Chapter 353: Starlight (5)

“W-W-W-What...!” Vega stumbled back, eyes wide like a startled rabbit.

Her cheeks flushed bright red as she touched her lips in disbelief.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” she shouted as if steam would shoot out from the top of her head.

Kwon Oh-Jin looked at her flustered reaction with a faint smile. “If you're that confused, want me to do it again?”

“T-That’s...!” Vega trembled slightly as she recalled the lingering sensation on her lips.

She gently traced her mouth with her fingertips and hung her head.

“

Haaa...

” Her head was spinning like a whirlwind.

So many emotions swirled together that she didn’t know what expression to wear. Her heart pounded louder than it ever had before. With trembling eyes, she looked at Kwon Oh-Jin.

“You really are...” Vega trailed off, but a faint smile bloomed on her lips.

With a deep sigh, she stepped toward him and carefully placed her hand on his forehead.

Kwon Oh-Jin flinched.

“Stay still.”

Woong!

A brilliant silver light seeped into Kwon Oh-Jin, and his wounds rapidly healed. The pain that had been tearing through him disappeared almost instantly.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

He nodded, still a little dazed. “Y-Yeah. I’m okay.”

Vega gently caressed his cheek with a soft smile. “When I heard that Spica had given her heart to her child, I thought it was such a foolish thing. I see now, the real fool was me.”

Even though she knew from the beginning that he had deceived her. Even after realizing that the man she had known all this time had been hiding behind a mask, she still couldn’t cut off her feelings for him.

What a foolish woman I am.

With a self-deprecating smile, she stroked his cheek again. His warmth seeped through her fingers. Seeing his wide eyes and the way he shyly looked away, clearly embarrassed, filled her chest with an indescribable happiness. If she had to put it in words, it felt like she could float away at any moment.

“There are a few things I’d like to ask you,” Vega said.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Why did you lie to me at first and say you were a Regressor?”

“Well...” Kwon Oh-Jin scratched his head awkwardly.

“I’d like an explanation. Not an excuse.”

He thought for a moment and nodded. “Honestly, I was just scared at first.”

“Of me? What’s so scary about me?” Vega looked at him and pouted in protest.

“Well, I didn’t know you yet, and... I was afraid you’d think I killed Lee Shin-Hyuk.”

She furrowed her brow at the unfamiliar name. “Lee Shin-Hyuk...?”

“Remember when we first met? A dead guy was lying nearby.”

“

Ah

, yes, I remember.”

“He was the real Regressor, not me.”

Vega’s eyes went wide at the unexpected twist. “What?”

Kwon Oh-Jin bitterly smiled and slowly explained everything that happened with Lee Shin-Hyuk. How they had wandered the gates together and ran into a group of Anthorns. How Lee Shin-Hyuk suddenly suffered a seizure and died.

Then, Kwon Oh-Jin happened to awaken the Black Heaven and absorbed the Stigma of Lyra from Lee Shin-Hyuk.

After hearing the whole story, Vega deeply sighed in disbelief. “

Haaa

. What kind of absurd coincidence is that...?”

“Technically, it wasn’t a coincidence.”

“It wasn’t?”

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded grimly. “Yeah. The Heavenly Demon had planned it all.’”

“What do you mean...?”

Since Vega had holed herself up in the Sanctum after the events in Niflheim, she hadn’t learned the truth about the Heavenly Demon like Song Ha-Eun or Isabella.

“The Heavenly Demon is me, or more precisely, me from the past timeline.”

Vega’s eyes widened again at the unexpected bomb drop. “W-What?!” What are you talking about?!”

She urgently rushed up to him.

Kwon Oh-Jin calmly began to explain the truth about the Heavenly Demon.

“U-Unbelievalbe.”

The Heavenly Demon was his former self who had sent Lee Shin-Hyuk back in time to awaken Kwon Oh-Jin’s Black Heaven.

Vega pressed her forehead, completely shaken. “Why would anyone do something like that...?”

“

Hmm...

This might take a while to explain.”

To fully explain the Heavenly Demon’s true intentions, he couldn’t leave out Song Ha-Eun. And to talk about her, he would have to go all the way back to his past.

“It’s alright. No matter how long it takes, tell me everything you haven’t been able to say until now.” With warm eyes, Vega gently clasped Kwon Oh-Jin’s hand.

She was filled with a longing to finally understand the man behind the mask and hear the truth he had kept hidden all this time.

“Alright.”

Just like that, Kwon Oh-Jin began telling her the story he hadn’t been able to share until now.

Vega let out soft sighs and quiet gasps as she listened closely.

“

Ah

... So, the Heavenly Demon sent Lee Shin-Hyuk to the past to protect Ha-Eun.”

Finally, they had reached the end of the long, winding story.

Vega stared at him with trembling eyes.

Every part of his tale sounded unbelievable in its own right, but the most shocking of all was what recently happened in the Niflheim Kingdom.

“Then... you gave up the chance to kill the Heavenly Demon for my sake?” Vega gripped the hem of her dress tightly.

Kwon Oh-Jin avoided her gaze, unable to answer.

“My child...” Tears streamed down Vega’s cheeks.

How could she even begin to describe what she was feeling? A flood of emotions crashed into her, rendering her speechless.

“Don’t worry. I’ll stop him.” He sounded calm and confident.

However, she knew exactly how much of a heavy burden he carried.

If I had died because of the Heavenly Demon...

The Black Heaven would have disappeared along with the Black Star Celestials and the demonkin threatening the world. Kwon Oh-Jin had turned away from the one chance to end everything, all to save her.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“I... I didn’t know,” Vega whispered.

She had once made a promise with the Heavenly Demon and planned to end the Black Heaven by offering her own life. This wasn’t even something she could imagine. The truth was so devastating that it felt like her mind was burning.

So, the reason Oh-Jin revealed the truth back then was...

It had all been to save her.

Vega placed both of her hands over her chest. It hurt as if a sharp blade had pierced through her heart.

And without knowing any of that, I...

She had shut herself away in the temple, swearing never to see him again just because he had lied to her.

“

Ah... ugh

.”

Her head burned with guilt. Her chest ached, ready to split open from the weight of everything. How selfish and foolish had she been, only thinking of herself?

I can understand now why Oh-Jin kept it all from me.

Though he claimed he had a choice, looking at it from his perspective, that clearly wasn’t the case.

To the Celestials, the Black Heaven was the most terrifying power in existence—a force of annihilation. It had to be destroyed no matter the cost. Obviously, Kwon Oh-Jin knew this. How could he stand before a North Star Celestial at the very pinnacle and admit that he carried the Black Heaven?

“You didn’t have a choice...” Vega trailed off, crying and pulling him into her arms. “I should be the one apologizing.”

She could’ve never imagined that he had been shouldering all this alone.

“It must’ve been so hard for you.” Vega stroked his hair as she held him. “I apologize for lashing out at you earlier even though I didn’t know anything.”

Kwon Oh-Jin slowly pulled back, shaking his head. “It’s okay. No matter the reason, I still lied to you. That doesn’t change. I could’ve told you sooner, but... I was afraid."

Because he had lived like that all his life, he didn’t know any other way to live. So, he kept hiding the truth again and again.

“But I won’t lie to you anymore.”

“My child...” Her golden eyes shimmered with tears as she gently placed her hand over his heart. “Then, are you saying that you possess the same Black Heaven that the Heavenly Demon has?”

Strangely, even with her hand pressed right against his chest, she couldn’t feel the Black Heaven’s presence at all. She could only sense the Stigma of Lyra that she had bestowed him.

“It’s not exactly the same. I have your Stigma, after all.”

According to the Heavenly Demon, Kwon Oh-Jin possessed a complete Black Heaven. Although judging by how unstable it had been acting lately, complete now seemed like an overstatement.

“I see...”

For some reason, realizing that her Stigma kept him from being consumed by the Black Heaven made her feel proud. A faint smile played across her lips.

To this day, I never realized that the Stigma of Lyra could suppress that kind of power.

The only reason Kwon Oh-Jin could safely carry the Black Heaven until now was because of her. That fact alone made her indescribably happy.

Vega gently placed her hand on Kwon Oh-Jin’s cheek and slowly pulled his face toward her.

“I swear on my name, even if the Black Heaven lies dormant within you...” She softly kissed his forehead. “I will become the starlight that shines upon that heaven to light your way forever.”

She carved that unchanging vow deep into her heart.

“Vega...”

“

Hehe

. If the other Celestials found out about this, I’d surely be stripped of my title as a North Star.”

To swear an oath in the name of a star to protect the Black Heaven’s master was a grave act of rebellion that could get her banished from the Sanctum just like the past false stars.

Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes glinted sharply. “That’s never going to happen.”

“I trust you.” Vega nodded with a gentle smile. “A-And one more thing.”

“

Huh?

What is it?”

Vega turned her head slightly as her cheeks flushed red.

Fidgeting with her fingertips, she mumbled barely audibly, “I-I have committed a great wrong against you, haven't I?”

Not knowing what he had been going through, she had shut herself away in the temple and troubled him, thinking only of how he had deceived her. That wasn’t all. She had rejected him outright and refused to speak with him, leaving him deeply wounded.

The goddess leaned in with sparkling eyes. “S-So, don’t you think I deserve a punishment of some kind?”

As she came overwhelmingly closer, Kwon Oh-Jin backed away instinctively. “Again...?”

Seriously, why did this goddess want to be punished every time something happened?

Kwon Oh-Jin swallowed hard as his eyes naturally drifted toward Vega’s backside.