Suspicious eyes. She might be starting to suspect that I’m Blythe.

My heart thumped against my chest.

But after a moment, Lili smiled faintly and muttered.

"It is Blythe, but how did you know?"

"Y-you were his disciple, right? I just deduced it from that. Blythe seemed like the rugged type."

"He was rugged, crude, and careless, that’s true."

You don’t have to put it that bluntly…

"I was his last disciple. That’s why—"

Lili pressed her index finger against my forehead, giving me a light push.

I toppled backward onto the bed.

Lili lay down right beside me.

"I’ll do the same thing my master did. You’re not getting away."

She was close. Just two fists apart, and our eyes met.

She had grown beautiful. Unimaginably so compared to back then.

"So there’s no need for you to worry too much. Your troubles and fears—they’re a strange but safe path I’ve already walked."

I wanted to argue, you fool, it depends on the person. But I understood. At least this time, her words were true.

"…If Lili says so, then I suppose it must be."

"It’s Instructor Ituka."

"Aah, I know that already! It just slips out!"

"Fufu. You really are alike, the two of you. Rugged, crude, careless. The only differences are your face and age."

It’s the same person, damn it.

Lili’s eyes narrowed.

"I wished we could have stayed like that. For years, decades, forever."

She wasn’t talking about me, of course. How aggravating.

"Blythe… But wouldn’t he have been more relieved if you’d abandoned the sword and settled down instead? There must have been an age gap big enough for you to be parent and child, or more."

Ah, damn it. That didn’t sound like something a ten-year-old would say.

But Lili didn’t seem to doubt me.

"Shape didn’t matter to me."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Shape? What do you mean by that? I don’t get it."

Lili opened her mouth, but then hesitated, closing it again.

She pulled a quilt over herself, covering me up to my chest and draping it over her own head.

From beneath the quilt came a whisper-like voice.

"Our relationship. Whether I became his wife, or he kept treating me like a daughter, or something else entirely—it didn’t matter. Because we were already shapeless."

"…Tch."

Her words pierced my heart.

Did Blythe know that Lili thought this way? In his final moments, even for a fleeting second, did he think of her?

I have no memory of my own death. How utterly frustrating.

Only Lili’s breathing and the gentle sound of the night breeze rustling the window filled the air.

For a while, it stayed that way.

"I just wanted him to live a little longer. To be with me, even in a shapeless relationship. But now, no matter how much I chase after that back I’ve followed for so long, no matter how fast I run, I can’t even touch it with my fingertips anymore. …So far… far away…"

I was glad Lili had covered herself with the quilt.

Even so, I turned my back to her. My eyes burned, and incomprehensible tears spilled out.

Damn it. How pathetic for a grown man. No matter how much I wiped them away, the tears kept falling.

A whisper came again from behind me.

"…I don’t need a husband or children. I’d throw anything else away…"

All I could do was pretend to be asleep, letting out fake breaths.

I understood. I wasn’t a child.

Even an idiot like me could tell that her voice was trembling. I knew the kind of expression she must have as she spoke about the past beneath that quilt.

It made me furious. I hated Blythe. But there was nothing I could do. I’m not Blythe anymore—I’m Eremi Oldingham.

Blythe is already dead.

"…Even if not as his wife, not as his daughter…"

Still, Lili continued. Even though I desperately pretended to be asleep.

I doubt she was saying it for me anymore.

That’s why I couldn’t hear it. I mustn’t hear it. Please, stop. I’m not Blythe anymore. I can’t do anything for you.

But Lili whispered quietly.

"…I just wanted to be part of Blythe’s family…"

Beside me, believing I was already asleep, Lili continued as though speaking to herself.

Her voice, filled with a mixture of love and resentment, carried a bitter grievance.

"…You said it yourself… told us to think of each other as family… You said it yourself… So why…"

God. If you truly exist, then please erase me from Lili’s memory this instant.

And bring happiness to this girl… I’m begging you…