Choice (1)
"Come to think of it, so many things have happened."
"That is so."
"It's already been three years... it feels as vivid as yesterday. Does that mean they're precious memories?"
"I remember them clearly as well."
We spent some time chatting away.
Our conversation, reminiscing about our first meeting, continued until after the fierce snowstorm of that winter.
Time was already nearing morning.
The two of us had spent the entire night talking.
I murmur about the memories with a gentle smile.
"I think Lady Neria back then was quite alright too. She used informal language, which made her feel more approachable."
"Now, I am someone who serves you."
The girl had a similarly relaxed expression.
Looking back after a long journey is as warm as a cocoa held in your hands on a cold winter day.
We were savoring that sweetness and slight bitterness.
My hand, reaching out slowly, strokes her silver hair.
Was she surprised by the sudden contact?
Her fair cheeks quickly flushed with a youthful red.
However, because she obediently accepted my touch, I gave her a smile of approval.
With a melting reaction, her silver eyes avoid my gaze.
Her lips murmur timidly.
"I-I'm sorry. My face suddenly felt hot..."
"You're still so shy."
"......It is only you, Master, who makes me like this."
"Even if it's just flattery, it makes me happy."
I reply nonchalantly.
The hand that was admiring her hair naturally moves down, caressing her entire face, including her forehead.
My skin fully absorbs that faint warmth.
Her cheeks were already burning, and her breathing was becoming slightly ragged.
The scene, as beautiful as falling petals, further proves our bond.
Eyes, nose, lips... as I experience her life in order, my fingertips eventually touch a deeply etched scar.
A burn mark that covered the entire right side of her face.
"......"
A hint of regret flickers in my eyes.
A scar I couldn't protect.
While mulling over my complicated feelings, I cup the foreign texture with my palm.
Even the wounds received from winter were affection to us.
I lower my head slightly.
And then I press my forehead against the girl's forehead.
Our body heat permeates each other.
"This scar... do you still have no intention of removing it?"
I ask.
Erasing such marks was something I could fix with a wave of my hand.
It was something I had suggested several times already.
However.
The girl always.
"I prefer it this way."
She would shake her head.
As if even this scar was love to her.
"This is the salvation you gave me... and proof of the warmth that will never disappear."
"To live on even while embracing a scar."
"Rather, it is because I embrace the scar that I live."
That was the right idea.
Life is.
Not a process of concealing or hiding wounds, but an overcoming that comes from acceptance.
The girl intended to embrace even that terrible winter.
Only the boy is reflected in her silver pupils.
"Right now, this scar keeps me alive."
"Then I suppose there's no helping it."
She can be stubborn in strange ways.
I let out a soft laugh.
As if wanting to hold onto even this moment, the girl carefully places her hand over mine.
The scar resting in her palm as if she were giving me everything.
Yet.
When I take her hand and intertwine our fingers, her cheeks flush.
Her youthful reaction naturally brings a smile to my face.
"Lady Neria, I like how consistent you are."
"Ugh..."
The girl makes an effort to cool the heat on her face.
After a few deep breaths, she regains her composure and meets my gaze once more with clear eyes.
The faint blush remaining on her face paints a picture of affection.
"Anyway... what I wanted to say was this."
Even if she wavered.
Her complexion was no longer dark.
"I no longer dwell on the past."
"......"
"Haven't you been concerned since earlier? It must be because of what happened in the kingdom today."
"I can hardly deny that."
"If it's about encountering the monarch, I don't mind it."
"Still, it must have been a painful scar."
"Master."
A resolute voice.
The subsequent declaration blossoms with a faint smile.
"Saying it doesn't hurt would be a lie, but... didn't you give even this monster a new life?"
Therefore.
There is no longer any reason to be bound by an old name, to suffer in the nightmare of loneliness, or to hate oneself.
Even when darkness comes, I will choose to confront it rather than shed tears.
That is the destiny of light.
"The name you gave me has become the reason for my life."
"......"
The name I had given the girl.
Neria Lightning.
In ancient language, it meant 'one who lights the fire.'
It was a name I gave her with the hope that she would escape the eternal darkness and one day shine brightly.
For a brief moment, that memory flickers.
-Don't you need a name?
Your figure trapped behind the black bars of the iron cage.
Seeing the gaze in your eyes, so much clearer than before, I can't help but feel a sentimental thought that there was meaning in the things I did in this world.
I am comforted.
"Huhu... when did you grow up so much?"
You may think I saved you.
But the truth is the opposite.
It was none other than me who was truly saved back then.
To me, who had become a wreck after losing my younger sister in my previous life, who had suddenly fallen into this world but repeated my aimless wandering, who could not find a reason to keep living, who walked only dangerous paths because I had no attachment to life, who had the mindset of simply dying like that, in my winter where everything was precarious and meaningless.
You were the first meaning of life I found.
The responsibility of taming.
I lived with the thought that I had to take responsibility for you.
That was the calling of my possession until now.
If you hadn't been there, my winter would not have ended.
Perhaps I would have given up.
With the clumsy excuse of saving you, I saved myself, who was silently dying.
That is why your words of gratitude were gratitude to me.
Therefore.
I gently pull you into an embrace.
And then I whisper.
"Please continue to take care of me."
"Everything is for you."
You simply answered silently.
Morning had arrived before we knew it.
We did not let go of the warmth, as if melting into each other.
Only the two of us stood in the dark room.
***
The next day.
Once the matters in the kingdom were settled, I boarded the carriage returning to the academy.
Even though it was vacation, I had been away for two days.
"Then... I'll leave the remaining tasks to you."
"Yes, Master."
The silver-haired girl came to see me off.
I entrusted the remaining tasks to her and left the streets and headquarters filled with memories.
The rolling wheels head towards another haven.
It felt like going home.
Everything was unfamiliar and fascinating at first, but now the scenery of the academy had become somewhat familiar.
The destination was reached while I was lost in thought.
The one who greeted me first was the fox.
She was waiting for the carriage in front of the main gate.
"You've worked hard."
"How did you know I was coming back today?"
"I received a call from someone called the deputy commander."
"I see."
"How did the matter you went to resolve go?"
"I've finished it well. Would you like me to tell you about it?"
"I'll listen to that later."
"Then?"
"There's something more urgent I need to talk about."
"Urgent matter...?"
"You'll know if you follow me."
The girl takes my hand with incomprehensible words.
While reacting as if I didn't understand, I simply follow the hand leading me.
As we cross the academy streets, familiar faces pop up one after another.
"Young Master! We've been waiting for you!"
"Hey commoner...! You'll get hurt if you run like that!"
And the villainess, revealing her presence with the same kind of nagging as usual, as if she had been waiting together.
These two were now inseparable, having become close friends.
It wasn't just them.
"Yeah... we came too."
"Because the irresponsible quack of a doctor skipped his clinic hours."
The little prince appeared pushing a wheelchair, and the rose, sitting in the wheelchair, was scolding.
It seemed the princesses were also waiting for my arrival.
The group had now grown to five.
I couldn't help but feel more and more confused.
'The urgent matter... is it something we all need to discuss together?'
They didn't seem to be particularly close normally.
Especially the fox and the rose, who would start a war of nerves whenever their eyes met, to the point where I had to ask them to please get along.
What could be the topic that these two would have to put their heads together to discuss?
Something felt off.
'Everyone's acting a bit strange.'
The peculiar atmosphere that had been hanging in the air since earlier also bothered me.
I couldn't explain it precisely, but... it felt strangely sticky.
I tried my best to ignore the sense of unease.
It's probably just my imagination.
Having dealt with those pieces of trash in the kingdom, I was probably just mentally on edge.
Shaking off the distracting thoughts, I headed towards the dorm with the others.
However.
'Bad premonitions rarely miss the mark.'
About 30 minutes later.
We were sitting side by side in the dorm living room.
The others subtly surrounding me.
The matter they wanted to discuss together was as follows.
"Huh? A banquet?"
The upcoming academy banquet.
It was an event to celebrate the start of the new semester, and a ball where men and women would participate as partners.
The matter for discussion was choosing a partner to attend with.
"So... who are you going to choose?"
The girls looked at me with somewhat chilling gazes.
The air seemed to have become humid in an instant.
All I could do was smile.
It was a smile filled with various levels of awkwardness.
"Ha, haha..."
Something.
Felt terribly wrong.
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