Side Story 39. [After Story] Ariel
Lake Kingdom, King’s Castle, Party Hall.
Well-dressed guests held up their glasses, laughing boisterously.
Watching them from a quiet corner of the hall, Christian let out a soft sigh.
“You’re the star of the party. Shouldn’t you be over there?”
Ariel, standing beside him, gave a gentle smile.
“It’s rare to have time like this with you, Brother. I should make the most of it while I can.”
The gap left by Ariel’s absence was smoothly filled by Ash.
He stood at the center of the party hall, skillfully drawing everyone’s attention as he gave a speech about the future relationship between the Everblack Empire and the Lake Kingdom.
“…Time really flies.”Christian spoke quietly as he watched the scene.
“In that darkness, time moved at a torturous crawl. But once we stepped into the light, it sped by. Can you believe it’s already been twenty years since this country escaped the dark?”
“It really is strange. Sometimes, those days in the dark feel like a lie.”
Ariel smiled bitterly, echoing his sentiment.
“But I know. The scars from those five hundred years… they’re still carved into this land, into its people.”
“…”
“And I know there were those who burned their lives away to save this world… to save me.”
For a moment, silence settled between the siblings.
In the midst of the noisy party, the prince and princess fell into quiet reflection on those who were no longer here.
‘The country is so bright and full of hope now, it makes those days feel like faded memories.’
Unconsciously, Christian reached out to pat his sister on the shoulder but hesitated and stopped midway.
But when Ariel smiled and gave him a nod, he gave a small cough and gently tapped her shoulder.
“You’ve done well.”
“I’ve simply done the best I could with what I was given.”
“That’s more than enough.”
The stern expression on Christian’s face softened into a faint, hard-earned smile.
“Be a good queen, Ariel.”
“…”
Ariel swallowed her words.
There was so much she wanted to say to him.
Don’t leave. Stay in this country. The path ahead is still long and harsh. I need your help, Brother.
But she also knew.
The weight of guilt engraved in his heart. The wound that would never truly heal.
“…And you, Brother…”
And so—
Ariel smiled and spoke.
“I hope you’ll have peaceful days ahead.”
“…”
“Wherever you are, whenever it is… please stay healthy.”
Christian gave a nod and gently pushed her back.
Ariel stepped back into the center of the hall, greeted by a wave of cheers from the guests awaiting her return.
She looked around with a bright smile, but when she turned back again, Christian was already gone.
“Ah…”
Ariel stopped in place, staring blankly at the spot he had stood.
Then Ash’s voice reached her ear.
“Ariel, what are you doing over there?”
“…”
“Come on, everyone’s waiting!”
Ariel closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and walked confidently into the heart of the party.
No parting words were exchanged, but both siblings knew.
That this was their final farewell.
‘Be happy.’
Wishing each other well,
The siblings, bound for so long by love and hate, said goodbye.
The party continued late into the night.
In celebration of this joyous occasion, people laughed, ate, drank, and danced without restraint.
The Sword Demon and the Spear Demon danced a wild waltz as if they’d forgotten their age, and Lucas and Evangeline performed the latest popular social dance from Everblack. Ash invited Coco to dance, and the great witch, barely able to stand, laughed as she swayed their clasped hands back and forth.
Ariel, too, received many invitations to dance, but she gently declined them all with a soft smile.
For the past twenty years, she hadn’t danced with anyone.
“I’ve been so focused on state affairs that I seem to have forgotten how to dance. Please forgive me. Instead, allow me to find joy in watching your happiness.”
Though the queen didn’t dance, the hall was lively enough.
Time passed in joy…
And as with any party, the end came suddenly.
Ash and Lucas, worn out from their long journey, retired first, with Evangeline following soon after.
Even the drunken guests, who had boldly declared they’d drink until dawn, began to leave one by one. After a rough cleanup, the servants also quietly disappeared. One by one, the lights along the edges of the hall flickered out.
In the now-silent party hall, completely darkened—
Ariel sat alone by the window, holding a champagne glass.
A lone beam of pale blue moonlight streamed through the window, gently illuminating her white hair.
She slowly spun the glass in her hand, gazing out the window.
“…”
From the high window of the castle’s spire, the entire country was visible below.
It was the dead of night, before even a hint of dawn.
The city was swallowed in complete darkness, with only faint pinpricks of light scattered like grains of salt outlining the world’s shape.
Ariel thought that this view looked just like the time when the country had fallen into darkness.
The days when she had no name, when she was called Nameless.
The five hundred years wandering through the night streets.
“…”
‘Even when the world is this dark—’
Could it be… that she was dreaming?
That the world was still trapped in a nightmare, that she had succumbed to the Demon King… and was simply dreaming of the future she had wanted to live?
‘No.’
That couldn’t be.
As Ariel lifted her head, the bright moonlight poured down upon her.
It was a blade-sharp light that had never reached her during the time when the Lake Kingdom was submerged under nightmares. That light now awakened her.
The nightmare had ended.
And this place where she lived now—this was reality.
“…Ah.”
Suddenly.
As she looked up at the moonlight, a scene from twenty years ago flickered in Ariel’s mind.
A memory too strange to be true.
Ash had thrown a party at a hotel in Crossroad.
People from every nation had attended. Even one of the Nightmare Legion commanders. And then…
‘And then…?’
Someone had been there.
She couldn’t recall who, but someone precious had definitely been there.
Yet the more she tried to remember, the more the image faded—like someone had been cut out of the memory with scissors. As if that part of her memory had been torn away and left blank, filled with noise and emptiness.
But precisely because of that absence, Ariel knew.
Someone had been there.
Someone who had smiled shyly as they accepted her invitation to dance.
‘It must be him.’
Ariel could guess who it was.
The man who disappeared like light in her dreams after all the wars had ended.
The man Ash had told her about—the one who fought for an eternity and perished, all to save Ariel. The one who chose to become a forgotten existence as the price of saving her.
Just the thought of him brought pain to her chest, tears welling up in her eyes. Yet his figure continued to vanish from her memory.
“…”
She set the empty champagne glass down by the window.
Then Ariel slowly stepped to the center of the now-empty hall.
The party was over. The heat had faded. The laughter, applause, and cheers were all gone. She stood alone under the moonlight.
‘Was it… like this?’
Ariel slowly extended her white hand forward.
And then, from the blurred memory that had been roughly erased, a wavering image of a man appeared, cautiously taking her hand—as if afraid he might damage it just by holding it.
“…”
One hand in his. The other rested gently on his shoulder. The figure in her memory carefully placed one hand at her waist.
They assumed the pose of an old waltz.
The two stood close together, locking eyes…
And then, when the music began, they slowly started to step in rhythm.
Round and round, round and round.
The spinning world reverted to how it had looked twenty years ago.
The grand ballroom filled with people, joyful songs, dazzling chandeliers, and the two of them at the center of it all.
As the seemingly endless dance continued, the man’s vague, unrecognizable face began to take on a clear expression.
A shimmering, sorrowful smile of happiness—
“…Ah.”
Suddenly, she returned to reality.
In the silent, dark hall where no one remained, the only thing in Ariel’s arms was moonlight.
As the solo waltz ended and her steps came to a halt, the hem of her dress and the ends of her long hair rippled through the air, scattering fragments of moonlight.
Looking down at her empty hands, Ariel slowly pulled them close to her chest, as if to hold onto the moonlight that had settled there, and looked out the window.
A beautiful full moon still shone steadily upon the world.
“…Please watch over me.”
Ariel whispered softly.
“The world you gave me. The life you gave me. I’ll live it with everything I have.”
She didn’t know why—
But she suddenly realized she was crying.
Large tears streamed down her pale cheeks beneath her teal-green eyes.
And yet, Ariel smiled. Even with a tear-streaked face, she smiled.
Because she knew it in her heart.
What he had wanted most… was to see her living with a smile.
The next morning—coronation day.
Ariel rose at dawn and washed thoroughly.
After drying her long hair with care, she gently brushed and braided it with practiced hands.
Though her attendants offered to help, Ariel always did her own hair. No matter how busy the day was, today was no different.
The person who once used to do her hair was no longer here. So now, she had to do it herself.
She put on the new ceremonial garments prepared for the day and attached the formal ornaments required by tradition. She applied light makeup.
Once she had fully prepared her appearance, she opened a small box on the vanity.
Inside was an old red ribbon.
“…”
Gently, slowly, with great care—
Ariel tied the red ribbon at the back of her head.
Everything else she wore was new. Only the ribbon was worn and old-fashioned. But Ariel didn’t mind at all. She wore it proudly, letting it hang freely.
“Alright.”
After checking her reflection in the mirror, Ariel took a deep breath.
“Let’s go.”
At last, she reached out to the side—
And picked up the royal scepter of the Lake Kingdom, standing beside the vanity.
Was it her imagination?
It felt as if a warm energy flowed from the scepter. As if it were easing her nerves before the coronation.
It had to be just a feeling.
After all, this was a world without magic or miracles now.
“…”
Clutching the scepter that had been restored by the last of his strength, Ariel smiled quietly.
Then, with firm steps, she walked outside—toward the coronation hall.
Brilliant morning sunlight lit the path ahead of her.
Christian raised his glass to his lips and muttered quietly.
“The world will keep changing… in ways too brilliant for me to even imagine.”
“Have you thought about coming back?”
“Not at all.”
A self-deprecating smile formed on Christian’s lips.
“The fall of this country into hell… I bear the greatest responsibility for that. If someone like me stayed behind, it wouldn’t bode well for Ariel’s reign.”
“…”
“It’s only right that I disappear, taking with me the last mistakes of the royal family… the final trace of its shadow.”
Christian shrugged with a theatrical gesture, true to his past as a jester.
“Besides, exploring the edge of the world is pretty fun.”
“You’ve mellowed out a lot, haven’t you…”
“All thanks to a certain someone who saved the world.”
They exchanged lighthearted words with faint smiles.
And just then—
“Brother!”
A thunderous cry rang out.
Startled, Christian turned in the direction of the voice.
Pushing through the crowd…
Ariel came running toward him, beaming brightly.
“You came!”
“Hrk…!”
A foolish sound slipped out from Christian’s stunned mouth.
–TL Notes–
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