CHAPTER 168: CHAPTER 166: “IN CASE I’M GONE FIRST...”

The countryside home was quiet that afternoon.

The children had returned to their cities. The grandchildren had left drawings taped to the walls. The laughter and chaos of the previous days had faded into a soft hush.

Ren and Aoi sat on the porch together, a blanket over their laps and a pot of tea growing cold beside them. Their hands remained gently entwined.

The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the garden. Hikari’s daughter had planted roses there a few years ago—and they were blooming again, red as ever.

Lucia floated to Aoi’s side, blinking softly. Then, without prompt, a small compartment in her orb-like form opened. Inside was a tiny chip. Aoi stared at it, puzzled.

Lucia spoke with her familiar, kind tone:

"This message was recorded many years ago. It was only to be played... if Ren passed first. However, the logic string has been overridden. He instructed: ’If we make it to old age, I want her to hear this while I’m still here.’"

Aoi looked over at Ren, startled. He just smiled, tired eyes twinkling with mischief. "Guess I was planning for everything," he murmured.

Lucia gently played the recording.

[Ren’s Voice, Younger—clear and warm:]

"Hey...

If you’re hearing this, I guess I didn’t make it.Or maybe I did.

Either way, I wanted you to hear this while you could still laugh at how awkward I sound.

Aoi... thank you.

For being the only one who ever saw me when I was just a shy, ordinary boy.For dragging me out of my lab. For loving me even when I didn’t know how to say it back.

I always thought I was building machines to protect you.But you were always the one protecting me.

Every invention, every award, every city we traveled to... they were just backdrops to the real masterpiece—our life together.

If you’re alone now, I want you to smile anyway.If I’m next to you when you hear this, then I want to hold your hand and say it again:

I love you, Aoi. I always have. I always will.

And if there’s a next life... find me first this time, okay?"

By the time the message ended, Aoi was quietly crying. She turned to Ren, who looked misty-eyed but smiling. "You idiot," she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. "You really recorded that so long ago?"

Ren laughed softly. "I had a feeling you’d outlive me just out of spite."

They sat there, under the golden light, as Lucia hovered quietly nearby—recording nothing this time. Just observing.

And for a long while, nothing more needed to be said.