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In Margel, within the safe walls of Carneol, Guyon felt something.
Relief. Freedom. As if a huge weight had been lifted from his soul. As if he could once again do anything he wanted, without fear of punishment from his master.
But instead of joy at his regained freedom and status as a full-fledged person, he felt something completely different.
If the curse was lifted... That means...
“Beata! No!” he jumped to his feet, slamming the book shut.
Useless, useless, useless-useless-useless-unnecessary-loser-couldn’t-save-her....
“No...”
He would give anything to be free from the shackles of slavery. To become a person, not a thing. But if Beata’s life was at stake... He would willingly return to Lower Lunaria, willingly endure all the pain and humiliation until the end of his days, just so that she would be alive, just so that she would be okay.
Guyon forgot how to breathe. His heart beat dully somewhere in his throat. A heavy lump grew in his chest.
“Please... No...”
Seconds turned into minutes, and he still stood there, unable to process what had happened. His hands were trembling. He felt like he was crying. Nisho would probably laugh and say that men don’t cry... But he didn’t care. When your whole life is falling apart, when you lose the person closest to you, does it even matter? If only tears could bring Beata back... If only a miracle would happen...
“Gods... Great Anush... I can’t live without her...”
As if in response to his prayers, he almost heard the clink of an invisible collar around his neck. There probably wasn’t another person in the world who would be as happy to be a slave again.
Alive. Alive...
“Gods, thank you...” Guyon fell to his knees, unable to bear the stress.
But he still had two agonizing weeks ahead of him...
***
Beata dragged her feet into Carneol. She was too tired, too exhausted, too worried about herself. Only on the way home did she manage to catch up on the news about the airship crash. What were the chances that Guyon had survived? What were the chances that he had overcome all the dangers of the wilderness and returned home? Alone, or even with Nisho...
The adventuress resigned herself to the fact that she would never see her lover again. That what happened in the hospital was the last time. She didn’t want to remember him like that. With his face contorted in pain, his skin pale, with huge bruises under his dull, blindly squinting eyes...
“If I had known... Gods, if I had known! I hope he wasn’t suffering too much...”
She cried almost the entire journey. In the end, she had no more tears left, and she just sobbed silently into Mysteriosa.
She didn’t want to go home, to the room that would forever be empty. But she had to. Work. Duty... Now, duty was all that remained in her life. Something to cling to. Time heals, right? How much time would it take to heal the monstrous, gaping wound left by the airship crash and her Guyon?
Beata doubted that anything could hold her on this earth for long. More than anything, she wanted to follow her fiancé into oblivion.
If someone had ever told her that she would become so attached to someone, especially to the first slave she bought to do dirty work, she wouldn’t have believed it. She had always tried to avoid attachments, seeing them only as weakness and foolishness. She had made a mistake by opening her heart to Guyon. A terrible mistake that had cost her half her soul and all her will to live. A terrible mistake that could easily be her last.
And yet... And yet, if she had a choice, she would choose Guyon again.
Two not-so-good people with a lot of baggage. Two people who simply didn’t care about each other. Over the years, they had grown, they had worked hard to become better people than they were before.
And now... Was it all in vain?
Beata didn’t know and didn’t want to know. She opened the door to Carneol, climbed the stairs, and put her hand on the doorknob of her room.
Lie down, lie down, and sleep, sleep, sleep, hoping that everything that happened was just a bad dream... But she was just fooling herself. Miracles don’t happen.
The adventuress yanked the door open.
And froze in place.
***
“Welcome home, my lady,” Guyon smiled, looking up from his medical textbook.
“I-I-I-I...” Beata stood there with her mouth slightly open. “You’re not... I’m not...”
Instead of an answer, her faithful companion walked over and hugged her tightly.
“I missed you. And I was very worried... I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come back.”
“Guyon... Alive...” The adventuress breathed a sigh of relief, burying her face in his shoulder. The fabric of his suit instantly became wet with tears of happiness and relief.
For a while, they stood like that. Beata cried, letting out all the pain and despair that had accumulated inside her. Guyon silently and tightly hugged her, stroking her back.
Then the girl pulled away, still sobbing and sniffling. She wiped away the remaining tears. And immediately slapped her fiancé on the cheek.
“Ouch! What was that for?!”
“For scaring me! For almost dying! Twice! Do you even realize that if something happens to you, I won’t even have a reason to live on this earth?! What’s the point of a world without you?!”
“Do you think it was easy for me?! Nisho and I almost died jumping through the mountains! We almost got crushed, we could have been eaten by harpies, salamanders, snakes, dragons... And then, when we got back, I felt for a few minutes that you were gone! I almost killed myself!”
“If you had, I would never forgive myself! I forbid you to die! At least not before me! I’ll die first, and then you can do whatever you want!”
“But what would be the point of me doing anything if you died?! I would only want one thing! You are the only thing that gives meaning to my life!”
“Then you’ll find another meaning! You’ll live and be happy, no matter what, got it?!”
“But you’re not trying to find another meaning! I heard you muttering as you were coming up here! ‘I don’t want to live, I don’t want to, I want to be with him!’”
“Because of the two of us, I’m the main one! And I can do whatever I want with my life! If I wanted to die after you, I would!”
“Well, it would be great for me to know that I caused your death!”
“And it would be great for me to know that you couldn’t live without me?! Idiot!”
“Yeah, you’re burying yourself, and I’m the idiot...” Guyon grumbled, tired of the argument.
“Well, it wasn’t me...” Beata said in response, also quite exhausted from the shouting. “Let’s go see the others. We’ve already made enough noise in Carneol with our screaming. We should go and make them happy.”
Relief. Freedom. As if a huge weight had been lifted from his soul. As if he could once again do anything he wanted, without fear of punishment from his master.
But instead of joy at his regained freedom and status as a full-fledged person, he felt something completely different.
If the curse was lifted... That means...
“Beata! No!” he jumped to his feet, slamming the book shut.
Useless, useless, useless-useless-useless-unnecessary-loser-couldn’t-save-her....
“No...”
He would give anything to be free from the shackles of slavery. To become a person, not a thing. But if Beata’s life was at stake... He would willingly return to Lower Lunaria, willingly endure all the pain and humiliation until the end of his days, just so that she would be alive, just so that she would be okay.
Guyon forgot how to breathe. His heart beat dully somewhere in his throat. A heavy lump grew in his chest.
“Please... No...”
Seconds turned into minutes, and he still stood there, unable to process what had happened. His hands were trembling. He felt like he was crying. Nisho would probably laugh and say that men don’t cry... But he didn’t care. When your whole life is falling apart, when you lose the person closest to you, does it even matter? If only tears could bring Beata back... If only a miracle would happen...
“Gods... Great Anush... I can’t live without her...”
As if in response to his prayers, he almost heard the clink of an invisible collar around his neck. There probably wasn’t another person in the world who would be as happy to be a slave again.
Alive. Alive...
“Gods, thank you...” Guyon fell to his knees, unable to bear the stress.
But he still had two agonizing weeks ahead of him...
***
Beata dragged her feet into Carneol. She was too tired, too exhausted, too worried about herself. Only on the way home did she manage to catch up on the news about the airship crash. What were the chances that Guyon had survived? What were the chances that he had overcome all the dangers of the wilderness and returned home? Alone, or even with Nisho...
The adventuress resigned herself to the fact that she would never see her lover again. That what happened in the hospital was the last time. She didn’t want to remember him like that. With his face contorted in pain, his skin pale, with huge bruises under his dull, blindly squinting eyes...
“If I had known... Gods, if I had known! I hope he wasn’t suffering too much...”
She cried almost the entire journey. In the end, she had no more tears left, and she just sobbed silently into Mysteriosa.
She didn’t want to go home, to the room that would forever be empty. But she had to. Work. Duty... Now, duty was all that remained in her life. Something to cling to. Time heals, right? How much time would it take to heal the monstrous, gaping wound left by the airship crash and her Guyon?
Beata doubted that anything could hold her on this earth for long. More than anything, she wanted to follow her fiancé into oblivion.
If someone had ever told her that she would become so attached to someone, especially to the first slave she bought to do dirty work, she wouldn’t have believed it. She had always tried to avoid attachments, seeing them only as weakness and foolishness. She had made a mistake by opening her heart to Guyon. A terrible mistake that had cost her half her soul and all her will to live. A terrible mistake that could easily be her last.
And yet... And yet, if she had a choice, she would choose Guyon again.
Two not-so-good people with a lot of baggage. Two people who simply didn’t care about each other. Over the years, they had grown, they had worked hard to become better people than they were before.
And now... Was it all in vain?
Beata didn’t know and didn’t want to know. She opened the door to Carneol, climbed the stairs, and put her hand on the doorknob of her room.
Lie down, lie down, and sleep, sleep, sleep, hoping that everything that happened was just a bad dream... But she was just fooling herself. Miracles don’t happen.
The adventuress yanked the door open.
And froze in place.
***
“Welcome home, my lady,” Guyon smiled, looking up from his medical textbook.
“I-I-I-I...” Beata stood there with her mouth slightly open. “You’re not... I’m not...”
Instead of an answer, her faithful companion walked over and hugged her tightly.
“I missed you. And I was very worried... I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come back.”
“Guyon... Alive...” The adventuress breathed a sigh of relief, burying her face in his shoulder. The fabric of his suit instantly became wet with tears of happiness and relief.
For a while, they stood like that. Beata cried, letting out all the pain and despair that had accumulated inside her. Guyon silently and tightly hugged her, stroking her back.
Then the girl pulled away, still sobbing and sniffling. She wiped away the remaining tears. And immediately slapped her fiancé on the cheek.
“Ouch! What was that for?!”
“For scaring me! For almost dying! Twice! Do you even realize that if something happens to you, I won’t even have a reason to live on this earth?! What’s the point of a world without you?!”
“Do you think it was easy for me?! Nisho and I almost died jumping through the mountains! We almost got crushed, we could have been eaten by harpies, salamanders, snakes, dragons... And then, when we got back, I felt for a few minutes that you were gone! I almost killed myself!”
“If you had, I would never forgive myself! I forbid you to die! At least not before me! I’ll die first, and then you can do whatever you want!”
“But what would be the point of me doing anything if you died?! I would only want one thing! You are the only thing that gives meaning to my life!”
“Then you’ll find another meaning! You’ll live and be happy, no matter what, got it?!”
“But you’re not trying to find another meaning! I heard you muttering as you were coming up here! ‘I don’t want to live, I don’t want to, I want to be with him!’”
“Because of the two of us, I’m the main one! And I can do whatever I want with my life! If I wanted to die after you, I would!”
“Well, it would be great for me to know that I caused your death!”
“And it would be great for me to know that you couldn’t live without me?! Idiot!”
“Yeah, you’re burying yourself, and I’m the idiot...” Guyon grumbled, tired of the argument.
“Well, it wasn’t me...” Beata said in response, also quite exhausted from the shouting. “Let’s go see the others. We’ve already made enough noise in Carneol with our screaming. We should go and make them happy.”
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