Chapter 52: Heart

Following that call, the girl pushed through the voices clouding her senses and dragging her body into the depths. Slowly, her eyes opened, and above her was a ceiling she knew all too well.

Propping herself up with her arms, Lily looked around.

A single straw bed leaned against the wall. Beside it was a simple wooden table, and on the opposite side of the room stood a small cabinet and a laundry basket.

Lily knew where she was; there was no mistaking it.

This was her home.

Was she still dreaming? The thought crossed her mind for only a moment. But she knew better—it wasn’t a dream.

It was Nia who brought her here, and Lily knew exactly why.

Gripping the white sheet beneath her with all her strength, the silver-haired girl fought not to break. Her beloved, in a state of desperation and unable to receive her guidance, had brought her to the safest place she knew.

“The place where we met for the first time…”

Her words echoed in the room, but no one answered.

She was home, in the place where she had spent much of her life alone, but also the place where she stopped being alone.

Sitting on that bed, the girl could think of only one thing:

The world without Nia was silent.

It wasn’t like the time she had been separated from her during the guardian’s trial or before Nia had become part of her. It was as if Nia was there, so close that Lily could almost touch her, yet so far away that she was unreachable.

“I lied.” Her weak voice echoed once more.

She had made mistakes, mistakes that caused the person she loved most to suffer.

“I told you we shouldn’t lie to each other, but I lied.”

Placing both hands over her heart, the girl spoke in a low voice. She couldn’t blame Nia for not wanting to speak to her. Yet, even though she couldn’t change the past, she still had a chance to fix the future.

“That night, when I went to sleep, it wasn’t just a normal nightmare. I saw my father. I saw my old home, my neighbors, and how was my life outside the mist. So many things I had forgotten came rushing back to me all at once. Memories that were once distant fragments suddenly became whole, and the pain of what I lost began to consume me.”

Word by word, the girl began to confess everything she had kept inside.

“I lied and said I was fine. I was selfish and lied. My head hurt so much that I didn’t have the strength to think about what I should do. Everyone who died, everyone in my village, they all died, and I was the only one who escaped. I could hear them screaming—I still hear them dying.” Tears streamed from her eyes as the words that had been trapped in her soul poured out. “I didn’t know how to tell you about it, so I tried to hide my pain with a smile.”

The girl who had remembered everything she once had also realized how much she had lost. When the source of her pain appeared before her, all she cared about was ending that pain.

“I tried to handle everything on my own, and because of that, you got hurt. I saw you suffer right in front of me, and I still didn’t protect you.”

She hadn’t lost everything.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you before,” her voice echoed through the room.

She hadn’t lost everything because she still had what mattered most.

“In this world, you are all I have left. Gardenia, you are the most special person to me. I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you. I should have shared my worries with you, but I realized that too late.”

Tears streamed endlessly down her face. She didn’t know if she deserved forgiveness, but she would never stop seeking it.

"Gardenia, please, forgive me!"

With all her strength, the girl raised her voice as loud as she could, her trembling fingers feeling the racing pulse of her heart.

And then, in the dark room, she waited.

It didn’t matter how long it would take. Even if she had to wait until the end of time, she would wait for that girl.

A soft sound of something touching the floor echoed.

Sitting on the bed, her arms wrapped around her knees, Lily heard footsteps approaching. Tears continued to stream down her face, but she didn’t lift her head to face the girl standing before her.

"I didn’t like that you lied to me."

The cold voice of the shapeshifter reached her ears.

Lily knew what she had done was a betrayal of trust. She was ready to accept any punishment for her actions.

"It hurt, Lily. It hurt so much," Nia said, her rough voice revealing how uncomfortable she felt.

The girl with silver hair felt her chest ache as if her very existence was being torn apart. She knew the words were coming, sharp as daggers.

"The ivory herbs pierced my soul, and the soldiers’ attacks tore at my body. My head burned as if it were on fire while I formed the spells, and I felt on the verge of collapsing with every passing second."

Nia hadn’t wanted to stay in that place. She had wanted to leave, but Lily hadn’t allowed it. It was Lily who had caused that pain.

Yet, as she kept her head bowed, Lily felt small drops of water fall onto her arm.

Gently, she raised her head to look ahead.

There, a girl with purple hair and red eyes stood, tears glistening in her eyes.

"But you know..." Bringing her hand to her tear-streaked face, Nia wiped away the falling drops and spoke with a resigned smile, "What hurt the most in the end was the fear of losing you."

"Gardenia, I–"

Lily’s words were stopped by a delicate finger pressed against her lips.

Nia moved closer, sitting on Lily’s lap. She gently lifted Lily’s face, aligning their gazes.

"I’m not perfect. I don’t know a lot of things. I can’t do many things. But that’s exactly why we have each other, Lily. No matter what you say or do, even if it hurts me, I’ll know it was never your intention."

Her hands cradled Lily’s face, wiping away the tears that welled up in her mismatched eyes.

"I wasn’t there to protect the child who had everything taken from her, who was forced to leave her home and live in a prison for years. I wasn’t there to wipe her tears or give her hugs when she was sad. When she had so little faith in the world that she didn’t know what to do except run with all her might."

Nia wrapped her arms around Lily’s neck, her warmth enveloping her like a blanket on a cold night.

"Do you remember what I told you that day, Lily? Even if you want to make this cruel world your enemy, even if I have nothing left to sacrifice, I’ll protect you and always stand by your side."

Their eyes met, so close that their tears mingled.

"My world doesn’t revolve around you, Lily. My world is you."

Hearing those words, it felt as though all the pain that had built up in Lily’s chest disappeared. She had been trying to fix something, but in the end, she was the one who had been permitted to cry.

For a long time, Lily cried for everything she had felt. All the tears trapped in her soul, all the pain she had endured over the years, poured out while she was in the arms of that girl. Nia never let go of her embrace, gently running her hands through Lily's hair. The warmth radiating from her body made it clear—she was safe now.

When the last tear finally fell from her eyes, Nia brought her lips close to Lily’s and pressed them together. Their tongues intertwined for what felt like an eternity, their sensitive bodies and flushed faces so deeply connected it seemed as though they could never part again.

Slowly, Lily tilted her head slightly to the side, her dilated eyes reflecting an intense passion that could never be extinguished.

"Nia, did you know? I love you with all my heart."

"Of course I know. I am your heart, after all."

With a pure and sincere smile, the two girls, who had no more tears left to shed, laughed and held each other even tighter.

The silver-haired girl felt her cheeks being traced by the delicate fingers of her wife. The red eyes that had been brimming with tears were now filled with unshakable determination.

"Lily, tell me—where does it hurt?"

Faced with words that could only have one meaning, Lily placed her own hand on her head in response. Seeing this, Nia pressed her forehead against Lily’s. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate deeply.

At first, Lily didn’t understand what was happening. But, entrusting not just her life but her entire existence to the girl in her arms, she remained silent and held on tightly.

It felt as though someone was delving into the deepest parts of her being, searching relentlessly for something. It wasn’t physical but rather immaterial. The pain was akin to having her body torn apart into the tiniest particles, as though it was her very soul being sliced apart. No scream of protest escaped her lips—not because she wanted to hide it but because she knew it wasn’t necessary.

At first, there was only pain. But then...

“Shatter,” Nia’s firm voice echoed.

Silence.

Bringing her hand to her face, Lily could hardly believe the words that left her mouth.

“It stopped... It doesn’t hurt anymore... The voices... they’re gone!”

Pulling her forehead back, Nia smiled triumphantly at the shocked girl. Wrapping her arms around Lily’s neck once more, the shapeshifter spoke with enthusiasm.

“The thing that man called a ‘stigma’ was suppressing your memories,” Nia said, her legs tightening around Lily’s waist. “That’s why, when I started studying the guardian’s heart that night, you began having those nightmares.”

“Nox’s heart?” Lily asked in a trembling voice.

“When you woke up in a panic, I was so scared that I completely forgot to tell you what I’d discovered. The guardian’s race has an intense mental resistance. Even the faint echoes of the Demon King’s commands, which had been lingering in the back of my mind, disappeared the moment I finished fully assimilating the heart.” Nia raised both her index fingers and pressed them together. “The stigma and mental resistance—they began clashing in an endless stalemate.”

“So that man placed it in me when I was still a child? How did I never notice?”

“The stigma wasn’t engraved on your body, which is why, even being connected to you, Lily, I never found anything unusual. It created only a thin, tortuous pathway between the spell’s creator and its target, transmitting his intent and executing his purpose. In your case, from what I could understand from your words, it hid everything that could compromise that man’s identity from his victims—be it what happened on the day they were taken or the memories from the prison.”

With her heterochromatic eyes wide open, Lily felt her entire body tremble as she absorbed the explanation from the girl before her. Her wife, understanding this perfectly, immediately embraced her even tighter.

"Then, how did you manage to stop it?" Feeling the warmth of the shapeshifter passing to her, calming her, Lily spoke softly while running her hands gently along Nia's back.

"The guardian Nox would move a person’s mind into his spiritual domain. This allowed him to confront them directly. Even though I absorbed his heart, reproducing that on such a scale is impossible for me. It took some time, but I managed to develop a smaller spell based on it. Instead of transporting an entire mind, I focused on severing just this 'path' from its target. By doing so, I could destroy the connection and, consequently, its effect."

"You're so smart, Nia!"

If Lily were honest, she didn’t fully grasp her wife's explanation, but it didn’t matter. The mere fact that Nia had thought of something so intricate to protect her was more than enough to fill her chest with overwhelming love.

“Hehe~”

Being embraced repeatedly by Lily was all the validation Nia needed for her efforts.

"My beloved wife is always so concerned about me that, even after saying we should be honest, she hid her pain to avoid scaring me~"

"Nia, I’m sor—"

Once again, Lily was stopped mid-apology. Her cheek was pinched, and her lips were licked until a path was opened into her mouth.

The sound of saliva mingling as the purple-haired girl fervently explored the inside of Lily's mouth filled the room.

When their lips finally parted, Lily found herself staring into the completely flushed face of her beloved, who gazed back at her as if she wanted to devour her whole.

"What happened was also my fault, but even if I say that, I know Lily will keep denying it, trying to shoulder all the blame herself."

Nia began to slowly remove the black cardigan she wore, her mischievous fingers sliding down to her wife's chest, whose face now displayed utter confusion.

"Even though you already have my forgiveness, my beloved wife still feels guilty."

Gently, Nia laid the thoroughly flustered girl down on the bed. Purple tentacles emerged from her back as she whispered in a sultry, warm breath against Lily’s ear.

"Your naughty bad girl is going to take responsibility and make sure you forgive yourself~"