The Author's POV

'As much as you think I didn't, I've always been proud of what you've achieved… even when it looked like I didn't care.'

There was truth in the words he said to her. It may not have looked like it, but he had always been proud of what she had achieved.

He may not have shown it because of his circumstances, but he was proud. He had always been.

The feeling only grew stronger when he could feel himself again. He couldn't have been more pleased with her accomplishments, and the fact that she handled everything on her own made him even prouder.

He was glad she was doing well.

Well… for the most part.

He knew that he couldn't go back in time and undo the harm that his neglect had caused her.

When he thought about her past and how his actions had harmed her, he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt wash over him. She had been through a lot in her life.

Especially for someone her age. Growing up without a family… she must've truly been lonely.

He had never sought forgiveness or expected to receive it.

It stung, and now that he knew how to feel emotions again, his life was filled with nothing but pain.

Strangely enough, he didn't hate it.

Compared to the times when he felt nothing but numbness, this was much better.

He at least… felt something.

It hurt, but at the same time, he felt better than ever. His mind had never been clearer, and staring at the Prince before him, he had already made up his mind.

When he looked down, he could still see her looking up at him from below, and he found himself smiling.

'Yeah… this is how it should be.'

"Hm? Aren't you the human from before? You didn't run away?"

The Prince seemed rather surprised by his sudden appearance. Gervis too, but for another reason.

"You… what are you doing?"

The way Gervis looked at him changed, but Octavious paid him no mind and continued to gaze at Prince Adrian.

"I would like to make a contract with you."

The glare that Gervis was casting became even more intense, but the Prince stopped him from saying anything by waving his hand at him and smacking him toward the ground.

Bang—!

He then proceeded to look at Octavious.

"So you'd like to form a contract with me, huh?"

Prince Adrian studied Octavious from top to bottom. At first glance, he wasn't too bad. A tad bit worse than the dwarf, but overall, he wasn't too bad.

To have reached his rank while being a human was a testament to his talent and his gaze… he quite liked it.

Prince Andrian extended his hand, where a contract appeared.

"Very well, since you're interested in signing a contract, I won't stop you."

much thought. He was good enough to join his

"Thank you."

staring at the contract in front of

"D… don't you dare."

words, but he paid no attention to them and grabbed the contract in front of

as soon as his hand touched

force that emanated from it. It was very powerful. More powerful than he could have ever conceived of

"Go on, sign it."

him, sounding like soft

contract in front of him for a moment before putting it down and turning his

smiled softly at

Riiiiip!

he tore the contract in half, completely

expression froze with the atmosphere, and

Octavious chose

I wanted to sign the contract because I wanted to sign the contract. I only said it

runes emanated from the orb as they rotated like satellites around it in a clockwise

"Wait… that power…"

changed drastically the moment the orb appeared, and

It's exactly what you think

Crack!

holding in his hand, the entire world became white, and golden runes flooded their surroundings, completely enveloping the

is

golden runes emerged from his body, his efforts were fruitless. The golden runes whirled around him at a speed that was even greater than the one he was starting to

"How da…mhm…mhhhh."

and the surroundings turned quiet from that point on. The golden runes kept wrapping and circling around his body,

one paid close attention, the golden runes around his body dimmed considerably with each

was trapped,

"Huu."

Octavious used the orb, his entire body began to

in the prime of his life, he slowly turned into a frail and old

moved toward the Prince. He weakly placed

on a certain girl who

He smiled at her.

is how it should

been a terrible father then, and a terrible father now. Perhaps

wasn't

Still.

overlap with someone

'They… truly are alike…'

was too bad Melissa had never gotten to meet her. His vision warped with images of them as a happy family. As a family that they never were, and the

Cr… Crack!

out of his musings by a loud cracking sound. When he looked up, he saw that

left, he looked at Melissa once more, engraving her face into his mind before silently nodding

"Goodbye."

'I love you.'

say the last three. He didn't feel like he had the right to say such words to her, and

sound of

BOOOOOOOOOOM—!

***

[Earth]

"Kill!"

kill

from the pocket spaces that remained over the broken pillars, the sky darkened, and a sound like