"Ah..."
At Yujin's words, Alicia blankly stared at him. And then...
Drip, drop.
"Huh, w-what...?"
Tears began to fall from her remaining eye, streaming down her cheek and gathering at her chin before dripping down.
"I... I'm sorry. I don't know why this is happening all of a sudden..."
Though Alicia tried to wipe away the tears, they wouldn’t stop.
"Ugh... hic..."
As if the accumulated hardships she had endured were surfacing all at once, she finally broke down and cried. Watching her, Yujin ca to a renewed realization.
'You’ve been struggling all this ti.'
Alicia was in an extrely unstable ntal state. Yujin had known this from the start.
From the very first ti they t, when she had seen Enkeos—more precisely, the artifact Yujin was carrying—and broke down crying as if she had shattered completely, it had been impossible not to notice.
At the ti of their contract, Yujin had avoided offering help unconditionally. After all, it would have been difficult to gain even a little trust that way, and it wasn’t as if he had any obligation to help her for free. So, he had proposed what sounded like a demonic contract. But in truth, the agreent was nothing more than a symbolic promise, without any binding force. Yujin hadn’t even used any authoritative language in sealing it.
In reality, his intention was purely to help a student as an educator. Still, he couldn’t help but think—should he have said these words to her earlier?
'She’s more unstable than I thought.'
Yujin had no way of knowing what kind of struggles Alicia had endured. He didn’t know what battles she had fought within herself or how she had resisted the magi that crept in, threatening to consu her every mont.
That was why, after their first encounter, when she appeared more composed than expected during their subsequent conversations, he had forgotten for a mont that she was far from okay.
"I'm sorry."
With those words, Yujin gently wiped the tears from her face. Alicia flinched at his touch.
"N-no... You don’t have anything to apologize for, Professor..."
"No. I thought I understood how much you were struggling, but that was arrogance and a misconception on my part."
Yes, Yujin had co here with the pure intention of helping Alicia. While there were countless people suffering and dying in so unknown corner of the world that he could do nothing about, he believed it was his duty as a human being to help those he could see and reach.
Still, in hindsight, his approach had felt far too calculated for such an intention. Even the form of the so-called demonic contract felt unnecessarily contrived.
"Regardless of the contract... No, precisely because we made a contract, I should have taken full responsibility for you. Yet I failed to realize how deeply you were hurting inside. Your ntal state is a critical factor, and I underestimated it. I’m sorry."
With those words, Yujin retrieved a handkerchief from his subspace and gently wiped away Alicia’s tears. Accepting his gesture, Alicia looked at him in a daze.
"...Professor, why..."
"Hmm?"
"...Why are you so kind to ?"
At Alicia's question, Yujin paused, pondering her words. Why was he being kind to her...?
"If I say it’s simply because I’m helping a student as a professor, you probably wouldn’t believe , right? And I can’t bla you for that."
"......"
"Then let ask you this, Your Highness. If you saw a child crying in the rain on the side of the road, what would you think?"
"That’s..."
"A child, alone without parents, crying until they wither away in that place."
"......"
The first thought would likely be pity. Along with an instinct to help.
"I’d... want to help them, I suppose."
"It’s the sa for . That’s how I see Your Highness."
Yujin smiled faintly as he spoke.
"Of course, you don’t have to believe , but I hope you’ll trust in one thing. Just as you thought, there are more good people in this world than you might expect."
"......"
"If that weren’t the case... humanity would have perished long ago."
No matter which world it might be.
With those words, Yujin pulled back the handkerchief.
Before they knew it, Alicia’s tears had stopped.
"Well then, shall we get started? We can’t spend the whole day just talking, after all."
***
The treatnt for Alicia began.
Of course, calling it treatnt might be slightly misleading, but considering it was about resolving her physical issues, it wasn’t entirely incorrect.
"From this mont, I’ll be releasing the seal on Your Highness’s magi. Are you ready?"
"...Yes."
Alicia nodded stiffly, her face tense.
"I have an afternoon lecture to attend, so I can’t allocate too much ti to this. Let’s limit it to three hours for now."
"Three hours..."
It was a ti fra that could feel long or short depending on one’s perspective. For Alicia, it felt like an eternity.
"We’ll start by adapting you to the magi. Once the seal is released, it may rampage, but I will control that part. Let’s begin."
Gulp.
At Yujin’s words, Alicia swallowed nervously, bracing herself for the seal’s release.
Yujin reached out his hand toward her and began to channel mana slowly.
Vrrrrmmm...!
A crimson-black mana ford a multidinsional magic circle. The seal, originally crafted using the high-dinsional magic only dragons could wield, required a corresponding level of magic to undo.
He could have used draconic speech to simplify the process, but he felt it was premature to reveal that part of himself to Alicia. Though she had already begun to suspect that Yujin wasn’t an ordinary human, he figured she would learn the truth in due ti.
But for now, that was a concern for the future. Yujin focused on activating the magic.
Vrrrmmm!
As the spell took effect...
Click, click.
A tallic sound echoed, like locks being disengaged. It was the sound of the magic sealing Alicia’s magi being undone.
And then...
Click!
With a final noise akin to a lock being undone, the seal was released.
Fwoooosh!
"Ugh!"
At the sa ti, white magi burst forth from Alicia.
Fwoooosh!
Wherever the white magi touched, pure white flowers began to bloom.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
In an instant, a field of white flowers spread around Alicia. The vast dormitory was quickly blanketed in blossoms. The sight was breathtakingly beautiful, but...
"Ugh, aaah..."
To Alicia, it was anything but.
What she saw was a field of corpse flowers, filled with decay. The flowers birthed maggots, and crimson liquid began seeping across the room.
The entire vision unfolded vividly before her eyes, like a living nightmare.
And at the center of it all...
'...!'
...was another version of herself.
A reflection of herself with a single flower blooming in one eye stared back at her.
Alicia understood in that mont.
That was her demonic self—born of her weakness and malice.
Trembling, Alicia gazed at [her].
Then, after staring at her for what felt like an eternity, [she] spoke.
"Give it to ."
With those words, [she] lunged at Alicia.
Alicia instinctively stepped back, but the figure before her was more like an illusion.
Even as she retreated, [she] closed the distance in an instant, wrapping her hands around Alicia’s throat.
"Khugh...!"
"Give it to ."
The demonic self repeated her demand, her voice filled with malice, her bloodshot eyes glaring.
"Give it to . Give it to . Give it to . Give it to . Give it to . GIVE IT TO !"
The words, overflowing with madness and hostility, echoed endlessly. And yet...
For so reason, Alicia thought [she] seed desperate, even frantic.
It was at that mont.
"Die!"
"Guh...!"
[She] tightened her grip on Alicia’s throat, screaming with rage. Alicia couldn’t afford to think anymore.
"Kh...ugh...!"
Ssssshhhh...
At so point, a blade had appeared in Alicia’s hand.
It was as if it had ford from flowers—a white, single-edged sword.
The blade was composed of magi, curses, and demonic power.
Alicia had no idea how she had created it.
But she instinctively swung the sword at the other version of herself in front of her.
Swish!
A sharp sound cut through the air.
And then...
A sinister grin spread across the demonic self’s face. Alicia only realized sothing was wrong at that mont.
Flash!
The illusion of her other self choking her disappeared, and before her...
"...Professor?"
...stood Yujin.
"Ah."
But it was already too late. The blade was re inches from Yujin’s neck. She realized it in the briefest mont, too late to react or stop herself.
If this continued, Yujin’s neck would—
Thump!
"...?"
...not be severed?
Or rather...
"...He caught it?"
It was then that Alicia realized.
BOOOOM!
With an explosive sound, fierce winds surged, scattering white petals all around.
Yujin had caught the blade—laden with magi, curses, and demonic power—using only his thumb, index, and middle fingers.
"A re parasite dares to show tricks?"
He muttered in a low voice, half-opening his eyes.
BOOOOOM!
A mana of incomparably higher magnitude than Alicia’s white magi erupted from Yujin.
The petals scattered around dissolved, and the rampaging magi faltered, retreating in fear. No, more than that—it began to dissipate entirely along with the petals.
"...!"
It was an overwhelming, noble, and majestic mana. Yet, it carried a ferocity that made it utterly terrifying.
The magi, unable to resist, cowered and withdrew.
SCREEEEECH!
A scream echoed from within Alicia’s mind. Still gazing at Alicia—or rather, through her—Yujin spoke, his tone icy.
"A parasite should act like a parasite and accept extermination quietly. Trying tricks will only hasten your demise. Wouldn’t it be better to leave peacefully?"
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