Chapter summary: If you're feeling down, just bang your secretary to cheer-up.
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Sunny was in a genuinely good mood. A radiant grin was plastered across his face.
"I actually did it, didn't I?" he whispered softly to himself.
He still couldn't quite believe it.
After retrieving Kai to make sure he was alright and having that explosive argument with Nephis—which, as far as he was concerned, had ended in complete victory—he had retreated to the backroom of the Brilliant Emporium. There, operating under complete anonymity alongside his assistant Aiko and old Steve under the pseudonym of the faceless master artisan Faraam, he had returned to weaving Memories.
His pitch-black eyes were fixed intently on his hands. Dark threads, black as night, spun and untangled ceaselessly between his nimble fingers.
"Gods! I actually did it!" Sunny repeated, his voice rising just a fraction louder this time.
Yes. He had done it.
He had seen Nephis for the first time since returning to the past, and he had confronted her face-to-face without pulling a single punch. He had overcome his complex toward her, pushed past his lingering feelings for her light, and even transcended his burning hatred.
His plan was working flawlessly. Just as he had instructed, Cassie had steered Caster away from Changing Star's cohort, and Sunny had engineered a way for Gunlag to recruit the Legacy into his own ranks. In a week's time, they would depart to retrieve the final Memory Shard. Their expedition force would consist of himself, Kai, Gunlag, Harus, Gemma, Kido and Caster. That way, Sunny could groom the Legacy for the exact moment he would face Nephis at the peak of the Crimson Spire.
Sunny didn't have an ounce of faith that Caster actually stood a chance of killing Changing Star. Nor did he care. All he needed was for the Legacy to hold out long enough not to get wiped out immediately, but instead slit his own throat at the crucial moment to prevent Nephis from using the return Gate—leveraging the [Soul Conduit] Attribute to handle the rest.
'Did you enjoy leaving me behind, Nephis? Let's see how much you like wandering the Forgotten Shore all alone for two whole years with no way out. Oh, I can't wait to see it!'
Sunny laughed bitterly to himself, a defiant smile twisting his features. Before him, his hands kept moving, weaving dark threads to complete the enchantment on the Memory he was modifying. Shadows danced around the darkness veiling his face.
[Your Memory has been destroyed.]
[You have received a Memory.]
His imagination was running wild, darker and more cruel even than his true nature.
And yet... Sunny felt something else creeping into his chest.
Regret.
'...'
He fell silent. His hands stilled, carefully placing the re-enchanted Memory onto the wooden workbench in front of him.
It was a Memory garment—a silver dove clip resting atop a delicate hairpin.
A single tear fell onto the polished metal. Was it raining?
"Damn... I'll have to ask Aiko to fix the roof," Sunny muttered to himself, staring down at the table.
Except it wasn't raining in the Forgotten Shore. And even if it were, the Brilliant Emporium was situated in one of the deepest levels of the Bright Castle, practically touching the dungeons.
Sunny was crying. His heart ached terribly.
'Why?'
The question echoed bitterly in the cavernous void of his mind.
Why was he weeping? Why did he feel so utterly miserable after finally severing ties with Nephis and breaking free from their twisted relationship?
The tragic truth was simple: Sunny missed it. He regretted it.
In his previous timeline, while trapped inside Ariel's Game of Death, when he had witnessed all those alternate iterations of his story with Nephis, he had wept bitter tears seeing that he was destined to forever remain her slave. But above all else... he had seen that he was happy.
Sunny had been happy because they were together.
In those alternate versions where they shared a life, the two of them were genuinely happy. They bickered, they clashed, but then they made love, reconciled, and faced the world hand-in-hand. They built a family, anchored each other through constant turmoil, and never let go.
'Why?'
Tears streamed down his cheeks, his hands clenching into tight fists, fingernails digging painfully into the wood of the workbench.
In a world slowly, inexorably falling to ruin, the two of them always stayed together. Two lonely, broken souls finding solace in one another amidst the chaos.
It was so sweet, so sublime, so... perfect.
And now, Sunny and Nephis had severed their bond forever.
'Damnation!'
Slam!
His fist struck the workbench with violence.
He knew full well that time would mend the wound, that eventually every scar faded. He was all too aware of it.
Without the [Mark of Desire] given to her by Hope, Changing Star wouldn't descend into madness this time; she wouldn't become the monster of his future. He could have offered her a different choice.
But Sunny couldn't do it. Worse—he wouldn't do it.
It was different now. Similar, yet painfully, logically distinct.
And for that, he suffered.
"Damnation!"
His voice cracked, dissolving into quiet sobs that echoed faintly through the backroom of the Brilliant Emporium.
"Boss? Is everything okay? I heard you yelling."
Right at that moment, Aiko's soft, concerned voice pulled him out of his spiraling thoughts.
His floating, notoriously greedy assistant had noticed his bitter, forced smile earlier when he returned from retrieving Kai. She had been genuinely worried about him, but before she could say anything, Sunny had retreated into his workshop to drown his feelings in work.
Sunny caught his breath, turning his head to see Aiko standing on the wooden stairs behind him.
The delicate maid dress she had borrowed from the handmaidens suited her remarkably well. The dark fabric and sheer stockings accented her short, raven hair, beautifully hugging the soft curves of her waist and hips while highlighting her slender figure.
"D-did something happen?" she asked softly upon seeing his tear-stained face. Finishing her descent down the stairs, she approached him calmly and gently rested a warm palm against his flushed cheek.
Her dark, brilliant eyes held a rare tenderness.
"No... I'm fine. Really," Sunny managed between stifled sobs, his voice hesitant. "Never been better, actually."
Watching him cup her hand in his own and trace her fingers with a trembling touch, Aiko knew her boss didn't want to talk about it.
She understood that all too well. Back when she was just a penniless, solitary child in the Outskirts of NQSC—after her parents went bankrupt and she ended up on the streets—she used to find a quiet hideout where no one could bother her to cry alone. And just like her back then, what Sunny needed most right now wasn't prying questions, but simple, undivided company.
He needed not to be alone.
So Aiko didn't pry.
Thud.
Before he could stammer out another word or try to pull away, she slid into his lap, forcing him back into the wooden chair of his workbench.
Sunny leaned back against the sturdy wooden frame as Aiko's soft, petite body pressed firmly against his chest. His fingers instinctively sank into the fabric of her dress at her waist. His assistant buried her face in the crook of his neck, her warm breath tickling his pale skin like a feather while her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
Despite her notoriously ruthless greed, Aiko showed no hesitation in offering her warmth to him. Sunny inhaled her subtle, sweet scent. She was warm—so warm and light that holding her petite frame felt almost like holding a soft pillow.
He barely even realized it when his own arms wrapped around her back, pulling her closer. Slowly, the frantic pounding in his chest began to settle.
The two remained like that for a long while, still and motionless in the quiet sanctuary of the backroom. Had anyone stepped inside at that moment, they would have undoubtedly stumbled upon a shockingly intimate scene.
"Hey, Sunny," Aiko whispered after a while, lifting her chin. Her dark eyes sparkled up at him, their bodies still closely entwined. The warmth enfolding them felt like a cozy wooden cabin—safe, even if fragile against the cold draft outside. "It's long past closing time, and old Steve has already turned in for the night. So... do you want to eat me?"
She spoke in a playful, seductive purr, tracing a finger along his jawline as she shifted subtly against his lap, the soft fabric of her dark stockings and skirt brushing against him.
"I haven't eaten since this morning... I might bite a little too hard," Sunny replied, a trace of genuine concern in his voice that he might hurt her.
Aiko simply shrugged, offering a small, mischievous smile. "So what? As Charlie Harper used to say, consolation sex never hurts as long as you aren't having it alone."
Sunny blinked, genuinely bewildered.
"Who the hell is—Mmph!"
He started to ask, only for his words to be cut short as Aiko leaned in and captured his lips in a deep, fiery kiss.
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