Confusion
"It's your fault.... If only it hadn't been for you...."
"Oppa.... Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us...?"
No.... It's not that I didn't save you....
"Why did we have to die because of you.... We wanted to live!!"
No... that's not it!!
I... I wanted to save everyone too.... I wanted to keep them all alive.
My comrades, more precious to me than family.... I wanted to protect them....
"Liar...."
"Don't lie.... You're the only one still alive like this...."
"Liar... don't lie.... Living so happily like this...."
No.... It's not like that at all.... I... I'm not....
Why am I still alive like this.... My comrades are all dead—should I even be alive?
"Die... you die with us...."
"Come with us, oppa.... Come with us...."
"You shouldn't be alive.... You have to die."
Countless black hands reached out from the darkness, seizing my body and dragging me down into an abyss of endless night.
No.... I can't let this....
"Cheon Seong...."
Yuna?
"I'm sorry.... I'm so sorry."
No... no, Yuna!!
The sight of Yuna being dragged away by the monsters in my place burned itself into my eyes.
No!! Please, no, Yuna!!
I tried to move toward her, but the black hands shackling me refused to let go, hauling me deeper into the dark. I could only scream myself hoarse as Yuna's final image slowly slipped away.
Please!! Please stop!! No!!!
No matter how hard I struggled, it was useless. The more I thrashed, the more black hands bound me, denying even the slightest movement.
The nightmare tormented me further, forcing me to watch scenes of a Yuna I had never even met being violated by the monsters.
Don't do that, you fucking bastards!!!
"Hngh... Cheon Seong... I'm sorry..... Ah—♡"
Don't... please don't do that....
If this is how it's going to be... maybe I should just give up on everything...?
Why do I have to suffer like this.... What sin did I commit to be tormented this way....
I'm... so tired now.
Before I knew it, the black hands had sunk my body up to the waist into the darkness.
If I sink completely into this dark, will I die? If it means I never have to see these things again....
I just wish it would end.
"Be at ease. It is not thy fault.... They do not resent thee."
Just as I surrendered everything and was being dragged into the dark, a single ray of light cut through, and Beatrice's voice reached me.
Bea...trice?
Even with my face already submerged so deep I could no longer look up, her gentle voice found me.
Ssshhh...
As her tender words continued, the black hands binding me began to loosen one by one.
"Cheon Seong.... You must live."
"Oppa.... You have to be happy for our share too, okay?"
"I'm truly proud of you, Cheon Seong...."
"Cheon Seong... I love you. So please, survive to the very end."
As the black hands released me, the voices of those more precious than my own life pulled my body up from the darkness that had swallowed me.
Everyone....
My comrades had all cherished me.
Perhaps they saw in me the precious people they themselves had lost; they held me dearer than their own lives.
Right to the end, they sacrificed themselves with smiles so I wouldn't grieve....
Every last one of them was foolishly kind.
I.... I can't give up.
In this life, I will save them for certain.
For everyone who gave their lives for me, this time it's my turn to save them.
That is why I regressed, and that is why I live.
So now.... it's time to wake from the nightmare.
My body broke free of the pitch-black dark and moved toward the light, every one of their hands pushing me gently from behind.
My body felt heavy.
Having overcome the nightmare and woken, I felt as if something were crushing me.
"Ugh.... What the.... Huh?"
".......Have... have you awakened, my dear?"
When I forced my heavy eyelids open, the first thing I saw was the beautiful face of Beatrice—the owner of the voice that had pulled me from the nightmare.
Soft...
The soft, yielding sensation of Beatrice's massive breasts pressing down on my body felt pleasant.
Yes. It was Beatrice's chest crushing me.
When I opened my eyes, Beatrice was lying atop me, her body draped over mine.
"......"
"......."
An awkward silence settled around us.
"I am sorry."
A flush rose across Beatrice's pure white skin as she tried to rise. In that instant my body moved faster than my thoughts.
Grab
"M-my dear?!"
Without realizing it, I had pulled her into an embrace as she tried to leave me.
"...Sorry."
"Ah.... It is nothing."
Of course I was just as startled by my own unexpected action. Flustered, I released the blushing Beatrice and sat up.
"In the dream.... thanks to your voice, Beatrice, I escaped the nightmare, so I must have done it without thinking. I'm really sorry."
"Ah... it is nothing. It is fine."
Once more an awkward silence hung between us.
Ssshh
In that silence, Beatrice was the first to move.
I watched as she sat close beside me and rested a hand on my back.
"If... you have another nightmare, you may lean on this one."
"...Thank you."
Caught up in the mood myself, I reached an arm toward Beatrice's slender shoulder.
Her body was so thin it was hard to believe such power could come from it.
Just as my hand was about to touch her shoulder—
"Umm...? Daddy, you're back?"
"Ha... Hana! Y-yeah, I'm back."
Hana, who had been sleeping on the bed, woke and rubbed her small eyes with both hands. Startled, I pulled away from Beatrice and answered her.
"...Did you sleep well?"
There was a deep note of regret in Beatrice's voice.
And Cheon Seong, snapped back to his senses by Hana waking, realized what he had been about to do and fell into confusion.
What... what the hell was I about to do.
Swept up in the atmosphere or not, he had been about to pull Beatrice into his arms.
He had sworn to love only Yuna—yet that vow had nearly shattered.
Something felt wrong.
It was as if he were no longer himself.
Come to think of it, since when had he started feeling so comfortable around Beatrice?
At some point he had begun to see her as a place of rest for his weary heart—a sanctuary for his mind.
Thump-thump-thump-thump!
His heart raced.
Was it because he had finally recognized how he felt about Beatrice? His heart pounded at a furious pace.
Beatrice looked beautiful.
He had always known she was beautiful, but today she seemed even more so.
Thump-thump-thump-thump!
Don't race!... Don't race. Please... please don't race.
Even as he begged it, his heart kept hammering, throwing him into deeper confusion.
"Daddy, are you sick? Your face is all red."
"My dear, are you all right??"
Ssshh
Beatrice's slender hand touched his forehead.
Smack!
"M-my dear?"
The moment her hand met his forehead, a startled Cheon Seong slapped it away. When he struck her hand, Beatrice stared at him with a look of shock.
"Ah... no, I... sorry. And I'm fine, so you don't have to."
Realizing he had struck Beatrice's hand, Cheon Seong panicked and apologized.
He couldn't help it.
The instant her hand touched his forehead, his already racing heart pounded even harder, announcing its presence with force.
But the heart that had begun racing faster showed no sign of stopping; it only kept thundering. Cheon Seong fretted over whether Beatrice could hear it. In the end, unable to look at her any longer, he rose and said he would step out for a moment before leaving the house.
"Haa... haa... What the hell.... Why is this happening all of a sudden...."
The image of Beatrice still watching him with worry refused to leave his mind.
He loved Yuna.... He had sworn to love only Yuna.... And yet Beatrice's face would not leave his head.
Faced with a confusion he had never known, he could do nothing but crouch in front of the door and bury his face.
He had no face to show Yuna.
After Cheon Seong left the house, Beatrice kept staring at the door he had gone through.
She did not try to sense where he was going.
His face had been far too confused for that.
"Mommy.... Is something wrong with Daddy?"
"...This one does not know either. But for now, it seems best to give him time alone."
In all the long years she had watched him, she had never seen him so thoroughly shaken.
What on earth could have caused this....
Even for Beatrice, who had lived countless ages, the human heart was always something difficult—something impossible—to fully understand.
And when that human was Cheon Seong, it was even more so.
"Umm... I wanted to play with Daddy."
"This one shall play with thee, so endure it just this once."
"Okay...."
Hana's face was full of disappointment at not getting to play with Cheon Seong.
Seeing that regretful look, Beatrice played with her in his place with all her might. Perhaps the effort paid off—Hana soon forgot her disappointment and lost track of time as they played. About two hours after Beatrice began entertaining her, the door opened and Cheon Seong returned.
"Daddy!"
The moment he stepped inside, an excited Hana dashed over and clung to him as if hanging from his body.
"...Yeah. Hana. Was Beatrice playing with you?"
"Yeah! Mommy played with Hana!"
"I see.... But Hana? Daddy has something to talk about with Mom, so can I take her for a little while?"
"Huh? Can't you just do it here?"
"It's not that I can't, but it would be a bit awkward if Hana heard..."
"Umm.... Then when you're done talking, play with Hana! If you promise, I'll allow it!"
Looking down at Hana, who clung to him with a bright smile, Cheon Seong gave her a warm smile of his own, stroked her hair, and answered.
"I'll play with you all day today."
"Really?! Then promise Hana!"
Hana beamed at his words and held out a finger. Holding her with one arm, Cheon Seong hooked his own finger around hers and said,
"There. Promise."
"Yeah! It's a promise!"