Chapter Twenty One

At those words, he composed himself and sneered.

“Well done. It was shockingly similar.”

Those cold words stabbed straight through my heart.

It wasn’t unexpected. He had believed that I was dead for many years, and for me to suddenly appear in front of him…

Hadel’s expression twisted as he spat out his next words.

“She’s dead. That’s why there’s no way you’re Asha.”

“…Hadel.”

“Shut up! Someone like you… How dare you speak that name with those lips?”

Hadel took out his sword and pointed it at me.

I had no idea how many times he’d pointed a sword at me after I’d come here.

“I’m not scared at all. You told me you’d protect me with that sword.”

I slowly put my hand on top of Hadel’s pointed sword.

As I did that, Hadel’s flinched visibly, before taking a step back.

He must’ve been angry at the fact that he’d startled, for he hardened his expression and started pushing me.

“Speak. I was going to just ignore it and let it pass, but you crossed the line. I can’t let this go any longer. Where did you learn about all of this? Who taught you this?”

Hadel was trembling.

His sword, which had always been so straight, was faintly shaking.

I took another step towards Hadel.

“I didn’t die, Hadel. Look at me. I’m alive like this.”

Bypassing Hadel’s outstretched sword, I got a little bit closer, and looked at him in the eye.

Despite the grave atmosphere and the fact that his expression was changing by the second, I could feel myself about to smile.

Since the mere fact that I was standing across from you made me so happy.

“Isn’t the reason you brought me here because you thought that I was Ashella?”

“…You said you were being monitored. That’s why I’m humoring you, so I could hear what you had to say. There’s no other reason.”

“Lies.”

At my immediate response, Hadel frowned, as if uncomfortable.

“Your habit of raising your left eyebrow when you lie is still the same.”

What should I do now?

What should I say to Hadel?

My own head was this complicated; how much more confusing would it be for him?

That’s why I understood. Why he was denying it like this.

“It’s a relief that you can see well now. What do you think? Is my face as you imagined it?”

A cloud veiled the moon, which had been shining its light on us.

Within the darkness, I put my hand atop Hadel’s.

His cold hand was still trembling.

Hadel could not shake my hand off.

All he did was stare at me endlessly.

I continued to speak amidst the deep darkness in which we could barely see each other.

“Listen. How’s my voice? And the feeling of my hand?”

At each of my words, Hadel’s hand flinched.

Although he didn’t reply, his trembling got worse.

Then, the moon showed itself once more.

“…Why.”

He was dawning the saddest expression in the world.

“If you’re truly Asha, then why did you… throw me away until now?”

“I didn’t throw you away.”

“Why didn’t you come to find me? Why, why, why?!”

“…Hadel.”

“I kept waiting. Thinking you must be alive somewhere. I looked and looked again.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I found you. You, Asha, after you were completely burned away… I found you.”

Hadel’s voice was watery.

My vision was slowly starting to get blurry too.

“Was that truly me? Did you check properly? How did you confirm it was me without even knowing how I looked?”

Hadel had not been able to see my face.

I’d heard that when the entirety of the de Ach Duchy had burned to the ground, there wasn’t even a single portrait of me left.

“Your necklace. You were wearing the blue necklace I had sent you as soon as I arrived at the palace.”

“Ah, that.”

I’d thrown it after being chased by bandits.

Thinking they were chasing after me because of the necklace, I’d thrown it far, but none of them changed their direction toward the necklace.

As if their original target had always been me.

They paid no mind to the necklace.

“Hm… I lost it while running away. What you saw wasn’t me, Hadel.”

I told him the truth for the time being, deciding to tell him the specifics later.

And Hadel no longer asked any questions.

“It makes no sense. There’s no way. There’s no way.”

Instead, he kept blinking and repeating his words like someone who’d lost it.

“It’s definitely a trap. This is Valkirino’s plan to make me go crazy…”

It seemed like Hadel’s contorted eyes would have tears dripping from them soon.

“Why is it that your voice sounds like Asha’s? Why does Asha’s scent come from you? How do you know the things that only Asha and I know…?”

“Because I’m Ashella.”

“Ha… Haha. I must have truly gone crazy. That’s what’s happened. In the end, I’ve truly gone crazy. Asha, while looking for you, I…”

Hadel, staring at me sorrowfully from underneath the moonlight, was now speaking in a completely different voice than before.

“Hadel. You’re not crazy. Look, touch me. You often touched my face with your hands, wondering how I looked.”

At my words, Hadel started slowly reaching out, as if bewitched by something.

This time it wasn’t to threaten me as all the previous times had been.

His fingers approached me with caution, brushing my silver hair to the side before gently grasping at it.

The hair fell softly through his fingers.

He gently grasped at it once more, before they fluttered down.

He repeated these actions several times, before carefully bending over.

And as soon as his lips touched my hair.

Drip.

At the same time, one of the clear tears that had welled up in his eyes dropped onto my silver hair.

Hadel, who was frozen in place for a few seconds, then put his hands on my cheeks.

He gently grabbed my cheeks, which had become cold in the chilly wind, before letting them go, and repeated this, before moving on to my nose.

Then, my forehead.

Then, my two eyes.

And lastly, my soft lips…

Uncontrollable tremors accompanied his fingers as they landed ever so slowly.

As if he was a child who didn’t want to let go of an illusion that would soon disappear.

“Hadel.”

Because seeing him like that was so worrisome, I slowly called him by his pet name once more.

His hands, which had been touching my face here and there as if touching a precious treasure, froze.

Drip.

“Darling…?”

Drip. Drop.

“Real… R-Really…?”

His pink eyes were crumpled.

His tears, which welled up without stopping, dripped down his white cheek before falling just like that.

He kept crying like that, without a sound.

Just look at this crybaby.

Who could look at him and call him a crazy tyrant when he was such a tender-hearted child?

“Yeah, yeah. It’s really me. So stop crying.”

As I brushed Hadel’s black hair, it seemed like more tears were pouring down.

His pouring tears seemed like a broken faucet.

“Gosh, this crybaby. Come here.”

Holding out my arms, I hugged Hadel, who could do nothing but cry, to my chest.

Although he’d gotten much bigger than me, so it was almost as if I was the one being hugged now.

“Heeeeeuk. Asha, Asha…!”

A familiar temperature.

A familiar scent.

And even familiar sobs.

Only then did I realize that I’d truly returned.

My other half, whom I’d had no recollection of for ten years, was finally by my side. I was finally whole again.

“Yeah, I’m back.”

My anxiety, which had been tightly rolled up until now, finally let go.

How had I lived while forgetting about someone like you until now?

How had I lived ten years without you, who completed me like this?

“Asha. Asha…”

“Yeah, Hadel. You missed me, right? You waited a long time, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really. Really… Heuk. Heuuuk. Asha! Why! Just why! H-Heuk…! Why now!”

The weeping Hadel seemed just like a young child.

Hadel, who had endured it until now and had not cried at all, cried so clumsily while pouring out all of his emotions.

Seeing him like this was so deeply saddening, and it made my heart ache so much that I continuously wiped Hadel’s dripping tears.

“I’m sorry. I forgot about you for ten years. I lost my memories. I couldn’t remember anything. Not even who I was.”

Hadel wrapped his arms around me even tighter.

I could feel his heart pounding even more strongly.

Hearing how it had started racing even faster than earlier, my heartbeat, as well, began to speed up.

“Asha, my beloved Asha. My Asha. Asha… Is it really you? Are you really Asha?”

“Of course. It’s really me, Hadel. Your wife.”

“This isn’t a dream? This isn’t a dream, right? It’s really you in front of me?” Hadel asked me repeatedly.

He kept confirming.

Whether I was really Asha.

And each time, I responded.

“Yeah, Hadel. The person in front of you is really me. Your Asha.”

“I thought you were dead. I just thought you were dead. That’s why I…”

“You dummy. How could you live like you were crazy for ten years because of that? Even after you’d become Emperor.”

I knocked Hadel’s forehead with my own.

Along with this light tap, our gazes met.

“Asha. I tried to die. Because there was no point living in a world without you. Regardless of whether I was the Emperor or not. I didn’t need any of it.”

“…Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“But now I need it. I thought to myself, ‘I’m glad I’m the Emperor.’”

“Hm? Why?”

For some reason, I felt a wave of anxiety.

Hadel’s pink eyes glowed with determination.

Wait. Whenever he made up his mind like this, some kind of accident…

“Now I can get a simple revenge for those who tried to kill you, Asha.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll kill them all, Asha.”

Huh? Wait. You’ll kill them all?

But he wasn’t originally someone who spoke such harsh words, was he?

He was a crybaby who was extremely shy… and… kind?

Well, of course, he had shown a few dangerous sides to me until now.

Aiming a sword at me, trying to choke me, sneering at me, and saying harsh words to me…?

Wait, now that I thought about it, it wasn’t just a few.

Regardless, Hadel had originally been a very soft-hearted kid.

Thinking I had died, he could have acted and spoken in a crooked manner, but now, he should go back to normal.

“W-Wait, Hadel. What are you-”

I couldn’t finish what I was saying.

Hadel, who grinned at me, came closer and pecked me on my lips.

A warm and soft feeling.

A feeling I’d missed like crazy.

Ah, whatever.

Now that I’d found my baby, it was okay.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around Hadel’s neck.

I could taste a sweet yet salty flavor permeating through my lips.

Gosh, I told you not to cry.

The time that had engulfed us had finally started to flow once more.

---

tl & qc: youj; pr: maple

youj: FINALLYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! i’ve been waiting for this :’)

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