It was disorienting.
Everything but me seemed to sway back and forth.
The floor was wobbling.
The doorframe was wobbling.
The bed was wobbling.
But there was one presence that remained steady and unaffected amidst all this chaos.
In my half-dream state, I called out that person’s name.
“…Lily?”
Lily gestured for me to come closer with her hand.
Though I wanted to rush over immediately, my body felt inexplicably heavy.
So I moved toward Lily as slowly as if I were exhausted, inching step by painfully slow step.
At that moment, an odd sound came from behind me.
-■■■■
“…What?”
-■■■■
“I don’t understand what that sound is.”
Then the sound began to twist and distort until it transformed into something recognizable.
-Come here
That voice was calling out to me.
“But Lily’s over there?”
Lily was beckoning me as well.
Of course, it only made sense to heed Lily’s call over the voice of unknown origin.
As I took another step toward Lily, ignoring the voice…
-Come here
The voice changed. It was now filled with darkness and negative emotions. Just hearing it sent shivers down my spine.
It felt familiar, like I had heard it somewhere before, but I couldn’t quite place it in my memory.
“No.”
As I refused and attempted to move closer to Lily once more…
-Come here!
The voice carried an inexplicable power within it, a force that made the air itself seem to vibrate. My body involuntarily turned around.
“Wha…What is this?”
My body wouldn’t respond to my commands, moving toward the voice against my will.
“Stop!”
I could barely turn my head in time to see Lily growing more distant.
“This can’t be… Lily will be disappointed…”
Though I desperately wanted to go to Lily, I found myself being drawn closer to the source of the voice.
A sudden rumbling noise reached my ears as I wondered if this was the end.
I looked down and saw that the badge attached to my collar was vibrating. Seeing this instantly snapped me out of it.
My body moved on its own, turning away from the voice and heading toward Lily. As I tried to return to her, something suddenly leapt out from the darkness to grab hold of my limbs.
“Let go of me!”
-Come here
My body was forcibly dragged toward the voice. The feeling in the voice had changed again.
-Give it to me
“What?”
-Give it
Though I couldn’t see it, I imagined the darkness opening its mouth toward me.
-Give it
“Ah!”
I was going to be devoured. The thought filled me with an overwhelming sense of despair that made my legs go weak.
But then suddenly…
Uuuuuuurgh!
A vibration was felt. This was different from the one coming from the badge earlier—it was softer and more gentle, starting from deep within my chest and slowly spreading throughout my whole body.
Uuuuuuuurgh!
Eventually, the light began flowing from my chest. It spread throughout my body like liquid and was so bright that it illuminated the darkness, yet it caused no discomfort to my vision. On the contrary, it felt as natural as if it were part of my own body.
The light pushed the darkness back, and the darkness that had bound my limbs shattered and melted away. As soon as I was free, I ran straight to Lily.
There she was, waiting for me as always. The moment I dove into her warm embrace…
—
“Huff!”
Arthur’s eyes shot open.
He sat up abruptly, clutching the wildly pounding heart in his chest as he caught his breath.
After sitting like that for a while, Arthur noticed something strange.
“Why is it so bright?”
The curtains should have been drawn before bed, yet… Looking down, Arthur understood the cause.
“?!”
His chest was glowing.
It was exactly like the dazzling light he had seen in his dream, and it was now in reality.
Staring blankly at the radiance, Arthur slowly raised his hand and…
Slap!
Struck his own cheek.
“It… It hurts, huh…”
Regardless of striking himself too hard, the dizzying pain in his cheek indicated that he was indeed in reality—and so was the light emanating from his chest.
“Ri…Rily, wake up… Huh?”
Arthur turned his head to wake up Lily, only to see that she was already awake, staring at his chest.
“I noticed it just now, too.”
In fact, Lily hadn’t slept a wink while watching over Arthur but decided not to mention it.
“How did you know?”
Just in case, there was a convenient excuse, and Lily pointed to the badge on his collar.
“This started ringing all of a sudden.”
Apparently, it had rung not only in the dream but in reality too.
“Wow, it’s quite reliable.”
“Still, what is this…?”
Arthur pointed to his chest.
“What is it?”
Lily stood up, sat near Arthur, and extended her hand. Placing her hand on his chest, she closed her eyes.
“Wait…”
“…”
Arthur remained stiffly seated at her stern command.
After some time, Lily sighed and took her hand away.
“Did you figure out what it is?”
“…Yeah.”
Arthur’s eyes sparkled.
“Just by touching it and you figure it out… You really are the best, Lily!”
“What is it?”
In response to Arthur’s question, Lily glanced at him.
Lily pondered whether she should tell him.
“Did anything happen in your dream?”
“Dream… Yeah, something did.”
“Describe it in detail.”
Arthur proceeded to explain everything he had felt in his dream as best as he could.
“Voice?”
“Yes, I heard it before too.”
“Before? Do you hear this kind of voice often?”
“Not often… But I’ve heard it a few times recently.”
“Remember when?”
“Hmm…”
Arthur recalled that whenever he heard that voice, something bad usually happened.
“…Do you remember the day I cried in your arms, Lily?”
“The day you had that nightmare?”
“Yeah, that day and… uh, right after the incident…”
“Incident? Ah…!”
Lily understood what Arthur was referring to.
“Could it be… Could this be connected to the nightmare from then?”
She tentatively placed her hand on Arthur’s forehead, infusing a light amount of power to check.
“…”
“…Indeed. The blessing has faded.”
The blessing that was supposed to repel the nightmare was completely gone.
This time, she had put a lot more effort into the blessing, so the shock was greater.
Ultimately, Lily had to accept it.
“Someone is targeting Arthur.”
And not just anyone—it was someone quite strong, perhaps even more powerful than herself.
“But who? Why Arthur?”
Lily’s eyes naturally turned to the glowing chest.
“Could it be…?”
“Rily?”
Seeing Lily’s serious expression, Arthur called her name with concern.
In response, Lily tried to manage her expression.
“Should I tell Arthur everything?”
Not wanting to unnecessarily worry him, she decided against it. There was no one stronger than her except the Outsiders. If the Outsiders were after him, how uneasy would Arthur feel?
But even so, she couldn’t completely hide it either.
“That light is your life force.”
“Life force? The one you consume…?”
“That’s right.”
“Is this how it looks?”
Of course not—it wasn’t supposed to be visible this way; if it were, there wouldn’t be any need for the ancient magic that reveals life force. However, Lily decided to lie to him and offer some comfort.
“It’s a phenomenon that appears in people with particularly strong life forces. It’s rare, but it does happen.”
“Is that so?”
Believing it to be his life force, Arthur observed the light curiously with his fingertips.
Lily watched Arthur with complicated eyes. The voice he’d heard, the nightmare, the life force overflowing to the point of visibility—all of these were clearly interconnected, but whether this was beneficial for Arthur remained unclear.
Filling with worry, Lily inadvertently…
…pulled him closer and embraced him gently.
It was warm.
Her unease seemed to subside a bit.
“Rily?”
Arthur looked up at her with an expression of confusion.
Seeing his face, Lily resolved firmly.
She would definitely protect him, no matter what.
She would protect this innocent being until the end.
Lily’s mind raced. The overflowing life force.
Looking at the situation objectively, it wasn’t necessarily bad.
With this light, she could protect Arthur from nightmares. Even if a nightmare were to attack him, the brilliant light might be enough to repel it.
An overly strong life force wasn’t harmful to his body either—it might even bring about some good.
Just…
“So, Rily, how do we turn this light off?”
Right. First, there was the appearance to take care of.
If left as is, the light would grow brighter over time until Arthur might eventually be emitting it from his whole body like an actual personification of “The Being of Light.”
Lily did not want that to happen.
If Arthur truly became that, then perhaps… worst-case scenarios could arise.
Avoiding that possibility, Lily refocused on the present situation.
“Arthur, lie down on the bed.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve thought of a way to suppress that light.”
“Really?”
Arthur smiled happily and followed Lily’s instructions, lying down on the bed. His innocent and trusting demeanor made Lily smile gently as she climbed on top of him.
“R-Rily?”
“What’s wrong?”
“What exactly are you doing…?”
Lily took a moment to reflect on her position and quickly realized it looked a bit… inappropriate.
Taking this chance to tease Arthur, she leaned closer with an enigmatic expression.
“To extract excessive life force, I need to…”
She trailed off, trailing her finger down his chest.
A shiver ran through Arthur’s body from the teasing motion.
“S-Supper should be enough, right!”
Arthur shouted this with his eyes closed tightly.
This made Lily unable to contain her laughter.
“Haha… Of course, what are you thinking?”
By this point, Arthur’s ears were entirely flushed red.
Lily smirked and moved closer to his lips.
“I’ll be drawing in a lot more than usual. You might feel drained, sleepy, and a little cold.”
“That’s fine, though. I’ve been fine so far…”
“I’ll be drawing in five times more than usual.”
“…Oh.”
“Open up.”
Arthur did as told, and Lily pressed her lips to seal his mouth. There was no room for exchanging tender affections as usual; it was purely about extracting life force.
After a while, Arthur finally understood the meaning of her words. The chilly sensation of life force leaving his body was on a whole new level compared to before.
“Cold…!”
Unconsciously, Arthur pulled Lily closer to regain warmth.
Lily embraced him tightly as she continued absorbing the life force. After a considerable time, Lily’s expression turned grim.
‘This is more than expected.’
Despite all the extraction, at least a third of the life force remained. She was finding it burdensome to absorb any more. Eventually, she stopped.
Arthur was shaking from the cold.
Instead of withdrawing, Lily leaned in closer and slipped her tongue in to offer some warmth with a passionate kiss. The warmth gradually calmed Arthur’s trembling.
Finally, they parted and caught their breath.
“Huff… Huff… Is it done?”
Arthur looked down at his chest to find the light had dimmed somewhat, but it was still visible.
‘Hmm… Can’t go further here… Aha!’
A brilliant idea struck Lily, brightening her expression. Using this life force light to construct the blessing to ward off nightmares—it could work.
She immediately decided to act on it.
“This time, I’ll take in small amounts multiple times. Can you bear it?”
Arthur nodded, his body somewhat recovered from the previous extraction with the follow-up kiss.
They kissed again.
Instead of swallowing the life force this time, Lily held it in her mouth, then transferred it to Arthur’s forehead to construct the blessing. Confirming the inscribed blessing, Lily realized her idea had worked.
‘Got it! With this method…!’
She continued, repeatedly drawing Arthur’s life force and channeling it into the blessing. This was to create a radiant blessing powerful enough to repel any nightmare.
Meanwhile, Arthur watched Lily with a dazed expression.
‘She looks adorable with such puffed cheeks.’
Watching Lily work so hard for him, Arthur felt both reliable and appreciative. He resolved to express his gratitude.
‘A ring, I’ll have to give her the best one possible.’
Finally, with the light reduced to near invisibility, Lily stopped.
She placed her hand on Arthur’s chest, intending to close the hole leaking life force as much as possible. This was a special skill of Lily’s, having often handled life force. Though she had absorbed a significant amount of life force, even Lily’s strength was insufficient to completely seal the gap in Arthur’s chest.
She managed to reduce it to a small crack, which would eventually widen again at some point.
Lily withdrew her hand, hoping the day wouldn’t come too soon.
“Huff… It’s done. It won’t be visible anymore.”
While technically it still existed, the minute amount visible to the human eye was negligible enough for Lily to be satisfied. After consecutive extractions, she collapsed onto Arthur.
She felt Arthur’s hand gently stroking her head.
“Good job, Lily. Thank you.”
“No, it’s nothing… This…”
Though she didn’t actually find it easy, there was something else too…
‘Sometimes, I also want to be a little spoiled.’
Though it’s pleasurable to indulge Arthur’s cuteness, being embraced like this was also quite good.
“I’m tired.”
Unexpectedly switching the topic, Lily’s words led Arthur to softly caress her.
“I’m sorry… Because of me…”
Suddenly, Lily poked her face forward.
“If you’re sorry, do you know what you should do?”
Arthur gave her a gentle smile, sharing the words she wanted most to hear.
“I love you, Lily.”
Hearing this, Lily responded with a beaming smile.
“I love you too, Arthur!”
Arthur tightly embraced Lily and sealed her lips with a kiss.
As they kissed, Lily thought to herself.
‘No matter who or what this voice belongs to, it doesn’t matter.’
‘I’ll protect you forever…’
