The Puzzle of Love

Ann 辛瑜 230230113

I.

Outside the cafe, Matthias sipped his coffee while reading the newspaper.

It wasn’t until a figure sat down across from him that he looked up—and raised his brows slightly in surprise.

“Having lived this long, very little still has the power to surprise me. But you...are certainly something special.”

The man opposite had the exact same face as Matthias. Though their demeanor differed slightly, they looked nearly identical—like reflections in a mirror. Anyone passing by would surely assume they were twins.

But Matthias knew he had no siblings.

“Well, let’s keep this brief, Matthias. I’m you, from another world. And I’m here to kill you. Before I do...anything you’d like to say?”

“Ah, crossing dimensions—I’ve heard of such magic, but this is my first time seeing it in person. You must be an exceptionally powerful mage. Perhaps, after hearing my story, you might be willing to help me with a small task.”

Matthias ordered his other self a cup of coffee, and then began to tell his story.

II.

Matthias had long heard rumors about Rasti.

Some said her father killed her mother and was cursed before his early death.

Thus, the young noble girl inherited her parents’ status and wealth while still very young. Countless suitors, coveting her fortune, came to pursue her—but without exception, they all left in frustration.

People said Rasti was a strange girl who knew nothing of love, and that no one could stand her.

At the time, Matthias—needing money to treat his gravely ill girlfriend—had no choice but to accept the high-paying offer to work as a servant in Rasti’s household.

After hearing Matthias’s situation, Rasti asked him only one question:

“Do you love your girlfriend?”

“Of course. I would give anything for her.”

That was how Matthias remembered answering her.

Rasti stared at him, expressionless, for a long while before making her first and only request:

“I need you to teach me...what love is.”

Back then, eager to keep the job, Matthias didn’t dwell too deeply on what her words might mean.

He didn’t think it would be too difficult. So in his spare time, he would tell Rasti how beautiful his girlfriend Eleanor was, how tragic her illness seemed, what it felt like to be infatuated, and what it meant to love someone.

Whenever he spoke of these things, Rasti would listen quietly. Though her face showed no expression, Matthias seemed to see...envy in her eyes.

Eleanor’s condition grew worse with each passing day. Just as Matthias was nearing desperation, the witch hunters sought him out. They told him that Rasti was a cursed witch and that she was the reason Eleanor had failed to recover.

They gave Matthias a dagger, urging him to kill Rasti, and promised they would share a portion of her wealth with him to fund Eleanor’s treatment.

Matthias didn’t know whether they were telling the truth.

But he needed that money—he wanted to save Eleanor.

So on the agreed day, he lured Rasti into the basement, intending to carry out the act.

He drew the Dagger and quietly moved closer.

But then, with her back still turned to him, Rasti spoke suddenly:

“I’m sorry...that I couldn’t save Eleanor.”

At that moment, Matthias hesitated.

He remembered all the days he had spent with Rasti.

Although she always wore a sorrowful expression, she never truly harmed him.

She had only ever watched him quietly—nothing more.

But in that split second of hesitation, Rasti turned, grabbed the dagger from his hand, and plunged it into her own chest.

And in that same instant, Matthias understood:

He did not want Rasti to die.

“What are you doing?! Let go!”

He tried to pull the dagger out, but Rasti held it too tightly—he couldn’t.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and the surroundings grew brighter. Matthias realized they were standing inside a vast, glowing circle.

“I knew you were going to kill me,” Rasti’s voice trembled slightly, but she went on, “and I knew if you didn’t...those people outside would kill you too.”

Rasti’s expression was no longer blank—her eyes shone with a light he had never seen before. Gasping for breath, she forced herself to keep speaking. It was the first time she had ever spoken to him at such length, and it would also be the last.

“Everyone says love is beautiful...but why does it only bring me pain? I wanted to love someone like you do—so intensely, so truly. But perhaps I won’t have that chance. So, in this moment, if my all can be of use to you, I’ll willingly risk everything for your sake. Forgive me for weighing you down like this...”

The crimson magic circle beneath their feet glowed brighter and brighter, expanding until it engulfed the entire mansion.

Before Matthias could ask anything more, Rasti covered his eyes firmly with her hand. Only when the light faded and Rasti had died did he finally break free from her grasp.

Matthias made his way up from the basement.

An eerie silence surrounded the villa.

There was no one—not a single person.

The crowd that had come to condemn the witch had vanished entirely.

Eleanor had died during his absence, and it had nothing to do with Rasti.

Only he remained, standing alone on bloodstained ground.

III.

“Obviously, you’ve been cursed.”

The well-traveled archmage made the correct judgment immediately after hearing the story.

Matthias nodded in agreement.

“For me, her magic truly was a curse. Because of this immortality, I’ve been seen as a monster. I couldn’t seek my own happiness, so for the first fifty years, I was imprisoned by regret, pain, and a lingering resentment toward Rasti. When I realized I might never escape it, I calmed myself and spent a hundred and fifty years searching for stories about Rasti. Fortunately, I found everything about her.

Those people weren’t wrong to call Rasti a witch. She was the last descendant of a family of mages, and their magic could only be cast on someone they loved by sacrificing themselves. I think that’s why Rasti was so desperate to understand what love really was.

Poor girl—her parents tortured each other and died young. She never knew what normal love looked like. So, she took me as her model, learning and imitating what she thought love should be. Even in her final moments, she wasn’t sure what love truly was. She was just desperately longing for an answer, and all she could do was to bet everything on the person before her, who had come to kill her.

I don’t know what she felt when she cast that spell on me, but she succeeded. In that moment, she transferred the lives of everyone in the villa to me. That’s why I can live so long. Her small but real love was recognized by the magic, and so she bound me to spend my life understanding her love.

“If Rasti’s love could be proven by magic, what about you? Did you love her?”

Matthias fell silent for a long time.

He took a sip of coffee, then set the cup down with a soft clink.

“As much as I’d like to say yes...but no. I understood her. I pitied her. But from beginning to end, I never loved her.

After learning her story and understanding her love, answering her final question wasn’t so difficult. It took me less than ten years to give my answer—love is never about one person alone. It’s about time, place, and another person.”

“You were willing to spend so long understanding her, answering her questions, fulfilling the mission she forced upon you. You could already be called a good person.

“But I wasn’t the right person. Everything I did was merely an atonement.”

He paused for a few seconds, then continued speaking.

“In the years after I found the answer, I had no purpose left. So, I started searching for her. I found many girls who resembled her, but none were her.”

The Matthias from across the table looked puzzled.

“Why look for her?”

“I wanted to meet her again—to encounter her as ordinary people do. If possible, I still wanted to become her teacher, to show her what normal love is. I wanted her to know what love means and to have a happy life. This also serves to make up for my mistakes.”

“So... this is what you want me to do? Bring back someone who’s already dead?”

“Yes. If it can be done, then I’ll have no regrets left.”

The time-traveling Matthias remained silent for a long while.

For a mage who could manipulate time and space, this was no difficult task.

He faithfully recorded the story, yet he couldn’t comprehend the profound emotions between them.

Love is like a puzzle—everyone who faces it gives their own unique answer.

Who can claim that a faint glimmer of love is not love at all? And who can truly explain the complex emotions contained within those long, passing years?

But whether it ends in regret or joy, it is utterly real.

Love is the broadest of themes because it always rises from the deepest parts of the human heart—so real it resonates with everyone.

In every story written about love, people see their own reflection.

And those who have never loved cannot weave such tales.

They can only watch it all unfold like bystanders, unable to understand.

When you read this story, who comes to your mind?

Or is this story, to you, just a story after all?