Ferzen's wife Euphemia.
She was no longer focused on the wedding.
Nothing could catch her eye anymore.
Her world became silent.
'Ciel...'
Clenching her skirt, Euphemia mouthed his name silently....
The name of the man she couldn't forget.
His appearance was quite different from what she remembered, but she knew it was him.
'So you succeeded.'
The man who awkwardly stood by her side as her Knight.
Even though she wasn't his lord, Euphemia was overjoyed by his company.
She considered his presence as a reward for all of her toils, so the young woman always felt indebted to him.
Euphemia reluctantly looked away from him as she was afraid of being caught.
3 months.
90 days.
2190 hours.
During all this time, Euphemia never once mentioned Ciel Midford.
And since Ferzen never bothered with it, she was certain that he erased Ciel from his memory.
But I will never forget him.
However, that fact didn't change anything.
'That's enough for me....'
I have no intention of asking him to rescue me.
If she had that resolution, then she would have escaped with Ciel on that fateful night.
I don't wish to tarnish the memories we made together with my current life.
Their bond has already been severed.
I can't reach out to him anymore.
I don't have that right...
'But...'
Even though he wasn't a real knight at the time, he was the only person who stood by her.
It was a fleeting yet everlasting moment.
It saddened her, but the memories that they created…..would forever remain as a memento of the innocence she lost.
Ciel Midford — I will never forget you.
* * * * *
His life was full of hardship.
His father was a fallen aristocrat who married a commoner and settled down in a humble village.
That was the household where he and his younger brother were born...
Ever since he was a child, he had to watch his mother suffer and be molested.
The day his father died, Ciel was relieved and even hopeful.
However, when his beloved mother died a tragic death a few months after, Ciel Midford understood the fundamental truth about this world — Life was cruel.
So after the two brothers lost their parents, they became mercenaries, but...
His younger brother, the only family he had, died while protecting him on a mission.
After the death of his brother, Ciel became a wanderer.
The young man started to search for dangerous jobs as if looking for a way to die, and during a particularly miserable one, thinking that perhaps that would be his last, he reached Louerg.
And there, he met Euphemia.
A woman who bore a similar pain as him, but different from him, she never gave up and did her best to manage her territory.
Maybe he felt attracted to her because they shared similar burdens.
So after he completed his mission, he stayed in Louerg.
And in the process, he became close friends with Euphemia.
With time, Ciel Midford began to feel an itch coming from his broken heart.
But he denied that feeling.
Because when he treasured someone...
The world would take them away from him.
However, human emotions aren't so easily controllable.
If that were the case, then the act of falling in love with someone wouldn't be as magical.
Because of this, Ciel Midford developed an array of conflicted feelings.
Where his feelings pushed him to act, but his trauma imprisoned him.
But...
Fate was a cruel mistress.
Because she was robbed of him right before his very eyes.
The world was cruel, and this made him hate his own weakness, for he could only watch as Ferzen took Euphemia away.
In the middle of the frozen wilderness, where he barely managed to escape with his life, Ciel Midford closed his eyes as he waited to slip into death's embrace.
Buried in the endless snow, the broken man cried as he awaited his eventual death.
But he didn't die.
The skin which was destroyed by the cold and the bones that had been frozen were cured by something warm coursing through his body.
It was a painful and agonizing moment, but...
Ciel Midford rose from the snow as this new sensation empowered his body.
As he wandered around the frozen wilds, the young man noticed that this warm feeling that saved him from certain death was his mana.
When he arrived in the Royal Capital of the Roverium Kingdom and became a Knight, he felt as if he was rewarded for his sufferings.
But Ciel Midford wasn't happy.
If he looked at his feet, he could still see the misfortunes he endured pile up like a mountain of corpses.
His mother, his younger brother, and Euphemia are all of those who suffered because of him...
He was nothing more than a knight who bloomed from the suffering of others.
"Ciel, why don't you rest a little."
"I'm fine."
"You know the duties you must perform in this mission, so shut up and go rest. Go take a bit of fresh air or something."
"..."
"Don't worry, the ceremony will go on for a while, so you have until 5 P.M to be back."
"Yes. Then...If you would excuse me."
At the words of his senior, Ciel Midford bowed his head and left the cathedral.
His previous awkward armor now felt so natural.
"..."
When he got down to the first floor, it was still raining heavily, so Ciel Midford opened his umbrella and walked towards the back of the cathedral.
"Ah..."
And then he saw.
Leaving the first floor of the cathedral...
Euphemia and Ferzen standing side by side.
"..."
Crack!
The handle of his umbrella cracked.
In that brief moment, he lost control of his strength.
Thud!
Splash!
The broken umbrella fell on the floor as the raindrops splashed his armor.
Euphemia...El Lauren Louerg.
She raised her head, put her arms around Ferzen's neck, and kissed him.
"..."
Drip-drop!
The downpour intensified.
His hair was soaked in an instant as his eyes became blurred, but...
Euphemia and Ciel looked at each other.
Euphemia's golden eyes were tinged with a faint regret.
"..."
Soon, after the kiss was over, Ferzen gently stroked her head as if she had done something worthy of praise and walked out of the main entrance of the cathedral.
Drip, drop.
The rain continued to fall on his armor.
The noise created by the raindrops clashing against the hard plates of his armor was quite loud, but the current Ciel couldn't hear any of it.
Splash...
He took a step towards her.
While twirling the umbrella, she turned her back against him but didn't move.
Splash...
The distance between them was getting shorter.
Her back looked so frail.
She was never such a frail woman.
But in just three months, she was reduced to this state.
Splash...
As he got closer, Ciel Midford noticed that Euphemia's body was trembling.
What should I say?
What could I even say to this woman...
"Don't get closer."
Euphemia's words were filled with sorrow.
How much I longed to hear her voice...
"My Lady."
How long has it been since I called you like this...
"Are you happy?"
"Yes..."
"Then prove it to me... show me that you are happy."
"..."
Euphemia didn't turn.
She didn't even look at him.
Ciel opened his mouth as Euphemia's silence was already a sufficient answer.
"Do you remember what you said to me back then?"
"..."
"You said – You are not my knight, so there's no need for you to sacrifice yourself for me."
"..."
"So I became a knight, and I am now ready to sacrifice myself for you."
Those words were spoken with an iron will.
Euphemia then opened the carriage's door.
"Ciel. My life is not worth your sacrifice. But please listen to my last request for you. Live….Live for yourself and not for the sake of others."
Creak!
The carriage door closed.
And the carriage moved through the cloudburst.
Ciel Midford thought he understood how cruel the world could be.
"Did you know I..."
The things he cared about, the people whom he treasured.
He always failed to protect them.
Ciel Midford's only wish in life was to be able to live with the people he cared about.
Even if the consequences of his wish would result in his demise.
'Now it's not the time to grieve....'
Ciel was also human.
Was it so wrong of him to dream of happiness alongside Euphemia?
But the obstacle known as Brutein was something insurmountable.
So Ciel decided to give up on his future with Euphemia and decided to create a world where she could be truly free and happy.
Even if I won't be able to stand by your side....
I won't regret it.