"Wilson... Wilson..."
"Ah, Adele!"
Wilson woke with a start, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.
No one answered him. Everything that had happened in the nightmare slipped away as he woke, leaving only feelings with nowhere to go.
He sat dazed on the bed for a long time, until footsteps crunching through snow outside drew his attention to the window.
Snow had begun to fall. Half a head peeked over the windowsill.
"Lord Annan, you're still awake?"
Wilson hurried to open the window, letting cold air and snowflakes pour into the room.
"I couldn't sleep, so I came out for a walk."
Annan pointed at the snowflakes above his head. "I heard you shout just now. Did you have a nightmare?"
"Yes... Would you like to come in?"
"All right."
Annan, who had been standing on tiptoe to talk, eyed the height of the windowsill and gave up on climbing through it.
"Let's go to the lounge."
"...Adele was crying out my name. I'd never seen her in so much pain. Even when an enemy scalded her with boiling water, she stayed strong."
Wilson buried his head between his knees, overcome with grief.
The snowflakes on Annan melted into glistening droplets. He brushed them off and said, "You were the most important person to her. Maybe that's why she only let you see those feelings."
"I let her down..."
"Why do you think that?"
"I couldn't fulfill her last wish. I couldn't lead the Freemen to save the Broken Mountains. The ones standing over the people have just changed from the Raymond Family to Dragons..."
"Don't worry. I won't let that happen. And having Dragons as lords might not be a bad thing. At least they don't enjoy oppressing Civilians."
But reassurance alone could not lift Wilson's spirits.
So