Usually, it was Snow who got flustered, but now Elios was the one breathing heavily.

‘Don’t rush’, he repeated to himself several times. He walked to the railing and leaned against it. The strong sea breeze cooled his head a bit. Snow followed him, padding along.

“I wish every day could be like today. Don’t you?”

She said brightly.

Well. Elios couldn’t agree with Snow’s opinion. There would be many days much happier than today in the future.

“Let’s have the wedding as soon as we arrive.”

Elios said abruptly.

“Wouldn’t it be better to settle down first and then do it slowly?”

Hah, Elios put his hand on his forehead and sighed. He couldn’t wait that long. Snow probably couldn’t even imagine why Elios was acting so impatiently.

Elios thought he wasn’t in his right mind. He felt he needed to cool his head more. He stood there, looking up at what could have been either the sky or the sea.

Come to think of it, there really were many stars. He had been thinking there were many since earlier, but when he tried to look closely, there truly were a lot.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

Snow asked, leaning against Elios.

“The sky. You said the weather no longer responds to your emotions, and it really is true.”

When Snow was startled and almost fell into the sea, and when she looked sad watching the harbor, the sky remained clear. Elios now truly realized that Snow had become an ordinary person.

“Yes. I’ve been thinking about it, and I believe the sky is most beautiful when it’s just being itself.”

“The sky is always just itself. What do you mean by saying it’s most beautiful when it’s just being itself?”

Elios asked affectionately.

“If someone interferes with it, forcing rain or snow against its natural laws, it’s not natural. That’s not being itself.”

She was referring to the weather that once fluctuated according to Snow’s emotional ups and downs. Snow subtly reached out to hold Elios’s hand and said:

“So nature is most beautiful when it’s just being nature.”

“You talk as if you’ve mastered all the laws of the world.”

Elios said teasingly, interlocking his fingers with hers. Snow felt a bit caught out. In fact, she once had mastered all the laws of the world. Now it felt so distant that she could barely remember.

“But you’re right, Snow. The starry sky can always be this beautiful, whether the Saint is smiling or not.”

The sky is most beautiful when it’s just being itself. Elios didn’t fully understand the sentiment behind Snow’s words. Nevertheless, what Elios said resonated deeply with Snow. The sky is always this beautiful, whether the Saint is smiling or not.

Not just the sky. The wind. Rivers. Water. Life. Time. The natural order.

Even without the intervention of an absolute being, the world continues on its own, experiencing rises and falls. That’s what makes it beautiful, admirable, and remarkable.

There was a time when this felt terribly lonely and unbelievably hopeless. The world familiar to a deity was one that only functioned with their presence, a world that began with the deity and was completed by the deity.

But now, she was grateful for all those things that radiated their own beauty.

Because the world no longer needed a deity, Snow was able to meet Elios. She was able to meet Ceres Martadia and Arianne. And she was able to meet Freia too. Though the world was painful for Freia, she never regretted that initial moment when she jumped into the pond and became Freia.

The age of deities had finally come to an end.

Now it was the era created by countless small and tender, lovely and admirable hands coming together. A grain of sand, a single insect, a fragment of a short song, a small rainbow formed by spraying water, a small fern-like hand, a faint smile. A single wildflower. Without missing anything, all these things come together, each becoming a small deity that harmonizes this world, weaving together.

Now Snow and Freia would also melt into it, becoming one of the beautiful meanings that make up the world. That was enough.

One that forms the whole. Something that cannot be missing even one piece, beautiful only when all are together.

Yes, it was the “we” that she had longed for so desperately. From now on, neither Snow nor Freia would ever be lonely.

“El. This is a secret.”

Snow began in a small, whispering voice. She cupped her hands and put them to Elios’s ear. A very deep span of time passed through her silver eyes.

“From now on, there will be no divine miracles anywhere in the world. Things like the weather changing without reason, the sky and earth splitting, or dead people suddenly rising—none of these will happen.”

It was a statement without context, but Elios listened to Snow’s words seriously. He thought if she said so, then it must be so. He believed she had a reason to say such things. It was an obvious fact that Snow had once been an extraordinary being, and in truth, Elios still thought of Snow as an extraordinary girl.

“A world without miracles… having personally witnessed miracles happen several times, I can’t imagine such a world.”

Elios said dreamily. But Snow shook her head at Elios’s words.

“No, it’s not that miracles are disappearing. Instead of ‘divine’ miracles, different kinds of miracles are happening every moment, even now.”

Ah. Only then did Elios seem to have some realization from Snow’s words. His expression deepened. In truth, Snow couldn’t predict what Elios felt upon hearing her words. Now she could neither see the future nor read others’ minds as she wished.

“What are you thinking right now?”

So she asked directly.

“I don’t think I fully understand what your words mean, but I just… I think you’re really amazing for saying such things, Snow.”

“It seems I’ve fallen for you again, what should I do?”

Elios said calmly. If she blushed here as she always did, Snow felt like she would lose. Snow calmed her tickling heart and retorted:

“Then, hug me as much as you’ve fallen for me.”

“Haha, that’s quite a wise solution.”

Elios burst out laughing. Not just the night air, but even the clear sound of the sea was refreshingly clear. This time, instead of pulling Snow toward him, Elios stepped closer to her.

Eventually, their shadows completely overlapped.

‘Yes, Snow. If every day could be just like today, I couldn’t ask for more.’

Elios now sincerely agreed with what Snow had said earlier.

♣ ♣ ♣

It is a very old story, and a story of the very distant future.

There was a fragile Saint who was afraid to leave the temple, and a young Prince who wanted to be as great as his father.

The Saint received courage from the Prince to go out into the world. The Prince, because of the Saint, was finally able to live a life for himself.

They fell in love with each other, and no misfortune, no calamity, not even a death-like deep sleep could separate them.

When the Saint finally awoke from her long sleep, their story ended with a promise of eternal happiness.

Yes. They will be happy.

For the world that creates miracles every moment blessed them with that infinitely.

Epilogue

I don’t know when I’ll be able to send this letter again, but there are two big things I must tell you, so I’ve hastily picked up my pen.

Ceres. Don’t be surprised.

Arianne is getting married.

This is not a joke.

Really!

You must be very curious about who it is. Because I was. I sat still in one place for a day and a half, interrogating Arianne. I’ll tell you everything I learned.

It started with something trivial. Arianne said… it was around spring last year, she saw three little children sitting and playing on the dirt road. It looked dangerous and precarious for them to be there where carriages passed by, so she kept worrying about them.

Around sunset, she passed by that road again, and those children were still playing, covered in dust. Here, very occasionally, there are children abandoned by their parents, so she worried if these little ones might be in such a situation.

So Arianne approached the children. These little ones, who seemed to have just passed ten years of age, didn’t show any wariness toward the unfamiliar Arianne.

As it turned out, the three were siblings, waiting all day for their father who had gone to work.

You know how Arianne has a soft spot for young children, don’t you, Ceres? Arianne felt uneasy about leaving them alone, so she waited with them until their father came. The children’s father came running down the dirt road in a hurry, long after the sun had completely set. The father gave Arianne a quick bow and then trudged home holding the children’s hands.

The next day, and the day after that. The three siblings always came to that spot early in the morning and waited all day until their father returned. They would briefly disappear somewhere at mealtime, then come back and wait eagerly for their father.

Arianne visited them every day because she was worried about the children. After a few weeks, when she started bringing baskets with snacks, the children would cheer when they saw her coming.

As time passed, Arianne naturally came to learn about their family situation.

Their mother had passed away early, so there was no one to look after them. Their father had no choice but to go to work, asking neighbors to check on the children occasionally. He had to work hard to feed the three children.