The morning sun was sharp and cold, rising like a blade over the sacred valley of the Trials. The final day had arrived.
The Trial of Soul.
Unlike the first two days—strength and intelligence—this test had no clear rules, no weapons, no enemies.
It was said to reveal the true heart of the challenger.
Those who entered never spoke of what they saw. Many never returned. And if they did… they were never the same.
Oscar stood at the gate, wearing no armor. Just cloth, a dagger strapped to his side, and cera's gaze burning into his back from the high balcony. He turned, locking eyes with her one last time. She looked calm, but her fingers trembled against the railing.
"I'll come back," he mouthed silently.
cera said nothing. Her lips pressed into a line, but her heart screamed:
Don't go. Don't leave me. Don't make me feel like this again.
But Oscar walked forward.
The gates closed behind him.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Oscar stepped into a void of shadows—silent, endless, suffocating. His breath echoed strangely, as if time had slowed. Then, a voice.
"Oscar…"
He turned.
Before him stood a version of himself—bloodied, broken, aged by pain.
"Do you really think you can win her heart?" the shadow said. "You are nothing. You were born in the dirt. You'll die in it."
Oscar didn't flinch. "I know who I was. But I also know who I chose to become."
The voice laughed. "You fight for love… but love is what will destroy you."
Suddenly, the void shifted.
cera stood before him—not the real one, but an illusion of her—eyes cold, distant.
"I never loved you," she said cruelly. "You're just a tool. A pet."
Oscar staggered back. The words cut deeper than any blade.
But then… he clenched his fists.
"That's not her voice," he whispered.
The illusion cracked.
"No," he growled, louder. "That's not her. cera… is kind. She is scared. She hides it. But she would never say that."
The shadows screamed.
The ground split beneath him.
Oscar fell—
—and landed on his knees in a glowing chamber.
Breathless. Sweating. Alive.
Before him stood a glowing orb on a pedestal. Inside it: the Pearl Crown.
He had passed.
But something else happened.
The moment he touched the crown, a blinding light engulfed the room. Pain shot through his body, and ancient voices echoed in his mind.
"One who sacrifices all for love… shall carry the burden of guardianship."
Oscar screamed as his skin burned with magic, as his soul was rewritten.
"You have been chosen," the voices whispered. "To guard not one life, but many. You will watch, protect, suffer, and remember… even when the world forgets."
Then—darkness.
He awoke in cera's arms.
They had found him outside the trial chamber, unconscious, the Pearl Crown still clutched in his hand. His body was different. Marked with runes. His heartbeat is slower. His eyes glowed faintly gold.
"Oscar," cera whispered, tears streaking down her face. "You came back…"
He blinked at her, exhausted. "Did I… win?"
She laughed through her sobs. "Yes, you fool."
With trembling hands, he reached into the velvet pouch and took out the crown. He held it out to her, kneeling.
"For you," he said hoarsely. "As I promised."
cera took the crown. But instead of placing it on her head, she placed it on his.
"You are the bravest person I have ever known," and after that he fanted
When Oscar awoke, still sore but breathing—alive. As his eyes blinked open, they were met not with the ceiling of his chamber, but the tearful gaze of cera, cradling his head in her lap. Her silver hair tumbled like moonlight across his chest, and her eyes—always so cold, so unreadable—now overflowed with something raw.
"Oscar," she whispered, brushing the sweat from his brow. "You came back to me."
He tried to sit up, but she pressed him gently down.
"You fool…" she murmured, her voice trembling. "You stubborn, reckless, beautiful fool."
Then she leaned closer, her forehead against his.
"I told myself I wouldn't feel again. I've lived for centuries trying to be stone. But you… you made me human again."
Oscar's breath caught in his throat.
"I love you, Oscar," she said. "I have for a long time."
His eyes filled with tears, not from pain—but from the miracle of hearing those words. "Say it again," he whispered.
cera smiled. "I love you."
And for a moment, the world stood still.
A week later, the grand palace was bathed in light.
Banners flew high, the halls glittered with gold and music, and nobles from across the realm had gathered for a celebration in Oscar's honor. He was no longer the nameless orphan from the slums. He was the hero of the Trials. The man who defied fate.
Oscar wore black and silver robes, tailored to honor his victory, but his eyes searched only for one thing. And he found her—cera—alone on the palace balcony, far from the crowd.
She stood in the moonlight, looking out across the gardens, her hair flowing like silk in the breeze.
Oscar stepped beside her. "What are you doing out here?"
She didn't turn. "Do you know why I love the moon so much?"
He looked at her, curious.
"Because everything else fades. People come and go. Joy turns to sorrow. But the moon... the moon is always there. Watching. Waiting."
Oscar smiled. "Then let me be your moon. I'll always be there."
She finally looked at him, her silver eyes softening.
Without warning, he gently took her hand… then her waist.
And jumped off the balcony.
"OSCAR!" cera shrieked midair, clutching him.
But he just laughed. "Relax—I know what I'm doing."
Moments later, they landed gently on a glowing platform of magic. He carried her in his arms across a hidden path until they arrived at a breathtaking meadow beneath the night sky.
The stars were so close, it felt like they could touch them. A gentle waterfall flowed nearby, and the moonlight kissed the water, painting everything in shades of silver and blue.
cera stood stunned.
"Why did you bring me here?" she whispered.
Oscar stepped close, took both her hands in his, and held her waist again.
"Do you remember your promise?" he asked.
She smiled. "Yes. I said if you won the Trials, I'd grant you any wish."
He leaned in, voice low. "Then this is my wish. I want you."
cera's cheeks flushed. "And… how exactly do you want me?"
Oscar smirked gently. "Oh, I'll show you."
He cupped her face, eyes full of fire and tenderness, and kissed her—softly, then deeper, until time melted away. The wind is still. The stars above blinked brighter.
When their lips parted, he whispered, "I love you, cera."
She touched his chest. "And I love you too, Oscar."
That night, they weren't master and protector.
Not a goddess and a mortal.
Just two souls… lost in each other.
For days after, they were inseparable.
They trained together. Ate together. Even slept in the same room, curled like two threads of light. Oscar had nightmares sometimes—visions of fire, of a girl calling for help, of himself fading into shadow—but every time, cera would hold him until he calmed up.
He was happy.
For the first time in his life… truly happy.
And one evening, under the soft glow of twilight, Oscar looked at the ring he had secretly forged—delited, simple, and made from a fragment of the very blade he used in the Trials.
"I'll ask her tonight," he whispered to himself, fingers brushing the ring in his pocket. "I'll ask her to be mine forever."
But fate had other plans.
Before he could take that step…
Something came.
A warning.
A shadow.
A force that would tear their lives apart… forever.