The Duchesses

Chapter 49 : Greediness

Natalie's POV

I get a dream again. Duchess Anastasia and the figure go to some place, probably Anastasia's. Rather than being filled with books, it is spacious with some gothic interior design. I am not going to lie. It does look scary, even if it is a dream. Is this where they would revive her back?

"You know the risks of doing this, right?" Duchess Anastasia asks the figure.

"Only an idiot wouldn't know because you have mentioned this many times. Probably more than the Pope prays to the Guardian of Angelos," the figure said, still wearing their cloak, which frustrated Natalie more to look at them.

Duchess Anastasia can't put about her feelings in this. She doesn't know whether she is doing this because she wants to revive Natalie back or wants to patch up her guilt. Some of her still feel guilty, but she mourns every day of the day Smiths falls onto their knees because Anastasia neglects her responsibility to guide Natalie.

Meanwhile, the person also thinks about the same. There hasn't been a day where they don't mourn her death. Sometimes, they also simultaneously visited the Smith's manor to feel her again. Except, she is not there. She has gone because of her fault.

"Alright, for the last time. Let me remind you that there is no possibility --"

"Possibility for me to remember her again as well as her. She might be different from Natalie, whom I used to know. There's no guarantee that she will have a heart for me in the future. The same goes for me. This life's events will change, and I will probably never achieve my goals. Yes, I know the consequences, Smith," they said after cutting off Anastasia's words.

Duchess Anastasia looks at her with an unsatisfied face, probably wondering why she proceeds to grant this figure's wishes. She rolls her ruby eyes and flips over the book pages as her fingers brush over them. Then, she stops the motion and looks up at the person again.

"Before we do this, you have to answer one more question," the figure sighs, hearing this from Anastasia.

"Hey!"

"Go ahead," they said.

"What is about the letter that you want to do this?"

"Does that matter?"

"Yes, it does,"

"Nate sacrifices herself for the sake of Empire. She even made a list of the corrupted nobles for me to handle it," the figure tries to hold back their tears.

"Why wouldn't you read earlier? It's been a decade---"

"You said only one question," they cut her off, not giving a chance to the blonde woman to ask another question.

"What a cold-hearted human," Anastasia mumbles, a burning glare at the figure. Somehow, their conversation reminds me of my talk with Medea. What a weird coincidence.

Duchess Anastasia closes the book and then closes her eyes, trying to calm down her nerves. She probably looks calm, but she is shaking on the inside. Finally, the Duchess opens her eyes again, motioning with her hands. The light suddenly appears as it comes out of nowhere, as her eyes become intensely focused on the task.

The light gets bigger with time, and the figure uses their hands to cover their eyes from it. As it gets bigger, it radiates an enormous force, swallowing everything around them. Then, it all happens too fast, and the time reverses again, but before that happens, I hear that figure's thought, "Hopefully, we will be happy together next time."