Location: Jeju Island – Villa Garden
The morning breeze carried the scent of salt and spring. Dewdrops clung to petals as the sun gently warmed the earth. Dephnie sat on a wooden bench beneath the cherry blossom tree in the center of the villa garden, dressed in a soft ivory hanbok with floral embroidery. The tree had bloomed unseasonably early—as if awakened by something otherworldly.
She ran her fingers across a journal filled with sketches of otherworldly places, things only she could remember now.
"Every petal remembers something… but I can't read them all."
Lee Gon approached from behind, setting down a tray of tea. He wore a relaxed shirt and light linen pants—far from his royal attire, yet still every bit a king in his presence.
"You've been sketching every morning."
Dephnie looked up.
"Because I see fragments in my dreams. Places we never visited. A girl with silver eyes. A red moon. A version of me that died protecting the palace. I think... those timelines left something behind."
Lee Gon sat beside her and glanced at the tree.
"Then this tree might be more than a tree."
Location: Seoul – Department of Temporal Physics
Professor Woo-jin, now director of the new Department of Temporal Physics, was reviewing energy readings collected from across South Korea. One in particular made him freeze.
A signal had pulsed from Jeju Island at 3:33 AM last night.
Energy signature: Multiversal Residue.
He narrowed his eyes.
"No gate should still be active. Not unless… something or someone anchored it."
He immediately booked the next flight to Jeju.
Location: Jeju Island – Same Night
A young girl—no older than nine—stood silently at the edge of the forest behind Dephnie and Lee Gon's villa.
Her eyes were shimmering silver. Not grey, but truly silver, glowing faintly like moonlight.
She touched the cherry blossom tree.
"You remember me… don't you?"
The wind shifted. The petals danced around her as if greeting her return.
Next Morning – Villa Garden
Dephnie poured tea as Woo-jin arrived, his expression unreadable.
"I tracked an anomaly. Did something happen recently?"
Dephnie nodded.
"The tree... it's blooming with memories."
Before she could say more, they heard a faint giggle.
From behind the tree, the little girl appeared. Barefoot, wearing a soft pink dress that looked like it didn't belong to this era.
Lee Gon stood protectively.
"Who are you?"
The girl tilted her head.
"I've been here before. Many times. Sometimes I was your daughter. Sometimes your enemy. Sometimes... I never existed at all."
Woo-jin stared at her.
"That's impossible."
She looked straight at him.
"You created me once... in a world that collapsed."
Dephnie stepped forward, heart pounding.
"What's your name?"
The girl walked up to her and took her hand.
"I don't know. I've had so many. But this time… you can name me."
Lee Gon and Dephnie exchanged a glance, both shaken and moved.
"Then we'll call you Arin," Dephnie whispered, tears gathering. "It means memory that blooms."
Location: Seoul – National Archives of Reality (NAR)
Days later, Woo-jin confirmed the impossible. Arin emitted a constant multiversal frequency—something no human should carry after the collapse of the rift.
"She is... a living memory of every timeline. A child not just from one world, but all of them."
"And she chose us," Lee Gon murmured.
Scene: Cliffside Picnic – Jeju
Dephnie, Lee Gon, and Arin sat by the cliffs as waves crashed below.
Arin pointed to the sky.
"Do you think another door could open?"
Lee Gon shook his head.
"Only if something deeply broken needs to be healed again."
Dephnie looked toward the horizon, wind brushing her hair back.
"But for now… we're whole."
The cherry blossom petals fell in slow motion as if time itself were watching, resting, finally at peace.
Episode 19 End