I Reject the villain’s ending.

Chapter Seven

Looking down at her sleeping form, the small wheezing breaths coming evenly, Iros slowly turned from the couch and eased himself onto the table.

He liked this table. It was often the perfect vantage point to watch her face as she slept on the couch.

Sitting at the corner of the table gave him a good view of her face. The Jericho horse face you could only see when she was asleep.

‘I told her I’d be there for her.’

‘…….’

‘You’re the one who picked me up.’

Leaning over slightly, Iros rested his arm over his eyes, cupped her sleeping palm gently, and pressed his lips firmly against the white flesh.

She smelled faintly of roses and sweet flesh.

‘You are my master, Sierra.’

The voice, twisted and full of bitterness, drifted out of his mouth and scattered into the air, unheard.

Iros hadn’t been by Sierra’s side from the beginning. Their first meeting hadn’t been smooth.

‘I hated you at first. Annoying.’

She never smiled, even when everyone around her was embracing and cherishing her.

She always looked at everything with a twist, like there was something wrong with her, but at first, I thought it was because she was a precious child.

Sierra Elgraton. Because having that last name means you’re noble.

‘So I stayed away from you, until that day.’

The day he saw her for the first time as a human being, a twelve-year-old girl like him.

The day the maids were too scared to bring her warm milk late at night and sent him on an errand instead.

Sierra, her face so pitifully white that she was having nightmares.

‘Wrong, wrong, wrong, stop!

‘…….’

‘I didn’t steal it, I’m sorry I snuck in, forgive me, forgive me. I was wrong.’

Tears streamed down her little face, and her mouth spewed out a string of words that begged for forgiveness.

As he watched Sierra struggle to wake up from her nightmare, Iros realized that she was not the child he had grown up loving and nurturing.

He walked over to her, took her hand in his, and stroked her hair clumsily.

‘…It’s okay, it’s okay.

‘Don’t leave me alone. It’s dark. Someone open the door, please.

‘It’s okay, Shui, it’s okay, I won’t leave you alone. I’ll stay with you until the sun comes up.’

I won’t leave you alone in this lonely night, in this night of nightmares.

I soothed and soothed and soothed all night. Until she stopped crying and fell fast asleep.

‘You probably don’t know that I’ve been by your side every night since then.’

At night after grueling training sessions, he would sneak into Sierra’s room, soothe her nightmares, and slip out quietly in the morning light.

It was always that way until he became a knight and took Sierra’s side.

‘I’ll always be here for you, so you can dream your dreams. I will never leave you unless you choose to abandon me.’

Iros buried his lips firmly in Sierra’s hand again.

A flying squirrel peeked through the crack in the door.

‘Omonat, chirp.’

Mei, clinging to the door, flattened her nose and smirked.

Then she shut the door quietly again, turned on her heel, and headed back to the kitchen with the cake.

‘Hmph- I didn’t see anything.’

I felt mystified as if I’d caught a glimpse of a secret, and my heart swelled and filled with fluffy clouds.

‘Alas, love is beautiful-is the Guardian in love with the Saint, and this is the thief’s kiss? A lip stamp on the palm of your hand. How romantic!’

The girl’s imagination spread its wings and soared endlessly. It was a good time.

* * *

The sweet midday dalliance was cut short, and she blinked lazily, feeling the warm breeze cool her.

‘…….’

‘Are you awake?’

I blinked a couple of times to bring my blurry vision into focus and saw Iros standing with his back to the sun.

My throat tingled in the instantaneous slumber.

I stared up at him, bathed in light, and asked.

‘What are you doing standing there?’

‘The sunlight…….’

‘Sunlight?’

‘When I move, the sunlight falls directly on you.’

I stared at Iros, who said it in a calm, nonchalant voice.

Even with her back to the sun, I could see her violet eyes and flowing light pink hair so clearly.

After a moment of mesmerizing her beauty, he muttered.

‘Let’s just close the curtains. My legs hurt, why are you standing here?’

‘Because I think if I close the curtains, the sun will pour in again.’

‘…….’

‘I thought you might wake up.’

His voice was dazzling with light.

Iros is such a sincere character. Even for something as trivial as this.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘I woke up and saw your pretty face.’

‘Do you like my face?’

‘Yes. Very much.’

I liked the way his clear mauve eyes, were so pretty and sparkling like glass that I couldn’t think of anything else but the Earl of Elgraton looked back at me soothingly.

I stiffened on the sofa and asked.

‘Where’s May?’

‘She’s not back yet.’

‘Really? I must have had a short sleep. What happened?’

‘She slept for two hours without waking up once.’

‘……?’

I stuttered for a moment, unable to comprehend Iros’s words. It took me about five seconds to realize that I had slept for two hours.

The grave, genteel tone of his voice caused cognitive dissonance, and it took me a while to come to the realization.

‘So you’re saying Mei hasn’t been back for two hours?’

‘Yes.’

What kind of ‘yes’ is that, I mean the girl who said she was going to get a snack has been missing for two hours.

I narrowed my eyes and glanced at Iros.

‘I’m disappointed in you, Pink. If you thought she was missing, you should have woken me right away.’

‘Waking you would have put me in danger.’

‘Oh, right.’

Come to think of it, I don’t like being woken up when I’m sleeping.

It’s probably a common trait amongst all humans that being forced to wake up from a restful sleep makes us grumpy.

Especially Iros, who is the first thing I see when I wake up and is the number one target of my anger.

I slapped my forehead as I saw him clutching the collar of his shirt out of habit again.

‘Phew. Anyway, now that you’re up, let’s go find Mei. The temple is big, she might have gotten lost.’

‘I don’t think that’s necessary.’

‘Why?’

I looked at Iros with a question in my eyes, and he walked over to the door and swung it open.

Then Mei, who had been leaning against the door, listening to the sounds from inside, spilled into the room, hands clasped together and ears pricked up.

‘It’s here.’

‘Kaaak!’

‘Mei?’

I jumped to my feet in surprise as Mei spilled into the room, only to see her sprawled on the floor, her head poking out of the corner of her eye, giggling.

I asked in disbelief.

‘No, why were you leaning against the door like that, not coming in.’

‘Hehehe. I thought the saint was sleeping and the guardian was standing guard, so I stayed outside because I didn’t want to disturb her.’

‘Really?’

Mei looked up at Iros and frowned out of the corner of her eye, which seemed suspicious, but she was in a forgiving mood after a good night’s sleep, so she just nodded.

‘As long as you two get along. Better than bad.’

They were going to be together for the rest of their lives unless something happened, so it was good to get to know them quickly.

‘So, Pink, what’s on the agenda for today?’

‘We have group prayer and a regular meeting of the congregation in an hour.’

‘That’s a long day of sitting. My bum is going to hurt.’

‘Do you intend to stay until the end, or were you planning to attend in the first place?’

I got another one of Iros’s signature ‘You?’ looks.

My faith was so low that whenever there was a prayer or event, I would just show up and leave.

I still don’t know what the point of such prayers and events is, but this time I’m going to try to be sincere.

To clear my name and build a good image.

That way, the people and the temple will be less likely to rise and kill me.

Be a good girl, Sierra!

I smirked.

‘This is my first official function since I came back from the dead, so I’ll be sure to keep my seat.’

‘I see. I’ll get you a cushion, then.’

Iros gave me a dubious look but complied.

But one person is unusually quiet. Mei, the normally bubbly and energetic woman, was silent.

I turned my head and saw Mei with a pale face.

‘Xue, a saint came back from the dead?’

Seeing Mei’s shoulders drop in shock, I elbowed Iros in the side.

‘Pink, is there anyone in the Empire who doesn’t know I died and came back to life?’

‘I think we have that rare person right in front of us.’

‘Isn’t it? I’m not the only one who finds it strange?’

I asked, smiling soullessly at Mei, who was whispering and turning white.

‘Mei, haven’t you heard the rumors about me?’

‘Yi, I’ve been so busy working that I haven’t had time to listen to rumors or gossip. I had no idea that the saint had died.’

‘I don’t know either. I don’t remember when I died. I woke up and found myself in a coffin.’

Mei’s face bleached even whiter as she shrugged her shoulders. It was almost like a blank sheet of paper now.

‘Oh, my God……! Doesn’t the Guardian know why, why the Saint died?’

‘I don’t know either.’

‘Well, at least the Guardian would have been with her.’

‘…….’

Iros pursed his lips to speak in Moorish, then fell silent.

Her pretty peony face was still grave, but her eyes had darkened a little.

It wasn’t so different from his usual self that people wouldn’t recognize it, but I was quick to notice the subtle difference.

I had never seen Iros look so downcast and depressed before, so I grabbed Mei’s arm to change the subject and distract her.

‘I died suddenly, Iros doesn’t know. Why don’t we stop talking about dreary things and get ready for prayer, Mei?’

Thankfully realising that he was deliberately interrupting her, Mei nodded with an apologetic look on her face.

‘Yeah. I’m sorry, I know you said it’s in the past, but I’m sure you were annoyed that I brought it up.’

‘It’s okay, you’re right, it’s in the past.’

You’re not going to die. If you’re good, you’ll live a long time.

Mei glanced at Iros and me, then clenched her fists and spoke up.

‘Yes! Shall we pick out a dress for you to wear to the prayer meeting then?’

‘Hmmm. I don’t like this dress, the corset is too tight and it’s hard to breathe.’

‘Well, we have lots of other dresses without corsets, so you can choose your favorite!’

‘Okay. Let’s go pick one out together.’

I glanced at Iros as he followed Mei to the dressing room.

It wasn’t like him to follow so quietly, his eyes still a little sunken.

‘Fool. You shouldn’t feel so guilty for something that wasn’t my fault.’

Perhaps Iros feels bad that when I died, he didn’t know why I died and couldn’t do anything about it.