The celebration started for the coronation of the two leaders, and the whole village, for the first time, was being decorated colorfully. Seeing colors in the village for the first time, Martia remembered that the village she’d lived in was always black and white. And no other colors were allowed. She felt sad for herself and the villagers—for having had to live under these conditions until now. She then looked at the house and the podium, which had previously belonged to Promanthae, and which was now being decorated for the new leaders. While she was looking at the whole place, her sight always stopped at one point on the podium in front of the house, where she had always seen Promanthae sitting on his

  chair, supervising, and controlling the Promapplers. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss and wondered—if it hadn’t been this village and the situation in which she was raised, would she and Promanthae have had a loving parent-child relationship, if they would have been fortunate enough to meet.

  She then remembered Arigue, who she had spotted when she

  was announcing the leaders to the Promapplers, but the moment the announcement was made, he had disappeared. She went to his house, and as expected, he was sitting on his chair and reading. Paying no attention to her arrival, he continued to read

  Martia said with a little sadness, “I have almost made peace with all of the past and the people in my life right now, except with you. You still feel as distant to me as you were before.”

  She smiled sorrowfully and asked, “Now that I have freed Promapple from the cruel and brutal ways of Promanthae, are you happy, Arigue? No matter what I had said before to tease you or to make you react, honestly, all I had ever wanted was to see you smile. I really want you to be at peace now.”

  Martia looked at Arigue with hopeful eyes thinking that he would

  talk to her, but he did not respond. Hurt by Arigue’s behavior, Martia asked desperately, in order to get some closure, “Did you miss me? Tell me, Arigue, did you felt sad for me or at least shed one tear for me when they said I died? You did say that you considered me as your daughter.”

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  Arigue replied emotionlessly, “I sent you far away from this village for you to never come back, for you to choose a path of no murders or killings. So, tell me, Martia, how many lives have you taken yet? You want me to cry for you? Who cries for evil? Who sheds tears on the demise of a villain? My daughter,” he laughed scornfully, “that was my illusion. You will never be my family. I decline to even consider you as my acquaintance; family is an impossible word between you and me.”

  Hearing his hurtful words, Martia was filled with sorrow. She

  understood that their relationship was now too fractured, and it couldn’t be saved anymore, so losing all hope for a better relationship, she replied softly, “It’s alright if you think that, maybe I deserve this or maybe it is just the situation or maybe it is all the fault of the universe, but whatever it is, I accept your hatred towards me. I just came here to say thank you. Thank

  you for teaching me about all the things that helped me survive until now. Thank you for sending me back to the Prince. If you hadn’t forced me, I might have chosen to never see him. Thank you for making the Prince understand my situation when he was lost. And I know, no matter how much you didn’t want to, surely you would have felt a little sad for me after hearing of my demise or seeing me getting tortured by Promanthae. And also, thank you for considering me, even for a moment, as your daughter. I hope you live well the rest of your life and see less inhuman things around you from now on. Goodbye, Arigue.”

  After hearing Martia speaking her heart out, Arigue was overwhelmed with the same affection that he had felt for her when he thought of her as his child, and he really wanted to go to her and embrace her one last time, but again, the darkness, the trauma, and the despair in him took control of his heart and mind and made all the affection disappear. He continued to pretend to read.

  Martia looked at him as her final goodbye one last time and then left his home, hoping to never return again. And Arigue, even in his state of depression, on seeing Martia leave, couldn’t stop himself from feeling a loss.

  Martia helped the villagers to decorate the village and Minver and

  Acastius to get ready for their coronation. But deep down in her heart, she wanted to go back and see the Prince as soon as possible.