Ch.247Epilogue – Nevertheless, They Wished to Live On (3)

Vivian Platonis.

From the beginning, she was someone’s replica, a being who had lost her emotions and memories as a human.

But now, independent of that past, she has taken on the role of navigator for this ark.

This is possible because she is fundamentally a human with a witch’s power rather than a witch herself, and all her memories related to the imperial family have been lost.

Yet because she remembered only me, she naturally awakened the desire to help this place with me at its center.

“I’m so glad you’ve awakened, Master.”

As I was coming to terms with this miraculous event and finishing my greeting with Vivian, Flan, who had escaped from there with me, began expressing her relief.

She must have been just as worried about me.

With an embarrassed smile at her words, I looked back toward the library we had come from and asked her a question.

“By the way, were you taking care of Vivian while I was gone?”

“She’s quite an anxious person. I’m sure she’ll mess up her room again right after I finish cleaning it. If I don’t check on her regularly, she won’t eat and will only focus on reading books…”

Grumble, grumble. Complaints about Vivian.

Watching her brought back vague memories of when I used to attend to Vivian.

Of course, things are different now than they were then, so there’s no need to worry about her going out of control.

“…And you’ve decided not to worry about her identity anymore?”

What concerns me is that she was born a witch, and the Flan before me has always been wary of witches.

But Flan dismissed my concern as trivial and glanced briefly toward Irie before saying:

“I already know from Lady Irie. That she’s not a pure witch, but merely a replica of a human who awakened a witch’s powers…”

“…So Lady Irie knew as well.”

Is that natural since she has the ability to see the past?

As Irie’s bitter smile came into view at my glance, Flan also looked back at the library and began to speak in a somber voice.

“But if you hadn’t been here, Master, Miss Vivian would have lived as a tool without any memories or will of her own. And in the end, she would have disappeared into destruction along with the Crown Prince.”

“…”

“…Above all, in our current situation, only she can determine our course by reading the power emanating from the dimensional currents. Shouldn’t we take good care of her for our future?”

“Are you really okay with that?”

A faint trembling in her voice.

Perhaps it revealed that her current decision was made reluctantly, but the smile on her face actually conveyed a sense of relief.

“It’s fine. Although the Crown Prince committed unforgivable acts… there must have been some greater purpose in his choices. His desire for this ark to be protected until the end must have been genuine.”

Her lingering attachment was solely as a protector of humanity.

And she taught me that she had only reluctantly turned her back on the Empire that had been the cornerstone of that protection.

“And Miss Vivian is the last legacy left by the successor. Perhaps he left her behind with the thought that you would take her in and journey forward together…”

Nevertheless, she seemed firmly determined to protect the final will left by the world she had always sought to defend.

“Protecting her is perhaps the only atonement I can make, having reluctantly abandoned my mission.”

Atonement.

I think she might be taking it too seriously, but from her perspective, even this might not be enough.

After all, she came here abandoning everything she had protected throughout her life—her very reason for existence.

Although we can’t know exactly what the Crown Prince’s intentions were, if what he left behind helps us, we should try to protect it, even if we have to assign meaning to it ourselves.

“It’s reassuring to see that our hearts are aligned even in this situation.”

Feeling both concerned and impressed by her sentiment, I quietly reached out my hand to her, wanting to honestly express my current feelings.

“Then… I’m counting on you from now on, Flan.”

Feeling that our desires align.

And hoping she would follow the path of becoming a community that goes beyond cooperation to share a common destiny.

“Yes, Master. I’ll be counting on you too. From now on, as a true master-servant relationship, not just in form.”

As we completed this simple contract by quietly clasping hands, I couldn’t help but smile as I faced her.

When we first met, I never thought we would develop such a relationship, but truly, the ways of the world are unpredictable, aren’t they?

“Well, I have a pile of work to do, so I’ll be going… Oh, by the way, Master. Have you seen the young lady yet?”

“Young lady?”

“I meant your and Lady Irie’s daughter.”

“…Ah, I forgot with so many people to meet.”

I suppose that’s natural after losing consciousness for nearly a month?

As I began to feel somewhat alarmed, a “pfft” of laughter sounded beside me, and my gaze reflexively turned in that direction.

“…You could have given us some notice if you remembered?”

“I’m sorry. Bringing a child to the infirmary would have been problematic in many ways… and as we went with the flow, I ended up mentioning it too late.”

A smile that somehow felt playful.

The fact that I felt no unease from her meant that despite everything that had happened, the child’s safety was completely assured.

“Hyoseong.”

Yes, even in this world.

“Are you ready to become a father?”

As if teaching me that no matter how harsh the world is, new life deserves to be born and live.

****

After parting with Flan, I began following Irie with a pounding heart.

It’s natural to be nervous.

After all, I’m meeting a child born from my union with the person I love—a child I might need to love even more than her.

“Oh, you two are here.”

The place we arrived at was the nursery that cared for the children on the ark.

A woman who had been reading a storybook to the children gathered there greeted me and Irie as we arrived.

“…Tashian.”

Tashian Pailoi.

The person who would certainly insist on being my mother, even in this world.

“You really came back with Irie, my son.”

The first thing she expressed upon seeing me was closer to gratitude than concern.

I had lost consciousness for a whole month, but she seemed to have firmly believed I would return.

As if she was truly happy that both Irie and I had come to see her intact after waiting so long.

“I’m back, Mom.”

What I needed to offer her was not an apology, but ordinary conversation.

She smiled warmly at my words, left the children’s side, and embraced me with sincere affection.

“As a mother, I can’t help but worry about my son who always pushes himself too hard… but I can at least welcome you when you return, can’t I?”

“…”

“…So don’t worry and come back whenever you need to. I’ll protect the place you can return to.”

Mother. Not connected by blood, but bound by heart—my mother.

She who always wanted to protect the place I could return to was truly worthy of being called my mother.

“Aww, nyaa~”

As that belief was being firmly established through this warmth, I began to notice the children gathering around her.

These were the children under her protection even before I arrived.

Humans as well as other races like elves.

“Unyaa~”

“Kyau!”

“Hehe, don’t worry. Mom won’t go anywhere.”

Tashian embraced the children with a fresh smile, comforting them as she settled back in her place.

While stroking the children, Tashian murmured in a bitter voice, as if lost in thought.

“I probably don’t have much time left to care for them.”

It was quite an unsettling statement for those listening.

And for good reason—she was currently forcibly extending a lifespan that could end at any moment.

Since her body was essentially beyond aging and barely maintaining form, it wouldn’t be strange if the moment of farewell came tomorrow.

“Tashian…”

As such anxiety faintly emerged with my call to her,

Tashian smiled more sadly and said quietly in response to my concern:

“At most, I have about 60 years left. The days mother can live.”

“…That’s long enough for me to die too.”

“Hehe, is that so?”

I wasn’t sure if she was teasing me or if her sense of time was different after living for ten thousand years.

But either way, the bitterness on her face remained.

Soon she looked down at a child looking up at her and gently stroked the child’s cheek.

“But even if our departure day is the same, we will both eventually leave these children’s side.”

I couldn’t deny that statement.

Even if we survive through all hardships, life eventually comes to an end.

No matter how passionately we share love, no matter how desperate our struggle to protect it, everything has an end someday.

“So we must protect the children even more diligently.”

But doesn’t something remain even after such desperation?

Just as Irie and I united and had a child, there is meaning in struggling even in a world that becomes more harsh.

Even if we are nothing more than cosmic dust.

If we can find those who will continue that life with our meager strength.

“That’s right. The fact that we will eventually disappear is no reason to abandon these children.”

“We are alive until now to care for these children.”

Agreeing with that sentiment, Tashian smiled brightly and finally began to convey her warmth as she stroked the children without hesitation.

As if sincerely hoping that the orphaned children in her arms would grow up whole, and that they would pass on the warmth she now gave to others who would follow.

“By the way, Tashian.”

While warmly watching Tashian, Irie, who had been looking around, began to show signs of anxiety as she asked Tashian:

“Where is our child?”

Come to think of it, she said she had left the child with Tashian while nursing me.

But our child was nowhere to be seen.

As I too began to feel anxious, Tashian answered casually:

“That child is with Meri now.”

“Ah, yes. With Merilyn…”

Our child is with Merilyn. That’s a relief.

…Wait, Merilyn?

“What? What did you just say?”

When I asked again, belatedly understanding the meaning of her words, Tashian answered me and Irie with a bright smile:

“She took the child as soon as she saw it, saying she wanted to play with it.”

“Tashian! Are you in your right mind?! Of all people, Merilyn?! Don’t you know what might happen?!”

“You two. Why are you so worried? Don’t worry. Meri simply wants to see the child.”

“That can’t be true! Everything that demon says is a lie except for her love for Hyoseong!”

Irie finally lost her composure and looked distressed.

It might seem like an overreaction, but since it was Merilyn of all people, I couldn’t help but feel greatly concerned as well.

The fact that our child was with Merilyn, of all people.

Isn’t this essentially the same as placing a child in an alligator’s mouth?