One day, unexpectedly, a man appeared in my vision.
"Hello, I'm Harold Wicker," he introduced himself, his striking dark black hair uncommon in this land. His eyes, dark yet ironically bright with determination, matched his hair.
"Would it be alright if I served and followed you, Goddess?" he asked with a sincere smile, brightening up my world just by being there.
"Here I am again today." In the many futures I'd seen, new characters occasionally appeared. However, it had become rare, and I hadn't seen any new faces in a while, so his sudden appearance was somewhat startling.
"I suppose the outcome will be the same even if I look a little further. Like all my followers, he'll probably abandon me too, embracing the false truth, betraying or oppressing me..."
Initially, I didn't harbor much hope for him, avoiding the pain of unfulfilled expectations. Even if new talents emerged, betrayal seemed inevitable. So, I continued to observe the future, focusing more on my actions than on this seemingly insignificant mortal.
"Your time is over, Morione. There's no one left to stand for you. Your evil plans are exposed, and faith in you is lost."
Yet, this observation brought no new revelations, and the time of judgment inevitably arrived.
"Another failure in this fate..." I murmured, about to close the vision when suddenly...
"Stop! You cannot approach Morione!" An unfamiliar, brave voice made me widen my eyes in surprise and look back into the vision.
"Shouldn't we at least hear the Goddess's side of the story?" There he was, drawing his sword, standing courageously against my enemies to protect me.
"This man is..." Unmistakably, he was the unique figure who had just appeared. Defying gods for my sake was something I had never seen before.
"What? Do you not realize whom you're defying?" It was unclear whether he was unaware of who stood before him or lost in some delusion.
Harold Wicker, a man of unique appearance and bravery, had appeared for the first time to defend me against the gods. His actions were unprecedented and signaled a possible change in my otherwise doomed fate. In front of the gods gathered to execute justice, a foolish man blocked their path and even drew his sword against them. The gods, angered, shouted at him.
"No matter who you are, I cannot step aside," he declared firmly, shielding me with his body.
His actions seemed reckless. From my perspective, it was touching, but objectively, they could only be interpreted in two ways: either as bravery masquerading as foolishness or as a heretic. To the gods, anyone opposing them to protect me, an ancient deity now akin to a relic of the past, was either an ignorant human or a heretic serving ancient gods.
"I am Morione's sword. I will protect my master even at the cost of breaking," he vowed resolutely.
My heart raced, seeing his unwavering devotion.
"Seems we have a heretic among us," one god remarked. "Then let's break his sword and take his life!"
Thus, Harold, branded a heretic, faced the gods' judgment first. Ordinary humans wouldn't have lasted a second against their divine powers.
"Why won't he die?!" they exclaimed, frustrated by his resilience.
Harold was not ordinary, from his appearance to his actions, and even his strength. "Is he even human?" they wondered.
Fighting toe-to-toe with multiple gods, Harold vowed, "I swore I would not falter in my duty to protect the Goddess who cared for me!"
Despite enduring brutal attacks and sustaining injuries, he fought back relentlessly. However, as a human, he had clear limits.
Eventually, overpowered, Harold was forced to his knees, his life hanging by a thread.
"What a pity... A remarkable individual, if only he hadn't been an agent of darkness," the gods mused, regretting having to kill such a talented being.
Initially dismissive of Harold's arrogance and ignorance, the gods later felt a sense of loss for having to eliminate such a promising individual. As I watched Harold, the man who had appeared in my visions and changed my fate, fade away, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by intense emotions. Everyone had abandoned me, but Harold was the only one who reached out. In my grief, I crawled to him, tears streaming down my swollen cheeks.
"God...dess..." he uttered with his last breath, looking at me, and I held him close, shedding tears for the one who had willingly sacrificed his life for me.
"The death of Morione will free everyone's destiny from oppression and end their suffering," the gods declared, readying their weapons, convinced of their mission.
I had always thought this would be just another unremarkable ending, but then a brilliant empress intervened, insisting on hearing my side. For the first time, I was spared from death.
As I turned off my vision device, I pondered over the man who had appeared and altered my fate. With Harold's intervention, my future was finally peaceful. The other beings reconsidered my judgment, listened to my explanation, and I was able to clear my name and return to my normal life. The world, which I had always seen plunging into chaos and destruction, was saved, and my relationship with Harold deepened.
Who was this man named Harold, who consistently appeared in my alternate futures, always sacrificing himself to avert tragedy for me? I became increasingly curious about him. He was an enigmatic figure with a sweet charm, always ready to sacrifice himself for me and overcome any adversity.
As I thought of Harold, my heart would race, and the sight of him fighting, bleeding, and smiling at the end would warm my cold skin. "Ugh..." I realize that I am feeling an emotion that gods are not supposed to harbor towards mortals. I find myself unintentionally falling for this man, Harold, who I will meet in the future. The more I delve into the various fates, the more I am drawn to him. I am envious of my future self who openly embraces these feelings and forms a deep relationship with him. It becomes an obsession; I can't help but focus solely on him and his heroic deeds that he performs for my sake, like a girl hopelessly in love.
However, not every story is a comedy. "Shall I look for Harold today?" This routine task has become a part of my daily life, as I search for his presence in every vision of fate. "Morione..." But this time, something was different. "Huh...?" Unusually, the Harold in my vision was hostile towards me. "Please don't do this... I genuinely wanted you..." he yelled with an apparent loathing towards me, surrounded by unknown girls. "You want me just for your survival, don't you?" he accused.
Startled by this unforeseen scene, I hastily cut off the flow of power to my vision device. "Huff... Huff..." This was the first time I had seen Harold filled with such twisted resentment towards me. "How did it come to this?" Since his appearance, I had never encountered a fate where I died. But now, "Why... How..." I discovered a fate where Harold existed, and shockingly, it was by his hand that I was destined to die.
"Why is this happening?!" The unfairness of being killed by someone I had come to love was sharply and painfully clear to me. Tears flowed unbidden, a reflection of the shared emotions from the vision, overwhelming me with sorrow. The fact that this man, whom I had come to blindly trust and adore, now harbored resentment towards me, felt like a heart-wrenching betrayal. "Impossible!" In disbelief, I reach for my divination tool again, desperate to peer into an incomprehensible fate. "Forever... I swore to serve you..." After witnessing the fate where Harold strikes me down, multiple scenarios began to intertwine. Although there existed a Harold who would forever stand by me, just as he had first twisted my fate, "You are nothing but a false idol!" "You were using me, weren't you?!" I also saw fates where I was resented by him, leading to the most sorrowful death.
It seemed I was now truly delving into numerous fates. Harold appeared in every one of them, but each ending was different. "I finally found the reason, the way to keep him..." Repeated observations led me to detect a pattern.
"If I can make Harold mine..." If he becomes my servant, I could avoid destruction, but if he remains a servant to other gods, I would be killed by him. This was the only way I could survive and achieve the desired ending. "I must make him my servant, no matter what..."
I then turned my focus to the present fate. "There he is..." I finally found him, this man whose existence in this world seemed timeless. "Harold!" In every fate where I died by Harold's hand, there was always a red-haired girl by his side. "That girl is..."
Realizing this, I knew that if things continued this way, I would meet my end. I had to prevent that at all costs. I started to draft a plan, laying it out on paper. Preparing everything, big and small, to create a certain future.