Is That My Alter Ego

Chapter 142 – Love

“”···········””

In the small room, no sound could be heard.

Not even the noise that should naturally arise from a human, nor the sound of breathing, nor the murmur of speech.

Only the faint noise of the torrential rain, marking the end of autumn, drifted in from the window.

Your lady gazes at a person who sleeps as if dead. With eyes that have lost their vitality, never blinking, and a body that stirs not at all, one could easily mistake her for a doll.

Tears flow from the hollow eyes of one woman. They trickle down her face, falling to the floor and creating a small sound. Yet even that tiny noise feels like a great shock in this room, so eerily silent it could drive one mad.

Sadness and despair begin to spread. Drops of water flow again and again, falling to the floor.

Already… two months have passed. Since Venice suddenly collapsed, lost in a sleep that seemed like death.

They remember that moment. When the being they loved more than anything in this world, whom they cherished and would protect with their very lives, called out to them.

But calamity always arrives unexpectedly. Venice, who had called to them as usual, suddenly clutched her head and staggered, collapsing right there.

“Ve, Venice—!”

I cannot even recall who shouted. Perhaps it was the four women who, witnessing his fall, cried out in unison.

As soon as they saw Venice lose her strength and fall, they leapt toward the balcony, rushing to her side.

“Venice! Why so suddenly…?”

“Commander! What is happening…?”

“…Venice.”

“Master…?”

In mere moments, they reached Venice, calling out the name of their beloved as they approached, yet he, who always welcomed them with a radiant smile, did not respond.

They gazed at him, lying on the cold floor with eyes closed, and exchanged glances filled with trembling uncertainty.

Without words, they understood. This situation… was it not all too familiar? It felt as if the darkest, most despairing moment of their lives was resurrecting, a memory akin to an unforgettable nightmare.

First, Ariel embraced Venice’s body and began to heal him with magic.

Pure magical energies began to converge within Ariel, and the vibrant green light, brimming with vitality, flowed into Venice’s form.

“……”

But Venice did not open his eyes. The women, save for Ariel, looked at her in silence. Their gazes seemed to carry a reprimanding weight, questioning whether she was truly doing the right thing.

“…There’s no problem. Venice’s body is… perfectly fine, without a trace of pain.”

“Shut up, don’t talk nonsense! Then why the hell did Venice suddenly collapse!”

“If the Master isn’t hurt, then why…”

“…Are you sure, Ariel?”

With Ariel’s hollow response, doubt began to creep into the hearts of all.

Though they had resolved to erase the hostility towards one another at Venice’s request, their minds had spiraled into chaos, rendering them incapable of sound judgment.

Ariel bore all the accusations in silence. Had it been any other day, she would have retorted immediately or mocked them, yet now she simply stared at Venice without a word.

Having lived alongside Venice, Ariel had grown more expressive with her emotions, yet now her eyes began to reflect the emptiness of their first, worst encounter.

As they beheld Ariel’s face, a lump of anxiety began to swell within their hearts.

Drip—

“I… I don’t know either. I’m saying I don’t know…”

“……”

Tears began to flow from Ariel’s vacant eyes. The one who had always maintained her composure now stuttered and sobbed.

Having always harbored a veiled hostility towards one another, they had assessed each other’s abilities, and thus they understood Ariel’s power as well.

Overwhelming offensive magic. The purest magical essence among the four of them, and its totality.

And… after a ‘slight quarrel’ that avoided Venice’s gaze, they had always experienced healing magic, forged in secret to conceal their wounds.

That healing magic… could easily be deemed divine. It involved channeling magic into the target’s body, reading the flow of their being, and identifying the problematic areas.

Then, through an overwhelming amount of magical energy and a genius application of that power, it reversed the wounds as if they had never existed. That was Ariel’s healing magic.

At Venice’s request, they had occasionally witnessed her casting spells for those in need on the streets.

Severed arms restored, and those who had lived with disabilities returned to wholeness—a nonsensical miracle.

They had reached the pinnacle of this world, yet Ariel’s case was somewhat different. Thus, even those who had envied and resented one another often found themselves wishing for Ariel’s abilities.

“Venice is fine… But then why…”

Eriel began to weep. No one present could grasp the meaning of her anguished cries, as if the words she struggled to form were lost in the air.

Thud.

Royu sank to the ground. Beside the bed where Venice lay in deep slumber, Royu stared blankly at her face.

“Oh, no. This can’t be. This is a nightmare. A nightmare…”

Kali tore at her hair, denying the reality that surrounded her. Her eyes, aimlessly trembling, were a pitiful sight.

“…Ah.”

Seris was under the delusion that she had already stepped into a nightmare. In a desperate bid to escape this horrific and brutal dream, she swung the blessed sword Venice had given her against her own neck, but the blade that had cleaved countless monsters could not even scratch her skin.

“…”

Since the day this house was built, it had never been so horrifically silent.

Only the sounds of someone weeping, murmuring incoherently, and the clang of steel striking steel echoed through the stillness.

“…No.”

And in that moment, rising above the suffocating despair, Royu opened her mouth. All eyes turned to her, yet those gazes were devoid of life.

“Venice… will surely return to us. She promised, didn’t she?”

Promise. They all began to recall Venice’s words at once.

The vow that she would never leave their side again, that she would not depart to some distant place.

“…I believe. Venice will definitely come back. Until that day… we just have to wait.”

Even Royu’s voice, uttering such words, trembled. Her words were not only meant for the other women but also a mantra she whispered to herself, as if to convince her own heart.

Yes. Let’s believe. In the words of the one who saved us. In the promise that held no deceit.

In the eyes that had been steeped in despair, a flicker of hope began to stir.

A day passed.

Venice still lay asleep.

Three days passed.

Now they smiled, no longer doubting that Venice would return. After three days, surely Venice would awaken soon.

A week passed.

Venice still did not rise. The false smiles and laughter began to crack.

Two weeks passed.

The facade of falsehood shattered completely. The reality that Venice remained unresponsive, which they had turned away from and denied, began to cast a heavy shadow of despair over them.

Three weeks passed.

Seris, Eriel, and Kali crumbled, weeping as they stared blankly at Venice, like dolls frozen in sorrow.

…Royu had not yet lost hope. As if she could not hear any sound around her, she repeated her murmurs with bloodshot eyes, clinging to the fragile thread of belief.

A month has passed.

The murmurs of Royu have ceased. The light known as hope has completely extinguished, leaving only despair in their gazes.

Time flows cruelly, onward and onward. At last, two months have slipped by since Venice fell, and we find ourselves in the present.

For two months, they have eaten nothing, and even sleep has eluded them. Yet, they remain alive.

For the first time, they cursed their existence as superhumans, having transcended the limits of humanity.

Standing there, frozen, they gaze down at Venice, tears streaming down like marionettes. Now, even thinking has become a struggle.

…Rustle.

The echoes they had heard countless times began to resound. At this point, a month later, they were tormented daily by hallucinations and phantoms.

A dreamlike vision of Venice rising, calling their names, embracing them warmly.

But illusions are always destined to shatter. Awakening from the sweet dream, what awaited them was only the despair that returned, doubled, from the moments of happiness they once knew.

…Crackle.

Again. Venice’s fingers begin to twitch. It seems as if her small mouth is mumbling.

“U…um.”

How long has it been since they heard this voice? For those who had lost the thread of Venice, it felt like a refreshing rain in a drought.

Flash.

Venice opened her eyes. This was the most realistic illusion they had ever experienced. Their hollow eyes flickered with a hint of life.

“Yawn…”

Venice let out a yawn. It must be a hallucination, but the adorable sight they had always longed for appeared before them, and they felt a smile creeping onto their faces.

Slowly, Venice began to lift her upper body. Rubbing her eyes, stretching her limbs. Then, as she surveyed the room with sleepy eyes, she turned to look at them, and her body froze.

“…Uh. Everyone? Why are you just standing there?”

“”…””

No one answered Venice’s words. It must be an illusion. More real than reality, a Venice they never wanted to wake from.

Venice tilted her head, gazing at them. But as soon as she saw the deep despair and sorrow etched on their faces—something she had never witnessed before—her complexion began to pale.

…Soon, Venice would flash a bright smile at us, only to vanish like dust. As if she had never existed at all, fading into nothingness.

It had always been this way. The illusion had opened the tightly shut doors of their hearts, only to vanish like a lie when they were finally ready to embrace that moment.

…Smile for us, Venice. I know it’s an illusion, but I will love even that part of you.

They wished for the realistic illusion to smile back. The Venice of their dreams was the very source that dragged them into the abyss of despair, yet she was also the one who offered them a glimmer of hope to keep living.

“…Why is everyone like this?”

But instead of the smile they had expected from Venice, she looked at them with an expression that seemed on the verge of tears.

Their eyes widened. This couldn’t be. The illusion had always… smiled at them before vanishing.

Behold Venice. Tears welling, as if she might weep at any moment. So achingly real, so endearingly sweet.

Yet… this too must be an illusion. A specter that appears to drive another shard of love into our shattered hearts.

This grotesque yet lovely, despairing yet hopeful vision will rend our souls to tatters.

Venice springs from the bed, rushing toward us. Her urgent expression, her tearful gaze, her small frame—everything about her is enchanting.

…If only just once. I longed to feel her warm presence. The void left by the warmth of love that sustains their lives was too raw and cold.

With a rush—!

“”········!””

“···I’m sorry. I must be… too late, right?”

Venice envelops them all at once. Though her body is small, she gathers them with all her might. As Venice’s warmth spreads, their eyes begin to widen.

…It’s strange. It must be an illusion. This too must surely… be an illusion. Yet it feels so warm and loving.

It must be an illusion—

“···I love you.”

This is no illusion. Venice has never once… uttered those words to us.

Only then do tears, named hope, begin to gather in their once-empty eyes.

So warm, so meltingly sweet, that word. The one they had yearned for all their lives, the one they had longed to hear but feared to ask for, spills from Venice’s lips in that moment.

After two months of growing cold, of breaking, shattering, and being utterly destroyed, their hearts begin to slowly piece themselves together.

Hearts that seemed to have forgotten how to beat now thrum with vigor. Tears of despair begin to flow, spilling forth.

And they cascade down. As if to represent all the despair and sorrow that had accumulated until now, they flow unrestrained.

“Ugh, hwaaah…”

“Lady… Huhhh…”

“Uwaah… Master… Venice…”

“Ven… ice. Ugh, hwaaah…!”

The dolls, trapped in the prison named despair, writhe once more. With voices that crack and break, they wail to the world like children.

The weeping does not cease for a long while. There are still many tears left to shed, enough to melt away all the emotions that had built up over two months.

Venice holds their trembling bodies tightly, waiting in silence.

“Truly… you’ve really come back…? This is an illusion…”

“No. I am… not an illusion.”

At the sound of Venice’s answer, Royu’s sobs grow louder. Perhaps reassured by Venice’s words, they all weep even more fervently.

The tears continue for a long time. Outside the window, the wind howls madly, pouring down like a torrential rain.

But… if there is always a beginning, there must also be an end. The despair and sorrow that seemed insurmountable have all vanished, swept away by true love.

Still sniffling, tears streaming down, they had calmed enough to speak.

Watching them, Venice smiled bitterly.

“…I’m sorry. I took too long…”

“What on earth… what happened… sniff!?”

“They just… looked at me. Their feelings, even their memories, all of it.”

They tilted their heads, as if struggling to grasp the meaning. Venice opened his mouth to explain, but shook his head and began to gaze at each of them in turn.

What was needed now… was not an explanation.

“…Deputy Seris.”

“…!!”

“Lady Ariel.”

“…Uh, um?”

“…Kaliya.”

“Master…?”

“And… Royu.”

“…”

Their faces, their personalities, were surely a bit different from that time.

The moment Venice spoke their names, their gazes met his.

Each of them conjured their own ‘Venice’ in their minds.

To some, he was the scarred, stoic leader of the Sky Mercenaries, brimming with kindness.

To another, he was the only butler, both sly and earnest.

To yet another, he was the savior of their lives, the revolutionary who had rescued Espilia.

And to someone else, he was the one true love, the boyfriend who had always stood by their side, his image reflecting in their small faces.

“…”

All stared blankly at Venice. And in that moment, as their gazes converged, Venice, with tears glistening in his eyes, smiled more brilliantly than any other smile and spoke.

“…I love you. Always, for a lifetime.”

Like an angel descended from the heavens. A voice more beautiful than that of any angel, soothing and warm to the heart.

And… at the words of love they had only imagined, they all wept yet smiled.

“I love you… Captain.”

“I love you too…”

“…I will always love you.”

“Love you····!”

In that moment, when each laid bare their true feelings for the other, no one wore a frown.

Embracing tightly, they exchanged smiles laced with tears. Before long, the storm and dark clouds had vanished, leaving only the warm rays of the brilliant sunlight to gently bathe them.