Chapter 56: What I Wished Wouldn’t Happen

༺ What I Wished Wouldn’t Happen ༻

“B-Brother?”

Aria, who was staring blankly at Irina in her disguise as Kania, found Frey in her arms and opened her mouth in surprise.

“Kania... What the hell happened?”

Irina, who was looking at Aria in a daze, began to rack her brain, which froze as a result of the shock.

“Ah... That. I was hiding the Young Master here.”

“Hiding him...?”

“Yes, don’t you know?. Because of the recent 『Holy Undead Knight Incident』.”

Irina, who was forced to lie in order to protect Frey’s life, turned her gaze away from Aria’s twinkling eyes and said so.

“The Young Master had some kind of connection with that case. So, I hid us here in this mountain and when I accidentally discovered this cavern, I decided to go inside.”

“...Really?”

After hearing those words, Aria looked at Irina doubtfully for a moment and inquired.

“By the way, why can’t I feel any dark mana from you?”

“That’s... because I used it all while trying to get Young Master out of the crime scene...”

“Then, was he really behind the incident?”

As Irina continued to avoid her gaze and come up with an excuse, Aria, who was biting her lips tightly, murmured with a grim expression.

“Is my brother really behind the 『Holy Undead Knight Incident』 that caused an upheaval across the Empire?”

“I apologize. I can’t tell you anything.”

Of course, she knew the truth, but if she said it, Frey would only have a year and three months left to live, so she had no choice but to ignore Aria’s question.

– Gnash...

Then, glaring at Irina like that, Aria gnashed her teeth and said with a resolute look on her face.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Pardon?”

“Obviously, both you and my brother are lying. I can tell.”

“Uh... that’s...”

“Like I said before, I’ll have to figure out the truth somehow. Somehow...”

At that moment, Irina became terrified of her and was contemplating whether she should add more details to her lie. Meanwhile, Aria lowered her head and muttered.

“...I have to find out, but I can’t help but get tired—”

“What do you mean?”

“—Believing in you... trying to find the truth... I’m getting tired of it all now.”

Having said that, Aria crouched in front of Irina and begged her for answers.

“Kania, tell me the truth. Everything you know. I can bear the truth...”

“No.”

Irina, who kept avoiding her gaze, cut off Aria mid-sentence and pushed her away.

“I’m just the Young Master’s tool.”

Irina recalled Kania’s words that she had told her in the previous timeline and imitated her as much as possible. Meanwhile, Aria kept staring at in silence.

“Ugh... my head...”

Amidst that tense atmosphere that formed between the two of them, Frey, who was in Irina’s arms, groaned and opened his eyes.

“...Mhmm.”

And Frey, who was about to say something to Irina with a smile on his face, found Aria staring coldly at her and froze for a moment.

– Scribble, scribble.

Worried that Frey might still regard the situation as a hallucination, Irina hurriedly began tracing the following words with her finger on his back:

– Reality

When after a while Irina’s fingers stopped, Frey took a deep breath, then staggered up and said sternly.

“So, why are you here? Aria?”

“That’s... what I should be asking you.”

Sparks lit up between Frey’s and Aria’s eyes.

“Why are you here? Frey?”

“Like I said before...”

“Stay quiet and watch, Kania.”

When Aria frowned and asked, Irina hurriedly interrupted the conversation between the two. However, Aria shut her up and asked Frey once again.

“Tell me with your own mouth. Why the hell are you here?”

Then, after grimacing for a brief moment, Frey, who had already taken everything into consideration, opened his mouth with a wintry smile.

“I ran away.”

“...From what?”

“Well? I wonder?”

“Stop trying to dodge the question and tell me now...”

When Aria interrogated him furiously, Frey suddenly grabbed Irina, who was standing next to him and began choking her.

“Huh...!”

“By the way... Kania, did you just say ‘Like I said before’?”

“I-I a-apologize...!”

“I obviously told you not to tell anyone the truth... you useless bastard...”

Then Aria, who was watching the scene, hurriedly grabbed Frey’s arm and started screaming.

“Hey, stop it! Big sis Kania didn’t say anything! I just tried to interrogate her...!”

“...What? ‘Sis’?”

Frey, who heard Aria’s cry, opened his mouth with an astonished look.

“Why is this lowlife your sister? You’re a member of the noble Starlight family, not a loser wandering the streets.”

“Don’t spout such disgusting words...”

“Well, looking at your behavior, it seems like a commoner has somehow gotten into our family? Later, I’ll investigate your origins with magic...”

“I told you to stop!!”

Aria, who eventually exploded when his remarks went too far, concentrated stellar mana in her palms and pushed Frey away.

“...Ugh!”

Then Frey, who had been strangling Irina until then, slammed into the wall and let out a groan.

“Y-You can’t be my brother! You’re not my brother...!”

Meanwhile, Aria, who had erupted from the stress and rage she had accumulated so far, concentrated stellar mana in her fists once more and began to approach him.

“Please wait! Young Lady Aria!”

Seeing her like that, Irina, who, in fact, didn’t feel any pain because Frey only pretended to strangle her, hastily started crying out at her.

“Please stop! At this rate...!”

– Slam!!!

However, Aria gathered stellar mana and slammed her fist into Frey’s face. In the aftermath, the resulting wind blew the dust and dirt that covered them both. Irina who stared at the scene of fight in a daze, began walking towards them in haste.

“Cough! Cough!!”

“...Huh?”

A momentary silence lingered since Frey constantly began to cough and groan as Aria’s clothes were stained red with his blood.

“How did this happen?”

“Uhhh... I-It’s nothing. This is just... Cough!!”

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Frey, who struggled to utter an answer to Aria with a calm look, staggered up once again as blood trickled down his lips. Aria’s expression turned grim at that horrific sight. She shook Frey and began asking him questions.

“Is it because I pushed you earlier? Where does it hurt? Or does it have something to do with the 『Holy Undead Knight Incident』?”

“No... that’s...”

“Answer me right now. Why the hell did you throw up this much blood...!”

Aria, feeling something strange as Frey kept avoiding her gaze and fumbled on his words, pulled her fists out of the wall and pushed him away.

– Crash!!

“Seeing you breath a sigh of relief, you must have been a little worried for her, weren’t you?”

“Yes, it’s because I ran out of stellar mana. Since I can’t feel dark mana or use my own stellar mana, if something unexpected happens, there will be serious problems.”

In response to Irina’s words, Frey heaved a deep sigh and began following Aria. However, just as Irina was about to follow Frey, she suddenly sensed something stranged and looked back.

‘...Perhaps I’m mistaken?’

For some reason, she sensed dark mana behind her rather than in front. But it was only for a brief moment, so she thought that she was mistaken. She then began following Frey, who had already walked quite a long way ahead of her.

“Here. Dark mana is emanating from everywhere.”

Frey and Irina, who had been walking for a while, came to a standstill upon hearing Aria’s words and sneaked a peek ahead.

“Here... what the hell is this place for...?”

In front of them, a huge gate stood still.

“...Kania, what’s wrong?”

When Irina muttered as such involuntarily while trembling anxiously, Frey looked at her with a worried expression and whispered.

“I can sense abominable dark mana in front of me. I’ve never felt such an immense dark mana... besides once.”

“When is that?”

“In the previous timeline when K... Kania, no, when I lost control of my powers.”

“What...?”

Frey, who couldn’t feel dark mana properly because of his lack of stellar mana, said so in astonishment upon hearing Irina’s assessment.

“That’s absurd. If this much dark mana is gushing out... this mountain should have been corroded and crumbled already.”

Hearing his words, Irina gulped and nodded her head. Meanwhile, Frey shouted as he rushed towards Aria, who had already reached out her hand to open the gate in front of her.

“Aria! Don’t open that gate!!”

“...Huh?”

Aria involuntarily recalled the figure of her brother who would warn her in a similar tone whenever something dangerous was going to happen. She was always a smart child, so she quickly lifted her hand. But...

– Creeeeaaaaak...

“Eh, what!? I didn’t touch it?”

For some reason, the huge gate began to open slowly on its own, even though no one had touched it.

Stunned by the sight, Frey put his hand to the sword on his waist, and Irina hurriedly stretched her arms forward and prepared to attack, but...

“...What? There’s nothing here?”

When the gate was fully opened, what appeared in front of their eyes was a large dimly lit room.

‘What? Why does this place have so much dark mana when there is nothing here...’

Irina entered the room with Frey and began investigating her surroundings with such doubts in her mind.

“Isn’t this a place for black magic research?”

“That seems to be correct, given that there are a lot of artifacts and materials related to black magic.”

Aria and Irina who eventually confirmed that this was a room where black magic research was going on. Suddenly blurted out the questions that crossed their minds.

“But something is strange. No matter how much black magic research was going on in this room... it’s a bit unnatural to feel such a potent dark mana.”

“That’s right. It’s too strong to be considered as residual dark mana.”

After discussing about the room for such a long time, Irina raised another question.

“Wait, but why is there a light in this room?”

“Huh? You’re right? This is a cavern, so there should be no sunlight.”

After hearing Aria’s words, the two of them were silent for a moment, then raised their heads at the same time and started looking up.

“...Hold on.”

Aria gazed up at the ceiling that was so dark to the point that she couldn’t even see the end. She shot some of her stellar magic towards the ceiling to check it in more detail...

“...What in the world?”

“No way.”

Soon, the two of them fell into dismay.

It was because the pitch-black ceiling was painted in dark mana with no end in sight.

“Is that much dark mana even possible?”

Irina, who had been staring at it for a long time, suddenly felt strange and looked beside her.

“Ugh...”

“Y-Young Master?”

Then Irina found Frey sitting on the floor, grabbing his head. She rushed to him and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been here before...”

“Yes?”

“Memories... Memories... I have to hide... Hide and seek...”

Then Frey suddenly started speaking gibberish.

“Werewolf...my mother’s death...”

“Frey?”

“Kania’s...”

Frey, who had been speaking gibberish for a long time, soon lost consciousness while trying to say something.

“Kyaa!?”

“...A-Aria?”

Irina, who was trembling in panic, heard a scream from behind this time as she quickly looked behind her.

– Whooosh...

“That’s c-crazy!!”

The dark mana on the ceiling swept over Aria fiercely.

“Ugh, how much...!”

Shocked, Aria began radiating stellar mana from her hand, but it was too much for her to drive away all the overwhelming dark mana, and eventually the constant stream of dark mana swallowed her up. She soon lost consciousness and collapsed on the floor.

“Who are you!”

From that point on, Irina conjured flames in her hands and screamed.

“Come out now!!”

“...All right.”

Irina screamed and tried to act tough. However, when she saw the person who opened the gate and entered the room, she dispelled her flames helplessly and muttered in a daze.

“Y-You...”

“Did you enjoy my performance?”

And Kania, who was watching her calmly, began controlling the dark mana spread all around her.

“H-How are you her—?”

“This is the place I have heard about once I found out the truth from the Young Master’s subconscious. This place was originally managed by Lord Abraham, the head of the Starlight Ducal Family.”

“Wh-What...?”

“Of course, he was unconscious back then... after finding this place, I have been using detection magic to stop intruders.”

Having said that, Kania, who carefully lifted Aria from the ground, looked at Irina, who still had a blank expression on her face, and said.

“Up until now, Lady Aria had always come alone... However, this time, I detected two more presence, so I went to see who they were, and I found you two.”

“Uh... what about the disguise in the dormitory?”

“I left that to the smartest person on the entire continent, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Having said that, Irina, who was watching Kania sigh and place Frey and Aria side by side on the bed next to her, asked a question in a quivering tone.

“So... what the hell is this place?”

Hearing those words, Kania sighed and answered.

“This is where my parents brutally murdered Young Master’s mother and turned her into a werewolf.”

“...What!”

And when Irina heard those words, she immediately grabbed her head like Frey before her, and began to mumble in a crestfallen voice.

“Wait, hold on... Then the wolf... no, was it a werewolf?”

“Sigh...”

And Kania, who looked at her sorrowfully, quietly turned her gaze up at the ceiling, soaked in dark mana and muttered under her breath.

“...I now have one more comrade I wished I would never have.”