Parallel Memory

Chapter 734: A Quiet Conversation

For a few seconds after the doors opened, neither of them spoke.

The afternoon sunlight poured into the room through the enormous windows behind Zero, bathing the entire penthouse in a warm golden glow. Compared to the noisy lobby downstairs, the room was almost unnaturally quiet.

Lilith stood frozen at the entrance.

Meanwhile, Zero simply stared at her.

For a moment, neither of them looked like the people who had stood in the ruins of the Devil King’s palace not long ago.

One was the queen of an entire kingdom.

The other was the man who had helped decide its fate.

And yet, at this moment, they looked more like two exhausted people who had survived something neither of them fully understood.

Zero was the first to break the silence.

"You actually came."

Lilith crossed her arms, pretending to be annoyed.

"I crossed half the continent. The least you could do is sound surprised."

Zero glanced at her oversized cloak and mismatched clothes before raising an eyebrow.

"You crossed half the continent dressed like that?"

Lilith immediately looked down at herself.

"What’s wrong with it?"

Zero couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

"It looks like you robbed an old woman on the way here."

"I did not!"

"You look eighty years old."

Lilith glared at him.

"I’ll have you know that this outfit belonged to one of the palace servants."

"That explains everything."

Lilith grabbed the cushion from the nearest sofa and threw it at him.

Zero caught it effortlessly.

For the first time in what felt like weeks, he laughed.

Not the polite smile he wore during ceremonies.

Not the bitter laugh he used to hide disappointment.

A genuine laugh.

Lilith stared at him in surprise.

Then, before she realized it, she found herself laughing too.

Outside the room, Aiden quietly closed the doors and left them alone.

The laughter slowly faded, replaced by a comfortable silence.

Lilith sat down on the sofa opposite Zero and looked around the room.

"So this is where you’ve been hiding."

Zero shrugged.

"More or less."

"An eleven-story building?"

"It wasn’t eleven stories when I left."

Lilith blinked.

"You mean Aiden built all of this while you were away?"

"Apparently."

Lilith shook her head in disbelief.

"Humans are terrifying."

Zero smirked.

"You said the same thing about the elevator."

Lilith immediately frowned.

"That thing is terrifying."

"It just goes up and down."

"People walk inside, disappear, and come back from another floor."

"That’s called transportation."

"That’s called suspicious."

Zero laughed again.

Lilith crossed her arms proudly.

"You laugh now, but one day that metal box will betray humanity."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

For several moments, neither of them spoke.

The silence wasn’t awkward.

After everything they had gone through, silence had become strangely comforting.

Eventually, Lilith broke it.

"How are you feeling?"

Zero leaned back against the sofa.

"Better."

"That’s not an answer."

"It means I’m alive."

Lilith narrowed her eyes.

"You disappeared for weeks after collapsing in front of the Devil King’s throne."

"I know."

"You nearly died."

"I know."

"And you’re acting as though you caught a cold."

Zero let out a quiet sigh.

"I really am better now."

Lilith looked unconvinced.

The last time she had seen him, his body had been consumed by unstable mana. Even touching him had been impossible.

Yet now he sat before her as though nothing had happened.

"...How did you recover?"

Zero looked toward the city outside the window.

"Honestly?"

Lilith nodded.

"I slept."

Lilith stared at him.

"That’s it?"

"Mostly."

"You expect me to believe that?"

Zero shrugged.

"The healers did their work. My body recovered. That’s all there is to it."

Lilith shook her head.

"You’re impossible."

"So I’ve been told."

For a while, Lilith simply watched him.

The dark circles beneath his eyes had faded, but she could still tell that he hadn’t fully recovered.

She could sense it.

Perhaps not physically.

But emotionally.

People rarely walked away from wars unchanged.

Zero noticed her staring.

"What?"

Lilith hesitated before speaking.

"Nothing."

Zero smiled faintly.

"Liar."

Lilith looked away.

"You’re still not completely healed."

Zero remained silent.

For once, he didn’t deny it.

Eventually, he changed the subject.

"So..."

Lilith raised her head.

"How does ruling an entire kingdom feel?"

She stared blankly at him for several seconds before letting out a long sigh.

"Horrible."

Zero almost choked.

"Horrible?"

"It’s terrible."

"You became queen a month ago."

"Exactly."

Lilith buried her face in her hands.

"Everyone thinks I’m some kind of genius."

Zero tried—and failed—to suppress his smile.

"You’re the queen. Isn’t that normal?"

"No!"

Lilith immediately sat upright.

"Every day, nobles come to me saying things like, ’Your Majesty’s wisdom surpasses history itself.’"

Zero burst out laughing.

Lilith pointed accusingly at him.

"Don’t laugh!"

"I’m trying not to."

"They think I planned everything!"

"You didn’t?"

"Of course not!"

Zero laughed even harder.

Lilith grabbed another cushion.

"You think this is funny?"

"A little."

She threw the cushion at his face.

"You have no idea how difficult this is."

Zero barely managed to catch it.

"Then tell me."

Lilith’s expression softened.

For the first time since arriving, she looked genuinely tired.

"I spend every day listening to people argue."

"About the treaty?"

"About everything."

She leaned back into the sofa.

"The merchants want trade."

"The military wants power."

"The nobles want influence."

"The scholars want research."

"The farmers just want peace."

Zero listened quietly.

"And all of them think I know what I’m doing."

He smiled faintly.

"Do you?"

Lilith stared at the ceiling.

"...Not really."

Zero looked outside the window.

"Then I guess we’re similar."

Lilith turned toward him.

"You don’t know what you’re doing either?"

"Most of the time."

She blinked.

"You almost defeated a Devil King."

"I almost died fighting a Devil King."

"That’s not the same thing."

"It feels the same."

Lilith couldn’t help but laugh.

The room once again fell silent.

But this silence felt different.

Heavier.

Both of them knew exactly where their thoughts had drifted.

Aamon.

Aaron.

The palace.

The battle.

For several moments, neither dared to speak.

Finally, Lilith broke the silence.

"I still think about them sometimes."

Zero didn’t ask who she meant.

He already knew.

Lilith lowered her gaze.

"Aamon wasn’t always like that."

Zero quietly listened.

"When I was younger, he used to bring me books from distant cities."

Her voice softened.

"Aaron would sneak sweets into my room and then blame the servants."

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"They weren’t good people."

She paused.

"But they weren’t monsters either."

Zero looked down at his hands.

For the first time since the war, he remembered Aaron’s final expression.

Not hatred.

Not rage.

Regret.

"We only met them at the end," Zero said quietly.

Lilith nodded.

"Maybe."

She stared at the afternoon sunlight spilling across the floor.

"Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if things had been different."

Zero didn’t answer.

Because he had spent his entire life wondering the same thing.

After a long silence, Lilith finally spoke again.

"Do you think my father would approve?"

Zero looked at her.

"The peace treaty?"

Lilith nodded slowly.

"Everything."

Her voice was barely audible.

"The kingdom."

"My decisions."

"My mistakes."

She clenched her hands together.

"Sometimes I wonder whether I’m trying to fulfill his dream..."

She hesitated.

"...or whether I’m simply afraid of disappointing someone who’s no longer here."

The room became silent once more.

Zero stared out at the city below.

Thousands of people moved through the streets.

Each carrying regrets.

Each carrying expectations.

Eventually, he spoke.

"You know..."

Lilith raised her head.

"I don’t think anyone ever becomes the person their parents imagined."

She remained silent.

"We just keep making decisions."

"Sometimes they’re right."

"Sometimes they’re wrong."

Zero smiled faintly.

"But if you’re worrying this much about disappointing him..."

He looked directly at her.

"...then he was probably proud of you long before you became queen."

Lilith froze.

For a brief moment, she said nothing.

Then she quietly looked away, pretending to be interested in the city outside the window.

"...You’re annoyingly good at saying things like that."

Zero laughed softly.

"I learned from experience."

Lilith smiled.

Outside, the sun slowly began to set over the human capital.

And for the first time since they had met among the ruins of the Devil King’s palace, neither of them spoke of war, politics, or kingdoms.

For a little while, they were simply two people sitting beneath the same evening sky, trying to understand the world they had survived.