Eid.
His gently closed eyes were as beautiful as ever. Aster recalled Seiyad, worn down by the toll of his powers, fast asleep beside him. Whenever the side effects became too much to bear, Seiyad would cling to him like a frightened child, helpless and desperate.
“Your Highness, please… grant me peace.”
“Aster.”
“If it’s not you… no one else can save me.”
The Northern Duke, feverish and dazed, wrapping his arms around him—just the sight of it drove Aster insane. When Seiyad pleaded like that, he became so heartbreakingly lovely that Aster felt as if he could rip out his own heart and offer it to him. He wanted nothing more than to make that beautiful man, groaning in pain, smile again.
So Aster gave in to his requests without hesitation. He soothed him when he rubbed his lips against his neck, ran a hand down his back, kissed his forehead with a tenderness he didn’t bother to hide. And little by little, Seiyad would calm down. But for Aster, it only grew more painful.
Tithers had once needed him like that too—but whenever Seiyad came back to himself, some part of his heart always belonged to someone else. Like a stray dog he’d taken in as a boy and cared for ever since, Seiyad could never let go. Even after their relationship had rotted and been completely severed, the person who remained at the very core of Seiyad’s heart was always Ressas Raman Solias.
Aster hadn’t hated him from the start. He tried to endure it. But Seiyad, by nature, was too kind—he couldn’t turn away from those in need. And Ressas, of all people, had to be the most pitiful man in the world. While everyone else ignored or ridiculed him, Seiyad always put him first.
You promised you’d stay by my side. You said it yourself.
This is your fault, Eid. You should’ve come to my birthday banquet. You knew how extravagant and beautiful the Spring Gratitude Festival would be—a celebration filled with gifts meant for you. And yet, you chose to leave me and sit beside that worthless man?
By unfortunate coincidence, Ressas and Aster shared the same birthday. The entire world remembered Aster’s birthday—everyone except Seiyad, who always forgot his own. And once Seiyad finally severed ties with Ressas, that date itself became a trigger. After that, Aster never brought it up in front of him again.
If only you’d stayed with me, none of this would’ve happened.
Yes… even Aster had to admit it—Ressas was a wretched man. Smirking at the thought, he looked up at the sky. The moonlight above was dimming, about to fade into nothing. As he gazed at the silver light spreading across the heavens, Aster finally understood what Nox had once told him.
The moon was too bright, too beautiful—how could anyone not love it? That’s why the Darkness had wanted the moon to become a star. If it became just one among countless others scattered across the sky, no one would be able to recognize its worth.
Back then, Aster had laughed at Nox’s foolish, greedy tale. But at some point, he had become the very same. He’d wanted to turn Seiyad—who stood beside the suffering, who helped others—into nothing more than a distant star. And in doing so, he became a devil. Just as he’d wished, Seiyad was now nothing but a forgotten light in the sky.
It had all gone exactly as Aster wanted. Smiling faintly, the breathtaking man looked down at the corpse. That elegant smile rested on his lips like it had been made for him. But then, slowly, the corners of his mouth began to falter. Aster raised a reddened, frostbitten hand to stifle the sound escaping his lips.
A low curse slipped out. He rubbed at his mouth with fingers that refused to warm, then held his breath. His breathing grew wild and uneven—it felt like he couldn’t breathe at all. Since accepting Nox completely, he hadn’t had a single nightmare. But now, one suddenly surged back. Fear—real, raw fear—consumed him in an instant.
“Fuck.”
Why the hell… why do I feel like this… this goddamn… horrible feeling?
His thoughts came in fractured bursts. His blue pupils thinned like a snake’s—he couldn’t even understand himself. No matter how much he inhaled, it still felt like he was suffocating. And then, he collapsed over Seiyad’s body.
Like a madman, Aster blindly reached out and grabbed Seiyad’s frozen hand. It had already lost all warmth, stiff like wood, no longer capable of returning his touch. Looking back, Seiyad had always held his hand whenever Aster wanted. Even in the dead of winter, he’d take off his leather gloves just to touch him, just to share that quiet warmth.
And now, a realization—sharp and absolute—pierced through his soul. Aster’s eyes widened in stunned disbelief as he stared down at the gloves he had discarded. Lined with rabbit fur Seiyad had caught for him, those gloves were one of his most cherished belongings. Just like the cloak draped across his shoulders—everything wrapped around him had been Seiyad’s gift.
“Your Highness, I’m here. As long as I’m by your side, I’ll do anything you ask. Just give me the word.”
Were you… really never by my side?
“I love Lake Axid the most. Because it’s the same color as Your Highness’s eyes.”
Were you… never with me? Not even once?
“I’m glad Your Highness is here. I have no one but you…”
Then… were you really…
“It’s just a small wound. Please don’t cry, Your Highness. Your powers can heal it. Who cares if a scar remains? It’ll just be a mark showing that you cared for me.”
You… loved me…
“How could I ever dare speak Your Highness’s name?”
You…
“…Aster.”
You truly cherished me.
After becoming Aster’s Tither, Seiyad had always been there—right when Aster needed him most. When tensions with Queen Leana left him in torment. When he woke, trembling, from nightmares that never seemed to fade. When, during their first battle together, Aster saw Seiyad gravely wounded and fell into a panic. Through it all, Seiyad stayed at his side, quiet and unwavering.
And each time, he’d offer a gentle smile. His thick brows softened, his sharp eyes warmed, and the corners of his lips curled just enough to reassure.
“I’m really all right, Aster. Because I’m the one who protects you.”
Those long-forgotten words pressed hard against his ribs. His wide, blue eyes filled with cold tears, brimming before spilling down his cheeks. Within seconds, the tears covered Aster’s pale face. Droplets gathered at his chin, then fell to the ground, freezing where they landed. A violent shiver ran through him. Winter in Axid, without Seiyad, was too cruel to endure.
“Wake up, Eid.”
A desperate cry tore from the lips of a man who realized too late what he had lost. His voice broke with anguish, neck strained, veins bulging as he shouted. Dignity and composure were forgotten as he grabbed Seiyad and shook him. Panic flickered in his wildly trembling eyes.
“I—I lost control. I was a selfish, wretched bastard, and I did this to you. So please, wake up. Just wake up and kill me instead. I destroyed someone so precious, someone I—!”
His voice gave out. Blood surged into his throat and burst from his mouth. Collapsing forward, Aster trembled violently, pressing his hands against Seiyad’s chest to force his power into him. But the soul was gone. The body had already left life behind. Seiyad—who used to drink in Aster’s power like lifeblood—was no longer there.
Only then did Aster realize how empty Nox’s promise had been. He didn’t need to drive Seiyad to this point. He didn’t need to kill him just to keep him close. Seiyad had already been by his side.
Always—always protecting him. Even from their first meeting, one Seiyad himself no longer remembered.
And now, the one who had been too blinded by his own greed to see that truth knelt alone. A man who had rejected devotion, who had forsaken love. He wanted to tear himself apart. He wanted to die. And yet… he couldn’t. Whether it was something in his nature or something Nox had twisted inside him, he didn’t know. But the obsession running in his blood refused to let go. He still wanted Seiyad’s soul beside him—even if it meant clinging to its ghost. Even now, unable to let go, he couldn’t die.
A twisted laugh slipped from his lips, tangled with sobs. It echoed unnaturally in the frozen air. Rocking like a madman, he pressed his mouth to Seiyad’s forehead again and again—kisses like the ones Seiyad always asked for—until his lips cracked and split from the cold.
And then, from somewhere in the distance, he heard voices calling to him. Adena and the others. The blue Seiyad had loved so much was gone from his eyes; only dull darkness remained. Aster slowly turned his head, casting a hollow glance at those who sought him out only for their own ends. Disgust, revulsion—it passed through him like a shadow.
A pain beyond words crushed his soul. The moonlight overhead had vanished completely. Surrounded by flickering torchlight, he sat still in the darkness and saw the world that awaited him. A world of endless shadow and hellfire. His precious silver light was gone.
And then, without warning, he thought of his younger half-brother—brilliant, mysterious, like this very darkness. Nox’s words returned: He’s the one chosen by the sun. He must die. So did the memory of Holy Death, the blade he always carried to ensure it. The sword that should have never left his side… yet today, of all days, it was missing.
He didn’t know why that thought suddenly surfaced. But one thing he did decide—he would not share this realization with Nox. Though Nox could see through his eyes and hear through his ears, he couldn’t read thoughts. Maybe that was why he couldn’t understand hearts either.
Not even knowing what he wanted anymore, Aster blankly stared up at the black sky. The hair once praised as brilliant as the sun didn’t shine at all in this darkness.
Seiyad… truth is…
I wanted to be your sun.
Even though I knew I was nothing more than a small, pitiful star—something that could never burn that bright—I still wanted to be.
So I pulled you down to my side, instead of letting you shine above where you belonged.
The man who killed the moon that had always protected him bowed his head, crushed beneath the weight of regret. And then, to warm his Tither—who had always shivered only when near him—he wrapped his arms around him one last time.
Deep in his heart, he wished he could undo everything he’d destroyed.
