Bailonz Street 13

Chapter 171. Your Farewell

A wedding ceremony that ended in less than a minute! Yet the guests seemed satisfied with this progressive celebration.

Liam Moore raised his other arm to caress my cheek. Honestly, I couldn’t hear what Herschel said after that. All I could see was Liam, and my mind was completely filled with this man. Then he said:

“Kiss me.”

How could I refuse?

I leaned down and pressed my lips to his. It wasn’t a deep, lingering kiss. Our moist lips parted with a soft sound, and Liam’s head followed mine regretfully. I gently held him back with my palm and whispered.

“You need to put me down. We should wrap this up properly.”

“Mmm.”

This stubborn man. Only after kissing my palm a couple more times did Liam Moore finally set me down. Only then did I notice my neck feeling slightly warm. I caught sight of Ranfield foolishly whistling until Lucita gave him a good smack.

We were married. The rings steadfastly guarded our fingers. He was Liam Moore, and I was Jane Moore.

I threw the bouquet to Mary. Catching it with a flushed face, Mary shouted loudly.

“Miss! Congratulations on your marriage!”

It was a frighteningly perfect wedding.

* * *

That evening, Hisford was quiet. Normally, it would have been bustling with an after-party, but Liam had to send everyone home. And we moved to a small villa far behind Nifoisse Hall, near the cliff.

The villa was perfectly prepared for newlyweds to spend their wedding night, but we were just standing awkwardly in the garden. The sea wind whipped around us.

“The problem is how to get back.”

“Wasn’t there a way?”

“Well, before, El would always rescue me when I was about to die. But now the notebook won’t even listen, and I can’t exactly try dying…”

The wind grew more fierce. Liam carefully pulled me close and held me. Wrapped tightly in his coat, the cold couldn’t reach me.

I thought about calling out like during the ‘Black King’ incident, but then remembered I didn’t know El’s real name. Ah, whatever. Let’s just go for it.

“El!”

I shouted. The black sea crashed against the cliffs, swallowing my voice entirely.

“El! You need to send me home!”

“No need to rush, I’ll come when I’m ready.”

Eek! I screamed and whirled around.

El stood behind us. Below the dark robe, I could see unnaturally white skin on that small frame. It was immediately obvious they weren’t human.

“So… El,” Liam murmured slowly. He had clearly noticed something I hadn’t. El chuckled.

“Rather presumptuous naming, wasn’t it?”

“Indeed. El from Elohim.”

“The true name is better kept hidden, after all.”

El reached out and extracted me from Liam’s embrace. My brown hair scattered in the night sky. Beneath the hood, El’s lower face showed a gentle smile.

“Where’s the notebook?”

I didn’t know where the notebook was. I hadn’t thought to look for it since throwing myself into the Thames.

But the answer came from behind me. Liam, who had been silent, searched his pockets. What emerged in his hand was my notebook. Having been soaked and dried, the pages were all wrinkled and warped.

As El took it, light grew stronger in their hand until the notebook melted into El’s skin and disappeared. They spoke:

“Time and space are always watched by many ‘me’s. I lent you a part of it to help you adapt safely to this world.”

“Adapt…”

“The perception of ‘game’ surrounding you. Without that, you couldn’t have made it this far.”

El gently stroked my hair and waved their hand lightly.

That’s when the door appeared at the point where the cliff’s edge met the black horizon. Like the door Liam had found in his consciousness, it was an ordinary door.

I stared at it, entranced. Something… Even though it was night, I had the strange feeling it wasn’t night beyond that door.

El said:

“Just open the door and walk through.”

The first time is always difficult, but the second is very easy. Yes, that’s how it was. Whether pointing a gun at my head, acting recklessly, or running to Liam Moore. Once you take that first step, what follows becomes frighteningly easy.

I wondered how much more I could get used to.

My feet unconsciously stepped on the grass atop the cliff. The faded winter grass crunched beneath my steps.

I was taking one step at a time, as if the door was pulling me in, when—

“Are you going?”

A voice called out. It was an unexpected question.

Liam Moore was gazing at me steadily. It had been a while since I’d seen an expression I couldn’t read on his face.

I’d always thought I knew Liam Moore’s expressions. That I could immediately tell what he was thinking by looking at his eyes, that he was an easier man to read than expected.

But what was this expression now?

His utterly unreadable expression and deeply sunken eyes held me in place. Like a frozen lake showing no emotion, yet why did it grab at my nerves so? Was it because I knew water was rippling beneath that thick ice?

“I have to go,” I answered lightly. “I’m not from here.”

“That’s right.”

“I’m from a different world than you.”

“…That’s also true.”

When I opened my arms, Liam came running. He rushed to me as if I might disappear the moment he took his eyes off me, and embraced me. I knew I would deeply miss this warmth.

He kept pressing his lips to my cheeks and forehead while whispering:

“…Try not to remember me for too long.”

What a ridiculous thing to say. How could I not remember you?

But Liam’s words didn’t stop there.

“Just, remember me sometimes in your dreams. Forget when you wake up. Live an ordinary, wonderful life. Think ‘There was someone like that’ when the seasons change, then let it go.”

“And what about you?”

“I…”

His voice trailed off. Then he showed a faint smile. With that smile, I seemed to understand something.

You’ll remember me all day long, won’t you? Remembering me to the point of exhaustion throughout your life…

“Why are you making that face, Jane Moore?”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell what expression I was wearing now. I didn’t want to ask and hear the answer either. So I obviously changed the subject.

“I think I know why it’s so hard to leave you behind.”

He gazed at me steadily.

Even in that moment, I was deeply etching into my mind those sparkling eyes, those eyes where tiny star fragments slowly swirled. Trying to memorize how he looked.

Enough that if someone asked me what the man I loved so deeply looked like, I could draw him with my eyes closed. Clear and distinct.

“I just liked you in any form. Whether lazy or roguish, ill-tempered or willful… You always had something dazzlingly beautiful that caught my eye. So I keep wanting more and more. Just one more time. Just one more… because then it feels like you might stay with me.”

The arms holding me slowly loosened their grip.

“You know what? If I’ve come to love even the way you’re reluctant to part, would you smile?”

After a long moment of staring at me with wide eyes, he slowly broke into laughter. The muffled sound of his laughter under the sea wind was so lovely that, if I could, I wanted to cut out this moment and take it with me.

“Do you love me?”

He asked, catching his breath. I finally managed to give the answer I had practiced many times.

“Enough to live for you. More than anything.”

Only then did Liam show an expression of relief.

“That’s enough.”

The door was within reach. I could open this door and step through whenever I chose.

El, who had been waiting patiently until our conversation ended, spoke:

“While you’re going, think about where you want to go. It’ll be easier to find if you think of the place you desire most deeply in your heart.”

Now I wouldn’t see El and that black space again either.

At first, I was truly terrified. A sea of churning blood waves. But now, for me who had come to the end of “Misty London,” even that moment seemed like it would become a memory someday.

Let’s set aside regrets. I gripped the cold doorknob.

“Take care.”

“Goodbye, El.”

“Goodbye, Jane.”

“…Farewell, Liam Moore.”

I turned the doorknob.