CHAPTER 169: CHAPTER 167: “AS THE DAYS GROW QUIETER”

The seasons turned gently, like pages of a well-loved book.

Aoi’s boutique had long closed its doors. The once-bustling workshop behind the house, once filled with sparks and humming machines, now stood silent—except for Lucia, who occasionally drifted through its corridors, as if remembering.

Ren no longer spent hours building or calculating. His body, though still sharp in spirit, had slowed. There were days he needed help walking from the garden to the porch. Aoi was by his side on those days, steady and sure, despite her own trembling hands.

Their routines had grown simple.

Morning tea. Letters from Hikari and Hina. A brief call from one of the grandchildren showing off a new project or dance performance. Quiet walks through the flower path where Aoi once danced under falling petals.

Lucia now maintained the home quietly, subtly adapting it to their pace: chairs adjusted to comfort their posture, steps that used to be stairs, doorways that whispered open. She had become less a machine, and more... a presence. A final companion.

One evening, as twilight cast a lilac hue across the fields, Ren and Aoi sat in their old armchairs—now placed side-by-side facing the window.

Aoi broke the silence.

"Ren... when we’re gone, I don’t want them to fight over your AI servers or inventions."

He smiled gently.

"I already made arrangements. Everything critical is archived and sealed. What’s left is theirs to choose. I want them to build—not just inherit."

Aoi nodded, her fingers knitting together softly.

"I want them to remember us laughing. Not just as legends or pioneers."

"Then let’s leave them laughter."

The next week, they invited the family over.

Hikari arrived first with her children—now grown, polished, radiant. Hina followed, lively and brilliant as ever, with her own family close behind.

That weekend, they buried time capsules under the sakura tree.

Photos. Letters. Handmade trinkets.Ren gave each grandchild a personalized keepsake—a little AI stone that gently glowed with Lucia’s spark, each one with a voice and personality based on a memory.

Aoi, quietly, gave Hikari and Hina each a journal. Blank.

"You’ve seen our pages," she said with a soft smile. "Now write your own."

That night, the family sat around the firepit.They told stories.They teased each other.They laughed until the stars burned bright above the fields.

In the silence that followed, Aoi whispered,

"We did everything, didn’t we?"

Ren looked over, took her hand in his once more.

"More than we dreamed."

And beneath the stars, surrounded by the legacy they had built together, their hearts were full.