Kyle looked calm. However, I was not. I felt as if something cold was blocking my chest. I wasn't sure if it was sadness, loneliness, or regret. However, I was sad that he said that, and it felt like he had been preparing for a breakup for quite a long time.
"―Squeak. (I…)"
I'm not okay.
I'm afraid that we will drift away.
As he said, he would love me wherever he was. Not to mention his heart, and so would mine. No matter where you are, even if the wall of the world that you can never overcome stands in your way, you will not be able to take away this heart and memory.
However, nothing in the world is eternal.
'When the body moves away, the mind also moves away.'
Eventually, we would forget each other. We would slowly adapt to daily life without each other, to the loneliness we had endured so much. At first, I could hear the warmth of the hands that were clasped, the voice that whispered affectionately, the eyes that met me tiredly, and the sound of my heart that could be felt beyond my body that touched me…
After losing one by one, what would be left of us?
[I hate it.]
I don't want to go back to the days when I didn't know you, or to go back to a world without you. Because where you are not there, there is no meaning anymore.
After checking the message, Kyle looked at me with a slightly confused expression.
"Shu."
There was a moment of silence. Kyle still seemed to hold back on something. I stared at his red eyes and called out to myself.
'System. You said I could choose the ending of this story, right?'
[Yes.]
'So, is it possible to stay here without going back?'
Can't I live a normal life here as a human instead of a hamster?
The system flashed.
[Current Miracle Points: 100%] [You can choose to 'import' to reality or 'sync' to this place.]
Sync.
I pondered the unfamiliar word in my mouth for a moment.
[The last quest has arrived.] [Reality into fantasy, fantasy into reality.] [Another possibility has opened up: when hopes and desires come together, it becomes a miracle, and if you earnestly hope for it, an illusion can become a reality.] [Condition: Someone's 'earnest wish'] [Reward: 'Sync']
I looked at the system windows that came to mind several times with a slightly dazed face. Not 'importing', but 'synchronization'. As long as I have that reward, I can remain in this world.
However, there was a condition. Someone's earnest wish. It seemed that someone else had to have a heartfelt desire for me to stay, besides myself.
And the person who wants me to stay here…
"Your Highness is the only one."
I stared up at Kyle with my hands clasped together. However, Kyle seemed to have misunderstood my gaze and replied with his characteristic dull smile.
"I'm fine, Shu. So I'll make a good decision for you."
It can't go on like this. He was already preparing to give up on me. Is it because I think his greed is holding me back? It's not that I can't understand it…
"―Squeak. (Fool.)"
I puffed out my mouth and sent a message.
[I mean, be greedy.]
Kyle read my message and pursed his lips in surprise.
[Why do you pretend to be okay when you're not okay?] [Is it really okay if I leave like that?]
He told me not to go.
On the subject of asking me to choose this world just for himself. As if everything that was so desperate was a dream, how could a person be so calm?
[It would have been better if I was worried that I wouldn't run away if I tied it up.]
Kyle lowered his head instead of answering. I felt a little bit of strength in my fingertips.
"Shu, am I…."
I mustered up the courage to write down what might be my last message to him.
[Finally, I would like to hear Your Highness's sincerity one more time.]
I didn't want to let go. There was no way I wanted to let go.
It was the first time I had loved someone like this. In a world where I always lost, I encountered something so affectionate and loving that I thought I could somehow survive with just this one thing. At first, I thought I was simply attracted to the loneliness of a resolution similar to mine. However, I thought it might be sympathy or curiosity, and I looked back at my heart several times and doubted it.
However, it was love. Such fear and doubt were proof of love.
"I've always needed you."
Nothing in the world is eternal, but can't you protect me without disappearing for a moment?
"I wanted this to be your reality."
If it could be your hometown and home, not a novel.
"I thought about how great it would be if I could fill your entire world with just my heart."
If I could do that, I would be able to ask you to exchange the rest of your life for the rest of my life without any shame or hesitation.
It was that kind of love. I loved and longed for it that much. As a result, I was speechless at the last moment. I wondered if I would be suffocated by this density of my heart. I wondered if I hesitated because of my eagerness and made a decision that I would regret later. Words have power, and I feared that they would hold back the person I love the most. Because I feared that it may not actually be love, but my selfishness.
So Kyle couldn't be honest in front of a small creature that could climb on the palm of his hand.
"What is my sincerity…."
It was a blue eye. His eyes, which symbolized a miracle, sparkled warmly.
"…It's still the same." Kyle said in a low voice. "Shu, I need you."
The small, warm companion hamster just looked up at him quietly. 'Love's Message' was also quiet.
In that silence, Kyle faced the heart that he wanted to hide in the end. His clearest sincerity, which was much bigger and more desperate than he vaguely realized.
"I want to wake up with you and fall asleep with you. Even though it is a barren land where half of the year is winter, I want to protect your heart so that it is not cold all year round. Your smile is the greatest blessing for me, and there is nothing more painful and bitter than your tears…."
"―…."
"I believe in only one determination that this heart will not change, and I… I want you to choose."
Kyle's voice trembled a little. A rather clumsy confession poured out.
"I love you."
"―…."
"No one can replace you, so I will only love you from now on."
"―…."
"Can't you make me the center of your world?"
[Are you confident that you will be his world?]
It was also an answer to the system's words that I had heard one day.
"I'm willing to do that."
A short silence passed through the tension. His companion, the hamster, stared up at Kyle without even blinking. As if I had waited for his sincerity. And, as if waiting for something behind it.
After a while, a system window appeared that Kyle had not seen in his eyes.
[The connection of the 'community of destiny' has been strengthened.] [Hope and desire become miracles, and thus 'calling' becomes 'synchronization.'] [Will you redefine your world?]
The hamster nodded slowly. Kyle just stared at it as if he was enchanted.
[Reality into fantasy, fantasy into reality.] [Proceed with 'syncing'.] [This state will continue forever, and your body will live the rest of your life in 'reality.'] [After syncing, the connection with the system is lost.]
The cozy and light weight that used to press on the palm of his hand was gone. Soon, a blue light burst out, lighting up the entire room. The light was so strong that it seemed to be smeared white.
Kyle closed his eyes tightly. He felt that the companion demon he had put on his hand was gone, so he was a little afraid to open his eyes. He thought that I might have left without any answer to that enthusiastic confession.
However, his anxiety did not last long. Compared to him, she was small and thin, but her warmer hand wrapped around Kyle's shoulders. She hugged his neck and leaned against him.
Thump, thump, thump.
The warmth and heartbeat that he was so familiar with touched him. Kyle was choked and couldn't say anything.
"…I love you." Shu buried her head in his arms and whispered. "I love Your Highness too. I wanted to say this myself."
"…."
"Your Highness is where I am. Your Highness is the center of my world."
"…Shu."
"I don't know how long I've been waiting for them not to go. It's a stupid problem."
Kyle replied, stuttering in a half-hoarse voice. "I, your future… So, ankle… If you catch it…."
"Your Highness is my future, so why are you holding back?"
"…."
"Instead, I promise."
Kyle replied straight without hesitation. "I promise."
Shu smiled brightly and replied, "Do you know what you promise?"
"I can promise my life; do I need to worry?"
"My life was saved. Just as Your Highness said."
'Choose me, choose this world, I don't make you lonely, I'm begging for the rest of your life just by promising to love you endlessly… Is it too cowardly?'
"I'll choose Your Highness. I will remain in this world. If I am by His Highness's side, I will never be lonely for the rest of my life. Instead…."
"Instead."
"Please keep that promise that you love me."
Kyle looked into Shu's eyes. Her eyes were clear and soft. Her eyes were kinder, warmer, braver, and more loving than anyone he knew.
He said as if he were swearing, "I risk everything I have."
"Forever?"
"Forever."
The bodies of the two were tightly pressed together. In the meantime, the system window, which no one had ever seen, sparkled, miraculously appeared and then disappeared.
[Good luck! (ෆ`꒳´ෆ)]
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The Northern Grand Duke's Hamster