Zero and 86 Iluustration will be posted soon.
—–
That was during the “mealtime” period when the maid was cooking for the father and daughter in the kitchen. Suddenly, there was a quiet knocking sound at the door.
*Knock. Knock knock*
This knocking drew the attention of the little girl, who was playing with her father while her mother was cooking.
At first, the girl hesitated. She wanted to ask her dad or call her mom from the kitchen because she had never experienced a stranger knocking on the door before.
But soon, a pleasant and sweet voice came from outside the door.
“Zera, hurry and open the door, I’m your Aunt Lena.”
“Aunt Lena?”
Because the voice was so enchanting, Zera couldn’t help but walk over and turn the doorknob. The door, which was “supposed to be unopenable,” was actually opened a crack by Zera this time.
Zera peeked through the gap and saw a woman standing at the door. She was as beautiful as her mother, but her clothing was more revealing. She had pink hair and looked very seductive.
“Auntie, you…”
As soon as Zera weakly spoke, the pink-haired ‘witch’ outside glared at her.
“Call me Sister!”
“Si-Sister, won’t you come in?”
“I’d like to, but I doubt your mom would welcome me,” the witch sighed.
“So, you are…”
“I’m your daddy’s first wife,” the witch answered without hesitation, proudly puffing out her chest.
“First wife?”
Zera’s eyes widened with confusion, as if she didn’t quite understand the profound meaning of those words.
“There’s no time to explain, Zera. Quickly find a couple of things on you and give them to me!”
“Huh?”
“Do you want to go outside? Do you want to see the vast world beyond this little house? Let me tell you a secret: the outside world is no longer plagued by Miasma. Everyone is living happily out there.”
“Really? Is that true?”
After being tempted by the witch’s words, Zera finally removed two buttons from her small skirt and handed them to the witch through the door crack.
“What a good girl. Then, I’ll be going now. Remember not to tell your mom about this, okay? Alright, I’ll help you hide this memory temporarily. This way, when you’re reset, you’ll still retain this memory.”
“Sister, what are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing. Zera, just remember one thing. When you feel an earthquake, a tsunami? Or maybe a tornado? I’m not sure what it will turn into, but when you feel like your ‘home’ is about to collapse, quickly grab your father’s hand and don’t let go. At that moment, your dad will be able to take you and your mom away from here.”
“Then, you’ll find the answer to that unsolvable question.”
“Collapse? Hold hands? Dad takes us away? The answer… to the question?”
While Zera was still confused, the witch waved her hand, and the door automatically closed. The little girl seemed to be in a daze, and she couldn’t remember anything that had just happened.
Soon after, the maid finished cooking and returned. Seeing Zera standing by the door, she called for her daughter and her husband to come to the dining table to eat.
*Boom!*
*Rumble—*
*Creak*
Outside the window, lightning flashed, and violent winds and rain battered the earth, making it seem as if the world was about to be destroyed.
The small gear house, which held the warm family of three, appeared to be unable to withstand the load. All the gears seemed to be overloading, and they could collapse at any moment.
The mechanical wall clock had already fallen and shattered into several pieces.
She remembered.
She remembered it all.
This catastrophic event seemed to leave the mother stunned in place, confused. As for the father, he remained motionless, as if soulless, sitting in his original spot, hidden beneath his cloak.
At this moment, it was the little girl, Zera, who reacted first.
The memories with the “witch” seemed to have been unsealed, and they all rushed into her mind. She remembered the witch’s words and quickly ran to her father and took his hand.
In this very instant, the Consciousness Magic Cube, along with the world tree containing all the maid consciousnesses and the world tree with a portion of Zera’s consciousness, pulled Renji’s consciousness into the deepest part of Zero’s Dream through Zera.
In other words, into the small house of this home.
Countless memories related to the “home” flooded into Renji’s mind through Zera, allowing him to see the dream about the home that Zero had been creating for hundreds of years.
“My dear, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. I’ll fix everything. We won’t be separated. Our home will…”
Inside the small house, the maid tried to stabilize this collapsing world. However, the young scientist, who once seemed like a “mechanical puppet,”did something completely outside of Zero’s command range.
Renji held the maid.
The silver-gray-haired maid with spiral twin-tails and a delicate face froze, as if she had crashed.
Then, in front of the maid and little girl, the young man removed his cloak for the first time.
This time, the face beneath the cloak was no longer shrouded in shadows and unclear.
Instead, it was a very clear, very young, and very handsome young man’s face.
“Sorry for making you wait so long, Zero”
The raging storm and earthquakes outside subsided, and everything seemed to return to its calmness. The only thing that remained restless was perhaps the heart of the maid inside the house.
….
“Daddy, this question is so hard. I can’t do it. Can you teach me?”
The little girl placed an exercise book in front of Renji.
Written on it was not just any question. .
It was about Zera’s death, the disappearance of the Ashen Emperor, and the endless reincarnation of tens of thousands of mechanical maids.
If one were to say that Zera was the happiest desire born from Zero’s dream, then this question was the most tragic reality.
This exercise book represents the reality that Zero’s subconscious refuses to face, which is why it remains unsolved, and no one can solve it.
However,
“Wow, Daddy, you’re so smart! I understand now!”
“No, I can’t call you Daddy anymore, since you and Sister Zero aren’t my parents”
“Zera is really happy, to have sister Zero willing to take care of me, to be my mom, it’s just too bad Zera is already dead, unable to stay with mommy anymore.”
“Zera hopes that brother and sister Zero can have a real child, Zera will bless you, go for it! Big brother!” 𝑖𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ𝘮
“Uh, that’s about it, Zera wants to go out into the world, to see the world that the pink-haired sister talked about, where there’s no Miasma, and everyone can live happily!”
“Sister Zero, can you open the door for Zera?”
The little girl looked at the maid with hopeful eyes, but the maid couldn’t look directly at her. Instead, she lowered her head, and her silver-gray twin tails covered her face.
“I’m sorry, Lord Ashen, I, I…”
“It’s okay, everyone dreams, besides… I really liked your dream”
“So if possible…”
“Let’s go to reality, and fulfill this dream together, okay?”
Renji took the maid’s hand, and the maid looked at Renji with a shocked expression, looking at her master, who was once only cold and silent, a man in a gray robe.
Renji was quite helpless about this.
So he just shrugged.
“People change, after all.”
“Master Ashen, you… you can’t lie to me…!”
“I promise…”
Amidst the bickering that sounded like an old married couple, Renji and Zero stood on either side of Zera, holding her hands. Together, they walked toward the door and opened it…
Read latest chapters at . Only