Chapter 127 …
“…You’re really going.”
She murmured quietly, sitting at the edge of the bed.
To be honest, it still didn’t feel real. This wasn’t a short trip. She wouldn’t be able to come back.
Calling it a journey would be misleading—it was closer to complete emigration.
To an entirely different world she could never return from.
Even so, she had chosen it because there were more precious things waiting for her there than here.
Eclipse, who grumbled but always worried about her. Isaac, who constantly whispered love to her. The gentle butler and servants. Even Count Tyran and the Marquis Salami’s daughter, who showed her their own kind of interest.
They weren’t quite friends—but compared to her current reality, where she didn’t even have that much, the other side was far better.
‘Am I only thinking about the good parts?’
She was trying to, deliberately.
Entering high society, stepping into an unfamiliar world—it was frightening.
If she could return someday, it would be fine. But she couldn’t.
If she left now, that was the end.
Was this what it felt like to cross a river with no way back?
“…It’s okay.”
Isaac had said it would be.
It was a life that had already ended once. A life she’d regained through a deal with the Demon King.
If she thought of it as dying and being reborn into a new world, there was no problem with that, right?
Her thoughts spiraled deeper and deeper.
She scrubbed her face roughly with her palms and let out a long sigh.
Really… she felt suffocated.
“Let’s calm down.”
Her racing heart and quickened breathing felt unfamiliar.
She stood and began pacing, staring intently at the floor.
Then—
A massive magic circle spread across the entire hotel room floor.
‘He said to stand on the magic circle…’
At this rate, it didn’t look like she’d have any choice but to.
She stared down at it with an uneasy expression.
Unless she sprinted out of the hotel room right now, it seemed she would be summoned no matter where she stood.
“Isaac, honestly…”
A soft giggle escaped her.
How could he be this amusing even when he wasn’t beside her?
Clea let out a low sigh and stood still.
‘I’ve already decided.’
There was no need to waver now.
She had already chosen to be with Isaac.
The magic circle began to glow crimson.
Soon, it became too bright to keep her eyes open. She squeezed them shut.
And then—
The world shifted.
The darkness behind her eyelids flared bright, then dimmed again.
When her eyes adjusted to the sudden change, she slowly opened them.
The one she had longed to see stood before her.
“Isaac…”
“At last, we meet properly.”
Isaac, who had been staring blankly at her, stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.
A smile curved his lips. He leaned down and kissed her lightly.
“Reality is better.”
As if he had been waiting, he pressed closer urgently, and her eyes widened.
The unfamiliar sensation made her swallow.
Seeing her stiffen, Isaac paused just as he was about to deepen the kiss.
“Why?”
“Ah, it’s just… because there’s actual sensation… It’s not something I’m used to.”
She answered awkwardly, offering a small smile.
Isaac pressed his lips together and nodded.
There was no need to rush. Everything was over now, after all.
“Clea!”
“…Eclipse? Why are you here?”
“Do you know how much trouble I went through to bring you here?”
“…No?”
She glanced at Isaac, who simply shrugged as if he knew nothing.
Truthfully, he hadn’t spared Eclipse much thought. During their brief reunion, he had no intention of praising Eclipse’s efforts over his own.
“Wow, you’re really thin. Do you even eat? Seeing you up close is kind of amazing.”
Eclipse leaned in close, inspecting her face from every angle. She frowned slightly.
He instantly stepped back.
If nothing else, he was quick on the uptake.
“I’ve been eating. I just had a lot on my mind. I guess I was stressed.”
“Hmm… Well, I’m just glad you came back.”
Eclipse grinned.
His appearance was unusual, but having watched him for so long, she didn’t find it strange anymore.
If anything, she felt a sense of fulfillment—as if she had finally grasped what she had wanted.
“Well, welcome. Cle— …No, you said you chose a different name, right?”
He scratched the back of his head, glancing toward Isaac.
Only then did she remember and turn to Isaac.
“Oh right, my name… Did you decide?”
“I did.”
Isaac smiled. He had thought about it for a long time.
And once he spoke that name, she would no longer belong to that nameless world.
“It’s not in the Imperial style. I told them you came from a distant foreign land. So you don’t have to worry about your appearance.”
“Ah, I understand.”
She nodded.
Insisting that she was an Imperial citizen with this face would be far stranger. People might even mock her for it.
“Say it, Isaac.”
She reached out and took his hand.
Isaac slowly closed his eyes, then opened them.
“Sitara.”
“…Sitara?”
“Yes. It’s an ancient word for the morning star. Also the name of a goddess of stars.”
And in old oral legend, she had once been the wife of the God of Death.
The story was not a bright one.
The God of Death, who ruled the depths underground, one day fell in love with a beautiful star shining high in the sky.
But he could not ascend to the heavens.
So he used his power to drag the star down to earth.
The star, torn from the sky without understanding why, had no strength to return. It could only stare upward in despair.
The God of Death comforted the weeping star and remained by her side for ages.
Eventually, believing the sky no longer watched over her, the star took the hand of the God of Death, who had always stood beside her.
And in the dark world deep beneath the earth, light entered for the first time.
The legend ended there.
Isaac had chosen that name for the same reason.
She, too, was the only one who had brought light into his dark world.
“…Do you not like it?”
“No… I’m just surprised. Thank you. It feels unfamiliar now, but if you keep calling me that, I’ll get used to it.”
She smiled, eyes curving gently.
Sitara.
It had a curious ring to it.
And a star goddess? It hardly suited her.
‘A child of the stars… So that’s why the morning star?’
She had asked him to name her like a child of the stars.
Her expression brightened.
Jet-black hair. Jet-black eyes. She looked nothing like the people here.
“I like it. Thank you, Isaac.”
“You’re welcome…”
Isaac replied, lifting her lightly into his arms as she leaned against him.
The smile on his lips was somewhat dangerous—but fortunately, she couldn’t see it.
“I love you, Sitara.”
He whispered softly against her ear.
How could he not adore the woman who would live bearing the name he had given her?
Isaac smiled as he held her close.
“Sitara… Not bad, for you.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
Isaac answered calmly to Eclipse’s remark and turned his head.
He set her down on one sofa, then looked toward the Demon King seated across from them.
“The contract should be over. Why are you still here, Demon King?”
“I require a little more time.”
His magic power was nearly depleted.
A few days of rest and consuming the remaining human soul he had set aside would solve the problem—but he needed to gather enough strength to return to the Demon King’s castle first.
“Well? How does it feel to come to a new world?”
“…It still doesn’t quite feel real.”
“Human, I wonder whether this will be your happiness or your misfortune.”
She tilted her head at the Demon King’s cryptic words.
Behind her, Isaac’s presence sharpened dangerously.
The Demon King merely shrugged.
“And this—I will be taking.”
He slowly stroked the hair of Pan, who knelt at his side.
“Pan…?”
“I made a contract with this one as well. In exchange for never going hungry again, he will serve me.”
“…Wait, what? Pan agreed to that?”
“As you know, contracts are mutual. We exchanged what we desired. It is not something you need concern yourself with, human. I am merely informing you.”
Sitara hurriedly lowered her gaze.
Pan looked up at her silently.
There was emptiness in his eyes.
She parted her lips—
And then, suddenly, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Pan’s mouth.
A dangerous smile, filled with hidden intentions.
