Chapter 100: Side Story 5) Parting is Inevitable

New Empire Calendar, Year 76, April 4.

At long last, the final chapter of my long, long life had arrived.

“It seems… my time has come.”

At my slow, deliberate declaration of death, silence filled the room.

The high-ranking officials who had served under me,

My eldest son—who had already taken the throne thirty years ago,

My other children—who had started their own families and moved away.

Even though their minds understood my words, their hearts refused to accept them.

Their clenched fists trembled.

“Please don’t say such things, Father! It’s just a simple fever, isn’t it? You’ll recover in no time—”

“In the seventy years of your life, have you ever seen me fall ill? What about your mothers?”

“…No, never.”

“This is my body’s way of telling me its time is up. Denying reality won’t change anything.”

I had lived for over a century.

When I ascended the throne, I was thirty-one.

Now, I was a hundred and seven.

For all that time, thanks to Saintess Lilia’s devoted care and my naturally robust health, I had never once been bedridden.

Not even a single time.

And yet, now, all of a sudden.

A fever had taken hold of my body.

My strength was draining, and I could barely move.

There was only one explanation for this.

I was dying.

My time had finally run out.

I wasn’t an expert in divine power, but I could feel it instinctively.

No amount of miracles or elixirs would help me now.

My body itself had decided it couldn’t go on any longer.

“Don’t grieve too much. We always knew this day would come.”

“How could we not grieve when our father is about to die?!”

My eldest son, Siegfried, wept as he clung to my bedside.

What a crybaby.

Despite his towering physique, he had always been prone to tears, ever since he was a child.

He had already seen his own children grow up, and soon his first great-grandchild would be born.

And yet, in front of me, he had reverted to being nothing more than a child.

Throwing a tantrum, just like when he was little.

I reached out and gently patted his head.

“Death is not the end. There is a heaven, after all.”

This world had a real afterlife.

One’s virtues and sins determined whether they would go to heaven or hell.

And if I had to guess.

I was probably going to heaven.

I had killed many, yes.

But I had saved even more.

I had rebuilt a nation that was rotting from the inside,

Freed the people from oppression and exploitation,

And wiped out the corrupt clergy who had preyed upon them.

I had accomplished what several so-called wise rulers couldn’t do in their lifetimes.

Surely, this was enough.

“Life and death are simply parts of nature. Don’t grieve, don’t blame anyone. This, too, is fate.”

I handed my will to my eldest son.

I had written it long ago—detailing how my wealth and belongings should be divided.

This way, there would be no arguments among my children over who got the larger share.

“When I die, keep the funeral modest. Bury me beside my wives who have gone before me.”

“…Yes, Father.”

With my final request given, the tension within me dissipated.

A distant, almost floating sensation took over my body.

‘So… this is the end.’

Darkness crept into my vision.

Like ink spreading across a canvas, a pitch-black void swallowed everything around me.

Soon, I would finally reunite with the Empresses who had passed before me—

Or so I thought.

“…The hell?”

I clutched my head, staring in disbelief at the person in front of me.

Or rather.

The being.

“Victoria? What are you doing here?”

“Ehehe…”

My youngest daughter scratched her head sheepishly.

But this didn’t make any sense.

She had been deployed in the former Holy Kingdom territories—why was she in the afterlife?

And why did she look like a teenage girl instead of the sixty-year-old woman she should be?

“Wait. Before that—where is this place? I thought angels or demons were supposed to take me after I died.”

“They won’t be coming. I sent them somewhere else.”

We were in a space of absolute nothingness.

There was no light, no sound, no sensation—only Victoria and me.

Then, suddenly.

She conjured two plush chairs from thin air and gestured for me to sit.

Still wary, I hesitantly took a seat.

Victoria, now looking slightly nervous, took a deep breath before speaking.

“Father, you’ve always wondered, haven’t you? Why I was the only one born with divine power… why I was even stronger than Mother.”

“Yeah. And?”

“Well… the truth is—”

“It’s because I’m the Goddess.”

“I died long ago… but my soul was reborn as your daughter.”

Victoria had just casually dropped an absolutely insane revelation.

Yet, oddly enough, I didn’t feel particularly shocked or outraged.

If anything, it made sense.

And for some reason, it left me feeling… oddly refreshed.

“I see.”

“You’re… not surprised?”

“I mean, I got reincarnated from another world. If a Goddess ended up as my kid, why not?”

If gods exist and they can die, then there’s no reason they couldn’t be reborn.

After two lifetimes, I had long abandoned the concept of fixed logic.

“Oh, right… I forgot.”

Victoria fidgeted for a moment before continuing.

“Actually, Father… your reincarnation was kind of my fault too.”

“What?”

“When I died, it caused a rift in the afterlife system.”

She quickly launched into an explanation, as if trying to excuse herself.

When the ruler of the world’s cycle of souls had vanished, the system governing reincarnation had malfunctioned.

And that led to souls from other worlds accidentally getting mixed in.

Apparently, I was one of them.

“Normally, you wouldn’t have been reborn with all your memories intact. I’m really sorry, Father. My mistake completely messed up your life.”

The Goddess, my youngest daughter, apologized with an almost guilty expression.

I just let out a small laugh and shook my head.

“It’s fine. I had a pretty damn good life.”

Sure, the first ten years were absolute hell.

But in the end, I met amazing people.

I married goddess-tier women who, even on Earth, would have been once-in-a-lifetime beauties.

I spent over a century living in luxury and absolute power.

I had dozens of children and lived long enough to see my great-grandchildren being born.

Yeah, sure—no internet was a bit of a letdown, but aside from that?

I had zero regrets.

For a guy who was just an ROTC graduate captain in his past life, I had lived like a king—no, an emperor.

How could I resent the very person who gave me this new life?

If anything, she was my savior.

I meant that sincerely—and as I said it, Victoria lowered her head, whispering in a small, trembling voice.

“…Thank you, Father.”

“No need to thank me. But… am I supposed to stay here forever?”

If I had to spend eternity in this silent, empty void, I’d probably go insane.

Couldn’t she just send me somewhere already?

Just as I was thinking that, Victoria suddenly sprang up and started what looked like a presentation.

“R-Right! I almost forgot the main point! I brought you here to give you a choice.“

“A choice? About what?”

“About your future.”

Victoria smiled.

“You’ve died, so now it’s time for you to be reborn in a new body. Normally, people’s memories get erased, and they reincarnate randomly… but you’re special. So I thought I’d give you a little bonus.”

She held up two fingers.

“The first option: You’re reborn in this world again. I’ll make sure you’re born into a wealthy family where you can enjoy life without worries. Mother and Lilia will also reincarnate into noble families so you can meet and marry them again. If you want, I can even let all three of you keep your memories.”

A new life in the world I had changed with my own hands.

It wasn’t a bad deal.

Especially if it meant I could meet Camilla and Lilia again.

“And the second option?”

“The second option… is Earth.”

The mention of Earth caught me off guard.

Seeing my confusion, Victoria quickly elaborated.

“It was called… South Korea, right? I can reincarnate you and Mother into that country. All the conditions will be the same as the first option.”

So, no matter what, I was guaranteed a successful life.

The question was—where did I want to live that blessed life?

After a long pause, I made my decision.

“I choose—”

[—In the end, it didn’t take long for them to find each other again.]

[A bond forged over decades of marriage could not be erased so easily.]

[They reunited at a party, their habits and mannerisms making it clear—this was no coincidence.]

[This time, they were not older and younger, but equals—lovers of the same age.]

[As for who would be the first wife this time… that remained to be seen.]

“Phew.”

After finally finishing the manuscript for my next upload, I took my hands off the keyboard and let out a deep sigh.

I had been sitting and writing for three straight hours—my back and hips were starting to feel sore.

It had already been twenty years since my second reincarnation.

And the world I had chosen.

Was none other than Earth.

I had experienced the fantasy life enough—this time, I wanted to enjoy the comforts of modern civilization.

Thanks to Victoria keeping her promise, my new life was quite luxurious.

I was the sole heir of a wealthy family—

My father was a retired investor who made a fortune from crypto and U.S. stock markets,

And my mother… well, she owned five commercial buildings.

With a financially secure background, I was free to pursue whatever career I wanted.

After much thought, I had settled on being a novelist.

I simply adapted my past life into fiction and sold it to the masses.

Fortunately, I had a decent talent for writing, and my stories consistently ranked high in views.

‘Though, being a non-Korean national means I get taxed a bit more…’

If there was one downside to this life, it was my complicated nationality.

Both my parents were ethnically Korean, but they were technically Saudi nationals, so I ended up with dual citizenship.

And yet, despite all that, my family had been living in Korea for nearly twenty years.

Well, at least it meant I could legally practice polygamy in the 21st century.

“Darling, are you done?”

“We’re supposed to have dinner with Father today. If you want to make it on time, you should start getting dressed.”

Right on cue, my wives walked into the room, urging me to hurry up.

Their appearances had changed—but they were still just as beautiful and loving as ever.

Hearing their familiar voices, I smiled and stood up.

“Yeah, I’m coming now.”