Chapter 178: Goodbye, Zetto (1)
I caught a glimpse of the stumbling Zetto, and I ran frantically.
“Zetto…!!!”
Luckily, I managed to catch him just before he hit the ground.
Immediately, I leaned Zetto, who was shaking from lack of strength, against a nearby tree.
“…Can you hear me…? Zetto…!”
Blood continued to ooze from his punctured abdomen and torn left arm.
“Zetto…”
I pressed a cloth to the wound, hoping to stem the bleeding somehow.
‘The arm, yes, but…What about the stomach…What about the abdomen…’
My head was spinning and my body refused to listen.
I had to save Zetto.
I didn’t want to let him die like this.
I was desperate that I couldn’t defy fate and that I couldn’t prevent his death this time.
I wasn’t sure I could continue if I failed again.
“Hmph… Hmph… Hmph…”
My eyes burned and the tears that kept rolling down his cheeks were blurring his image.
Then he moved.
He leaned against a tree and turned to face me.
“…Miss Aizel… is it…”
Zetto struggled to keep his voice steady and smiled faintly.
“Yes, it’s me, Zetto… I’m here. I’m here… so…”
…It’s all going to be okay now.
As long as the blood stops, as long as we get him treated quickly, he’ll live.
I fumbled through the small backpack in my arms to see if I could find anything useful.
‘Surely there’s a healing potion or something…’
Not this one.
Not this.
Nothing.
Why not…?
Why…?
Sadly, there was no such thing.
I didn’t think I’d have time to take a potion in the middle of a battle with them.
“Yes…! Clerics… If we find a cleric…”
I started to push myself up in impatience, but Zetto stopped me.
“…I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine… Not okay at all… Why is Zetto here…?”
I didn’t understand why Zetto was in this situation on my behalf.
Not once, but twice.
What was okay?
Why was he here?
I must have pushed him.
I’m pretty sure I locked him up so this wouldn’t happen.
Despite my accusations, Zetto smiled weakly.
“Well, maybe I set a new record or something…”
“…”
Red blood was dripping from the corners of Zetto’s mouth as he laughed lightly as if it was no big deal.
If I leave it like this Zetto would die.
I reach a conclusion, and for a moment, my mind goes blank.
“You can’t die, you can’t die, you can’t die, you can’t die, you don’t have to die, you don’t have to die, you don’t have to die, I’d rather I… I’d rather I… I’d rather I…”
Zetto held my head, muttering frantically, and slowly reached out to me.
His hand, still warm, touches my cheek.
“Ah…”
The warmth of Zetto’s hand brings me back to reality.
“…Don’t say that.”
With that, Zetto tilts his head and coughs up a large amount of blood.
“Zetto…!!!”
“… Ha… I’m fine, I know…I know…”
Zetto, who didn’t even have the energy to wipe the blood that had spilled out, continued to speak while breathing heavily.
“…I just know there’s no way I’m going to make it out of this alive…”
Zetto’s soothing voice finally brings him back to reality.
“So… You don’t have to try.”
His wounds flashed into view.
I knew that no matter what I did, I couldn’t make him whole again.
I couldn’t save him.
I hastily tore off his robe and bound his left arm, which had stopped bleeding, but… There was nothing I could do about the gaping hole in his abdomen.
His organs weren’t just damaged, they were gone.
I can’t even imagine how much it hurts.
“Hmph…Ugh…”
How can Zetto smile?
How can he show me that smile?
The smile I saw in front of me was…
It was always so sweet and gentle, and that made it all the more terrifying. I was afraid that I would never see it again.
“That was a tough one, that one…”
Zetto’s chuckle was followed by a blood-curdling giggle.
“Too much… Don’t push yourself. You don’t have to tell me…”
I tried to stop him, but he shook his head slowly.
It must hurt to even open his mouth.
Even though I know it, I can’t stop him.
I could feel his intense determination.
After he regains his breath, Zetto asks me.
“…You were scared, weren’t you?”
“……”
I shake my head.
I knew immediately what he was talking about and what he meant.
It didn’t matter what he knew or how much he knew.
I just felt comforted.
The hellish past of not being understood by anyone quickly flashed through my mind and hot tears fell onto my lap.
“Yeah, I was scared… I was scared a lot…”
“Then you don’t have to be scared anymore…”
“……”
“Because I don’t have to struggle alone anymore…”
Zetto pawed at the ground and his hands groped for mine.
When I lifted my head, he was still smiling.
“…I’m so glad.”
I wanted to return his smile with one of my own, but…my face contorted with unstoppable tears.
I’m sorry, Zetto.
You’ve done so much for me.
I’m still scared.
The truth is I’m scared right now.
I’m so scared of losing you, it’s driving me crazy.
This is the hardest part.
I’m alone in the world without you.
Please don’t leave me alone.
Please don’t leave me behind.
So…
“…please don’t die… Huh…? I’m begging you…”
“……”
Zetto was silent at my desperate request.
He didn’t answer.
No, he couldn’t answer.
Because…It was an impossible request.
Zetto leaned his head against the tree.
The warm sunlight streamed down through the leaves.
“…I’m sorry, Ms. Aizel for putting you through this… But…”
It was the only way.
Zetto said.
“…C’mon.”
Blood spurted from Zetto’s mouth.
Upon closer inspection, the negative aura lurking in his body was growing stronger.
The curse that had been gnawing at his heart all along was hastening his death.
I asked urgently.
I wanted to know if I could make him feel any better.
“…Zetto, do you love me?”
“What kind of question is that, all of a sudden…?”
Even though I knew it was the wrong question at the wrong time.
“…Do you love me…?”
But I wanted to make sure.
This could be the last time.
“……”
Zetto’s mouth fell open, contemplating.
I didn’t know why he was thinking about it, but then his mouth opened and I realized why.
“So…Why does Ms. Aizel think I did this?”
I followed the sound of Zetto’s voice and looked around.
The forest was in shambles in the aftermath of the battle.
Albed and Murka with their throats slit.
Zetto had fought to protect me.
All for me.
That’s what he was saying.
If he didn’t love me, he wouldn’t have done this.
Understanding, I gently slipped into his arms.
I pressed my face to his lips.
“Uh…”
Zetto let out an embarrassed exclamation, but I didn’t stop.
I had to break the curse.
It was all pointless now.
I knew it was too late, too late.
But even a little.
I wanted to put him out of his misery, even just a little.
It was the best I, an incompetent regressor, could do.
Soon, Zetto’s lips met mine.
He could barely move his tongue or resist my movements.
His hot breath was entwined with mine.
Maybe this was my first proper kiss but it didn’t feel good and only tears streamed down my face because Zetto’s hot blood was being transferred to me through his mouth.
I slowly explored the pain he must be feeling.
I wanted him to forget his pain, at least for this moment.
Hopefully, his pain would subside.
I hoped and hoped and hoped.
Finally, our lips parted.
“Hah… Ha…”
“……”
There was an eerie atmosphere of impending death, but it wasn’t long before something changed in Zetto’s body.
The ominous aura emanating from the curse was slowly dissipating.
“……”
I was relieved.
My efforts were not in vain.
Zetto really does love me.
Alas…After a very brief moment of happiness… was even greater despair and loss.
The one I love, the one who loved me was dying before my eyes.
It was easy to see the noticeably slower breathing and right arm hanging limply.
As he leaned against the tree, I could see the strength slowly draining from his body.
I realized how little time he had left.
Zetto’s voice rings in my ears.
“Ms. Aizel… Are you still there…”
“…Yes, I’m here, Zetto.”
I grabbed his hand and brought it to my cheek.
I’m not going anywhere.
I’m going to stay right by your side.
Zetto’s arm trembled but he moved his fingers to wipe away my tears.
However, more tears fall, more than he can wipe away.
“Finally, there’s something I wanted to ask you…”
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
Zetto’s breathing slowly fades as he asks his last and final question.
“…Did my former self protect you?”
“……”
My eyes widened in surprise.
“That… that…… How could Zetto…?”
“…You were that obvious from the beginning, haha…”
“……”
How Zetto knows about my regression.
How he could ask me about my previous regression.
I was terribly confused, but that didn’t matter now.
I answered him in time.
“…Protected me. Zetto saved me… But… But… But… Hmph… Hmph…”
“…It’s okay.”
I couldn’t stop crying, and Zetto smiled in satisfaction.
“This time…”
Zetto’s voice faded away.
“This time……”
Zetto muttered in a low voice.
The warmth of his hand caressing my cheek slowly faded, and soon his voice trailed off completely.
He could no longer speak.
“Hmph… Hmph…”
I sobbed like a little child.
My world, my everything, my reason for living and moving forward is dead.
‘Today is the entrance ceremony.’
All the memories I had with him flashed before my eyes.
‘The sea, your favorite place…I hope we can go see it together next time.’
It hurt and I couldn’t breathe properly.
‘…Is there something you want me to see?’
My vision blurred and I couldn’t see.
The world seemed so dark, even though the sun was up.
Had Zetto always lived in a world like this?
‘This time…’
Two encounters and two deaths.
The incompetent regressor could not change anything in the end.
“It hurts… It hurts so much… Zetto…”
I pounded his chest, already drained of all warmth.
I resented that he left me with words like that.
This life you saved…
I can’t let it go.
Why did Zetto save me again?
Why doesn’t he resent me?
If you disappear like this I can’t be happy anymore.
Despite my repeated questions, Zetto didn’t answer.
He was just smiling as always.
His smile was as gentle as the warmth of the sun and at the same time so cruel.