My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! — Requiem of the Starry Night
In the world of *FORTUNE LOVER*, Katarina Claes has spent her second life dodging every doom flag the game could throw at her—and against all odds, she's succeeded. Graduated, employed at the Ministry of Magic, and surrounded by the people she loves, her future finally looks bright. But when a routine night patrol leads her to a forbidden star-viewing platform and a silver-haired stargazer named Celes Valmont, her hard-won peace begins to crack. "Soon, you will be forced to make a very great cho
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! — Requiem of the Starry Night - Principles of Stargazing — The Oblivious Young Lady and the Act of Choosing —
The third-floor corridor of the Ministry of Magic received not even the afternoon light. The star-vein crystal lamps embedded in the stone walls cast thin, pale blue beams. Katarina Claes walked with a bundle of documents clutched to her chest. Her footsteps were swallowed by the cold stone floor.
(It's been a week since Celes disappeared.)
She bit her lip. Deep in her chest, a heavy stone sat sunken. Since she'd lost the use of her earth magic, her hands felt strangely light. The paper of the documents slid across palms calloused from farm work. Her fingertips still remembered the feel of tilling soil, yet her magic would not answer.
"Lady Katarina, would you mind taking these?"
A female colleague held out a stack of papers. Katarina lifted the corner of her mouth.
"Sure, I'll take them."
She accepted the documents. In her arms, the bundle of paper was heavy and solid.
(If it's just paperwork, even I can do it.)
(Even without magic, I can be useful.)
She told herself this and started walking.
When she returned to the office, her colleagues were whispering among themselves. As Katarina approached, the conversation stopped dead.
"Um, Lady Katarina—"
One of them spoke up hesitantly.
"It's about that inspector everyone's been talking about..."
Katarina's fingers gripped the edge of the documents tightly. The paper crinkled.
"The inspector... you mean Celes?"
"Yes. But there really doesn't seem to be any record of such a person."
"Everyone says it must be your imagination. No one's ever seen a silver-haired man at the royal palace."
Katarina tried to say something. The back of her throat went dry. But no words came out.
(Again. Everyone's forgotten about Celes.)
(I'm the only one who remembers. I'm the only one who knows him.)
She sat down at her desk in silence. She set the documents on the desk. Her fingertips were trembling faintly.
At lunch break, Katarina went out to the ministry's courtyard. Weeds poked up through the gaps in the stone paving. She crouched and touched a weed's leaf with her fingertip. Cold. The smell of earth spread through her nostrils.
(If I had my earth magic, I could pull these weeds out in an instant.)
"Lady Katarina."
A soft voice came from behind her. She turned to find Maria Campbell standing there. Her bright chestnut wavy hair swayed in the wind. Her gentle green eyes looked straight at Katarina. Her complexion was paler than usual. As a bearer of light magic, her skin should have been faintly luminous—but now it looked dull.
"Maria."
She stood up.
"Lady Katarina, I remember. There was a silver-haired gentleman. He was talking with you at the Stargazing Platform."
Something grew hot deep in Katarina's chest.
"Maria... you remember?"
"Yes. Clearly. He had such sad eyes. Every time he looked at you, it was as if he was enduring something."
Katarina grasped both of Maria's hands. Maria's fingertips were cold as ice. That coldness crept slowly from her palms to her wrists.
"Thank you, Maria. I wasn't the only one. I wasn't the only one after all."
Tears ran down her cheeks. It had been a long time since she'd cried in front of someone. Maria gently squeezed her hands back.
"Lady Katarina, I've always been on your side. No matter what happens."
Maria's green eyes flickered gold. In that instant, a black light blinked at her fingertips.
"Maria, your fingertips just now—"
Maria hastily pulled her hands back.
"I'm sorry. Lately I can't control my light magic properly. Sometimes it clouds over black like that."
"Are you all right? Don't push yourself."
"Yes. But when I touch you, Lady Katarina, I feel a little calmer."
She smiled as she said it. Behind that smile, a deep weariness showed through.
In the evening, Katarina left the Ministry of Magic. The sky over the royal capital Arcadius was dyed madder red. The surface of the Lumina River glittered, reflecting the setting sun. As she walked along the riverside path, a carriage rattled past over the stone paving. From a food stall drifted the savory smell of star-vein grilled skewers.
"Miss, how about a star-vein skewer? Two gold."
She stopped in front of the stall. On the grill, fragments of star-vein crystal glowed pale blue.
"One, please."
She paid two gold and took the skewer. It was hot. When she brought it to her mouth, the sweetness of the star-vein crystal spread slowly across her tongue.
(Delicious. But somehow, the flavor seems thin.)
(Maybe because my heart is empty.)
She chewed the skewer and stared at the river's surface.
That night, Katarina was in her room at the Claes ducal estate. Her family home lay sixty kilometers northeast of the capital—half a day by carriage. She had come back for the first time in a while. Through the window she could see the garden. Star-vein crystal lamps cast pale blue light across it. Part of the garden, once beautiful, lay in ruins from an earth magic rampage. It was the place Keith had destroyed when he couldn't control his power.
(Keith is suffering too.)
(And it's all because of me.)
She stood by the window, looking down at the garden.
"Sister."
She turned. Keith Claes stood in the doorway. His flaxen hair caught the corridor light and shone softly. His blue eyes gazed at Katarina. The star-vein crystal earring on his left ear flickered faintly.
"Keith. What is it? At this hour?"
"There's something I need to tell you. I'll be waiting in the garden."
With that, he quietly left.
She took a thin shawl and left her room. The corridor was silent. Even the servants had retired by now. When she stepped into the garden, the night wind was cold on her skin. Stars twinkled overhead. The flow of the star-veins felt stronger than usual.
Keith stood in the center of the ruined garden. It had once been a magnificent rose garden. Now the earth was gouged out and the stone paving shattered.
"Sister, come here."
Katarina stood beside him.
"I was scheming with Mother to annul your engagement to Prince Geordo. To free you from the royal palace."
Katarina's eyes went wide.
"Annul... the engagement?"
"Yes. I believed you were suffering, bound to Prince Geordo by that engagement. So to set you free, I was pushing forward with a plan to bring him down."
Keith's voice was quiet. But behind it lay a deep shade of regret.
"But I've stopped. On my own judgment, I've scrapped the entire plan."
"Why?"
Keith turned to face her. His blue eyes, bathed in moonlight, glistened as if wet.
"If you're happy, that's enough. That's what I always believed. But I realized something. If I'm not part of your happiness, then it isn't my happiness either."
Something beat violently deep in Katarina's chest.
"Sister, I love you—not only as my sister, but as a woman. I always have."
Keith's confession was quiet. The night wind passed between them. Katarina was speechless. Keith's blue eyes looked straight at her. Deep within them, feelings built up over many years were plainly visible.
"Keith, to me you're—"
She started to speak and choked on the words.
(I thought of him as my little brother. But Keith saw me that way?)
(Since when? Why?)
Her mind went blank.
"You don't have to answer now."
Keith took a step back.
"But if you choose for yourself, I'll follow. Whoever you choose, I'll believe in the path you take."
"Keith..."
"Sister, I wish for your happiness. Truly, from the bottom of my heart."
He smiled quietly as he said it. That smile was the same gentle one he'd worn since childhood. Katarina took his hand. Keith's fingertips trembled faintly.
"Thank you, Keith. I'll properly accept your feelings. I can't answer yet, but I won't run away."
"Yes. That alone is enough."
The two of them stood in the ruined garden for a while. The stars twinkled quietly.
The next day, she returned to the Ministry of Magic. She was sorting documents in the third-floor office when a scream suddenly rang out.
"Miss Maria! Her light magic is going out of control!"
She threw down the documents and dashed into the corridor. Maria's office was at the far end of the third floor. She ran down the hall. Her heart pounded violently.
(Maria!)
When she opened the office door, blinding light spilled out. Documents flew up, and the floor was swallowed by a torrent of light. Maria was crouched in the center of the room, writhing in pain. From her whole body, light mixed with gold and black gushed out violently.
"Lady Katarina! Don't come in! It's dangerous!"
Maria's voice was like a scream.
"Maria! It's all right, I'm here!"
She plunged into the torrent of light. The light seared her skin. It hurt. But she couldn't stop. She reached Maria and grasped both her hands.
That was the moment.
Maria's light, as if drawn into Katarina's palms, quieted. The gold and black light slowly melted within Katarina's hands. And then, something stirred inside Katarina's body.
(This is... earth magic?)
Her earth magic, which should have withered away, was faintly responding. The power of the earth welled up slowly from her fingertips.
"Lady Katarina... the light is settling..."
Maria's light vanished completely. The office fell into silence. Across the floor, the charred remains of documents lay scattered in black. Still holding Katarina's hands, Maria wept.
"Lady Katarina, I love you. Not as a friend—as a woman."
Katarina's breath stopped for an instant.
"I always have. From the day you saved me, my heart has been full of you. I bake sweets because I want to make you happy. I can work hard at the Ministry because I want to be near you."
Maria's tears fell onto Katarina's palm. Warm.
"Lady Katarina, I love you as a woman. Even knowing it can never be, I couldn't keep hiding these feelings."
Katarina gazed at Maria's tear-wet face. Maria's green eyes shone gold. Her light magic resonated with her emotions, flickering beautifully.
(Maria... loves me, as a woman...)
(I never noticed Maria's feelings at all.)
(I'm so dense. I really am hopelessly dense.)
Her chest tightened.
"Maria, I... I want to face your feelings properly. I can't give you an answer right now, but I won't pretend your feelings never existed."
Her voice was trembling.
"Lady Katarina... thank you. That alone is enough for me..."
Still gripping Katarina's hands, Maria cried aloud.
The physician arrived shortly after.
"Lady Katarina's magic isn't completely gone. It's merely sleeping, resonating with Celes's star-vein."
The physician examined Katarina's palm and spoke quietly.
"Lady Maria's light magic must have stimulated Lady Katarina's dormant earth magic. If similar resonance occurs in the future, her magic may awaken."
She looked at her own palm. Her hand, calloused from farm work. Deep within it, her earth magic breathed quietly.
(My power hasn't vanished after all.)
(Celes left something inside me.)
She clenched her palm tight.
At night, Katarina headed for the Stargazing Platform in the north tower of the royal palace. She climbed the spiral staircase. Her footsteps echoed off the stone walls. When she opened the door, starlight poured down through the skylight. A circular room fifteen meters across. In the center stood the star chart.
(The place where Celes was.)
(The place where he showed me the future.)
She approached the star chart. Countless stars were engraved on its surface. Along its edge, someone had left writing.
"Stars are meant to be read, not changed."
That was the principle of stargazing. Since the founding of the kingdom, it had been an absolute law forbidding the use of stargazing results for political ends. Beneath it, in a different hand, was added:
"But for a person to choose their own branch by their own will—that is the true meaning of stargazing."
She traced the words with her fingertip.
(This is Celes's handwriting.)
(Stars can't be changed. But people can choose their future by their own will.)
(The true meaning of the stargazing principle isn't giving up on the future. It
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