Saving You, Villain - Chapter 99

Amid the sound of the wind, I heard a faint voice. Once I recognized it, the sound grew louder and clearer. The blinding light in front of me began to take shape, forming fragments of my memories.

“Take off your deceitful mask and reveal your true self.”

“That’s nonsense! How can Camian be a demon? First, we need to take Liv to a healer!”

“Please… just leave Camian alone. Give me back my blood…”

“Liv, why are you standing there? Sit down.”

“You’ve lost your blood.”

The memories of the past played in reverse. What was happening? I tried to grasp these memories that were flooding back like a waterfall. Emotions I thought had died returned to me, surging through my body, filling me with the same intensity I felt when I was twenty-two, like Liv Klein.

“Liv, I’m sorry, I was wrong. I can’t let you go like this. Please, Liv…!”

Camian’s crying voice tugged painfully at my heart. I inhaled deeply. This feeling was all too familiar. Ah, it was happening again… time was rewinding. Thump. Thump. Thump. My heart pounded as if it were about to burst out of my chest. Then suddenly, everything went silent. A vacuum of stillness, even quieter than the void. Just as I was about to grasp this empty sensation, my body began to plummet. A pitch-black darkness swallowed me.

“Ah!”

I jolted upright, gasping for air. A wave of dizziness hit me, forcing me to shut my eyes again and steady my breathing. My pulse pounded in my ears, loud and erratic. The next thing I noticed was the dampness—my entire body was drenched in sweat. Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was greeted by familiar surroundings: a wooden door, walls filled with the scars of daily life, an old desk, a winter blanket, and the smell of home. Sunlight streamed through the window.

“Hah…”

I had returned. Something swelled inside me, and I couldn’t hold it back. I covered my face with my hands, panting heavily.

“Hah… Ah.”

It felt like I had returned from a long, arduous journey—or rather, like I had survived a perilous adventure I never thought I would return from. A miracle had saved me.

My miracle, Camian… I wanted to see him. Tossing aside the blanket, I jumped out of bed, my legs giving out beneath me as I stumbled multiple times. My knees hit the floor hard, but I didn’t feel any pain. Desperately, I grabbed the door handle, yanked it open, and rushed down the stairs.

“Liv, why are you standing there? Sit down.”

At the four-seater table where I’d spent every day for the past fifteen years, Debra and Jax sat, unchanged from my memories. And there, with hair as black as the night sky and broad shoulders, was the back of the man I longed to see. His familiar figure immediately captured my gaze.

I couldn’t respond to Debra. I just stared at his back, praying this wasn’t a dream. I didn’t dare speak his name, terrified that Camian might vanish like a mirage if I did.

“Liv?”

Debra called my name curiously, but my eyes remained fixed on only one person. Then, he moved. First, his perfectly straight nose came into view, followed by lips curved in a gentle smile. When our eyes met—those deep, crimson eyes—I involuntarily held my breath.

My vision blurred again, and emotions too complex to describe surged up, filling my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from falling, but my sight remained foggy even after.

Camian’s lips parted.

“Hello.”

“…….”

When he spoke, it felt as though the entire universe had stopped. Everything around us seemed to fade into darkness, leaving only me and Camian in this moment.

I wanted to touch him, to feel him, to sense everything about him, but my body remained frozen, stiff as stone. Camian, who had been watching me intently, rose to his feet. His long legs carried him toward me, each step feeling surreal.

A shadow fell over me, one I had drawn in my dreams every night. Before I even realized it, my body moved on its own. I reached out and hugged him with all my strength. His solid arms wrapped around my trembling back, and his large hand pressed gently against the back of my head, fingers threading through my hair.

“Liv.”

His deep voice resonated against my cheek. Buried in his chest, I clutched at his clothes, releasing the tears I had been holding back for so long.

“Liv.”

He kissed my head, calling my name over and over again. Even though I was sobbing and gasping for breath, I managed to respond with “Mm. Mm,” to every time he spoke. The reality of this moment—him speaking to me and me answering—was more exhilarating than any dream. I never wanted to return to the darkness again.

I nestled my cheek against Camian’s broad chest, and he held me tightly for a long time. Even as I felt his embrace, I couldn’t stop doubting. Had I truly reunited with Camian? Was this real? Just as my doubts were about to turn into anxiety, Camian called my name again. “Liv.” That gentle call caused me to burst into fresh tears.

The tears flowed continuously, dripping down my face until my eyes were red and swollen, and my skin was damp. Camian kissed my tear-stained cheeks and carefully wiped them away with his hand.

“You look like a fish asking to be friends,” he teased.

Camian made a playful remark, and I wanted to retort that his face wasn’t much better. But all that came out were sobs. I looked up at him through my swollen, tear-filled eyes, only to have my vision blur again, causing me to bury myself in his embrace once more.

“…Have you two finally made up?” Jax’s bewildered voice cut through the emotional whirlwind I was in. His words were like a splash of cold water on my face, grounding me just enough to pull myself together.

I pulled away from Camian’s arms and ran over to Jax. Hugging him tightly, Jax seemed surprised but still patted my back, trying to comfort me.

“Must’ve been a nightmare,” he muttered.

Next, I hugged Debra. She tried to soothe me by saying I should eat before the soup got cold, but her gentle voice only made it harder to hold back my tears. When she told me to sit down, I shook my head, refusing. Eventually, she gave Camian a knowing look, and he gently scooped me up, forcing me to sit at the table. Even after I was seated, I couldn’t eat properly.

Tears kept falling into my clear soup. Camian quietly swapped his plate with mine and continued wiping my tears, but I barely managed a few sips.

I was utterly drained after pouring out so many emotions. I slumped over the table, and Camian picked me up, carrying me to the bedroom.

As I lay there, I felt the familiar tenderness of Camian adjusting my pillow and tucking me in, just like he always had. His gentle touch, the unwavering love that hadn’t diminished one bit, reached me deeply, causing my eyes to well up again.

I couldn’t just cry the whole day, though. After all, we had finally reunited. I tried to sit up, planning to wash my face, but Camian quickly grabbed my hand.

“Where are you going?”

“I want to wash my face.”

“Stay here. I’ll bring a wet towel.”

Before I could respond, he left the room and soon returned with a fresh towel. The soft cloth, damp with water at the perfect temperature—not too hot, not too cold—gently pressed against my face.

“I have a lot to tell you,” Camian said softly.

I, too, had many questions. I wanted to know what was going through his mind when he turned back time, whether he suffered during all those years, if he felt lonely. But the stories Camian told me weren’t the ones I had been hoping for. Instead, he spoke about how he reversed time, the bond that had tied his soul to mine, why he had hidden the truth from me, and how he had bargained his body for one last chance with the gods.

He listed the facts dryly, without emotion, as if it was no big deal. Camian recited the details like reading from a newspaper, but I could feel the weight of the treacherous journey he’d endured to save me.

“What do you mean, you gave your body to the gods?” I asked.

“When I reversed time, tears formed in the fabric of the world, like holes. If those holes aren’t repaired, the past, present, and future will get jumbled. We could be talking right now, and suddenly, you’d turn into your seven-year-old self. All I need to do is restore the timelines to their proper order.”

“Isn’t that… hard?”

Camian smiled faintly, brushing his thumb across my swollen lips.

“It’s worth it, seeing you worry about me.”

“…….”

“For now, how about skipping the academy and just spending some time with me?”

I gently pushed away his hand that was still playing with my lips.

“Why?”

Before Camian could respond, I realized his intention. I touched the side of my neck, where the faint scar still remained—a reminder of the spot where Camian had once taken my blood every full moon.

After all this time, we had returned to where we started. I had been revived, and I had reunited with Camian. But the issue that had once driven me to the brink of suicide still lingered in our lives. Luke Florence.