Luca adjusted her hair once more.
An empty feeling.
A sense of discomfort that had followed her like a shadow all her life.
Without hesitation, she spoke her will again.
“I’m going back. Because…”
“If I don’t, I feel like I’ll truly forget something precious…”
***
[Do you really want to return?]
“Luca, let me explain one last time. You cannot be happy. That is your fate—a fate you cannot escape.”
“This opportunity granted to you through divine love is the only good fortune that will ever come to you.”
The proxy pointed to the mirror with a beam of light.
At that moment, the unhappiness felt by Luca in the mirror climbed up her entire body like mold.
It was truly a terrifying experience, a suffocating feeling, as if an unavoidable misfortune was squeezing her throat.
A chill ran down her spine, but Luca endured it nonetheless.
Courage was a virtue of the young.
‘How much time had passed?’
The proxy’s voice came again.
[And this world as it stands now is the only answer from the world to God’s demand. This is the best way for you to be happy.]
Hearing this, Luca looked back at the mirror.
Yes.
That is me.
That miserable child, who lives like a pauper, barely eating and clothed, that is who I truly am.
“I know.”
[Because it is God’s will for you to be happy, I must ask you repeatedly.]
‘Even if it means being unhappy?’
Luca slowly closed her eyes and then, as if she had made a resolution, opened them again, deliberately.
“I will not avoid my destiny. I will accept it.”
[Is that your answer?]
In the proxy’s voice, a sense of surprise at an unforeseen situation could be felt, as if this outcome had not been anticipated, as if Luca was surely expected to choose happiness.
In truth, anyone, not just Luca, would hesitate.
“You will live a life of misfortune. But God has bestowed upon you a chance to be happy for life, albeit in a fabricated world.”
“If you accept it, you will live a lifetime of happiness without realizing it’s false.”
“But if you refuse, you will fall into the irreversible chain of misfortune once more…”
After hearing this, few would easily turn down happiness.
However—
“Even if it’s an unhappy life…”
If there’s something there that makes me feel this nostalgic, I have to go.
Even if the reflection before me is a wretched sight.
“Nevertheless, I will move forward. I will fight, without running away.”
[You are quite certain, Luca.]
“Of course. Because—”
—Because God has told me that I am not wrong.
Then I believe that my decision will not be wrong, either.
Hearing Luca’s final answer, the proxy of God was silent for a moment, then murmured quietly.
Yes. This wasn’t something directed at Luca but rather something even a mysterious being, acting as God’s proxy, could not help but feel—a certain shiver.
[Indeed, God’s words carry life.]
[Very well, then. I will follow your will. If you wish to change your decision, this will be your last chance.]
“No. It’s fine. I want to go back to the original world.”
No matter how many times she was asked, Luca’s thoughts remained unchanged.
I have to go back.
To confirm what I have forgotten.
To fill this emptiness within me, no matter what.
No matter what choice I make.
God is always watching from above.
Luca slowly closed her eyes.
What appeared before her were the maids who used to brush her hair, her mother, and her father.
The parents who always held her in love.
Even now, when she closed her eyes, she could vividly recall memories of being held in her mother’s arms, acting adorable as a child.
Dad once said he hoped I’d never grow up.
‘If that, too, was an illusion, was this world really for my happiness?’
Perhaps—
She thought that maybe she was missing out on the ‘only way to be happy,’ a blessing that came to her through God’s love.
But—
It’s alright.
‘Doing what my heart tells me to do… is the right thing.’
‘God said I am not wrong.’
“Goodbye, Dad, Mom.”
Even if you were just an illusion, I was genuinely happy.
Thank you for teaching me happiness.
I’ll hold onto the happiness you showed me and walk my path steadfastly.
***
‘How much time had passed?’
The voice of God’s proxy fell silent, and after more time passed—an intense, blinding light engulfed the darkness, so bright that it was impossible to open one’s eyes.
That light soon engulfed “Luca de Poitiers,” the fabricated vessel and response of the world.
And then…
At a dock bathed in the beautiful evening glow, “Luca.”
Turning her head, she heard a voice so dear to her heart.
That voice, which entered like a deep pulse, fit perfectly with the scars in Luca’s heart.
“You remembered.”
Twenty-year-old Luca slowly nodded.
“Father.”
“I’m home.”
Luca knew this was a dream.
Yet, she greeted him, the one and only father she had.
One of the few blessings in her unfortunate life.
“Father, you were right.”
“God has been watching over us.”
Her father slowly reached out his hand.
And then, as he gently brushed her hair with his thin hand—
“You will surely make it.”
‘How much time had passed?’
Awakening from the dream, Luca carefully turned over.
Sunlight streamed through the window, and the sound of birds chirping reached my ears.
I am… Luca.
Luca Heavenishian.
The name given to me by the head of the orphanage.
Memories came rushing back one by one.
What had happened.
After my father passed away, I entered the orphanage, received my surname, and enrolled in the academy…
Luca slowly got up from her seat.
Finally, she realized the source of the discomfort she had felt in her mind.
Something she had long forgotten.
Something she had sensed as empty for some reason.
“Luca! Make sure you come back safe! Here’s a gift!”
“This is…”
“You can’t have your hair getting in the way when using a sword!”
“It’s not stolen, sis! I bought it with my allowance. Hehe.”
A prickling sensation filled a corner of her heart. ‘What was this feeling?’
‘Family?’
A white ribbon.
The ribbon I always wore in my hair…
“Of… ofof…!!!”
Ah.
That’s right.
The reason my head always felt empty was because… the gift my second family had given me—
The ribbon was missing.
With trembling hands, Luca picked up the white ribbon on the table.
Clutching it in both hands like a prayer, she knelt and whispered in a trembling voice.
“This is it…”
“Yes. This is it.”
‘What I had forgotten.’
The cause of that lingering discomfort that had followed me.
No matter how many hair accessories I tried, nothing could fill that void… this ribbon.
Luca held the ribbon tightly and cried like a child for a long time.
“This is it, this is it, this is it…”
She repeated those words over and over, even through her tears.
And the more she spoke those words—
—The boundless love of God flowed through her veins, filling her once empty heart.
After tying her hair with the ribbon, Luca looked in the mirror.
Though she had returned to the original world, ‘what should she do now?’
First, she needed to find the headmaster.
Somehow, she had to pay her dues, and then… she had to visit the head of the orphanage’s grave as well.
At the thought of the headmaster, memories of that tragic scene came flooding back, and she almost burst into tears again.
But she was alright.
Luca’s eyes no longer held the look of defeat.
Her spirit may have been broken, but she had wrapped herself in the cords of life once more.
‘Even if I’m broken, it’s okay. I can move forward again.’
‘I’m not wrong. God will always be with me.’
In her eyes was a strength that only those who have once been broken could possess.
The power to fight against the relentless misfortune that fate brought upon her.
What Luca gained was a resilience stronger than mere unbreakability—the will to move forward, even if broken.
Just as she was organizing her plans for the future—
There was a knock on the door.
“Three?”
‘What could it be?’
‘Could it be the headmaster visiting?’ She opened the door and…
“Huh?”
“Sis!”
“Luca!”
There, standing tall, were a boy and a girl with familiar faces, though they had grown.
“Amen…? Freya…?”
“Sis! You were here! I searched everywhere to find you—”
“Hold on… you… you’re alive…??”
On that day, the day the orphanage burned…
“Didn’t everyone… die…?”
I was told that day that all of you…
“Yes…! We almost died, but… the Holy Lady saved us!”
“The miracle of the Holy Lady is real! Right, sis! I have something I want to tell you—”
Suddenly, she hugged them tightly.
“Everyone…!!!”
Luca hugged Amen and Freya as she sobbed so loudly it shook the building.
At that moment, she had no thoughts.
Only a single phrase echoed through her mind, lingered on her tongue.
‘I’m so glad you’re alive.’
‘Truly, I’m so, so glad…’
***
With the power of 100,000 won, one could rewrite the Bible and reshape the history of the world filled with the traces of God.
But for a human to overcome trauma, to muster the courage to face fate, and to move forward, it sometimes takes a power greater than reshaping history.
Thus, this world speaks.
It has no choice but to bow its head and say:
[Praise the thirty-thousand-won donation.]
[Praise the one God who made all of this possible.]
[Praise the thirty-thousand-won donation.]
Bow before the great being who resolves even the imperfect answers of the world’s response with a single word from God!
[Praise the thirty-thousand-won donation.]
Once again, Igogodon was right!
[Praise Igogodon!]
[Praise the thirty-thousand-won donation!!!]
Click.
***
I poured the cola from the can into a glass filled with ice.
The fizzy, slightly addictive sound filled the air as the crisp carbonation struck my ears.
And I took a deep gulp.
Ah!
“This is it!”
I purposefully made a sound as I pulled myself together.
This final scene… No matter how many times I watch it, it’s so moving that it makes me feel like crying again.
‘But no, let’s not cry. This is a time to be joyful, isn’t it?’
‘I’m very pleased with this ending. Yes.’
I was thrilled that Luca decided to face her destiny instead of running away.
From her perspective, she might have felt like she didn’t want to move forward anymore—
But she managed to overcome it in the end, ‘didn’t she?’
I wanted to see Luca—
A person who, despite a painful past, shakes it off, holds it close, and boldly moves forward.
Yes.
The words ‘You are not wrong’ had that kind of meaning.
That, despite the misfortune, she walked this far.
That’s why I’m satisfied with this conclusion.
Luca’s unyielding spirit, moving forward without blaming her unfortunate fate.
“Yes…! We almost died, but… the Holy Lady saved us!”
“The miracle of the Holy Lady is real! Right, sis! I have something I want to tell you—”
[Igogodon: (Donation/8,000 won / Just treat the orphanage kids if they’re not all dead)]
‘Still, I spent more money because I hoped something good would happen after Luca returned…’
It was fortunate that there were children from the orphanage who hadn’t perished.
The author said that the dead children couldn’t be brought back, no matter how much was donated.
Likewise, it seemed donations weren’t always omnipotent.
Some things couldn’t be solved with donations alone, including resurrection.
The fact that the author stuck to this level of detail, despite wanting more money if possible, made it impossible not to be deeply immersed.
[Igogodon: Haha, author, this episode was great]
[Igogodon: Let’s keep this up]
[Igogodon: That’s fine]
It didn’t matter if Luca’s future was thorny or worse.
[Igogodon: I will always watch over Luca ]
‘God is always watching over you.’
‘Luca is not wrong.’