43 days later, there's finally an update to this story! I'm really sorry about leaving this fic alone for so long, especially after saying last chapter that it would only take a week for an update.

The truth is, I lost a bit of motivation for writing this story. I had read lots of really good fanfic in this community, and I began doubting my own work. I began to believe that it wasn't that well-written and that my writing style was repetitive and flat. I wanted to make sure chapters were edited to be perfect, and I rewrote and rewrote. It was after coming up short again and again of my expectations for this chapter that I decided to take a break from writing for a while since it had become more of a dreaded job to me over time. When I first started this account, I had wanted to have fun while writing stories and share my crazy ideas with others, but I had made a huge backlog of chapters for this story and would post them as I proofread and edited them. After a while, I just became tired of constantly editing and felt like I had lost the meaning towards why I had started this story in the first place, so I went on hiatus until I would be able to come back and write this story with a smile on my face.

Again, I'm really sorry for leaving this story for so long, but I'm back now to hopefully see it through to the end! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

"Mo, could you please open your eyes and take a look at your daughter? She just lost her father. If she loses her mother as well, how pitiful would that be? Please open your eyes, Kyoko," Kanae begged as she put a sleeping Hana next to Kyoko's side. Kyoko still remained asleep, causing Kanae to sigh. It had been one day since Kyoko had jumped after Ren, and she hadn't shown the slightest sign of waking up. The rumors circulating around the palace were that Kyoko had jumped off Korosu Terrace to escape her trapped and oppressive life as the Crown Princess, but no one even thought of the possibility that she had jumped off to save her love. Immortals were not ready to believe their Crown Princess being in love with a mortal.

"She was subjected to strikes from lightning bolts for three days as punishment and endured 36 sacred blazes and 9 holy lightning bolts for the Crown Princess's seal. She was clearly trying to take her own life when she jumped off Korosu Terrace alongside that man," Saena speculated as she sat at a table, watching Kanae's fruitless attempt to wake Kyoko up.

"If I had allowed her to marry that mortal, then at most there would just be one more side consort at the palace, and she wouldn't have lost her will to live. She took this step because I forced her to. I thought that after the mortal had died, she would only be in low spirits for a few days but would recover and resume her duties as Crown Princess again. I never expected her to place such great importance on that man," Saena looked down, guilty in her realization that she had been the cause for her daughter's condition.

"Please! I have a solution, Your Highness!" Sho burst into the room after running past the guards. Saena looked at him hopefully as the guards restrained him, waving her hand for the guards to stop and let him go. Kanae narrowed her eyes at the annoyance that had just burst into the room.

"The Star Tribe had a sacred object that could gather together the parts of an immortal's spirit. When my entire clan was massacred, they were buried in the Sky Kingdom's 'Island of Innocence' where the Sky Kingdom preserves the bodies of immortals whose spirits have left their bodies. I put the object away with my real mother with the items buried with the dead. It must still be in my mother's crystal coffin! I'm sure the dead would understand being disturbed to save the Crown Princess!" Sho exclaimed. Saena motioned over two guards and looked at Sho optimistically.

"If it exists, then I'll send my best guards with you to retrieve the object from your mother. Being disturbed by her own son is better than by a stranger," Saena agreed as Sho bowed to her, hurrying off to the Island of Innocence to retrieve the very special object that could save Kyoko.

…

When Sho returned with the object in hand, he bowed to Saena while hiding the embarrassing-looking object behind his back. He quickly shoved the object in front of him, bowing his head to hide his embarrassed expression at holding such a thing.

"I have retrieved my kingdom's Soul-gathering Sheep Pillow for Your Majesty. I hope Your Majesty will remember everything I've done in the past and what you once promised me," Sho said with his head bowed. Kanae luckily managed to stifle her laugh at seeing the ridiculous-looking magical artifact, only outwardly clearing her throat with a blank expression.

"You still wish to marry my daughter? Why are you so stuck on her?"

"Please grant me my wish, Your Highness!" Sho bowed again, placing the pillow in front of him. Kanae glared at him, confident that Saena would deny his request, but she resumed a pleasant expression when Saena turned around after feeling a dark aura.

"Alright. I promise you. You brought the pillow today, and I will definitely have you married to Kyoko if this helps her wake up," Saena declared. Kanae couldn't help how her jaw dropped at Saena's declaration. Didn't she know her daughter at all to know that she hated Sho?!

"Thank you, Empress Mogami! If we put the Soul-gathering Sheep Pillow next to her bedside for three days, then her soul will heal. Someone must look after her until she wakes up. I can-" Sho said before he was interrupted.

"I will watch over her. She's my best friend," Kanae declared resolutely in a tone that hindered further discussion.

…

"Are you sure about this, Kuon?" Lory asked again. Kuon sat at a table, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the empty tea cup on the table.

Lory still couldn't believe that the sweet girl he had met at the Sky Palace didn't care for Ren at all. Lory was usually a good judge of character, but it seemed that his judgment had been wrong about her. She had seemed so genuine in her concern for Ren, but maybe it had all been an act. Royalty were usually pretty good at putting up fake personas for the public, an example being Kuon who never showed the inner turmoil and trauma he had accumulated after Rick's death.

"I need to forget her," Kuon muttered, shaking his head furiously as the memories of Kyoko bombarded his head once again.

Lory wanted to protect his godson, and he would do anything to help Kuon heal from his broken heart. This was even more worse than when Rick had been killed. If forgetting was the only way for Kuon to heal, then Lory would have to comply with his request. As for his marriage arrangement, Lory would just have to try to cancel it when he could.

"If you're really certain about your decision, then take it when you're ready," Lory said as he procured a small glass vial of amber liquid, pouring it completely into the empty tea cup in front of Kuon and teleporting away, not able to bear watching what would happen. As Lory left Kuon to himself, Kuon's eyes finally focused on the tea cup.

Kuon closed his eyes after looking at what had been placed in front of him, another scene from his mortal life replaying in his mind. He couldn't help the quickening of his heartbeat at the memory, but his physical response only further cemented his resolve to forget Kyoko. If he let his emotions overtake his common sense, then he might do something crazy like try to win her affections again when she already had someone else in her heart. Even still, he couldn't stop the memory from assaulting him.

…

"I'm home," Ren called out as he entered the hut he had been sharing with Kyoko. He had been out hunting that day, and he was glad that he had finally returned home.

"Welcome back!" Kyoko replied, running up to give him a kiss on the cheek which he reciprocated. They had been married for a month already, and Ren had never been happier in his life.

"Now that you're back, we can eat dinner!" Kyoko exclaimed, turning around to grab the pots off the stove. She placed them on the already-set dinner table and ushered Ren to sit down. Once everything was on the table, Kyoko and Ren said thanks for the food and started to eat the delicious meal that Kyoko had cooked up.

"So what did you eat for lunch? You were already gone by the time I woke up, so I wasn't able to make you a lunch that you could take with you," Kyoko asked as they started eating.

"I wasn't hungry," Ren replied, chuckling when Kyoko glared at him. He was already very used to her caring over his meals, and he knew that this would be her reaction when she heard he hadn't eaten.

"How many times have I told you that you have to eat three meals every day, Ren! Next time you do this, I'll-"

"You'll do what? You'll keep me at home to make sure I'm eating?" Ren smirked as he interrupted her.

"Yes! I'll make you stay here all day as punishment!"

"I wouldn't call that a punishment."

"What?!"

"If I could, I would spend every moment of my life with you, Kyoko," Ren said, causing Kyoko to blush. He rose up from his seat to go to her side, suddenly kissing her passionately.

"I'll try to eat three meals a day from now on. I'm sorry I skipped lunch today," Ren said as he pulled back from the kiss.

"Next time, just wake me up so I can prepare something for you, Ren."

"I don't want to wake you up for something as small as that," Ren replied.

"I don't mind. I would much rather be certain that my husband is eating," Kyoko responded, grabbing Ren's shirt to kiss him again.

"I love you, Kyoko," Ren smiled as they pulled back from the kiss.

"I love you too, Ren," Kyoko smiled back.

…

Kuon sat by himself in the dark room, staring into the dark liquid that had been poured by Lory into the cup for him. He didn't think that he and Kyoko would end up like this, and it was a pity that it became an ill-fated relationship. She clearly had loved Sho the whole time and had only been with Ren out of pity. Every time she had said she had loved him, it hadn't been true. No matter how much he tried to get her to love him unconditionally, it would never work as long as she was still smitten with Sho. As memories of Kyoko bombarded his head again, Kuon picked up the cup and downed it in one gulp. He made his way to the bed in the corner of the room and lied down, hoping that when he woke up he would forget all about Kyoko. He wanted to forget he ever loved her.

…

Kyoko ran through the moonlit forest, desperately trying to find Ren. For some reason, she wasn't able to use her magic to propel herself forward. She was literally powerless, but she was determined to find Ren, wherever he could be. Finally, Kyoko came to the edge of the forest where she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Ren overlooking the canyon beyond. As she approached however, she worried that he was dangerously close to the edge. As Ren turned around to face her, Kyoko held out her hand.

"Ren, take my hand. You're close to falling off," Kyoko said encouragingly.

"Kyoko, I have to," Ren replied with sad eyes. With those words, Kyoko knew in her heart that something was wrong. She was afraid he was about to leave her.

"Please don't leave, Ren," Kyoko begged. Ren smiled sadly at her.

"From now on, Ren will no longer exist. When I wake up from this dream, I'll forget everything about it," Ren said before taking a step backwards into the abyss of the cliff. Kyoko desperately tried to run forward and save him as he jumped, but an invisible barrier on the edge of the cliff prevented her from following him. She could only watch helplessly as Ren fell backwards into the foggy depths below. A piercing scream sounded through the forest as Kyoko started to sob.

...

Kyoko slowly opened her eyes after her nightmare, her eyes brimming with tears. As she awoke further, she remembered what had happened the last time she was conscious, and the tears from the dream freely fell down her face.

The Soul-gathering Sheep Pillow had been by her side for three days, and Kanae at Kyoko's bedside widened her eyes as she saw her best friend wake up.

"She's awake!" Kanae called out as a group of people immediately ran into the room.

"Kyoko!" Saena exclaimed. She helped Kyoko sit up, but Kyoko only looked emotionlessly at her mother as tears cascaded down her face.

"Kyoko?" Kanae wondered. She didn't respond.

"Kyoko! After you jumped off the Korosu Terrace, we've all been worried sick! At least respond when we try talking to you!" Sho exclaimed.

"Empress Mogami, maybe I can get through to her? I'm her best friend, so I know how to get her to talk," Kanae suggested. Saena looked at her non responsive daughter again before she nodded and let Kanae take her place at Kyoko's bedside.

"Could I speak with her alone?" Kanae asked the company in the room consisting of Chiori, Saena, Sho, and Fuwa Yayoi.

"Why should we leave?! I wanted to talk to her too!" Sho asked irritatedly.

"Shotaro, we're doing this for Kyoko-chan's sake. Kotonami-san was the closest to Kyoko-chan, so she has the best chance at getting her to speak," Yayoi told him. Sho paled at the use of his embarrassing given name in front of everyone and resigned to leaving with the rest of the company.

Kanae looked behind her after they were gone and cast a barrier spell on the room so that no one could listen in. When she was sure the barrier was up, she pulled a tiny vial out of her robes.

"I got an amnesia potion from the palace medic. Do you want to drink it? It'll let you forget Ren after you drink it, and you'll be back to who you were before," Kanae said, holding out the vial for Kyoko to take. Kyoko slowly reached out her hand for the bottle, seemingly about to take it, but pushed the bottle back to Kanae.

"I don't want to forget him," Kyoko replied, her tears flowing freely now. Kanae didn't think before she pulled Kyoko into a hug as Kyoko started to weep, letting her cry on her shoulder for the loss of her husband.

…

"Oh, how could this have happened?" Julie cried as she sat next to Kuon who had fallen asleep after drinking the memory potion. Lory had just explained to the two distraught parents what he knew about Kuon's struggles as a mortal, and they couldn't believe how much grief he had went through. Julie stroked her son's blonde hair, saddened that they had finally found him but in a state like this.

"He values his relationships. High God Rick was only his master for 20,000 years, but look at the significance Kuon held for him," Lory said.

"For Kuon's godly ascension to high god, he had to go through so much heartbreak again. Why does this have to happen to my son? He doesn't deserve any of this! And how could you give him that memory potion before telling us you found him? Ever since Julie stopped talking to me for hundreds of years after you took Kuon to High God Rick without a goodbye, I thought we promised that we would talk through matters together before making decisions about Kuon's future!" Kuu wondered.

"When he asked me for the amnesia potion, he was deeply hurt. I think it'll be fine if he wakes up and forgets everything. We just have to pretend nothing happened. I healed his sight, but his eyes won't be able to withstand intense brightness. Other than that, it should be easy to hide what happened from him since he'll forget all of it," Lory smiled sadly.

"Why do we have to hide his heavenly trial from him? What if he just needed a few days to think over what happened? He might have been able to heal by himself, but you decided to give him an amnesia potion before even asking for his parents' opinions!" Julie glared at Lory.

"Julie, you know Kuon. So many years ago when Rick died, he also asked me for the potion but decided not to take it in the end. He said he could handle the grief and wanted to remember the experience for Rick. But this time, if he would have been able to handle the grief like that, then why would he take the potion? The struggles he endured were just too painful for him to bear this time. If he wants to forget, then let him forget. We'll just tell him that he was injured when enforcing the seal on King Reino's prison and fell into a deep sleep. As for his eyes, we'll say that he also received that injury from the experience," Lory explained.

"We'll also give him this cloth to cover his eyes when he needs to block intense lights," Lory said, producing a special white silk out of thin air. The three all nodded, Julie most reluctantly, and waited at Kuon's bedside for the rest of the day.

When it hit midday, Kuon finally opened his eyes, squinting from the light coming in from the window. Why was it so bright in here?

"You've been sleeping well," Lory remarked. Kuu and Julie stayed silent, letting Lory paint the false story of Kuon's memory loss first.

"Boss? Why is it so bright in here, and why is my vision blurry?"

"Don't worry. It'll be clearer after a while, but you can't look at anything too bright. After you sealed away King Reino, your eyes were injured, but I was able to heal them. An after effect of it though is that you can't withstand bright lights," Lory explained.

"I've gotten this special white silk for you that will be able to block out intense rays of light. When you go to really bright places, it will naturally come out but won't block your vision, only shading your eyes from the light," Lory said, putting the magical silk over Kuon's eyes. The silk immediately vanished, and it would come out again when Kuon needed protection from bright lights.

"So how long have I been sleeping?" Kuon wondered.

"Thousands of years, honey," Julie piped up, trying to feed into the lie that Lory had fabricated for Kuon.

"But look at your spirit, High God," Kuu said, trying his best to smile and not remember the circumstances behind how Kuon had ascended.

"High God?" Kuon wondered, casting a spell to look at his spirit and seeing it glowing a brilliant golden hue. For some reason, his first thought was that it was the same shade as that one golden lotus he had spent time with in Rick's training grounds.

"I ascended to High God? How did I pass my heavenly trial? Did I ascend in my dreams?" Kuon wondered.

"You're very lucky, Kuon," Lory replied.

"Wait, if I've been sleeping for thousands of years, who was taking care of the kingdom?" Kuon exclaimed, getting out of bed. He rushed out of the room, teleporting himself to the Fairy Kingdom before anyone could stop him.

After Kuon had teleported away, the three remaining immortals in the room shared a look. He seemed to have completely forgotten his trial and was back to his normal self, so it seemed as if the amnesia potion had worked. Kuon had accepted the fake story they had made up. They just hoped they hadn't forgotten to tell him any crucial details…

After Kuon teleported himself to the royal palace of the Fairy Kingdom, he found Yashiro busy at work at a desk cluttered with scrolls.

"Kuon!" Yashiro exclaimed, happy to see that he was alive.

"Yashiro-san? Why is the desk so cluttered? You're usually the type of person who makes sure everything is organized," Kuon asked.

"I've had to act in your place for official matters, and I was worried that you would never come back! Things here haven't been too busy since you were gone, but just today I became swamped with work! It's good that you're back though!" Yashiro exclaimed. Kuon smiled at him. Leave it to Yashiro to handle everything for Kuon while he was gone!

"What's happened since I've been gone?" Kuon asked.

"There wasn't too much, just the regular checkups on our people and passing petitions for new crops to farm and new buildings that our people wanted to build. You were invited to an assembly at the Sky Palace, but I declined the invitation as per usual. And I think the only other matter that happened was that the Sky Palace officially announced your engagement to the Crown Princess," Yashiro replied, listing things off with his fingers.

"What?! I thought my parents arranged for my engagement with Kotonami Kanae?" Kuon's eyes widened.

"Oh, right! You went missing right before they changed the agreement! Your father and Takarada-san arranged this marriage personally for you. They broke off your engagement with Kotonami Kanae so that you would be able to marry the Crown Princess instead."

"I have no intention of moving to the Sky Palace to become Crown Prince. I'll go there right now to break off the engagement," Kuon said, turning towards the door.

"Wait, Kuon! This marriage is more important than your previous arrangement! Back then it was just a promise between kingdoms, but now you're actually engaged to the Crown Princess, and it was announced by the Heavenly Empress to the whole world just a few years ago! If you really break it off, it'll make both the Sky Kingdom and the Fairy Kingdom look bad," Yashiro warned.

"Fine then. Forget it. We can fix this later after we discuss it," Kuon sighed, turning back to call a council meeting so that he could hear about everything he missed while he was gone. Yashiro wanted to ask the reason behind Kuon's disappearance, but he knew it would have to wait until later after Kuon had finished his duties. He was serious about his work and wouldn't let himself be distracted until it was finished.

I really want to thank every person who has showed support for this story, even though I took such a long time in posting this chapter. The next update at least will be pretty soon since I'm pretty much finished editing next chapter, but I'm not sure about an update schedule for after that. My schedule is hectic this year, so updates will be a bit sporadic.

Ivy401- Thank you for always supporting each chapter, and I'm glad you now have an account! Unfortunately, Kuon won't be ripping his eyes from Sho since he took the amnesia potion, and Lory was convinced that Kyoko was just acting her love for Ren the whole time.

Erza- After reading your comment, I reread last chapter and edited it so that Kyoko did teleport to the base of Korosu Terrace but couldn't teleport up the stairs since the inauspicious aura of the terrace was blocking her magic. Kuon wasn't stopped at the last second from drinking the amnesia potion to forget Kyoko, and he also couldn't bear to rip his eyes off of Sho's face for Kyoko's sake. But no worries, Sho will get what's coming to him eventually. Thanks for leaving a review!

paulagato- Lory tried to convince Kuon not to forget, but his grief was just so much that he needed to forget. He believed that his daughter would grow up better off without him, so he purposely distanced himself. Thanks for always reviewing each chapter!

kykokuoncanon- Lory believed that Kyoko was only acting the part of loving Ren, and he didn't hear at that point that Kyoko had jumped off Korosu Terrace after Ren, so he decided it was best to give Kuon his wish and let him forget Kyoko. Thanks for leaving a review!

melchormonica8- Sorry for such a long wait for an update, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm glad you're liking the story, and thanks for reviewing!