Ch.219On Being Forgotten (4)

Forget me.

Perhaps, that was the only request I could make.

In the true ending, there is no place for me.

The children who will live on after the play ends.

If the life I gifted you becomes a wound that remains.

If it leads to despair. If you cannot face the end with a smile.

I thought it would be better to cut away all traces of the burn.

That’s why it was a request.

‘Forget me.’

Forget me.

I’ll be fine.

Even if no one remembers me.

Even if I’m not recorded in everyone’s stories.

Even if I’m not remembered in countless memories.

Even if I remain alone in the pitch-black night.

As long as you can smile.

-This time, without fail.

I’m okay.

This was the role I chose.

So at the end of every night, I’ll ask.

To forget me, to live without knowing anything.

To the story I love.

And to everything contained within it.

Please.

May you be happy.

With such a simple wish.

***

A sky where dark clouds refuse to clear.

The gloomy air that has persisted for days gives a consistently damp impression.

It would be better if rain would just pour down.

But the capricious weather seemed to dislike even that.

Like the temperament of a mischievous child, it held onto the moisture stubbornly.

The summer air clung to her cheeks. That breath, too excessive to be called moisturizing.

Perhaps it was a season more similar to the stew stains stuck to back alleys than to youthful vigor.

Like leaves settled at the bottom of a pond.

“……”

Was it because of such a summer?

The green eyes just blinked vacantly at the empty air.

Pink hair flowed softly beside her.

Perhaps due to the unpleasantly permeating humidity, her hair was disheveled.

Nevertheless, the girl remained in a daze.

-I also l…d Miss Lez…

Still unable to shake off the remnants of sleep.

Lezia had been constantly troubled.

Though she couldn’t remember the dream, she felt strangely stifled.

She didn’t know why. She just wondered if she had a nightmare.

She simply rested her chin on her hand and looked up at the gloomy sky.

“Lezia?”

That’s when it happened.

A call coming from directly in front.

When she raised her head, deep blue eyes were looking at her.

Elegantly hanging roll-bun hair, and sharp-featured eyes.

A beautiful girl was glaring at Lezia.

“Ah… Lady Duchess.”

Ameila Venatti.

The daughter of a renowned ducal family and one of Lezia’s few friends.

Had something bothered her? The blue-clad girl seemed quite pouty.

Lezia finally realized she had been called several times.

Belatedly coming to her senses, she hastily replied.

“Ah… d-did you call me?”

“Do you know how many times I called you? Are you saying my calls are beneath you now?”

“That’s not it! I-I’m sorry! I was lost in thought, that’s, ugh…”

“You’ve got some nerve. A commoner. Daring to be distracted in front of noble blood.”

“I’m sorry. If you could forgive me just this once, p-please…?”

“I’m joking, you know? When you react so seriously, what does that make me?”

“Ah…”

Lezia let out a sigh of relief.

She was strangely lacking in energy.

At that, Ameila gently asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Pardon?”

“You seem strange today. You’ve been spacing out continuously. I called you several times right in front of you and you didn’t even notice… Did something bad happen?”

Her tone suggested she was oddly concerned.

Lezia hastily denied it.

“N-no, it’s not that! I just had a bit of a nightmare…”

“A nightmare… What kind of dream did you have to be like this?”

“I can’t remember the exact content… It felt nostalgic and sad, I think.”

“What an unsatisfying answer. Trembling over a mere nightmare, when will you fix that frailty of yours?”

“Ugh…”

Lezia shrinks her shoulders as if embarrassed.

Words bristling with thorns.

“Tsk… It’s always like this, no wonder people look down on you. You’re already one of the few commoners at the academy, but instead of compensating with confidence for your lower status…”

But Lezia knew.

Even those thorny words were Ameila’s way of showing concern.

It was something she had come to understand after spending quite a long time with her since enrollment.

She wasn’t so much prickly as she was simply awkward with expression.

Her previous behavior must have been out of consideration for Lezia too.

“Thank you.”

“What are you smiling about? How foolish.”

Though her lips were pouting, Ameila didn’t press further.

She just poked Lezia’s cheek repeatedly with her index finger.

Her words were mixed with a sigh.

“Haah… If only you were a bit more decisive.”

The vain girl muttered quietly.

Lezia smiled awkwardly.

But she didn’t mind it.

“Hehe…”

Ameila Venatti.

Though she was by her side, she was actually an extraordinary girl beyond comparison.

After all, she was a hero who had thwarted a rebellion and a noble who had earned the trust of the imperial family.

Lezia fidgeted with her hands while maintaining eye contact.

‘The Venatti family.’

A ducal house supporting the empire.

Though close to the imperial family, they had allegedly conspired with the socialists to commit treason.

The ones who stopped that terrifying plan were none other than the direct descendants of the family.

Specifically, Ameila and her twin sister known as Rusca.

The two uncovered the truth of the betrayal and executed their uncle, who was the mastermind, with their own hands.

The imperial family recognized their merit and granted both of them the title of marquis.

Not only that, but they also handed over the Venatti family castle to them.

‘Amazing…’

For that reason, Ameila was an elite who had attained the position of marquis at a young age.

When the appropriate time came, she would likely inherit the ducal title of Venatti as well.

Lezia gazed at her with a faint smile.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

She was truly a grateful person.

Despite being born of noble blood, she had readily approached her, a commoner.

At first, Lezia was hurt by her prickly attitude, but now even that seemed charming.

Of course, that didn’t mean Lezia was inferior to her.

Lezia herself was making a name both inside and outside the academy.

Though she herself didn’t seem to realize it…

‘The continent’s only Dragon Rider.’

Lezia was a talent coveted from all corners of the continent.

A summoner who could handle dragons, beings called divine beasts in legends.

That title alone garnered intense interest.

‘Truly, a power.’

Although there were occasionally those who looked down on her for her humble origins, it was mostly jealousy stemming from inferiority complexes.

Most prestigious families, even the imperial family, highly valued her talent.

It was quite a famous anecdote that she had received recruitment offers from the imperial princesses in the same class.

In fact, Lezia had politely declined, saying she had no intention of becoming a knight.

In truth, given her personality, she probably just disliked being indebted to friends.

Lezia responded amidst her tangled thoughts.

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking how grateful I always am…”

She was always surrounded by people she was thankful for.

Ameila, who spent time with her like now.

Elise and Sharlotte, with whom she occasionally conversed.

Professor Selena, who often looked after her.

And also…

‘…Also?’

Lezia tilted her head.

She pondered a single question.

‘Also… who else was there?’

Someone she almost thought of without thinking.

Someone she recalled as if it were natural.

But who else could there be for her?

It had been Ameila who had been with her from the beginning.

‘No…’

Before that.

Someone who found her crying in the rain…

Some strange sentiment brushed past her, followed by a whisper.

Lezia momentarily held her breath.

-Miss Lez…

A voice still filled with noise.

Was this also a remnant of the dream?

Perhaps she was still half-asleep.

Lezia calmed her inexplicably aching chest.

‘What am I thinking?’

If someone was that precious, how could she forget them?

She slowly shook off the unpleasantly lingering sentiment.

Just then, Ameila spoke again.

“Anyway, it’s strange.”

“Yes?”

“You said you had a nightmare. As it happens, so did I.”

“You too, Lady Duchess…?”

“Why are you so surprised? Do you think I have nothing to fear?”

“Th-that’s not what I meant… Do you perhaps remember what it was about?”

“Not really. Dreams are like that, aren’t they? They quickly become hazy after you wake up.”

“I suppose you’re right…”

Lezia drooped with a disappointed expression.

Regardless, Ameila added.

In a slightly subdued voice.

“Still.”

Blue eyes faintly illuminated.

They were directionless.

“The general feeling remains. It must have been quite an intense dream. I woke up drenched in sweat… my chest still feels heavy.”

“……”

“It felt both happy and unpleasant at the same time. It seemed sad, yet also nostalgic. It’s the first time I’ve felt such disorganized emotions, so it was quite impactful. The dream I can no longer remember keeps echoing in my ears. As if…”

The sound faded briefly.

Had her voice choked?

Ameila hesitated in the gap between parting her lips.

Nevertheless, Lezia felt she knew what would follow.

She silently repeated the same words as her.

“…As if I’ve lost something.”

As if someone had left.

A moment of missed connection.

The two girls remained silent without further elaboration.

Though they couldn’t know each other’s thoughts, their emotions were vivid.

The reason they didn’t continue speaking might have been to deepen the depth of that reverie.

Their bloodshot dreams and eyes shaken by the faintly remaining echoes were like a dawn without light.

The two simply sank like sailboats on a sea of stars.

“……”

A nightmare that had whispered something.

The lost memory was like thinking of spring in winter.