Walking out of the banquet hall.
The sky had turned dark.
Night was beginning to settle over the backdrop.
Two figures cut through the dim landscape.
Conveniently, there was a garden near the building, so we moved there to avoid the students’ attention.
The garden, barren in winter, lacked a single blooming flower, making it rather bleak.
Still, the snow accumulating bit by bit added a sense of serenity.
Even without life, the season had a way of making death seem beautiful.
We simply walked.
"……"
A quiet stillness.
The woman in my arms said nothing.
I could only feel her presence through the warmth of our shared body heat, her soft touch, and her distinct scent.
Her breath, exhaling in thin, white puffs, lingered like fragile flowers that quickly dissolved.
Occasionally, her face brushed against my chin, the faint heat unusually intense.
I gently broke the silence.
"Are you cold?"
"……I’m fine. Just startled, that’s all."
Her calm response felt oddly awkward.
Perhaps it was because her revealing attire caused her soft figure to press against here and there.
Normally, I wouldn’t have noticed such details, but her unfamiliar perfu, mingled with her natural scent, created a hypnotic allure that left my mind slightly hazy.
I swallowed my unusual silence, overwheld by the dizzying sensations.
Of course, Selena wasn’t any different.
She seed just as uncomfortable.
Even after knowing her for over half a year, this was the first ti I’d seen her react so visibly.
Her crimson eyes couldn’t et mine.
Her posture remained stiff, her lips pressed tightly together, and she’d even stuttered earlier, sothing incredibly rare.
Flustered.
Perhaps it was because she wasn’t used to soone else’s warmth.
We walked through the winter garden, one step at a ti.
"There’s a bench over there."
Not long after, we found a suitable bench and settled down.
Carefully, I placed her onto the seat and, noticing the chill in the air, draped my coat over her shoulders.
Then, I knelt down on one knee to examine her injured ankle.
Selena spoke softly.
"I’m fine."
"It’s no use saying that while you’re limping. Please, relax and let take a look."
My firm tone left her unable to argue.
Gently, I removed her shoe.
Her pale, delicate ankle ca into view, faintly swollen from the strain.
I reached out, my hand brushing against her foot.
"Ah…"
Selena flinched, her shoulders trembling slightly.
My touch was careful as I began to massage the affected area.
The smoothness of her skin lingered on my fingers, the warmth of her sole mixing with the cold of my winter-chilled hands, creating a sticky sensation that felt almost sinful.
Shadows quietly enveloped her delicate ankle.
I ticulously worked, suppressing the odd thrill that accompanied the mont.
"Hah… ah…"
She let out faint breaths, but I pretended not to hear.
All the while, the darkness I summoned eased the swelling and dulled the pain.
When the discomfort in her ankle finally subsided, her slightly unfocused eyes gazed down at .
I smiled at her dazed expression, my grin lighthearted and innocent.
"It shouldn’t hurt anymore."
"……"
"Professor?"
"Ah… thank you."
Selena finally ca to her senses, taking a deep breath as if to steady herself.
Her crimson pupils glinted with a hint of bitterness as she muttered, almost to herself.
"I’m sorry… I must have been a burden."
"You weren’t a burden at all."
"But I wasn’t able to match your expectations for the banquet."
"Hmm."
Was that what she had been worrying about?
Perhaps, since I had asked her to be my partner, she had felt obligated to et those expectations.
Though she always seed rigid and indifferent, she was warr than she let on.
Shaking my head, I reassured her.
"On the contrary, I’m happy."
"…What?"
"I was able to help you, even if only a little. That makes genuinely happy."
"I don’t understand."
"Usually, I’m the one receiving help from you. So to return the favor, even in a small way, feels aningful and satisfying."
"……"
"I’m fine, so please don’t worry."
"…I see."
She responded a beat late.
The atmosphere grew heavy.
Was she once again lost in complicated thoughts?
After a long silence, she spoke softly, almost to herself.
"Yuda… you’re such a good person."
Perhaps it was regret.
I returned her words with my own.
"Well, I am the student of a good person."
"Even if it’s just flattery, thank you."
"I an it. Who else would put up with a reckless student like ?"
"I didn’t particularly set out to help you."
"That’s exactly the point. Outwardly indifferent, but inwardly kind—you’re proof of it."
"You’re overpraising ."
"I’m just stating what I’ve observed."
I’d co to realize it through watching her.
Her kindness.
Whether it was the way she always gave her best effort in lessons, her ticulous preparation of textbooks, or her patient deanor toward the students, Selena was an excellent educator.
If only it weren’t for her chronic reliance on alcohol.
"You…"
Are a genuinely good person.
I wanted to convey that encouragent, but Selena rely shook her head with a hollow laugh.
Her crimson eyes, now cold and distant, held only one adult within their reflection.
It was a deeply lonely expression.
"I’m… not like that. From start to finish, it’s all been driven by my own selfish desires."
"Everyone lives for their desires in so way."
"I suppose that’s true."
Humans can’t live without clinging to their desires. That’s why the word "petty" often precedes their na.
And I’m no different.
If I were to count all the desires I held in my previous life, they’d be endless.
The desire for soone to live.
The wish for an illness to miraculously disappear.
And if even that wasn’t possible… the desperate wish to take their place in death.
They were all wishes that ultimately ended in vain.
But back then, those desires were what kept moving forward, day by day.
So I think to myself:
Desire isn’t inherently bad.
For lonely adults, if they abandon even their desires, they lose the last traces of aning in their lives.
It is the final self that allows us to exist as who we are.
Even if it’s twisted.
"So… no one will bla you for it."
I smiled brightly, as if to say she hadn’t done anything wrong.
"Please, don’t punish yourself anymore."
"……"
Selena looked down at , dazed.
Soon, the clouds seed to clear, and for a brief mont, a smile appeared on her face.
The burdens that had weighed on her shoulders seed to lift.
She spoke.
"I can’t win against you in words."
"Hoho."
"Aside from being a good person… Yuda, you should be careful not to get stabbed sowhere."
"I feel like I’ve heard that a few tis before."
"Take it to heart."
"I’ll be sure to."
Her tone softened.
The mood lightened.
Even the lingering pain in her ankle seed to fade, along with the short conversation.
Selena stretched her previously relaxed leg.
Ssshh…
Her bare foot touched the ground.
The soft grass of the garden cushioned her delicate sole.
Her uncomfortable shoes had been set aside.
Selena stumbled slightly, regaining her balance, before turning to and extending her hand.
Her violet hair, blending with the moonlight and shadows, was strikingly beautiful.
Her lips moved.
"Even though we’ve left the banquet… if this place is alright, shall we continue the rest of the dance here?"
"You’re not going back?"
"If I wear those shoes again, I might twist my ankle a second ti."
"Then… this will be our private banquet."
"aning is what we make of it."
In the bushes, hidden from prying eyes.
Under the stars and moon that illuminated the garden.
Barefoot, treading softly on the grass.
Only the woman and the boy stood at the center of the scene.
They joined hands.
The mingling warmth of their palms began to erase the cold of winter.
"What do you think?"
"I’ll gladly accept."
They moved slowly.
Far from the banquet hall.
With the faint lody drifting from afar as their backdrop.
A clumsy serenade, step by step.
One step at a ti.
We danced.
"It’s strange. I never thought I’d dance with a man in my lifeti."
"Surely this isn’t your first ti?"
"Not exactly. I just never had the will for it. I never took an interest in anyone to begin with."
"Then… does that an you’ve never had any experience with this?"
A superstition suddenly ca to mind.
A belief that if a pure man and woman paired up at a banquet, their love would be fulfilled.
The thought crossed my mind, and I couldn’t help but ask.
Selena answered in a gentle voice.
"Who knows?"
It was a look I had never seen before.
A faint, mischievous expression, so subtle it felt almost dizzying.
Selena placed her hand on my waist and leaned in to whisper by my ear.
"If it’s true… will you take responsibility, as the superstition says?"
"Gladly."
"No hesitation?"
"If that’s what you wish."
"You say dangerous things."
Of course, she didn’t accept.
"I’ll pass."
"That’s a sha."
"It’s just… I’ve already made too many mistakes to pass my responsibilities onto soone else."
"Even so, your words make happy."
I waited, too.
For the day she’d escape her dark circumstances.
For the day she’d fully forgive herself.
"Being soone’s first… it ans they’ll always rember it as sothing special."
And so.
The thought that I’d remain special in her mory made as happy as the starlight in this garden.
Selena let out a small laugh, as if to say I was hopeless.
"If the other students find out… you might end up being hated."
"Hoho."
Our fingers interlocked.
Amidst the wind and stars, the final nocturne resonated.
Perhaps it was a lody weaving fate together.
"……"
A descending silence.
We gave the dance our full attention.
Whatever it might have ant.
Each step brought us closer, with every mont blurring the edges of restraint—the warmth, the scent of her subtle perfu, the srizing crimson of her gaze.
The dress she wore, its outlines accentuated, drew attention irresistibly.
A sight anyone would envy, yet one she allowed only to see.
Our clasped hands carried an indescribable mood.
But.
Neither of us spoke.
Under the starlit sky and moonlit backdrop, only the wind passed through.
Even the silence was enchanting.
And so.
We spent the night.
***
anwhile.
In a pitch-black underground chamber.
Figures cloaked in crimson and black robes gathered.
The floor around them was splattered with blood.
"The ti has co."
In unison, the figures began to chant, their twisted voices blending into a dark harmony.
An ominous energy writhed and stirred, the shattered fragnts of black magic scattering like broken glass—a symbol of their sorcery.
"With the blood of the young, cleanse all impurity. Let hatred burn pure and noble."
Their words, laden with sinister intent, culminated in a festival of blood and slaughter.
On the altar lay docunts referencing an academy.
It was none other than Galimar Academy.
"The Lord commands it—awaken the calamity that has long slumbered."
The dreadful lody reverberated through the chamber.
Their eyes burned with madness, thirst, and bloodlust.
Their chant reached a fevered climax.
"Deliver this ssage to the betrayer."
And so, the world edged toward an unstoppable danger.
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