"Hmm…"


    The faint touch against his cheek was feather-light, but it stirred Neron from his restless sleep.


    He blinked against the dim glow of the room, his mind still fogged with exhaustion and grief.


    For a moment, he thought he had imagined it—a dream, a trick of his sorrow-addled mind.


    But then he saw her.


    "A-ahh… y-you…!"


    Lilith stood at the edge of his bed, her crimson eye glowing faintly in the half-light, hiding the ck eyepatch that covered her other eye.


    She looked serene, her usual mischievous smirk absent, reced by an expression that was strangely tender.


    Neron shot upright, his heart pounding.


    "L-Lilith?" he stammered, his voice cracking with disbelief. "How…? You… you died. I saw…" Experience new tales on m v|l e''-NovelBin


    Her smile softened, and she raised a hand to silence him.


    "Rx, Neron. I''m here. But keep your voice down, or you''ll wake the entire pce."


    He stared at her, his mind racing to make sense of what he was seeing.


    "But how? The Martial de God… his sword… I saw you…"


    "I know," she said, her voice calm butced with a hint of guilt. "I know what you saw, Neron. But it wasn''t real. Not entirely."


    "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice rising despite her earlier warning. "I watched him kill you! I saw you lying there, lifeless! How could that not be real?"


    Lilith sighed, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. Her presence felt so normal, so familiar, that for a moment, Neron almost forgot the chaos of the past day.


    "It was a trick," she admitted, her gaze meeting his. "A very convincing one. I needed him to believe he had won, Neron. If he thought I was still alive, he''d keeping after me. He''s been obsessed with fighting me ever since I beat him the first time. And if I kept defeating him, he''d never stop."


    Neron''s fists clenched, his confusion giving way to anger. "So you let him think he killed you? You let me believe you were dead?"


    "I didn''t have a choice!" she snapped, though her voice quickly softened. "Do you think I wanted to put you through that? Do you think it was easy for me to watch your face as I ''died''? But it was the only way, Neron. He needed to think he''d won. Otherwise, he''d never stop hunting me, and you''d be caught in the crossfire."


    Her words hung in the air, heavy with meaning. Neron''s anger wavered, reced by a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.


    Relief, frustration, betrayal, and gratitude all vied for dominance in his heart.


    "You could''ve told me," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "You didn''t have to make me think you were gone."


    "I couldn''t risk it," she said gently. "The Martial de God is persistent, but he''s not a fool. If he even suspected I was alive, everything would have been for nothing. And…"


    She hesitated, her gaze falling to her hands.


    "And… I also needed you to move on."


    Neron frowned. "Move on? What are you talking about?"


    Lilith looked up, her eyes shining with an emotion Neron couldn''t quite ce.


    "You''ve spent so much of your life running, Neron. Running from the past, from your pain, from your own potential. I wanted you to have a chance to stop. To forge a life that suits you, not one defined by your circumstances."


    He shook his head, the weight of her words pressing down on him. "And you thought pretending to die would help with that? How does that make any sense?"


    "You''ll understand eventually," she said, her tone cryptic yet resolute. "You can''t avoid forming bonds with people forever, Neron. No matter how much you try to keep your distance, life has a way of pulling you back in. You''ll see."


    He opened his mouth to argue, but the look in her eyes stopped him. There was no malice, no maniption—only a quiet certainty that left him at a loss for words.


    "I don''t get it," he admitted, his voice tinged with frustration. "But… I trust you."


    Lilith smiled, the expression tinged with a sadness that made Neron''s chest ache.


    "Thank you," she said softly.


    She reached out, her fingers brushing against his forehead.


    "You''ll be fine, Neron. You''re stronger than you think. But for now… I need you to forget this conversation."


    "What?" His eyes widened, panic ring in his chest. "No, wait—"


    ~FSHUUUUU!~


    Her magic surged before he could protest further, a gentle yet irresistible force that wrapped around his mind like a warm nket.


    His eyelids grew heavy, his thoughts growing sluggish as the spell took hold.


    "Why…?" he mumbled, his voice barely audible.


    "Because you deserve a clean te," she whispered, her voice filled with an uncharacteristic tenderness. "And because I care about you more than you realize. That''s why I have to leave."


    Her smile was sad, something akin to tears glistened in her glowing eye as his confused face reflected in it.


    As Neron''s consciousness faded, he thought he saw a tear descend down her pale face.


    "Goodbye, kid."


    ***************


    When Neron woke again, the room was filled with the soft light of dawn.


    He blinked, the remnants of a strange dream lingering at the edges of his mind.


    Lilith''s face, her voice, her touch—it all felt so vivid, yet so distant.


    "Hmmm…"


    He sat up, rubbing his eyes as he tried to piece together the fragments of his memory. There was something important, something just out of reach… but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t grasp it.


    "Just a dream, I guess…" He muttered, though the words felt hollow.


    And yet, as he rose from the bed and prepared to face the day, he realized something had changed.


    The crushing weight of grief that had pressed on him so heavily the night before was gone. In its ce was a quiet resolve, a sense of peace he couldn''t quite exin.


    He didn''t understand it, but for the first time in what felt like forever, he didn''t feel alone.