"Ugh—"

Burn blinked, the scenery changed.

"Your Majesty!"

Someone shouted, and immediately the hall erupted in chaos. It was the same exact thing he had seen weeks ago.

And among the screams and shouts, one voice stood out.

"Master!"

It was Yvain.

At the same time as the sword made itself at home in Burn's heart, Morgan vomited blood.

"COUGH!"

When you pressed that rewind button, you had to be ready for the price. But wait, there was more!

Remember, it said "rewind," so brace yourself to relive the same old song and dance. You couldn't skip out on that part, no matter how hard you tried, because when you hit that replay button, you were in for round two of paying up.

Second half of the price—same old. Pain.

Burn reached out to Morgan.

"Mor...gan..." Again, the name came out as a raspy whisper, like sandpaper on his vocal cords.

Morgan lifted her gaze to meet his, her eyes full of a sadness so deep it could have drowned the capital. Yes, it still hurt him the same way.

"It hurts..." Burn said. "We are going to die together—"

"Don't speak... Caliburn..." Morgan reached up to him. "I'll take your pain away... kiss me."

"I know you shared your soul with me between our kisses… I get it, but don’t read my mind yet—fuck, it hurts like hell—" Burn dodged her touch and pulled the blade from his chest.

"Kiss me! It’s the only way to keep you alive!" Morgan blurted out, frustration making her eyes glisten with unshed tears.

“There’s something I need to tell you first. Don’t read my mind,” Burn knew he was dying, but he didn’t care.

“Then tell me!” Morgan yelled.

Burn, despite the pain, wanted to laugh. As he almost lost his balance, and as the pain burned his insides, he smiled at her, bloodied and all, saying, “I love you.”

Morgan looked at him, her eyes filled with shock and horror. Ahhh, of course. The kind of face women would make at his, the evil emperor's, confession.

But if it was Morgan, probably, it was out of fear of disappointing him with the kind of immortal monster he fell in love with, with what she truly was.

As Galahad commanded the onlookers to kneel and avert their eyes, Burn drew her close. He kissed her, feeling her soul flowing into him and knowing she was delving into his memories simultaneously.

As the pain ebbed slightly, he pulled back, finding her tear-filled eyes fixed on him. Her gaze shattered his heart into fragments, and she whispered, "I told you to say it when you're done with the pain…"

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"I'm fine now—COUGH!" Burn coughed, spitting blood.

"Caliburn…!" Morgan propped him up.

"Why is this so painful…?" Burn muttered. He pointed at Marissa. "My locket. You picked it up, didn't you?"

Morgan turned to the kneeling woman, her eyes searing hot, the force could have outshone the sun. It was downright apocalyptic, and Marissa shrank after offering Burn his locket back.

Now that he grasped the locket, the pain lessened even more. She was right; the locket had a part of her soul in it to protect him.

Morgan touched his cheek to pull his attention back to her. “I’m sure it’s still painful. Kiss me—”

“No. You need to recover first,” Burn said. Despite the searing pain in his chest, he lifted her up. “Let’s go.”

"Your Majesty," Galahad called, raising his face. "What should we do with this man?"

Burn turned to the man who had just plunged a sword into his chest, now lying unconscious on the ground, knocked out by Galahad. He decided, "Prison. Render him unable to move or speak."

"Yes, sir."

"Yvain," Burn called to the boy who was also kneeling, "Come and help your master heal."

"Yes!" Yvain leapt to his feet. Like in the previous instance, the boy understood what Burn meant and fetched the box of high-grade mana potion from the table.

"There's much to consider. Call Dirk Marshall and have him ready as soon as possible. I will retire for today," Burn said to Galahad and his other men.

He turned, walking calmly toward the door, and before leaving, he stated, "No one is to bother me tonight."

***

“COUGH! COUGH! COUGH—COUGH COUGH!” Burn collapsed on the ground beside the bed, coughing up more blood, “F*** b**** c*** p*** son of a b**** a**c**** f***** b***** h***** t**** shit—”

“It fucking hurts—c**** d**** f**** a****—”

Yvain turned to his master, his eyes teary and face full of horror as he handed another mana potion to her.

“It’s a good sign that he can still curse like this. The pain must be quite special for someone who refuses to be healed,” Morgan said as she finished the last mana potion. She sat on his bed, where he had put her down.

Burn, crouching on all fours, slowly grasped Morgan’s ankle. “Mor… gan…”

In the previous loop, Burn couldn’t even curse. It was so painful that he made Morgan heal his soul on the spot to make the excruciating agony go away. But now, he refused to let Morgan heal him completely.

The pain was the same anyway, whether it was him or her. At least he could share some of it with her. This was the pain she experienced each time they rewound time.

"Go and rest, Ain. I will be here with His Majesty," Morgan said, kneeling in front of Burn and helping him up.

"Will you heal His Majesty?" Yvain asked.

"Yes. We’ll be fine tomorrow," Morgan answered.

Yvain frowned, but it was harder to see Burn and his master in a state of pain like this while he couldn’t do anything. He turned to Burn, slowly standing up as he leaned on Morgan.

Unexpectedly, the man put his hand on his head and gave it a light pressure. “Go on, son. We’ll be okay.”

Yvain couldn’t see Burn’s and Morgan’s expressions with his hand covering the top of his head, but after the reassurance, he nodded. The boy closed the door as he left.

“COUGH! COUGH—COUGH!”

Burn couldn’t hold back another fit of cough when Morgan suddenly kissed the crook of his neck. It wasn’t as effective as kissing his lips, but it still helped.

The man spat out another batch of blood clot and embraced her onto the bed.

“There’s so much to do tomorrow,” Morgan whispered, “And you still refuse to be healed?”

“I’m not refusing,” Burn said. He turned to her with a tired smile, “You and my Morgan are different. We’re not lovers yet.”

Morgan became angry. “You and your cruel joke!”

“I don’t want to cheat on my Morgan,” Burn teased.

“You are dying!” Morgan was on the brink of crying when Burn hugged her head to his chest.

“I am dying,” but this Morgan hadn’t experienced what his Morgan had. It wouldn’t be fair to kiss or make love to her in this situation. “I am dying for you to love me back.”

Morgan burst out crying.

“You’re so unfair…” she grasped the bloodstained fabric on his chest. Even though she only witnessed it from his point of view, she knew how much she loved him in the future.

“Be it now or the future, I’ve fallen in love with you.”