Chapter 15: The end of Jealousy
by fnovelpia
As I opened my eyes, it was earlier than usual—about an hour earlier than my typical wake-up time.
It felt as though I’d woken up from a nightmare.
I had thought that once I achieved my revenge, I’d feel a refreshing sense of relief, like everything would be washed clean.
But surprisingly, that refreshing feeling was nowhere to be found.
The moment I opened my eyes, the first thing that came to mind was last night—Marie, crying.
After confessing to me, and after I rejected her.
Her figure, grieving over the harshness of reality, lingered before my eyes.
“Let’s get ready…”
I pulled myself together, washed up, and changed my clothes.
It was a bit early, but once I finished preparing, I left the dorm and headed toward the academy.
“Phew…”
As I breathed in the cold morning air, I felt my mind clear up a little.
“Why do I feel so uneasy?”
Even though I took in the crisp air, the lump in my chest wouldn’t go away.
I had believed that if I could make her feel the same way I did, this heaviness would cleanly disappear.
But it wasn’t as satisfying as I’d expected.
Why was that?
Was it because Marie had shown me her true feelings?
Was that why I felt sympathy for her?
While lost in those thoughts as I walked—
Ding!
[‘Mental Healing’ has been activated!]
A familiar sensation enveloped my entire body.
It was as if the filth I’d been covered in was being washed away completely.
“Right… There’s no reason for me to feel tormented.”
My foolishly weakened heart began to recover.
“The reason I feel uneasy is simple… I’ve only taken care of one of them so far.”
And just like that, the chaotic thoughts that had been cluttering my mind vanished.
I recalled the goal I’d felt when I first opened my eyes in this cycle.
Those girls who, over the past five cycles, had brought me despair and death.
Those who had trampled on my heart and betrayed me.
Even if this cycle ends in another bad ending, I will make them feel this same pain in return.
“I was thinking like an idiot, even if just for a moment.”
Feeling refreshed, I smiled lightly and enjoyed the cool morning air.
With light steps, I made my way toward the academy.
There was no need to hesitate.
What I had to do was already decided.
At the academy, I attended classes as usual until lunchtime rolled around.
All the while, my attention kept drifting toward the classroom door.
“She’s not coming, huh.”
To be honest, I’d been slightly looking forward to it.
After all, last night I’d gone to bed after confirming the message that said “Memory of Despair” had activated.
I was curious about what kind of attitude Marie, having recalled the memories of the first cycle, would approach me with.
But she didn’t show up.
Even when lunchtime started and I lingered at my seat for a bit, she didn’t come.
Why was that?
I didn’t know the reason.
Maybe she’d just accepted it and gone back to Malcolm.
“That wouldn’t be so bad either.”
I stood up from my seat and picked up my lunchbox.
At that moment—
Crash!
“Emil.”
The classroom door, which I’d been waiting for, finally swung open with force.
But the one who opened it wasn’t the person I’d been expecting.
“Malcolm? What’s up?”
It was Malcolm who had come.
Ever since the accident during the swordsmanship training session, I hadn’t seen him properly until now—he’d been absent for quite a while.
As soon as he spotted me, he walked straight over.
And then—
“How about we move somewhere else? I’ve got something to say.”
“…”
He glanced around at the puzzled students watching us before saying that.
Move somewhere else?
What could the reason be?
Well, whatever it was—
“Sure, I know just the place.”
From the look on his face, it seemed like it was something pretty serious.
And that—
Was exactly what I wanted.
I decided on the location.
The place we moved to was the rooftop.
A spot overflowing with memories for me—both with Marie and with Malcolm.
There couldn’t be a better place for a serious conversation with him.
“So, what’s this about?”
After stepping onto the rooftop, I closed the door, turned around, and asked Malcolm.
He looked at me with a stern, quiet expression before cautiously opening his mouth.
“Marie didn’t come to school today.”
Hearing his words, I realized why Marie hadn’t shown up.
I see—so she’s still holed up in her dorm room, sorting out her thoughts.
I wondered what conclusion she’d come to.
As I imagined what Marie might be doing right now, Malcolm spoke up again.
“What, no guesses?”
His expression seemed to say, “I already know everything, so just spill it.”
There was an air about him—like he wouldn’t hesitate to get violent if I lied.
Of course, regardless of the atmosphere, I intended to answer honestly.
“Yeah, yesterday Marie confessed to me.”
“What?”
“…And I rejected her.”
As I laid out the honest truth to his question, Malcolm’s expression shifted.
Naturally, it wasn’t a shift in a good direction.
His forehead veins bulged as if the anger he’d been holding back was leaking out.
His pupils shrank, and he glared at me with a menacing look.
And then—
Grab!
Malcolm seized my collar and slammed me against the wall.
“You bastard, what did you do to Marie…!”
“…”
Growling low, Malcolm bared his teeth.
He looked like he might tear into my throat at any moment.
It was familiar.
Back in the first cycle, I’d been beaten up by this same furious Malcolm in this very spot.
The situation was similar then too.
Pinned against the wall, hadn’t he stomped on me mercilessly?
Malcolm’s violent tendencies were all too familiar to me.
And so—
Even in the face of his threatening behavior, I stared back at him without flinching.
Then, in the same calm tone, I spoke to him.
“Why are you asking me that? I told you—I just got confessed to by Marie and turned her down.”
“Cut the bullshit!!”
Bam!
Malcolm shoved me harder against the wall again.
Leaning in even closer, he glared at me and continued.
“Answer me straight— you must’ve hurt her somehow. That’s why she’s locked herself up in the dorm, isn’t it—!!”
Malcolm seemed so furious he could barely think straight.
His eyes had already lost all trace of reason.
No matter what I said, he’d probably swing at me anyway.
What was it that had set him off like this?
The fact that Marie was hiding in her dorm?
Or maybe the assumption that I’d done something awful to her?
In my opinion, it was neither.
“Pfft.”
“You’re laughing?”
It was simpler than that.
Malcolm was jealous.
“Malcolm.”
Just like how, in the first cycle, I’d lunged at him after seeing him kiss Marie—
This Malcolm, standing before me now, was consumed by ugly jealousy over the fact that Marie had confessed to me.
It was the pathetic thrashing of a defeated male.
“You’re really pathetic.”
And so, with a mocking smirk, I said the words to him that I’d wanted to say all along—ever since that moment in the first cycle when he’d taken Marie from me.
“You son of a—!!!”
As if he’d caught the hidden meaning, Malcolm’s face turned bright red, and he raised his fist.
But—
Ding!
[The effect of ‘Blossoming Talent’ has activated! Your senses sharpen!]
Whoosh—!!
Crash!!
“Guh, ugh…!”
The one feeling pain wasn’t me, still pinned by the collar—
It was Malcolm, the one who’d raised his fist.
“You were about to hit me, so you started it, right?”
“Urgh…!”
Malcolm hit the ground hard, thrown over my shoulder.
Perhaps because of that, Malcolm stared blankly at the sky with a dazed, disoriented expression, panting heavily.
But I showed him a sliver of mercy.
Not letting him be pathetically trampled like this, I gave him a moment to catch his breath and a chance to come at me properly.
“Haah, haah… you bastard…”
“Haha, what, you gonna fight me with your mouth? You’ve been running it nonstop.”
“Shut up!!!”
After getting up and pulling himself together for a moment, Malcolm lost his cool again at my taunting words.
Like a wild beast, his eyes flashed as he charged at me.
But unfortunately for him—
This wasn’t the hard-mode first cycle anymore; it was the easy-mode sixth cycle.
Whoosh!
Bam!
“Guh…!!”
I easily overpowered the charging Malcolm, driving my knee into his stomach.
Feeling the sharp pain in his solar plexus, Malcolm gasped for air.
“Haah, haah…”
The situation didn’t change after that.
Whether he was the original story’s male protagonist or not, there were no buffs left for him now.
Bam!
Crash!
“Urgh…”
Every time Malcolm rushed at me, I subdued him and landed my own hits in return.
This repeated several times.
By now, he must’ve started to realize—
The reason he was getting beaten wasn’t just bad luck.
It was simply because there was this much of a gap between us.
“Haah, guh…”
“Malcolm.”
I looked down at him, slumped against the wall, and spoke.
“You… like Marie, don’t you?”
“Shut… up.”
Even through his pain, he bristled with irritation at my question.
I found his reaction rather amusing and smiled.
Then I continued.
“Then take her.”
“What?”
“She confessed to me, but I’m not interested. So you go ahead and make it work with her.”
“You fucking bastard… haah, what are you even…”
This was a small act of payback.
A little retribution for that shitty experience in the final moments of the first cycle, when I’d been humiliatingly beaten in front of Marie.
Of course, this alone wasn’t enough.
All he’d done was get pitifully thrashed in front of me.
It would’ve been better if Marie were here, but since that wasn’t possible, I settled for this.
“Haah, don’t screw with me… haah, even without you saying it… ugh, Marie…”
Still, Malcolm’s reaction was pretty satisfying.
At my words telling him to take Marie, he lowered his eyes with a humiliated expression.
That alone felt like enough.
“Well, I’ll get going. Take your time coming back once you’ve gotten over the embarrassment. The air up here’s nice, after all.”
With one last glance at Malcolm’s clenched fist, I turned and headed for the stairs.
As I walked away, I heard his low voice muttering, “Fuck…” followed by the sound of sobbing behind me.
Was he crying?
Over something like this?
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Sure, it must be humiliating and shameful to charge in full of confidence only to get beaten down instead.
But compared to what I’d been through, this was such a trivial disgrace.
Feeling a mix of disbelief and amusement, I left the rooftop.
***
Malcolm stayed there for a while, tears eventually stopping.
He had no intention of returning to the classroom.
Going back in this state would obviously just invite ridicule.
“Fuck… fuck…”
Instead, Malcolm sat on the rooftop until dismissal time, spitting out curses.
The target of his swearing was Emil—the one who’d reduced him to this.
“That nerdy bastard…”
Anger welled up inside him.
He’d never liked the guy from the start.
Not the way he’d earned Marie’s attention with his title as the top student in their grade.
Not the way he meddled in family matters with his unnecessary nosiness.
And certainly not the way Marie had ended up smitten with him, giggling like an idiot.
None of it sat right with him.
And yet, he’d lost to that guy.
“Fuck…”
The fight hadn’t even been a contest.
Sure, during the last swordsmanship class, it hadn’t been this bad.
“So that was all an act too… that bastard…”
Rage boiled up inside him.
For a while, Malcolm stayed on the rooftop, passing the time.
Just as Emil had said, he stared blankly at the sky, letting the embarrassment settle.
A few hours later, the voices of students leaving school echoed from below.
But Malcolm didn’t move from his spot for a while.
He just sat there, waiting.
Waiting until he could return to the dorm without running into anyone.
As he waited, the sun began to set.
Soon, darkness enveloped the surroundings.
“Let’s go.”
Only then did Malcolm stand up.
The pain had subsided somewhat, and he rose from his spot with an indifferent expression, heading down from the main building.
Even so, Emil’s face still lingered in his mind.
That bastard… next time, I’ll make him pay.
To restore his shattered pride, he’d have to pay it back twofold.
With that promise to himself, Malcolm left the academy behind.
At that moment—
“…Marie?”
As he walked toward the dorm, there, on a quiet, dimly lit path with no one else around, stood a girl with pink hair—Marie.
“M-Marie…”
The girl stood there silently, not saying a word.
Even when Malcolm called out to her, she didn’t respond—just stood still.
Clench…
Seeing Marie like that, Malcolm felt anger rising again.
“Marie… I heard what happened.”
“…That you didn’t come today because of Emil.”
Marie still didn’t answer.
Normally, she would’ve poured out all her troubles to him, her childhood friend.
But now, she just stood there quietly.
Her awkward demeanor made it painfully clear to Malcolm just how much she’d liked Emil.
His face twisted with frustration as he lowered his head.
“I…”
“I’m here for you, Marie.”
With effort, Malcolm forced the words out.
“Don’t let getting rejected by a jerk like him get you down! I’ve been the one by your side all this time—not anyone else!”
“Not Damian, not Emil—it’s me!”
He shouted, hoping his words would reach her silent figure.
That’s right, Emil… like you said, I’ll take Marie.
In that moment, Malcolm made up his mind.
He decided that this might actually be for the best.
Since Marie had been rejected by Emil, he could comfort her, stay by her side, and win her heart.
With that thought, Malcolm stepped closer to Marie.
Swish…
He placed both hands on her shoulders.
“So… let’s head back. Starting tomorrow, we’ll go back to how things used to be.”
He spoke as gently as he could, offering words to soothe her heart.
And the moment Malcolm finished speaking—
“Malcolm…”
Marie, who had been silent all this time, finally opened her mouth.
“M-Marie! Yes, it’s me. From now on, I’ll always be by your side.”
Her response brought a wide smile to Malcolm’s face.
The humiliation he’d endured on the rooftop seemed to wash away as if it had never happened.
Overjoyed by Marie’s voice, Malcolm gripped her shoulders tightly.
And then—
Whoosh!
Marie threw herself into his arms.
“Marie…”
Was she accepting him?
For a moment, Malcolm thought so, his cheeks flushing.
Carefully, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind, burying his face in her hair.
He felt hope.
No matter how humiliatingly he’d lost to Emil or how degrading the words he’d heard were—
If he could have Marie in the end, that would mean he’d won.
“Marie…”
“Malcolm.”
But unfortunately—
It was Malcolm’s massive misunderstanding.
Stab…
“…Huh?”
Marie hadn’t embraced him because she accepted him.
“Malcolm.”
Thrust…
Crunch…
“M-Marie…”
The reason Marie had stepped into his arms was painfully simple.
If she’d stayed at a distance—
She might have missed.
“Die. Right now…”
Malcolm looked down at her, struck by the sharp pain piercing his abdomen.
And there—
Her hollow pink eyes glared up at him, filled with a curse.
***
Author’s Note (Afterword)
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed it, I’d appreciate a like, a bookmark, and a comment!
Comments especially give me a lot of motivation to keep writing! Thank you.
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