Before feeling the softness of the sheets on my back, golden hair flowed down, obscuring my vision.

Lips touched my forehead, and long, elegant fingers undid the knot at my collar, caressing my round shoulders.

“Orbis. You’re shameless.”

“If you want me to stop, instead of criticizing me, you just need to say you don’t like it.”

Litania blushed and bit her lip.

“How can I say I don’t like it.”

Though his hands weren’t forceful at all, strangely, when he touched her, she couldn’t move an inch.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t resist, but that she didn’t want to resist.

That was the problem.

“I don’t want to lie to you.”

“…”

The breath seeping through the loosened folds of her clothes grew heavier. Suddenly overwhelmed by a rush of heat, Litania gasped and held her breath, while Orbis lifted his head and peppered her nose bridge and eyes with light kisses.

“To criticize your husband when you don’t even dislike it, which of us is truly shameless?”

“I-I don’t know.”

As Litania turned her head with a pout, Orbis kissed her temple with a smack and whispered languidly.

“Then I’ll teach you, so learn carefully.”

The man’s fresh yet intense scent overtook her senses, erasing the subtle fragrance of the perfume made by the Pope.

As clothes fell to the floor like shed skin, two silhouettes merged into one.

Outside, the sun was setting and the early winter wind was filling the garden with a chill, but inside the bedroom, it was as hot as if they had swallowed the blazing summer sun whole.

A pale dawn light filtered through the frost-covered, misty windows.

While tiny ice crystals swirled in the cold wind outside, inside the bed wrapped in fluffy blankets was warm without even lighting the fireplace.

As she stirred her body, aching and loose from the night’s activities, a firm arm reached out from behind and wrapped around her waist. A sweet sigh passed over her shoulder.

“It’s still dawn, sleep more, Litania.”

Unlike Litania who had just woken up, Orbis’ voice held no trace of drowsiness.

“Orbis. When did you wake up?”

“I never slept.”

For a divine dragon, sleep wasn’t a necessity. When Litania dozed off in Orbis’ arms, he spent the time quietly gazing at his sleeping wife’s face.

It was a pastime that gave him greater satisfaction than roaming the human world.

“D-don’t stare at my sleeping face.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s very lovely.”

“Still, it’s embarrassing…”

Litania protested in a small voice and covered her face, but when Orbis’ lips touched the back of her hand covering her eyes, she startled and lowered her hands.

A bewitchingly beautiful man was looking down at her from close proximity.

“No matter how many times I check, I’m uneasy. Whether you’re really in my arms.”

“I… won’t run away anymore.”

“I’ve been hurt too many times to trust easily.”

Orbis chuckled and gently rubbed noses. Litania lightly tugged on the long golden hair tickling her shoulders and pressed her lips to his.

She was no longer anxious that he might suddenly change and harm her, but he still seemed worried that she might abandon him and disappear.

It was a strange feeling.

The fact that she was the one who could make the divine dragon, who could do anything in the world as he pleased, feel afraid, oddly satisfied Litania.

When the man you love is anxious, you should feel concerned, so why did she feel smug?

Perhaps her reason had become twisted after repeating regressions she couldn’t remember.

“Then get to know me slowly.”

Returning Orbis’ words to him, Litania slipped out of bed.

When wrapped in blankets and her husband’s arms, it had been warm enough to forget the season, but once out of bed, it was quite cold.

As she shrugged her shoulders and shivered slightly, Orbis, who had approached without her noticing, draped a loose-fitting robe over her.

“Wear this, Litania.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The robe had soft down attached, making it quite warm despite not being thick. After swiftly tying the sash for her, Orbis snapped his fingers and donned the same attire as his wife.

Litania stared at him intently.

It was the first time she had seen Orbis in a robe.

And matching couple’s sleepwear at that.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Litania.”

“It’s nothing.”

When their eyes met, her heart inexplicably fluttered, and Litania quickly averted her gaze.

As her pink eyes busily scanned the surroundings, searching for a topic to change to, they landed on a small silver box placed in the corner of the glass cabinet.

“Orbis. That…”

“You mean the music box.”

Orbis placed the silver box on his hand.

A gift he had made himself and given her on their wedding anniversary.

It had been placed in the corner of the cabinet, and since they only entered the bedroom to sleep, she must have overlooked it until now.

“There’s no sound.”

“Yes. It seems to be broken.”

Even when opened, there was no sound, but the delicate pictures Orbis had drawn still slowly turned inside the small window, reminding them of their memories.

As Litania gazed at it quietly, Orbis suddenly asked.

“Shall I fix it?”

“…”

Though she didn’t know which part was faulty, fixing this music box would be no difficult task for Orbis.

Rather, it was more strange that he had left it broken.

Litania pondered for a moment, then looked up to face Orbis.

“Orbis. Do you remember what music used to play from this?”

“Of course.”

Orbis’ lips parted slightly, and a slow melody flowed out.

The song that had played at their wedding ceremony. Hearing that melody again, which she couldn’t listen to comfortably before due to her racing heart, was quite a strange feeling.

Orbis’ singing voice, different from both the orchestra’s performance and the music box’s melody.

It felt like cool rain falling on the soil gently covering her heart.

“You don’t need to fix it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

She thought she vaguely understood why Orbis had left the broken music box as it was.

Their love had been reset to the beginning each time it failed.

Perhaps he felt reluctant to restore it to its original state just because it was broken.

‘There’s no need to fix it.’

Both Litania and Orbis remembered what the music box was like before it broke.

And the broken music box is still here in the present.

Isn’t that enough?

“I prefer Orbis singing more than the music box.”

When she gently placed her hand on top of his, which held the closed box, his expression, which had remained monotonous even while singing, became rich with emotion.

“From now on, when I open this music box, will you sing for me, Orbis?”

“Is my singing a replacement for the broken music box?”

“I want to make new memories.”

Litania turned the small silver box this way and that, then discovered a small crack under the hinge.

When she lightly pressed it with her fingertip, she heard the rattling sound of loose parts moving inside.

“The fact that it’s broken is also part of the memories contained in this music box, isn’t it?”

She didn’t want to erase that.

“I don’t want to erase any memories anymore.”

There are no memories she wants to forget.

There’s no reason to erase memories deemed no longer necessary.

Because those sorrows and pains were emotions they had to experience.

“Being broken doesn’t mean it’s over.”

Their love left deep wounds in each other’s hearts.

Those wounds may have healed, but invisible scars remain.

Like how Orbis feels anxious, and how Litania feels twisted.

“I want to give it a different meaning.”

The scars left where the wounds have healed.

Rather than being unsightly traces to be hidden, aren’t they records showing what trials they’ve overcome?

She didn’t want to cover up or pretend not to see the records of the time they loved, thinking them unsightly.

“Then, Litania. I’ll teach you the song.”

“What?”

“Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to sing together rather than just me singing alone?”

Orbis gently guided Litania’s wrist to touch his chest.

Beyond the firm muscles of his broad chest, she could feel the beating of his heart.

The divine dragon’s heart, which she had never seen despite having torn open his chest countless times.

Coincidentally, it was beating at the same pace as hers.

“Because we bear the same wounds.”

“But my wounds have already healed.”

“Then shall we say we bear the same scars?”

Countless times wounded, and wounding each other.

Hating and resenting to the point of wanting to die and disappear.

Yet, they don’t regret ending up embracing each other in their current wounded state, ultimately drawn to each other’s hearts.

They don’t want to pretend they weren’t wounded.

They don’t want to hide their scars.

Rather, they wanted to give meaning and names to those painful marks.

So that someday, when someone asks what kind of love they had, they could proudly smile and show those scars, saying this is the love we shared.

“Let’s not part ways anymore.”

Their forced first meeting, ignoring each other’s will.

Misunderstandings, conflicts, pain, and wounds born from not understanding each other.

The countless failures of love could have certainly ended in separation.

But they decided to reunite and love each other once more.

“I love you, Litania.”

“…Me too.”

There are no more lies.

Everything was a brilliant truth.