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."

He was good enough to

"Thank you."

head, staring at

"D… don't you dare."

paid no attention to them and grabbed the contract in front of

energy as soon as his

was already able to sense the force that emanated from it. It was very powerful. More powerful than he could

"Go on, sign it."

to him, sounding like soft whispers and

front of him for a moment before putting it down

smiled softly

Riiiiip!

tore the contract in half, completely

froze with the atmosphere, and he looked at Octavious in

Octavious

because I wanted to sign the contract. I only

extended his hand and revealed a white orb. Golden runes emanated from the orb as they rotated like satellites

"Wait… that power…"

drastically the moment

exactly what you think

Crack!

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

is

whirled around him at a speed that was even greater than the one he was starting to produce, and they wrapped themselves tightly

"How da…mhm…mhhhh."

figure froze on the spot, and the surroundings turned quiet from that point on. The golden

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

clear that even though the Prince was trapped, his

"Huu."

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

turned into a frail and old man.

he weakly moved toward the Prince. He weakly placed his hand over

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

He smiled at her.

how it should

terrible father then, and a terrible father now. Perhaps

wasn't ready

Still.

her figure overlap with someone he used to know, and something trickled down the side of

'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 were, and the thought ached

Cr… Crack!

of his musings by a loud cracking sound. When he looked up, he saw that the golden runes that had

looked at Melissa once more, engraving her

"Goodbye."

'I love you.'

able to utter the first word. He found himself unable to say the last three. He didn't feel like he had the right to say such words to her, and

the sound of his

BOOOOOOOOOOM—!

***

[Earth]

"Kill!"

kill all

remained over the broken pillars, the sky