Prologue

Wisteria had been planted on the Academy rooftop.

So around the time midterms drew near, flower rain could be seen falling.

It was like that now as well. Perhaps because that season was soon to come, the petals fluttered softly in the wind.

The spring breeze, now deepening toward summer, was fragrant. It was adding a sense of freshness too, perhaps because the scent of the wisteria blossoms was mixing with the wind and soaking deep into the lungs.

The wind came blowing with a ‘whoooosh’ sound, and perhaps because of the wisteria petals, it felt almost as if it could actually be seen.

Maybe that was why it even gave rise to the illusion that things unseen could also be seen with the eyes.

Perhaps that had been her wish. Because of the longing to see what could not be seen, and the selfishness of already knowing the answer yet not wanting to believe it unless she saw it with her own eyes.

So she stood there looking at the wisteria, her heart pounding hard.

The wisteria petals blooming thickly across the wide rooftop almost created the illusion that this place was a very beautiful flower garden.

Just then, she was watching the spectacular sight of the wind sweeping over the grass spread across the ground, drawing the petals into a whirl before scattering them outside the building.

Creak!

Someone had opened the rooftop door and was heading this way.

And at this hour, there was only one person who would come here.

The person she had sent a letter to.

“Elaine, why did you call me here?”

The instant Killian came walking up to her, even the wisteria petals that had felt only fresh and lovely somehow seemed gray.

Perhaps that was because she already knew his answer.

Even so, perhaps because of the bright weather, Killian beneath the cloudless sky was exceedingly beautiful.

His platinum hair was radiant, like a bright river made from melted gold. Wisteria petals were drifting around him, and they were so fragrant that it almost felt as if the sweetness of the flowers belonged to Killian himself.

He was smiling as he looked at her. Perhaps because of the ease on his face, he looked so perfectly suited to this rooftop full of blooming wisteria that it almost made her think he was truly the master of this place.

Perhaps that too was because of his mysterious purple eyes.

The pale pink of the wisteria petals and his vivid, deep amethyst-like eyes suited each other remarkably well.

His kind eyes, long and double-lidded, rippled in her heart as though carrying her feelings every time they curved at ease.

His well-shaped nose, and even the corners of his mouth that always smiled brightly.

Perhaps because she had spent ten years doing nothing but keeping him in her eyes, she felt that even if she closed them, she could still draw exactly what he looked like. It even seemed as if Killian’s image had been engraved beneath her eyelids.

Because every time she closed and opened her eyes, the afterimage of his mysterious purple eyes still remained.

“I called you because I wanted to say something important.”

“What important matter is it, to call me at a time like this?”

Before she knew it, he had already come up in front of her. Soon, he was so close that it felt as if he would touch her if she just took one more step.

Because he was about a head taller than her, she had to tilt her face up until her neck almost hurt for Killian’s face to fully enter her sight.

Her pounding heart rang in her ears, making her restless.

“Killian.”

When she called him in a trembling voice, he smiled with his eyes curving and waited for her to speak.

“I like you, Killian.”

“……Elaine.”

“I’ve liked you for a long time.”

It felt as though she might spit out her heart.

This was not the first time she had confessed to him. When she first saw him ten years ago, and each time she became aware of her feelings for him, she had confessed her true heart to him.

But his answer had always been the same.

“I’m sorry.”

This time too, he was giving the very same answer.

“I see.”

The bitterness was still the same. And the sharp ache, like her heart stopping and then suddenly beating again, was the same too.

Even if it was not the first time, telling him her heart like that, every single time as if it were the first, was a frightening and difficult thing. She had always steadied her feelings with nothing but the hope that one day he might accept them.

“Elaine, I want to see how things go with Cecilia.”

“……Yes.”

“So let’s keep your feelings as something only I know.”

He was still smiling with that same ease. But his brows had narrowed a little, as though he was troubled.

It was strange.

Before, just having him treat her this kindly had been enough for her to feel satisfied, even though he did not accept her confession.

But now, she no longer wanted that.

Because her unrequited love would never reach him.

“Killian, how do you think it would be if what I just said was my last confession?”

A bitter smile slipped out somehow. Her eyes stung, but because the corners of them were damp, she tried not to blink even a little. If she closed and opened them now, it felt as though tears would spill down.

“I don’t think it’ll be the last.”

As he said that, he patted her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Elaine. Even so, I can’t accept it.”

For some reason, even that alone made it feel as if everything was being put in order.

Even the feelings she had held for ten years felt painfully futile.

<Elaine, you are a good person.>

<Do you really think so?>

<Yes, I knew from the first time I saw you that you were a good person. And I hoped very much that you would become my wife.>

Perhaps because of those words spoken by the man she had met in her sister’s place.

She no longer wanted to continue this painful love.

She did not want to see Killian and her sister getting along, either.

And she did not want to see Killian, who knew her feelings and yet did not see her as a woman.

Perhaps because she was truly exhausted now.

“I see. I understand your feelings well.”

“Elaine.”

“Thank you for everything until now. For putting up with my childishness.”

Once she said that, it really did feel as if her feelings were being cut away. As if along with her regret, her lingering attachment was being severed too.

“I won’t trouble you anymore.”

With that, she left the rooftop first, leaving Killian behind.

It was truly strange. Every time she had been rejected by him, these stairs had always felt unbearably cruel, but now they somehow felt relieving too.

For the first time, she was able to walk down them without looking back even once.