A long ti ago, back when Ian and Aria were both just children.
The setting is a vast adow.
In a cozy but old wooden house, a little girl sits alone, reading a book.
Her long, jet-black hair falls over her eyes, but it doesn’t seem to bother her.
She turns the pages with ease, as if she’s used to it.
“Gloomy, co play!”
When she spends all day cooped up in her room, a boy with a board ga in his hands cos to visit.
“You’ve been reading in your room all day again, haven’t you?”
The boy always says the sa thing. If you peek through the curtains, he’s there, poking his head through the window with a bright smile—Ian Blackangers.
To her childhood friend, the girl always replies in a voice that sounds like it’s swallowing her whole.
“Yeah…”
“You can’t keep doing that, Gloomy! Co on, let’s at least play a board ga together!”
“Okay…”
She stumbles over her words, but she knows it’s a perfectly happy mont.
The book she was reading—she’d read it dozens of tis.
Even though her bangs covered her eyes, she could still read it because of that.
The house was boring, and the outside world was scary.
She was grateful that Ian would co to visit her.
[ Chronicles of the Hero ]
She admired the heroes, magicians, and saints in the board gas he brought.
‘…Ah.’
It’s around this point that she realizes.
Aria Lumines Bell.
Revered as a saintess candidate, she realizes now that she’s dreaming about her childhood when she was called ‘Gloomy’.
And then she realizes sothing else.
The happy scene will end soon, and a dark one will follow.
Whoosh—
The scene shifts harshly. The location is still her hotown, Istan.
But ti has passed, and she’s now at the primary education institution.
The surroundings are dark.
Even though she knows it’s a dream, Aria flinched.
‘I’m scared.’
The girl, a little older now, sits with her knees pulled up, burying her head.
‘It hurts.’
Sothing flies at her—a chalk eraser, a pencil, a small stone, or maybe sharp words.
– Gloomy. Gloomy.
– Your bangs are ssy!
– Your black hair is dirty and ominous!
– I can’t even hear you!
– A pig with big b*obs!
– Gloomy. Gloomy.
Ian is not here.
He’s the highest-ranking noble in Easton.
He’s probably at ho, taking magic lessons.
They say he’s quite talented.
The girl curls up even more.
Scenes flash by rapidly.
She’s holed up at ho.
She’s trapped in darkness.
Parents complain that sending her to school is pointless.
When she swallows her tears and goes to school, she’s bullied.
When she can’t take it anymore, she climbs a cliff. Ian pulls her back down.
Ian, who apologizes for not being there for her.
But the bullying doesn’t stop.
Her wrists, long and scarred. Ian, comforting her once again.
The relentless cycle.
Over and over.
‘It hurts…’
Just when she thinks it’s too much to bear—
“Ah!”
The girl wakes up from her nightmare.
She quickly looks around.
The soft glow of a lamp envelops her.
A cozy dormitory near the Academy.
“I must have fallen asleep for a bit.”
A deep anxiety washes over her.
mories of the past make her feel ntally unstable. But she’s not the sa girl she used to be.
She quickly rummages through her drawer and finds her ID.
[ Aria Lumines Bell ]
The girl, Aria, fingers the naplate with her na on it.
It was a badge given to her personally by the Pope. She calms down quickly.
“Hehe…”
Aria didn’t like her original na.
That’s why this naplate was so precious to her. A quiet giggle escapes her lips.
“Aria. It’s such a nice na.”
Aria gently strokes the naplate.
She felt like she had completely changed after receiving this na.
Even people’s reactions had changed.
No one called her ominous or unlucky anymore, nor did they say they couldn’t hear her or dismiss her.
Now, she could confidently step outside.
Even nightmares that suddenly ca and the fear that accompanied them—she could now handle them on her own, without the help of her childhood friend.
She had gained confidence.
With the new na ‘Aria’, she felt she could completely distance herself from the miserable person she once was.
So Aria made a resolution.
“Let’s completely forget the old na.”
The na that had only made her a target of ridicule and eventually led her to shut herself in.
“And forget the mories associated with that na too.”
The kids who bullied her.
The school she didn’t want to attend.
Her hotown.
And maybe even her childhood friend. All the painful mories from that ti.
“I need to forget everything I can.”
It was better for everyone.
Gloomy had been a burden to everyone, even to the person she loved.
She felt that this was the only way she could truly beco the new her, not Gloomy, but “Aria”.
Aria looked in the mirror and adjusted her bangs.
She swept her hair, which had been covering her eyes, to the side.
‘It makes a little anxious not to have my bangs.’
Aria clenched her fists and held on.
Today was a very important day for her.
‘It’s the first ti I’ve invited soone else to my house…’
Of course, Ian had co by often when they were younger.
But that was because Ian wanted to co.
This ti, Aria herself had decided to invite soone to her ho.
For a hobody, it was a significant step.
Although she had no choice but to do it, her heart still raced.
‘…I’m nervous.’
At that mont,
— Knock, knock, knock!
There was a knock at the door.
It was already ti for her appointnt.
Thump, Thump.
Her heart pounded.
Feeling the heat rise in her face, she undid one button on her shirt.
Aria opened the door with the smile she had practiced.
“Wel— Welco!…?”
Ian was standing outside the door.
Her childhood friend, Ian Von Pong Istan Blackangers.
“Hello! You’re different than usual?”
That’s what he said.
The smile on Aria’s face slowly faded.
Why is he here all of a sudden?
◆
Earlier in the sester.
The day after Ian (Pongpong), the confession bomber, was rejected by Sharon.
The mory of the day Ian (Pongpong) confessed to Aria, as recorded in the journal, was still vivid.
“Gloomy. I like you. Will you go out with ?”
Having searched every nook and cranny of the storage room for sothing, Pongpong had brought out their old board ga [Chronicles of the Hero], which was filled with their shared mories, and ran to his childhood friend late in the evening.
“To be honest… I don’t see you as a man.”
The conversation between them grew more intense.
It was heading in the direction where Ian was clinging pathetically to Aria, only to be rejected.
While Ian was getting crushed emotionally, another guest entered Aria’s house.
Ian, glancing at the guest, opened his mouth as if feeling wronged.
“But Gloomy, we’ve had fun together all this ti. We know each other better than anyone!”
“Yes, knowing each other too well—that’s the problem.”
“Knowing soone well is a good thing, so why is that a problem? I know you better than anyone, so I can protect you!”
“Don’t call by that na. And don’t you understand? Knowing about those endlessly dark and miserable days of mine—that’s the problem.”
Pongpong seed to be at a loss.
And understandably so.
At that mont, his mind was likely filled with the logical thought, “To protect soone who feels unstable, you need to know them well!”
Unfortunately, humans are often irrational creatures.
Aria was avoiding the “past”.
And, of course, that past included her childhood friend, Pongpong.
Regrettably, Ian made the worst possible choice.
He touched on her “new present” with her “past”.
“…Who was that person who went in?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Aria straightened out her disheveled shirt. The violent size of her chest montarily distracted from the serious conversation.
Aria’s eyes narrowed as Ian’s gaze also seed to wander.
The spark of doubt extended to the sincerity of his confession.
“How long have you been looking at like that?”
With a sharp remark, Aria buttoned up her shirt.
“No, I didn’t an it like that! My intentions were pure!”
“Pure? You say that while staring at my chest?”
“Th-that’s not what I—”
“You know, right? That I’m a candidate for sainthood. Yet you still ogled my body?”
Ian fell silent.
Aria’s voice dropped even lower.
“You know, I was really grateful to you once.”
“Really?”
“But now, I’m not so sure.”
“Gloomy…”
“Don’t co any closer.”
Aria took a step back toward the door.
“Once I start my formal sainthood training, I won’t be allowed to see you. Your reputation is terrible.”
“…Gloomy.”
“That na!”
Snap.
Aria shouted, her voice echoing.
“Don’t ever call by that na again!”
“But…”
“I’m not Gloomy anymore. I’m Aria. I’m a saintess candidate. I’m not sad anymore. I’m not struggling anymore. There’s no going back to that na!”
She claid she was fine, but to those around her, it didn’t seem that way.
That’s how it was with Aria.
“…”
Even at that mont, Pongpong seed worried about her.
“But if, if things ever get tough, you can still co to …”
“No. That’s never going to happen.”
“What do you an never? You said that before, and how many tis…”
“Hah!”
Aria snorted, as if she had just realized sothing.
Her words were laced with thorns.
“You know what, Ian?”
“…What?”
“It almost seems like you want to be miserable.”
“N-no! That’s not true. I’m just worried about you.”
“That kind of worry is unnecessary.”
“…!”
“I’m a candidate for sainthood now. My future is set. I’m no longer the gloomy person I once was. But why do you keep trying to drag back to that past?”
Ian Blackangers lowered his head.
He shouldn’t apologize.
If he did…
“I’m sorry.”
…It would be an admission.
An admission that he was a terrible person who had been gaslighting Aria all this ti.
Aria spoke again, her tone full of disappointnt.
“I knew it. You were only around because you wanted to feel like a good person, because you thought it made you look cool to be the one comforting .”
“…”
Ian couldn’t find the words to respond.
The uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a mont.
Then, Aria let out a harsh sigh.
“Haah. Well, maybe it’s for the best. I wanted to say this anyway.”
“…What?”
“Let’s stop seeing each other. I’m done with that ga too. Don’t co looking for anymore.”
Pongpong flinched, instinctively hiding the old board ga he had retrieved from the storage room behind his back.
“Gloomy… No, Aria!”
He reached out, almost pleadingly.
But Aria was resolute.
“Don’t pretend to know again. Never.”
— Bang!
The door slamd shut with force.
Ian’s hand, which he had reflexively extended, never reached her.
Reviews
All reviews (0)