Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
Hegemon woke up in the next loop. He knelt down on the grass, frantically clawing at the ground with both hands until his fingernails bled. Tears mixed with humiliation streamed down his weary face. His self-respect had vanished. He began to relentlessly berate himself with the most venomous words.
"You're just an incompetent... a useless wretch," Hegemon muttered, his voice trembling with bitterness. "Damn it, why did everyone trust you? Countess Rosali, Diana,... what did they give you their love, their trust for? So you could watch them die again and again?"
He slammed his head against the ground, a self-deprecating laugh escaping his lips: "A person with such low magical power, a useless and incompetent person like you, how could you possibly deserve any pity? You couldn't even protect a child. You're just a piece of trash lucky enough to have a time loop, Hegemon..."
Lily witnessed the entire scene. Her heart ached as she saw the man who had carried the entire journey now destroying himself in his last remaining psychological defenses. She didn't stand aloof anymore. Lily walked over, knelt beside him, and unexpectedly hugged Hegemon's trembling body tightly.
"Let me go... I'm not worthy..." Hegemon tried to push her away, but Lily held him even tighter.
"You're worth more than anyone in the world, Hegemon!" Lily screamed, her tears falling onto his shoulder. "Listen carefully, you fool! You're not incompetent. If you were incompetent, the Elf village would have vanished long ago! If you were incompetent, I wouldn't be standing here hugging you! Everyone's trust in you isn't a burden, it's because you're the only one who never gives up on them!"
Lily's sincere and warm words of encouragement were like a warm stream of water poured over Hegemon's fractured soul, pulling him back from the brink of madness.