It was a common story.
A girl who had lived her entire life in darkness saw light for the first ti, but, unable to adjust to its warmth, she beca frightened and ran away.
A paradox of misery.
Though she wept, wishing to escape unhappiness, she inevitably returned to the misery that was most familiar to her.
In her wandering life, the only ho she ever knew was that sadness.
A life that ultimately lingered in existence.
The girl before was no exception.
"You were here, Miss Neria."
"You…?"
Silver hair rippled in the harsh wind.
The starlight swirled around her.
Blood and tears dripped from her cheeks, while a deep wound marred the right side of her face.
Transparent eyes stared blankly in my direction.
"Not too late, it seems."
I spoke as if answering her vacant gaze.
After realizing she had disappeared, I hurried after her and, at the very least, had managed to stop her before the worst ca to pass.
My palm, pressed tightly against the dagger, sizzled as the flesh cooked.
The iron, holding the light of the stars, burned with intensity.
Even so, I locked eyes with her without showing a trace of pain.
"Do you know how worried I was?"
The girl’s expression grew complicated in response to my playful reproach.
Her lips, caught in a mont of silence, finally murmured hoarsely:
"You… chased after … even through this relentless snowstorm."
"I promised to take responsibility."
"…Yes, that’s just like you."
You’re that kind of person.
With an odd mix of emotions, the girl let out a resigned laugh.
Her calm voice betrayed a sense of surrender.
"That’s why I left you."
Because you’re too kind.
The warmth and kindness you so carelessly offered, the devotion you extended to make a ho beyond misery, were overwhelming and suffocating for a creature like , a wretched monster.
I was afraid this cursed fate would hurt even you.
So I chose to leave your side on my own.
"This is my choice."
"Miss Neria."
"But I enjoyed the ti I spent with you. Enough to crave it, without realizing it… But it ends here."
The hollow dream shattered into pieces.
Her smile still lingered on her lips.
It seed the girl had made up her mind as she wandered through the snowstorm.
That faint warmth she directed at was her final farewell.
"Hey. I have one last request."
Her silver eyes lacked any spark of life.
She was like a flower on the verge of wilting.
"Kill ."
It was a prayer for suicide.
Even the faint relief in her expression crumbled into despair.
The starlight that blanketed the area grew brighter and brighter.
"I’m so tired now."
She didn’t want to beco a monster.
She didn’t want to hurt anyone, didn’t want to keep trembling in solitude and darkness.
In the end, her decision was to escape into misery once more.
Back to the only ho she ever knew.
"Before I beco a monster, before it’s too late… please, kill with your own hands."
"…"
"If it’s you, I don’t think I’ll have any regrets."
I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.
Tears stread down her wounded face.
It felt as if I was being crushed under the weight of the mont.
Perhaps she took my silence as agreent, for she slowly raised the dagger we had been holding together.
The still-hot blade now pointed toward her fragile neck.
She didn’t exert any force.
As if she were leaving the act entirely up to .
It was truly cruel.
"My body will soon lose control. I’ve tried to suppress it, but I can feel my mind slipping away."
Whoosh—
As if her words were a signal flare, her condition began to deteriorate rapidly.
The light surrounding her flared violently, spilling out its power from the stars one by one.
As the landscape was swallowed by the rising heat, even the weather seed to thin out.
Her eyes closed gently, as if to emphasize her point.
"If you don’t kill now… this entire area will be engulfed in starlight."
A warning.
If I didn’t kill her here, many more would die.
As if to prove her words, the resistance of the light grew stronger.
The brilliance erupted into countless thorn-like rays, piercing and searing my skin.
The pain of flesh burning in real-ti was anything but pleasant.
I bowed my head.
"Please."
Her plea echoed in my ears.
As I reflected on the texture of her words, mories of my ti with her surfaced.
"Why… are you doing so much for ?"
That question lingered in my mind.
Back then, I had brushed it off with a vague answer, but now, I needed to reach a conclusion.
Even as blood drenched my body, I continued to ponder, as if looking back on myself.
‘Why…?’
Why had I devoted myself so fully?
She was, at best, an extra.
A seed of disaster that would one day burn a tenth of the continent to ash.
Why had I offered her comfort?
‘I don’t know.’
Maybe…
It was because it had been so long since I had cared for anyone.
Because that faint warmth felt precious.
Though she bore no resemblance to my sister, every ti I faced her, I was reminded of the grief I had buried in the recesses of my mory.
The withering flower carried a part of my unfulfilled sorrow.
I smiled faintly.
‘I see myself in you.’
Perhaps I had seen that child in her.
Or maybe I saw myself.
Abandoned thoroughly by the world, despairing over unintended misfortune, fighting desperately to survive, only to lose to rciless absurdity.
Losing love so easily.
With nowhere to turn, the words that made us who we were shattered into fragnts, leaving only behind in that cold winter.
And just like you now, there were children trembling in the cold.
That’s why I couldn’t pass you by.
Even as a seed of disaster, I couldn’t kill you.
Because every scar you bore reminded of us.
I wanted us, from back then, to find complete happiness.
‘A selfish desire.’
The devotion I offered was based on such selfishness.
Because the reflection of myself in the mirror wouldn’t leave my mind, I acted on a hypocritical rcy that prioritized myself over others.
I didn’t feel ashad of it.
I simply wanted to be an absolution for your pain.
I didn’t want you to hate the reflection of yourself in the mirror.
I wanted you, soone like , to not resign yourself to life, to keep breathing with that fragile existence.
It might have been selfish.
But even so, I…
"Miss Neria."
I wanted you to live.
"You’ll be fine. I told you that, didn’t I?"
I let go of the dagger in my hand.
The silver blade fell to the ground.
Without giving her a chance to react, I spread my arms wide and pulled her slender fra into an embrace.
The raging starlight threatened to consu us both, but I didn’t let go.
Just as I tad you… you tad as well.
Responsibility for taming doesn’t rest on one side alone.
A relationship is built by both parties, requiring equal effort without hierarchy.
That’s why I didn’t allow your escape.
Just as I took responsibility for shielding you from misery, you also had an obligation to shield from loneliness.
Holding on to her faint breath, I let a gentle lie seep into her consciousness.
It was the fulfillnt of responsibility.
"You don’t have to hurt anymore."
Cutting, stabbing, burning—it all hurt.
Responsibility was painful.
And yet, if I had to na the reason I refused to turn my back on this pitiful girl, it would simply be this:
"Let’s go ho together."
For the sake of comforting your pain.
***
"Please."
The girl was waiting for death.
This was the end of her long, tumultuous life.
She had no regrets about her choice.
It was the best decision for everyone.
There was no such thing as a story where even a monster could find happiness.
Tightly closed eyelids blocked out the tear-streaked view.
So, this is the end.
It had been a painful journey.
But, at the very least, she felt she could close her eyes peacefully now.
Because soone had co to tie the final knot for her.
“I’ve co to take you.”
The boy who had taught her warmth for the first ti in her life.
This was more than she could have ever hoped for as an ending.
The heat lingering near her neck testified to the dagger’s presence.
Once its sharp edge pierced through her breath completely, even this wretched life would find rest.
Tears flowed.
And yet… I’m still a little scared.
Her shoulders stiffened on their own.
She tried to calm herself.
Amidst the storm of emotions—fear, freedom, resentnt, tranquility, liberation—the stars grew brighter.
As she waited for the conclusion to co, sothing suddenly enveloped her body.
Woosh!
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