Black Rose in the Abyss Chapter 18

"Nero! Dante!" She changed how she addressed him, her voice trembling without her realizing it. She shouted again.

Still, dead silence.

Panic seized her heart instantly.

She struggled to turn her head, wanting to see the condition of the person protecting her.

Just then, she felt warm, viscous liquid dripping... one drop, two drops... landing on her cheek. It smelled strongly of rust.

It was blood!

He was hurt! Probably badly!

"Dante! Wake up! Answer me!" Bianca panicked completely. Her trapped hand moved with difficulty, trying to touch him. Her voice carried a sob. "You are not allowed to die! Do you hear me?"

She screamed his name desperately, over and over, as if she could wake him from his coma this way.

Uncontrollably, the cold and despair of falling into the sea two years ago flashed through her mind. That feeling of being abandoned by the whole world attacked again. But this time, it was mixed with a deeper fear—the fear of losing the person who was currently using his life to protect her.

Just as her heart was about to sink to the bottom, an extremely weak response sounded in her ear:

"...Mm."

Just a simple syllable, but it instantly reassured Bianca.

"You're awake?! How are you? Where are you hurt?" she asked in a flurry, her voice choking with emotion.

"I'm fine." Dante's voice was very light. Every word seemed to take immense effort. "Just a bit tired. Don't know when rescue will come."

His voice was intermittent, revealing a weak calmness that made Bianca even more uneasy.

"They will come. Roxy and the others will find us when they realize we're missing."

She forced down the fear in her heart, comforting him with the steadiest tone possible, comforting herself as well. "Hold on. Stay awake. Don't sleep. Do you hear me?"

Dante seemed to give a low hum. Then, he started speaking brokenly, as if giving last words, or perhaps immersed in memories:

"Bianca, I remember Times Square, that ice cream... you smiled so beautifully..."

"And winter, the drafty apartment... we squeezed together to share a hot dog... you said you wanted to live in a house with floor-to-ceiling windows..."

"The first time you drank for me... you were drunk, leaned on my shoulder and said... we would have our own home..."

He spoke of those pasts sealed by time. Every word was like a gentle knife, stabbing into Bianca's heart, making tears stream down her face.

These sweet moments she thought she had deliberately forgotten... it turned out he remembered them all.

"I'm sorry, I lost you..." His voice grew weaker and weaker. "If I could..."

He paused, seeming to gather his last bit of strength. Then, with a tone of regret, he blessed her:

"Bianca, you must be happy in the future... even if the person who makes you happy... isn't me..."

This sentence was like a needle popping Bianca's facade of calm.

The inexplicable panic in her heart magnified suddenly. She didn't want his blessing! She didn't want him leaving last words like this!

"Don't say things like that! You'll be fine!" She interrupted him urgently, tears blurring her vision.

However, after she spoke, Dante didn't respond again.

"Dante?"

"Dante! Say something!"

In the darkness, only her tearful shouts and the suffocating silence remained.

The blood dripping on her face seemed to be turning cold.

Was he... not going to make it?

This thought, like a cold tide, drowned her completely.

Immense grief and despair seized her, making it impossible to breathe.

It turned out she wasn't nearly as indifferent as she imagined.

Just as she was giving up all hope.

Cough. A slight cough sounded.

Immediately after, the voice she thought she would never hear again spoke up:

"Lied to you."

A tear fell on Bianca's face, scalding her so much she wanted to cry.

"Everything I said just now about blessings... I was lying."

He paused, then declared clearly, word by word:

"Bianca, I can't accept you being with anyone else at all."

"I want to be with you for a long, long time. I want to live to a hundred..."