He hadn't fabricated a lie just to comfort me. Instead... he really jumped? Thinking back, my earlier wild thoughts were indeed embarrassingly self-indulgent.
With that in mind, Silvia also clenched her teeth. Then she closed her eyes and leaped.
Although she had encountered a peculiar man, she was, after all, there to jump into the sea that day. Even though there were some unexpected events, her objective was still fulfilled. And, just as that person had said, if there were a companion on the way to the underworld, it wouldn't seem so lonely.
The sense of weightlessness came rushing along with the whistling wind. Soon after, the icy touch of the seawater swiftly submerged her.
The currents of the Grant Sea were extraordinarily turbulent. Not to mention that Silvia, under the tutelage of the Grand Duke Brunestadt family, had never learned to swim since her birth. Even those fishermen who grew up by the sea and were excellent swimmers would not dare to enter the water in such stormy weather.
Before long, icy seawater poured into her mouth. The salty taste, accompanied by suffocation from the lack of oxygen, caused Silvia extreme pain. She felt her body constantly sinking, as if falling into an abyss. In her vision, the light gradually faded. The glittering sea surface was no longer visible; only a few specks of light penetrated the dark waters, illuminating this silent world.
The Grant Sea was very cold in winter, bone-chillingly so. Hearing, vision, smell... All of Silvia's senses were rapidly diminishing, then fading into nothingness.
Am I... really about to die?
In this endless Darkness, without the usual noise and pressure, Silvia felt her thoughts becoming exceptionally clear. Countless forgotten images appeared before her like a kaleidoscope at this moment.
Although not many, there were memories of a childhood that was at least blissful under the protection of her parents.
The first time she lost control, not only did she kill several servants of the household, but she also seriously injured her concerned mother, exposing her secret to the world.
An acquaintance from her past, who, upon learning her true identity, looked at her with eyes filled with fear and hatred...
A woman lying on her sickbed, who knew that her Life was fleeting, yet still forced a smile to comfort her weeping daughter...
A father who typically guarded the frontiers, but when he occasionally returned to the Royal Capital, would awkwardly comfort her and use the authority of a Grand Duke to keep the clan's criticisms at bay...
And the small tree that had flourished and bloomed white flowers, which she had planted in the courtyard with her parents when she was four years old.
...
Memories flooded in like the tide. Silvia's heart suddenly filled with unfounded panic.
Perhaps many people in the entire duchy did want her dead... But indeed, there were those who wanted her to live.
Silvia suddenly didn't want to die anymore. In the icy seawater, she finally understood the true meaning behind the word "butcher" from the words of the boy she had met earlier. From the beginning to the end, what she carried was not merely the weight of one Life. Yet at this very moment, she was sadly giving up on Life in desperation.
Her once emptied shell was now filled with newfound strength. She frantically waved her limbs, which had already become numb and lost all sensation, struggling against the ocean's undercurrent, desperately trying to swim upwards towards the surface.
But her efforts were not rewarded. The raging waves of the Grant Sea were too formidable for even the most skilled fishermen, let alone a delicate girl who had never learned to swim.
In the instant before the deep sea's undercurrent completely exhausted her remaining strength, Silvia, filled with regret and self-blame, heard a familiar voice.
"Just drown in the sea, die without a sound, without a ripple."
"After your death, your loved ones will shed tears for you."
"While those countless who once hated and ostracized you will clap their hands in glee."
"They will say, 'Good riddance to that jinx—'"
"And then, just like during the 'Witch Hunt,' they will indiscriminately dump their own sins and mistakes onto you to exonerate themselves, because the dead cannot defend themselves."
"Because by doing so, they would be able to absolve themselves of all blame and continue to live their lives in peace and self-righteousness."
"Can you accept such an ending?"
The young man's voice pierced through the water, clearly and unmistakably reaching Silvia's ears.
"No…"
Just as Silvia opened her mouth, cold seawater swept in, filling it. Despite her consciousness already blurring from the prolonged lack of oxygen, Silvia still struggled to open her mouth in the water, trying to roar out her true feelings.
"I cannot accept it!"
"Of course, I cannot!"
However, her own voice could barely travel in the deep sea, could it?
As soon as this thought arose, Silvia heard a pleasant chuckle.
"In that case."
"I have indeed heard your wish."
Then, Silvia felt a hand, not particularly strong but clearly jointed, grab her arm and pull her into an embrace.
Some time later, she heard the roaring of the waves above the Grant Sea again and saw the dim sky. The solid touch of the ground beneath her once more filled Silvia with immeasurable gratitude. Her taut nerves finally relaxed completely after the brush with death.
Yet, at that very moment, as Silvia's guard dropped for an instant, within the depths of her heart, the Bronze Crucifix that bound the dark shadows suddenly thundered. In a flash, numerous low and indescribable murmurings echoed once more.
Damn it! I actually forgot to suppress that thing…
Before Silvia had any time for regret or reaction, the dark shadow flowed rapidly down the Bronze Crucifix, and in an instant, shook her already frail will to its core.
"Don't come near me…"
"Hurry…"
"Run…"
With just enough sanity to utter these last words, Silvia's consciousness grew increasingly blurred and obscure. Slowly, yet irresistibly, she plunged into the Abyss.
In the moment before she completely lost consciousness, Silvia heard that familiar, reassuring voice once more.
"Since I've received your wish—"
"Then from now on, leave it to me."
Silvia felt a fluffy tail come over and gently touch her cheek. The next moment, her consciousness sank entirely into nothingness, without knowing where it was headed.