The days turned into weeks, and weeks into months.
Before Lux knew it, half a year had passed since the filming started.
At first, he was very worried about the time difference between Earth, Solais, and Elysium.
He believed that after he spent a few months on Earth, several years would have already passed in Solais and Elysium.
Fortunately, on the day that he signed the contract, dozens of those glowing golden eyeballs appeared inside his room.
"As long as you entertain me, and I am satisfied with your performance, you don't have to worry about the difference in time dilation. So make sure to do your best or else…"
Although Lux was still in doubt, he had no choice but to believe the being's words.
Since he could not go back on his own anyway, he decided to stay and help Luna make her first movie a success.
Lux wasn't an actor.
However, his dedication to help Luna realize her dream made him work very hard. In the end, after a few awkward shoots and a lot of guidance, he gradually improved until his acting became nearly perfect.
Claudia told him that he was born for the role he was portraying, and Lux had to agree that she was certainly right about it.
The role he was playing was a Necromancer.
The Movie Cantarella revolved around the Female Lead, who was played by Luna, being forced to kill the Male Lead due to the order of an Evil Witch, who took her Royal Family hostage.
Lux was a Prince of a Kingdom, who was actively hunting the Evil Witch. Wanting to protect herself, the Witch used the beautiful Princess to make the Prince fall for her and give her the poison that would end his life.
The Half-Elf was indeed perfect for the job. The Male Lead was a Necromancer just like him, and he was also supposed to be a Half-Elf.
According to the Director, they were trying to get a person named William to play the role. But he was too busy as of late, so they could only look for someone to be his replacement.
Francesca, who was the Director of the movie, told Lux that he wasn't acting ruthless enough for the role he was portraying.
A Necromancer should be cold, dark, handsome, and oozing with masculinity.
Because of this, Lux was forced to tap into the darkest experiences he had in Solais and Elysium, allowing the director and the cast to see his ruthless side.
What made Francesca extremely happy was that during the battle scenes, she didn't have to bother looking for extras because Lux was able to find talented people to play as Undead Monsters, whom she praised for looking and acting their part perfectly.
She even shook hands with a Doom Knight Gangbanger and praised him for his acting, making the latter scratch his head in embarrassment.
If only Francesca knew that she was actually talking to and praising a "real" Undead Monster, she might have fainted then and there.
After spending six months together as the Male and Female Lead, it was impossible for Luna to not get close to Lux.
At first, she stuck close to him in order to ensure that the Half-Elf wouldn't cheat on her sister. But the more he knew about him, the more she understood why Aina had fallen in love with him when she was still alive on Earth.
"Tomorrow will be the last day of filming," Francesca declared. "I saved the best scene for last. It will be a Royal Party, and Lux will come to dance with Luna before the clock strikes twelve."
"The moment the bell chimes, you will run away into the garden and disappear. That will be the last scene that we will shoot, and the movie will finally come to an end. Before anything else, I would like to thank the two of you for doing an exceptional job.
"Working with you guys has reignited my passion for directing movies. I am very lucky to have both of you in my cast."
"Thank you, director," Luna replied with a smile. "It is also an honor working with you. I've learned a lot of things, and I'll treasure these memories for the rest of my life."
Francesca nodded her head in satisfaction before shifting her gaze to Lux, whose face had suddenly become pale.
"What's wrong?" Francesca asked as she looked at the handsome Half-Elf, who seemed to have seen a ghost.
"N-Nothing," Lux replied. "I'm just a bit exhausted with today's shooting. I promise that I'll be fine when morning comes, Director."
"Well, if you say so," Francesca smiled and patted Lux's shoulder. "Rest well. I'm counting on you to shoot the final scene perfectly, Mr. Prince Charming."
After saying those words, Francesca went to talk to the other crew members and thanked them for doing a great job.
Lux excused himself from the set and headed back to his room. His face was still pale, and Luna, who noticed it, felt worried about him.
As soon as he arrived inside his room, the Half-Elf locked the door before sitting lifelessly on his bed.
He stared at the space in front of him for a while before sighing.
< Countdown to returning to Solais. >
33:25:14
The moment Francesca said that tomorrow would be the last day of filming, the Half-Elf heard a notification inside his head, and rows of texts suddenly appeared in front of him.
It took him a moment to realize that the notification he got was actually a countdown timer.
If this were in the past, he would have been thrilled to see such a development, but now, he just felt empty inside.
Although he didn't want to admit it, he momentarily forgot about the bad things that were happening in Solais and Elysium because he was too engrossed in his role as the Male Lead of the movie.
The anxiety and worries that he had locked up inside his heart rose to the surface all at once, making him feel very guilty.
Guilty for actually enjoying his time acting with Luna, and guilty for forgetting his mission to save Solais.
When this reality hit him, Lux felt suffocated as if someone was strangling his neck.
He covered his face with both hands as he tried to stabilize his wildly beating heart.
Lux knew that he had no choice on the matter, and yet, he couldn't help but blame himself for having fun while everyone else was suffering back in Solais and Elysium.
Because of this, he didn't notice the door of his room was open.
He also didn't notice that someone had already approached and was only a step away from him.
"Lux."
A familiar voice called out to him, making him break out of his daze.
Lux lowered his hand and looked at the beautiful young lady, whom he had spent the past six months with.
"Luna," Lux replied. His tone was heavy, and his body shuddered from time to time as if he was holding something back.
Luna was surprised to see that Lux was crying. She could feel the pained expression on his face, making her feel an ache inside her chest.
Before she knew it, she had already wrapped her arms around the Half-Elf's head and pulled him to her chest.
"Everything is going to be fine," Luna replied. "You're going to be fine."
Seeing Lux's expression reminded her of the day when Aina was about to undertake her operation.
If it succeeded, then her sister would finally be able to recover and live her life the way she wanted to.
But the operation failed, and she was no longer able to see her sister's smile ever again.
Seeing Lux with the same expression on his face made Luna feel as if she was reliving the same scenario again.
She felt as if the Half-Elf was about to disappear from her life, just like what happened to her sister.
It scared her so much that she didn't notice that she had also started to cry while patting the Half-Elf's head in order to reassure him that it was going to be fine.
Lux and Luna both cried, but they had entirely different reasons.
They didn't know how long they cried, but when they finally stopped, Lux told her everything.
He could have lied and told Luna that everything was fine.
But he didn't do that.
Aina's greatest regret in her lifetime was that she wasn't able to say a proper goodbye to her sister and thank her for everything she had done for her.
For the sacrifices Luna made in order to gather the funds for her hospitalization and operation.
Aina regretted not being able to tell her sister how much she loved her because, on the last night they were together, she only cried while her sister held her, just like how Luna was holding Lux a few minutes ago.
When Lux finished talking, Luna felt as if her heart was breaking.
She had already lost her sister, and now, she was about to lose Lux as well.
Cupping his face, Luna looked at him with tears streaming down her eyes.
No words were spoken between them as she lowered her head to kiss him on the lips.
Due to their tears, their kiss was bitter and salty.
It wasn't sweet like it should have been.
Instead, it was bitter, salty, and sad.
When their kiss ended, they stared at each other before Lux wrapped his arms around her.
A moment later both of them laid down on the bed and held each other until they no longer had tears to shed.
(A/N: Merry Christmas everyone!)
