Turning Chapter 1025

Chapter 1025

"Could you please share with me what you are thinking right now? Whatever it is, I wish to know."

Wanting to know someone and expressing it directly was unfamiliar to Yuder. 'If it were me in my previous life... I would have never spoken first, either because my pride was hurt or because I didn't want to hear the answer that would come back. In fact, I probably wouldn't have even thought about it in the first place.'

However, when he actually said the words "I want to know what you're thinking," it was surprisingly easy and simple. Perhaps it was because the man in front of him had persistently asked Yuder several times, "I want to know what you're thinking right now."

By answering those words and sharing thoughts that couldn't be fully understood through the 'connection,' Yuder realized that wanting to know the other person was neither a matter of hurting his pride nor something to fear the answer to.

Even after ending one life and returning, Kishiar La Orr still made Yuder feel and do things that Yuder Aile didn't know. It was something that only he could truly do.

Yuder waited persistently, just as Kishiar had done to him, but with a calm heart without revealing his impatience. He stared at their overlapping hands, counting the heartbeats felt through their touching bodies and clothes.

He knew that only a short time had passed compared to the two days he had waited for the countless waves that tried to destroy the South. However, that short time seemed to feel even longer than back then.

Perhaps the man who had asked him what he was thinking and waited for an answer had also felt this sensation.

And finally, the voice he had been waiting for was heard.

"You said you couldn't understand the state of mind in which His Majesty the First Emperor waited for death so comfortably and left his will, but I briefly wondered if that was really the case."

"..."

"The you I know is someone who can fearlessly enter anomalous cracks to find a way to save someone who doesn't exist here, and can advance alone in front of the deep sea and huge monsters that ordinary people are too afraid to even approach."

That voice was calm, composed, and gentle, as if reciting a very obvious fact.

"In front of all those crises, you don't fear losing your life, and you just do what you can, not expecting any reward and only focusing on the fact that you achieved your goal, making you more heroic than anyone I know."

Even though he now knew better than anyone that Yuder wasn't worthy of such grandiose words, considering the path he had walked in his previous life, Yuder suddenly felt the urge to refute the man's words. If he hadn't heard the words that followed next, he would have really been unable to hold back and said no.

"And sometimes... you feel like the ashes left after everything has burned away. As if you'll easily fly away with a slight breeze once it's all burned."

'...Me?'

Yuder's mind completely stopped at the unexpected and unfamiliar metaphor. As if sensing Yuder's reaction, the man laughed faintly, exhaling.

"When I didn't know you well, I just thought it was strange and curious. I thought it wasn't an attitude that a young person would show. After that, as you showed such an appearance less often and said you would go with me wherever I walked, I felt joy and relief."

And now.

The faintly muttered voice fell silent for a moment.

"I find myself despising the fact that I understand too well what kind of feelings Blake Van Tain had when he wrote these sentences in this journal."

"..."

"Do you remember? The code we found in the hidden space below the prison in Tainu."

The prison in Tainu, where Yuder had been briefly imprisoned, came to his mind. They had discovered and rescued the Awakeners who were trapped there due to human trafficking in the hidden space.

In the secret space that only opened with the blood of the Tain family, the old code left in the laboratory... It was made up of patterns symbolizing the pieces of a strategy game. Baron Koelt, who recognized and deciphered the code, had said it meant the following:

"...Restore the king completely."

The man nodded his head upon hearing the sentence that flowed from Yuder's lips.

"Yes."

At that time, they didn't know what the 'king' meant. But now, after seeing the hidden last page of the journal, they could understand.

He started the research with the desire to meet the First Emperor again. The king he wanted to bring back was probably his father, whom he respected immensely but unfortunately passed away early.

"He was... so to speak, a person who tried to find a way to turn the ashes back to before they burned. Even though he knew that desire wouldn't only bring about the right results, he loved the ashes that had flown away."

That desire wouldn't only bring about the right results.

Those words somehow lingered in Yuder's ears.

"Indeed. There's probably no other human who has thought about death as long as I have. It was always by my side even before I came of age. So, even though I thought I had become familiar with it enough..."

"..."

And then, silence.

The last words didn't get a complete ending.

Instead, the long fingers resting under Yuder's hand moved. The fingers slowly turned over, revealing the palm, and tightly intertwined with Yuder's hand, slowly pulling it towards Kishiar's lips.

His lips touched the black leather covering the fingers. Kishiar held that contact, which didn't feel warm, preciously for a long time.

Until the body heat was transferred to the leather wrapping the hand and it felt at least a little warm.

After enough time had passed for the leather gloves to become completely warm, Kishiar raised his head that had been buried in Yuder's shoulder again. With the fingertips still close to his face, a small vibration resonated every time he moved his lips.

"Yes. I... don't want to let you fly away."

"..."

"So much so that just imagining it brings back all the fears I thought I had forgotten."

"..."

"Even though I know it's the time when I should believe and tell you more certainly than anyone else that I will be with you until the end, wherever you go... I'm doing this, so it's truly pathetic."

"It's not pathetic."

At the first emotional retort, Kishiar smiled, his eyes curving.

"All this confusion and pain, foolish feelings and stupidity... I want to lock them up inside me for the rest of my life and never let them out again, but just because you said you want to know, all the doors open so easily."

The red eyes were no longer as dark as before to look black. Beyond the eyes that revealed their original jewel-like transparent and beautiful color, Yuder saw the connection that he had hidden earlier reviving like a thread.

The golden threads reached out towards Yuder.

"But I don't dislike these things. You said it's only fair that you have to break down all my walls and take everything inside, so it should be like that."

This pain. And everything else.

"..."

The imprint completely embraced Yuder. Yuder didn't resist the golden threads that bound him.