Their figures disappeared and it was only Airi, the man, and the lion again. The two of them gazed at each other's eyes for quite some time before the man explained to him.
"You forgot about everything since then. Not even your childhood before that was spared."
"Is that why I thought that wasn't me at all?" the man nodded "I do not understand" said Airi
"And neither do I. Everything was your parent's choice. I merely granted them their wish"
"Still, how is that even possible?
The man considered him for a moment before he answered. "Have you forgotten that immortality is a curse? James merely passed the curse down to you, and gave you his power."
Even though he said it, Airi still cannot understand how it became possible. Countless legends stated that only those born from the stars can have that power. It is not something a mere human can have. Though, some said that it can be passed down, humans still can't have it and always ended up dead a few days after.
As if reading his mind, the man said. "You are born half-human in Harmonia, or if that's what you call it. What's more, even since you received it, you were practically reborn." He then looked at him earnestly. "Child, listen to this, you are not just a simple human as you thought you are, not even back then. Perhaps James was indeed right, the world is changing, it was not like it used to be. And it only became like this when all of you and your friends are born. I've watched the world of Clover, and Harmonia for many years, but I dare say that there was perhaps some hope after all. And it's up to you, all of you..."
Airi just continued to stare at him, not sure whether he understood most of it, but the man ignored him.
"In the name of I, the ruler of the Celestial world and Celestial kingdom, I shall give you two choices. One, you'll fully accept this power given to you, and serve the Enchanted palace and carry out your duty to resurrect all the eighty-seven others when the time comes. And two, you'll decline it and remain the heir of the Rosarose, and will eventually serve as a lower ranked sacred royal as the Rose clan would be promoted to the sacred realm in the absence of the Celestial kingdom. Whatever you choose is up to you..."
Airi woke up again, it was only dawn and the sun has yet to rise. He stared at the canopy for a moment before he stood up and peered out of the window. After all that he found out, he became more eager to return home.
As he started the day and the classes proceeded, Airi was so absent-minded and just gazed at his quill while flipping it through his fingers.
The time seemed to pass by so slow...
As soon as the classes ended, he didn't waste a second and immediately went home. When he arrived at the Rosarose's mansion, his mother was there to greet him. However, he wasn't as delighted as they are.
He wanted to tell her everything, but he didn't know how to approach her so he just quietly ate dinner while pondering about how he should do things.
Noting his overly quietness, she asked in concern "Airi, dear, is there anything wrong?"
Airi jolted and quickly denied. "What?! No! there's nothing wrong! I'm fine!" Being honest with himself, he was embarrassed. His act was obvious he can't even believe that he said it.
Although, Neon already saw through his obvious lie, she chose to wait until they finished dinner before they talk.
At Neon's study, she gazed at him, but the boy avoided her eyes. Sighing, she came up with a conclusion. She knelt down in front him and held Airi's soft little hands.
"Airi, sweetheart should not leave me. Just decline everything, don't follow your father's footsteps...please..." she pleaded.
Stunned by her sudden plead, Airi looked at her for a moment and without a second thought he declared.
"Mom, I'll take it. Whether I do, or not doesn't really make much of a difference. And besides, I wanna be with Kishi and Kira forever."
"Airi...y-you can't, you can still choose the other way, you don't have to do the same things that James did, you can live free....with me...Airi..."
Whether he liked it or not, he can't help but feel disappointed. He hated lies, more than anything. He frowned as he spoke.
"Mom...Why do you keep lying? I already know the truth, but why keep lying to me? Am I not trustworthy? Is that what you think of me? Why?!"
"I...."
She was speechless for a moment. Airi rarely speak to her like this. He is a good child who loves his parents and friends dearly. Whenever he feels troubled or sad and even when he's angry, he always just kept quiet. He may throw a tantrum every once in a while, but he rarely raised his voice.
He must've been going through a lot; he must've been really troubled. He thought that he shouldn't speak about this matter to anyone, in fear of dragging them into it. He thought that he should handle everything on his own. With him being like this, Neon covered her mouth as tears flowed in her cheeks.
"You agreed to it didn't you?! You let dad give everything to me! And now make it all sound as if I had a choice! None of this should've happen! But you did it anyway! Not even asking me what I feel about it!"
"Airi, I...."
"Shut up! I don't wanna hear anything!"
Airi covered both his ears and closed his eyes, but his mother held his hands and him listen.
"Airi listen, your father and I didn't do it without a reason, we had no choice, we wanted to save you. Please listen to me!"
"No! I don't want to listen! Your all liars! You said you did it to save me, but you also made me feel this way! You made me suffer! Then what's the point!"
"Airi, please...don't blame your father about this. He did that for the best, he thought that it'll be good for you!"
He sneered, "Thought?.....Don't give me that crap...I'm sick of it."
And after that, he hastily left the room. On his way out, he bummed into the twins that was standing by the door, but just ignored them and ran.
They looked at him for a moment before they turned and entered the room. There, Neon was slumped down in the floor, wiping the tears of her eyes.
When she saw the two of them, she hurriedly stood up and greeted them with a smile.
"What brings the two of you here?"
"We followed Airi, it's our fault he found out" Kira answered.
Neon shook her head, "No, it wasn't your fault, Airi would have found out sooner or later" She picked up the kettle from the table and poured some tea on the cups, as she offered them some. "Want some tea? I'll give you some chocolates."
"I want ice-cream..." Kira said and Kishi agreed to her.
"I'll have the same."
Neon smiled again as she nodded. "Of course."
The two of them sat on the sofa as they ate their ice-creams the maid brought in, and Neon sat opposite of them, sipping tea.
"Aunt Neon, why didn't you tell Airi the truth?" Kira asked her.
Neon pondered for a moment before she answered. "Because Airi won't accept it. I never realized it before, but we pampered him so much. Ever since he was just a little baby, we loved him so much. He was a bright and adorable child; he always brings us happiness."
She explained with a smile as recalled all her past memories of him.
"However, when Airi reached one year old, we found out that he was born just like all the other children in our guild. He was...diagnosed with excessive amount of magical energy. You might not have heard of this before, but people in Harmonia viewed that as a curse rather than a gift. And as much as I hate to admit it, they were right. Children with excessive amount of power never survives. Their bodies are way too frail while their magic is too strong that ended up self-destructing their selves. It was so sad that other children live and enjoy life, while they only suffer and die. Most of them also did not wish death, they wanted to live but they weren't given a chance too. And Airi, that child is one of them. As a mother I wanted to stay with him forever, he was so innocent and doesn't know the meaning of death. How could I, his mother, endure as his life withers away? That's when we decided..."