Ch.125Choice (1)

“Looking back, we’ve been through so much together.”

“Indeed.”

“It’s already been three years… yet it feels as vivid as yesterday. Perhaps that means these memories are precious to me.”

“I remember it all clearly as well.”

We spent a while sharing stories.

Our conversation about our first meeting continued on, only concluding after we had reminisced through that winter with its fierce snowstorms.

Time had crept close to morning.

We had spent the entire night talking.

I murmur memories with a gentle smile.

“I think you were quite nice back then too, Neria. You spoke more casually then, which made you feel more approachable.”

“That’s because you’ve become someone I serve now.”

The girl’s expression remains relaxed.

Looking back on the long journey we’ve traveled is like holding a cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter day—so warm.

We were savoring both its sweetness and slight bitterness.

I reach out gently to stroke her silver hair.

Perhaps startled by the sudden contact?

Her snow-white cheeks quickly flush with innocent redness.

Yet since she quietly accepted my touch, I gave her an appreciative smile.

With that melting response, her silver eyes avoid my gaze.

Her lips fidget shyly.

“I-I’m sorry. My face suddenly feels hot…”

“You’re still so easily embarrassed.”

“…Only you make me feel this way, Master.”

“Even if it’s just flattery, it makes me happy.”

I respond smoothly.

My hand, which had been exploring her hair, naturally moves down to caress her face, from her forehead to every corner.

Her skin captures that faint warmth completely.

Her already flushed cheeks and gradually roughening breath.

The scene, beautiful like fragile flower petals, adds proof to our relationship.

Eyes, nose, lips… as I feel her life in sequence, my fingertips eventually touch the wide scar.

A burn mark covering the entire right side of her face.

“……”

A hint of regret fills my eyes.

A scar I couldn’t protect her from.

Though I chew on complicated feelings, I cup that different texture with my palm.

Even the wounds received from winter were affection to us.

I bow my head slightly.

And press my forehead against hers.

Our body temperatures mingle completely.

“This scar… do you still not want to remove it?”

I ask.

I could easily fix such a mark with a simple gesture.

I had already suggested it several times.

But.

The girl always.

“I prefer to keep it as it is.”

She would shake her head.

As if even such a scar was love to her.

“This is the salvation I received from you… and proof of warmth that will never disappear.”

“You say you’ll live despite bearing a scar.”

“Rather, I live because I bear this scar.”

That was the truth.

Life is.

Not about hiding or concealing wounds, but overcoming them through 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 nothing to be done.”

You’re stubborn about the strangest things.

I quietly laugh.

Perhaps wanting to possess even such moments, the girl carefully places her hand over mine.

The scar rests in my palm as if offering everything.

And yet.

When I interlock our fingers first, she blushes.

Her innocent reaction naturally spreads a smile across my face.

“I like how consistent you are, Neria.”

“Ugh…”

The girl tries hard to cool the heat in her face.

After several deep breaths, she regains her composure and meets my gaze with clear eyes again.

Her face, with slight traces of blush remaining, portrays affection.

“Anyway… what I wanted to tell you is this.”

Though she might waver.

Her complexion was no longer dark.

“I am no longer bound by the past.”

“……”

“You’ve been worried about it all this time, haven’t you? Surely because of what happened at the kingdom today.”

“I can’t deny that.”

“I don’t mind having encountered the monarch.”

“But it must have been a painful scar.”

“Master.”

A resolute voice.

Her following declaration blooms with a faint smile.

“It would certainly be a lie to say it doesn’t hurt… but didn’t you give a new life even to a monster like me?”

Therefore.

There’s no reason to be bound by my old name, to suffer in the nightmare of loneliness, or to hate myself anymore.

Even when darkness comes, I choose to face it rather than shed tears.

That is the destiny of light.

“Because the name you gave me became my reason for living.”

“……”

The name I gave the girl.

Neria Lightny.

In ancient language, it means “one who lights the fire.”

A name I gave hoping she would escape from what seemed like eternal darkness and someday shine brightly.

Though brief, that moment flickers in my mind.

-Don’t you need a name?

Your figure trapped behind pitch-black iron bars.

Seeing your gaze, now so much clearer than back then, I can’t help but think that what I’ve done in this world had meaning…

I find comfort in that thought.

“Hehe… when did you grow so much?”

You might think I saved you.

But it was actually the opposite.

The one who truly received salvation back then was none other than me.

To me, who had become a broken person after losing my sister in my previous life, who suddenly fell into this world but kept wandering, who couldn’t find a reason to keep living, who only walked dangerous paths with no attachment to life, who had the mindset of just dying, to whom everything seemed precarious and meaningless—to my winter.

You were the first meaning of life I found.

The responsibility of taming.

I lived with the thought that I must take responsibility for you.

That has been the purpose of my possession until now.

Without you, my winter would never have ended.

Perhaps I would have given up.

With the clumsy excuse of saving you, I silently saved myself who was dying.

That’s why your words of gratitude were precious to me.

So.

I gently embrace you.

And whisper.

“Please continue to take care of me.”

“Everything is for you.”

You simply answered quietly.

Morning had arrived before we knew it.

We held onto each other’s warmth as if melting into one another.

Only two people stood in the dark room.

***

The next day.

After wrapping up matters at the kingdom, I boarded the carriage returning to the academy.

Even during vacation, I had been away for two days.

“Then… I’ll leave the remaining matters to you.”

“Yes, Master.”

The silver-haired girl who came to see me off.

I entrust the remaining work to her hands and leave the street and headquarters filled with memories.

The rolling wheels head toward another home.

It feels like going home.

At first, everything was unfamiliar and strange, but now the academy scenery had become somewhat familiar.

While lost in thought, I arrived at my destination.

The first to greet me was the fox.

She was waiting for the carriage in front of the main gate.

“Good work.”

“How did you know I was returning today?”

“I got a call from the vice-captain.”

“I see.”

“How did the matter you went to resolve turn out?”

“I wrapped it up well. Would you like me to tell you about it?”

“We can hear about that later.”

“Then?”

“There’s something more urgent to discuss first.”

“Urgent matter…?”

“You’ll understand when you follow me.”

The girl says these puzzling words and takes my hand.

Though I respond as if confused, I follow her lead without hesitation.

As we cross the academy streets, familiar faces appear one after another.

“Young master! We’ve been waiting for you!”

“Wait, commoner…! If you run like that, you’ll fall and get hurt!”

The protagonist greets me cheerfully.

And as if she had been waiting too, the villainess makes her presence known with her usual retorts.

The two had become inseparable friends now.

They weren’t the only ones.

“Um… we came too.”

“Because a certain unreliable doctor was absent from his practice.”

The young prince appearing while pushing a wheelchair, and the rose throwing barbs from that wheelchair.

The princesses had also been waiting for my arrival.

And so our party grew to five.

I couldn’t help but wonder.

‘This urgent matter… is it something everyone needs to discuss together?’

They didn’t seem particularly close normally.

Especially the fox and the rose, who would engage in verbal sparring whenever they made eye contact, to the point where I had to beg them to get along.

The fact that these two needed to put their heads together was concerning.

Something felt off.

‘Everyone seems strange somehow.’

The peculiar atmosphere flowing since earlier also bothered me.

I can’t explain it precisely, but… it feels oddly sticky.

I try to ignore the sense of dissonance.

It’s probably just my imagination.

I shake off my idle thoughts and head to the dormitory with the children.

But.

‘Bad premonitions usually don’t miss the mark.’

About 30 minutes later.

We were all sitting in the dormitory living room.

The children subtly surrounding me.

The matter to discuss was as follows:

“What? A banquet?”

The upcoming academy banquet.

An event celebrating the start of a new semester, a ball where men and women pair up to participate.

The matter to discuss was choosing a partner for that occasion.

“So… who will you choose?”

The girls staring at me with somewhat chilling gazes.

The air suddenly becoming humid.

All I could do was smile.

A smile filled with various difficulties.

“Ha, haha…”

Somehow.

I felt like I had stepped into serious trouble.