Vega Thanatos was the commander of the Holy Knights of Gashal Kingdom.

The story of how a man who is the commander of the Holy Knights came to love Luné begins with the Cerios Civil War in Gashal.

Eight years prior, the misconduct of Saint Cerios was exposed, leading to a heated debate over her treatment in Gashal.

Despite the passage of time, no consensus could be reached, and the disagreement eventually divided into two factions: the Cerios faction, which believed in protecting the saint, and the anti-Cerios faction, which advocated punishment for those responsible for the misconduct.

The debate turned into division, and division led to civil war. Scholars referred to this conflict as the ‘First Cerios Civil War.’

Vega Thanatos was the leader of the anti-Cerios faction. The fight began with the revelation of the saint’s misconduct. Naturally, the anti-Cerios faction had an overwhelming numerical advantage.

However, surprisingly, the First Cerios Civil War ended in the Cerios faction’s victory. This was largely due to the sudden disappearance of Vega Thanatos, which caused the anti-Cerios faction to lose its leader.

So, why did Vega Thanatos suddenly disappear? It turned out that Vega’s most trusted comrade was actually a spy for the Cerios faction. In other words, he was betrayed by his ally.

Vega Thanatos was forced to consume a poisonous potion by the traitor and fell into the rushing waters beneath a bridge. This officially marked Vega Thanatos as missing in Gashal, and the Cerios faction, believing he was dead, launched an attack and achieved victory.

The short but intense ‘First Cerios Civil War’ was on the verge of conclusion with the victory of the Cerios faction. However, a miraculous event occurred.

In that summer seven years ago, Luné was deeply devoted to magical engineering. After excelling at the academy, her magic engineering professor invited her to take a field trip to Colin, the land of mages.

Accepting the proposal, Luné headed to the port city of Rowen to travel to Colin. There, she stumbled upon an unconscious man lying on the beach. His name was Vega Thanatos. After rescuing Vega, it took him a week to regain consciousness, but unfortunately, he couldn’t remember anything other than his own name.

Concerned about his situation, Luné made Vega her attendant and kept him by her side even after returning from Colin to Brimfe.

As Vega worked under Luné, he gradually regained his memories and eventually remembered why he had collapsed on the beach in Rowen. With all his memories restored, he returned to the Gashal Kingdom, ignited the ‘Second Cerios Civil War’ and led the anti-Cerios faction to victory.

Her assistance played a crucial role in Vega’s recovery and successful revenge, and that’s why Vega Thanatos always respected and loved Luné.

In Altair’s route, after completing his revenge, Vega returned to the Gashal Kingdom early on, but in his main route, he remained by Luné’s side until the end, forming a lasting bond of love.

* * *

“May the light of the Trinity bless you. Lady Fey, Lord Deneb. Have you been well?”

“Why are you here, Sir?,” Deneb asked coldly, ignoring Vega’s polite greeting.

“Isn’t this place only for members of the O’Bellie’s family?”

The eyes that had lost their luster seemed filled with displeasure at the uninvited intrusion.

However, that displeasure was not entirely directed at Vega Thanatos, for he already knew how an outsider could get here.

Undaunted, Vega set the white lily in his arms down on the tombstone and slowly rose from his knees. He stopped in front of Fey, his dark green eyes complementing his brilliant blonde hair.

“I obtained an entry permit from you, Lady Fey, a month ago.”

Perhaps thinking that Fey wouldn’t believe him, Vega took out a piece of parchment wrapped in a ribbon from the velvet pocket hanging at his waist. Clearly visible on the parchment was the title ‘O’Bellie Cemetery Entry Permit’ with O’Bellie’s seal stamped firmly on it.

Fey had a similar memory in her mind, although she thought it was fake.

It was about a month ago.

Vega Thanatos knelt in front of Fey, saying that he wanted to see Luné’s tomb and shed tears. The scene flashed before her eyes as if it happened yesterday.

‘Oh, come to think of it, she didn’t just do it out of goodwill. She definitely received a favor in exchange for the cemetery pass.’

In an instant, a thought flashed through Fey’s mind. After Luné’s death, ‘Fey’s’ behavior only grew more outrageous each day.

She never did anything for free. It was the same when she gave the cemetery pass to Vega.

Fey wanted something in return. And that something was…

“Fey,” Deneb’s voice was filled with anger.

After staring at the permit for a while, he crumpled it in his hand.

“Three months ago, grave robbers almost broke in here. Do you remember? And yet, you still give this to just anyone.”

While feeling Deneb’s gaze piercing through her body, Fey naturally raised the corner of her mouth. Deneb’s anger was natural, but that didn’t mean Fey had nothing to say.

“Just anyone? Isn’t that a bit harsh? Is he ‘just anyone’ to you, Deneb? You know that he always respected Luné. You know he’s not someone who would plot something bad.”

She couldn’t understand why she had to clean up the mess left by Fey. However, this time, she decided not to complain. Because she had willingly accepted the price Fey wanted in exchange for giving Vega the entry permit.

“Thank you for trusting me. Lady Fey.” Vega bowed briefly and looked at Deneb.

“Lord Deneb, your concerns are understandable. If I had heard about the grave robber story, I wouldn’t have rushed to get an entry permit. But I wish you would trust me, even considering the time we spent together.”

Sadness crept into Vega’s gaze as he looked down.

“I just wanted to see Luné and… pay my respects. I also wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize?”

Silence lingered.

Fey could only fiddle with her fingers behind her back without saying a word. The sunlight was scorching, and the wind was cold.

Vega spoke again. “That day… I wanted to apologize for not being by her side.”

That day.

Fey knew exactly what those words meant, and she swallowed.

“Are you talking about the battle against the undead?”

“Yes. Specifically, it was the 568th Undead Extermination Battle. If I had been by her side, at least…”

Vega was overcome with grief and couldn’t continue speaking. The 568th Undead Extermination Battle was Luné’s last. The 568th Undead Extermination Battle, which was like the beginning and end of everything. Luné all but lost her life in that battle.

She no longer had the dragon she always rode, the knight who always protected her by her side, or her younger brother who used to lend her strength from behind. Her beloved lover was also absent.

In that place, she suffered a deep wound that even the power of fairies couldn’t heal, and the wound turned into an incurable plague.

The one who planned it all was ‘Fey La O’Bellie.’

‘Every time I think about it, it drives me crazy.’

Fey felt her shoulders grow heavy and held back a heavy sigh. Then, in an attempt to break the tense atmosphere, she forced a weak smile.

“It’s not your fault…”

“She died just the same.”

Deneb was different. Deneb neither mourned nor regarded the story of that day as something to be feared. There was no emotion in Deneb’s voice, like the wind that brushed past their cheeks.

He stared at the semicircular headstone planted haphazardly beneath a large thorny tree with unfocused eyes.

“If she could have survived with just you, she wouldn’t have died in the first place.” He stated the fact calmly.

A fact that everyone associated with Luné could deny.

“What you said is correct.”

A faint voice broke the silence. In fact, Vega also knew. Even if he had participated in the expedition, he couldn’t have prevented Luné’s death, and fundamentally, Luné O’Bellie didn’t need Vega Thanatos’ power.

“I understand that. Still, I wanted to apologize. Luné was someone I admired and loved very much.”

Deneb, Vega, and Fey all knew that compared to Luné, the power they possessed was insignificant. Everyone was aware that they were all weaker in the face of a hero with absolute power.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I don’t expect you to understand. I just hope you can forgive me for being here. Lord Deneb. It’s the only thing I can do.”

“….”

Fey couldn’t interfere between them. She didn’t want to interfere either. The situation where she mourned the woman she had killed in the past was extremely uncomfortable.

She heard a dry chuckle from Deneb’s side.

“Haha. That’s not it.”

Fey and Vega looked at him with puzzled expressions. Fey noticed a glint of mischief in Deneb’s eyes.

“There’s still a lot we can do.”

“What do you mean?” Vega asked, but Fey didn’t say anything. She saw the intention behind Deneb’s words intuitively and actually hoped that he wouldn’t open his mouth again.

However, contrary to her wish, a cheerful and mocking voice emerged from Deneb’s mouth. As if he was trying to taunt Fey.

“We’re going to get rid of everything that caused Luné to die.”

—