“Are you running away, Serephione?” Magan growled as if to challenge me.
Is this running away? From being a person? Is that unfair...? But I’ve always been a simple, weak chicken anyway.
“I now understand why all my children are so captivated by you... You are honest and intelligent. Even your weakness is pure.” The goddess shook her head gracefully, gold scattering from her mane. Then she slowly approached as Magan still held me.
“Maribelle is beloved by the god of the other world....but she does not outdo you in that regard, Serephione. Not just Loudarylphena, Miyu, and Asucariela, but also the deceased Kilamageld and Maganvar cherish you and wish for your inner peace at this moment. This cannot be disregarded, since we are not easily swayed emotionally...”
The goddess’s golden eyes looked straight into my soul. “I shall grant your wish, Serephione. I promise to reincarnate you as a gentle, light wind that will warm Gillain.”
A single golden tear fell from the goddess’s eye and washed over me like a mist. A veil of light enveloped me. I could feel that the promise had been fulfilled.
“Goddess! Wait!”
“Goddess, there must be another way...”
Magan and Kilama hastily interjected.
“There is no other way. The best way to reward Serephione’s hardships is to grant her wish. Serephione, may you run freely and peacefully throughout my land...”
The goddess clacked her hoof. An overwhelming light radiated from her entire body. With a spectacular release of magic power, incomprehensible magic circles floated into the air one after the other.
The timeline was being reset!
My body also began to glow, and I instantly grew to my original size... My hair floated into the air, and I levitated away from Magan’s warm chest.
I was slowly melting into the atmosphere. I vaguely understood that I was turning into mist.
What came to my mind in that moment was Gillain. Did that mean he was my biggest regret? I didn’t think it could be any other way, since he would be the one all alone after our memories disappeared and the timeline was reset.
I wondered what Lou would say if he knew I was going to spend eternity with Gillain. Would he be angry, since Gillain already had Asu? Or would he come with me anyway? But I wouldn’t be able to make cakes as wind, so that might halve my attractiveness to him.
Gillain wasn’t good at relating to others as equals due to his upbringing, which was why he assumed such an arrogant attitude...but deep down, he had never been arrogant. He always respected my opinions. More than that, he carefully measured the distance between us and took care not to scare me off...even though I would have liked him regardless. I found that aspect of him cute, maybe as a holdover from being reincarnated at around thirty.
When he ate my cakes, he would always look relieved, smile, and say thank you, although he didn’t like sweets much. Lou, Asu, and us two who were afraid of happiness had only had a few moments together, but they were all precious and irreplaceable to me.
Gillain had faced a cruel fate in both this life and the last. In his next life, I would find him faster than Asu could and surround him with warmth. This time...I would be a place for him to belong.
That’s right... I never did get to say one thing to you.
I love you, Gillain... I still love you from all this distance away, and I always will...
The three gods finally began to blur, and my senses dulled as my consciousness began to fade. I closed my eyes and let myself go...
Then, a shock suddenly ran through my body!
Just when I had been disintegrating into little particles, my physical body reformed. A familiar magic flowed into me. I could move of my own free will again, and my feet touched the ground. I traced the magic to its source...and it was pouring down from the heavens. The three gods and I were at a loss for words.
What just happened?
“Uhh, what’s going on? Whose magic is this?”
Magan was looking up as well. “You can’t tell? That’s your own magic, Sere.”
Mine? But I’m right here? I’m not releasing any magic.
“It seems you’re cursed.”
Cursed? Did Maribelle do this?!
“Of course not... This is clearly your own curse, Serephione,” Magan said as if he was shocked that I didn’t know.
“B-But I’ve never used a curse! I don’t even know how!”
Kilama hummed and closed her eyes. It seemed like she was an expert on curses, as expected from Miyu’s predecessor. “It would seem that this is a curse you cast on a starry night long ago, when you were a child.”
Huh...? That beautiful night when I talked to Gillain?
“You mean my magic words?”
Kilama furrowed her brow. “Serephione, the only difference between a curse and magic words is whether they hinder or help the target. They are otherwise the same.”
I’ve never thought of it that way, but that makes sense... So Maribelle and I had the same power, apart from her Autopilot.
“I’m sure Serephione would never think to use a curse that would hurt another.” Magan smiled wryly.
Does that mean I was brought back by a curse I used?
“So, a curse that you cast ten years ago was strong enough to cancel out my secret timeline reset technique... The curses that you reincarnated cast are frightening.”
I couldn’t read her facial expression, but the goddess seemed a bit exasperated...
“G-Goddess!” Did I just technically overturn a god’s decision?! I hastily knelt before the goddess and dipped my head.
“There is nothing I can do about a curse that has already been cast and activated. It would be best if you obeyed your ‘magic words.’”
The goddess seemed to slump her shoulders. Then she stepped forward and poked my head with her nose. When I looked up at her, she opened her mouth wide and bit my head!
“Ahhh!”
A ring of golden light formed before my eyes, then closed around the bite mark on my head and vanished. What? Am I being punished?!
The goddess’s eyes crinkled in a smile.
“Wow...”
Kilama, Magan, would you mind explaining why you’re awed by this?
My magic that was coming from the heavens grew stronger, pulling my body upward!
“Whoa!”
My feet lifted off the ground, and I found myself hanging upside down in midair. I reached out to the gods below me in a panic.
“Be well until we meet again, Serephione.”
“Kilama!”
“Tell Louda to work hard on my behalf, Serephione.”
“Magan!”
The three gods and the lemon-yellow world quickly started to recede, and my consciousness blinked out.
✦ ✦ ✦
The scent of dusty air in my nose told me that I had returned to the world of the living.
A feeling of heaviness hit me. It was hard to move. My brother’s strong magic was spreading from below my neck; it seemed like he’d pulled the orichalcum sword out. I also felt the full-body healing magic that my father had learned just for me swirling around inside my body, along with Asu’s magic.
Outside of my body, I felt someone’s slender frame wrapped around me, warming me up with the comforting, familiar scent of coffee.
I focused my mind and managed to open my eyes. Gillain’s face was inches from mine, wet with tears for the first time I’d ever seen.
Tears dripped from Gillain’s icy-blue eyes onto my face. I used what strength I could muster to lift my hand and gently wipe his cheek.
My voice was weak, but I managed to ask, “When we saw the stars that night...what did you wish for?”
Gillain wiped my tears away with his thumb and spoke softly and sadly into my ear.
“I’ve only ever wished for one thing...to live alongside you.”
His face contorted with pain.
“You’re all I need...” He whispered into my ear and gave me a gentle kiss.
Ah... His wish came true. I have cheat code powers, after all.
More tears spilled from my eyes. Lou’s sky blue eyes entered my field of view from the side. The miniature-sized Lou rubbed his head against my cheek from where he stood on Gillain’s arm and licked up my tears. I tilted my head to press my cheek against Lou’s, taking in the furry sensation that I loved. Gillain held me to his chest carefully as if he were holding something fragile, and I relaxed and closed my eyes.
The moon rose high, filling the area with a soft light.