Chapter 175 - 2‐57
After His Highness’s consciousness returned to his original world, Louis-sama’s body collapsed on the spot. Nel-sama was the one who carried him to the bed in his room.
This was the second time I found myself waiting for Louis-sama to wake.
However, my feelings were different from the last time, when I had simply waited for him to open his eyes. Something felt caught in my heart, a lingering sense of unease.
“The Prince will return. We’re just in the stage of swapping their consciousnesses, so it just needs a little more time. He’ll surely be back by dawn.”
“I see...”
“You look troubled. Is something wrong?”
“No, I was just wondering if this was truly for the best.”
Before His Highness returned to his original world, he had given me a gentle smile filled with sorrow and resignation. That expression refused to leave my mind.
“Ah, well. I have my own regrets about how things went. But isn’t it important to believe that everything will be alright?”
“Perhaps you’re right.”
I offered a somber smile, and Nel-sama tilted his head as if troubled.
“Well then, I’ll go check on the Room of Space-Time. I’ll come back once the Prince wakes up.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
Silence descended upon the room after Nel-sama departed.
I gripped Louis-sama’s hand as he lay with his eyes tightly shut. While praying for his awakening, a corner of my mind drifted to the other Louis-sama.
As Nel-sama said, Louis-sama was Louis-sama. I was certain he would become a magnificent king in the future. He was a man whose future I could not walk toward, a man I could not support.
A future that never overlapped—I could do nothing but pray that his future would be a wonderful one.
♦
I lost track of how much time had passed. The brilliance of the morning sun streaming through the window forced a grimace from my face. It seemed I had fallen asleep while holding Louis-sama’s hand. Peering at his face, I saw he was still deep in slumber.
I pressed my forehead against my hands, which still clasped his right hand, and made a wish.
“Louis-sama, please wake up soon. I want to see you.”
I have so much to tell you. I have so much to ask you.
More than anything, I want to call your name and have you answer. I want you to turn that soft smile toward me.
The warm daily life that I took for granted until recently—that ordinary life is my most precious treasure, the one thing I want to protect above all else.
So, Louis-sama... please come back soon.
I spoke to him in my heart. As if in response, the hand I held gave a small twitch.
“Louis-sama!”
I practically jumped out of my seat. Leaning over him, I saw his eyelids flutter. I held my breath, squeezing his hand tight as I watched. Finally, Louis-sama’s eyes slowly opened, and his unfocused gaze eventually found me.
In that moment, time seemed to stop. I likely forgot to breathe.
Louis-sama blinked several times without moving his body. Then, his face crumpled with emotion.
“...Rachel?”
The moment he whispered my name in a raspy voice, I threw myself onto him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging to him desperately as I buried my face in his chest.
I sobbed openly, calling his name over and over again.
Louis-sama sat up, his hand touching my shoulder tentatively at first. Gradually, strength returned to his touch, and he wrapped his arm around my back. He pulled me close with a powerful embrace, and I let him take my entire weight.
I felt him catch his breath as he buried his face against my neck.
“Rachel... Ah, it really is... Rachel.”
His voice trembled as he spoke, sending a shiver through my chest. I wanted to see his face immediately, but I couldn't bring myself to look up. My face was surely a mess of tears and snot.
As if seeing right through my heart, Louis-sama cupped my cheeks with both hands. He slowly tilted my head up.
The moment our eyes met, it felt as though all our feelings were flowing directly into each other’s minds.
Louis-sama is back. The Louis-sama I’ve been waiting for all this time.
“Rachel.”
“Yes, Louis-sama.”
Louis-sama nodded repeatedly at my response. He held me tightly in his arms, as if I might vanish if he let go. Within that embrace, I felt a sense of security greater than anything else in the world.
“It’s no use. Even now, it feels like a dream.”
“I feel the same way.”
Ever since I heard he had fallen from the cliff and learned that he might not be saved, I had been terrified. The fear that he might never wake, the anxiety over whether he would truly return—it had been constant.
Even now, rather than just feeling relief at his return, I was overwhelmed by the fear of him disappearing again. I didn't want to be apart from him ever again.
Still, the warmth of his hands on my cheeks, the fingertips wiping away my tears, the gentle gaze in his eyes—everything Louis-sama gave me made my heart throb.
“You are right here in front of me, and I can touch you. I know no greater happiness than this.”
His trembling eyes and the warmth of his hug conveyed the truth of his words. My feelings were exactly the same.
But first, I had to say the words I had prepared for his return.
The Louis-sama I had longed for.
I didn't know what hardships he had faced. But he had overcome them and was now standing before me.
“Um, Louis-sama... welcome back.”
Louis-sama stared at me with a blank expression for a moment. But soon, his handsome face twisted. He turned his head away, biting his lip and furrowing his brows as he tried to smile. His eyes were swimming with tears that threatened to spill at any moment.
Seeing his broad back—the back that usually protected me—trembling slightly, I realized that Louis-sama had been scared too.
When he turned back to me, he broke into a radiant smile, his eyes crinkling.
“Yeah. I’m home, Rachel.”
Hearing those words, I felt like I could finally breathe in the truest sense. Oxygen surged through my body, and a pleasant warmth spread within me.
Everything I saw turned vibrant. It felt as if the flower buds outside the room had all bloomed at once, their colorful petals and fragrance carried to us by the wind.