Chapter 52

“I heard you’re marrying the monarch,”

Lina couldn’t help but slip in front of her, “Is that true?”

“How did you all find out so quickly?”

Talli was surprised. She had never mentioned this.

“Everyone’s talking about it. The wedding dress and venue are already being customized,” Lina exclaimed. “I guessed right. The monarch really does favor you. When you were thrown off the hunting grounds, everyone was wondering if you had offended Him somehow.”

Talli thought to herself, she had indeed offended Him.

“But you really are pitiful,” Lina said, “If you’re offering yourself as food for the demons, it must be tough, right?”

“It’s worth it.”

Talli only replied.

This month, she and Deritz had agreed that before their marriage, they would visit the human realm.

With the autumn breeze, a fireworks display arrived in the human world.

They both disguised themselves as ordinary humans and decided to take a trip down. In truth, it was Talli who wanted to go, as she felt the curse of undeath was almost perfected.

The world vortex was also about to open.

She just needed one final push.

They arrived in the human realm in the afternoon, and the atmosphere here had already become lively. In familiar places, as Talli weaved through the crowd, she felt a strange sense of time and space.

Even though only a few months had passed, it felt like she had been away for a long, long time.

As she walked past the plaza in front of the temple, she was surprised to see that the saintess giving the sermon had changed.

It was now a girl she didn’t recognize at all.

Although she felt surprised, she didn’t approach to ask.

It wasn’t until they passed a patrol guard that she noticed.

After walking quite a distance, the young man leading the patrol stopped, unable to resist turning back to look.

“Master, what’s wrong?”

The knight behind him asked.

“It’s nothing, I…”

Carl, whose face bore a cross-shaped scar under his eye, froze for a moment, then covered his face, chuckling softly.

“It seems like I mistook someone again.”

—

Talli had always wanted to go out and play.

She booked a boat on the lake because she had heard that many people would row boats here at night, and they could watch the fireworks from the center of the lake, which was very lively.

In reality, it wasn’t even evening yet, but the place was already becoming crowded by dusk.

Talli bought some ice cream, got on the boat, and ate it while letting Deritz row.

Deritz asked her, “Do you want the elves to attend the wedding?”

Talli took a bite of the ice cream, feeling the cold sweetness melt in her mouth. She looked up at the sky, waiting for the fireworks to appear.

“I’m fine either way.”

“Is there anyone else you can think of to invite?”

“No.”

Talli said, “You know, I don’t have many familiar people in this world.”

“I thought you would invite your brother.”

“I thought you knew that my last name isn’t Fred.”

Talli leaned closer.

The cold sweetness slid across the youth’s lips and teeth.

His heartbeat couldn’t help but become erratic.

When the final fireworks burst above their heads, the girl pointed to a beautiful red firework and said to him:

“Deritz, look, this firework’s color looks like your eyes.”

On the way back, she was reluctant to leave.

“If you like it, I’ll bring you here often in the future.”

“Mm.”

She held the youth’s hand, both of their palms burning hot, but her heart felt unusually light.

In the weeks after returning to the center of the world, she felt an increasing pull from her world, and her mood became surprisingly pleasant.

She had never been this happy before. She recalled many, many things—like when she used to hide in a closed room at home, doing things she loved, feeling the joy and peace within. She remembered the sense of calm when flipping through books, reading the words. She remembered the cheers in the lab when connecting the circuits. She remembered the blue sky and her mood when she received a job offer she liked. She remembered the friends and colleagues at work, though it was hard, their youthful, energetic bodies never ceased to bring her hope.

When she emerged in her wedding dress, the youth couldn’t help but say:

“You look happy.”

Talli touched the corner of her lips and smiled with her eyes.

“Of course, I’m happy.”

She was originally from that world, and the connection with the world’s vortex told her that it was almost time.

It was time to go back. It was almost time.

For the first time, the girl revealed such a carefree smile, her violet eyes like crescent moons, bright and shining. Her black hair was styled into a bun, and she held the intricate, detailed wedding gown’s hem, spinning around like a spring flower.

“Do you think it’s pretty?”

She asked the youth, who seemed lost in thought.

“…Yes, it’s beautiful.”

Deritz watched her, feeling his heart uncontrollably heat up.

He turned his face away, but suddenly heard the girl cough several times.

He paused, then saw the girl rush forward, grabbing his collar, and kiss him on the lips.

His eyes widened, and he instinctively grabbed the long table behind him, steadying her waist. In the stumbling moment, he tore off the pristine white tablecloth.

A metallic taste filled his mouth.

The girl coughed, unable to hold back. Her chest heaved violently as she pulled away from his scorching lips. The flower ornament on her head fell and landed on the skirt.

Deritz sat on the floor, seeing the girl kneeling on him, her body as fragile as a piece of paper. Drops of bright red blood fell steadily, staining the pale wedding dress, soon spreading into a patch of crimson.

He felt dizzy.

Talli gasped a few times, covering her mouth as blood seeped through her fingers. Fortunately, it stopped soon. She slowly raised her head, showing Deritz a smile like that of a blooming flower.

The youth’s heart seemed to sink suddenly. The heat in his body fell into his limbs, and deep in his chest, it felt as if a thousand-pound weight had been tied to him, dragging him into boiling water.

…The curse of undeath had returned to his body. But at the same time, it seemed like something else, something different, had also entered his body.

His fingertips were deathly pale, and his trembling hand reached forward, gripping Talli’s shoulder tightly.

“You… you…”

“It’s my heart, Deritz. It’s my heart.”

Talli spoke in an unusually relaxed tone, her expression calm, as she casually wiped the blood from the corner of her lips. “It will keep you alive, even after the power fades away.”

“…”

The young man’s expression collapsed and shattered inch by inch.

Unprecedented emotions spread and surged in his heart—those were Talli’s feelings of love. Her love was so pure and inclusive, yet it intruded into his closed and dark heart, igniting an eternal campfire that would never go out.

“Liar, liar…”

His face was pale, his teeth clenched, but the pain spread uncontrollably in his heart. “Didn’t you promise to stay by my side forever!?”

“I didn’t lie to you.”

Talli, seeing the youth nearly lose his sanity, remained unmoved emotionally. “My heart has indeed been with you. For hundreds of years, thousands of years… it will always be with you, Deritz.”

“You said you didn’t know how to love. I understand you. I think this heart can teach you how to love someone. It was you who gave me this true heart once,”

Talli said as she pulled off her veil and tossed it to the ground, swaying her body as she slowly stood up from him.

Now, she was the one looking down on him.

“Today, I return this heart to you, Deritz.”

Her words were like a poisoned blade, stabbing straight into his heart.

He had never been in so much pain before, so tortured, as though he were being torn apart. Her heart merged with his, bringing double the pain and sorrow, making him tremble with his pale lips, unable to say a word.

He didn’t even realize that his eyes were bloodshot until he suddenly grasped her hand. “I don’t believe it…”

His voice was frantic for the first time, trembling uncontrollably. “I don’t believe it… Talli, how could you so freely abandon… I don’t believe you don’t have any…”

“I do love you.”

Talli spoke, then continued, watching the light in the youth’s eyes fade little by little. “That’s exactly why I can return this burdensome heart to you.”

…Burdensome.

Yes, she had always thought that this heart was a burden.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?”

The girl lowered her lashes, seeing the youth’s heart seem to halt for a moment, fresh blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. “What does it feel like to understand love? The taste of having a weak spot isn’t pleasant, right? Because of this burdensome love, I was never able to be cruel to you in the past. I couldn’t reject you, tangled and tortured with this painful heart…”

“I’ve had enough.”

The girl said as she slowly crouched down, extending her hand and starting to pry apart his fingers, one by one.

“The pain in your heart, I’ve felt it just as much in the past. But from now on, I will never have to endure this torment again. This meaningless torment.”

Deritz coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood. His face was ashen, his blue hair stuck to his face by blood, and his wedding clothes were soaked with it. The joyous feast had turned into a broken celebration.

He tightly gripped her wrist, his reddened tears rolling down the corners of his eyes, unable to speak through his sobs.

“In the past, I didn’t know… I didn’t know… It was my fault, Talli, it’s all my fault, please… don’t leave me, don’t leave me…”

Talli paused for a moment, then spoke, “Deritz, do you know? If I had known you would one day beg pitifully like this… I would’ve thought,”

She lowered her lashes. “Perhaps our meeting was a mistake from the start.”

She pried open his index finger.

Her skin was marked with faint pink lines, much like the love and pain he had caused her, quickly fading away.

“A love built on lies, when the lies are exposed, it crumbles, just like a collapsing tower. I’ve never betrayed the dusk. The one who hated me has always been you. A heart shattered by lies, twisted love, and intimate relations… I no longer wish to have it. Thankfully, when the curse was cast, I returned it to you.”

She pried open two more fingers.

Outside the tower, a fierce wind was howling, as though the end of the world was near. Screams and chaotic footsteps could be heard, someone rushing in, shouting, “Your Highness—ahhh—”

It was a mess.

But no one dared to approach them.

Talli emotionlessly pried open two more fingers.

“Without this heart, I can return to my life, to my path.”

She pried open the remaining fingers, tore off the collar and ring that had no magic protection, and threw them in front of him.

“Deritz, thank you for the beautiful memories you gave me in these last moments. Let them serve as the conclusion to our lies. I once loved you.”

She said, “But compared to my freedom and my life, it’s nothing.”

After she spoke, she didn’t look back at him even once. She lifted the hem of her wedding dress, like a pure white bird flying gracefully, and left the banquet.

The world’s vortex had begun to turn.

Lina rushed out in a panic to find her. “Talli!! I almost thought it was the end of the world, are you okay… you’re bleeding! Are you hurt?”

“No.”

Talli smiled brightly at her. “I’m fine.”

She held Lina’s hand, crossing through the chaotic crowd, past the frightened elves and officers, over the layers of steps. As everyone felt the authority dissolve, sensing the end of the world as though the sky were falling, they ran toward the banquet, while only the two of them seemed like fish swimming against the current.

Lina ran alongside her, unable to stop herself from looking back. “Talli… what happened? Is something wrong with the Monarch? Where are you going?”

She stared blankly at the distant vortex. She and Talli had reached the top of the tower, where the world’s vortex had absorbed the power of authority, its swelling form seemingly within reach.

Talli took out a new mechanical bird and handed it to Lina. “This one can fly very far, far away. It’s for you.”

Lina didn’t take it. She just stared for a moment, as if sensing something, and asked her, “Are you leaving?”

“Yes,” Talli replied.

She didn’t say where she was leaving from, nor where she was going.

But there was no need to say. They both knew.

“I…” Lina slowly spoke, “I’ve always thought that you weren’t someone who would miss this world. You’re very detached, and you don’t have any sense of belonging here, much like me. I don’t dislike you or the time spent with you. So now that I see you’re leaving… I’m actually happy.”

She embraced Talli. “You gave me courage. I don’t want to stay in the center of the world anymore. I want to return to the elves, to go home and see my homeland and my family. Talli, I wish you well.”

She said, “I wish you a bright future and safe travels.”

The End

Translated By JustMeow18 

April 23, 2025 – Finished