A Love Offered to the Final Guardian: A Suicidal Boy Finds Meaning in Life in Another World
Seventeen-year-old Kanata Amemiya has lost all meaning in life and wishes only for death in an abandoned building. When he loses consciousness, he awakens in Fiore, a fantasy world of magic and monsters. He finds himself in the Mist Village, a remote settlement cursed and isolated from the outside world by a monster-filled forest.
Lilia, a silver-haired young guardian, single-handedly protects the village with barrier magic and cold determination. She dismisses Kanata as a 'useless foreigner.'
A Love Offered to the Final Guardian: A Suicidal Boy Finds Meaning in Life in Another World - The Last Night, the Warmth of Silver Hair
It was a deep, deep night.
The corridor of the village chief's mansion was freezing cold, and the chill seeping up from the stone floor stabbed at the soles of his bare feet. The emergency alarm had already fallen silent, but the entire village was holding its breath, waiting for the storm to pass — that was the kind of stillness that filled the air.
Kanata stood before his own room.
*(Lilia, surely...)*
He remembered the promise he couldn't make in front of the door. His own worthlessness, unable to say anything but "I can't." And yet, the warmth of Lilia's hand still seemed to linger on his left wrist.
Suddenly.
From the far end of the corridor, he heard faint footsteps.
Bare feet. Cautious, careful not to be noticed by anyone, footsteps that walked with bated breath.
Something inside Kanata's chest shrank, cold and tight.
*(—No.)*
*(It can't be.)*
He opened the door to his room without making a sound. As he passed the next room — Lilia's room — he caught his breath for a moment. The door was slightly ajar. And inside, it was empty.
The bed was already cold. Her indigo cloak was still draped carelessly over the back of a chair.
Kanata broke into a run.
Still barefoot, he raced through the mansion's corridors. He didn't care about the creaking of the wooden floorboards. When he roughly shoved open the front door, the outside air struck his face, bitterly cold.
Though it was a late summer night, the air was as frigid as winter. The collapse of the barrier must have disrupted the flow of magical elements, throwing even the climate into chaos. A full moon hung in the sky. Eerily white, it bathed the entire village in a pale, bluish light.
Kanata's gaze caught the stone-paved path leading toward the northern hill of the village.
In the distance, he could see silver hair swaying, reflecting the moonlight.
"—Lilia!"
Kanata shouted as he ran. The soles of his feet were cut by the stones and aching, but none of that mattered.
Lilia was walking. She wasn't wearing her indigo cloak, just her ordinary clothes, barefoot, heading toward the barrier core shrine on the northern hill. Her back looked smaller than usual. Shoulders slumped, like a ghost walking toward the place she would die.
*(I knew it.)*
*(She meant to go alone.)*
Yes. From the very beginning, Lilia had always intended to do this. Ever since she became the Guardian at thirteen, dying had been the natural choice for her. Now that the barrier was on the verge of collapse, she had no hesitation about offering up her own life.
But—
Kanata clenched his teeth.
*(That's—)*
*(Wrong.)*
He caught up. Just before the stone steps leading up the northern hill, he finally came close enough to reach out and touch her back.
"[angry]...Move."
Lilia spoke without turning around. Her voice was low, frozen. As if she had left behind everything that could be called emotion.
Kanata didn't stop. He quickened his pace and circled around in front of her. He spread both arms wide, blocking her path.
Lilia's amethyst eyes reflected Kanata. The area around her eyes was faintly red. There were no tear tracks — her tears crystallized before they could fall. But he could see the pale light deep within her eyes trembling more intensely than ever before.
"[cold]This has nothing to do with you."
Lilia grabbed Kanata's shoulders and tried to push him aside. Her strength wasn't great. But her hands were trembling, and her nails dug into his shoulders.
"[serious]It does have to do with me."
Kanata didn't move.
"[angry]I said move. I am executing the Guardian's final covenant. That is my duty."
"[serious]No."
"[angry]What is 'no'?"
"[serious]Your duty isn't to die."
Lilia's hands pressed against his chest, trying to shove him away.
But—
Kanata grabbed her wrists.
They were thin. Astonishingly thin. So delicate and bony they seemed as if they might snap at any moment — hardly the wrists of a girl who had protected the village alone for seventeen years.
Lilia caught her breath.
"[sad]Let go. Before you use the forbidden art, I will—"
"—If you die,"
Kanata's voice trembled, against his own will. His voice cracked, and the words wouldn't come out the way he wanted. Even so, he forced them out.
"[sad]If you die, I..."
The back of his throat burned. He couldn't draw breath properly.
"[crying]After I'm gone — I don't want to imagine you crying alone."
The strength drained from Lilia's hands.
Her arms fell limply. Her face slowly twisted in the moonlight. Her lips trembled, and he could see luminous tears welling up in her amethyst eyes.
"[whispers]...That's not fair."
Lilia's voice was hoarse.
"[crying]Not fair. If you say something like that..."
Lilia hung her head. Her long silver hair cascaded down, as if to hide her face. Her shoulders were trembling faintly, and he knew she was desperately holding back her tears.
At that moment—
*Plink.*
A tiny crystal spilled from Lilia's eye. A tear crystal — a fragment of lumina — glowing pale blue in the moonlight, made a small sound as it hit the stone pavement.
One.
Then another.
The tears wouldn't stop. The moment they fell, they crystallized, scattering tiny grains of light around Lilia's feet.
"[crying]I... don't want to cry alone anymore either."
Lilia raised her face.
Crystallized tears kept spilling from her amethyst eyes, but even so, she looked straight at Kanata.
"[crying]But I have to protect the village. That's... the only thing I have."
"[gentle]Then let's think about it together."
Kanata took Lilia's hand.
It was cold. Trembling. But she no longer tried to push him away.
"[gentle]Let me spend this last night... with you."
Lilia didn't answer.
But slowly, she squeezed his hand back.
The two of them walked toward the northern hill.
Not toward the stone steps leading to the barrier core shrine, but toward the grassy meadow spreading across the hillside. A gentle slope with a view overlooking the village. The night wind swept across the meadow, making the silver grass heads sway like waves.
Kanata led Lilia by the hand and sat down at a spot on the slope that felt just right.
"[gentle]I like this place."
Lilia sat down beside him. The distance between them was barely a fist's width. Their hands were still joined.
The village spread out below them, quiet. The light of magic lamps spilling from the windows of the houses flickered in shades of orange. The barrier's light pulsed faintly, and he could see it covering the entire village like a thin membrane. Beyond it lay the Mist-Phantom Forest. The milky-white mist shimmered silver under the light of the full moon.
"[sad]...All this time,"
Lilia murmured quietly.
"[sad]All this time, I've been looking at this scenery alone."
Her voice was fragile, as if dissolving into the night wind.
"[sad]Ever since I became the Guardian. Every time the barrier grew thin, I would sit here alone... telling myself, it's still okay, it'll hold a little longer."
Strength returned to Lilia's hand.
"[sad]But maybe it's no good anymore. The barrier is about to vanish. The people of the village — I have to protect them—"
"[gentle]No."
Kanata cut off her words.
And then, he wrapped both hands around hers.
"[gentle]You're not the only one protecting them. I want to protect them too — you, and the village."
Lilia stared at Kanata's face.
Her amethyst eyes were wavering. The pale light deep within them flickered, pulsing like waves.
"[sad]...Why?"
"[gentle]Because you're here."
Kanata spoke those words with a naturalness that surprised even himself.
"[gentle]Because you're in this village, I wanted to be here. When you smile, just that alone—"
The words caught in his throat.
But it didn't matter if they caught. There was only one thing he wanted to convey.
"[gentle]I love you."
Lilia's eyes opened wide.
Kanata reached out toward Lilia's cheek. His fingertips touched her cold skin. Her silver hair, illuminated by the moonlight, swayed softly in the breeze.
Lilia said nothing. But she closed her eyes.
Her eyelashes trembled faintly. Her lips parted, just slightly.
Kanata leaned forward.
The distance between their faces closed to the width of a single finger. Lilia's breath touched Kanata's cheek. The scent of magical power — a pure fragrance, like clear moonlight mingled with snowmelt.
And then—
Their lips touched.
Just a moment.
A kiss so brief it was barely there.
But there was a definite warmth. Though Lilia's lips were cold, heat seemed to radiate from deep within them.
When their lips parted, Lilia's eyes were still closed. She remained in that posture, trembling faintly. Not from the cold.
"[whispers]...Lilia."
When Kanata spoke her name, Lilia slowly opened her eyes.
Her amethyst eyes wavered, veiled with a film of tears. But her face wasn't one of crying.
*(She's smiling.)*
Kanata's chest tightened sharply.
Lilia's mouth had softened, just a little, unmistakably. It was the first time he had seen it — the smile of neither a Guardian nor a warrior, but simply a seventeen-year-old girl.
"[whispers]...Idiot."
Saying that, Lilia rested her forehead against Kanata's chest.
Kanata held her.
Everything that was Lilia was in his arms.
Her slender shoulders. The ridges of old scars he could feel on her back. Beneath her left shoulder blade — the scar from the first time she had fought a Valgrim alone and lost.
Kanata gently placed his palm over that scar.
Lilia stirred faintly.
But she didn't reject him. Among everyone in the village, only Kanata had been allowed to see these scars.
"[whispers]Don't disappear."
Lilia's voice was so small it seemed to be absorbed into Kanata's chest.
"[crying]Kanata... don't disappear."
She clutched the front of Kanata's jacket tightly. So tightly her fingers turned white. As if clinging to him.
Kanata buried his face in Lilia's silver hair.
Cold.
Cold as if it had absorbed the moonlight, and yet, unbelievably soft. The scent of magical power — pure, clear, like snowmelt.
*(This is—)*
*(What Lilia's existence is.)*
Kanata closed his eyes and tried to etch all of it into his memory. The feel of her silver hair. The warmth of her delicate body. The scars on her back. Her trembling shoulders. The beating of her heart, felt against his chest.
Every single second was as precious as eternity.
"[gentle]I won't disappear."
Kanata said.
"[gentle]I'll remain... inside you."
Lilia's shoulders trembled even more.
But she said nothing more. She just cried silently in Kanata's arms, stifling her voice. Every time a tear fell, tiny crystals clinked softly as they dropped.
How much time had passed?
Before he knew it, Lilia's breathing had grown calm.
She was exhausted. She hadn't slept a wink since the barrier's collapse the night before. On top of that, her emotions had surged violently again and again — her physical and mental strength must have reached their limit.
Lilia was asleep, her head resting against Kanata's shoulder.
Kanata gently stroked her silver hair, careful not to wake her. Under the moonlight, her sleeping face was unbelievably peaceful. The face of neither a Guardian nor a warrior, but simply a seventeen-year-old girl.
*(I've never seen her face like this before.)*
The lights of the village went out, one by one.
The full moon had slowly begun its descent toward the west.
By the time the moon had tilted far into the western sky — three in the morning.
Kanata quietly took a small crystal from the inner pocket of his jacket.
A magical message medium — a message crystal — given to him by Celes along with the explanation of the forbidden art. It glowed with a faint blue light, still bearing no imprint.
Kanata gripped the crystal and gazed at Lilia's sleeping face.
Silver eyelashes.
Her chest, quietly rising and falling.
Her hand was still clutching the edge of Kanata's jacket tightly.
*(I don't want to let go.)*
*(I want to stay lik
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