The little robot had no idea what to do.


    This time, there was no viin to defeat, no damsel in distress to rescue. Feeling helpless, the little robot shaped the man''s heart into a model identical to its own and told him, "If you can''t say what''s on your mind, then at least give your true heart to her."


    And with that, the little robot left.


    It wasn''t until many yearster that it met the handsome man again. The man was dying. The heart-shaped model he held shattered to pieces on the ground. Only then did the little robot realize: the man''s intense hatred and selfishness had wrapped his heart in a shell of lies.


    He lost everything.


    At the end, the man turned to the little robot and said, "I failed. Promise me, you''ll reach the moon."


    The little robot buried the man and sat by his grave for a long time, gazing up at the moon, always hanging high overhead. Its iron eyes whirred softly. "Oh, moon," it wondered, "I''ve been chasing you for so long-will you ever stop and wait for me?"


    The story stretched on and on, with the little robot chasing the moon endlessly. Then, one day, theic just stopped.


    That was when M realized-


    The updates had stopped two years ago. She remembered that time-Lysander had left the country. Back then, she assumed he''d gone to find Giselle.


    But now, it seemed that wasn''t the case at all.


    She kept scrolling down. Theic was almost at its final panel. Not long before, the little robot, exhausted from walking, had realized it would never reach the moon on foot. So, it went to find a mechanic, who crafted a pair of gleaming white wings for it.


    What if I could fly?


    Even though the wings were unstable, the little robot still beat them bravely and soared toward the moon.


    Closer and closer-


    But at thest moment, the wings shattered, and the little robot plummeted into the sea.


    The time stamp on that update matched the day she''d been locked away by Lysander, forced into submission, and finallyshed out-injuring him so badly he ended up in the hospital. Theic had been published shortly after.


    M found herself stunned, unable to move.


    This wasn''t an adventureic at all. It was her whole life, written out in metaphor-her history with Lysander, refracted and reversed, every piece of her story finding salvation on the page.


    It was reality, and not reality.


    Those parts that weren''t real-they were the man''s desperate wishes, full of longing and regret, just as conflicted as he had always been.


    When she finished, all that remained inside her was a barren ache.


    She didn''t even know what she was supposed to feel. M exited theic app, absently scrolled down, and froze. There was even more.


    Just a few days ago-


    The night before the charity g, Daphne had posted onest entry.


    The wings shattered.


    The little robot fell from the sky.


    It hit the ocean at breakneck speed, shattering the moon''s reflection across the dark waves, and was swallowed by the ck water, sinking into the deep.


    Between the rise and fall of the waves-


    It saw the moon re-form on the water''s surface. In that moment, the little robot suddenly understood: the moon had always been by its side.


    Every lonely, sleepless night, moonlight had poured across its battered metal shell, making it shine despite all its scars. Even when clouds covered the sky, a little light always managed to slip through and find it.


    All the while it chased the moon, desperate to reach it, the moon had never left-


    the moonlight had watched over it from the very beginning.


    But the realization came toote.


    As the little robot sank into the


    depths, swallowed by darkness, the reflected moonlight above suddenly coalesced into the outline of a woman-her face blurred, her Hair adorned with lemon blossoms. With thest of its strength, the robot looked up at the moonlight and spoke the words it had longed to say more than anything.


    Words meant for the moon-


    "You are my moon."


    Tears fell, blurring M''s vision. Only now did she dare to admit she finally understood.


    The first time she met Lysander, she''d wondered how someone could be so beautiful, so luminous, like the moon itself. She''d felt as small as a speck of dust, yet couldn''t stop herself from wanting to draw closer. Until that fragile dream was shattered and she finally saw the truth.


    She didn''t dare love him anymore, but even so, she still thought he was just as unreachable as the moon.


    They would always be worlds apart.


    But now she finally understood: in Lysander''s heart, she had been the moon-


    brilliant, far above, and deeply yearned for.


    Thisic-


    It was a confession written with a lifetime''s worth of silence, the longest love letter she''d ever received.


    And it had only reached her now.


    Toote.


    The tears came in waves, making it


    hard to breathe. M''s chest ached with the force of it. She gasped for air, the sound of her crying raw and hoarse, echoing in the night. Her child woke up, startled by the noise.


    Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her neck.


    "Mama, don''t be afraid."


    His father had told him real men don''t cry-that they have to protect their mothers.


    Now that Dad was gone, it was up to him to look after her.


    To keep her safe.


    Rome, Italy.


    Francis, his red hair disheveled, clutched a bottle of red wine and took a long swig. He kicked open a door and staggered inside, grinning drunkenly.


    "Hey, it''s done."


    He let out a tipsyugh, calling out to the figure inside. "Our n can finally get started."


    The room was silent.


    On the bed in the centery a man. Hisshes fluttered as his eyes slowly opened, bright and sharp as a fox''s.