waking up tomorrow morning.
* * *
Blanc was breathing roughly as he was inside the Dragon’s Nest.
His head was spinning and it was as if his mind was foggy, and it felt as if he was being ripped apart by knives stabbing him all over.
“Uugh…”
It hurts. Everything hurts.
He couldn’t breathe properly because of this pain that he had never experienced before in his life.
And he could hear voices constantly in his head.
‘Give up. Just give up. It’ll be easier. I’m more important than anything. There’s no need to endure this pain.’
He was in so much pain that it was making him want to run away.
Unlike other dragons, Blanc had avoided going outside and only slept his days away throughout the centuries. He had a strong tendency for avoidance.
Compared to other dragon cubs, he was more emotionally sensitive, so he felt fear even more easily.
Therefore, Blanc so easily wanted to accept his fate.
This was the reason he thought that, on the day he’d turn 500 years old, it would be the last day of his life.
There was only one way for a dragon to escape the pains of growing into adulthood—to die.
In the face of such excruciating pain, death seemed oh so sweet.
However, being emotionally sensitive also meant that he could feel the emotions of others more palpably.
Blanc gritted his teeth and shook his head. He did not answer the temptations that came from within him.
I want to live.
If this had happened in the past, he would have been different. If it had been before he met Jung-in, before he could even know the existence of happiness that he could feel in his daily life, he would have humbly accepted his death.
More than he could imagine, he was so much happier as he spent time with someone who cared about him.
There were still so many things that he wanted to do with Jung-in.
Blanc shook his head several times, and the devil’s temptations that had plagued his mind gradually died down. Blanc curled into himself.
There was no end to what a fully-fledged dragon could do.
An adult dragon would be able to alter the fabric of reality by traversing through worlds, to change the future by going back to the past. Therefore, the process of becoming one was utterly brutal.
Fortunately, Blanc was sharing some of the pain with Jung-in.
Although she wouldn’t feel any pain because she was a soul without a body right now, the pain that Blanc was receiving right now had clearly been reduced.
Besides that, he could feel Jung-in’s presence from time to time, and this alone also helped Blanc endure the pain.
Even if she wasn’t here.
