STVWDTD Chapter 7

No Resentment. This is My First Kiss

The breath-holding game had ended.

[I'll let you out!]

She pushed past the child blocking her path and kept moving.

[I'm not lying! I'll let you out!]

At the child's desperate-sounding words, Diana stopped dead.

The child laughed at her reaction. Of course they would. She was predictable—tempted by the promise of escape. People were just fundamentally selfish like that. But what Diana said next wasn't what the child expected.

"You. You touched my man, didn't you?"

She wasn't sure when Rodrick had become her man, but the child's expression faltered with guilt.

"Once my body started recovering, I could see mana. Not just see it—I can feel it really clearly."

Her body had become sensitized to Rodrick's mana especially. The mana she'd absorbed once before.

Something had happened. For hours, his mana had been thrashing around unstable.

[That—that mean old man is the one who's bad!]

"Are you done playing house?"

The child's face went sulky, puffing their cheeks out and turning away sharply.

Not cute at all. Unlike Noel, who actually managed cute.

"Bring Rodrick here. Now."

[Hmph, I don't know anyone by that name~]

"Naughty children need discipline to learn better."

[Stop joking. There's no adult here who can punish me!]

"That's why the parent role matters."

[You're wrong! No! Where are you even going!]

She ignored the child and started walking again.

When she'd first searched this castle, there'd been a ghost chasing her—skin melting off, hair flying wild. She'd been terrified at first, running blindly. But thinking about it, that ghost had been looking for something.

The closer she got to where the ghosts emerged, the more her suspicion hardened into certainty.

A faint thread of mana from the children's things led to one specific point. Ghosts that couldn't cross past it. More specifically, they couldn't cross into the western corridor where the children were. Why, she didn't know. But she knew that much.

Diana stepped on a magic circle that glowed ominously in the corridor.

A woman's scream. Crack, crackle. Bone-breaking sounds. Something grotesquely twisted appeared, shoulders at angles that shouldn't exist.

Diana swallowed hard. That's not a ghost. Not a ghost. She closed her eyes tight, opened them. Breathed.

Blood-shot eyes flickered downward at her, and ice crawled up her spine.

Not a ghost. Not a ghost.

Before the thing could do anything, Diana shoved the children's belongings at it.

"The children! I brought the children!"

The twisted woman froze. No more screams echoed out.

In that suffocating silence, Diana carefully laid the things she'd been carrying on the magic circle.

Let them go together. Let them leave this place. Children need an adult to guide them.

The children behind her recognized the woman. Despite the grotesque shape, they didn't hesitate—they threw themselves into her arms.

[[[Mommy! We were so scared!]]]

The moment the children cried, the woman's shape shifted. Became what she'd been in life—beautiful, wearing a maid's uniform. She held them with both arms full.

The cold drained from the space. Diana watched the reunion, and spoke.

"Why aren't you leaving? Scared of punishment?"

[I... what...]

"You know what you did wrong, don't you?"

The woman hadn't been the first person to enter this castle. Every time, the child had dangled escape routes like bait. Playing games.

The child tried to get angry, but—

[Agh!]

The maid held out her hand. Come.

The child hesitated, then shuffled forward. Then bolted into her arms.

Just a kid. Terrifying when throwing a fit like some evil spirit, but.

Diana watched them, and their eyes met.

[Thank you for finding the children.]

The woman bowed deeply, pressing the troublemaking child's head down under her palm.

"What happens now?"

Diana's question carried weight it probably shouldn't. She meant: what happens to them? And can I get out of here?

The woman's expression darkened. Concern flickered through Diana.

[I'm sorry, but we're not the castle's master.]

Right. Right. The castle needed the owner's permission to leave. The barriers were that strong.

[But I can open a path!]

The child clutched at the maid's skirts. Then their face went rigid.

[Uh. That man... he's in danger.]

"What?"

[The... the master. He's here.]

The castle's master was here? Diana's face twisted. Whoever created this sick space wouldn't be kindly disposed toward them.

"Where!"

[I lost my power. But I can still open the path. Run. I'll open the door at the end of the hall.]

Diana was moving before she finished speaking, running flat out.

[That man is trapped in dreams right now. Unconscious.]

When she heard Rodrick had lost consciousness, her heart skipped faster, pumped harder.

Despite the child saying they'd lost power, all the magic circles stopped working. They cleared a path for her.

[We can leave if the master's conditions are met.]

The child's voice chased her down the corridor.

[I'm sorry. No one ever came looking for us before, so I was being mean.]

She reached the hallway's end. A black door appeared. Gold-decorated handle.

[Thank you. Please be careful.]

Goodbye. That was the end of it. The voice scattered and faded. Diana didn't hesitate—she yanked the door open.

And froze.

"Rodrick!"

A massive man hung suspended in the air by his throat, held by someone in a deep hood.

She wanted to move closer. She couldn't.

The door frame marked the edge of a cliff. Below—nothing but water, the surface bright blue.

Wide enough to call a lake. Deep enough to swallow anything. Rodrick hung over that water, held by the hooded figure.

The castle's master. A great mage, maybe? The figure floated naturally in the air.

What do I do? Her pink eyes darted frantically, looking for anything, any answer—and locked with the mage's.

Oh.

She knew those eyes.

The mage's eyes glowed red under the hood, and when they saw her, they softened.

Then they let Rodrick fall.

"No!"

No time to think.

She ran headlong off the cliff.

The drop was long. The distance between them impossible. Water far below, but his weight, the speed—he'd go deep. Deep enough that speed itself would kill him.

She pulled in a breath just before impact.

Thump-splash!

The impact hurt everywhere, but pain was irrelevant.

Clear water. Rodrick sinking clearly visible, going down, down.

Diana cut through the water after him, swimming deeper. Had to get him up before he sank too far.

Her body was already spent. She'd used too much. But she gritted her teeth and grabbed him.

Mm— breath gone, she coughed out air. Bubbles rose like a balloon inflating, pearling the water.

Just a little more. Just a little.

She grabbed his neck and swam upward.

Splash— fighting his weight, she broke the surface.

"—haa! Haa."

Breathing hard, Diana hauled him close to her and looked up, waiting for attack. But the mage was already gone.

She kicked steadily to keep them afloat. She needed something to hold on to.

She couldn't stay like this in the water. She tried to make for the wall, cutting through current—but Rodrick didn't wake.

"Rodrick! Rodrick! Come on, wake up!"

What happened to you? This heavy-chested man was unconscious like a princess in a fairy tale.

'I want to pass out.'

Exhaustion was setting in, but Diana held him with her thin arms, grabbed the wall with one hand.

The strength was fading. Wet and beautiful by moonlight, his sharp face blurred as she looked at it. She swallowed.

Right. Emergency situation.

Light touch wasn't enough to absorb the curse. Not at this level.

He was unconscious, so he couldn't stop her anyway.

"No resentment for this. It's my first kiss anyway."

'I hope we're both inexperienced.'

She pressed her wet lips to his.

The curse transferred fast—faster than she expected. The strength came roaring back.

The moment energy flooded back through her, she stopped looking for romance. No atmosphere. One person unconscious. Survival on the line.

Her pink eyes searched the dark water, found it—a glowing exit in the wall below.

'Down. Have to go back down.'

She looked at Rodrick, hoping he could hold his breath.

'You're not dying. Neither am I.'

One more quick kiss. Then she held him tight and dove deep, swimming toward the glowing exit.

The bright exit opened into a massive lake outside the castle. Fighting his weight, she pushed them both through to the surface.

He was trapped in repeating fantasy. Couldn't move his body—just watched his past self move, forced to follow along.

'Ahhhhhhh!'

A woman's scream broke through. Smaller hands, now dark with blood.

He'd grabbed the blade she was swinging bare-handed.

Now she was screaming. Begging forgiveness. My mind isn't mine. Please save me.

He hated that sound. Absolutely hated it.

The woman hung from him, clawing, not even noticing the small child curled up behind her.

Haa. Fragments of his past gnawed at his nerves, sharpened themselves against his consciousness.

Rodrick squeezed his only moveable eyelid shut, hard.

He needed to wake up. But he couldn't find a way to break the dream.

Then someone called him.

'Rodrick!'

Who?

'Wake up!'

Desperate. Urgent. His body responded.

'Wake up. Please!'

Impossible—the soft, tear-threaded voice. His paralyzed hand moved.

The crushing pressure on his chest lifted. His floating consciousness sharpened.

Tap— thin wrist caught in thick fingers.

His eyes opened. He saw the face of a woman with fierce eyes, her brow drawn high.

Her.

Water beaded on her fine features like tears. Or maybe she was actually crying.

"I thought you were dead! You asshole! How long were you wandering in that dream! Sob."

The resentful words were undercut by tears. But Rodrick just stared.

Under the cool moonlight, water reflected off her skin. She looked impossibly bright.

"I worked so hard to get out! Whimper. If you die, what's the point? I need you!"

That brightness. He grabbed her suddenly.

Pure impulse. Did he crave warmth? Was there a reason? He couldn't articulate it.