Chapter 33

Tap tap tap tap—!

The sun was still high in the sky.

In the now-empty academy grounds, where students had gone home, a pair of footsteps echoed.

“Huff… Huff…!”

The owner of the footsteps was a small girl with cherry blossom-colored twin-tails.

Rusika Rafisle.

She was sprinting through the academy, giving it her all.

There was no destination. Anywhere would do, anywhere at all,

she just needed a place to breathe.

“Ha… Ha… Ha…!”

Gasping breaths flowed from her tiny lips without stopping.

It felt like her heart might explode.

Whether it was from running or something else, she couldn’t tell.

Her whole body was drenched in sweat, as if it were raining, and her trembling limbs wouldn’t listen to her at all.

But she had to keep running.

Somewhere, anywhere she could be alone.

She wanted to disconnect from the world.

She needed time to think, alone in the darkness where no one would find her.

Tap tap tap tap—!

She left the plaza, passed by the dormitories, crossed the podium,

and without realizing it, made her way to the shabby old secondary school building.

A building almost never used anymore, unless it was for something special.

It was a perfect hiding place where no one could see her.

Rusika opened the door to the building and ran down the hallway.

“Ha… Ha…!”

Not yet.

She had to go deeper.

To a place where the outside sounds wouldn’t reach, a place completely cut off.

Turning the corner at the end of the hallway and entering the building’s interior, Rusika finally found a place to be alone.

The girls’ restroom.

Rusika rushed in as if fleeing from something, dove into the corner stall, and hurriedly locked the door.

Bam—Click!

At that moment, the footsteps echoing in the old building stopped, and all that remained was the sound of the girl’s ragged breathing within the stall.

“Huff… Huff… Huff…”

Staring at the restroom door, she panted with her flushed face, then—

Bam!

She slammed her head against the door, arms hanging limply.

“Huff… Huff…”

Her rapid breaths gradually calmed down, settling into a clear silence within the stall.

Rusika was still planted against the door, looking blank.

As the blood that had rushed to her head cooled, her face began to pale.

“What… what the heck…”

She couldn’t comprehend the scene she had witnessed with her own eyes.

Her mind refused to accept it.

But it was clearly reality, etched in her eyes, refusing to fade.

“Tirisia… Tirisia…”

Her beloved childhood friend, whom she cherished and adored, was in the arms of a brutish man.

The sight of a friend she had long admired acting in a beastly manner shocked her to the core.

The Tirisia she knew was a model noblewoman, reserved and graceful.

She could never have imagined that even a slovenly and chaotic version of Tirisia could exist.

Yet, more than that, the truth contained in that scene was even more unbelievable.

[―I’m sorry, your girlfriend is my property now.]

She replayed that man’s words in her mind.

There was no other way to interpret it.

It was a declaration of mockery and disdain, proclaiming that he had forcibly taken Tirisia away.

Not just taking her but flaunting and reveling in it.

Her mind recalled the face of the one who had suffered that humiliation.

He was… a boy who, like Tirisia, was her childhood friend.

“Erto…!”

His face, filled with despair, reflected in the mirror, burned sharply into her memory.

The expression, like the world she knew was crumbling before her.

The staggering movements.

The back of someone fleeing from hell.

All of it still lingered vividly before her eyes.

The mirror contained the conclusion of that truth.

Tirisia had betrayed Erto. In front of him. In such a hideous way.

She wished the mirror had shown a fantasy instead.

But such intricately realistic illusions could not exist in this world.

She had to acknowledge and accept it.

That it had indeed happened.

“…Ugh.”

Something flashed through Rusika’s mind.

Months ago, when Erto suddenly missed three days of academy.

After that, there had been an awkwardness between the two.

Then came the sudden breakup declaration from Erto.

And… not long after, Kerg Durakal appeared, boasting before all the students.

“No way…”

As pieces of a shattered puzzle clicked into place,

she pieced together one clear narrative in her mind.

“No way… no…!”

Bam!

Rusika slammed her head against the door again.

If Erto’s collapse, the reason he hadn’t come to the academy, really was that—

it meant he had been hiding the truth all this time, for months now.

To protect Tirisia’s honor.

To make it seem like she had left him and met someone new.

He had endured his suffering all alone, in solitude.

Why? Why? Why,

Bam, bam, bam,

Rusika kept banging her head against the door.

Why did Erto do such a thing?

Memories of all the actions he had taken to conceal the truth slowly resurfaced.

[I was the one who first suggested we go back to being friends.]

[It’s tough keeping up with the life of a high noble, like the Bruerd family.]

[Senpai, I don’t want to be a burden in Tirisia’s life.]

His words, shifting the reasons for their breakup back onto himself.

Fabricated lies where he claimed he would step back for Tirisia’s future.

Rusika had believed firmly in them as truth.

That’s why,

that’s why she was so furious.

“This is unbelievable… this is unbelievable!”

She began to reconsider everything from his perspective.

Erto didn’t want to breakup.

He had no choice but to.

How could he continue to love a girlfriend in another man’s arms?

He had only two choices left.

To expose Tirisia’s shame or to cover it and take all the disgrace upon himself.

He chose the latter.

He opted to protect the honor of the betrayed lover, sacrificing himself.

Why go that far—

No, Erto was just that kind of person.

He was a kind and pitiful soul who couldn’t let go of his childhood friend, even as she tore his heart apart.

That’s why he had been repeatedly called that embarrassing name.

“Erto… Aa…”

Months that were anything but short.

She couldn’t begin to imagine what he must have felt during that time.

What kind of feelings drove him to declare giving up Tirisia in front of everyone, she couldn’t fathom.

But,

‘What about me?’

What had she, Rusika Rafisle, his childhood friend, said to him?

Finally, the things she had done began to resurface in her mind.

While watching Erto let go of Tirisia with unwavering belief,

what had she, as a friend who had watched over and supported him for so long, said?

In a fit of rage, hadn’t she poured out insults and accusations?

To Erto, who had disappointed her expectations and trust, hadn’t she committed the worst actions?

“Ha… Hah…!”

Again, Rusika’s heart began to race.

Cold sweat broke out, and her breathing grew rapid.

Amidst the turmoil, the words she had thrown out at him replayed in her mind.

[Erto, you’re definitely a good person. But, you’re just not the man for Tirisia.]

[I wanted to support a person like you.]

Confidently telling that to the one who had just lost his girlfriend right in front of him.

[Is that really your conclusion? Don’t you regret it?]

Those words weren’t heartfelt. They were an unavoidable act that couldn’t be regretted.

“Aah… Aaah!”

Rusika’s voice began to crescendo, nearing a scream.

Her headache throbbed, as her own hurtful words echoed endlessly.

[You want to run away now? Was your love for Tirisia really only that much?]

It wasn’t a flight. He was the one cast aside.

[I’m truly disappointed. Don’t talk to me anymore, you embarrassing fool.]

[Why are you pretending like you’re someone now? You cowardly runaway.]

To an innocent friend who had committed no crime,

to someone who had borne the noble resolve of sacrificing himself to protect his lover,

who had crushed and torn apart the very heart he had for her, who was that?

“Aaaah! Aaaaaah!”

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Rusika screamed, pounding her head repeatedly against the hard tiled wall.

Until the very end, until the very end.

Until he was driven further into the abyss of endless malice from his foes,

I,

I—

[So, what does it feel like? Seeing Tirisia in another man’s arms.]

“Aaaahhh!”

She had pushed him into the abyss of despair.

In her reckless drive, she had shoved her precious friend, already falling into the depths, deeper still.

The entirety of the situation crushed her memory in a violent panorama.

Erto, trying his best to smile amidst despair, even while accepting her mockery.

Erto, hiding the truth with a pained expression, enduring her accusations.

And, Erto, who had resigned himself to losing even that bare minimum of being by Tirisia’s side.

One statement he had given to her struck her now, resonating in her chest.

[I hope one day you’ll understand me too.]

That was exactly the meaning behind it.

The moment she learned the truth, it flipped every situation on its head.

But he had certainly not said that with any sense of expectation.

It was merely him voicing his bittersweet lament toward a hope that would never blossom, buried deep within a secret he would never reveal unless he opened his mouth.

Only now, only now could she finally understand his true intentions.

Only after dealing an irreversible wound to Erto.

“Ugh—”

Suddenly overwhelmed by an intense wave of nausea, Rusika bent over.

“Ugh, Ugh! Ugh!”

Then, she buried her head in the toilet and violently retched.

Gurgle!

Everything in her stomach poured out with tears.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

Even though there was nothing left, the retching wouldn’t cease.

It was relentless guilt pouring out endlessly.

Her original sin, from which she could never absolve herself.

“Ugh! Uugh!”

Only after heaving several times did she manage to catch her breath and regain her senses.

“Huff… Huff…”

Clutching the toilet, which had become a mess of vomit, she inhaled deeply.

And,

“Ugh… Waaaah!”

She began wailing loudly.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…!”

Continuously scattering apologies into the void, which could never reach her.

“What have I… what have I done…! Aaaah!”

If only she could go back, she would have wanted to rip her own mouth apart.

How she hated herself for constantly digging into his wounds.

“Ugh… Uuuuh…”

But such miracles don’t exist in this world, and what’s done is done.

Now, she had to carry her ruined past and move forward.

“…Tirisia.”

In her pinkish eyes, a faint glimmer of resolve flickered.

Her pale complexion regained its stability, and calmly, she recalled a single purpose.

“Ugh…”

Wiping her mouth, Rusika staggered to her feet and flushed the toilet.

With a zap, zap, zap,

red sparks began to flicker from her cherry blossom twin-tails.

“Why… why did you do this?”

With a face of resolute determination, Rusika left the restroom.

Thud—thud—

Zap, zap, zap,

Every step radiated energy from her body.

“Why!”

Tap, tap, tap, tap,

Her steps transformed into a sprint, her energy flaring even more fiercely.

Boom boom boom boom—!

With a roar that felt like her heart might burst, Rusika zipped down the hallway, exploding out of the secondary school.

Bang!

She soared into the sky above the academy, beginning to run in search of her childhood friend.

She couldn’t let this slide.

She needed to meet Tirisia.

She had to meet her and hear the reason.

The reason she had betrayed Erto and found herself in another man’s arms.

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