Every Arc Ends with My Death

Chapter 59. Her Highness and Her Forces

After the intimate moment we shared, Haniel and I mounted his horse and made way to their camp, where Princess Odette has been secretly building up her forces for the intense battle of succession.

"I'm overjoyed that you're alive," I broached the subject. "But how did you survive that night?"

I was seated sideward with Haniel caging me in between his arms. He held the reins of the horse which calmly advanced to our designated route.

"Technically, I did not survive." Haniel explained rather casually. "I truly have died back then. An instantaneous death. I couldn't even process it."

The recollection of that night sank my heart.

"However, shortly after my death, I faintly remember waking up somewhere bright."

Haniel cogitated, digging through his memory.

"To be more specific, I woke up in the arms of a faceless woman, and she told me that I am now the new protagonist of this novel." he narrated.

My eyes widened in wonder. Was it perhaps the god of this universe? What a unique experience.

I already died a few times, but I have never seen or encountered a supreme being of this world.

I guess that's what it means to be an extra. The gods probably see me as an insignificant bug who's not even worth meeting. How irksome.

"After that, I woke up underground. It seems that my body was buried in a shallow grave." He eyed me. "I wonder who dug it and threw me there."

I chuckled awkwardly. "I wonder about that."

A small smile crossed on his face. Oh, he knows.

"C-Come on, don't be upset." I panicked. "In my defense, I didn't have time to dig a better grave."

Haniel feigned to be hurt. "Even so..."

"Look, it doesn't matter anymore." I hugged him as a last resort. "You're alive. You don't need a grave."

I could feel him smiling on my head while I was embracing his body. When my eyes incidentally landed on his neck, I saw a scar on the same spot.

"It must've hurt." I remarked sadly then gently touched the scar with my fingertip. "I'm sorry."

"It is not your fault." he quickly dismissed.

He says that, but I'm the main reason why he was pushed to the corner in the first place. If I weren't with him, he would've managed to defend himself.

"Anyway, my life truly ended that night, but I was resurrected by the gods. When I came back to life, however, you were no longer..." Haniel trailed.

So he saw my body crushed in that pile of rocks.

"Yes." I scratched my cheek. "I also died then."

Both of us let out a depressing sigh. Jesus, this is supposed to be a happy occasion since we reunited. Why are we down in the dumps?

"Enough about that!" I exclaimed. "Tell me how you became acquainted with Princess Odette."

"Ah, Her Highness?" He blurted out. "After that incident in the east, I traveled far and wide in search of you. That's how our paths crossed."

Haniel rubbed his chin with mild interest.

"Her Highness reached out to me and confessed that she came from another world, and that she actually wrote the novel." He recounted. "She was desperate to have me as an ally, so I just gave in."

I looked at him inquisitively. "Is that all?"

"Hmm," He thought for a while. "Well, according to her, she was supposed to be my love interest, but I told her I was smitten with somebody else."