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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“……?”
For a moment, I thought I had misheard.
Was it possible that Isabella was hiccuping?
“…Umm. You suddenly wrapped your arms around my waist, so I was surprised, I didn’t mean to- hic!”
As she tried to make a belated excuse, Isabella started hiccuping again.
I couldn’t see her face because I was hugging her from behind, but judging from her ears getting redder than before, she seemed quite embarrassed.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t considered how big of a stimulus hugging her from behind would be for her current self.
‘Well, she’s never had any physical contact with a man before…’
Witch.
Isabella had the nickname of a witch, but that was actually an exaggeration of rumors.
I knew that Isabella, unlike others, had a girlish sensibility that was no different from other women.
“Hic! Ugh… wh, why is this happening? Haha… Commoner, don’t mind it. It’ll be fixed soon- hic!”
It seemed that she had a bad case of the hiccups.
It would probably last at least 30 minutes, and if that happened, it would be impossible to put her to sleep within 15 minutes.
“Wait a minute. I’ll make it stop soon.”
So, I removed the curtain that was surrounding us and went to the instructor.
To get cold water and a cup.
“Cold water and a cup? That won’t help with sleep.”
“It’s to stop the hiccups.”
“……? Well, alright. I’m sure you have a plan.”
The instructor said, ‘I’m sure you have a plan,’ and gave me a cup and water.
It seemed that my reputation had reached even this instructor.
Judging from the fact that he handed over the cup and water without much concern.
Anyway, when I returned to where Isabella was with the cup and water, she was sitting on the bed, washing her face with a dry towel.”
She seemed to be quite embarrassed.
“Um, Lady Isabella.”
“!”
Isabella flinched, and her hair bristled like a cat’s fur.
She glared at me with a flushed face.
Hic!
After hiccuping once, she spoke in a small voice.
“Y, you’re back? But is that all? You said you’d stop the hiccups- hic!”
Isabella looked at what I was holding with a dubious expression.
However, I approached her with a smirk.
After filling the paper cup with water, I stood in front of her and said.
“You can stop it just by drinking water. From now on, just follow exactly what I do.”
I said that and demonstrated.
First, I stood upright,
then bent my waist 90 degrees.
Isabella’s expression became strangely distorted.
However, I looked straight ahead without caring.
Bending my waist 90 degrees and looking straight ahead.
It was a very comical posture, but it was the best way to stop hiccups.
In that position, I drank a little water from the paper cup and said,
“If you drink water in this difficult posture… you can stop the hiccups. Drink all the water in the cup.”
“……”
She looked at me as if she had seen something unbelievable.
Yes, it was a bit eccentric.
But this was the way to stop the hiccups, and it was Isabella’s turn to do it.
“Come on, try it now.”
So, I filled the cup with water again and handed it to Isabella.
With a displeased look, she replied,
“Is this, really effective- hic! ? …The posture is too…”
“I guarantee it. If you just do as I say, it will definitely stop, so try it.”
The method to stop hiccups…
I had searched for it on YouTube before.
And this method had always stopped all hiccups.
Finally, with a look of reluctance, Isabella grabbed the cup and said,
“If it doesn’t work, you’re in trouble.”
She stood up with the cup.
As expected of a daughter of a high-ranking ducal family, she seemed to be somewhat mindful of my gaze.
However, when I urged her, ‘Hurry up,’ she eventually bent her waist 90 degrees.
And she raised her head forward.
Her ears were completely red, as if they were about to explode.
-Gulp… gulp… gulp…
But even with a dissatisfied expression, she followed my instructions well.
The water in the paper cup that was rippling began to disappear.
Eventually, when all the water in the paper cup was gone, she hurriedly raised her upper body.
“……”
And waited.
To see if the hiccups would start again.
“Oh…?”
It didn’t.
My method had worked.
Isabella smiled brightly and said.
“It really… worked?”
“See? I told you it would work.”
A natural smile spread across Isabella’s face.
She smiled like an innocent child, not an artificial expression like she usually wore to look down on others.
“You really know a lot. To think you could even solve this.”
“It’s just trivia. Shall we try again? There are less than 10 minutes left now.”
“Oh right. We were in class.”
Isabella chuckled and climbed onto the bed.
Now, she seemed to have lost some of her initial embarrassment and was waiting for me with a relaxed appearance.
“Ahem.”
However, her defenseless appearance was somewhat sensual. I coughed once in vain.
Then, I climbed onto the bed where she was, approached her from behind, and wrapped one arm around her waist.
Flinch! Her body trembled, but it was only for a moment.
“……”
But this time, I was the problem.
My mind went blank.
I had to do something, but how did I put her to sleep?
Games and reality were on a different level.
How could I maintain my composure when hugging such a beautiful girl from behind?
“Pfft…”
At that time, Isabella burst into laughter.
She suddenly grabbed my hand and said,
“Your breathing is quite rough. You get flustered too, huh?”
“……”
“What a relief. Until now, I felt like a child, but now I feel a bit more equal.”
Isabella said that and pulled my arm further inward as if to provoke me.
However, judging from her ears which were red as if they were about to explode, it seemed that Isabella was also trying her best to act calm and bluff.
Thanks to that, I was able to relax.
“Ahem. Then I’ll start. Shall we try image association first?”
I said that and closed my eyes.
And I recalled the memory of putting her to sleep in the previous playthrough.
Suddenly, a pure white snowfield unfolded before me.
However, the flesh of monsters and demons was scattered around.
The stench was so strong that it made my head tingle.
But in the middle of it were me and Isabella.
Isabella was in my arms, gasping for breath.
Haah- haah- Every time she exhaled a rough breath, white puffs of air scattered into the void.
Eventually, she reached out and stroked my cheek.
[Put me to sleep, one last time. I want to fall asleep listening to your voice.]
A large hole pierced her abdomen.
My heart grew cold.
Why, of all memories, did I recall the moment I lost Isabella?
But the memory flowed regardless of my will.
As usual, I hugged Isabella and performed the ‘image association’ in a low voice.
[The whole world is a snow country.]
“The whole world is a snow country.”
And I recited it exactly as I remembered.
The Isabella in my memory and the Isabella in reality overlapped.
[No matter which way you turn, all you can see is snow. A pure white horizon stretches out.]
“No matter which way you turn, all you can see is snow. A pure white horizon stretches out.”
The Isabella in my memory looked at me and smiled faintly.
The blood on her fingers that stroked my cheek flowed down my cheek.
[But, a snowstorm began to rage.]
“But, a snowstorm begins to rage.”
Cough- The Isabella in my memory coughed up blood.
When I hurriedly tried to stop the bleeding, she grabbed my arm and shook her head.
Realizing that the end was approaching, my shoulders began to tremble.
[Keep going.]
But because she wanted it, I continued to recite the image association.
In a low voice, I said,
[The snowstorm is getting stronger. The freezing wind rips your skin and makes it dry and cracked. Your steps are getting slower in the rapidly accumulating snow.]
The real Isabella began to tremble.
She held my hand tightly, pulled her legs inward, and curled up.
However, I continued to recite the image association from my memory.
[In the midst of that, you see a cave far away. A warm light is flowing out of the entrance of the cave.]
The Isabella in my memory smiled faintly.
[The cave that I like…]
she murmured and grabbed my hand.
I nodded and recited the next line.
[We immediately move towards the cave. Even if the cold wind blocks us, even if our legs sink into the accumulating snow, we never rest. And so, we finally reached the cave.]
The real Isabella regained her composure.
Her trembling shoulders calmed down, and her rapid breathing began to slow.
I uttered the next line.
[We entered the cave. Surprisingly, the scary snowstorm from outside can’t be felt at all. What is this mysterious cave? The light gets brighter as we go further in. Eventually, at the end of the cave, there is a campfire. A warm fire that melts the frozen body.]
Cough- cough-.
Every time Isabella coughed, blood spurted out.
Her lips were covered in blood.
But with a faint smile, she whispered.
[As always… your sleep method… always works… Now that I’ve reached the cave, I’m sleepy…]
The life in Isabella’s eyes began to fade.
When I grabbed her hand, Isabella nodded silently.
It meant to continue.
[Surprisingly, around the campfire are the people we love. Our dearest friends, colleagues, professors, and even your sister. Everyone is smiling at you. And you also smile at them. Because this is a cave where your power doesn’t work.]
…Blink- blink-.
Isabella’s eyes began to close.
However, even though she didn’t close her eyes completely, she said she could see the inside of the cave clearly.
She said she could see the faces of the precious people sitting around the campfire and smiled faintly.
[You’re… sitting there too.]
And she said I was sitting there too.
Right next to her, she was leaning her head on my shoulder.
I said we were holding hands, with one shoulder given to her.
[There, we… were completely connected.]
And there, we were finally connected.
We, who could not be connected in any other way, were connected like this, as we faced death together.
[I love you…]
And that was it.
Isabella in my arms smiled brightly, and the tears that had welled up in her eyes flowed down.
Soon after that, her hand that was stroking my cheek fell like a doll with its string cut, and no breath could be heard from her mouth that had been emitting white puffs of air.
She was finally freed from the long suffering.
“Snore… snore…”
Eventually, I came out of my reverie.
Isabella was still in my arms.
Sleeping peacefully.
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“Huh…?”
Suddenly, my eyes snapped open.
How did I fall asleep?
I got up in a hurry and looked around but Ed was nowhere to be seen.
I quickly got out of bed, removed the curtains that covered the area, and saw that there was no one in the practice room.
The class was over.
“Uh…?”
I had slept for this long?
Isabella wrapped her head with both hands.
To show such a defenseless appearance, this was the first time she had experienced such humiliation.
How could she show such a lax appearance!
“Wait…”
Suddenly, Isabella felt a chilling sensation and touched her lips.
There was saliva on her fingers.
She had fallen asleep in an unsightly manner.
Isabella hurriedly went to where she had been sleeping and checked the pillow.
There was a wet stain from the saliva.
“……”
She broke out in a cold sweat.
Why had she fallen asleep so defenselessly?
What if she couldn’t control her emotions in this state?
“…Well, at least it feels refreshing.”
Still, it was a good sleep.
It had been a while since she had slept so well.
Her mind, which had always been hazy like a fog, felt clear.
“Edgar Fix…”
Isabella murmured the name of the person who had done such an amazing thing.
When she thought of him, a smile formed on her face for some reason.
That cave he had mentioned when he put her to sleep.
That cave was so warm.
It was a cozy and happy cave, enough to throw away all worries and anxieties.
[Then kill that dog.]
But Isabella could only smile for a moment.
Suddenly, the memory of the saddest day flashed through her mind, and the smile disappeared without a trace.
The excitement in her eyes began to disappear rapidly.
Soon, she was staring blankly into the air with eyes void of any light.
Then, she twisted her lips into a smirk and murmured.
“…It’s fine. The deeper my relationship with him gets…”
A black haze began to rise.
Isabella’s lips twisted grotesquely.
“The stronger I can become.”
Creak- creak-
Negative emotions began to fill up.
In her imagination, Ed was screaming and cursing her.
Saying that she was a wretched witch after all, he was sobbing so hard that he couldn’t breathe properly, blaming her.
“Hehe… hehehe…”
The black haze spread in all directions.
It was the strongest negativity she had absorbed recently.
Isabella licked her lips and murmured.
“It’s delicious. It tastes very good.”
Isabella murmured that and looked at the bed where she and Ed had slept.
Her eyes curved wickedly.
“I wonder how long you can last.”
Isabella left those last words and turned her head.
She left the practice room and walked alone in the empty hallway.
The black haze emanating from her body was writhing in all directions.
And the negative emotion that overflowed from her body did not subside easily.
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