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."

without much thought. He

"Thank you."

his head, staring at the contract

"D… don't you dare."

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

his hand touched

the fact that he had not yet signed the contract, he was already able to sense the force that emanated from it. It was very powerful. More

"Go on, sign it."

words echoed close to him, sounding like soft whispers and tempting him

the contract in front of him for a

softly at

Riiiiip!

tore the contract in

with the atmosphere, and he looked at Octavious in utter

was when Octavious

the contract.

runes emanated from the orb as they

"Wait… that power…"

moment the orb appeared,

It's exactly what

Crack!

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

is

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."

that point on. The

golden runes around his

Prince was trapped, his predicament

"Huu."

as Octavious used the orb, his entire body began to shrink, and he had

a frail and old man. Such was the consequence

weakly moved toward the Prince. He weakly placed his hand over the Prince's shoulder and

his gaze paused on a certain girl who was looking back at

He smiled at her.

how

father then, and a terrible father now. Perhaps he was never meant to be a father to

perhaps he just wasn't

Still.

one last time. Octavious really did see her figure overlap with someone he used to know, and something trickled down the side of his

'They… truly are alike…'

had never gotten to meet her. His vision warped with images of them as a happy family. As a family that they never

Cr… Crack!

when he was startled out of his musings by a loud cracking sound. When he looked up, he saw that the golden runes that had encircled the Prince were beginning to disintegrate, which meant that the Prince

he didn't have much time left, he looked at Melissa once more, engraving her face into his mind before silently nodding

"Goodbye."

'I love you.'

himself unable to say the last three. He didn't feel

before hearing the sound of

BOOOOOOOOOOM—!

***

[Earth]

"Kill!"

and kill

demons charged out from the pocket spaces that remained over the broken pillars, the