Zorba was also enjoying breakfast with them. For someone who could be so somber at times, he savored a balanced meal of fruit, toast, coffee, eggs, and more.

“I said it’s fine,” Louis sighed. “I’ve lost a lot of my appetite over the years. Sometimes it feels like I really don’t even think about eating. But the food you prepared today was good. Thank you. It did make me feel satisfied.”

“I’m glad!” Mirai said. “And… um, well, if you don’t mind, I can cook for you every day? Breakfast, lunch, dinner! That way you’ll eat? Right?”

“…Fine,” Louis sighed. He owed Mirai a lot right now, so he decided to go along with her requests until he felt he had repaid her favors. “But don’t push yourself.”

“It’s fine… when I cook for you, I feel like I can make anything,” Mirai said, blushing slightly as she looked away. “S-Sorry, was that awkward?”

“No, it was nice of you to say,” Louis replied. “Well, I’ll go on a stroll around the castle and then the city. If you’ll excuse me.”

Louis stood up and walked away, leaving Melisa and Selene wondering why he was like this sometimes.

“Um, Prince Louis won’t eat more?” Melisa asked.

“Food good…” Selene muttered.

“It might not seem that way because my son is good at hiding it, but he’s still mourning the people we lost,” Gustaf sighed, finishing his coffee. “And, honestly, me too.”

Eduard, his brother, was there. He couldn’t quite eat like the rest, but he still liked to keep them company at mealtimes. He simply consumed his Fantasium Crystals, sometimes shaped like food or fruits. “I haven’t been around for a year and suddenly Louis changed completely. He’s now a man, and above all, he seems to care a lot more about everything, huh?”

His brother smiled bitterly and nodded. “He does, Eduard… he has changed. According to what Zorba said, you explored the Dimensional Labyrinth? Is that where he changed?”

“Yes…” Zorba nodded. “And… well, he had already become someone much more decisive when I met him… Maybe it was because he became a Spiralwalker.”

Mirai listened to everyone speculate about why he had changed. She remained the sole witness of his lives—the only one who truly knew his pain, the suffering, and the tragedies that had shaped him and granted him power. “Thank you for the food. Shall I help you wash the dishes, Catrise?”

“Ah? Well, if you insist, sure thing,” Catrise nodded.

With Catrise, Mirai went to wash the dishes. While working, Catrise—ever perceptive—noticed Mirai seemed a little sad and conflicted about things she couldn’t share with anyone else after promising Louis to keep their secret.

“Is something bothering you, dear?” Catrise asked.

“Um…” Mirai muttered, washing the dishes in silence. “Yeah…”

Catrise smiled and placed a plate in the dishwater. “What is it? Tell me… you can trust me, Mirai.”

“It’s… complicated,” Mirai sighed. “I don’t think I can tell you. I promised it would be our secret.”

“Ooh? So you have secrets? Fufufu, way to go, Mirai~!” Catrise cheered for her.

“Ah… well…” Mirai muttered and sighed. “Yeah… it’s… complicated.”

She looked at Catrise, thinking—imagining how many times Louis had seen her die. She felt bad and gripped her fists tightly. “I guess it’s… I just want to cheer him up.”

“Hmm…” Catrise nodded, not prying into their secret. “Well, he seemed not to mind you… and, honestly, I’ve never seen him smile so sincerely at another girl. I believe he already sees you as someone very special, Mirai. It’s just that… you have to know how the prince is. He’s… he has a complicated mind and a broken heart. It’s hard to approach such people, but not impossible.”

Mirai nodded while listening to Catrise’s advice. She smiled and hugged her arm. “Thank you, Auntie Catrise… I guess I should just go talk with him.”

Mirai left in a hurry, running through the castle in search of Louis.

Louis, meanwhile, wandered the castle alone. He looked at the sky in silence, his eyes filled with sorrow, his heart perpetually lonely.

He didn’t really know what else to say to Mirai, so he had left… perhaps he was being foolish, but he found a strange comfort in solitude.

Or… was it really comfort?

“You’ll always be alone… Why bother?”

“Why do you even hope she’ll love you?”

“Do you want to torture that girl by making her go through the hell you go through? You’re a really heartless person.”

“Dragging her along into hell… is that really okay?”

Even though Louis had taken his pills, the voices sometimes returned—though less aggressive now. They whispered quietly, always present, always making him doubt.

Louis sighed and shook his head, trying to silence them. He blocked a part of his heart, and they stopped.

Only for another voice to emerge.

“How long until you die again, I wonder?”

“…”

“A year?”

“No, maybe a week? A month?”

“Then everything you’ve built here will be abandoned, and it never happened.”

“Mirai may or may not be the same… likely not.”

“It’s all so pointless, isn’t it?”

A much darker voice echoed through his shattered heart—one that belonged to him.

To his Alter Ego—the still-living Grievance within his Shattered Fantasy Heart.

The Abyssal Dragon Tree of Ruin.

“Silence, or I’ll cut you down.”

“Ooh, scary…”

“Huhuh…”

“Well, it doesn’t matter either way.”

“Nothing matters after all.”

The voices finally faded, leaving Louis deeply conflicted. Standing alone on the castle rooftop, he gazed at the city under reconstruction. His eyes filled with sorrow.

Now that he was finally alone, Louis allowed himself to be even a little vulnerable. Tears streamed from his eyes without him realizing.

Even though he had promised Her that he would no longer suffer these things, it was always easier said than done.

It was a slow process—one he sometimes doubted he could endure—to become strong enough to face everything.

To endure countless deaths without faltering…

Just thinking about this endless hell made him want to die, but that would only bring him back to the beginning.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep