Chapter 93

Daphne (3)

When Daphne said she had a sickly younger brother, Meursault tilted his head.

As far as he knew, there was only one person who could be considered Daphne’s younger brother.

“That is unexpected. Plato appears perfectly healthy.”

“That’s because… I’m not talking about Plato.”

“Pardon?”

“I told you. I’m not talking about Daphne right now. I’m talking about myself.”

Daphne looked at Meursault as though she desperately wanted him to understand something.

But if this wasn’t Daphne’s story, then whose story was he supposed to think he was hearing?

He had no idea.

When Meursault appeared slightly confused, Daphne murmured in a dejected voice,

“If you think I sound insane, I can stop talking…”

“N-No.”

Meursault hurriedly waved his hands.

“I want to hear it. Not Daphne’s story, but yours.”

He genuinely wanted to hear more.

A story about someone other than Daphne coming from Daphne herself—wasn’t that intriguing?

It felt as though he had discovered a new side of her, and he didn’t dislike it.

“Really? You truly want to hear more?”

Daphne brightened.

She wrapped both arms around one of Meursault’s arms and began telling him about “someone.”

The story began with her childhood and was told with such vivid detail that Meursault found it easy to become immersed in it.

“Ever since I was old enough to understand things, I wanted to become a doctor. I thought that if I became one, I would be able to cure my younger brother.”

“You were a wonderful older sister.”

“I finally became a doctor, but I learned that doctors can’t cure everything.”

“Then… your younger brother…”

“I don’t know. He didn’t look well the last time I saw him, and after that, I was no longer able to meet him… So perhaps by now, my brother…”

Her voice trembled as she spoke.

Even though Meursault still thought it was a fabricated story, he became flustered and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“If it is too difficult to talk about, you do not have to continue, Daphne.”

“No. I want to tell you. Married couples shouldn’t hide things from each other.”

“…”

While Meursault wondered whether that meant he too had to reveal everything he had been hiding from her, Daphne continued.

“And the truth is, I don’t naturally have violet eyes either.”

“That is truly a strange thing to say. I can clearly see your beautiful violet eyes right now.”

“They were originally black.”

Black?

Meursault was inwardly surprised.

Of all the people he had ever met, only Hayden and Haydam had black eyes.

Perhaps he should count Luna Moon from the portrait he had recently seen as well, making three.

“They were black… and they weren’t this beautiful.”

“They are beautiful.”

“I’m serious, Meursault. You only think that because my eyes have enchanted you.”

At that, Meursault couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

“Of course I have been enchanted by you.”

“Meursault.”

As though she had made up her mind, Daphne lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him.

“Close your eyes for a moment. I’ll show you my real eyes.”

“Your real… eyes?”

“Yes. This might be my last chance to show them to you.”

At the time, he didn’t think deeply about why she had called it her last chance.

He merely assumed she meant she might never again find the courage to tell him such an outlandish story.

After all, this was the first time he had ever heard that Daphne’s eyes were not naturally violet.

“Very well, Daphne. Then…”

Even so, Meursault obediently closed his eyes as she instructed.

He had not kept them closed for long when he heard her voice.

“Meursault, open your eyes and look at me.”

Meursault opened his eyes and looked at Daphne.

The violet eyes from moments ago had completely disappeared.

In their place, pitch-black eyes stared back at him.

Yet strangely…

‘They don’t feel unfamiliar.’

Even though the eyes that had glowed violet moments earlier were now black, he felt neither shocked nor confused.

They were eyes he felt he had seen long ago.

Eyes filled with affection and anticipation.

Eyes belonging to the woman he had long dreamed of marrying…

Meursault gazed into them and said,

“They are still nothing but beautiful.”

The words escaped him as though he were entranced.

When he finally came back to his senses, Daphne was wearing the brightest smile he had ever seen on her face.

“I’m so happy. Even if it’s a lie, I’m truly happy that you said that.”

“A lie…?”

He hadn’t even needed to think.

The words had flowed from his mouth as naturally as though he had always been destined to say them.

There was no possibility that they had been a lie.

Yet Daphne seemed to think he had only said it for her sake, and Meursault’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.

But Daphne was not finished.

“Meursault, there is actually one thing I want to apologize for.”

“Something you wish to apologize for?”

Countless thoughts flashed through Meursault’s mind.

‘Has she decided she doesn’t want the divorce?’

Or had she changed her mind about marrying him?

Was that why she had begun telling him she was someone other than Daphne?

Fortunately, what she said next was something else entirely.

“I may have to leave for somewhere far away soon.”

“Ah… Are you planning to travel?”

She had said earlier that she had not been born here, so he wondered whether she intended to visit another zone after divorcing Commander Hayden.

“If that is the case, I can come with you—”

Daphne smiled with a crease between her brows and shook her head.

“I still don’t know whether I’ll truly have to leave. Originally, I could have avoided going by marrying Hayden… but if I marry you, I may have to leave.”

She could have avoided leaving by marrying His Excellency…

But marrying Meursault might force her to leave?

He didn’t understand what she meant, but the atmosphere made it difficult to ask for a detailed explanation.

Daphne spoke to the bewildered Meursault.

“Even so… despite that… I want to be your wife before I leave. May I?”

He hadn’t understood a single thing from beginning to end.

But ultimately, Daphne was saying that she wanted to be his wife.

That made the answer easy.

“That is exactly what I desire, my black-eyed lady.”

Daphne clapped her hands and rejoiced like a child.

Meursault was happy simply because she was happy.

At least, until a voice came from the lobby downstairs.

“Lady Daphne, the divorce papers have arrived. You need to sign them.”

“Understood.”

After answering the servant, Daphne took a deep breath.

Her eyes, which had somehow returned to violet, were filled entirely with Meursault.

“Meursault, even if I leave, please wait for me. I’ll find a way to return to your side.”

“Of course. I can wait even longer than His Excellency, who waited ten years.”

At those words, Daphne smiled softly and went down to the lobby.

Meursault escorted her.

The last thing he saw was Daphne’s back as she lifted a pen and signed the divorce papers.

The next moment, the moment she finished signing, she collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

After finishing his story, Meursault shed tears in silence.

The commander looked lost in thought.

I couldn’t say anything.

I had realized who had been possessing Daphne’s body.

There was no way I could fail to understand.

In a way, it had even been predictable.

Stay-at-home Wifey had said he was introduced to that dating simulation through his older sister.

When I first heard about his sister, the timeline hadn’t yet been clear.

Since I had been told she had worked at the Salvation Project before we entered this world, I had vaguely assumed she had never been possessed by the game.

But now I knew.

After my mother died in this game and returned to reality, she founded a company called the Salvation Project and created the Safe Zone series.

Daphne had also returned to reality, quit being a doctor, and joined the Salvation Project.

‘I already knew that time flowed differently between this game and the real world.’

After all, each of us had entered through the convenience store on different days.

Yet we had all begun at the same starting point.

Luna Moon had died ten years ago and returned to reality, but considering that I was already over thirty, Mother must have returned around thirty years ago in real-world time.

‘Now I understand why the Safe Zone depicted the world ten years after Luna Moon’s death. Daphne must have returned and told them what happened.’

Seen that way, this death had always been destined to occur.

If Daphne had not returned to reality and told them about the world ten years later, then the game into which we had been transported could never have existed.

But there was one strange thing.

‘Why was Stay-at-home Wifey sent here instead of Daphne herself?’

Could Daphne and my mother also have possessed someone, and I simply hadn’t discovered them yet?

But if it were those two, they should naturally have chosen the Cola Zone in order to meet Meursault and Hayden.

It would have been impossible for them to hide in this zone without me noticing.

The two of them were unquestionably not present here.

‘I think I understand why that loner bastard said we should stop overthinking it and just prevent the apocalypse.’

For now—

I had to do what I could.

“Please preserve Daphne’s body so that it isn’t damaged.”

“Haydam.”

“Lord Haydam.”

For some reason, the commander looked at me reproachfully.

Meursault, meanwhile, stared at me with a mixture of hope and expectation.

“Can she… be saved?”

In truth, that wasn’t something I could guarantee.

I had only thought we should preserve her body in case it became important later.

“…For now, preserve it and make sure it remains undamaged.”

“Yes! I’ll do that!”

At the very least, this might give Meursault enough hope to keep living.

As I watched him carefully carry Daphne’s body away, the commander spoke quietly to me.

“Always remember that you are not an omnipotent god.”

I looked up at him.

He was staring at me with genuine concern.

“If telling them to preserve the body was the problem, then…”

“No. That is not a problem.”

It wasn’t?

I blinked at him, and he continued.

“Meursault knows that the dead cannot be brought back to life. Someday, he will also realize that you only said what you did because you didn’t want him to collapse completely. So it’s all right.”

Apparently, the commander believed I had not spoken because I truly possessed a way to revive Daphne.

“Haydam…”

He spoke with a sigh in his voice.

“As I told you before, you are only a regressor. You do not need to solve everything by yourself.”

“…I understand.”

Right.

Those were words I truly needed to hear.

I needed to go to Darling Outsider.

It was finally time to talk about his sister…

And about my mother.