Chapter 8. From Winter to Spring (5)

The word rejected sounded so heartbreakingly heavy that I bowed my head and apologized. Aren, flustered, gently held my hand. His cheeks were slightly flushed, but his hands were ice-cold. The contrast to my own warmth gave me a strange, indescribable feeling.

“Still… I do treasure you.”

“…That kind of comfort just makes it hurt more.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Aren smiled wistfully and took a small step back. I instinctively apologized again, but he kindly replied, “It’s okay. Please don’t apologize.” He was still the kind, gentle Aren I knew. Maybe a little persistent, yes—but still a precious friend to me.

“Haa… I even tried to make you look my way by appearing in your dreams…”

He muttered to himself, then gave a bitter smile.

Dreams? Come to think of it, there was a dream I vaguely remembered… but it was so long ago now that it had faded into a blur.

“Hmm… what was it again?”

As I stood there, deep in thought with a rather serious expression, Aren suddenly let out a small laugh.

“Well then… I’ll be going now.”

“Where to?”

He gently patted my head before swiftly turning around. It looked like he was about to teleport somewhere. But where…?

Worried he might be thinking of doing something reckless out of heartbreak, I hurriedly asked. Aren glanced back at me and let out a soft, deflating laugh.

“The Mage Tower. Since I’ve been rejected, I figured I’d hole up there for a few days.”

“Oh, um… I see…”

Surprisingly, Aren seemed pretty composed for someone who’d just been turned down. With a light smile, he waved at me—and in the blink of an eye, vanished. I stared at the spot where he’d disappeared, dazed for a moment, before looking up at the sky. The bright moon, now covered by clouds, had become faint and blurry.

Somehow, my heart felt heavy.

Sigh…

Trying to ease the weight in my chest, I leaned against a large tree and slowly inhaled and exhaled. Aren’s sudden confession had stirred up all sorts of emotions, and I needed time to sort through them. Would things still be comfortable between us now? He seemed fine earlier, but…

“Ugh, I don’t know anymore!”

I sighed deeply and ran my hands through my carefully styled hair, completely messing it up. The cold breeze brushed against me as I stood there, staring blankly into the distance.

And just when I decided to stay still for a moment longer, clearing my mind before heading back to the ballroom…

“Radel Karel.”

A clear, beautiful voice rang out. One I’d heard before—no, many times before.

Calm, but chilling. At the sound of it, I slowly turned my head.

And there stood a woman… smiling so widely, it sent shivers down my spine.

“Seria.”

She should’ve been in prison by now—

Yet there she was, standing right in front of me.

“That cursed magic freak!”

Dia downed the drink in her hand in one gulp to cool her rage. She’d been hoping to dance with Radel after such a long time, but then suddenly she showed up and whisked Radel away in the blink of an eye. If it weren’t for that teleportation magic, she could’ve handled things with her sword somehow…

If only she hadn’t skipped those annoying magic lessons as a kid!

Dia bit her lip and slammed the empty glass onto the table.

“Well, now we begin the party…”

Watching the Crown Prince give his dull party-opening speech, Dia let out a deep sigh.

So boring. Everything felt boring without Radel here. As she slouched in her seat, looking completely uninterested, a particular knight caught her eye.

That knight… isn’t he from the Imperial Guard?

The lion emblem on the left br*ast of his uniform made it easy to tell—the knight belonged to the Imperial Guard.

Dia tilted her head as she looked at him.

A knight who should have been stationed at the palace—why was he here, at the academy party?

And his face… he looked extremely flustered.

Sensing something was wrong, Dia kept her eyes on him.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince… It’s urgent—”

The knight hurried up to the platform and whispered into the Crown Prince’s ear.

The Crown Prince, who had been yawning, clearly bored, immediately changed expressions the moment he heard the message.

“Is that true?”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

With a serious expression, the Crown Prince confirmed it again, then quickly stepped down from the platform and made his way toward the exit of the ballroom.

Seeing him like that, Dia knew something serious had happened.

No way… this isn’t about Radel, is it?

A sense of dread she couldn’t explain washed over her. All she had done was spot a knight from the Imperial Guard, yet her gut told her something was wrong.

That growing unease.

Unable to shake it off, Dia headed toward the exit after the Crown Prince.

Praying, desperately, that nothing had happened.

The clouds parted, and the once-dim moonlight now brightly illuminated the garden.

Though it was nighttime, everything became vividly clear—almost like a spotlight had been cast over the scene. And because of that, I could clearly see Seria’s face, smiling brightly at me. It startled me.

That’s really… Seria!

For a moment, I doubted my own eyes.

But no matter how many times I blinked, that woman was unmistakably Seria.

Something’s wrong… She should be in prison right now, awaiting her trial tomorrow.

So why—why are you here?

The moonlight gave the garden a dreamy, otherworldly aura.

Everything looked like a mirage.

Was I just too exhausted? Could this be a hallucination?

I tried to escape into denial, glancing around as if trying to wake up.

But then her voice—soft and unmistakable—rang clearly in my ears, forcing me to accept that this was real.

“Hehe, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

That voice was still as beautiful as ever.

And her face… she looked even more radiant than the last time I’d seen her.

What in the world had happened to her?

No—before that… What did she do to be imprisoned in the first place, and how was she now standing here like nothing happened?

Ignoring Seria’s casual greeting, I shot her a sharp question.

“Why are you here?”

“I knew you’d ask that.”

Seria replied with a face that said, Of course you would, and began walking toward me.

There had been some distance between us, but with just a few quick steps, she closed it all at once.

What the—why is she so fast?!

“You’re dying to know how I got out of that suffocating prison, aren’t you?”

I tried to run from her as she approached right to my face, but my body wouldn’t move.

Maybe it was tension, maybe fear—my limbs felt frozen, and I couldn’t even lift a single arm.

Seria reached out and lightly tapped me, continuing with that same eerie calm in her voice.

“Hehehe, I’ll tell you. First… I just did a little acting.”

Seria smiled confidently, leaning in even closer as if mocking me. Seeing her up close finally snapped me back to my senses. This was Seria. If I didn’t stay sharp, I’d be in serious trouble.

I widened my eyes and glared at her, forcing myself to focus. But Seria couldn’t care less. She continued speaking, only interested in saying what she wanted.

“People still fall so easily for a pretty face and a few tears. I just stumbled a bit and cried a little, and they all let their guard down. That’s when I used magic and escaped from prison.”

“The knights… what about the knights?”

I wasn’t interested in her great prison break story. I asked hurriedly, worried about the guards who had been watching her. She sneered as she answered.

“Oh, I just knocked them out. Killing them would’ve been a hassle, so I controlled my magic enough to keep it simple. Hehehe…”

She kept smiling as if something was terribly funny. But—her eyes. There was something wrong with her eyes.

Up close, her face was still delicate and angelic, but her gaze… it wasn’t like before. The light was gone.

Her eyes, filled with madness, stared only at me—sharp, unblinking, and cold.

S-scary…

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to run off before a trial?”

She was still awaiting trial for attempted murder.

Even a child would know a defendant can’t just wander around freely, especially not after escaping and knocking out imperial knights with magic.

This woman… she was completely unhinged.

Either people didn’t realize Seria had magical talent, or they’d been careless, leaving her unguarded. Either way, the knights hadn’t stood a chance.

Poor knights…

Thankfully, according to her, she’d only knocked them unconscious.

“Of course I know that! But I just missed you so much, I had to come see you!”

Seria’s bright, cheerful smile sent chills down my spine.

Come to think of it—back during that prison visit, didn’t she swear she’d kill me no matter what?

Wait… don’t tell me she’s actually here to take revenge?

A cold shiver ran through me, and I instinctively stepped back.

“Haha, don’t be so scared. I just want to talk.”

She spoke in her usual delicate voice… while pulling something from inside her cloak.

It shimmered sharply under the moonlight—

A knife.

A knife…? A knife?!

“You said we were just going to talk!”

“Oh, don’t mind this. It’s just in case something unexpected happens.”

In case of what?!

What kind of “unexpected” is she anticipating?!

I panicked and kept backing away.

She’s way more unhinged than I thought.

How on earth did the knights let someone like her escape? Were they seriously that careless?

Swallowing dryly, I stared at the blade.

Sure, being taken down by magic would be terrifying,

but being stabbed to death—no, I absolutely refuse that fate.

“Oh come on… I told you not to be so scared. I’m just going to talk.

If you happen to do something that annoys me, I’ll lightly stab you with this.

Nothing major, I promise.”

Seria twirled the knife lightly in her hand, smiling sweetly.

“Honestly, I think weapons like these are far more satisfying than magic,” she added shyly.

I couldn’t close my mouth at the bizarre sight in front of me and started digging through my pockets. Was there anything—anything—I could use?

But no. The communicator had already been submitted to the palace as evidence.

Damn it. Not only was I unarmed, but I suddenly remembered that the hidden pocket sewn into my dress was so tiny, I hadn’t put anything in it.

In short: I was completely defenseless.

My opponent was a skilled magician, armed with a blade, and I was… basically standing here empty-handed.

So what—was I just going to die like this?

“What did you want to talk about?”

I did my best to stay calm and not provoke Seria. She said she wanted to talk, so I figured I’d hear her out.

She wouldn’t suddenly yell “Time to die!” and charge at me… right?

Right?

“I wanted to thank you first,” she said with a smile.

“Thanks to you, I had the special experience of sleeping on the cold prison floor.”

“…Ah, I see…”

That’s a backhanded way of saying, How dare you make me sleep there, isn’t it?

She’s just dressing up her rage in politeness.