"Please... just kill me now."

Meanwhile, the Commander of House Luminel, Valentis, stood by the railing, lost in thought.

"How much more are you going to force me to destroy? Do you want to lose even the little you still have left?"

When he heard that the Frost Mercenary Union had summoned Tregava this time because of this matter, he should have realized it.

That he might meet Tesetan here.

"But I thought that child would not come."

Remembering Tesetan turning his back on him again after their long conversation, Valentis felt a painful throbbing inside his head.

But even when he closed his eyes, the vision before him did not disappear.

"Please... let me go."

Once, there had been fire in those eyes.

"Now there are no regrets, no complaints, no despair."

Now only dried obsession and repentance remained.

"Teseos Luminel has already disappeared."

The hand resting on the railing trembled.

"But how..."

How could someone kill their own child?

When he was alive.

When he lived and breathed somewhere in this world.

Valentis slowly lowered his head.

In his mind, ready to burst, one thought appeared again.

If Eleonora had been beside him, would things have been different?

But she would surely have known the answer.

Unlike him, clumsy and ignorant, Eleonora had been far too noble a woman for someone like him.

Just as Valentis clenched his fist tightly—

he suddenly felt an unfamiliar presence above and to his right.

Gathering holy power, he raised his head.

In the moonlight, a pair of eyes shimmered.

Green eyes filled with moonlight.

For a moment they overlapped with Eleonora’s eyes.

But Valentis Luminel soon came back to himself.

"...Agavert squad leader."

It was not Eleonora.

Standing before him was the leader of Agavert, the King of the Dead, whom he had seen for the first time earlier that day at the meeting.

The King of the Dead flinched when their eyes met.

But then awkwardly bowed and cautiously began descending the stairs.

Holding tightly to the railing with one hand, he did not look like a child pretending to be small, but like a genuine child.

Valentis narrowed his eyes.

"Commander Luminel."

The King of the Dead hurried over and looked up at him with a strange expression.

Then he cautiously pointed his finger at the corner of Valentis’s eye and asked,

"Are you sad? Why...?"

Only then did Luminel realize that tears were dripping down his cheeks.

Drip.

Drip.

He turned his head.

Several drops could clearly be seen on the railing and the floor.

Valentis remained silent for a moment, then turned toward the enormous window.

"There are personal circumstances."

"Personal... circumstances?"

In Tie’s mind, a sea creature she had once seen suddenly appeared.

The child’s face immediately became serious.

She did not know what it meant, but she was certain that Commander Luminel’s circumstances must be very unpleasant and pink.

Tie swallowed and, deciding it was not that important, nodded.

Then she took something out of the pocket of her pajamas.

It was a handkerchief. On the white cloth, a small bear had been embroidered with light brown thread.

"Here. Wipe it."

Valentis silently looked at the King of the Dead.

Then he noticed something and slowly crouched beside the railing.

"Thank you."

Taking the handkerchief, he lightly wiped his wet cheeks.

No trace remained on his face that he had been crying.

When he returned the handkerchief, the King of the Dead took it and hesitated for a moment.

Then he said,

"Here too..."

And poked the handkerchief at the right side of his chin, where he had not wiped away the tears.

Valentis calmly watched as the King of the Dead folded the handkerchief twice and put it back into his pocket.

His gaze then drifted to something hanging on the King of the Dead’s wrist.

An artifact?

A bracelet of unusual shape.

A purified holy power could be felt from it.

He had felt a similar sensation recently from a fragment of a sea magic stone from Pearlcity.

Looking at the King of the Dead, he said,

"Then why are you sad?"

The King of the Dead’s eyes were red as well.

During the entire meeting he had simply sat silently, but it seemed he too had reasons to cry.

The King of the Dead clearly panicked and waved his hands.

"Tie did not cry. Tie only almost cried a little."

"Your true name is Tie?"

The King of the Dead abruptly shut his mouth.

After a moment, he quietly nodded.

"...Yes. King of the Dead is a nickname."

"Is it wise to reveal your true name so easily?"

Tie shifted her eyes silently.

In truth, there had never been a particular need to hide her real name.

But until now she had tried to avoid revealing it.

Partly to keep a little mystery, and partly because there had never been a real reason to tell anyone.

But...

Why does this person look so much like Father...

The problem was that Valentis radiated an atmosphere frighteningly similar to her father.

Her mind told her to be wary of this holy knight.

But her body kept drawing closer and closer to Valentis on its own.

The same thing was happening with her mouth.

That was why Tie had already been telling him things that did not need to be said.

Suddenly becoming anxious, Tie looked at him timidly.

"You will not tell anyone?"

"About your true name?"

"...Yes. I thought it was still a secret..."

Valentis nodded with a blank expression.

"Very well. But if you wish to hide your true name, you should probably be more careful yourself."

Tie nodded awkwardly.

Then, like Valentis, she sat down on the floor and leaned against the railing.

Valentis reflexively reached toward the railing she was leaning on.

He gripped it firmly.

Looking downward, Tie cautiously asked,

"For people as very very strong as Commander... do sad things still happen?"

She had returned to the question about Valentis’s tears.

Still holding the railing, Valentis lowered his gaze.

"You are curious why I was crying?"

"Not that... why were you sad?"

"For me, those sound the same."

"Really?"

"..."

From his stiff lips, a short chuckle finally escaped.

For a while he looked at the stars beyond the enormous window.

Then he said,

"Why I was sad... hmm."

And quietly whispered,

"I met someone I had long yearned for. But it turned out he was no longer the person I remembered."

Tie opened her mouth slightly in confusion.

Then her eyes widened.

"Tie knows that too!"

"What do you mean?"

"When you finally finally meet someone you missed... but they are already not that person anymore."

Like Father at the harbor.

Like Father who was no longer the Father Tie had known.

Just remembering that moment made her heart heavy again.

"Why do people die...?"

Father returning to Korea in an urn of ashes.

The time that had to be turned ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ back.

The home Tie had to leave behind.

And nights like this, when sleep would not come.

"Happy times always come to an end. And with the people you love, you always have to part someday."

Valentis listened silently.

"Whenever Tie has a very hard day... her heart feels like it is tearing like this, like this."

Honestly, everything that had happened today was too much.

It was like trying to push the entire sea into a small cup.

"You know, mister. You look very very much like the person Tie loves the most in the world."

Tie murmured quietly.

Valentis, looking silently at her reddened nose, replied calmly,

"If you mean the person you love, you are referring to the knight you have been secretly searching for these past few weeks?"

Tie’s eyes widened.

But Valentis narrowed his eyes slightly and continued,

"I was informed about it some time ago, so my memory may be a little unclear. I believe his name was rather unusual."