Chapter 171. Your Farewell
A wedding ceremony that ended in less than a minute! Yet the guests seed satisfied with this progressive celebration.
Liam Moore raised his other arm to caress my cheek. Honestly, I couldn’t hear what Herschel said after that. All I could see was Liam, and my mind was completely filled with this man. Then he said:
“Kiss .”
How could I refuse?
I leaned down and pressed my lips to his. It wasn’t a deep, lingering kiss. Our moist lips parted with a soft sound, and Liam’s head followed mine regretfully. I gently held him back with my palm and whispered.
“You need to put down. We should wrap this up properly.”
“Mmm.”
This stubborn man. Only after kissing my palm a couple more tis did Liam Moore finally set down. Only then did I notice my neck feeling slightly warm. I caught sight of Ranfield foolishly whistling until Lucita gave him a good smack.
We were married. The rings steadfastly guarded our fingers. He was Liam Moore, and I was Jane Moore.
I threw the bouquet to Mary. Catching it with a flushed face, Mary shouted loudly.
“Miss! Congratulations on your marriage!”
It was a frighteningly perfect wedding.
* * *
That evening, Hisford was quiet. Normally, it would have been bustling with an after-party, but Liam had to send everyone ho. And we moved to a small villa far behind Nifoisse Hall, near the cliff.
The villa was perfectly prepared for newlyweds to spend their wedding night, but we were just standing awkwardly in the garden. The sea wind whipped around us.
“The problem is how to get back.”
“Wasn’t there a way?”
“Well, before, El would always rescue when I was about to die. But now the notebook won’t even listen, and I can’t exactly try dying…”
The wind grew more fierce. Liam carefully pulled close and held . Wrapped tightly in his coat, the cold couldn’t reach .
I thought about calling out like during the ‘Black King’ incident, but then rembered I didn’t know El’s real na. Ah, whatever. Let’s just go for it. Ṟ𝒶ꞐỒʙĘS
“El!”
I shouted. The black sea crashed against the cliffs, swallowing my voice entirely.
“El! You need to send ho!”
“No need to rush, I’ll co when I’m ready.”
Eek! I scread and whirled around.
El stood behind us. Below the dark robe, I could see unnaturally white skin on that small fra. It was imdiately obvious they weren’t human.
“So… El,” Liam murmured slowly. He had clearly noticed sothing I hadn’t. El chuckled.
“Rather presumptuous naming, wasn’t it?”
“Indeed. El from Elohim.”
“The true na is better kept hidden, after all.”
El reached out and extracted from Liam’s embrace. My brown hair scattered in the night sky. Beneath the hood, El’s lower face showed a gentle smile.
“Where’s the notebook?”
I didn’t know where the notebook was. I hadn’t thought to look for it since throwing myself into the Thas.
But the answer ca from behind . Liam, who had been silent, searched his pockets. What erged in his hand was my notebook. Having been soaked and dried, the pages were all wrinkled and warped.
As El took it, light grew stronger in their hand until the notebook lted into El’s skin and disappeared. They spoke:
“Ti and space are always watched by many ‘’s. I lent you a part of it to help you adapt safely to this world.”
“Adapt…”
“The perception of ‘ga’ surrounding you. Without that, you couldn’t have made it this far.”
El gently stroked my hair and waved their hand lightly.
That’s when the door appeared at the point where the cliff’s edge t the black horizon. Like the door Liam had found in his consciousness, it was an ordinary door.
I stared at it, entranced. Sothing… Even though it was night, I had the strange feeling it wasn’t night beyond that door.
El said:
“Just open the door and walk through.”
The first ti is always difficult, but the second is very easy. Yes, that’s how it was. Whether pointing a gun at my head, acting recklessly, or running to Liam Moore. Once you take that first step, what follows becos frighteningly easy.
I wondered how much more I could get used to.
My feet unconsciously stepped on the grass atop the cliff. The faded winter grass crunched beneath my steps.
I was taking one step at a ti, as if the door was pulling in, when—
“Are you going?”
A voice called out. It was an unexpected question.
Liam Moore was gazing at steadily. It had been a while since I’d seen an expression I couldn’t read on his face.
I’d always thought I knew Liam Moore’s expressions. That I could imdiately tell what he was thinking by looking at his eyes, that he was an easier man to read than expected.
But what was this expression now?
His utterly unreadable expression and deeply sunken eyes held in place. Like a frozen lake showing no emotion, yet why did it grab at my nerves so? Was it because I knew water was rippling beneath that thick ice?
“I have to go,” I answered lightly. “I’m not from here.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m from a different world than you.”
“…That’s also true.”
When I opened my arms, Liam ca running. He rushed to as if I might disappear the mont he took his eyes off , and embraced . I knew I would deeply miss this warmth.
He kept pressing his lips to my cheeks and forehead while whispering:
“…Try not to rember for too long.”
What a ridiculous thing to say. How could I not rember you?
But Liam’s words didn’t stop there.
“Just, rember sotis in your dreams. Forget when you wake up. Live an ordinary, wonderful life. Think ‘There was soone like that’ when the seasons change, then let it go.”
“And what about you?”
“I…”
His voice trailed off. Then he showed a faint smile. With that smile, I seed to understand sothing.
You’ll rember all day long, won’t you? Rembering to the point of exhaustion throughout your life…
“Why are you making that face, Jane Moore?”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell what expression I was wearing now. I didn’t want to ask and hear the answer either. So I obviously changed the subject.
“I think I know why it’s so hard to leave you behind.”
He gazed at steadily.
Even in that mont, I was deeply etching into my mind those sparkling eyes, those eyes where tiny star fragnts slowly swirled. Trying to morize how he looked.
Enough that if soone asked what the man I loved so deeply looked like, I could draw him with my eyes closed. Clear and distinct.
“I just liked you in any form. Whether lazy or roguish, ill-tempered or willful… You always had sothing dazzlingly beautiful that caught my eye. So I keep wanting more and more. Just one more ti. Just one more… because then it feels like you might stay with .”
The arms holding slowly loosened their grip.
“You know what? If I’ve co to love even the way you’re reluctant to part, would you smile?”
After a long mont of staring at with wide eyes, he slowly broke into laughter. The muffled sound of his laughter under the sea wind was so lovely that, if I could, I wanted to cut out this mont and take it with .
“Do you love ?”
He asked, catching his breath. I finally managed to give the answer I had practiced many tis.
“Enough to live for you. More than anything.”
Only then did Liam show an expression of relief.
“That’s enough.”
The door was within reach. I could open this door and step through whenever I chose.
El, who had been waiting patiently until our conversation ended, spoke:
“While you’re going, think about where you want to go. It’ll be easier to find if you think of the place you desire most deeply in your heart.”
Now I wouldn’t see El and that black space again either.
At first, I was truly terrified. A sea of churning blood waves. But now, for who had co to the end of “Misty London,” even that mont seed like it would beco a mory soday.
Let’s set aside regrets. I gripped the cold doorknob.
“Take care.”
“Goodbye, El.”
“Goodbye, Jane.”
“…Farewell, Liam Moore.”
I turned the doorknob.
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