The approaching figure looked to be about her own age, dressed in a dark trench coat.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, that figure gradually began to overlap with the image Silvia had conjured in her girlish, late-night fantasies.
In an instant, however, Silvia suppressed the fleeting palpitation in her heart. She turned her head slightly, adopting the indifferent expression she usually wore as a disguise and a shield.
"Don't come any closer."
She was keenly aware of her attractiveness to the opposite sex, particularly in her noble attire as a duke's daughter.
It was perfectly normal for strangers, unaware of her true identity, to show her kindness.
After all, who would refuse to help a young noble lady who looked pitiable, as if she had run away from home?
It was the classic opening to a Brave Hero's tale, the kind sung by wandering poets. It was also the sort of romantic encounter every young man dreamed of after leaving the novice village.
However, as soon as her true identity was revealed, that initial gentle goodwill would instantly transform into overwhelming malice and hatred. In her sixteen years of life, such plot twists had occurred more than once. They had made Silvia numb, and she no longer harbored any baseless fantasies.
"I know you're in a hurry, but just don't rush for now."
"I mean no harm. I'm simply asking if you'd like to partner up?"
"Partner?"
Silvia repeated the word, somewhat foreign to her.
"It means temporary partner. 'Partner,' get it?"
"Being here at this hour, you must be planning to jump into the sea."
"What a coincidence! I'm here to jump into the sea too. Since fate brought us both here, shall we go together?"
The unexpected words took Silvia aback for a moment.
Seizing that brief moment, the young man casually walked a few steps closer, stopping beside Silvia.
Silvia had thought he would take this chance to pull her back from the dangerous edge of the cliff. But the young man before her seemed to have no such intention.
He simply sat down casually on the cliff edge beside Silvia, as if he genuinely just wanted to chat.
"Why do you want to jump into the sea?"
"..."
Seemingly noticing Silvia's silence, the young man dangled his legs idly over the cliff. "I just figured, since we're both going to die soon, there's no point in keeping secrets."
"Rather than take them to hell, we might as well share them with each other."
Unexpectedly, since this young man had appeared, Silvia felt the constant tension in her heart ease slightly.
She spoke, her voice slightly husky, "For certain reasons, I've uncontrollably caused the deaths of many people."
"Most of them were innocent."
"Because of that, almost everyone sees me as an object of hatred and disgust."
Her words carried a hint of desolation and grievance.
For Silvia, this was practically an undeserved catastrophe. Ever since her birth, the great Bronze Crucifix had stood within her spiritual ocean. She'd had no choice in the matter.
"Oh, is that so?"
He didn't offer the comfort Silvia had expected.
The young man merely nodded indifferently and turned his gaze back to the surging tides below the cliff.
Being so pointedly ignored, Silvia actually felt a stronger urge to express herself.
She moistened her dry lips and said faintly, "Maybe those people are right."
"For a cursed calamity like me to die unnoticed... perhaps it's the best outcome for both the duchy and myself."
"Really?"
"Then you're just a pathetic butcher."
His voice, laden with meaning, reached Silvia's ears.
The overly blunt words only deepened Silvia's desolation and sense of grievance.
"Yes, I am a butcher. I've killed so many people. I should have been hanged on the gallows long ago..."
"No, you misunderstood my point."
The young man beside the cliff suddenly stood up and stretched.
He turned slightly to look at Silvia, his dark eyes reflecting the bloody crimson of the setting sun.
"Countless people think you deserve to die. In an age like this, where the rule of law is far from perfect and there's no concept of equal rights, you should have been executed the first time you lost control."
"But you survived, and you've grown to this age."
"This means that while many may think you should die, it's certainly not everyone's wish."
"The reason I call you a pathetic butcher is precisely because, at the moment you decided to end your own life—"
"you're not only dealing with the lives you've affected in the past. You're also throwing away the efforts and hopes of others, even those of your deceased mother."
With that, the young man shrugged indifferently and returned his gaze to the Grant Sea below.
"Of course, none of this has anything to do with me."
"After all, I'm just here to jump off a cliff."
As he spoke, he spread his arms, rose onto his tiptoes as if to take flight, and embraced the violent sea breeze rushing towards him.
"To tell you the truth, when I was very young, I saw a movie. Oh, a movie is a kind of magical moving picture used for public entertainment. You can think of it as a play recorded by an Array."
"There was a very classic scene in that movie. I've always wanted to experience it for real but never had the chance."
"And now, before I die, I've finally found such an opportunity."
"Besides..."
The young man paused.
He turned to glance at Silvia, then nodded in satisfaction. "And the girl who will journey with me to the underworld is even more beautiful than the movie's heroine."
"So, it's a promise, okay?"
"After I jump, you have to follow."
"No backing out. I really hate being alone, cold, and lonely. If you dare to change your mind, I'll come back as a vengeful ghost and haunt you."
"Wait, I..."
Silvia opened her mouth, about to say something.
However, before she could speak, Silvia saw the slender figure before her lean backward.
The next moment, gravity took hold, and he toppled backward off the cliff.
A few seconds later, a faint splash echoed up, followed by a small ripple on the sea's surface.
When Silvia snapped back to her senses and looked down from the cliff, all that answered her was the roaring Grant Sea. There was no trace of the young man who had been there moments before.