Chapter 257

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Alice’s eyes were like jewels.

Her right eye was a ruby-like red.

Her left eye was a sapphire-like blue.

Two colors coexisted in her delicate face.

The contrasting eyes further enhanced Alice’s charm.

However, Alice was not born with heterochromia.

When she was young, both of Alice’s eyes were blue.

A blue that seemed to contain a clear sky.

A blue light like a calm lake without wind.

They were eyes that resembled Eugene, a distant relative.

Furthermore, they were eyes that resembled Yoo-seong.

The reason Alice’s right eye turned red was.

The day another personality, Frey, was born.

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul.

Two personalities in one body.

Two minds in one soul.

The blue eyes represented Alice, the original personality.

The red eyes represented Frey, the new personality.

The two lights symbolized the dual personality.

‘But if both eyes are completely red…’

Frey pushed Alice out and completely took over the body… that’s impossible, right? Frey is so devoted to Alice. Frey would do anything for Alice, she could become anything. Wouldn’t she rather choose to disappear than harm Alice?

Frey is a personality derived from Alice.

In other words, Frey was the embodiment of the possibilities that Alice could reach.

Their tendencies and values were completely different, but in the end, their roots were the same.

The fact that Alice’s eyes were completely red meant something about her mental state.

Since Supernatural Abilities are based on mental strength, all Supernaturals were affected by their abilities to a greater or lesser extent.

For example, the werewolf Carlos has a habit of tearing meat and eating it raw. Or chewing on dog chews. No, is that just Carlos being weird? Anyway, Supernaturals inevitably received some influence from their Supernatural Abilities. Eugene is usually calm, but once he gets fired up, he burns fiercely, right?

Alice’s ability was heat rays.

An ability specialized only for ‘destruction’.

An ability that can’t do anything other than ‘destruction’.

Alice had an inherent violence within her.

It’s just that her nature was so pure that she suppressed it.

Even while being cruelly abused by her stepmother, Alice endured it.

She kept enduring and enduring, and when the suppressed emotions finally burst out at once.

Her personality split, and ‘Frey’, ‘another Alice’, was newly born.

That was the reason why Alice was abnormally non-violent.

It was also the reason why her combat sense was strangely lacking compared to her innate monstrous talent.

Frey was the embodiment of Alice’s ‘violence’ and ‘protective instincts’ as a personality.

So, the fact that Alice’s eyes had completely turned like Frey’s… wasn’t really a special thing. To put it simply, it was similar to when Frey was born. What she had been suppressing was bursting out. There’s also a saying like that, right? That a quiet person is even scarier when they get angry. Even a timid person becomes bold when they’re furious? The current Alice was such a case.

A quiet rampage.

Alice had also gained Frey’s drive, who would do anything to achieve her goals.

“Lucia.”

All the lights in the infirmary had been turned off for Regina’s comfortable sleep. The curtains on the windows were also drawn, so the inside of the infirmary was quite dark. Red eyes that shone faintly looked up at me. Those eyes seemed to contain many meanings.

“Do you remember when we first met?”

At Alice’s question, I nodded without hesitation. How could I forget? The first time I met Alice was inside the classroom of Class A. But at that time, we didn’t exchange a single word, we were just like strangers. The first time we could actually say we ‘met’ was at the academy’s library. The beginning of our relationship was when I helped Alice, who had fallen while moving books.

“At that time, Lucia reached out her hand to me.”

“It was nothing special.”

“It may have been a simple act of kindness for Lucia, but I was really happy.”

…Hearing her say that makes my conscience prick a little.

Actually, I was regretting whether I shouldn’t have helped her.

My thoughtless act of helping Alice interfered with the relationship between Eugene and Alice.

Originally, the good deed I had done was supposed to be Eugene’s, and that was supposed to be the start of their relationship.

I unintentionally stole Eugene’s role. Of course, the two of them were a match made in heaven, so even though the first button was buttoned wrong, they became close as if it were fate. Ahem, I worked hard to make up for my mistake too.

“I was so happy about that small but kind favor… that I mustered up my courage. I approached Lucia impetuously, and Lucia accepted me. Lucia is my first friend. My most precious friend. My favorite friend.”

“Thank you for saying that. Ehehe, it’s a little embarrassing. Alice and Frey are my most precious friends too.”

I never thought the introverted Alice would confess her feelings so directly. As her guardian (self-proclaimed), I felt proud of Alice’s growth. A child’s growth has a heart-stirring vibration.

If it weren’t for this situation, I would have been honestly happy. I reached out my hand to stroke Alice’s head, but after seeing Alice’s red eyes, I quietly withdrew my hand. Red light was spreading faintly.

“There are so many things I want to tell Lucia. Thank you for saying thank you. Thank you for always being by my side. Thank you for accepting my childishness. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for stroking my head. Thank you for hugging me warmly. Always, Lucia has always helped me……us. You forgave my terrible mistake and cherished me like family. Stupid Lucia. If I were you, I would have just broken up with her.”

As if adding paint, blue light swirled within the red light.

Her small lips opened.

Two wills were mixed in one voice.

“So.”

“This time.”

“We want to help you.”

“We want to be of help to Lucia.”

“Friends help each other, right?”

“Lucia is our most precious friend.”

“And you said that we are your most precious friends.”

“Can you tell us honestly?”

“Spill it all.”

Alice (Frey) looked at me.

Which one was biting her lip hesitantly?

Who was making a face as if they were about to cry?

Maybe it was both of them.

“Is what Arin said true?”

“Did you really try to die?”

…How should I clear up this misunderstanding?

I resented my rash self from back then.

I wanted to go back to the past and slap myself in the face.

Ah, then that would be a reward.

◈

I had spent several nights unable to sleep, and I threw up everything I ate.

All I had consumed during that time were a few glasses of water.

If I hadn’t been a Supernatural who had overcome the limits of humanity, I would have been taken to the hospital a long time ago.

Even if you were a Supernatural, you were bound to have problems if you overworked your body that much.

When your body weakened, your mind also weakened. In that state, I had been greatly emotionally shaken, so it was only natural that I was mentally cornered.

It was unfortunate for Regina that she had faced the cause of her trauma. The guilt and fear that had been piling up exploded in an instant.

As if a firecracker had gone off, Regina saw the scene before her eyes flash white. The sensations of her body faded, and her consciousness was sucked into a muddy swamp.

“…”

Regina opened her heavy eyelids.

Looking at the unfamiliar ceiling, she let out a silent sigh.

Even she thought her response was pathetic.

Once her head had cooled down, she realized what she had done.

She should have just pretended not to know and parted ways.

It was as if she was advertising that she was hiding something.

Was she so determined to be suspected?

Her body felt heavy. Her mouth was parched and stuffy. It was a side effect of the drug. Since all the blood in her blood vessels had been replaced with drugs, even Regina couldn’t be safe.

It was a trump card that she couldn’t use carelessly even when she was in perfect condition, but since she had done it in the worst physical condition, the side effects came immediately.

Her muscles felt paralyzed and she couldn’t exert any strength.

She was so tired that she felt like she would collapse at any moment, but sleep wouldn’t come.

How long had she been unconscious? It didn’t feel like she had been unconscious for very long. It was because the drug absorbed into her body had forcibly awakened her consciousness.

Regina frowned at the severe thirst. Water. She wanted to drink water. She would probably throw it up right away, but she wanted to relieve her thirst even for a moment.

“Ah…”

But Regina couldn’t raise her body.

She belatedly realized that she wasn’t alone.

The buzzing sound in her ears wasn’t an auditory hallucination.

Regina quickly closed her eyes tightly. I hope they didn’t notice. Calming her anxious heart, she listened to the sound of their conversation. She could hear the voices of the girls she wanted to avoid the most right now.

Judging from the circumstances, she knew that Lucia was the one who brought her to the infirmary, but why was Alice here too? Don’t make noise next to a sleeping person, go outside.

Muttering complaints in her mind, Regina breathed regularly.

She was planning to pretend to be asleep until the two of them left the infirmary.

It would be even better if she actually fell asleep while pretending.

She hadn’t been able to sleep properly lately, so she felt like she was going crazy from exhaustion.

However, her consciousness, which had been forcibly awakened by the drug, became clearer and clearer instead of falling asleep. Her senses became so sensitive that she could even hear the sound of a needle dropping. Holding back a sigh that was about to burst out, Regina listened to the conversation she could hear.

“…”

And she immediately regretted it.

The truth that she didn’t want to know.

The truth that she wanted to ignore.

Was disturbing her ears.

She should have covered her ears.

Regina belatedly regretted her foolish choice.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Alice in her red-eyed mode gets back some of the ‘violence’ she transferred to Frey.

Alice (Frey) in this state is stronger than usual.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
I understand why Astaroth would pick someone like Regina up~