Chapter 60

In front of another exit of Magung.

A woman with silver hair rolled out.

“Nikita!”

A man rushed out and quickly supported her.

The man, looking just like Nikita, was her brother Nia Cynthia.

“N-Nia, big brother.”

Nikita clenched her fists tightly.

And then, she punched Nia in the side.

“Ack!”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner! It would have been okay to let me know you were alive!”

“I-I’m sorry. Nikita, if I had contacted you, there surely would have been some suspicion.”

Nia stared at an angry Nikita, completely unsure of what to do.

This was the first time Nia had seen such an emotional Nikita.

She struggled to handle her own feelings.

Emotions surged within her, making her dizzy.

A man kept flashing through her mind.

The one who blocked her and sent her here against her will.

When he left the academy, she hadn’t even seen him off.

And yet, he had come back to the academy and stayed by her side all along.

“If I had known, none of this would have happened…”

Nikita bit her lips.

“Did… the senior not tell me because you shut him up?”

“No, that was his own judgment. He was the one who saved me in the first place.”

Nikita’s eyes widened.

‘Could it be Bickamon…’

He might have known for a long time that Nia would be killed.

Maybe he returned to Jerion Academy for that reason.

But who was that for?

‘It was for me.’

Nikita had always known Bickamon’s feelings.

After all, she would eventually be used for a political marriage by the Cynthia Marquis family.

She couldn’t accept his feelings and pushed him away, and Bickamon knew that.

That’s why Bickamon never confessed to her in the end.

‘He is.’

Bickamon had left the academy entangled with Lucas.

During that time, the 3rd Princess had been part of the group Bickamon attacked.

As a result, he was exiled from both the academy and his family.

‘Perhaps there was a reason for that too.’

What was the reason he had to come back to Hania?

And if that reason involved her?

If the 3rd-year Bickamon couldn’t keep an eye on the 2nd-year 3rd Princess, perhaps he was there to protect her from Nia’s assassination?

‘…Was it really for me, to the point of being exiled from his family?’

Nikita’s lips pressed together tightly.

Surely, this thought was far-fetched.

But recalling Bickamon’s face as he looked at her in the last moment, it was a story she couldn’t easily deny.

Bickamon had returned to Hania and stayed by her side.

He always supported her so that the reckless Nikita wouldn’t struggle.

That image was just like the past, the way Bickamon had been.

‘The reason he didn’t carelessly tell me about Nia’s death’

Was probably to keep it secret in case someone from the 3rd Princess Faction caught on.

And he must have wanted to prevent Nikita from going on a rampage by revealing this fact in case of an emergency.

Nikita recalled the bittersweet smile Bickamon had when he looked at her in Hania.

‘…He must have known from the beginning.’

After hearing the news of Nia’s death,

Nikita had gotten involved with the Magic of the Ice Dragon.

The magic couldn’t be stopped once she laid her hands on it.

Bickamon knew this fact and had smiled that way.

‘And today.’

To completely erase the Magic of the Ice Dragon engraved in Nikita, Bickamon prepared alone and finally rescued her.

‘Why.’

Nikita wanted to ask again.

Why did he have to go that far for her.

She wanted to ask him so badly.

But the answer was already decided.

“It’s okay.”

“Just having you safe is enough.”

His gentle words when he looked at her.

Now that she knows he is Bickamon, the meaning behind those words all connected.

“Nikita, be happy.”

It was okay if she didn’t return this feeling.

Just Nikita being happy was enough reward for him.

Bickamon was saying that.

The blurry image of Bickamon was a complete mess.

A body melted with steel and scars of lightning etched all over.

And in the end, he had undoubtedly taken something from within her.

She didn’t know exactly what it was, but surely it was related to the Magic of the Ice Dragon.

He had given everything, even sacrificing his own body for her.

Her chest felt tight.

Unknown emotions surged in her.

It felt like her heart was going to tear apart.

She felt sorry and pained for not even answering his feelings once.

“How foolish…”

Nikita gripped the collar of her chest tightly.

She patted her suffocating heart repeatedly.

“Really.”

Thick tears began to stream down her eyes.

But even with her tears, she couldn’t conceal his final face.

It flowed.

Emotions overflowed too much.

This was something she had never experienced before.

Except for Nia, no one had ever acknowledged her life.

No, it was a life that even the brilliant talent Nia couldn’t recognize.

Just as a criminal cannot understand a genius.

A genius cannot understand a criminal either.

But Bickamon was a criminal like Nikita.

He too had no talent for magic and had been treated as useless by the Niflheim family.

The only person standing on the same level as her.

That’s why Nikita might have pushed him away all the more.

When she looked at him, she saw herself.

She had subconsciously known that, hence she closed her eyes.

But Bickamon had always been looking at her.

His gaze was purer than anyone else’s.

Nikita’s efforts were all dismissed as something to be expected since she was born into the Cynthia Marquis family.

No matter how outstanding her achievements were, it was only natural because she was a Cynthia.

But Bickamon praised her.

He appreciated everything she had done and showed her respect.

Nikita found solace in that.

In contrast, no one from the Cynthia family recognized any of Nikita’s efforts.

Whatever she did, she could not escape the role of being a pawn for a political marriage.

But at this moment,

She had completely broken free from Cynthia.

Since she had touched the Magic of the Ice Dragon, the Cynthia Marquis family would not treat her as one of their own.

She was free.

It was the first time Nikita was given freedom.

A life where she could live as Nikita, not just as Nikita Cynthia.

And this was the life Nikita had wished for more than anything.

The real reason she had crumbled after Nia’s death was that she realized her miserable life would only be used for a political marriage.

And the one who had given her this life was none other than Bickamon.

He seemed to be speaking to her, saying,

“Even I, who was exiled from my family, am living so boldly.”

“Couldn’t you, Nikita, live like this as well?”

The life he had shown her so far all returned to Nikita.

She could live.

She could definitely live.

Bickamon had abandoned his family and lived brilliantly.

Because she saw him, she too could surely live like that.

Nikita was a fighter.

She knew how to rise again even when she fell.

And this time, she wouldn’t be rising alone.

“Really foolishly.”

She could no longer hold back her tears.

Right away, she wanted to meet him and talk.

She wanted to scrutinize all the things he had done one by one.

Above all,

She wanted to tell him about this emotion bursting forth right now.

“…Nikita, the real Hania was discovered recently.”

Then, Nia’s voice reached Nikita’s ears.

“He isn’t Hanon Irey, right?”

Even the 1st Prince Faction confirmed that the one at the academy wasn’t Hanon.

Upon hearing Nia’s question, Nikita bit her lips.

“…I can’t tell you who he is.”

Nikita kept the secret.

She couldn’t reveal this fact even for his sake.

Nia nodded.

“I’m just saying this to find out what kind of tool he used.”

“A tool?”

“A tool that perfectly disguised as Hanon.”

Nikita recalled that he had also disguised himself as Hania.

“That’s the Veil of the Bandage. If categorized, it’s a type of spirit body.”

Nia’s face darkened as he said that.

Spirit bodies come with risks.

It’s not uncommon to face death because of a spirit body.

“Brother, could there possibly be side effects?”

“…Yeah, the more you use the Veil of the Bandage, one of the three emotional elements will disappear.”

Nikita’s eyes gradually widened.

“Emotions?”

“Sadness, anger, love—one of the three universal emotions a human feels will vanish.

And further studies suggest it might not just be one depending on the period of use.”

Nikita froze, her eyes wide open.

Sadness, anger, love.

Bickamon had been using the Veil of the Bandage for half a year now.

If he had lost his emotions…

The most likely candidate was already known to her.

“No, it can’t be.”

Nikita denied it.

“No! No way…”

Just when she was about to face his true heart,

the thought of it disappearing was something she couldn’t accept.

And it hurt even more knowing that it was because of her.

‘What Bickamon said about happiness…

Perhaps it was a farewell to his emotions that were fading away.’

“We need to go back right now!”

“Nikita, if you go back now, it’s only putting you in danger!”

Nia urgently stopped Nikita.

“And that was a choice he made because he wanted to protect you.”

The moment Nikita returned, all Bickamon’s actions would become meaningless.

Knowing that, Nikita suppressed her emotions and clenched her fists.

“…Fine.”

Nikita accepted it.

“But someday…”

When she met him again.

‘Even if he lost his emotions.’

She would make him regain those emotions.

‘I have received so much.’

So she would definitely return the favor to him.

Nikita’s blue eyes met Magung.

Those eyes were now filled with one person.