World’s Strongest Became the Game’s Weakest Villain

Flashes of lightning filled the lady's eyes.

In the small cramped cell of the bandits' hideout, infernal screams resounded in the air as the smell of burnt flesh came wafting through to her.

A massacre was unfolding outside.

The earth trembled.

The lady placed her hand on the walls and tried to balance herself.

"Is the mountain splitting apart?"

The ground below was cracking open from the incessant trembling.

The lady closed her eyes and took in a few breaths.

Not a single of those bandits were around anymore. All of them had ran away. Or at least, tried to run away.

Her guard was more capable than she initially realized. She knew it when she saw him crushing the merchant troupe with his presence alone this morning, but it was something else to see him in action.

A cloud covered the moon's gaze.

And the walls of the cell at her back broke down.

A cold, chilling breeze made her veil flutter as cramped cell was obliterated completely.

A voice reached her ears.

"Did you wait too long, my lady?"

Without turning back, the lady sighed.

"Thirty-Seven minutes."

"Ah, well..." the man leaned closer to her.

The lady held her breath as he turned back.

A veil that hid her away also hid the world from her.

The cloud hiding the moon flitted away, and for the first time in a long time, the lady's eyes landed on someone in front of her.

Holding a beautiful blooming rose Acacia in his hands, the man's gentle gaze fell on her.

A worried, yet carefree smile hung on his lips as his white hair reminiscent of her own fluttered in the wind.

It was the first time she had 'looked' at her guard. At anyone. Since the day she had put on her veil.

"It took a bit to find this flower for you," he said.

The lady gently reached out and took the flower from his hands.

"They grow in our estate," she said.

The man averted his gaze. Then, he stretched his hand toward her.

The lady held his hand.

A few more hours. A few more hours of being remembered wouldn't hurt.

And after that, she can go away.

"Ow." The lady hissed as she tried to stand up.

"Are you hurt?"

"It's nothing—Hey!"

Before the lady could say anything, with a bitter expression on his face, the man swooped her up in his arms and carried her in a princess hold.

"What are you doing?" The lady asked.

"Just enjoy the ride. Should we go back now?"

The lady reached out and held the edge of his clothes with the tip of her fingers.

She nodded, and the man smiled.

"Keep your eyes closed for a bit."

The boy jumped off the edge of the building and into the open skies.

The night Breeze rushed into the lady's hair, sending it free in the air.

The lady who didn't need to open her eyes to see clearly felt the disgusting state that the man had left the bandits in, but it didn't matter.

The way the breeze she felt each time he jumped off the ground and soared into air hit against her. The wind that moved past her veil and brushed against her cheeks.

It was enough to distract her from everything else.

The blood, the guard, herself, all of it faded away and only the moon and the stars above remained in her min.

Then, he spoke.

"Will you still say you aren't being forgotten?"

Like a wretched, evil demon, he poured water on her heart and ran it cold.

What was the point of hiding it now?

"So what if I am?"

"Why?"

"What a strange question. Shouldn't you be asking how?"

"I don't mind that. Why do you not fight back?"

The lady's hand tightened around his clothes.

Her breath stuck in her neck as she spoke.

"An existence that can be forgotten so easily shouldn't be remembered in the first place."

The man stopped.

Atop the tallest tree, the man stopped.

He stared up at the sky and nudged the lady too.

"Did you know, my lady? They say the sky you see once is never the same again."

The lady didn't say anything but turned Herr gaze toward the sky.

It was still as beautiful as before. But as she focused, it was different from before.

"A myriad of skies for every day in your life."

His voice was soft, like a lyre.

"Yet, this sky I see with you today seems special. I don't know why, but it's making my heart pound."

The lady narrowed her gaze. Her hand tightened around the man's clothes.

"Whoever sleeps, will forget about me. Everyone except me."

"If it's just a few days, I can stay awake my lady."

"And what after?"
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"I'll stay awake as long as it takes, my lady."

"Don't spout words you don't mean."

The man lifted the lady higher in his hold. With a smile that didn't hide his tiredness, a smile that could yet display his determination.

"I have already not slept once this month. What's a few more days?"

"It's not a few days. Just... Forget it. Don't think of this. Go to sleep, and you'll forget anyway."

"My lady,"

The man slowly lowered her on the tree so she could gaze up herself.

He held her hand, while she held his shirt.

"If you're going to be forgotten, at least."

"What?"

"At least, let me learn a bit more about you."

"About me?" The lady asked.

The man smiled again.

His heart pressed against his chest for a reason he couldn't tell.

"I..."

He whispered.

"I am curious about you, my lady. Deeply curious."

The lady lowered her head.

"Just like the stars tonight. I 'want' to remember you."

The two of them stayed in the night under the changing moons glow for a long while.

"Fine." She said.

Fine.

And the next day.

No one in the capital city remembered the lady anymore.

No one but him.