Chapter 31

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"No way..."

I see Alfred with a gentle smile standing in front of me.

"Mina."
(!!)
"Mina..."

Calling my name ever so gently, he comes closer.
I find myself more surprised than angry.

(Why is he calling my name all of a sudden? He's never done it before...)

"Mina... I want to be with you."
"Stay with me. As long as you're with me, I don't need anything else."
(Alfred? What's happened to him?)
I can't help but be confused by his unusual talk.
"...... Alfred....? I..."

"Huh...?"
Suddenly, the scenery changes, and Alfred is gone.
"Where are we? Alfred?"

"This is a room that will embody the wish of anybody that enters."
"... Rupert?"
"You'll be taken in by the devil that lives here if you stay here too long."
"Taken in by the devil...?"
"Yes. Nostalis, who lives in this room 405 feeds on the wishes of whoever enters this room."
"He embodies your wish to keep you in this room longer."
"And once you've become captivated by his hunger, you die. Lets get you out of here..."

Rupert pulls me by the hand.
He then escorts me straight to my room.

"Mina? Feeling alright?"
Hearing his voice, I finally realize that I'm back inside my room.

(... Everything's so hazy... I can't think straight...)
"If it's not the devil in that room's fault..."
"... Then it must be because you are unsure about your own feelings."
(My own feelings...)
"You said that room embodies my wish, right?"
"Yes, that is correct."
(Then the Alfred I saw in there...is how I want him to be...?)

*Flashback*

"Mina... I want to be with you."
"Stay with me. As long as you're with me, I don't need anything else."

*Flashback ends*

(Somewhere down in my heart, I wish for him to say that to me...?)

"I though your wish was something different."
"Like?"
"Like, you want to get out of this castle. Or that you want to get back your life before you met us."
"But those weren't you wish. Your wish was about Alfred."
"Do you love him?"
(I...)
"I love Alfred."
".... Alfred, you say?"

Rupert looks at me in the eye and comes closer to me.

"Why not me?"
Rupert's hand lifts up my chin.

"Rupert...?"
"You said you loved Alfred, what about me?"
Little by lite, his face closes in on mine.
"S-Stop it."
Just before our lips meet, I yanked his hand away.

A cold, unusual atmosphere surrounds him.

"I'm sorry."
"I wasn't exactly pleased, but do t worry about it so much."
"Besides..."

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