The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 60

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 60

“What do you mean I disappeared? What nonsense are you talking about.”

“But you did disappear.”

His voice lowered. It sank deep and gloomily, seeping through his clenched teeth.

“You disappeared right in front of me, Rita Pascal. Shattered into pieces.”

For a moment, she was speechless. She remained silent for a while before barely managing to reply.

“You know I had no choice. That was the optimal strategy at the time.”

“I know, I know… but did you forget that I told you never to do something like that again?”

Gideon’s eyes turned fierce. As he leaned forward, gripping the bed, his wavering golden eyes pressed close to her.

“Optimal strategy my ass, I told you never to do that again, damn it, Rita Pascal, you really…”

His face, which had approached as if wanting to bite or devour her, suddenly lost its strength. His expression became tired and parched, rough-looking. His eyes clouded as if frightened, or as if he wanted to cry.

“…Rita. It’s you, right? It’s really you?”

“It’s me, it’s me. Are you confused because my face has changed too much?”

“No, I’m not confused. There’s no way I could be. I’m just scared.”

“Huh?”

“That this might be a dream.”

He buried his forehead deeply into the shoulder of her sitting against the pillow and muttered weakly.

“Have you ever imagined what it felt like for me to pick up and gather the pieces of your corpse?”

Once again, she was left speechless.

She hadn’t thought about it. What state her corpse had been in when left behind, what her comrades had thought while collecting it.

When she tried to imagine it belatedly, something inside her chest rattled as if broken.

Even when setting up tombstones for the Beacon rookies she hadn’t spent much time with, she had felt so heavy-hearted, but to pick up and gather the shattered remains of a comrade like Gid who had been with her all along. Just imagining it made her feel terrible.

‘I… did something horrible.’

Rita gently stroked his black hair leaning against her shoulder, filled with guilt.

Then he burrowed into her embrace like acting spoiled. His build, which was jokingly about twice her size, trying to be held was a bit overwhelming, but Rita obediently embraced him.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re always good at apologizing. Even though you’ll do it again.”

“I won’t do it again.”

“You’re good at lying too. If the same situation comes, you’ll make the exact same choice.”

“That’s, well… we can’t all die together. Those who can live should live.”

Apart from feeling very sorry, she didn’t regret it. In that situation, it had been her best choice.

Gid, who had been silent for a moment at her honest answer, dropped his shoulders and laughed.

“Ha, yeah, this is Rita Pascal. Stubbornly strong-willed.”

Even though her appearance had completely changed, she was exactly as he knew her. Extremely affectionate and terribly heartless, the Rita Pascal who drove people crazy.

What he had lost.

Gid held her tightly and took a deep breath.

Now he felt like he could live.

The anxiety and fear that had run rampant while she was unconscious slowly subsided. The things that had been twisting and writhing in his stomach also quieted down. They wouldn’t disappear, but he could hide them appropriately.

Rita, having no idea what was going on inside him, patted him like comforting a child before carefully speaking up.

“Gid.”

“Yeah.”

“I have tons of things I want to ask.”

“Me too.”

“Then you ask first.”

“Mm.”

Gid let out a short groan and then sat up. Then he simply lifted her up.

“What?”

“Let’s talk while eating. You must be hungry.”

“I’m not really hungry.”

“Well, you just woke up so you wouldn’t have an appetite. But eat anyway, you’re too light.”

He clicked his tongue and strode across the bedroom while holding her.

“You were light before too, but now it’s really severe. You’re like a piece of paper.”

“Don’t exaggerate. It’s because this body hasn’t been trained. I’m in the middle of building muscle.”

“That doesn’t seem very rewarding. Looking at your bone structure, the efficiency compared to effort looks disastrous.”

At his annoying chatter, Rita hit his chest with a thump.

“Just put me down, I can walk.”

“Yeah right. After you were staggering like that earlier.”

Gid stubbornly left the bedroom while holding her. When a reception room-like space connected to the bedroom appeared, he sat her down on the sofa and briefly left before coming back in.

“I’ll bring something to eat soon.”

Then instead of sitting on the opposite sofa, he sat right next to her and held her hand. When Rita looked at him questioningly, he asked back with a shameless face.

“What?”

“Do you have to sit right next to me like this? There’s plenty of space.”

“You said you were sorry to me.”

“What does that have to do with this? Why are you holding my hand?”

“I’m scared of being separated from you. I feel like you’ll disappear if I let go of your hand.”

“No… people don’t disappear like that. What kind of delusion are you having?”

“It’s because of you, Rita Pascal. Because you died like that right in front of my eyes—”

“Ah, okay, I’m sorry, hold it as you like.”

When Rita cut off his words and sighed, Gid grinned. Then he lifted up her hand that he was gripping and fondled it conspicuously.

“It’s a bit awkward since your hands don’t have any calluses or scars.”

“You’re a bit awkward too.”

“Because I have both eyes?”

“That too, and… you’re not completely the same.”

“Ah. We’re each a bit different, that’s right.”

Gid rubbed around his right eye once and then spoke.

“Rita, do you know what kind of place this world is?”

“The place where we were originally born, right? So, our hometown.”

“Right. Do you remember all of your childhood? Not the fake memories, I mean.”

“Yeah, I vividly remember everything from my real childhood to being kidnapped by Pascal.”

“…Kidnapped?”

“Pascal possessed people from here and kidnapped us, wait a minute. Were you different by any chance?”

Come to think of it, she had heard that the Crown Prince had become an idiot for a while due to some kind of accident, then suddenly regained his intelligence 4 years ago.

Rita said with a confused feeling.

“You’re the Crown Prince, right? Gideon el Redert Kairam.”

“Wow, you memorized my name? Rita Pascal memorized this uselessly long and archaic name?”

“Don’t laugh and just answer. So you are the Crown Prince, right? Don’t tell me you returned 4 years ago?”

“That’s right.”

He answered readily and then added.

“When my soul was summoned at age 13, the remaining body became an idiot, and after 5 years in that state, I returned at age 18. That was 4 years ago.”

“5 years. 4 years ago.”

Rita blankly repeated his words and then continued.

“My missing period was 10 years.”

“That’s possible. The periods we were away from this place were all different. Though 10 years is particularly long.”

“We? You said we? Don’t tell me.”

She urgently grabbed his shoulder. The image of Oli standing while deploying a magic circle came to mind. Gid immediately explained as if he understood her feelings.

“That’s right, we. All members of the Beacon Squad returned here. 4 years ago from now.”

“…!”

“Only you didn’t return. Even after 4 years had passed…”

Gid, who let out something that was either a groan or a sigh, reached out his hand to her.

“Rita, we’ve been waiting for you all along.”

With trembling hands tracing her face, he murmured.

“I thought I’d go insane from waiting.”

“Waiting…?”

Rita looked at him with a confused expression. Gid smiled weakly.

“Among us, you’re the only one who went missing during the summoning period. You’re also the only one whose appearance changed this drastically. And it took 10 years… No wonder we couldn’t find you despite searching everywhere.”

“Wait, wait. What do you mean by summoning period?”

“The time we spent in that place, that world. While we were summoned there, our real bodies here either became mindless or fell into a sleep they couldn’t wake from. There was no case of someone going missing like you.”

The term “summoning” felt strange. Rita had always thought of herself as being kidnapped, never considering that she had been summoned to that world.

‘No, wait.’

The dream of the hooded figure continuously calling her to come. The nightmare that made her wake up terrified and run to Richard.

‘Was that some kind of summoning ritual? Then were all the other Pascals summoned through such dreams?’

And afterward, the remaining bodies either became mindless or couldn’t wake from sleep.

Rita immediately shared her thoughts with him. Gid nodded.

“That’s right, we were all dragged to that world through those strange dreams. Only our souls were summoned, leaving our bodies behind.”

“So Pascal made us possess the bodies of orphans.”

“Orphans… Rita.”

He continued while brushing her hair back.

“Do you know where we lived? That world with the ashen sun floating above.”

“The Ashen World? It’s a different world from here.”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“No, Rita. That place isn’t a different world from this one. Didn’t something feel strange after you returned?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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