Realizing Because of Almost Losing

Do you know when a person dies?

‘Now.’

My eyes snapped open.

Because I truly thought that if I closed them like that, I would die.

Through my suddenly opened eyes, the surrounding scenery slowly came into view.

A hospital room.

It was a hospital room.

And quiet, so quiet it must be dawn.

‘How long was I out?’

My memories are hazy.

I blinked open my eyes, and without thinking, twitched my left shoulder.

It was because of the memory of my entire left arm being ripped away.

But contrary to that memory, my left arm, intact, rose up.

Ah, well, intact might be too strong a word.

Scars and blemishes covered my arm; there wasn’t a healthy patch of skin to be found.

Just then, a chilling sensation crept over me, and I hurriedly checked my body.

‘…It’s all fastened on securely?’

Looking closer, the bandages were properly in place.

So, my true identity hadn’t been exposed to the world, then.

I had even suffered physical mutilation.

I had no idea how things had transpired.

The awareness that had been drifting away slowly began to return.

Soon, the memories of just before I collapsed resurfaced, one by one.

Taking Isabel with me, crossing through the Hole of Reincarnation on the seventh floor.

And the blood loss from my arm and leg being torn off.

Combined with the fatigue and malnutrition that had accumulated until then, plus the Heavenly Dragon Bloom, I remembered losing consciousness.

‘…I really almost died this time.’

A situation far more dangerous than with Nikita, the Calamity Dragon Maiden.

Back then, at least I had prepared some countermeasures, but this time, I truly almost perished.

And yet, I felt nothing much about it.

The brink of death didn’t inspire much fear in me.

Anew, I realized just how frightening a tool the Curtain’s Bandage was.

Still, it was better than being afraid of death, at least for now.

In this state, I could enter the Demon Palace again without any problems.

I checked my legs as well, and they had been treated without incident.

With this level of healing, it was clear that a Saint had intervened.

“Treated while wearing the bandage of concealment, was it.”

Unsettling, but considering the Saint’s firepower, it’s certainly possible.

If my identity had been discovered in the first place, I’d have been captured long ago.

Because there’s someone here who shouldn’t be.

“So, I somehow survived.”

The disappointing thing is not having obtained the equipment that was my original goal.

“Never mind. My life is more important, after all.”

As long as I’m alive, that’s all that matters.

The sixth floor’s equipment wasn’t essential in the first place.

Because I had something else prepared to replace it.

I was simply trying to proceed more smoothly.

I was about to get up, relieved to have saved my life,

when, for some reason, the blanket wouldn’t lift.

I shifted my gaze downward.

Following the moonlight streaming in through the window, people began to come into view, one by one.

Lying on the blanket were two people each.

One with red hair.

The other with navy blue hair.

Seron Parmia.

Sharin Sazaris.

Both of them were huddled together on the same bed as me.

Since when had they been like this?

I’m not sure, but in any case, this is troublesome.

If I were to pull the blanket, they both might wake up.

Still, seeing these two, I felt a sense of relief that I had barely made it back alive.

It seems worthwhile to have come with Isabel, half-dead.

“Come to think of it, Isabel…”

Is she safe?

I should look for her first.

“Uhhnn.”

Then, a voice drifted from Seron’s direction.

She lifted a face heavy with sleep.

Presently, with eyes half-lidded, she gazed at me, her pupils slowly widening.

At the same moment, teardrops began to shimmer and form in her eyes.

“Hngh, Prince Sweet Potato.”

“Seron, calm down. Why are you crying?”

Taken aback, I tried to soothe her, but Seron planted a headbutt square into my chest.

Was she trying to kill someone who’d just woken up?

As I coughed, reeling from Seron’s headbutt, she wrapped her arms tightly around me.

“I really, truly thought you were going to die. You idiot!”

Hearing those words, I offered a bitter smile.

It seemed Seron had seen my condition.

I certainly had been a mess back then.

“…You came to save me?”

“When we all arrived on the seventh floor, Bell brought you.”

Seron answered, sniffing back tears.

The flow of time in the Demon Palace is different.

Even if we were on the lower levels for two months, the fact that they joined us meant they came down with immense effort.

‘They must have written a new page in the Demon Palace’s clearing records.’

The thought of them coming to save me was, in many ways, appreciated.

“Look here, I’m safe now.”

“Idiot, do you even know how messed up you were? If the Saint and Saintess hadn’t been there this time, you really would have died! You would have been dead!”

So, there was even a Saintess after the Saint.

Perhaps the Saintess’ help was the reason my identity hadn’t been exposed.

I was now in debt to her.

She probably noticed the barrier’s bandages while trying to heal me and, to repay the debt, had acted with discretion.

‘If it’s Narea, she’s more than capable.’

A hero from my previous life.

She would have more than enough insight to figure it out.

I should offer her my thanks next time.

Thanks to you, I kept my life and avoided prison.

“I knew you’d come save me.”

“Hngh.”

I made sure to show Seron I was alright, and she finally stopped crying.

*Swish-*

Then, Sharin stirred awake as well.

As always, she gazed at me languidly.

Just as she was about to raise a hand in a goodnight gesture.

*Drip-*

This time, tears streamed down Sharin’s cheeks.

Before I could even get flustered, she simply wept silently.

I had never seen Sharin cry before.

She was always so composed, so unfazed around me.

I hastily reached out and patted her back.

I wasn’t good with crying women; I was just weak in that area.

Then, Sharin hugged me tightly.

Suddenly, I had Seron clinging to my left arm and Sharin to my right.

I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I couldn’t just leave them like this.

As I tried my best to comfort them, Sharin opened her lips.

“…I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?”

“I didn’t know that the words ‘I like you’ shouldn’t be used so lightly.”

Sharin rested her head against my chest.

“I just thought, I’m happy and having fun when I’m with my husband.

I just wanted to keep being with you. I thought that was what it meant to like someone.

My husband is a strange person and always does unusual things.”

She wrote me off as a strange person in an instant.

But it wasn’t that simple.

Love was a much more complicated and confusing emotion than I thought.

With just the slightest trigger, a person could fall in love.

Just sharing conversation, laughing together – sometimes that alone makes someone precious.

“But, no. It wasn’t just that, wasn’t it.”

Sharin squeezed her fist tight, as if feeling a heart-rending pain.

“I hate a world without my husband.”

I had originally found Sharin’s affection puzzling.

In Seron’s case, there was a pre-existing bond with Bicamone.

Her love, therefore, was understandable.

But Sharin and I had no such prior connection.

As Sharin said, to her, I was merely someone who could amuse her.

In truth, for Sharin, love was a shallow fondness, easily uttered.

She likely grew spiteful at others’ meddling, her possessiveness ignited.

But the thought of truly losing me this time must have changed her.

Sharin’s Milky Way sees more than one might think.

Therefore, she could see a world without me more vividly than anyone here.

And she couldn’t comprehend such a world.

Sharin’s grip tightened on my clothes.

“I don’t want to live so painfully in such a world.”

She looked up at me.

Her eyes, holding a clear, moonlit Milky Way, shimmered with tears.

In Sharin’s world, only Sharin existed.

In truth, she was someone who would never relinquish her place to another.

That is why she is fickle.

Her mother died of syphilis.

Furthermore, her mother, though abusive, never loved Sharin.

A life spent only protecting her place since childhood.

Always refusing to yield her position, she lived a capricious life, easily abandoning things that lost her interest.

And yet, somehow, I had leapt into her world.

Shamelessly taking a seat, as if I belonged there.

At first, it was merely interest.

Someone who could revive Isabelle.

A figure who wields magic seals and mysteries.

A figure who invites all manner of incidents.

A figure who, for my sake, receives the scorn of the Department of Arcane Arts.

A figure who brought the magic of an ancient dragon.

A figure who came to command Zerion’s magic.

A figure who became my fiancé.

A figure who, even to the capricious Sharin, endlessly provided amusement.

That was me.

I left Sharin no corner to even consider indulging her whims, as I was busy triggering incidents everywhere.

Sharin found it delightful to watch, and entertaining to participate.

Before she knew it, she was betrothed, guided by me through a vibrant spectrum of emotions.

Enough for her to concede, readily, that she liked me.

And that had an impact greater than imaginable.

As I said, Sharin is fickle.

But the instant she yields her place, even once…

Sharin was the kind of person who would swear not fickleness, but eternity.

She admitted she liked me.

Only then did I realize how momentous it was for her.

“So… don’t ever let this happen again.”

The girl, who had learned for the first time in her life the fear of losing something precious cradled in her arms, entreated me earnestly.

“Don’t be in so much pain, ever again.”

Considering the journey ahead, it’s a difficult promise.

Frankly, I don’t feel much.

It was a crisis. I almost died.

That’s about it.

I keep thinking that she doesn’t need to worry this much.

But the basic common sense I still possess tells me.

That my current state is not normal.

‘The promise I make now…’

Will surely become an important brake to control me, now that my limits are gone.

So, it was agreed then.

A promise not to push too hard, even to keep the promise itself.

“Okay, I promise.”

In the pre-dawn light, the two girls’ tears slowly dried.

Knowing I was safe was all that mattered, which was why they finally stopped weeping.

A good cry can leave you feeling refreshed.

But apart from that, a strange feeling of embarrassment settles in.

Showing your emotions in front of others is never an easy thing.

Sharin had already buried her face, avoiding my gaze.

The tips of her ears, flushed crimson, betrayed her own embarrassment.

Next to her, Seron was the same.

A little wriggle—

No.

The little rascal was using the opportunity to burrow deeper into my arms.

I could see the corners of his mouth tilting upward ever so slightly.

That perverted little forehead-head.

“Seron, if you burrow any further, I’m reporting you for indecent assault.”

“Eep, i-indecent assault!”

Seron, startled, lifted his head and cried out.

Even so, his face was as red as a tomato, the unmistakable look of a lecher who’d been eyeing someone’s chest.

“I-it’s just… your… smell is nice. That’s all.”

“Sniffing someone’s scent? You really are a certified pervert.”

“N-no, no it’s not! I’m not. Waaa, what am I supposed to do if it smells so good! Who told you to smell so nice!”

Sorry, but I’ve never given off such a fragrance.

At best, all I’ve got is the lingering scent of disinfectant.

I gave him a weary look, and Seron covered his face with both hands.

“What in the world are you smelling?”

“I-it’s comforting, and kind of cozy, something like that. Right, Sharin, Sharin, you can smell it too, can’t you!”

Seron hastily looked for an ally.

Sharin glanced up, then quickly buried her face back into me.

Seron’s face drained of all color in an instant upon seeing it.

“You sly little fox! What do you think you’re doing, enjoying yourself in this moment! Get off!”

“Nooo. He’s my husband, y’know.”

“Who’s your husband! You’re engaged, you’re not married!”

“I will beeeeee.”

Seron shook Sharin wildly, causing her to cling to me even tighter.

As a result, I began to shake along with her.

What in the world is going on here.

I feel like I’m going to be sick.

Just stop it already.

“Gyaaak! Prince Sweet Potato! Get her off of him, right now!”

Me get Sharin off?

That, I think even with the Heavenly Dragon Flower it would be impossible.

Seron, finally realizing she couldn’t separate Sharin from me, charged straight at me instead.

Then, wrapping her arms tightly around mine, she declared her unwavering intention to fight.

“Prince Sweet Potato is mine! I confessed first!”

“My husband.”

Seron and Sharin glared fiercely at each other.

It was like watching a crimson badger and a sapphire fox fighting over territory.

And as the subject of this territorial dispute, I was in a difficult position.

“You two, please stop…”

“My, having a good time, are we?”

Just then, a voice that sent shivers down my spine was heard.

Turning my creaking head, there, ruby-red eyes gleamed quietly.

Iris Heishirion.

I had no idea when she had appeared; she stood there without a sound.

Iris smiled sweetly as her eyes met mine.

“A flower in each hand, you must be in heaven.”

“Lady Iris, this is…”

“To think, I risked my life to save you, thinking you were in danger. And Hanon, the moment he wakes up, is playing around with women.”

Iris’s voice felt sharper than usual today.

More than that, she still treated me like Hanon.

As expected, my true identity hadn’t been exposed, it seemed.

“And you two.”

Iris eyed the pair who, despite her arrival, were locked in a silent battle.

“Hanon is my younger sibling. Not yours, *mine*.”

And with that outrageous statement, she fueled the flames.

Seron and Sharin slowly turned to face Iris.

They knew I wasn’t Hanon, of course.

Perhaps that’s why they gazed at Iris with strange eyes before finally exchanging glances.

“……”

“……”

A wordless look passed between them for a moment.

Then, just as casually, they each tightened their grip on my arm.

“Absolutely not.”

“Not even for you, Lady Iris.”

Iris raised her eyebrows.

The meaning was clear: they dared to refuse the words of a princess?

But neither Seron nor Sharin batted an eye.

A fierce battle of wills played out between the three.

“So, that’s how it is.”

Iris cracked her knuckles.

If Iris joined the fray, it would be over.

Unable to endure the situation any longer, I raised both arms high.

*Scrreeak-*

At that moment, the hospital room door slid open.

Hania stood there.

“Lady Iris, the doctor says he needs to see Hanon.”

Behind her, the doctor followed.

With the arrival of the specialist, the three were finally prevented from breaking out into a fight.

Barely catching my breath, Hania, catching my eye, gave a slight wink.

Hania, this wonderful woman.

I felt a lump forming in my throat.

Of course, only my ex seemed to be looking out for me.

I quickly rose from my seat to go see the doctor.

“Hanon, you know you almost went too far this time.”

As I passed the doorway, Hania casually tossed the words my way.

It seemed Hania was worried about me too.

“I’m fine. I’m perfectly alright.”

“You’re allowed to not be alright. The doctor said that post-traumatic stress could still linger. Get a thorough examination.”

“I’m not that weak. It’s just… a few severed limbs, you know?”

“……”

Trying to reassure Hania, I spoke, but her brow slightly furrowed as she stared at me.

“……Hanon, that’s not ‘just’ anything.”

Oops, I blundered.

Trying to sound nonchalant to avoid worry seemed to have only amplified it.

“I’ll go get checked right away.”

Under Hania’s strangely penetrating gaze, I hastily left the scene.

I need to watch my tongue in the future.