T/N: Huge shout out and thank you for Jose for giving me your support, I really appreciate it, thank you.
Everything could still be turned around in her hands.
Tragedies would be rewritten, enemies would fall, and every calamity would be wiped away.
Even so, she understood that her presence would only bring disaster to the small town.
She had no choice but to set sail alone.
She was forced to leave the orphanage that had raised her, the small town where she had grown up, the teachers who had always treated the children with such kindness, and every simple, honest resident who lived there.
Back then, in her still-innocent heart, the dominant feeling had been excitement.
She imagined herself stepping into the world like the hero of a storybook, searching for her own paradise, her own Elysian Realm.
Only…
There had been no sadness.
The girl who called herself human had even forgotten what negativity felt like.
Her understanding of the emotion had stopped at the shallowest level of disappointment.
Until…
[Edward has left you forever.]
[He did not see you one last time.
He did not ask for your blessing.
He simply said goodbye and walked away, his eyes showing not the slightest trace of attachment…
like a free bird that never longed for the cage holding it.]
[And those guests you invited to the banquet, to Edward’s birthday celebration…
what were they doing as the boy prepared to leave?]
[They were applauding.]
[The applause thundered through the hall.
Even while you hid in the restroom with your back against the wall, you could hear it clearly…
and feel the faint vibration.]
[You had shut yourself away in there alone, while they clapped and cheered for the very reason you were hiding.
They offered the blessings you could not bring yourself to give.]
[No words could describe it.
For the first time, you felt your own vocabulary fail you.]
If you had to put it into words, if you had to explain it with metaphors or anything else, then it was only this…
[The same as Edward.]
[Your feelings right now are exactly the same as his.]
[Being ignored.
Being overlooked.
No one caring about what you truly thought or felt.
It was a sensation that left you deeply uncomfortable…
deeply disgusted.]
[You had never experienced anything so unpleasant in your entire life.]
[Like a small boat caught in towering waves, you found no chance to breathe beneath the crushing pressure.
The currents covered you, crushed you, squeezed every part of you, leaving no room for choice.]
This had only been one moment of being ignored.
Once the applause for those blessings ended, the others soon noticed your absence and began searching for you.
Their concern was genuine.
Their smiles held no pretense; if anything, they seemed a little brighter.
Because the boy who had always annoyed them, the one who had stayed constantly at your side, had finally disappeared.
Yes.
This was normal.
In their eyes you were perfect, flawless, untouchable, like a god.
Even the thought of touching you felt like a sin.
You were like a fairy, holy as the daughter of divinity, a vision descended from the heavens.
Merely looking at you bordered on taboo.
Being allowed to stay near you, to catch even a trace of your presence, was considered the fortune of a lifetime.
Because that would be blasphemy.
How could anyone approach someone as perfect as you?
Everyone was meant to be your devoted follower, offering everything at your feet.
This was the first reaction of most people…
an unimaginable charm.
Even later, among the Flame-Chasers.
Even when you had appeared under suspicious circumstances during the disaster of the Second Herrscher, not many truly dared to raise a hand against you or even entertain different thoughts.
Even Mobius only spoke of it.
Though she might have wanted to act, she never would have actually done anything to harm you.
That was the gathering place of geniuses, the Flame-Chasers assembled by the United Nations.
Every person there possessed unmatched talent and willpower.
The knowledge of any one of them would have been enough to earn a professorship at a prestigious university.
Almost every pinnacle of humanity was affected by that fairy-like charm, intoxicated by the girl’s flawlessness…
let alone these geniuses who were still so naive.
They had been saved by you at the lowest points of their lives.
How could they not hold onto the fairy-tale dream of a prince saving a princess?
Even if they knew their place and dared not commit blasphemy, the idea still lived in their hearts: a god descending to save ignorant mortals.
One glance had been enough to leave them completely enchanted, unable to break free.
Until they learned that the boy named Edward followed you everywhere.
Until they learned that the boy named Edward lived with you, traveled with you, and had never once been separated from you in your entire life.
How…
How could that be?
How could anyone live with you?
How could anyone commit such blasphemy against a god?
How was Edward worthy?
From their perspective, even the most talented person was unworthy unless they could surpass you in some way.
No matter how great or capable they were, at best they would be called a deputy.
And the boy was not even that.
He was not stupid or clumsy.
To these lonely geniuses, politicians, and business tycoons, he simply seemed like an ordinary person.
Even an ordinary person might understand the word “effort,” yet the boy had always been content with mediocrity.
He had been happy to live an ordinary life.
And that was exactly how it should have been.
If not for your interference, that was the life the boy was meant to have.
Calm.
Safe.
Happy.
Wasn’t that beautiful?
But humans are always swayed by impulsive emotions.
Those consumed by jealousy never see their own mistakes.
Most people decide on their conclusion first, then shape every argument to fit it.
No matter how far they stray, they always circle back to that predetermined answer.
If Edward had not been introduced as your brother, and if you had not shown him any special affection, he would probably have been tied to a stake and burned by that crowd, as fanatical as Crusaders.
You had never seen a problem with this before.
Or rather, you had never truly paid attention to any of it.
You had rushed through each day as if something were chasing you from behind.
Then…
===
The lonely girl walked through the hall alone.
The other guests had already been sent away.
Only she remained, moving through the empty space.
The walls were decorated in soft pink with delicate bird motifs.
The textures in the corners bloomed like fields of flowers, and the finely carved details spoke of a gentle, girlish heart.
It truly felt like a fairyland, a perfect paradise that existed only in stories.
The girl in her elegant clothes looked like the goddess of beauty celebrated in poetry and song.
Her flowing pink hair resembled a sea of blossoms.
Her bright eyes shone as clear as the deepest lake, and her flawless skin made even a glance feel like an unforgivable sin.
Yet that adorable face, which everyone agreed was perfect and beyond criticism, held no smile.
The corners of her lips, usually curved in a touching expression, drooped slightly.
Sadness…
depression…
guilt…
reluctance…
Even the simplest chart or the most delicate brushstrokes in the world could not capture the emotions swirling in those eyes.
Even though the boy had already left, the girl’s heart remained trapped.
She was still bound by his words, by the easy smile at the corner of his mouth, by the free-spirited look in his eyes, and by the invitation card he had touched so lightly with his fingertips.
That was something she had never felt before, something a caged bird could never know.
Unknowingly, that smile had only ever appeared in the deepest part of her memories: the moment she had first been saved like a hero, the gentle breeze, the boy reaching out his hand, and the moving smile on his face.
Why had it come to this?
Why had the boy lost his smile?
Ah…
This was not difficult to understand.
Because his playmate had left.
Being rejected brought only ordinary pain.
Compared to pain, a simple departure might even be a blessing.
She should bless Edward for making his own choice.
She should bless him for finally breaking free of his shackles.
She should bless him for acting on his own wishes for the first time.
This should have been a good thing.
This should have been a good thing.
Yet the boy’s ease, that unmistakable sense of freedom and joy, was something Elysia could not let go of.
It seemed…
she had become the very shackles holding him back.
Even though she had taken him traveling across the world, shown him mountains and rivers, let him feel the pulse of crowds and the beauty of landscapes that a small-town life could never offer, and given him experiences far beyond the ordinary.
She had believed no one would refuse such things, hate them, or fail to be moved by the wonders of nature.
Now it was clear those actions had meant nothing.
They had been nothing more than arrogant, self-centered, clownish behavior that ignored how the other person felt.
Traveling together had held no meaning for Edward.
Seeing the world from more perspectives had held no meaning for Edward.
For the boy, true freedom had only ever existed on the surface.
The waves in his heart had always been ignored.
No one had cared.
He could only let his heart sink deeper and deeper until it could no longer rise.
The boy’s heart had been locked away by himself, imprisoned in a cage, without peace, without value, only loneliness.
That must also have been why Edward chose Vill-V.
You only learn to cherish something after you have lost it.
Elysia realized all of this through her own feelings.
When she opened the door and faced the empty corridor, the cold white light felt far more real than the hall decorated like a kingdom of moonlight.