Parallel Memory

Chapter 730: Beneath the Same Night Sky

The palace had long fallen silent.

The grand corridors that bustled with nobles and ministers during the day now stood empty beneath the pale moonlight. Outside the towering windows, the capital of the Devil Kingdom glittered with thousands of lanterns, but inside the royal chambers, only a single candle remained lit.

Lilith sat alone at the edge of her bed, staring absentmindedly at the reports piled before her.

Casualty reports.

Reconstruction expenses.

Tax records.

Lists of villages destroyed during the civil war.

The longer she ruled, the more she realized that wearing a crown did not make one’s burdens lighter—it only made them invisible to everyone else.

With a sigh, she closed the final report.

The room immediately became quieter.

For several moments, she sat motionless before slowly standing up and walking toward her wardrobe.

A few minutes later, the Queen of the Devil Kingdom had disappeared.

In her place stood an ordinary girl wrapped in a dark cloak, her horns hidden beneath the hood.

Without alerting the guards stationed outside her chambers, Lilith slipped into the shadows of the palace and descended toward the sleeping city below.

Tonight, she wanted to see her kingdom with her own eyes.

Not as a queen.

Not as the daughter of the previous Devil King.

Simply as Lilith.

***************************************************

The capital looked completely different at night.

The noisy markets had closed hours ago, leaving only the occasional merchant packing away his belongings. The streets were illuminated by rows of crimson lanterns, their flickering lights dancing across the black stone roads.

Far in the distance, workers could still be heard repairing damaged buildings even at this late hour.

Life moved on.

Yet the scars of war remained everywhere.

Lilith wandered through the eastern district, where some of the destruction had been the worst. Entire neighborhoods had been reduced to rubble during the fighting between Aamon’s forces and the royal supporters.

Many houses still stood empty.

Broken windows reflected the moonlight.

Doors hung from shattered hinges.

Some homes would never be rebuilt.

As she passed through a narrow alleyway, a faint sound caught her attention.

Laughter.

Children’s laughter.

Curious, Lilith followed the sound until she reached a small abandoned courtyard hidden between several ruined buildings.

Five children sat around a tiny fire, warming their hands against the cold night air.

Their clothes were old and torn.

The youngest couldn’t have been more than six years old.

One of the boys held a piece of bread above the flames.

”If you burn it, it’ll taste better.”

The girl beside him rolled her eyes.

”You said that yesterday.”

”Yesterday, I burned it too much.”

Lilith stood quietly in the shadows, watching them.

There were no adults nearby.

No parents.

No home waiting for them.

Only ruined buildings and a small fire.

A little girl suddenly noticed her.

”Who’s there?”

The other children immediately turned.

Lilith quickly lowered her hood and smiled.

”Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The oldest boy stepped protectively in front of the others.

”Who are you?”

”Just a traveler.”

The children exchanged doubtful looks.

”Travelers don’t wander around here at night.”

Lilith laughed awkwardly.

”Then... let’s say I’m lost.”

The youngest child pointed at the bread in her hands.

”Do travelers have food?”

Lilith froze.

The children stared at her with wide eyes.

Slowly, she reached into her cloak and pulled out a small pouch of coins.

”Wait here.”

Before the children could react, she disappeared into the night.

**************************************************************

A few streets away, an old baker was preparing to close his shop.

The door suddenly swung open.

He blinked in surprise.

”Miss? We’re closing.”

Lilith hurried inside.

”I’ll buy everything that’s left.”

The baker nearly dropped the tray in his hands.

”Everything?”

Lilith nodded.

”Everything.”

Twenty minutes later, she returned to the abandoned courtyard carrying several bags filled with bread, fruit, and warm soup.

The children stared in disbelief.

The little girl gasped.

”Are you rich?”

Lilith sat down beside them and handed out the food.

”Not really.”

The children attacked the meal as if they hadn’t eaten in days.

In truth, they probably hadn’t.

For several minutes, nobody spoke.

Only the sound of chewing echoed through the courtyard.

The youngest boy looked up at her.

”Thank you, big sister.”

Lilith smiled.

”It’s nothing.”

The little girl beside him tilted her head.

”Big sister, do you live near the palace?”

Lilith hesitated.

”A little.”

The children’s eyes immediately lit up.

”Really?”

”Have you seen the queen?”

”Is she pretty?”

”Can she really use magic?”

Questions poured out one after another.

Lilith couldn’t help but laugh.

”Why are you so interested?”

The oldest boy lowered his gaze.

”My father died fighting in the war.”

The laughter vanished instantly.

”My mother got sick last winter.”

He looked around at the others.

”Now it’s just us.”

None of the children spoke.

Lilith tightened her grip around the bowl in her hands.

The little girl suddenly asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper,

”Your sister in the palace will save us, right?”

Lilith froze.

The courtyard became silent.

The little girl continued.

”Everyone says the new queen is kind.”

The youngest boy nodded enthusiastically.

”They say she wants peace.”

”Then maybe things will get better.”

The children looked at Lilith expectantly.

As if she possessed all the answers.

As if she could promise them a better future.

But she couldn’t.

Because she didn’t know.

She didn’t know if the peace treaty would succeed.

She didn’t know if humans and devils could truly coexist.

She didn’t know if these children would still be homeless a year from now.

For the first time in her life, Lilith understood the true weight of a crown.

Slowly, she forced herself to smile.

”...I hope so.”

The children seemed satisfied with that answer.

But Lilith wasn’t.

Because hope was all she could offer them.

And hope did not fill empty stomachs.

*******************************************

After saying goodbye to the children, Lilith continued walking through the city.

The deeper she ventured into the outer districts, the quieter the streets became.

Passing by a small square, she noticed an old woman sitting alone on a wooden bench.

In her trembling hands was a faded photograph.

Lilith sat beside her.

”You can’t sleep either?”

The woman smiled weakly.

”Not these days.”

She glanced at the photograph.

”My husband used to come home late after patrol duty.”

Lilith lowered her eyes.

”He was a soldier?”

The woman nodded.

”He never returned from the war.”

Silence settled between them.

”He promised me we’d travel after retirement.”

The old woman laughed softly.

”Looks like he broke his promise.”

Lilith didn’t know what to say.

The woman looked toward the palace.

”Do you think the queen can really stop all this?”

Lilith stared at the distant palace lights.

”...I think she’s trying.”

The old woman smiled.

”Then that’s enough for me.”

**********************************************

Near midnight, Lilith reached the southern gate.

There, sitting beside the city walls, was a group of veterans.

Some were missing arms.

Others had lost their legs.

One old soldier stared silently at the stars while another adjusted the wooden prosthetic attached to his knee.

A younger veteran laughed bitterly.

”I fought humans for twenty years.”

He tapped his missing arm.

”And now they tell me we’re making peace.”

The older soldier beside him chuckled.

”Better late than never.”

”Easy for you to say. You still have both arms.”

”I lost my left eye.”

”Fair enough.”

The group laughed.

It wasn’t joyful laughter.

It was the laughter of men who had survived too much.

One of them suddenly spoke.

”I wonder if the queen understands what war costs.”

An older veteran shook his head.

”She’s still young.”

”Then let’s hope she never has to learn.”

Lilith quietly turned away.

Because she had already learned.

She had learned the cost of war the day she lost her father.

The day Aamon seized the throne.

The day she carried an unconscious boy from the ruins of a collapsing palace.

No one escaped war unchanged.

Not humans.

Not devils.

Not kings.

Not queens.

***************************************************

As dawn slowly approached, Lilith climbed the hill overlooking the capital.

The first rays of sunlight began to illuminate the city below.

Workers were already returning to the streets.

Merchants opened their shops.

Children ran through the alleys.

The kingdom was waking up.

From above, the capital looked peaceful.

Almost ordinary.

And perhaps that was the cruelest thing about war.

No matter how many people died, no matter how much blood was shed, life continued.

People laughed.

People argued.

People fell in love.

People dreamed.

The world refused to stop.

Lilith pulled her cloak tighter around herself and gazed at the distant horizon.

She thought about the children in the courtyard.

The widow on the bench.

The veterans beneath the city walls.

And somewhere, far away, she thought about the silver-haired boy who had carried the fate of two worlds on his shoulders and had asked for nothing in return.

Without realizing it, she whispered into the morning wind,

”Zero... what would you do?”

Of course, no answer came.

Only silence.

And beneath that same sky, the Devil Kingdom continued to move forward, one uncertain day at a time.