*
No matter how much time passes, the rain outside the window shows no sign of stopping.
As thunder roars and lightning strikes, the world feels eerily desolate.
“Licht…”
Alone in the Imperial Palace, the black-haired Pina Grancia was sobbing.
Clutching a doll with a scarred face, like a burn mark, she held it tightly.
[Where are you.. ?]
She had cast countless communication spells towards Lee Soo-hyun, but there was no response.
Just a one-sided silence.
Pina couldn’t bear that stillness.
“Please don’t leave me…”
A man who wouldn’t answer back.
Memories of desperately shouting for him not to die flooded her mind.
Stuck in the Imperial Palace, Pina remained completely motionless.
For her, the world had changed entirely.
An Academy without Licht.
A Grancia bakery without Licht.
To her, this place was like hell.
“What on earth was lacking? I thought I had just met you…”
Finding reasons to blame herself made it hard to accept reality.
Pina Grancia began searching for why Lee Soo-hyun had run away from her.
“Was my outfit too revealing? Should I have prepared delicious food instead?”
Her reflection in the broken mirror showed her despair.
With a hand pressed to her chest where pain throbbed, Pina spoke.
Should she have made his favorite beef stew and waited?
If not that, then she shouldn’t have treated him violently….
“……No.”
She sighed at the thought that suddenly crossed her mind.
It was ugly.
Who would want a woman shedding tears of blood like this?
Her hair, once pure white, now stained black.
Gone was the gentle demeanor, replaced only by jealousy wanting to possess him.
“If it’s Licht…”
Pina swallowed the rising tears.
Licht would surely still like her, no matter how she had changed.
She thought Licht would sacrifice everything for her sake.
“…….”
She had pinned her hopes on an uncertain future.
Hopes that she too could be happy.
“Was it all just my selfishness…?”
She bit her lower lip as she spoke.
Now, there surely wouldn’t be anyone who would like her anymore.
Not even the Empress of the Grancia Empire.
Only those interested in her wealth and power.
Years passed, and despite her outstanding appearance, a prince from a faraway land once proposed to her.
“….Even in another world line, I thought you could love me.”
She had firmly rejected him.
Nothing mattered without Licht.
As Pina gazed down at the collar she wore, which was meant for a dog…
“It wasn’t you…”
She briefly lamented the future she could never achieve.
Attending the Academy again with him, chatting happily together.
Just once, she wanted to share a sweet candy with him.
“Do I have to forget you…?”
The cold, sharp thorns felt like they would pierce her heart.
As she spilled her painful feelings about Licht before the mirror…
While feeling jealous of the other-worldly version of herself.
“……Your Majesty. May I have a moment with you?”
“Ah… yes. You have permission.”
With a knock at the door, knights clad in black armor entered and knelt before her.
“Gold, commander of the Imperial Guard. I have something to report.”
“Silver, loyalty to the Empress.”
Unlike before when they wore different colors, their armor was now a unified design, as if honoring the Black Knight.
“Copper Wolf, I present to the Empress of the Grancia Empire.”
One of them was missing.
Iron.
He had been stripped of his position in the guard for pointing a sword at Licht.
Now, only the three remaining guards stood by Pina after several years.
“Gold, you have something to convey…?”
Pina widened her eyes at the sudden appearance of the guards.
It hadn’t been long since she commanded them to search for Licht.
“Um… I think you should see it for yourself.”
What could be so urgent that they came to her?
“Licht has voluntarily surrendered to the Imperial Guard.”
Gold spoke with an unsatisfied expression.
“W-what─?”
Then a man slowly walked in from behind him.
With hair as black as the night sky.
Eyes that seemed unbreakable.
“Hello, Pina.”
“Licht? Why are you back here…?”
The Black Knight, whom she thought she would never see again, stood before her on his own feet.
He had run away despite her desperate attempts to hold onto him.
So why had he returned?
“I’ve finally made up my mind.”
“……”
Lee Soo-hyun spoke calmly, a faint smile on his lips.
As soon as he reached Pina, he seemed to check for any scars on her wrist or neck.
He was worried about her.
“Everyone else, get out.”
Noticing the Black Knight’s demeanor, she immediately ordered the guards to leave.
“Even if Kainel comes to interfere now, you won’t be able to escape, Licht.”
“I know. Pina.”
A long-awaited moment of solitude with Licht.
Pina walked toward him with a blissful expression.
*
Honestly, this might just be my own selfish desire.
‘I wish every version of her across all world lines could be happy.’
I wondered if there was something I could do for her, who was wandering, having lost me.
“Licht. You do love me after all…”
But there was a Pina waiting for me back in my original world.
If I settled down here, Pina back home would surely be sad.
“Let’s go back, Pina.”
“Yeah, we’re going back to those happy times. When you called me Mardol…”
She seemed to be ignoring me as I spoke.
A Demon God, much like a broken glass.
“No, you’re telling me to kill you and take your powers.”
I had to save Pina from this hell, even if it cost me my life.
The status window had been continuously popping up since a while ago.
[If you encounter the Demon God Pina Grancia, please plead for your life.]
Well, is pleading really the solution?
The translucent window, flashing like a red light, was a familiar sight.
[The kind Pina may show mercy to Player [Lee Soo-hyun].]
It was the same as what came up when fighting the Demon King.
Pantoze had said she couldn’t help me directly due to wishes.
If that’s the case, then perhaps doing the opposite of what I usually did might be the answer.
“…What?”
“If I kill myself, I could fix the world line.”
As I spoke the words “please kill me,” Pina’s face turned pale.
I didn’t want to listen to anyone else while my beloved was right here.
With my own will,
I had to persuade Pina with sincerity, not lies.
“I’m the successor who can inherit souls.”
I had already made a sacrifice once in Jisheer’s shrine.
If I do this, I should be able to save the Demon God Pina.
“Even if I die, the Licht you remember will return.”
“…Then what happens to you?”
The sound of Pina’s footsteps increased, her expression turning into one of anger, biting her lower lip.
“What will become of you?”
Yes, this was the Pina Grancia I remembered.
The glass knight who always worried about me overworking myself.
“Even as a successor, this life might be my last. I may never be reborn…?”
Pina accused me while shedding tears.
She was saying that with the current broken successor system, I wouldn’t be able to come back.
Then this is where it all ends.
“…I don’t care.”
I shook my head as I spoke.
Call me a disgusting hypocrite.
I didn’t want to leave knowing Pina here was unhappy.
“I’ve already saved my Pina. That’s enough for me.”
I saved the Pina I thought had died to the Magic Hat.
This time, I didn’t fail.
It was already a stroke of luck that I almost didn’t come back to her.
Thanks to the gods’ arrangements.
“Really..?”
“Yeah, I’ve finished what I needed to do.”
Even if I were to die here, I would be okay.
I wished for her happiness, even if it meant sacrificing this life.
The Nameless Saintess.
The princess clad in glass armor.
Even if she became a Demon God with black hair, it didn’t matter.
“You’re also Pina Grancia. You have to be happy.”
I forced a smile so she wouldn’t worry.
Originally, Pina was bound to be sad thinking I had died.
“If you hadn’t been there, I would have already died. Pina.”
“Licht…”
“What could I not do for the one I love?”
No matter how miserable my life was, I would gladly sacrifice it for her.
“Pina, my real name is Lee Soo-hyun. Remember that.”
“…….”
Her red eyes trembled slightly.
She seemed to realize this statement wasn’t a lie.
“Fool…”
Pina had always been able to see through my lies.
The madness of her anxiety about me running away had somehow faded.
“Foolish person…”
The thorny rose vines binding me slowly disappeared, as Pina caressed my cheek while weeping.
She looked just like the Pina I remembered.
The rain outside began to subside, and the gloomy sky was clearing up.
“I feel the same… Soo-hyun…”
Surely, this would be the last time I would see this face.
At that moment, I thought the Demon God Pina would return to her original self.
“Love you. Forever…”
As her black hair fluttered, she stole my lips with a kiss.
Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pressed her lips against mine fiercely, not letting me escape.
Rather than sticky, it was a clinging breath exchanged.
“Huuh… Chuu…”
It was more than what a goodbye should have been.
“Pina, wa-wait….”
“Stay like this a little longer… I’ll have to scold you for thinking bad thoughts…”
Struggling to untie my hands,
She grabbed the back of my head and kissed me even more fervently.
How much had she wanted me, standing on her toes to reach for my lips?
“Hahaha.. You’re still the same.”
As we exchanged kisses, I wondered how much time had passed.
Returning to her usual soft gaze, Pina smiled at me.
“…Why?”
Why hadn’t she killed me?
I still puzzled over why my heart wasn’t being ripped out.
“Thanks to that foolish dog… I came to my senses a bit.”
“If you had killed me… the you I remember would have come back…?”
Pina spoke while gazing at the beautiful scenery beyond the clear window.
“I don’t want that. The you I remember is right here.”
Was my comment too shocking for her?
The way she spoke in that nostalgic tone was so reminiscent of the Pina I remembered.
“…I’ll give you back a little of the memories you lost. Soo-hyun.”
“Memories?”
“You have places you need to go besides here.”
With a satisfied expression, she gently pressed her lips to my forehead.
“Tell the Nameless Saintess I said hello.”
