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 - Decision Under the Starry Night — The Oblivious Young Lady and the Resolve to Choose —
Stars were falling from the skylight of the observatory.
At the very top of the royal palace's north tower, cold night air flowed into a circular chamber fifteen meters across. Katarina Claes stood before the star chart at the room's center. The massive disc of brass and star-vein crystal was still now—but she remembered how, just moments ago, the instant that red star blazed over the royal capital, the disc had turned on its own.
(It was tracing the path of the starfall.)
Katarina rested her calloused, farm-worked palm gently against the edge of the chart. The metal's chill seeped from her fingertips up into her wrist. Ever since that day, her hands—which had lost their earth magic—had felt as though they were forever failing to grasp something.
"Celes... the star chart you left behind is still here."
Once she'd said it aloud, she lost track of what she was even saying.
Celes Valmont. A twenty-two-year-old young man with silver hair and silver eyes. A man who called himself a recorder of the stars and was rumored to be an auditor of time. A week ago, he had vanished, becoming a pillar of light. From the palace records and from people's memories alike—as though he had never existed at all.
(But I remember.)
(Maria remembers too.)
Katarina let her gaze fall on a single record book resting atop the star chart. It was the record of the stars that Celes had written in every night while he continued his observations at the observatory. The positions of the stars, the strength of their light, the flow of the star-veins. Penned in meticulous handwriting, alongside the dates. On the final page, this was written:
*The stars are meant to be read, not changed. Yet the heart of the one who reads them can, at times, move the stars.*
Katarina traced the words with her fingertip.
"I've decided to choose. That day, I declared it in front of Lord Geordo. That I want to choose—as myself."
She looked up at the sky. Beyond the skylight, a sky full of stars twinkled. A single shooting star traced a long tail as it fell.
That was when it happened.
The star-vein crystal at the center of the chart suddenly began to glow white.
(Huh?)
The light grew stronger by the moment. Katarina instinctively took a step back. The radiance pouring from the star-vein crystal dyed the entire room pure white. And then, from within the light, a human form slowly rose into being.
Silver hair. Silver eyes. An old star-shaped scar on the back of his left hand.
"Celes...?"
The light receded. Standing there was, without a doubt, Celes Valmont.
He looked a little tired. His silver hair was slightly disheveled. Even the collar of his usually immaculate garments was a touch askew.
"Katarina Claes. I'm late."
Celes's voice was quiet and polite, as always. Yet his breathing was just slightly ragged.
"Celes, is it really you? But you were forcibly summoned back by the Bureau of Temporal Audit..."
"Yes. I broke free of the Bureau's custody and returned by my own power. I used the star-veins to force a transfer, so my body has taken something of a toll."
Celes gently pressed the star-shaped scar on the back of his left hand with his right. The gesture made Katarina's chest tighten.
"Why... why would you do something so reckless? If you defy the Bureau, this time you'll..."
"To witness your decision."
Celes looked straight at Katarina. His silver eyes caught the starlight and shone quietly.
"I promised that I would be present at the moment you choose. That night, here at this observatory. ...I came back to keep that promise."
Something hot welled up behind Katarina's eyes.
(This man is willing to wear himself down just to witness my choice.)
(He came back, heedless of the danger.)
A warmth spread slowly through the center of her chest. At the same time, thinking of the weight of the danger he carried made her heart ache.
"Thank you, Celes. But I still haven't chosen anything yet. I've only decided to choose—I don't even know what I'm choosing."
"That's all right. Deciding to choose—that is the first step."
Celes stepped closer to the star chart. His pale fingertips brushed gently across the brass surface.
"Katarina Claes. That day, before the crown prince, you made this declaration: 'I will choose my own life, myself. Not chosen by anyone, nor letting anyone choose for me. With my own words, by my own will.'"
"Celes, you weren't even there—how do you know that..."
"The stars see all. And your words were carved into the star-veins."
Celes turned to face Katarina.
"But, Katarina Claes. To 'choose' also means to 'not choose' someone. If you choose someone, then whoever is not chosen will surely be hurt. Are you prepared for that?"
Katarina bit her lip.
(I know. I know that.)
(Lord Geordo, Keith, Maria. They've all turned their true feelings toward me.)
(If I choose someone, someone else will be hurt. That's unavoidable.)
Katarina clenched both hands tight. The calluses from farm work ached in her palms.
"Celes. I've thought about it. I've thought about it for so long."
Her voice trembled. But she didn't look away.
"It's not that I'm afraid of hurting someone, so I don't choose. That would just be running away. In my past life... no, all through my life up to now, I've been running from choosing. To avoid the doom flags, I kept from getting close to anyone, and I sealed away my own feelings."
Memories of her past life surfaced in Katarina's mind. An utterly ordinary high school girl who had died in a traffic accident. Someone who went along with everyone around her, never voicing her own opinions, living swept along by the current. And even after being reborn into this world, she'd thought only of avoiding the doom flags, endlessly running from her true feelings.
"But I've finally realized that won't do. By not choosing, I've hurt even more people. When you disappeared, Celes, I thought it was my inability to choose anything that made you vanish."
"Katarina Claes..."
"So I'm going to choose. Not refusing to choose because I'm afraid of hurting someone. I want to protect the people I love by choosing them. With my own words, by my own will, I'll choose my own life."
Katarina's voice echoed through the stillness of the observatory.
Celes's eyes went wide. He, who normally never let emotion show, was visibly shaken. His silver eyes were opened wide, and something wavered deep within them.
"Is that... a resolve that surpasses the regret of not choosing in your past life?"
"Yeah. That's right. I'm not running anymore. What my past self couldn't do—this time, I'll do it properly."
Katarina gave a small smile. Beyond her tear-blurred vision, Celes opened his lips as if to say something, then closed them again.
"You're right—the choice is mine. So I'll be honest with my own heart. That's the path I choose."
After a long silence, Celes let out a deep, deep breath.
"...You are a strong person. Far stronger than I had thought."
There was none of his usual businesslike coldness in that voice. Just a little warmth was mixed in.
That was when the observatory door flew open with force.
"Katarina!"
A golden-haired young man stood there. Geordo Stuart. Third prince and crown prince of the Kingdom of Sorcier. Katarina's fiancé. His blue eyes caught sight of Celes and flashed sharply.
"So you were here after all. Celes Valmont."
Geordo walked slowly into the observatory. He kept the dignity of a prince, yet a clear wariness rose from his whole body.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince. It has been some time."
Celes gave a quiet bow.
"You are forbidden from entering the palace. To break free of the Bureau's custody and come back—you must be remarkably resolved."
"As are you, I would think. Resolved to witness her choice."
Geordo's blue eyes sharpened further.
Just then, another set of footsteps came from beyond the door.
"Sister!"
With his flaxen hair in disarray, Keith Claes came running in. Katarina's adoptive younger brother, and heir to the Claes dukedom. The beautiful seventeen-year-old boy, short of breath, spotted Katarina and let relief spread across his face.
"Sister, are you all right? Ever since that red star appeared in the sky, I couldn't find you anywhere, and I was so worried..."
The instant Keith's blue eyes caught sight of Celes, his expression hardened.
"Celes Valmont. Why are you here?"
"I returned to witness Katarina Claes's decision."
"Please don't drag my sister into any more danger. Ever since you appeared, she's been suffering."
Keith's voice held unmistakable hostility. A desperate wish to protect his sister, mixed with a possessiveness that didn't want any other man to take her from him.
"Keith, that's not it. Celes came back, risking danger, to witness my decision. I didn't ask him to come here, but... even so, I wanted Celes to be here."
"Sister..."
Keith's face twisted as though wounded.
"Katarina."
Geordo stepped forward.
"I don't care whom you choose. Whoever you choose, I will respect that choice. But—"
Geordo's blue eyes pierced straight through Katarina.
"If you will not choose yourself, then I will not let you go."
Deep in Katarina's chest, something throbbed violently.
(Lord Geordo's true feelings.)
(He won't let me go.)
On the ring finger of Geordo's left hand shone the engagement ring from Katarina. He had never once taken it off.
"Sister."
This time, Keith stood directly before Katarina.
"If you're happy, Sister, that's enough for me. Whatever path you choose, I'm on your side. But—"
Keith's blue eyes were glistening.
"If I'm not part of your happiness, then that isn't my happiness."
Katarina's breath stopped.
(Keith...)
(Don't make that face. Don't say things like that.)
Her adoptive brother's true feelings pierced her heart. Geordo's feelings and Keith's feelings—both were real. Both of them cared for Katarina in earnest.
The two men looked at each other. Geordo's blue eyes and Keith's blue eyes quietly crossed.
"...Your feelings are genuine."
"Yes. I believe yours are genuine as well. Which is precisely why I cannot yield."
"Nor can I. I have no intention of giving Katarina to anyone."
A taut tension flowed between them. Yet within it was not only hostility, but something like a strange resonance. The painful understanding shared by two people who loved the same woman.
Caught between them, Katarina felt her chest might burst.
(Both of them care for me so earnestly.)
(I'm happy. But it hurts.)
(I have to choose. I have to decide my own feelings, properly.)
Katarina clasped both hands before her chest. Her heart was pounding.
That was when it happened.
The starlight streaming through the observatory's skylight turned crimson all at once.
"What—"
Everyone looked up at the sky.
Beyond the skylight, in the night sky over the royal capital of Arcadius, the red star blazed as though burning. The red star that had appeared the very moment Katarina declared she would "choose." Now it was radiating light even larger, even stronger.
And then the star chart began to move.
With a grinding sound, the brass disc began to turn on its own. The star-vein crystal, casting red light, traced complex orbits across the surface.
"The star chart... it's turning on its own again!"
Celes rushed to the chart. His silver eyes scanned the surface rapidly.
"...The path of the starfall is becoming clearer. The red star's position is closer to the royal capital than before."
"The calamity of the starfall... is it really coming?"
Katarina's voice trembled.
The calamity of the starfall. In the six hundred twentieth year of the kingdom's calendar, a massive meteorite had fallen on the eastern part of the kingdom, a catastrophe that claimed some thirty thousand lives. Its recurrence was now being drawn out upon the star chart.
"Katarina Claes. This is not the end. The stars are still pressing you to choose."
Celes turned toward Katarina. His silver eyes were utterly serious
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