Chapter 158

Chapter 158

A long time ago, back when Ian and Aria were both just children.

The setting is a vast meadow.

In a cozy but old wooden house, a little girl sits alone, reading a book.

Her long, jet-black hair falls over her eyes, but it doesn’t seem to bother her.

She turns the pages with ease, as if she’s used to it.

“Gloomy, come play!”

When she spends all day cooped up in her room, a boy with a board game in his hands comes to visit.

“You’ve been reading in your room all day again, haven’t you?”

The boy always says the same thing. If you peek through the curtains, he’s there, poking his head through the window with a bright smile—Ian Blackangers.

To her childhood friend, the girl always replies in a voice that sounds like it’s swallowing her whole.

“Yeah...”

“You can’t keep doing that, Gloomy! Come on, let’s at least play a board game together!”

“Okay...”

She stumbles over her words, but she knows it’s a perfectly happy moment.

The book she was reading—she’d read it dozens of times.

Even though her bangs covered her eyes, she could still read it because of that.

The house was boring, and the outside world was scary.

She was grateful that Ian would come to visit her.

[ Chronicles of the Hero ]

She admired the heroes, magicians, and saints in the board games he brought.

‘...Ah.’

It’s around this point that she realizes.

Aria Lumines Bell.

Revered as a saintess candidate, she realizes now that she’s dreaming about her childhood when she was called ‘Gloomy’.

And then she realizes something else.

The happy scene will end soon, and a dark one will follow.

Whoosh—

The scene shifts harshly. The location is still her hometown, Istan.

But time has passed, and she’s now at the primary education institution.

The surroundings are dark.

Even though she knows it’s a dream, Aria flinched.

‘I’m scared.’

The girl, a little older now, sits with her knees pulled up, burying her head.

‘It hurts.’

Something flies at her—a chalk eraser, a pencil, a small stone, or maybe sharp words.

– Gloomy. Gloomy.

– Your bangs are messy!

– Your black hair is dirty and ominous!

– I can’t even hear you!

– A pig with big b*obs!

– Gloomy. Gloomy.

Ian is not here.

He’s the highest-ranking noble in Easton.

He’s probably at home, taking magic lessons.

They say he’s quite talented.

The girl curls up even more.

Scenes flash by rapidly.

She’s holed up at home.

She’s trapped in darkness.

Parents complain that sending her to school is pointless.

When she swallows her tears and goes to school, she’s bullied.

When she can’t take it anymore, she climbs a cliff. Ian pulls her back down.

Ian, who apologizes for not being there for her.

But the bullying doesn’t stop.

Her wrists, long and scarred. Ian, comforting her once again.

The relentless cycle.

Over and over.

‘It hurts...’

Just when she thinks it’s too much to bear—

“Ah!”

The girl wakes up from her nightmare.

She quickly looks around.

The soft glow of a lamp envelops her.

A cozy dormitory near the Academy.

“I must have fallen asleep for a bit.”

A deep anxiety washes over her.

Memories of the past make her feel mentally unstable. But she’s not the same girl she used to be.

She quickly rummages through her drawer and finds her ID.

Aria was avoiding the “past”.

And, of course, that past included her childhood friend, Pongpong.

Regrettably, Ian made the worst possible choice.

He touched on her “new present” with her “past”.

“...Who was that person who went in?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Aria straightened out her disheveled shirt. The violent size of her chest momentarily distracted from the serious conversation.

Aria’s eyes narrowed as Ian’s gaze also seemed to wander.

The spark of doubt extended to the sincerity of his confession.

“How long have you been looking at me like that?”

With a sharp remark, Aria buttoned up her shirt.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that! My intentions were pure!”

“Pure? You say that while staring at my chest?”

“Th-that’s not what I—”

“You know, right? That I’m a candidate for sainthood. Yet you still ogled my body?”

Ian fell silent.

Aria’s voice dropped even lower.

“You know, I was really grateful to you once.”

“Really?”

“But now, I’m not so sure.”

“Gloomy...”

“Don’t come any closer.”

Aria took a step back toward the door.

“Once I start my formal sainthood training, I won’t be allowed to see you. Your reputation is terrible.”

“...Gloomy.”

“That name!”

Snap.

Aria shouted, her voice echoing.

“Don’t ever call me by that name again!”

“But...”

“I’m not Gloomy anymore. I’m Aria. I’m a saintess candidate. I’m not sad anymore. I’m not struggling anymore. There’s no going back to that name!”

She claimed she was fine, but to those around her, it didn’t seem that way.

That’s how it was with Aria.

“...”

Even at that moment, Pongpong seemed worried about her.

“But if, if things ever get tough, you can still come to me...”

“No. That’s never going to happen.”

“What do you mean never? You said that before, and how many times...”

“Hah!”

Aria snorted, as if she had just realized something.

Her words were laced with thorns.

“You know what, Ian?”

“...What?”

“It almost seems like you want me to be miserable.”

“N-no! That’s not true. I’m just worried about you.”

“That kind of worry is unnecessary.”

“...!”

“I’m a candidate for sainthood now. My future is set. I’m no longer the gloomy person I once was. But why do you keep trying to drag me back to that past?”

Ian Blackangers lowered his head.

He shouldn’t apologize.

If he did...

“I’m sorry.”

...It would be an admission.

An admission that he was a terrible person who had been gaslighting Aria all this time.

Aria spoke again, her tone full of disappointment.

“I knew it. You were only around me because you wanted to feel like a good person, because you thought it made you look cool to be the one comforting me.”

“...”

Ian couldn’t find the words to respond.

The uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a moment.

Then, Aria let out a harsh sigh.

“Haah. Well, maybe it’s for the best. I wanted to say this anyway.”

“...What?”

“Let’s stop seeing each other. I’m done with that game too. Don’t come looking for me anymore.”

Pongpong flinched, instinctively hiding the old board game he had retrieved from the storage room behind his back.

“Gloomy... No, Aria!”

He reached out, almost pleadingly.

But Aria was resolute.

“Don’t pretend to know me again. Never.”

— Bang!

The door slammed shut with force.

Ian’s hand, which he had reflexively extended, never reached her.