Damion’s body slowly sank into the distant darkness. The surface of the water, which had rippled greatly as he fell in, gradually calmed.

Damion wished to disappear from the world as quietly as that water surface. If Ansi would not remember him anyway, there was no need for him to live in this world any longer.

It was the end now.

House Rubella would regain its honor, and Ansi would live well within it.

Reassured by that fact, Damion smiled. Releasing the lingering attachment in his hand, he slowly closed his eyelids.

It was then that the water surface rippled again.

Startled by the unexpected wave, Damion blankly stared at the water’s surface.

A ray of light pierced through the darkness in the water, descending towards him.

The moment he realized what that light was, Damion’s eyes wavered.

It was Ansi.

She was coming towards him.

He couldn’t understand why she was here, and why she had that expression on her face.

But now was not the time to ponder over that.

Damion hastily moved his body. As if the strength that had drained from his entire body just moments ago was nothing, he embraced Ansi’s body with unparalleled agility and headed upwards.

His breath disappeared and his throat felt blocked, but all of that was of no importance.

The fact that Ansi was in the water right now, that she could die with him if something went wrong.

That was the only important fact.

“Gasp……!”

After a while, they emerged from the water together. Along with the sensation of their breath exploding, the cool air touched their entire bodies.

“Huff, huff……”

With their bodies drenched, they exhaled heavily. As the clean air pierced their lungs, the death that had been so close felt like it was dispersing.

Damion looked at Ansi fiercely. He couldn’t understand what she was thinking, jumping into the water.

Her lips were pale blue as she trembled from the cold.

Seeing her like that, it was as if blood instantly rushed to his head. Damn it, Damion muttered under his breath and immediately took off his jacket.

It was made of a material that didn’t absorb water well. Shaking the water off the jacket, he draped it over Ansi’s shoulders and pressed her.

“What are you doing?”

“What are YOU doing? Were you trying to die?”

His question was met with a cry close to a scream. Damion’s eyes wavered.

That was exactly what he was trying to do. Thinking that it was the path she wanted, he tried to do that for her.

But……

The emotion in Ansi’s expression didn’t seem at all like someone who wanted that.

It was different from the bewilderment of seeing someone suddenly jump into the water.

The fear that he might have died if she had been a little later. The guilt and sadness that he had made the choice to jump into the water himself.

And…… the deepest affection underlying those thoughts.

“……Ansi.”

Damion’s voice trembled. Even knowing it wasn’t so, hope welled up.

The hope that there would no longer be disgust in the blue eyes looking at him. The hope that she would respond to him calling her name.

Perhaps, the fleeting expectation that she might love him again filled his eyes.

Damion’s gaze turned to Ansi’s lips. The moment passed as slowly as eternity.

At last, she opened her mouth.

“……Damion. I’m sorry. And…… thank you.”

Damion stared at her blankly. For a moment, he thought it might be a dream. As if she would disappear if he moved, he just looked at Ansi without moving a fingertip.

Ansi’s eyes turned red. Thick teardrops fell from her eyes. She bit her lip hard and hugged his neck.

Ansi’s warmth was conveyed to his entire body.

It was neither a dream nor an illusion.

Then why……

Not knowing what to say, Damion opened and closed his mouth several times and judged. Ansi was doing this now because she couldn’t bear to see someone die before her eyes.

Just like when she saved a drowning boy as a child, she simply couldn’t ignore someone in need.

Damion smiled bitterly and spoke.

“Don’t do this. Then I…… I can’t die.”

“Don’t die. Please don’t do that.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry for making you have such thoughts. I’m sorry for not recognizing you, for not remembering you. Damion, how much you loved me, and how much I loved you…….”

“……!”

Damion detached Ansi from his body. He examined Ansi’s expression with a tense face. Her blue eyes were truly the same as before.

From the time when they ultimately held each other’s hands and received comfort even after tearing at each other and hurting each other. From the time when they were willing to throw away their lives for each other as if they were each other’s everything.

“……Do you remember everything about us?”

Ansi nodded.

“Damion confessing to me, going boating together, our wedding and the night sky painting, and how we decided to make each other our life’s purpose…… I remember it all.”

“How…….”

Damion was sure he had made a contract with Amor. In exchange for bringing Ansi’s life back, he would erase Damion from her.

Now it made sense for Damion to be a meaningless person to Ansi. And until now, it really seemed that way.

But why……

At that moment, what Amor had said flashed through Damion’s mind.

Could it be.

She will never love Orpheus.

Then, if Damion ceased to be Orpheus…… it meant they could slip out of the contract.

Like now, with him having a new surname.

It was a loophole in the contract he hadn’t thought of.

And surely…… there was no way Amor was unaware of that loophole.

He made such a contract knowing that. No, he must have made it because he knew.

Damion lowered his gaze and looked at his palm. The distinctly imprinted heart pattern had disappeared without a trace. No trace could be found on Ansi’s palm either.

It signified the termination of the contract.

“Haha…….”

A hollow, yet clearly joyful laugh escaped from Damion.

It was funny to be tricked by a god. But he couldn’t deny the joy. Right now, he felt like he could visit Amor’s temple every day to offer tributes and pray.

Damion reached out his hand. He pulled Ansi to him and embraced her. From her water-soaked body, her scent, which had been fading, wafted strongly again.

“……I’ll be by your side for life.”

Damion chanted in a cracked voice. Ansi nodded. She gripped Damion’s clothes tightly and spoke.

“I…… it hurt so much to see Damion jump into the water just now. It still does. I will probably never forget this moment for the rest of my life. So…… I’m so sorry to you. When I was shot, you were in a lot of pain then too, right?”

Ever since Ansi was shot, his world had been entirely gray.

Just as Ansi said, he too would never forget that moment for the rest of his life.

Thinking that way, he could feel how lost, sad, and scared Ansi must have been seeing him jump into the water.

“……I’m sorry.”

Ansi shook her head at Damion’s apology.

“We…… have taken our own lives too lightly in the name of being there for each other. Not even knowing that it hurts the other person.”

A voice with a hint of wetness flowed into his ears matter-of-factly.

“So, don’t throw away your life for me anymore. I won’t do it either.”

“……I won’t.”

Damion nodded.

Until now, the two had unhesitatingly thrown themselves for each other. But now, they had come to a painful realization. That the death of a loved one is a more cruel thing than dying oneself.

At the same time, they instinctively felt. That now that everything was settled, they could cherish each other without such harsh trials.

And that even if trials came again, they could overcome them more maturely.

“Let’s go back.”

Damion stood up and reached out his hand to Ansi.

It was time to return to the world where they would live together, to the people waiting for them.

The world, which had seemed so chaotically entangled that it would never be sorted out, was regaining order quite quickly.

Other noble families scrambled to take the position of Orpheus, which had seemed to have no replacement. However, it was different from the usual flattery to look good.

As a sign of joining the emperor’s political move, they each took care of and supported the imperial citizens who had lost their daily lives due to the war.

The time of Belgader began to flow again. Things that were tangled were unraveled one by one. Things that had stopped also gradually returned.

The news that reached House Rubella was one of them.

“Something like this has arrived.”

Sophia took out a thick sheet of paper from an envelope and handed it over. Ansi took it. Del, standing behind her, looked at the document together.

It was an imperial decree with the emperor’s seal.

The contents were as follows.

House Rubella is to promptly determine the one to succeed the Count’s title.

Originally, the succession required going through an approval process from the empire. However, when Count Rubella and Del were said to have died, and Ansi and Sophia went into hiding, naturally the succession of the Count’s title was put on hold.

Even after they returned, it was true that the situation was not at all conducive to paying attention to the title.

So this decree ordering to determine the successor to the Rubella County title meant that they had truly returned to their daily lives now, that they were at the starting line to move forward.

Ansi handed the decree to Del.

According to the usual order of succession, it was right for Del, the eldest, to receive it.

However, Del pushed her hand back.

Ansi’s eyes were filled with puzzlement.