The man, who devoted the rest of his life to his wish, became a sword named Lucifer.
“Let’s meet again, Lucifer.”
“I will wait, my dear.”
She murmured as she recalled the covenant she made with the man.
“Until whenever.”
With that single remark, her endless waiting began.
Five years passed.
It was not a short time by any means.
However, for her, who had experienced over 20 years of wandering with no meaning or purpose, the waiting for a reunion with a definitive goal was a time she could endure.
“When we meet again, what will you look like, I wonder? Hehe.”
Lucifer spent her time reminiscing about her memories with the man, eagerly anticipating the day of their reunion.
And so, fifty years passed.
A span of time close to the life she had lived before the waiting began.
“I’m starting to get a little tired of waiting.”
Having sworn to wait for as long as it takes, Lucifer began to feel her strength waning little by little.
Whenever that happened, she desperately flipped through the countless pages of memories that had worn thin over time.
She revived the feelings she held deep in her heart for the man, which were the source of her strength to endure this long wait.
And once she regained that strength, she carefully tucked those emotions away in the deepest part of her heart.
So that the winds of time wouldn’t wear them away.
Lucifer endured and waited, curled up to protect what was precious.
And thus, 500 years passed.
Even after such a long time, Lucifer, the powerful witch, had not weakened or rusted in comparison to her original state.
But the reason she was intact after 500 years was solely because of that one thing.
“Haah…”
Mechanical as if part of a routine, Lucifer opened the pages of memories once again and exhaled softly.
Once, merely recalling those memories could fill her heart with longing and affection.
Now, however, it was gone.
To be precise, it was like she had become unable to feel it.
At some point, that became the case.
“…Now I can’t even cry anymore.”
When she first realized her emotions were fading, she had cried a lot.
The fear and sadness that came from thinking that the feelings she believed would last forever might not.
However, the might of time, which diluted even the emotions that seemed like they would last forever after 500 years, left her without tears, and her dry eyes stared into her own chest.
It was not empty.
The emotions she had once cherished were still there.
However, they no longer resembled what they once were.
Was it love or longing?
The emotions that surely had taken on such forms initially were now so altered by the winds of time that she couldn’t even recognize them.
“…Well, it doesn’t matter.”
So Lucifer reflected on how she no longer knew what emotions she initially waited for the man with.
Even now, she couldn’t tell if she could still feel joy like she once did when they met again.
Still, she was waiting for him.
‘Did I not make a covenant? Saying that if I cut the rock, I would teach the sword. But if you leave, I won’t be able to teach you the sword, so you can’t do that. At least I am not the shameless human who breaks promises.’
Because she had made that promise with him.
And he was someone who would surely keep his promises.
“If you come, I will wait. Whenever it may be.”
Though her feelings had worn away, she still held onto an almost certain faith.
Now, with only that as her support, Lucifer waited and waited.
And just as she reached a point where she no longer counted how long she had waited.
“…What is this?”
Lucifer, who had been still as if dead with her eyes closed, suddenly felt a strange sensation and opened her eyes.
It was as if her soul had connected with another.
At that moment, Lucifer muttered softly.
“…You’re late, aren’t you?”
Immediately afterward, she heard someone ask, “Who are you?”
At the same time, she felt an unknown force pulling her, and Lucifer appeared before a boy.
He looked like he was no older than ten years old.
Upon seeing the boy gazing blankly at her with innocent eyes, Lucifer immediately realized.
This boy was undoubtedly the one she had been waiting for with such longing.
And at the same time.
‘…I see.’
The boy before her was a completely different being.
Lucifer met the boy’s eyes, filled with curiosity and fear.
Those eyes told her that the boy could not recognize her at all.
Though the soul nestled within that young body was undoubtedly his, the traces of his past life had been completely erased from this reincarnated being.
She was the only one who remembered that day’s promise.
Faced with that harrowing reality, Lucifer felt an indescribable despair and sadness.
‘…It seems I am the only one who remembers.’
…She should have felt it, but she couldn’t.
If it had been her old self, she would have without a doubt, but now there had been too, too much time.
She had imagined countless times what it would be like to meet him again and thought that perhaps this could happen.
By the time that situation came, she would have been prepared countless times over.
The hundreds of years of waiting were the same as the thousands of years of hardship.
During that time, Lucifer’s heart had forcefully tempered itself, allowing her to accept the present situation with the calm of an enlightened monk.
She glared at the boy with tranquil eyes, without despair or resignation.
‘…But really, even if he was reborn, he looks nothing like the original.’
As she gazed at the boy, Lucifer felt a smile tugging at her lips.
Though the soul inside him was undoubtedly his, the boy was so different from him.
Even at a young age, he had the looks to easily charm any girl.
The mysterious power that seemed to have summoned her from afar.
The innate talent that radiated off him as if blessed by the sword.
So different from the appearance and abilities that were once ordinary.
If the boy had taken after that man, she might have felt anger or betrayal, but instead, Lucifer could look upon him with pure affection.
And so, she spoke to the boy who had summoned her.
“Hey kid, you have quite the interesting ability. It feels nice, so I’ll grant you a wish—great power, overflowing wealth. If that’s what you want, I can give you it all. So, tell me. What do you wish for?”
If the boy desired treasure, she would give him the spoils of those she had defeated.
If he wanted power, she would teach him how to wield a sword.
Regardless of what the boy wished for, she would give it to him.
That would be her way of rewarding the one who had brought her long wait to a close in one form or another.
Even though she had ultimately failed to keep her promise to become his sword in the next life.
Lucifer thought that she had done enough for him.
Just then, the boy spoke to her.
“Um… then, could you be my family?”
“Family, become my family.”
‘…Family.’
Family.
At the moment she heard those words, Lucifer felt emotions swirling within her.
Joy, sadness, longing, love-hate—feelings she thought had dried up long ago surged back.
‘…How ironic.’
How could it be so ironic?
She had once wanted it so badly yet failed to achieve it.
Even if she became a sword, she desired to be family in such a manner.
Yet now, after hundreds of years….
Lucifer gazed at the boy with an indescribable expression.
She had no idea what the boy knew to say such things.
She did not know what fate was trying to convey by all of this.
Yet, one thing she could understand.
“…Fascinating. Truly, that was an unexpected response.”
She realized she could not reject this request.
“I can’t take back what I’ve said, so it would be right to accept.”
Suppressing the overwhelming joy rising within her, Lucifer spoke to the boy.
“Alright, kid, let’s make a contract. I don’t know what kind of family you want, but I’ll stay by your side until the day you no longer need me. Would that be okay?”
Yes. Just being by his side would suffice.
So if he wanted a family, she would stay with him until the day he didn’t want her anymore.
Lucifer spoke in a complex voice.
Unaware of anything, the boy cheerfully responded.
“Yes! And I’m not a kid, I’m Yoon Si-woo.”
Yoon Si-woo, Yoon Si-woo.
That was indeed the name of his being in this life.
As she rolled the name around her mouth for a moment, Lucifer spoke to the boy.
“I see, Si-woo. I am… the Holy Sword of Humility. If you desire a contract, take hold of me.”
Do you know?
Even when I became the strongest, and there wasn’t a person in the world who didn’t know my name.
The only person who knew my name was you.
Because of that, I was the Witch of Arrogance to everyone but you.
If there’s an opposite to arrogance, it would be humility.
Lucifer introduced herself to Yoon Si-woo as the Holy Sword of Humility.
Then Yoon Si-woo asked her.
“Um, Holy Sword of Humility is a bit long. Do you have another name?”
“A name… Hmm.”
Lucifer thought of the name he had given her.
The name that she permitted only one person in this world to call her.
But Yoon Si-woo was not him; at the same time, he was a part of him.
So, Lucifer replied to Yoon Si-woo.
“Call me Lucy.”
And so, Lucifer became Lucy, and the two became family.
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