Hugheles was drained when he walked out the door of Sean’s house. He might have a godly power but this is the first time, his whole body is feeling tired and exhausted. His good complexion turned to white and his pink lips turned blue. As a guardian, he had a different effect caused by exhaustion. His long black hair went while and stiff. It wiggled when the wind blew. He was almost crawling on the ground when he walked towards the gate.
“That ungrateful child…”
“… he did not even see me out…”
He was pouting because Sean did not even show mercy to him when he was bombarded with a lot of questions to answer. He regrets that he came to finally face his twin’s favorite. Why did he think that his twin’s favorite is an innocent little girl?
That girl is not normal!
“You say that you’re good-looking?”
He stopped before he could open the gate after hearing Sean’s voice. His face lit up when he saw Sean standing before the door.
“My son, you came for me!” He stood up properly to raise his hand, like he is praying for Sean to come to give him a goodbye hug.
Sean did not move from where he stands and just gave him his usual toneless look.
“Look at you,” said Sean. He snapped his fingers and a mirror appeared in front of Hugheles. “Would that make Tia fall in love with that face?”
Hugheles’ spirit shattered upon seeing his reflection on the mirror. His most wanted beautiful face is gone! And he looks like an ugly fish!
“Now get lost. I don’t have a father who looks like a rainbow-colored corpse.”
Sean turned his back to Hugheles and went inside the house, leaving him frozen. He does not know how to react as he had mixed feelings with what Sean said. However, the level of his happiness rose to the maximum level when the word ‘father’ replayed in his head. His white complexion turned back to normal. His blue lips went pink and his white hair turned pure black. His rough hair turned smooth as silk. Flowers appeared in his vision and surroundings. And as if, he smelled the fragrance of those flowers. Hearing Sean recognized him as father now, he can die in peace.
“My son…” He was teary-eyed, proud, and enthusiastic.
Just like that, the known immature guardian went around feeling overjoyed.
On the other hand, Tia could not stay still with all the information she heard from the Hugheles. Everything she does, she could not finish it. When she was eating, she only took a spoon. When she walks around, she forgets what she wanted to do. When she tries to divert her attention to the phone, she would find herself just staring at it.
“Does that mean… the unfortunate life of the people here had an alternative life in the parallel world?” Tia searched her eyes to find Sean and Sean appeared, coming out from the kitchen while he was holding a cooking knife.
“Y-Yes.”
“And the ones who have unfortunate life in the parallel world will have a happy life in this world?”
“Yes.” Sean nodded.
“Okay.” Tia replied nonchalantly and lazed around again.
Sean stared at her for a moment before coming back to what he was doing in the kitchen. After her talk with Hugheles, Tia would randomly ask him a question about everything she found out. He would immediately answer her no matter what he does and wherever he is. Luckily, he sent Mr. Alteran and Mrs. Alteran to vacation for them to have time alone, especially that Tia is in this state.
It’s time for dinner and Tia is now eating normally but she would sometimes doze off. It was a quiet dinner but Sean wanted to break the silence. But before he could speak, Tia asked him something again.
“And Danchi turned back the time in the parallel world?”
Sean nodded his head.
“But except Zeuyeura right? Since that island is the Hugheles’ possession?”
“Yes.”
Now, it makes sense why Sean knows what happened in the past. He experienced it himself… he witnessed everything… and he wrote his feelings out—without including his true feelings. It makes sense that the novel seemed off. It makes sense now, to why… she transmigrated to Princess Epiphany’s body…
Tia’s body weakened as she felt like everything that happened in the novel had happened to her as well. She was Princess Epiphany in the parallel world and Princess Epiphany’s alternative self was her.
Sean panicked when Tia started crying. He immediately stood up and walked to her side. He put water in a glass and gave it to her. After drinking it, he picked her up from her seat and carried her to his arms. When she wrapped her arms around his neck while sobbing, he started caressing her back.
“I want to go home…”
She wants to see her brother and parents right away. She misses them so badly.
“I want to see my brother… mother… father…” She sniffed. “But...” Her grip to his shirt tightened.
“I don’t want to abandon Cyn. I don’t want him to be sad if I suddenly leave.” She cried out loud after remembering those phrases that will forever be engraved in her heart.
Those phrases her heart cannot take. Those words the Hugheles said… ‘One soul should die in order for the other one to be content.’
It’s a painful truth. It is an unacceptable truth that both souls from the parallel world and alternative world could not live a happy life together.
“I should’ve not made memories with him… with them…”
She regrets that she made memories with the other selves of the people she is close with, in the parallel world. She is guilty of knowing that in order for one to be happy, one soul should perish…
“What will happen to Cyn now? What will happen to him?”
Another painful truth broke her. Those words she could not believe are true. Those words that she did not expect to hear. An event that will eventually happen no matter how she will interfere.
‘If the two selves meet, the one in his world will face a calamity.’
It means that Cyn is at a disadvantage. He might experience things that should not happen because… he met Sean.
That night, Tia cried all night because the truth that she had been coveting to know came to light. And that truth is actually the things she was terrified of. For a second, she wished to have been ignorant all this time. Now, she understands why Sean kept her the truth all this time. It’s because… he knows that she is not going to be happy about it, that she will get worried, that she will be terrified of the future.
On the other hand, Arthviu was lifelessly watching his parents argue in front of him. It was at dinner and his parents started quarreling and yelling. His mother finally confronted his father that she knows he is cheating on her.
“Let’s get divorced!”
Arthviu’s body halted after hearing what his mother just exclaimed. His world shattered and his built dreams started breaking. He found his hand traveling to his ears as he blocked it to hear no more. However, everything is still clear to his ears. From when his father immediately went to his room to get his things until when the house went quiet after his father left.
He remained quiet on his seat, contemplating if he should leave or not. He was left with his crying mother who’s now sitting on the sofa.
“This is all your fault.”
Arthviu bit his tongue to stop the tears that were about to come out his eyes. Hearing his own mother blame him with the divorce, it’s… unfair.
It’s unfair that all he did was stay as their son but they did not prove their responsibility as his parents. He acted like how they want but in the end, he is the cause and the pain.
“If I… If I hadn’t born you… I wouldn’t change. You are the reason why he left me!”
Arthviu twitched when his mother suddenly raised her voice. He remained on his seat as his mother stood up and walked towards him.
“This is all your fault! If you have not been born, he would not look at that woman! He would only look at me! I am the only one he will find beautiful! But you ruined me!”
Arthviu clenched his fist to suppress the feeling of despair. He stood up and started walking to the door, to avoid his mother’s anger because he could not take it anymore. If he ever talks back, everything will get worse.
“So you are leaving me too?! Alright! You should just leave! You are just like your father!”
He did not speak as he continued his way to the door. He opened it and went out. He then moved his feet fast until he found himself running while tears were coming out his eyes. He wanted to scream all his agony but his pride of looking strong came to his mind. He stopped at the park where he usually waits for Tia. He sat at the place where they usually talk. So then, he cried painfully soundless. He tried suppressing those tears but ended up crying even more.
He has been acting strong but… he knows that painful words will break his heart. He knows that he is so weak with emotional pain. He knows that later on, he will give in.
It took a few minutes for him to finally stop his tears. He then took his phone from his pocket. It has been ringing for a while. He checked who might have called his number and it was a staff member of his agency. He dialed the staff’s number and he was immediately answered.
“Hello, Arth! We’ve been contacting you for a while!” The staff’s voice sounded happy.
“If you have time, could you please come to the agency? Maybe tomorrow after school? We’ll pick you up.”
“I am free now.”
“But it’s getting late at night.”
“It’s okay. I’m on my way there anyway.” He hung up the call.
He stood up and walked to the bus stop. He patiently waited for the last bus and went to his agency. When he got off the bus, his phone was ringing again.
Annoyed, he looked at his phone’s screen to see who's calling and it was Natasha. So he picked it up.
“Cyn! I’m sorry to bother you this late at night! I don’t want to call you but I could not contact Teach so I called you instead, since you’re neighbors with her.”
He grimaced as he can feel that something might have happened because Natasha is panicking.
“Is there any problem?”
“I’m really sorry! I accidentally uploaded the video of your duet with Teach! Some people have seen it but I immediately deleted it! But I never thought that it would go viral! I really need to apologize to Teach! I am really sorry!”
He did not speak. He actually does not care if it was uploaded but… as for his teacher, they need permission.
“Alright. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
“My god! You are a life-saver, Cyn. Thank you so much!”
He hummed in approval before hanging up. He looked up to the tall building in front of him with a label ‘Ceri Entertainment’. He then looked at the entrance and walked inside. He was then approached by many company staff, making him confused.
“Arth, I saw your duet with the new Scyttiarl! It was so good!
“I saw it too! Why did you delete it right away?”
“Are you friends with Scyttiarl? Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I am a big fan of Scyttiarl. Do you have her personal number?”
“We would like to contact her personally! She can be our next star!”
His mind went blank with a lot of questions penetrated to his ears at the same time. He felt like his vision wiggled and it is as if he is seeing all of them as disfigured pieces of art. He found himself walking past them, ignoring all their questions. He went to the restroom and looked at himself in the mirror.
No matter how he looks at the color of the surroundings, he feels like he is in a black and white world. His eyes were clearly red but the staff did not even care about it. They bombarded him with a lot of questions without even asking about his state. In the end, people won’t care if … he lives or not.
A while later, from the top, Arthviu looked down to see how tall the building he is in. He was on the rooftop of his agency’s building, looking lifeless. He was not himself and he is thinking about jumping… since… no one would even care—
“Should I tell you a secret one day?”
Tia’s voice suddenly echoed in his ears and her image suddenly showed up in his hallucination. There he forgot everything negative swirling on his mind in an instant.
He wants to know what that secret is. He wants to know the answer to the questions he had been keeping in his head. He wouldn’t be shocked if Tia tells him that she is from another world. It is because… who would ever think that a woman with natural red hair and eyes exist in this world? How could he not think that Tia is from another world when he is extremely comfortable with her from the very first time they talked? Was that even possible? Is she a reincarnation of his lover in his past life or something?
He sneered with that unbelievable thought of him.
No, it is just… she is too perfect.
“Please don’t do that.”
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone speak from the back. He turned his back to look at who it was and his brows furrowed upon seeing Troy Fourth.
“Things might have not ended how you want but you should think about the future that is waiting for you.”
‘What the hell is he saying?’
“Think about those people who truly cared for you… Are you not worried that they will be sad about what you are going to do?”
‘Is he thinking that I want to jump?’
Arthviu rolled his eyes and started walking towards Troy Fourth.
“Cut it out. I am not thinking of doing something here.” He passed him and walked to the door.
Troy immediately followed him.
“I’m sorry if I misunderstood you.”
Arthviu clicked his tongue. “How did you know I was here? Are you stalking me now?”
Troy got silenced for a bit. When they went inside the elevator, he finally spoke.
“I have not heard from Tia since the day after yesterday. You said that you gave her my business card… so I wondered if you really gave it to her or not. Somehow… I ended up following you from school earlier and…” Troy paused as he unintentionally found out about what happened to Arthviu’s family. He even heard some of their conversation because his parents were yelling at each other.
He watched Arthviu in the park. He felt like something might be going on so he ended up following him to his agency. Luckily, the staff believed his lie that he is Arthviu’s father and he is looking for him. And then he found him on the rooftop and it worried him if he was thinking of doing something because of his family situation.
“I am really sorry that I overheard everything. I wanted to knock and make a proper conversation but…”
“I don’t want to talk about that.”
The elevator finally reached the first floor. They got off and some staff approached them. Troy played a role as Arthviu’s father while Arthviu remained unfazed while walking towards the exit. Troy said goodbye to the staff politely before following Arthviu again. He panicked when he could not see Arthviu outside.
Arthviu was feeling dizzy when he walked to the street. The light blinded his sight and he felt like his head was about to burst. Where should he go now? He keeps on walking, not conscious of where he is going.
“Cyn!”
Why does it feel like someone is calling him?
He crossed the road and two blinding lights appeared on his left side. He turned his head to the left and he saw a truck running towards him.
“CYN!”
He was looking at the truck and was just standing there thinking if he should run or not. Until then, he found himself hearing a commotion and he was surrounded by people. He felt an excruciating pain throughout his head and he could not feel his body anymore.
“Someone was hit by a truck!”
“Call an ambulance!”
“Cyn!”
He wanted to close his eyes but he heard a familiar voice calling his name. It was blurred but he thinks that it was the man who was following him earlier. What’s his name again?
He looked up to the dark sky that had no moon and stars. An image of a good and happy life then appears to his mind but he knows… that the sun might have brought light to the world but the darkness of the night is a comfort zone.
Is he going to die?
Ahh, he still wants to know if Tia is a goddess or a deity. He still wants to know if she is from another world or not. This is such bad luck.
“I’m sorry… Tia.”
What could have been his life if he met Tia earlier? Would everything change like how it changed when she appeared in his life? Why is the world so unfair? Why… can’t he be happy like how he wished to be?
‘Tia…
Tia…’
His lips curved a bit when the image of Tia wearing a white veil appeared in his vision. She was smiling genuinely towards him and she was holding his hand while they were walking in the aisle.
What a good dream… If only he could see her with that wedding dress… maybe, in another life…
‘Tia… I hope to live happily with you… I want to be someone who can be a great help to you… In another life, I will change your life and save you from misery too… In another life…
I will… love you… utmost.’ is his last thought.
“Stay with me, Cyn!” Troy finally gave up on shaking Arthviu’s body as he can feel that it is not moving anymore, that his heart finally stopped beating. He cried hard as he could only think of that time when his only love… took her life.