Days passed with Nil sitting beside Aeren's bed, maintaining her constant vigil. She had lost track of time completely, doing nothing but watching over him as he remained unconscious.
She had never seen Aeren this vulnerable before, and she could sense that he had lost the powers he had gained in his past life. Her worry was so intense that she couldn't bring herself to leave his side, even for a moment.
Still staring at his unconscious form, she whispered to herself, "When will you open your eyes?" Her gaze remained locked on his motionless body.
Aeren's eyelid twitched as she watched. She couldn't believe what she'd seen, rubbing her eyes and looking again. The same subtle movement occurred, and she felt such warmth in her heart that she almost forgot how to speak.
She wanted to call out, to encourage him to wake up, but she controlled all her impulses and waited patiently for him to regain consciousness naturally.
Aeren opened his eyes gradually, seeing only blurred shapes around him and an unfamiliar ceiling above. Turning his head to survey his surroundings, he spotted Nil and noticed she was barely holding herself together from exhaustion and worry.
Recognizing her presence, a smile spread across his face. "Hey, Nil. You look different." He spoke politely, studying her face and watching for her reaction, though she showed little emotion outwardly. Still, Aeren could tell she felt overwhelmed by the situation.
Nil stared at him silently before responding, "You look different too, Prince Aeren." A small smile graced her features, meant to charm him.
Aeren observed her smile and felt its allure, but despite his appreciation for human beauty, he didn't allow himself to be completely enchanted by her expression.
"You're much more beautiful than before, Nil." Aeren complimented her while sitting up in bed, his eyes remaining on her.
Nil didn't blush at his comment—she had expected such praise. Seeing him sitting up, she replied with poetic elegance that shocked Aeren: "The closer I am to you, the more my beauty shines across all existence. This is the law of existence itself."
Aeren understood her meaning completely: Loneliness close to freedom means to shine.
After comprehending her profound statement, Aeren chose to ignore its deeper implications and began examining his surroundings. He found himself in a chamber he'd never seen before in this life, and he could tell he was no longer within the Vorthis Empire's borders.
Turning back to Nil after his brief survey, Aeren asked, "Where are we?" He deliberately changed the topic, not wanting to delve deeper into her loneliness.
Nil noticed his confusion and responded with pride, "This is the newborn continent. No one else knows about this place yet." She began explaining enthusiastically, "I'm the only one who discovered this continent. I created this mansion through my imagination, and this place hosts many different species who follow my commands. They've made me their queen, and I've named this continent 'Cloud.'"
Aeren listened as she elaborated on her accomplishments, describing the various species and people inhabiting this continent. They had all been born with the landmass itself and possessed natures fundamentally different from humans.
All the species on this continent wielded power capable of opposing people from the Vorthis Empire. They could easily defeat conventional forces because they derived their abilities from both dark and light spirits, granting them resistance to magic itself. While conventional mana and aura techniques still affected them, they could comprehend these forces and turn them against their wielders.
Their infinite affinity for mana and aura allowed them to understand the deeper meanings behind these energies. However, not all possessed this ability—only a select few could achieve such comprehension. Still, someone with overwhelming power in aura and mana could potentially overcome them.
Only four to six individuals existed with the ability to fully comprehend the meaning behind both aura and mana. These exceptional beings were directly connected to Nil, helping build the continent and assisting other species.
As Aeren absorbed all this information about the continent and Nil's rule over it, he learned there were no restrictions on anyone—except the absolute requirement to follow all of Nil's orders. This is direct slavery, Aeren realized as he contemplated the implications.
They were all species adrift, without a path—until Nil gave them one to follow. Because she provided direction, they began to see her as something beyond comprehension. Yet the path she offered blinded them; they could no longer imagine any way but hers.
Thus, their journey became a one-way road of slavery: follow her, or remain lost.
To be lost is to be free, while to walk a path is to accept restraint. To choose a path is to seek an end—but the lost have no end to reach, for they have no path at all.
So the question remains: is freedom found in the path, or in its absence?
Aeren began understanding the meaning behind her words after listening for an hour.
"What do you think? Do you like our new empire?" Nil asked with expectation shining in her eyes, wanting to hear his positive reaction.
But Aeren reflected on her words, using this moment to understand more about his own freedom and the meaning behind his existence.
He tried once again to comprehend the meaning of true freedom through the surrounding existence, but everything offered him only restraint, no matter which side or path he chose. No matter what...
Freedom has no path.
A path is restraint—slavery.
Freedom...
Aeren's mind went blank as he grasped his own understanding. He comprehended freedom's meaning but found himself unable to explain it.
Freedom from whom?
Freedom from what?
Freedom is meaningless...
His brain began struggling to process the meaning behind his own thoughts.
A sharp pain pierced his head as Aeren lost his sense of purpose, his reason for existing. He began disappearing, shattering into nothingness.
"I'm lost. I'm not my current self." As Aeren started vanishing, Nil watched but began forgetting him, no longer knowing what was happening.
As Nil observed without feeling anything about Aeren's disappearance, she forgot who he was entirely. She simply watched something she'd never witnessed before unfold in her chamber.
But somehow Nil began comprehending the meaning of her own power while keeping her eyes on Aeren. He looked so beautiful that she couldn't look away from him.
"Is this true erasure?" Aeren watched his body shatter into nothing as his understanding of freedom became increasingly dull. He gave up trying to comprehend freedom and allowed himself to be erased.
Swapn fled from Aeren in terror, fearing both his master and the meaning he had discovered.
The butterfly landed on Nil's head and observed Aeren through his dream-sight, but he could do nothing to help. He too began forgetting about Aeren as their connection faded. Since Swapn had been born through Aeren, he also started leaving reality.
Swapn erased from reality as Aeren erased from meaning itself.