Freesia (2)
How many hours had passed?
Reed, who had fainted, groaned and opened his eyes.
"Ugh…"
His whole body felt sore.
He couldn't properly get up.
Although the wounds on his body had all healed, the aftereffects still tormented Reed.
Reed forced himself to sit up anyway.
It wasn't a situation where he could afford to lie still.
'What happened to the fight with Master of Black Sky Tower?'
Reed looked up and saw nothing in front of him.
There was nothing left, like a plain swept away by a storm.
That place was originally where the mansion had been.
'What about those two?'
Freesia or Rosemary.
Considering the silence, one of them must have died.
Or perhaps both of them had died.
"Ugh!"
With that thought, Reed stepped on the ground and stood up from his seat.
It was to find Freesia.
He couldn't call her name out loud because his voice wouldn't come out.
He stumbled along, searching for a girl with his eyes.
He saw a girl sitting like a doll spread out on the wreckage of the mansion's outer wall.
'Rosemary? Freesia? Which one of them is it?'
Reed was cautious until the very end.
The last thing Reed saw was Rosemary, who wanted to erase everything, and Freesia walking towards her.
If Rosemary had won, it would have been the worst-case scenario.
'I'll have to take the chance.'
Reed walked toward the girl.
The girl, who didn't raise her head, spoke.
"Reed."
The girl called Reed's name familiarly.
"Black Sky Tower Master, you're alive."
"Why, are you coming because I'm alive?"
"Don't say such things."
"Hmph."
He could understand her being spiteful.
Freesia's clothes were reduced to rags, and her hair was disheveled.
Her mana, which maintained her perfect appearance, was completely depleted.
"I've never seen such a nasty woman in my life... She might even have a worse character than me."
"…"
"Say something. It's annoying to see you so gloomy. I wonder if I've done all this crap just to save someone like this."
"Why… did you give up?"
A moment of silence.
Freesia, who had been slumped, corrected her posture and sat up straight.
"Since Reed was the one who prearranged to kill me... I couldn't let anyone else do it. I guess I have some sort of affection for humans... even me."
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?"
"…"
Reed couldn't answer.
Freesia wasn't a very patient person.
"Tell me. What do you have to be sorry for, ouch!"
Freesia, who had been hitting the ground, quickly withdrew her hand.
"Why are you… huh?"
There was a shard of glass stuck in Freesia's hand.
Reed carefully removed the glass shard with his own hand.
Then, something surprising happened.
A red liquid began to bubble up between the white skin.
The two couldn't continue speaking.
They looked at each other and their fingers alternately, as if they had made an invention that would change human history.
"Reed, look at this. I... I'm bleeding."
"I... I see it too."
Reed's eyes widened.
Freesia started to shout with a face full of joy.
"My wounds don't heal anymore. The pain comes back. The curse, that damn curse is finally broken!"
Her joy was short-lived, as her eyebrows twitched.
"It hurts… It hurts so much… Why… Why does it hurt so much? Reed, it's not a holy sword, it's just a piece of glass… Why does it hurt so much?"
Freesia started to shiver.
It was a fear she had never felt before.
The face that once resembled the empress of the immortal was gradually distorted into a vulnerable girl.
Freesia, terrified, began to mutter.
"It's okay. I'm okay. I've made it this far on my own."
The always confident girl was shrinking and becoming smaller.
Her mind was like that of an old person, but her time had remained as a girl for decades.
How long had she lived in a world that no one could understand and wasn't understood?
Reed hugged her.
As Reed's touch reached her, Freesia looked up at him in surprise.
"What are you doing?"
"It's okay."
"What do you mean, okay? You pervert…!"
"You don't have to suffer alone. I'm here now, aren't I? I'll be on your side until I fulfill my promise."
"What are you saying? I… I am…"
Reed's breath touched Freesia's forehead.
It was so warm that it felt like her head would melt at any moment.
"Sometimes it's good to let out your emotions. Just... let it out, no one's watching."
"What... what are you saying..."
Freesia couldn't say anything in response to Reed's words.
Something rose up inside her throat as if she had cast a spell.
She couldn't stop the emotions from building up.
Freesia dug into Reed's arms.
Her life's regrets flashed through her mind, the ones she had never tried before and the ones she had always wanted to try.
"Huh... huaaaah!"
Freesia burst into tears.
She cried like a child, clinging to Reed's chest.
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***
Rosemary faced death.
As Freesia swallowed her, her cursed trait finally disappeared.
After that, Freesia cried for 30 minutes straight without a break.
Reed rubbed her back to help her calm down, worried that she might pass out from crying too much.
But the crying didn't stop there.
"Black Sky Tower Master?"
"...."
"Are you okay?"
Freesia seemed strange.
She looked up at Reed and then lowered her head, grabbing her sleeve with her fingertips.
She had turned into a weak girl who had just stepped into the world for the first time, not like an old woman who had lived for over a hundred years or an arrogant child.
Reed was at a loss.
'Is this regression to childhood?'
He felt that way when he saw her behavior.
It was something that could happen because the mental shock was so great.
Reed had no choice but to take off his coat and put it on her, asking, "Shall we go together?"
Freesia nodded her head in response.
When she held out her hand, she immediately grabbed Reed's finger tightly.
He had a stronger protective instinct than when he first met Rosaria.
Reed took Freesia and returned to the Silence Tower.
He had to be careful not to show Freesia's appearance to anyone, so he hid her appearance completely and returned to his room.
But his cautious behavior caused misunderstandings.
Phoebe became anxious, thinking that Reed had brought his hidden child with him.
Phoebe suddenly stormed into the bedroom, venting her feelings of betrayal, only to soon realize the misunderstanding and apologize.
Dolores, who belatedly heard the news from Phoebe, came to the Silence Tower coldly like the Ice Queen.
However, she soon realized the misunderstanding and apologized as well.
Seeing the fierce appearance of the two women, Reed humbly forgave them and vowed.
'Never cheat.'
Although he had no intention of doing so in the first place, the misunderstanding served as an opportunity for him to become more devoted to his family.
Anyway, Reed took great care of Freesia, who was in a state of regressive behavior, and Phoebe and Dolores also paid attention to her.
Freesia was wary of Phoebe and Dolores.
The only person she had opened her heart to was Reed.
No, there was one more person.
"It seems like big sister Freesia is a bit different from before."
Rosaria tilted her head as she looked at Freesia.
Since she was doing things she wouldn't have done before, even the dull Rosaria couldn't help but feel that something was strange.
"Freesia is in a lot of pain right now, so she might be a little different from before. Can Rosaria play well with her?"
"Leave it to Rosaria!"
Rosaria, full of confidence as if she had received a quest.
At first, she was wary of Rosaria, but gradually opened her heart as she recognized her as a peer.
The psychological shock was temporary, and she gradually transformed into a bright child.
Three days later, Freesia disappeared without a word.
There was no need to inquire, as he immediately received a message from the Black Sky Tower.
Whether her regression was temporary or not, she regained her original memories and returned to the Black Sky Tower.
Her loyal secretary, Ma-gun, informed him.
"Did she say anything in particular?"
- No. Is there something only you, Silent tower master, know?
"No, it's nothing."
- I see. I was a little worried because she wasn't acting like herself.
It seemed that Ma-gun also sensed that Freesia's condition was strange.
If Freesia herself didn't tell her secretary, there was no need to bring it up.
With that, Reed's role was over.
A few days later, a message arrived that the Master of the Black Sky Tower, Freesia, had died.
It was suicide.
Her death, who was considered immortal and never dying, plunged the continent into shock.
Why did the absolute being, who lacked nothing, make such an extreme choice as suicide?
He couldn't understand her heart.
A funeral was held at the Black Sky Tower.
The magicians of the Black Sky Tower sincerely mourned Freesia's death.
Although she was a tyrant in the tower's external image, she was a benefactor who gave them a new life and a guardian who protected those in the tower.
The funeral lasted for three days.
Reed didn't think she was dead.
He even saw her dressed up for the funeral, buried in flowers.
But she never died.
He was sure of that much.
Reed, who was strolling lightly on the walkway outside the tower, bowed his head.
"Did it have to be like this?"
What Reed was looking at was the deceased.
The cheeky brat with black hair, Freesia shrugged her shoulders.
"I think it's the best outcome I've thought of, isn't it?"
"It's quite shocking from my perspective, and for the others as well."
"Did you tell them?"
Freesia emitted a vicious aura, and Reed bowed his head.
"Would I? I was just too busy running around."
"Good. You keep your promises well."
Freesia hummed and patted Reed's buttocks.
Whether it was sexual harassment by a child with blood still not dry on her head or by an old lady...
"I'd like to say that only you and I know this secret... but maybe Helios has noticed."
"It's difficult to deceive the eye that watches over the whole continent."
"And he calmly said such things at my funeral? I want to go up right now and swear at him and make a mess."
Reed and Freesia recalled what he had said.
Although it was a sermon, if you listened carefully, it was an insult to Freesia's past.
No matter how flowery one’s ears were, it wouldn't sound nice.
"Your secretary is taking over the Black Sky Tower, is that okay?"
"Ma-gun is a capable kid. He's a guy worthy of being recognized as the Master of Black Sky Tower."
"Is he that good?"
"Of course. Ma-gun was the test subject I intended to use for my suicide. I trained him to be similar to me, and he has reached a certain level. There's no one under the Black Sky Tower who can beat Magun."
"What would you do if you had nothing to lose?"
"I don't know. I have to live like a wandering ghost."
"A ghost?"
"Yeah, the ones who can't leave this continent and wander around. Don't I have to live like that until I pass away?"
"That's unexpected. I thought you didn't like that kind of thing."
"I didn't like it originally. I don't like seeing change. Imagine the world flowing by while you're standing still. Wouldn't that make you angry?"
"I can't quite relate to that feeling."
Reed was a person who, no matter how well he did, remained an ordinary person.
Since he had never been in a special situation like Freesia, it was inevitable that he couldn't fully relate.
Either way, there was no extreme choice like suicide.
Reed thought that was fortunate enough.
Winter passes, and spring comes.
Flowers began to show their faces in the dry fields where the cold has not yet subsided.
It was Freesia.
The girl with black hair in the flowers, just like her name, caught the attention.
And she brought up the boring old story that she usually wouldn't have wanted to mention.
"Did you know? I named myself. No one else gave me a name."
"Your parents must have been like trash."
"That's right. They were garbage. So I had to kill them. I didn't doubt it."
Freesia carefully touched the flower bud.
"But sometimes I regret it. I should have asked them my name before I killed them. Even if they hadn't decided... I should have made them come up with one on the spot."
"If those damn people had named you, would you have used that name?"
"I wouldn't have used it, but at least it would have been nice to know. It would have been a reminder that I am human after all."
Reed crouched down next to her and asked.
"Then, should I give you a new name this time?"
"What?"
Freesia's eyes widened.
She looked like a young girl.
"You can't use the name Freesia anymore, right?"
"Right."
"Isn't it better to have a close friend name you?"
Freesia glanced at Reed.
Although there was hesitation in whether she could trust him, her curiosity couldn't be hidden.
Reed pretended to back off and gently pushed her back.
"I'll stop if you don't like it. It's like I'm overstepping my bounds."
"Ahem!"
Freesia grabbed Reed.
"Okay. I'll give you the glorious opportunity. Name me."
Freesia's other name.
When he thought about what would suit her, he finally came up with one.
"How about Lobelia?"
"Lobelia? Doesn't it overlap too much with Rosaria? Besides, the flower's meaning is dirty."
She seemed to complain, but then she laughed.
"Considering how inappropriate it is, it suits me now."
Freesia moved.
As Reed tried to follow her, she stopped him with her finger.
It meant they were parting ways here.
"Since it's the last time, can I ask you one favor?"
"What favor?"
"Bend one knee."
Reed complied with her words and bent his knee.
As their eyes met, Freesia reached out and touched his face.
It was a tender, attentive, and uncharacteristic touch.
Freesia wanted to remember the feel of his face, thinking this was their last meeting.
It wasn't the emotion of love.
She just didn't want to forget that, for the first time, there was a human she could trust.
'Is this some kind of torment?'
Reed couldn't know Freesia's heart.
He just thought it was torment and endured it quietly.
After touching him for a while, Freesia took her hand away.
"I'm a trashy woman, Reed."
"I know. Everyone in the world remembers you."
"You really have no charm at all."
Freesia grumbled and created an umbrella. She walked towards the naked forest.
"Come to me if you need help anytime, Lobelia."
At that, Freesia, no, Lobelia stopped and turned her head.
She replied.
"I'll send a letter."
With an uncharacteristic smile.
That's how they said their goodbyes.
Spring.
Spring has come.
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