Celine, holding Clara’s small hand, entered a house deep within Boulder Town.
Although the walls were worn and the furniture was simple, it was a rare sight in the resource-scarce and harsh Underworld.
The room was modestly furnished.
A worn wooden table, a few stools of varying heights, and two small beds placed side by side at the far end of the room.
On the only table sat three equally simple meals: fried eggs, bacon, and a piece of rye bread.
Someone was already seated at the table.
With her short hair neatly tied back and her purple eyes carrying their usual sharpness and impatience, it was Seele.
She unconsciously tapped the table with her fingers.
Seeing Celine and Clara enter, she raised an eyebrow.
“Finally back? If you hadn’t come, I would’ve eaten by myself.”
“Yes, yes, yes~” Celine replied flatly as she led Clara to the table.
Clara obediently climbed onto a stool that was slightly too tall for her.
After sitting down, Celine didn’t touch her own meal.
Instead, she picked up her utensils and skillfully divided her fried egg, bacon, and rye bread into two equal portions.
She first placed half onto Clara’s plate before moving the other half toward Seele’s.
“Hey!”
Seele immediately stopped her, blocking Celine’s hand with her fork as her brows furrowed even deeper.
“I have enough! Eat your own food! Stop giving yours to Clara and me all the time!”
Celine paused and calmly looked at Seele.
“Seele, you know. I’m a puppet. I don’t need to eat.”
“Don’t keep using that as an excuse!”
Seele’s voice rose slightly, carrying a trace of anxiety.
“You said it yourself before, didn’t you? Even if you don’t need to eat, that doesn’t mean you can’t taste food! Since you can still taste it, then eat your own meal properly!”
“Seele…”
Celine looked at her, seemingly about to say something.
“Mom…”
Clara gently tugged on Celine’s sleeve and softly whispered,
“Don’t be mad at Sister… Clara and Sister just wanted to have a proper meal with Mom since you’re only home once in a while…”
Celine lowered her gaze toward Clara.
A trace of warmth flickered through her otherwise calm eyes as she gently patted Clara’s snow-white hair.
“Yes… I know.”
Then she looked back at Seele and tilted her head slightly.
“But calling it ‘having a meal together’ is really just me keeping you two company.”
“…Tch. Who needs your company?”
Seele turned her face away, her ears faintly reddening, though her tone had noticeably softened.
“Hmm~”
Celine chuckled softly, shook her head, and said nothing more.
She carefully placed the remaining portion onto Seele’s plate.
“Alright. Don’t be shy. Eat what Mom gave you. Mom will stay here and keep you company while you eat.”
“Tch.”
Seele still refused to admit defeat, but this time she didn’t stop her, silently accepting the food.
She poked at the fried egg with her fork and quietly began eating.
Clara also ate in small, careful bites, occasionally glancing toward Celine to make sure her mother was still there.
Halfway through the meal, Seele suddenly spoke, her voice much quieter than before.
“This time… how long are you staying?”
Clara immediately looked up, her eyes filled with anticipation.
Both of them knew that this “mother” wasn’t from Belobog, nor even from this planet.
She had suddenly appeared in the Underworld over ten years ago.
Sometimes she disappeared for months—or even longer—and sometimes she quietly returned.
Every time she came back, she brought supplies from the outside world.
The people of the Underworld had been able to slightly improve their living conditions and avoid countless unnecessary deaths largely because of the items she brought back.
A relatively luxurious meal like today’s was an unimaginable luxury in the Underworld, and where the ingredients came from was obvious.
“This time…”
Celine looked at the two girls and calmly replied,
“Until Belobog’s disaster comes to an end… and the Overworld and Underworld are reunited, living together in peace once more.”
Seele’s fork froze halfway to her mouth.
Clara’s eyes widened as well.
Belobog’s “disaster”…
The overwhelming shadow that had shrouded the planet for centuries.
The Eternal Freeze.
The Fragmentum.
The monsters.
The complete separation between the Overworld and the Underworld.
It had long become an inescapable despair in everyone’s heart—an impossible dream, something no one even dared imagine ending.
To most people, surviving one day at a time was all they could do.
“The end…”
It was almost an impossible phrase.
But…
If those words came from their “mother”…
Seele and Clara exchanged a glance.
Both saw disbelief…
And a tiny spark of hope.
Small.
Fragile.
Yet undeniably real.
Because their mother had always been able to accomplish everything she said she would.
(Maybe…)
(Maybe there really is a chance…)
That thought quietly sprouted from the frozen earth like a delicate seedling.
After silently finishing this meaningful dinner, Seele cleaned up the dishes.
“I’m heading out on patrol.”
She left after saying goodbye to Celine and Clara.
Celine gently picked up the sleepy Clara and carried her to the small bed in the inner room.
She carefully removed Clara’s coat, tucked her beneath the blanket, then lay beside her and gently embraced the little girl.
Wrapped in that familiar warmth and scent, Clara grew even sleepier.
Still, before drifting completely to sleep, she softly voiced the deepest wish hidden in her heart.
“Mom…”
“Will the disaster… really end?”
Celine rested her chin lightly against Clara’s soft white hair.
Her answer was quiet, calm…
Yet carried absolute certainty.
“Yes.”
“Because…”
“A group of people who have saved countless worlds… have returned here.”
But in the end, sleep overtook her.
She peacefully drifted off in Celine’s embrace.
Celine gently stroked Clara’s white hair with her fingertips as her thoughts drifted back more than ten years.
At that time…
She still hadn’t recovered the memories of her previous life.
Yet, during that period…
She saw Elio’s script.
The section concerning Jarilo-VI deeply moved her.
Especially since the Astral Express’s database also contained records about Jarilo-VI.
Elio didn’t stop her.
He simply spoke in his calm, unwavering voice.
[Okay, meow.]
[A script sometimes needs unexpected variables to ensure it ultimately reaches a better future, meow.]
[As long as you can ensure that, when they set foot upon that land, the gaze of the Guardian will descend as promised… the rest is up to you.]
And so…
Celine came.
The first person she “picked up”…
Was Seele.
It happened in a chaotic corner of the Underworld during a street fight.
The blue-haired girl was still very young.
Like a thin, wounded cub covered in thorns.
She was desperately fighting several older vagrants over half a piece of moldy bread.
Her eyes were fierce…
Yet unable to hide the fear and despair buried deep within them.
Celine simply stood there and quietly watched.
Only when the conflict escalated, and Seele was completely overwhelmed, did she step forward.
Without any flashy techniques…
With only the smallest movements…
She effortlessly subdued every one of the homeless men.
After bringing Seele to Natasha’s clinic…
A few days later she found the girl injured again.
So she took her back.
As this repeated again and again…
Natasha noticed the increasingly close bond between them.
Eventually, Natasha asked whether Celine would adopt Seele.
Celine agreed.
Several years later…
Deep within the Robot Settlement…
Near the ruins bordering the Fragmentum…
She “found” Clara.
And so…
She gained her second “daughter.”
More than ten years ago…
It was merely a script…
One that happened to stir something deep within her heart.
Who could have imagined…
That those ripples from years ago…
Would one day become the perfect explanation for Celine’s appearance in Belobog.