The Festival had co to an end, but the island wasn't empty just yet. We still had a few days before sumr break officially started, before we'd scatter across the world to return to our hos, our families, our separate lives—at least for a little while.
For tonight, though, the four of them had co to my room. The Academy wasn't particularly strict about things like this, despite what outsiders might assu. Mythos Academy fostered competition, talent, and ambition above all else. Whether it was training or socializing, they didn't care, as long as you erged stronger by the end of it.
Rachel, Seraphina, Cecilia, and Rose sat comfortably in my room, a mix of curiosity and expectation in their gazes.
"So, Arthur," Rachel was the first to speak, her voice carrying that distinct lilt of amusent she always had when she was about to tease . "You said you wanted to talk about sothing important?"
I exhaled slowly, feeling the weight of my own thoughts pressing down on .
"Yes," I admitted, my voice softer than usual. "There's sothing I need to say."
I hesitated, gathering my thoughts. How was I supposed to explain sothing I had barely even admitted to myself?
I had spent so much of my life pretending.
Pretending to be naive, pretending to be weaker than I was.
At first, it was a necessity. A survival tactic. There had been no room for trust, no space for attachnts. The only rule that mattered was simple: Make people love you, but never love them back.
That was how you survived.
I had learned that lesson the hard way.
But then—I thought of her. The girl from my past life. The one person who had accepted when no one else would.
Emma.
I could still rember the warmth of her arms around , the quiet sadness in her voice as she held close for the last ti.
"Do not live this way, please."
Even now, her words echoed in my mind, a plea from a girl who no longer existed in this world.
I had buried my feelings back then. Warped them. Crushed them. Changed them. All just to keep going.
But I was tired.
I didn't want to live like that anymore.
I wanted sothing real.
I looked at them—Rachel, Seraphina, Cecilia, Rose. The four girls who had, in one way or another, changed everything for . Who had made my world feel bigger, brighter, fuller.
Each of them was watching , waiting for whatever it was I had to say.
But I wasn't ready.
Not yet.
"Not yet," I finally said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry. But not yet."
Cecilia's sharp red eyes narrowed slightly. Rachel tilted her head, watching carefully. Seraphina remained still, unreadable as ever. And Rose—Rose just waited, as if she already knew.
"I know what I said," I continued, exhaling, "and I ant it. But I—before I commit to anything, I need to be sure of sothing first."
I clenched my fists at my sides.
Before I could let myself love soone, I needed to know who I was.
I needed to know, with absolute certainty, that I was Arthur. Not just a lost soul who had stumbled into this world by accident, not just a borrowed na in a borrowed life.
Until then…
I closed my eyes for a brief mont, then opened them again, eting their gazes one by one.
Rachel's deep blue.
Seraphina's ice blue.
Cecilia's crimson red.
Rose's warm brown.
They were the first people who had made feel alive in a very long ti.
The first people who had reminded that my heart was still capable of beating.
I let out a breath and smiled.
"I like all of you," I admitted, tilting my head slightly, a wry smile tugging at my lips. "Romantically."
For the first ti in a long ti, I wasn't pretending.
I pressed my lips together, hands resting on my knees, waiting for their response.
It wasn't often that silence carried the weight of a falling guillotine.
Maybe they'd reject outright.
Polygamy existed in this world, sure, but it wasn't exactly common, especially not among people with personalities as strong as theirs. Rachel, Cecilia, Seraphina, and Rose—each of them had a will of steel, an ego sharpened by talent and upbringing. It wasn't as simple as saying, I like you all, let's figure this out.
But I'd said it anyway. And now, I was waiting.
Rachel was the first to move. She smiled at , the kind that softened the edges of my nerves, though there was sothing else in her eyes—sothing both knowing and expectant.
"You beat to it, huh?" she said, and my breath caught.
She reached out, placing a hand over mine. "Arthur, for a long ti, my heart has been yours." Her fingers curled slightly, a squeeze, as if she needed to anchor herself in the mont. "I want to be yours."
A warmth I couldn't quite na spread through my chest.
"And as for waiting," Rachel added, her sapphire eyes gleaming, "I don't mind waiting a bit for soone like you."
I barely had a mont to process before Rose spoke up, her voice quieter but just as firm.
"I agree," she said, cheeks dusted with red. "I also… I also like you more than just a friend, Arthur."
Rose. The girl who had always been there, steady and kind, always offering quiet support without demanding anything in return. Hearing her say it outright, admitting sothing that had likely sat unspoken for a long ti, made sothing tighten in my throat.
Cecilia let out a dramatic sigh, arms crossed, her crimson eyes darting anywhere but at .
"Well," she said, voice laced with a nervous bravado that was utterly unlike her, "before I say anything, I should probably apologise for how I acted before."
She inhaled sharply, then forced herself to et my gaze. "I—I wasn't exactly great to you in the beginning. I pushed you away, toyed with you, treated you like so plaything when I—" She swallowed. "When I was too much of a coward to admit I actually liked you."
Cecilia, the ever-playful, ever-unpredictable, suddenly seed so much more… human.
"I'm sorry," she said, softer now. "I genuinely like you, Arthur."
And then, finally, Seraphina spoke.
" too," she said simply, with that quiet, composed certainty that only she could pull off. "I like you too."
I exhaled, slow and asured, though my heart was anything but.
"Thank you," I said, looking at each of them, taking in the weight of their words, the emotions brimming beneath them. "For caring about . For trusting with this."
I inhaled.
"And… I won't keep you waiting long," I promised, voice steadier than I felt. "I just—I need to be ready. For all of you."
Rachel smirked, though there was no bite to it, only sothing warm and teasing. "You better not," she said, nudging lightly.
That was all it took for the tension to shatter. The room filled with laughter, light and easy, washing away the heaviness of the mont. It didn't fix everything, didn't erase the inevitable complications that would co—but for now, it was enough.
For now, it was perfect.
The four of them excused themselves after a while, each leaving with sothing—a lingering glance, a small smile, a playful shove. When the door finally closed, I fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, letting the day settle into my bones.
This was the best day of my life.
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