North x Northwest

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Hearing those words, Lil already wanted to change the subject. She hated when people evaluated her most difficult times, even if that person was Ed. Past events had torn her body, opened wounds, and left her with scars. So now, not even another person’s comfort would entail the disappearance of her scars nor alleviate her pain. To Lil, only the future mattered, for she was the only one who could decide and shape how she would live in that future.

So when Ed actually changed the subject himself, Lil was finally able to relax her body again.

“It was the same when you found… the portrait.”

“What?”

“I expected that moment to come. I knew that me not bringing it up first would lead to you finding out about my dealings in one way or another. But the funny thing was, right up until the moment when you turned the portrait over, when you asked me if I knew the woman in the portrait… Until that moment, I had been confident I could convince you. Of course, I expected you to get angry, but I thought I could explain it in a way that you would deem acceptable. Looking back on it, I know now that it was very arrogant of me, however, I was used to thinking that way… that I could do it and that all I had to do was to deliver it well. Even though I didn’t know how to change a person’s heart, I came up with such a plan. But…”

“But?”

“But I couldn’t…”

As Ed intertwined his fingers with hers, Lil looked down at their joined hands.

“To be honest, I had imagined a lot of scenarios where you would find the painting first, and I had even thought of the worst possible outcomes, but when it became real, none of them were of any use. The expression you had that day came nowhere near my imagination, not even close, even though I prided myself on being elaborate… Liloa, I’ll probably never forget the you whom I saw that day.”

“What did the me from that day look like?”

Ed shook his head because he couldn’t really explain it.

‘At that moment, it had seemed as though Liloa’s feelings were passed on to me. I had been unable to utter any of the words I prepared, and although I was awake, it felt as if some entity had taken me over. It had been a distant and indescribable sensation of being consumed by some volume… and at that dark moment of resonance, I was overcome with emotion…’

As much as it sounded like an exaggeration, it sparked a realisation in Ed.

“That’s when I finally realised… What on earth had happened?”

“What happened?”

“…I fell in love with you.”

‘Did they all sing and praise? Not just one or two, but all the hundreds of thousands of people who have faced such a mysterious experience? Maybe they called it love because there was no other way to describe it… It’s a strange thing, really… I’ve never wanted to love Liloa, or thought I should love her, so why did this happen? How was I left with no choice but to love her?’

“…”

“It kept me thinking when we were planning for the prison break in Gualtiero. At some point, I thought that perhaps it would be better for me if I got out of your sight. But that thought drove me even crazier, so I couldn’t do it. I wanted to make it up to you, but I quickly realised there was very little I could do. All I could do was to not upset you more as I saw that you were already struggling enough. I didn’t want to repeat such a terrible thing. I didn’t want to cause you more pain or make you feel uneasy for even a moment… I don’t want it to happen ever again…”

“…”

Ed, who was hugging Lil, kissed her forehead. When her clouded eyes didn’t turn away from him, Ed felt reassured.

“From now on, I will never deceive you, cause you trouble, or make you sad…”

“Okay, that’s enough. You can stop…”

“…When you said I already knew everything, you were right. I already knew everything about you and that’s how I was able to deceive you…”

“…”

“But I swear, I don’t want anything else. I just want to be by your side.”

Lil bit her lip without Ed noticing.

‘It’s me who doesn’t want to leave your side. I’m the one who can’t breathe without you.’

“I’m not leaving.”

“Hmm?”

“I will never run away from you.”

“..!”

Before Ed could express his joy belatedly, Lil wrapped his face with both hands. Ed’s eyebrows twitched upon Lil’s unexpected action that even held his face with a bit of force. Thanks to this, Ed couldn’t smile broadly or say anything for that matter. He was frozen in place and could only listen to her words.

“So, keep your word. You said you wanted to stay by my side, right? In that case, if you betray my trust one more time, then….”

“…”

The hands that had cupped his cheeks moved down his chin to the nape of his neck. Lil’s hands, which held no malice, had, nevertheless, a strong grip as they wrapped around Ed’s neck.

Ed’s pulse throbbed diligently between his skin and Lil’s warm palm.

“I won’t forgive you.”

Lil’s fingers reached the back of his head and stroked him menacingly. The subtle sound of her fingernails dragging against his skin crept up Ed’s throat and to his ears. It was a stimulating sensation and goosebumps ran down his spine, causing his pulse to pound even more strongly.

With her face coming closer, it seemed like Lil wanted to hear something from him, so Ed asked excitedly.

“Could this be… a lifetime contract?”

Lil responded by brushing her lips past the tip of Ed’s nose and pressing them down on his cheek. Ed thought she said something he didn’t hear clearly, so he focused on her breathing instead. Soon, Lil lowered her eyes to avoid his persistent gaze and whispered against his lips…

“Yes. It’s our lifetime contract.”

***

Side story 3 – Liloa’s Chapter 1: The Fruit

[ …So, when all humans face the end of their existence, they are greeted by ‘death’! …This nameless reaper, this shapeless shadow, was called ‘Mortu’…. He first appeared in ancient mythologies and is one of the few gods whose existence has continued from ancient times to present day. Of course, progressive people did not believe in this mythology and over the course of several hundreds of years reduced this god of death to a mere ‘undertaker’. That’s why nowadays, most people only know Mortu as an undertaker from oral stories…. His famous tale is roughly passed on… A tale about a wealthy merchant who happened to come across a very nice burial site. He liked it so much that he not only bought it for himself, but for his wife too, he even brought home their coffins. However, when he returned, he found out that his wife was taller than the coffin… To ensure a smooth funeral, the undertaker Mortu cut off the wife’s ankles. But when the merchant looked again, he saw that his wife’s nose was too high. When she would lay down in the coffin, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to close the lid. So, to ensure a smooth funeral, the undertaker Mortu also cut off the wife’s nose… ]

It was a book that was too cruel and difficult for a six-year-old to read, so Liloa couldn’t bear to flip to the next page and closed the book.

‘A scary book like this truly exists in the secret library… I should’ve listened to the nanny.’

Liloa wiped her cold sweaty forehead.

She was confused as to whether she was sweating because she was covered in a blanket or because she was terrified of what she just read. But either way, she was sweating profusely.

Liloa pushed the thick book of mythology with her foot, causing it to fall under the bed, for she didn’t even want to look at the cover of that book anymore.

‘So, was it from then? Sometimes in the darkness, I see shadows that are even darker than the darkness itself…’

The shadow watched Liloa from under her bed, from behind the curtain by the unlit window, and from the other end of the hallway…contemporary romance

Because she had read the book for no particular reason, she regretted that act dozens and hundreds of times, apologised to the shadows, and asked God for forgiveness. However, the shadow only grew darker. Liloa pretended not to notice despite being conscious of its presence. She felt that if that being spotted her staring at it, its scythe would come out of nowhere and cut off her leg…

***

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