The room fell quiet again. This time the silence felt heavier. Azrean's tiny arms trembled as he pressed both palms against the mattress. The smooth silk shifted slightly under his damp skin. He pushed down with what little strength he had and slowly managed to lift his upper body.
His head wobbled dangerously for a moment before he locked his elbows and steadied himself.
Across from him, Sumi sat there the same way, her small body leaning forward slightly. They stared straight at each other.
Sumi's blue eyes narrowed as she studied him carefully. A thin strand of snow-white hair clung to her sweaty forehead.
"You're from Earth too, aren't you?" she asked.
Her voice sounded small, but it carried a surprising steadiness. Azrean swallowed. His throat made a quiet click.
"Yeah," he answered. "I am."
Sumi tilted her head slightly, watching him closely as if she were trying to peel apart every layer of his answer.
"How do I know you're not lying?" she asked.
Azrean met her gaze without looking away. Then he spoke.
"World War Two started in nineteen thirty-nine," he said quietly. "Germany invaded Poland on September first. Britain and France declared war two days later. Before that—"
"Stop." Sumi suddenly raised her hand.
Her tiny palm faced him, fingers stiff and straight. The entire arm trembled from the effort of holding it up.
"That's enough."
Azrean immediately closed his mouth. Her hand slowly dropped back onto the bed. Her shoulders sagged. For a brief moment, her face twisted slightly. Her eyes squeezed shut and her lips tightened as if she might start crying.
"Okay…" she whispered. "I believe you."
Azrean let out a slow breath through his nose. Sumi opened her eyes again and looked at him. A faint smile appeared on her face.
"That makes me less sad now."
Azrean blinked, confused by the sudden statement.
"What do you mean?"
Sumi shifted closer to him, crawling slowly across the large mattress with small, awkward movements. When she stopped in front of him, she looked at him with a calm smile.
"Looks like you were reincarnated today," she said. "Before that, you were just a normal baby."
Azrean's eyes widened.
"Huh? So you've been here longer?"
Sumi crossed her tiny arms and nodded proudly.
"Yes. It's actually been more than two weeks now."
"Whoa… that's crazy…" Azrean muttered.
Sumi let out a small sigh and waved her hand lazily.
"Yeah. I was bored out of my mind lying around like a baby all day."
She looked at him again.
"Now that you're here, I can at least talk with someone."
Azrean didn't respond right away. He simply stared at her. The way she spoke so casually about everything left him stunned.
Meanwhile, he was still struggling to process the fact that his entire life had just been turned upside down.
He kept his eyes on her, but when he spoke, his voice came out quieter, almost swallowed by the stillness of the room.
"Did… you die too?"
Sumi froze. Not just her body—everything about her went still. For a brief second, her bright blue eyes lost their focus, staring somewhere between them as if she were looking at something far away.
Azrean felt his stomach tighten. The silence stretched too long. He hurried to speak again before the quiet became unbearable.
"You don't have to answer," he said quickly. "Forget I asked."
Sumi let out a shaky breath through her nose. When she spoke, her voice sounded strangely flat.
"Truck accident."
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"Some protestors blocked the road and the driver panicked. Then the truck hit me while I was walking home from school."
Azrean froze where he sat. His tiny shoulders curled inward, and before he could hide it, sadness crept across his face.
"Oh…"
The single word slipped out of him, his voice cracking slightly.
"That's sad."
Sumi's gaze shifted back to him. She watched the way his mouth drooped and how his expression tightened. After a moment, she raised her chin slightly.
"What about you?"
Azrean lowered his eyes. He stared at his own small hands resting on the bed. Slowly, he flexed his fingers, watching the little dimples appear and disappear in the soft skin.
"I don't really remember the exact moment," he said quietly.
"I had acute leukemia. Late stage."
His voice stayed calm, though the words carried a heavy weight.
"My family was too poor to afford proper treatment. We went to the cheapest clinics we could find. The chemotherapy was basically a joke. Half the time they didn't even have the medicine."
He paused, staring at his hands.
"I just kept getting worse." Another quiet breath left him.
"One day the pain got so bad that I couldn't even open my eyes anymore. After that… everything went black."
He lifted his head slightly.
"I guess that's when I died."
Sumi stared at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, the corner of her mouth curved upward. It wasn't exactly a happy smile. It looked more like the kind of smile someone gave when they had already accepted something long ago.
"Well," she said softly, "don't worry about money anymore, my soon-to-be husband."
Azrean's head snapped up so fast that his tiny neck wobbled.
"Wait—what?" His eyes widened in shock.
"Why are you just… agreeing to that? The marriage thing?"
Sumi let out a dry little huff that sounded close to a laugh.
"I've heard everything they've been saying these past two weeks," she replied. "The way they talk about us makes it sound like we're already destined to be together."
She shrugged slightly.
"And yeah, I thought it was crazy at first too. I mean, we're babies. Both of us."
She paused and tilted her head.
"But mentally, I'm still seventeen."
Her eyes focused on him again.
"How old were you before you died?"
"Eighteen," Azrean answered.
Sumi sighed softly, her shoulders relaxing as if a small weight had lifted.
"Oh." She nodded once.
"So you were one year older than me. I see, that works"
Azrean blinked at her.
"That… works?"
Sumi tried to roll her eyes, though the movement looked awkward with her tiny baby face.
"The marriage thing," Azrean continued. "You're seriously okay with it?"
Sumi shifted her weight, her small palms sliding slightly across the smooth silk sheets. Her gaze drifted past him toward the tall windows across the room. Golden afternoon light spilled through them, shining across the expensive floral decorations around the chamber.
"You still don't know," she said quietly. Her eyes returned to him.
"But we're not just ordinary babies."
"Our families… are very rich and powerful."
Then she added calmly,
"They're both duke families."