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 was good enough to join his

"Thank you."

nodded his head, staring at the contract

"D… don't you dare."

side, he could hear Gervis's muffled words, but he paid no attention to them and

as soon as his

contract, he was already able to sense the force that emanated from it. It

"Go on, sign it."

Prince's words echoed close to him, sounding like soft whispers and

front of him for a moment before

softly

Riiiiip!

movement, he tore the contract in half,

with the atmosphere, and he looked at

was when Octavious

contract. I only said it because I wanted to get close enough to you to do

hand and revealed a white orb. Golden runes emanated from the orb as they rotated like satellites around it in a

"Wait… that power…"

drastically the moment the

It's exactly what you

Crack!

shattered the orb that he was holding in his hand, the entire world became white, and golden runes flooded their surroundings, completely

How is this

efforts were fruitless. The golden runes whirled around him at a speed that

"How da…mhm…mhhhh."

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

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

was clear that even though the Prince was

"Huu."

body began

he slowly turned into a frail and old man. Such was the consequence of using the laws

Prince. He weakly placed his hand over the Prince's

when his gaze paused on a certain girl

He smiled at her.

is how it

then, and a terrible father now. Perhaps he

just wasn't ready

Still.

with someone he used to know, and something

'They… truly are alike…'

never gotten to meet her. His vision warped with images of them

Cr… Crack!

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

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

"Goodbye."

'I love you.'

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

hearing the sound of his

BOOOOOOOOOOM—!

***

[Earth]

"Kill!"

kill all

the broken pillars,