CHAPTER 69: TWINKLING NIGHT STAR

XENON WINGATE

11 MONTHS AGO

When I woke up, I saw a clean white ceiling, lighted by a white fluorescent lamp. I can hear the clock ticking on the wall above my head, and my body is under a white sheet. I’m feeling comfortable on my soft bed, but the aching of my chest is still there. However, unlike before I passed out, I can now feel my heart beating.

“Senpai!” Serena, who is sitting beside my bed the whole time, immediately jumped unto me and hugged my head. Her hug is so tight and gentle, and I can feel her breasts squeezing on my cheeks. “Thank goodness you’re safe!”

I just made a smile. I don’t need to ask Serena what happened, for I remember all of it. Right after dissolving our Dracaryx, the drawback of my heart stopping made its effect, which stopped my heart. I thought Dracaryxes only stops a dragonoid’s heart after it was cast, but I guess our Dracaryx is unique in its own way.

Suddenly, the door of this hospital room opened, revealing my doctor’s appearance. “Sir Xenon Wingate. Good thing you’re finally awake.” The doctor approached me.

Serena stopped hugging me tight as she went back to her seat, her face fully red and embarrassed. To wipe off this awkwardness, she immediately talked to the doctor. “So how was Senpai, Doc?”

The doctor frowned, signaling the grim news that will come upon me. “It’s not good. Sir Xenon Wingate has sustained massive damage to his heart after using Dracaryx. We have performed a diagnosis and learned that his heart is long dead, and it is just forcing itself to beat in order to stay alive.”

That news is no surprise to Serena and I. We both knew that Serena revived my dead heart using the mystic power of the Final Pulse. Even though I was revived, my heart stayed dead thanks to Eldritch’s Heartstopper Curse. We should know better than the doctor, but the next revelation surprised both of us.

“Your Dracaryx is supremely peculiar, as it does not stop the dragonoid’s heart upon its use, unlike regular Dracaryxes. The Dracaryx you used to have a drawback of stopping the knight’s heart. Since you, Sir Xenon Wingate, have a dead-but-beating heart, you will suffer the ultimate consequence of using ancient magic created by the Vesryn Pulse. You barely and luckily had your heart beating again because of our defibrillation procedures, but that will not always work in your case. The next time you use your Dracaryx, your heart will stop permanently.”

Serena made a worried stare at me, her delicate hands covering her mouth. She’s on the verge of crying, so I patted her head to calm her down. “That is not a problem. I’ll just avoid using our Dracaryx from now on.”

“Sadly, that is not the worst news.” The doctor bowed down apologetically. “We have examined your heart, and found out magical traces that keep it beating. I suppose that is the power of the Vesryn Pulse, but that glowing thing will come to an end eventually as the magical energy is slowly fading. Sir Xenon Wingate, I’m sorry… You have a terminal illness and your heart… your heart is destined to stop in one year.”

“T-That’s…” Serena uttered. Tears endlessly crawled out from her eyes, and I can hear her voice shaking. “T-That’s… T-That’s not going to happen! That’s not true! Final Pulse is a one-time-only spell, and I can no longer cast it again to keep Senpai’s heart beating! Please tell me that it’s not true!”

“I’m sorry, Miss Maizono. We have tried everything that can be done, but we cannot heal a heart that has been already dead for more than two years.”

“No! It’s not true! Senpai will not die!” Serena’s cry echoed around the room. Her tears sprinkled all around as she hollered out loud.

I am speechless. I couldn’t think of anything as my mind went blank. It’s not that I couldn’t believe what has happened, but because I was shocked. I actually don’t care what happens to me since I have died once. I do not fear death anymore. But the effects of it, are the things I fear. I don’t want the idea of leaving Serena behind in this cruel world. I don’t want to think about what will happen to my friends if a war between countries breaks out after my death. One year is not a lot of time for me to live.

When the doctor left, everything in the room became silent. Serena could not take the news outrightly, so she spent the rest of the night not talking properly. 

We had dinner in my hospital room with our friends Alphonse, Z, Danielle, Nathaniel, Kevin, and Rius. We didn’t tell our friends that are bound to happen to me so that they will continue to be their own selves. Our friends tried to cheer us up by having a good time with us. Z made an indoor fireworks party with her witch powers that almost set the whole hospital ablaze, and heck, even Nathaniel tried hard to give a smile on our faces by showing off his greasy abs and biceps. Duke Corasell also visited me, together with his daughter Marieflorine, and they gave me doughnuts and a bottle of red wine as a prayer for my recovery.

Somehow, these people made me laugh. They made me forget everything that I’ve been experiencing. I had a good time with our friends, and I’m supposed to because this will be the memories I will treasure until my death. But this cheerful event my friends pulled off did not have the desired effect on Serena.

Serena was silent the whole night. She did not act cute or flirty towards the handsome duke earlier, which is quite new to me. She did not have normal interactions with Z and Danielle. Whenever anybody talks to her, she would only answer ‘Yes’, ‘No’, and ‘I don’t know.’ She’s way different from her usual self. She’s used to making fake smiles to people if she's sad, but now she’s not even smiling. Her crimson eyes are no longer glowing. It’s lifeless.

Midnight came. I’m finally alone with Serena in this gloomy dark room. I can’t sleep. I have slept a lot when I passed out back in the arena, so my body is not adjusting to the changes in time. 

I saw Serena still sitting on the seat beside me. She’s just there bowing for the past hour as if she’s waiting for an ant on the ground to pass by. She’s way engulfed on her own thoughts and worries for me, and I feel bad for having her this way. Her eyes are full of hopelessness and sadness.

I just had an idea to cheer her up, so I stood up and grabbed her wrist. “Serena, follow me.”

“S...Senpai, you’re supposed to be resting.” Serena muttered.

“I can’t rest until I have shown you something,” I said with a carefree smile. “Let’s go!”

Obediently, Serena followed me as we snuck on the hospital corridors. We climbed up on the stairs until we finally reached the rooftop. There, the night skies tell all the colorful things in the cosmos as it was filled with stars with different colors. The peaceful serenity of the darkness accompanied by the gentle cool breeze of the wind makes this place relaxing.

I uncaringly sat on the rooftop with my white hospital pants. Then, I swept the floor beside me and commanded Serena to sit on it. Serena obediently did what I wanted her to do, and now we’re sitting side by side, making this an ideal position for stargazing.

“Senpai, is this the thing you wanted me to see?” Serena looked up in the skies with the gloomy face of hers.

“No. I will show you something more beautiful than that.” 

I held her hand and equipped it with a beautiful platinum bracelet that has an expensive diamond in it. Upon seeing this, Serena’s eyes twinkled in the same manner as the stars. My plan on bringing her back to her joyous self is a success.

“Whoaaa! It’s so pretty, Senpai!” Serena cried. She must be so happy to receive an actual gift from me for the first time.

Her smile is contagious, so I can’t help myself but smile from ear to ear too. “I originally planned to give it on our supposed date as a gift for giving me the Futuretech Glove. But now that I will be confined to this hospital for two months, I thought I would not have a proper time to do it. So I’ll just outrightly give it to you right here and right now.”

“S-Senpai! You didn’t have to spend this much! Geez!” Serena nagged, but I can read on her face that she pretty much likes the jewelry I have bought for her. She’s even turning her wrist upside down to see the sparkling platinum and diamond glow.

I bowed down and uttered a frown. 

“I’m sorry, Serena. I promised you a date. I also promised you that I will never die. But it turns out that I’m such a liar. I make promises I cannot keep. I’m good at breaking things, and it seems that I’m a master of breaking promises too.”

Serena must have felt that the tables have turned. Now that she’s on her joyous self and I’m in a depressed state, she made her usual job in giving happiness to a person. No matter how powerful the aura of anxiety is on me, she can always extinguish it with her jolly attitude.

“Hey, hey, Senpai! Look at this!” Serena obliviously presented the platinum bracelet I gave to her. “Does it look good in me?”

“Of course. It suits you, just like the same way your fingerless gloves wrap your delicate hands.” I forced a smile.

“Look! It’s glowing! It’s reflecting the night stars!” 

I made a closer look at the bracelet, but it’s not sparkling as Serena said it would be. I tried turning her wrist gently, but there’s no glow. I don’t know why, but maybe my eye’s defective due to my illness or Serena is just hallucinating.

“Hey, it’s not glow-”

Chu~

The moment I turned my eyes to her, Serena took the opportunity to kiss me. Directly. On the lip. It was a short smack, but the warmth, the sweetness, and softness of her delicate lips remained on my senses.

“Wha-!!!” I turned red. My eyes widened in shock. “S-S-Serena, you…”

Serena made the brightest blush she could ever make on her cheeks as she turned around and tried to hide it. She covered her whole face with her hands, fully embarrassed about what just happened.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we made a kiss, though. She has carefully planned for it. I knew how cunning Serena is. 

“S-Shut up! It’s embarrassing!” Serena cried like a kid. “I-I’m sorry if I’m stepping beyond the boundary, Senpai! I just couldn’t help it! I-I have fallen deeply in love with you that I don’t think our relationship is merely a dragon and a knight anymore!”