(206) The End, and Epilogue.
And Ariana sat quietly beside Shini.
A gentle breeze blew in through the open window. The wind, imbued with the essence of autumn, was refreshing and mild.
"The weather is really nice today, Shini."
Ariana spent several hours by Shini's side every day. Even though two years had already passed, Shini had not woken from her long sleep.
That was the case.
Ariana decided Shini was just taking a long, long sleep.
She decided to think of it as nothing more than a long, long sleep as compensation for being abandoned by her mother before she was old enough to be made up and having to spend a long time locked in a cage, and as a reward for her efforts for this foolish master.
“Father and Cyrus will be back soon. The war is over, and the continent will strive to rebuild peace once again. It’s all thanks to you, Shini.”
Ariana gently brushed Shini's hair back.
“Last night, Victoria... committed suicide.”
Ariana visited Victoria every day, just as she had spent time with Shini. She simply smiled silently as she looked down at Victoria, who was imprisoned in an underground dungeon and consuming only enough food to survive.
"Say whatever you want! Does it feel great? Do you like seeing me in this state? Are you glad? Are you happy?"
“I’m not going to forgive you, Ariana. I’m going to kill you.”
"Do you think someone like you belongs in a position like that? A Princess? That's ridiculous. Are the people of the East out of their minds? They'll see through your dark intentions sooner or later and abandon you!"
At first, she cursed.
After a few months had passed like that, she began to beg.
"Ariana, please. Please save me. Please? I regret it now. I'm remorseful. I really am remorseful for what I did to you."
“Sister, sister. We had good times together. We got along well. Please, save me. Let’s get along well like we used to, let’s be close sisters. Please?”
"Sister, I'll really do my best. I'll do exactly as you tell me to, and do exactly as you tell me to. Please spare my life."
When that didn't work, she cursed again, then begged, and cursed once more.
To be honest, Ariana had even harbored the thought that she would forgive Victoria someday. She reasoned that Victoria had become the way she did simply because she was influenced by her parents' wrong words and actions, so she should forgive her if she truly repented.
But last night, when Ariana opened her mouth for the first time to announce the victory in the war.
Victoria glared at Ariana with devilish eyes and shouted.
"Why only you! Why do you have everything all by yourself? Why!"
Ariana realized that Victoria would never regret it for the rest of her life.
"Don't you still understand, Victoria? You were the one who had everything. It was always you. You just threw away what you had yourself."
Ariana spoke calmly.
“If you hadn’t attacked me, if you hadn’t tried to bring down my position by any means, nothing would have happened. You could have met a good person and lived happily, receiving your parents’ love. But you didn’t.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You, you provoked me first! You tarnished my reputation by framing me for murder!”
"What was it like before, Victoria? Had I been setting a trap for you all along? I had no choice if I wanted to survive."
"Don't act like you're someone important. What do you think you'll achieve by struggling to survive? If you had just lived doing as we told you, none of this would have happened!"
She knew that no words would reach Victoria's ears as she cried out. So Ariana spoke quietly.
"I won't come back here anymore. Resent me and curse me, Victoria. Just as you always have."
And a few hours later, she received a report from the prison warden that Victoria had committed suicide. They said she had wrapped the train of her dress around the bars and hanged herself.
When she heard the report, Ariana briefly recalled the time she had been strangled to death by someone sent by Victoria. However, the memory flashed by so quickly that it had no effect on her mood.
“Isn’t it strange, Shini? If it were me a few years ago, I would have felt so relieved to hear the news that Victoria died like that, but I don’t feel that way now. The reason I feel a little down and sorry for her must be because I received so much love.”
By being loved, Ariana also learned how to love and understand people. The kindness of the White family shattered the wall of ice surrounding Ariana's heart, and Cyrus's sweetness melted away all the remaining ice fragments.
“It is thanks to you that I am even able to think like this. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to overcome that loneliness and would have been swallowed by the darkness. Because you called me good weather, I was able to endure. Because I have to be your good weather.”
Ariana carefully took Shini's hand. She stroked the back of her thin hand and spoke.
“But Shini, do you know? You were always good weather to me, too. My days are terribly dark without you.”
"Then, couldn't I light up that day for you?"
At the sound of a low voice, Ariana put down Shini's hand and turned around.
The face she had missed so much was there.
Ariana's moon, with pure white skin, brilliant silver hair, and a gentle smile.
Ariana stood neatly in front of her and looked up at her. She checked to see if there were any wounds on her face or if she looked like she was in pain.
Cyrus smiled faintly, noticing the gaze.
"I'm healthy, Rian."
"When did you arrive?"
"Just now."
"Where is Father?"
"Tomorrow."
Cyrus strode closer and wrapped his arms around Ariana's waist. Lightly kissing her forehead, Cyrus whispered.
"I flew here because I missed you."
"I wish you had told me in advance. I wanted to see a person fly."
Cyrus pressed his forehead against Ariana's.
“I’ll show you someday. I’ll show you anything you want to see.”
“I am truly looking forward to it. The Northern Lord has never failed to keep his word.”
"It would be His Imperial Majesty, not the Northern Lord, Princess."
“Oh, dear. His Majesty the Emperor of Arcana certainly has a bad habit of touching things. To think he would touch the waist of an unmarried woman so freely.”
"Because I'm a mess in many ways."
Cyrus lightly kissed Ariana's lips.
“So, could you please save this hopeless guy? I think he might become somewhat useful if a clever woman is by his side.”
“Well, I wonder what crazy woman would do to try and save a hopeless wretch...”
“Don’t you want to go crazy, Princess?”
"Not really. If I go crazy, there are plenty of people who would cry for me."
"That's nice."
“What?”
“The fact that you know there are many people who will cry for you now.”
"You'll probably cry too."
“No, I won’t cry. I’ll choose a life where I go crazy with you and roll around in a flower garden.”
Cyrus clasped Ariana's hand. He took a step back and kissed the back of her hand deeply. With his red lips pressing gently against her slender wrist, he met her eyes.
“When you smile, I smile too. When you cry, I cry too. When you go crazy, I go crazy, Rian. So please be happy. So that I can be happy with you. Be happy by my side for the rest of my life.”
“You’re not going to make me happy, are you?”
“You enjoy earning things on your own rather than having someone else make them for you. So that I can pick up and eat even the crumbs of happiness that fall by your side.”
Even though he said that, Ariana knew that he would do anything for her happiness.
Just the fact that they waged a long war to annihilate Paganus, who might threaten Ariana or torment her loved ones, was enough.
He promised Ariana.
He promised that the world Shini would return to would make it endlessly clear.
And kept that promise.
"Marry me, Ariana."
So, Ariana accepted the proposal from a precious man beside her dear friend, who was fast asleep. She decided to write a new story in the world her precious people had created.
February 217, Rattan. It was exactly seven years after Ariana was revived and began a new life.
And Ariana sat quietly beside Shini.
A gentle breeze blew in through the open window. The wind, imbued with the essence of autumn, was refreshing and mild.
"The weather is really nice today, Shini."
Ariana spent several hours by Shini's side every day. Even though two years had already passed, Shini had not woken from her long sleep.
That was the case.
Ariana decided Shini was just taking a long, long sleep.
She decided to think of it as nothing more than a long, long sleep as compensation for being abandoned by her mother before she was old enough to be made up and having to spend a long time locked in a cage, and as a reward for her efforts for this foolish master.
“Father and Cyrus will be back soon. The war is over, and the continent will strive to rebuild peace once again. It’s all thanks to you, Shini.”
Ariana gently brushed Shini's hair back.
“Last night, Victoria... committed suicide.”
Ariana visited Victoria every day, just as she had spent time with Shini. She simply smiled silently as she looked down at Victoria, who was imprisoned in an underground dungeon and consuming only enough food to survive.
"Say whatever you want! Does it feel great? Do you like seeing me in this state? Are you glad? Are you happy?"
“I’m not going to forgive you, Ariana. I’m going to kill you.”
"Do you think someone like you belongs in a position like that? A Princess? That's ridiculous. Are the people of the East out of their minds? They'll see through your dark intentions sooner or later and abandon you!"
At first, she cursed.
After a few months had passed like that, she began to beg.
"Ariana, please. Please save me. Please? I regret it now. I'm remorseful. I really am remorseful for what I did to you."
“Sister, sister. We had good times together. We got along well. Please, save me. Let’s get along well like we used to, let’s be close sisters. Please?”
"Sister, I'll really do my best. I'll do exactly as you tell me to, and do exactly as you tell me to. Please spare my life."
When that didn't work, she cursed again, then begged, and cursed once more.
To be honest, Ariana had even harbored the thought that she would forgive Victoria someday. She reasoned that Victoria had become the way she did simply because she was influenced by her parents' wrong words and actions, so she should forgive her if she truly repented.
But last night, when Ariana opened her mouth for the first time to announce the victory in the war.
Victoria glared at Ariana with devilish eyes and shouted.
"Why only you! Why do you have everything all by yourself? Why!"
Ariana realized that Victoria would never regret it for the rest of her life.
"Don't you still understand, Victoria? You were the one who had everything. It was always you. You just threw away what you had yourself."
Ariana spoke calmly.
“If you hadn’t attacked me, if you hadn’t tried to bring down my position by any means, nothing would have happened. You could have met a good person and lived happily, receiving your parents’ love. But you didn’t.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You, you provoked me first! You tarnished my reputation by framing me for murder!”
"What was it like before, Victoria? Had I been setting a trap for you all along? I had no choice if I wanted to survive."
"Don't act like you're someone important. What do you think you'll achieve by struggling to survive? If you had just lived doing as we told you, none of this would have happened!"
She knew that no words would reach Victoria's ears as she cried out. So Ariana spoke quietly.
"I won't come back here anymore. Resent me and curse me, Victoria. Just as you always have."
And a few hours later, she received a report from the prison warden that Victoria had committed suicide. They said she had wrapped the train of her dress around the bars and hanged herself.
When she heard the report, Ariana briefly recalled the time she had been strangled to death by someone sent by Victoria. However, the memory flashed by so quickly that it had no effect on her mood.
“Isn’t it strange, Shini? If it were me a few years ago, I would have felt so relieved to hear the news that Victoria died like that, but I don’t feel that way now. The reason I feel a little down and sorry for her must be because I received so much love.”
By being loved, Ariana also learned how to love and understand people. The kindness of the White family shattered the wall of ice surrounding Ariana's heart, and Cyrus's sweetness melted away all the remaining ice fragments.
“It is thanks to you that I am even able to think like this. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to overcome that loneliness and would have been swallowed by the darkness. Because you called me good weather, I was able to endure. Because I have to be your good weather.”
Ariana carefully took Shini's hand. She stroked the back of her thin hand and spoke.
“But Shini, do you know? You were always good weather to me, too. My days are terribly dark without you.”
"Then, couldn't I light up that day for you?"
At the sound of a low voice, Ariana put down Shini's hand and turned around.
The face she had missed so much was there.
Ariana's moon, with pure white skin, brilliant silver hair, and a gentle smile.
Ariana stood neatly in front of her and looked up at her. She checked to see if there were any wounds on her face or if she looked like she was in pain.
Cyrus smiled faintly, noticing the gaze.
"I'm healthy, Rian."
"When did you arrive?"
"Just now."
"Where is Father?"
"Tomorrow."
Cyrus strode closer and wrapped his arms around Ariana's waist. Lightly kissing her forehead, Cyrus whispered.
"I flew here because I missed you."
"I wish you had told me in advance. I wanted to see a person fly."
Cyrus pressed his forehead against Ariana's.
“I’ll show you someday. I’ll show you anything you want to see.”
“I am truly looking forward to it. The Northern Lord has never failed to keep his word.”
"It would be His Imperial Majesty, not the Northern Lord, Princess."
“Oh, dear. His Majesty the Emperor of Arcana certainly has a bad habit of touching things. To think he would touch the waist of an unmarried woman so freely.”
"Because I'm a mess in many ways."
Cyrus lightly kissed Ariana's lips.
“So, could you please save this hopeless guy? I think he might become somewhat useful if a clever woman is by his side.”
“Well, I wonder what crazy woman would do to try and save a hopeless wretch...”
“Don’t you want to go crazy, Princess?”
"Not really. If I go crazy, there are plenty of people who would cry for me."
"That's nice."
“What?”
“The fact that you know there are many people who will cry for you now.”
"You'll probably cry too."
“No, I won’t cry. I’ll choose a life where I go crazy with you and roll around in a flower garden.”
Cyrus clasped Ariana's hand. He took a step back and kissed the back of her hand deeply. With his red lips pressing gently against her slender wrist, he met her eyes.
“When you smile, I smile too. When you cry, I cry too. When you go crazy, I go crazy, Rian. So please be happy. So that I can be happy with you. Be happy by my side for the rest of my life.”
“You’re not going to make me happy, are you?”
“You enjoy earning things on your own rather than having someone else make them for you. So that I can pick up and eat even the crumbs of happiness that fall by your side.”
Even though he said that, Ariana knew that he would do anything for her happiness.
Just the fact that they waged a long war to annihilate Paganus, who might threaten Ariana or torment her loved ones, was enough.
He promised Ariana.
He promised that the world Shini would return to would make it endlessly clear.
And kept that promise.
"Marry me, Ariana."
So, Ariana accepted the proposal from a precious man beside her dear friend, who was fast asleep. She decided to write a new story in the world her precious people had created.
February 217, Rattan. It was exactly seven years after Ariana was revived and began a new life.
***
(Epilogue)
Russell walked and walked.
His dark navy hair had turned white before he knew it, his firm muscles had vanished, and the deep marks of time were etched into his once taut skin. Despite his young age, the pain and sorrow of the past had aged Russell.
Russell had no idea how many years had passed since he left the Eastern Territory after entrusting the position of Lord to Langster. He didn't particularly want to know, either.
There was only one thing Russell wanted to know.
The residence of the late King Paganus.
He walked and walked every day, following rumors, stories, and traces, but he could not reach it.
It felt as though the world did not exist, yet the stories that occasionally drifted in were so vivid that he could not completely ignore them.
If Russell were to meet the late King Paganus, who was said to have lived for a long time and possessed strange abilities, there was one thing he wanted to ask of him.
"Abused by her mother and neglected by her father, the woman died without even harboring a knife inside her. Without ever hearing a single kind word from anyone. Without even leaving behind a grave."
"So, you cowered so low that you couldn't even check on your daughter's situation—is the result good? Is the East, whom you wanted to protect, safe?"
The words he had heard from Cyrus echoed vividly in my ears.
After hearing those words, Russell could not escape that voice for even a single moment.
Ariana, who was never loved, only abused, and then killed. My daughter.
No, he knows he doesn't even deserve to call her his daughter. Nevertheless, her father, he wanted to do anything for her.
He could do anything for Ariana, even if it meant abandoning his beliefs or betraying everyone.
He also knows that he should have done this sooner.
Russell knew better than anyone how foolish it was to be swept up in stupid rumors and cling to Paganus's doctrines at this point.
However, he felt like he would go crazy if he didn't do at least this.
He couldn't fall asleep. Occasionally, when he dozed off, blue eyes glared at Russell.
It was only the pupils, but Russell could tell. That they were his daughter's eyes.
A father who neglected his daughter while talking about the safety of his country had no right to do anything for her, but Russell still had to do it.
Russell, who had been walking for a long time with his weakened body, paying no attention to meals or rest, eventually could not hold on any longer and collapsed. Gazing at the scorching desert sun, Russell thought that it had been a truly miserable and foolish life.
It was the worst life, riddled with wrong choices, foolish actions, naive beliefs, and vain hopes. It was a terrible life, one in which, despite belatedly stepping forward to do something for his daughter, he ultimately failed to accomplish a single thing.
A shadow fell over Russell as he lay collapsed. Cool water flowed into Russell's mouth.
"Were you looking for me?"
The old woman's voice settled down. Russell looked at the golden eyes in front of him.
“The former King...”
"So, why were you looking for me?"
“Truly, truly, I believe in Amanthal.”
Russell knew the doctrine of Paganus.
[Therefore, Amanthal said, "Truly, those who believe in Me move time by My power and return, and they shall obtain the opportunity to make those who shed Your blood and those who ate Your flesh pay the just price."]
'Time moves and returns.'
He clung to that one thing and made it this far.
"Therefore, please turn back time, Former King."
At the confession of the man who was once the Eastern Lord, the old woman burst into a hollow laugh.
“Surely you didn’t believe that doctrine? It is nothing but a fake Bible altered by extremists at will.”
The small hope that had led Russell this far was shattered into pieces. Russell stood up, knelt, and clung to the old woman.
“Then, what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do, this wretched father who killed his daughter with a foolish choice?”
"Oh my..."
The old woman clicked her tongue and said.
“The doctrine was written incorrectly, but it is not fake. Your Excellency’s daughter is indeed a woman with blue eyes and sky-blue hair, isn’t she?”
The old woman knew who Russell was, even though he had not revealed his identity. Seeing a light of hope rise in Russell's eyes, the old woman spoke with pity.
“I owe her a debt of gratitude. She was a truly good woman. So I gave her a very small gift. If the blood of those she hates stains this land, she will be given one more chance.”
The blood of those whom she hates.
Russell thought of the people Ariana would hate.
The Bronte family, who had persecuted Ariana, the Third Prince who had used her, and his mother, the Royal Consort, were no longer in this world. They were all killed, and their blood soaked the earth.
However, nothing happened.
Time is still passing, and Ariana has not gotten any opportunities.
Thus, Russell realized.
That there is blood yet to be spilled.
Russell did not hesitate.
A thin hand gripped the sword hilt. The silver blade gleamed in the sunlight.
There was no fear in his eyes as he aimed the tip of the sword at his neck. Rather, with eyes full of ecstasy, he gazed at the blue sky stretching far into the distance and plunged the sword into his neck.
Red blood flowed and soaked the desert sand.
Russell's body slowly tilted.
A smile formed on the lips of the failed father.
Rattan, 230 years, time stopped.
And 210 years Ratan, Ariana opened her eyes.
End of Main Story: To You, Noble and Vulgar
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