I Became the Heroine’s Final Boss

[It contains both the past and the future.]

[From the oldest foundations, splendor can be glimpsed.]

[The castle soaring high into the sky depicts our longing dreams.]

[It gives us the teachings of the past, becoming a parent so we may draw the canvas of the future.]

[Ambar, the city that tells of the past and shows the future.]

[This city, a symbol of destiny, I swear will become a lighthouse for the continent shrouded in darkness.]

『Feanor, the First Prophet, leaving behind the ultimate prophecy, “The Story”』

The stars taught the navigators how to read the stars.

Thus, he found the continent in the vast ocean.

The stars taught the farmers about time.

Thus, they were able to farm.

The stars taught how to engrave stars upon the soul.

Thus, they could feel the flow of destiny.

Destiny does not engulf us like a rough ocean current.

Just as one feels the flow of water in a shallow stream barely covering the soles of one’s feet, it guides us through the unconscious realm, providing direction to navigate this difficult world and leading us to the desired answer.

In this difficult and perplexing world, we find our answers in such a way.

They began building civilization after finding the continent, and the foundation of civilization grew more robust with time.

This robustness created the golden age of the continent, and to their arrogance, the stars taught humility.

After one downfall, they once again read destiny.

The stars etched into each individual’s soul, with their individual directions and answers combined, once again forged a brilliant civilization.

The stars are both the parents who birthed us and our strict teachers.

Therefore, no matter what difficulties arise, we look to the stars and rise again.

But I, and those of us trapped in this cursed city, do not know how to see the stars.

We were born without the ability to see the stars, the only light that would illuminate a world full of darkness, nor the ability to engrave them upon our souls.

The way to embrace the stars, something humans naturally know how to do, was also denied to us, born cursed.

The stars taught me nothing.

If they taught me anything, it was only the emotion of despair.

***

“Uh, Mom…? Where are you going…?”

Thud-

Suddenly, Mom, who had been walking hand-in-hand with me, stopped in her tracks and stared blankly into space, unmoving even when I called her.

Her face was gaunt from not having eaten anything for two days, and especially her eyes, after Mom had gone ‘somewhere’ two days ago, were even more lifeless.

They were empty, as if she wanted to let go of everything.

Even my young eyes could see it, so I knew without being told how profound that sense of resignation was.

It was the first time I had seen Mom like this in my life.

At this unfamiliar sight of Mom, who always smiled despite difficulties, tears welled up in my eyes without my knowing.

Drip. Drip.

“Uh, Mom…?”

Suddenly, I remembered what had happened to David’s family a while ago.

The story of how they sold their younger sibling into slavery to get money to feed their older sibling. Back then, it was shocking, but it was someone else’s story, so I didn’t really engrave it deeply in my mind while listening…

Drip. Drip.

For some reason, that story struck my head intensely now.