Hours after Nova left, Nair remained seated on his throne. He let himself be swallowed by the darkness. His gaze remained fixed on the night outside the window. His expression was deep sour. His chest felt tight, torn apart by a multitude of problems and dead ends. For the first time, he had been treated this way by Nova, his followers, and his own people.

He left his throne and took out his sword. Facing up to the sky, he demanded the Heaven to give him the reason. With his power, he invited winter storms throughout the night in the middle of autumn. Blades of ice danced fiercely along with each strike. Thunders voiced his tumultuous heart. All words echoed in his ears, accompanied by the flash of battles he had endured. The final battle was what made him most enraged. He was furious with that woman—at what she had said, at what she had done. And worst of all, why was she so right?! He had never been cornered and forced to admit his wrongdoing like this.

"She has caused you so much trouble but she didn't mean to trouble you. Forgive her. ... You don't truly intend to take her life as the price for peace, do you?"

"I do intend to. I will make sure of it. She must die!"

He let the wind carry him away to the North, his place of solace. He left the world full of affairs and entered another world covered with snow: the great coffin that once froze his body and saved him from death. A sharp pain in his chest knocked him out; he couldn't maintain his deer to stay afloat. He fell into the darkness of the night and hit the ground without trying to prevent the suffering that would follow. He lay powerlessly on the surface of a frozen lake as a cursed mortal. Nair clenched his fists tightly, trying to contain the raging pain that consumed his very existence. A scream escaped his mouth and echoed throughout the mountain. He was going to rip his chest, thinking it would finally free him in the end, but a voice stopped him.

"Do you not care about your own heart?"

"You don't know anything about me! What do you know about my heart?!" he groaned. He couldn't shake that one sentence from his memory. It affected him so deeply that he couldn't find the answer to reply to such a question. "Why do you care so much whether I suffer or find happiness? Why do you so easily say you wouldn't regret anything I impose upon you?" Nair questioned as if Hikaru was there. "Why did you go so far and torture me this way?"

"Thank you..."

"Why are you even thanking me? For the peace I granted to Autozam?" Nair closed his eyes, recalling the silent treatment he had given her during the months they lived under the same roof. Her laughter invited him… her stories, songs, and delightful chatter added flavor to the blandness. From afar, he imagined what a life should be—for a man soaked in blood. Exhausted, he finally fell into a deep slumber; the biting coldness claimed his body completely, dissipating the fire in his heart.

Thank you… for doing the right thing. Don't you feel your heart finally at peace? Don't deny it… Don't refuse it. Another voice in his head… Remember who you used to be? The time you were so simple and wanting no more than happiness in other for you to be happy. That long lost face of you… don't you find it again in her? You don't want her to leave, yet you don't dare to approach her. You won't let yourself be purified by this freshwater… and now you're left parched.

"Sir, have you been searching for me all this time?"

Before, you could not answer that properly. Do you have no answer this time, too? You've been indeed searching for her all this time! Won't you see her properly and understand what she truly wants?

"Do you see the future the same way I do?"

You two, indeed, see the same vision. That's why you have shared a dimension with her. You are the one wishing for it to be realized. Everything remains unchanged. The future still lies in its place, waiting to be awakened. It is the way you view it that has shifted, and she has come to help you return to your original intention.

Even though he was reluctant to care, the future, once a hazy vision, began to take shape once more. The image of a beautiful world entered his mind. It had been such a long time since he had first glimpsed it when he was still young, daring, and full of zeal. When had he changed? When had he stopped believing?

Nair, who had spent decades consumed by hatred, could no longer comprehend the meaning of peace. Having failed to achieve it, he had begun to believe that peace was an impossibility. Yet today's reality struck him with a force he could not ignore. Unbeknownst to him or against his will, he found himself on the path Hikaru had chosen. She had proven that the peace he could not create was eventually coming to fruition, not through dominance or power, but through mercy and love.

"Was it because I feared failure and suffering once more? Because I was afraid to admit my own weakness? I had always seen her as a reflection of my own weakness... But now I realize she is nothing like me. She believes in her vision, in her people, in her country, in herself. She strives to protect her vision by safeguarding Autozam, Runes, the magic swordsmen, and even… me!"

Nair was struck as if by lightning as he remembered almost killing Hikaru for the second time. How could he have wanted to end the life of a woman who cared for him and so desperately wished to live to fulfill a dream he had abandoned?

Days went by until finally, Nair moved his freezing body. He exerted much effort just to sit and stand up. His heart pounded painfully—but now out of a fear he had never felt before. He stumbled on his feet several times, but his mind focused on the Northwest Tower. He felt the urge to see her after realizing the extent of the suffering he had inflicted upon her. He felt a profound need to atone for his wrongs, to the point of wishing to punish himself. Now, he understood that what he felt was a fear of loss. He was truly anxious about whether Hikaru would survive this time. How could he ever make amends? He wanted to escape his cycle. He wanted a day with a new sun shining brightly… like his name.

He recalled Hikaru's eyes, fixed on him with unwavering resolve. He wished those eyes would once again meet his, this time with a smile, as he had seen before and in his dreams with her. "Thank you, Sir. Now I am no longer alone. I know that I am not alone in believing that this vision is true."

Not alone. I am not alone. I am not alone in believing this vision is true. I don't have to bear this burden alone. Sienna and I misunderstood the vision. A great dream cannot be achieved alone or with just a few people! There should not be a Pillar who sacrifices themselves and dies! There should not be another Pillar who needs to be sacrificed to end the Pillar System! There should not be a magic swordsman spilling blood in vain. There should not be war. The end of the Pillar System cannot be forged from hatred and bloodshed. The issue originated from my heart. Let me release the burden that has weighed me down for so long. Let my heart accept her. She will show me the way... She will light the path that has been dark for so long... like her name.