CHAPTER~16
She Opened Her Eyes Again
The reason he had not used the last remaining heart as a sacrifice was because it was the final safeguard, kept in mind in case of failure.
As he traced the strong, steady pulse beating in Airi’s slender throat, he realized just how foolish that concern had been.
The princess’s heart was already beating.
What the spell required was not a heart, but simply a living sacrifice intelligent enough to restore her consciousness.
By fortunate coincidence, he possessed a suitable living sacrifice.
N checked the princess’s pulse and then lowered his gaze to the two legs planted on the ground beneath his own arms, hesitating briefly.
Ever since returning after losing two hearts, he had never released his human disguise.
Because he lacked a heart capable of sending blood to the ends of eight limbs, N concealed the legs he did not use and wandered the palace in human form, which led the sirens to whisper that he was grotesque.
Yet on land, possessing four limbs was considered wholeness for a human.
His hesitation lasted only a moment.
His legs would grow back with time, and since he was already short on hearts, N regarded it as a convenient outcome rather than a loss.
To sorcerers who lived for research and experimentation, each thinking limb was more precious than anything else.
But the reason N continued his research had been different from the very beginning.
He had realized it long ago.
From the day he followed the princess to the surface, and through all the years he wandered those dizzying rock caverns, chewing through walls of densely carved letters like a foolish fish swallowing everything in sight.
After fully realizing that deprivation could not even compare to the countless days spent without thought, N understood this well.
The purpose that had vanished from his life was something that could never be replaced by anything else.
Quietly gazing at the princess’s hair drifting in the current, N opened his mouth.
“Lord of the great ocean, blessed Father.
I believe in one God, my Lord, the only one.
Creator of light and darkness, of all things visible and invisible.”
At the sound of his murmured words, pitch-black bubbles blossomed around them.
Amid the raging currents, only his chanting voice rang out clearly.
“We beseech You, almighty Father.
O holy God, I offer You my four legs.
Forgive all the sins we have committed in thought, in word, and in deed.”
…….
“Deliver us from our troubles.
Heal the sick.
Return the lost among Your people.
Revive the weak, encourage the despairing, and protect those who wander astray.”
…….
“Lord, let us be sheltered by Your mighty hand, and saved from all sin by Your uplifted arm.
Deliver us also from those who hate us unjustly.
Grant all things to us who dwell in Your peace, to us who swim in Your sea.”
…….
“So that under Your protection, we may sing eternal gratitude to the Lord, night and day.”
At last, when the swirling waters settled after the long incantation ended, N lowered his gaze to his pale hands, his eyes growing dim.
Outwardly, nothing seemed to have changed, yet as the owner of the body, he felt it clearly.
His dulled consciousness, as though it had sunk to the ocean floor, was proof enough.
For some time now, he would not be able to return to his former body.
Looking down at the sleeping princess through the gaps between his fingers, N suddenly felt the space behind him brighten and turned toward the entrance.
Light was seeping in through gaps between the rocks, disturbed by the aftermath of the spell.
Belatedly, he piled a large heap of stones onto the collapsed opening, but the light had already spread in all directions.
After repeatedly shifting rocks in a futile effort, he finally gave up and turned his back to the entrance.
At that moment, his eyes caught sight of the princess’s feet, damp with light some distance away.
For some reason, he could not tear his gaze away from the way a slender beam of light rippled like a wave across her toes.
When he thought he saw the tip of her foot twitch, N forgot even how to breathe.
He stood frozen for a moment, then staggered toward the princess.
One step, then another.
His unsteady approach was clumsy and awkward, like when he had first learned how to walk.
Stopping before the stone bed, N muttered blankly.
“Princess.”
No answer came.
Even so, N called out to his master once more.
“……Princess.”
As dawn filtering through the cracks faintly tinted the cave with light, N stared as if spellbound at Airi, who slowly opened her eyes within the blue currents.
Still looking dazed, as though her mind had yet to fully awaken, the princess soon noticed her naked body and hurriedly curled in on herself.
Watching her tug even her long hair forward to conceal her bare form, N suddenly recalled a passage from the scriptures carved into the wall.
The story of Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God and went beyond the water into the light, only to realize shame and cover their bodies with garments.
Thinking that the princess’s flushed red cheeks somehow resembled that tale, N quietly lowered his gaze to her feet and draped a tattered outer garment over her, at least to cover her.
“I’m sorry, Princess.
I didn’t have time to dress you in proper clothes.”
Even after fastening the coat down to her toes and filling the dark cave with light, the princess could not hide her confusion.
Worried that there might be side effects from the spell, N asked her his name and only after confirming that her memory was intact did he briefly explain what had happened.
“I’m the one who brought you into the sea.
I managed to prevent your body from dissolving into sea foam, but restoring consciousness to a body that had already died once was quite difficult even for me, so it took some time for you to wake.”
The princess, who had been listening with an unreal expression, responded a beat later.
“How much…… time has passed?”
“I never bothered counting, but the last time I went to the surface was in the year 762, so I suppose about three years have passed outside.”
Three years had passed?
In that time?
That’s impossible…….
The shock was plainly written across the princess’s face, her mouth hanging open.
“What happened…….
What happened, N?”
What had happened, she asked.
As N briefly retraced the past in order to organize his words for the princess, who still could not grasp the passage of time even after hearing the explanation, images rose before him.
The Emperor’s back as he held the blood-soaked princess, Matthias’s voice shouting that he would kill someone, and the shoulders of the King of Triton collapsing like a mountain as he slowly sank down before the princess, who lay pale for a month…….
The moment he recalled all of it, N, now left with only a single heart, lost the will to explain.
So instead of listing everything that had happened over three years, he answered briefly.
“I continued the research inside the ruins that had once been halted, in order to save you.
As you know, Princess, the place is vast, so it took about three years just to chant and interpret the spells I needed.”
Strictly speaking, it was not a lie, as he simply omitted mention of the hearts and limbs he had sacrificed.
Sure enough, even that much made the princess turn pale and stammer.
“Why…… why did you go that far, N.”
“…….”
“I told you, I told you it was okay for me to leave, so why…….”
“We promised, didn’t we.
That we would return to the sea together.”
The princess’s lips, which had parted as if to say something, stopped abruptly.
