Chapter 57

Episode 57

“Why are you giving this to me now…?”

Countless words swirled in her head and then vanished.

The ring, which had felt loose and seemed to float on her finger, instantly shrank to fit snugly, as if proving that it had magic at its core.

Lydia stared down at the ring on her finger, quietly radiating magic as if it had always belonged there.

Still wearing a puzzled expression, she looked back at Ilian and asked again, more clearly.

“Why are you giving this to me now?”

“As you said, our contract is over, and this is something I promised to give you.”

Even so, she hadn’t expected to receive it so suddenly.

She thought she would have at least a little time to prepare herself emotionally.

Was this his way of kindly and clearly signaling that they no longer had any business with each other and that it was time to part ways?

“Of course, I’m grateful you’re giving it to me, but the curse hasn’t been fully resolved yet. There could still be complications…”

“But that doesn’t mean you’d heartlessly turn your back on me. If something happens, you wouldn’t hesitate to get involved.”

That was true, of course.

In some ways, it warmed her heart that he thought so highly of her and expressed his trust this way.

But it also stirred a familiar emptiness, the sense that nothing was left to tie them together anymore. The only new addition was a growing sense of helplessness.

“So, just as you said, it’s time I stop holding onto something that was rightfully yours like a hostage.”

Thinking back to the Ilian Esteban she had first met, it was truly unimaginable that he would say something like this. Neither Lydia nor Ilian himself could have expected it.

That made it all the more difficult to find anything to say.

She had hoped for the moment when he would no longer need her, yet now it just sounded like he was saying there was no longer any reason for her to stay by his side.

“Then… should I start preparing to leave right away?”

“What?”

“You’re saying we no longer need to see each other… So if you need me later, you can call for me again. I guess I should be on my way…”

Her voice, which had been clear at first, gradually faded as Ilian’s expression grew more serious, until it trailed off at the end.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them.

For the first time, the silence that had always felt easy between them now felt suffocating and burdensome.

“You want to leave right away?”

Ilian could only respond with this question to Lydia’s painfully resolute words.

Still, he thought there was room—he didn’t think she would declare her departure so immediately.

Though perhaps not as attached as he was to everything that bound them together, he had thought she held at least a sliver of feeling.

He hadn’t expected her to speak as if she could throw it all away so easily and without a second thought.

“…Did you give this to me because you wanted me to leave?”

Even the way she addressed him had returned to what it was before, as if everything had come full circle.

And then Lydia asked the decisive question.

Only after she said it did she realize just how much she had wanted to ask it.

What exactly do you want from me?

If you don’t tell me, I’ll remain in this uncertain state forever.

“No. I gave you the ring because I truly wanted to give it to you. Because I felt it should be returned to its rightful owner.”

To Lydia, the ring symbolized the end of their contract, and if the contract had ended, then so had their relationship.

All of it meant the same thing.

She had come up here to try to detach herself. She wanted to steady her heart.

She tried to scold herself whenever it wavered for no reason, asking what kind of foolish thoughts she was entertaining. Yet, here she was, shaken again by each word he said.

“…I didn’t give it to you because I wanted you to leave.”

“But there’s no reason for me to stay here—”

“I want you to.”

Fearing she might misunderstand, Ilian reiterated it firmly.

“I want you to stay here.”

Lydia had a habit of quickly resolving all other matters in direct, straightforward ways, yet when it came to herself, she would overthink and consider every possible outcome. So this time, he decided not to take another path either.

“Isn’t that enough?”

It felt almost pathetic to ask, knowing it wasn’t enough and that he wouldn’t get an immediate answer.

But Ilian couldn’t just let Lydia leave like this.

If he let her go now, he felt as if she would truly vanish by tomorrow morning.

Because that’s how Lydia had always been.

Once she made a decision, she acted on it immediately, thinking about the consequences afterward.

If he had to chase after her, he would.

But if there was a chance to persuade her now, he wanted to ask for time—just a little time—for her to reconsider.

If I mean anything to you at all.

‘Seriously, what am I…’

Even as he spoke, he was desperately digging through everything he knew about Lydia, trying to use it to his advantage.

But knowing her this well only made the weight on his heart heavier.

Ilian began to grow increasingly anxious as Lydia, with that calm, unreadable face that was driving him mad, continued to look at him without averting her gaze.

He was afraid that the moment her lips opened, she would say she wanted to pack her things and leave right away. Not anything else—just that. That was his greatest fear right now.

“I know it’s not enough. So if you want, I’ll give you the divorce papers.”

In the end, it was he who couldn’t hold back and spoke first.

Words he didn’t mean at all, just to hear her answer.

Divorce papers, of all things.

He had managed to give her the ring despite his reluctance, but divorce papers?

He could find countless reasons to delay that.

Future him would no doubt rationalize it with absurd excuses, unwilling to hand them over easily.

Still, if Lydia insisted, he wouldn’t be able to force her to stay.

So this was more like a plea, masked as an offer, hoping her resolve would weaken just a little. Trying to stop himself from sounding too desperate.

“…Ilian, are you saying you want me to stay here?”

Just that one sentence made Lydia’s head feel like it might explode.

The moment she heard it, countless voices clamored in her mind, making it impossible to think straight.

“Yes.”

Even as Lydia repeated the question to herself, Ilian answered so quickly it seemed urgent, leaving her feeling as if this were all a dream.

“Even if you don’t need me? Even if it has nothing to do with the curse?”

“The curse was never that important from the start.”

To Ilian, the curse had only been a reason to get to know Lydia.

That was the one thing he was truly certain of.

He believed that even if he had met her under different circumstances, he would have inevitably been drawn to her.

Lydia was that kind of person to him.

From the moment he began keeping her close, he instinctively knew he wouldn’t be able to imagine a life without her, though he had ignored that feeling for a long time.

To stay here—thoughts branching out endlessly began from that single starting point.

Why? How? For what reason? And how was she supposed to respond to a statement like, “I want you to stay”?

“If you want to leave, do as you wish, Lydia. But if you’re only hesitating or looking back at me because of what I said, you don’t have to.”

He seemed to interpret Lydia’s prolonged silence differently. Hearing Ilian’s voice laced with a bitterness she had never heard before, Lydia reached out to stop him.

She had never thought of him that way. That wasn’t what her hesitation was about.

She simply needed time to process all the overwhelming things Ilian had just said.

She hadn’t even had a moment to deeply consider what she truly wanted. She hadn’t allowed herself that luxury.

“Wait a moment, I…”

But Ilian, unusually, was already turning away as if to escape hearing her answer.

Heading back down the stairs.

Lydia couldn’t hold him back firmly either, since even she hadn’t come to a clear decision yet. And so, once again, she was left alone.

Alone, with more confusion than when she had come up here, and with even fewer answers.