Chapter 404: Interlude: Gold and Silver (9)

0% Seria groggily opened her eyes.

Her vision was hazy, still clouded with drowsiness. Her hazy consciousness struggled to keep up with her honed perception.

Where is this place?

As if sifting through a murky pool of memories, Seria tilted her head in confusion.

Her recollections were severed, as though they had been cut away.

To be precise, it was her memories just before she lost consciousness.

Even in her dazed state, she carefully traced back the events.

Senior Ian visited her bedroom.

At that moment, Seria, who had been enjoying a delightful time with dolls modeled after him, was caught off guard.

And after that…

The submerged memories began to gradually fall back into place.

Like silt settling at the bottom of a pond, the obscured truth surfaced.

Ah, right. Senior Ian had brought that bitch’s name up.

Then, Seria had become furious and was unable to maintain her composure.

In a fit of madness, she had pestered Senior Ian.

And after that…

As her memories resurfaced one by one, the color drained from Seria’s face.

In mere moments, her already pale skin turned ashen.

With a sudden jolt, she sat upright.

She had to explain herself.

No–before that, she had to beg for forgiveness.

She forced herself on Senior Ian out of nowhere, without even confessing her feelings first.

Had she been in his position, she would never have been able to forgive the other person.

Her heart pounded more violently than ever.

Her unfocused eyes and limbs trembling from excessive tension betrayed the girl’s anxiety.

She wanted to scream.

If only she hadn’t heard the voice she had longed to hear–

“You’re awake?”

Seria’s body went rigid in an instant.

Slowly, her disbelieving gaze turned to the side. Sitting there, with the same familiar face as always, was–

Senior Ian.

For a few seconds, Seria stared blankly before suddenly snapping out of it and dropping her gaze.

She was both embarrassed and deeply ashamed.

Utterly mortified, she couldn’t even bring herself to cry. Instead, she stammered out,

“Th-Th-That… S-Senior Ian!”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

His voice was unexpectedly calm.

Might be because, unlike her, who had fainted on the spot, he must have had time to sort out his thoughts.

While Seria, on the other hand, wanted to bite her tongue from the sheer humiliation.

No–she actually did.

She was so flustered that, for the first time in a long while, she actually bit her tongue hard enough to make a sound.

“Th-That…ugh, I–!”

Flashes of memory flickered through her mind one by one.

Among them, one stood out the most–it was of Ian’s hatchet, swinging toward her chin.

He didn’t speak it out aloud.

Yet he gave a blatant answer. A brutal and cruel one at that.

Were it some other woman, she might have resented him for it.

Even if she had been out of her mind, Seria had been speaking from the depths of her heart.

Meeting that sincerity with violence rather than words–it could have been seen as an insult.

But Seria couldn’t bring herself to blame the senior she loved.

She just felt like everything was her fault.

‘Because I’m ugly.’

‘Because I’m not attractive.’

‘Right, because I’ll never be as good as Unnie.’

Before she knew it, crystal-clear tears were falling from Seria’s blue eyes, one by one.

“P-Please… hic… just kill me…”

It was a plea mixed with shame, despair, and crushing defeat.

And, of course, she wasn’t saying it lightly.

Like a condemned prisoner awaiting the guillotine, Seria lowered her head.

She covered her face with both hands, as if trying to hide the endless stream of tears.

“Please, hic… please just kill me. I… I can’t bear it anymore.”

“Seria.”

“It’s my fault.”

At Ian’s sigh-laced call, Seria clenched her teeth, as if steeling herself.

Though her expression was nothing but sorrowful.

“It’s…It’s all because I’m worthless, isn’t it? I’m sorry, Senior Ian. Hic… From start to finish, I’ve only ever been a nuisance to you.”

The man merely watched her in silence.

So she just kept crying.

As if intending to cry herself to death.

“You must find it disgusting, right? I can’t even talk properly, I’m timid… On top of that, I have no friends and I’m just a lowborn. A girl like me, who doesn’t even come close to my sister, suddenly confessing to you…”

“Seria……”

“I’m sorry… for daring to have feelings for you, Senior. B-But from now on, I’ll make sure not to be a bother… no, I mean, at least let me remain by your side…”

“Seria!”

Only when Ian, unable to contain his frustration, raised his voice did Seria finally fall silent.

Even so, she still couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.

Ian let out a sigh and spoke.

“I’m not that great of a person. There are plenty of other men in the world besides me.”

“No, Senior Ian, you’re the only one.”

Even as she sniffled, Seria declared it firmly.

Her voice held not a shred of doubt.

“When everyone else hated me, you stayed by my side. And you saved me.”

“That’s something anyone could have done. I just happened to be the one who got to know you first.”

“No, no one else can do it now.”

Clear droplets once again streamed down the girl’s cheeks.

Seria no longer seemed to care about wiping them away.

“If it’s not you, I don’t want anyone else. Senior Ian, you’re my everything.”

The firm, unshakable conviction in her words left no room for argument.

Ian then realized that she truly meant it.

And so, he hesitated for a long time.

He had no idea what to say to her.

More than that, he didn’t know what future he should choose for himself.

Suddenly, an image of another woman surfaced in his mind.

The one who had first bared her heart to him.

In the end, Ian let out a long, weary sigh.

“Seria, the truth is… I’m actually trash.”

At that blunt, almost aggressive remark, her blue eyes widened in shock.

Her lips trembled, as if she were about to protest, to deny it outright.

But Ian was faster.

“There’s someone who confessed to me. I told her to wait… but I then kept hesitating and wavering, only to end up sleeping with another woman. I’ve already messed around with three different women at this point. I’m indecisive, oblivious… and to top it off, I’m a coward.”

Seria fell silent once more as his confession poured out all at once.

This was the truth Ian had been keeping buried.

A truth he might have wanted to take to his grave.

A truth he never shared with anyone–except Elsie.

“To be honest… I’m scared. The deeper I get into a relationship, the more I’ll have to protect… But I have to save the world.”

His voice, tinged with resignation, sounded almost bitter.

Perhaps it was exhaustion weighing him down.

Perhaps it was the crushing burden of responsibility.

Perhaps he was simply worn out from the endless fight.

“Can you still love me after hearing all this? Either way, I can’t choose anyone. Not until I drive a blade through Delphirem’s heart.”

At that moment, Seria suddenly recalled a man.

One who bore the same face as the Senior she loved, yet whose gaze was utterly worn down, stripped of all emotion.

Her Senior was starting to resemble him.

His eyes that once gleamed with warmth and determination–when had they become so clouded with exhaustion?

Even at this moment, Seria couldn’t bear how miserable Ian looked.

But her answer wouldn’t change.

“Yes.”

Though her voice was laden with sobs, there was no hesitation in Seria’s reply.

“I’ll love you. Always.”

Because he was her first and last love.

Meeting her blue eyes, which had regained their light, Ian let out a bitter smile.

“Then… just wait for me a little longer.”

His answer to Seria’s heart would have to wait–at least until the decision regarding the Yurdina family was made.

With that resolve in mind, he pulled her into his embrace.

Yes, this was how Seria should be.

His adorable, lovable and innocent junior.

While she could be a bit obsessive at times, Ian always liked that about her..

It was a relief to see her back to herself.

That was Ian’s honest thought.

Well, still…

Knocking her out with a hatchet had been a bit excessive.

But Seria at least seemed to have forgotten about it.

***After Ian left, Seria’s face finally regained its vitality.

Everything felt like a dream to her.

She had been certain she would be abandoned, yet she ended up in her beloved senior’s arms.

She didn’t mind if things didn’t progress beyond that for now.

He told her to wait.

In other words, doesn’t this mean she still had a chance?

That bitch may be ahead for now, but Seria still had plenty of time.

One day.

Yes, one day…

Softly humming to herself, Seria buried her face in a bloodstained piece of clothing lying in the corner of her room.

It was the uniform Ian had worn while fighting the wolf demonic beast in her place.

She intended to throw it away at first but,with all the chaos of preparing for the Hunting Festival, she never got around to it.

And after that, well… there was no longer any reason to.

Ian’s clothes carried the scent of memories.

The scent of the day he had first saved her.

Covered in dust and soaked in blood–

He looked so cool.

As she inhaled the lingering scent of blood on his uniform, her thoughts drifted into a hazy reverie.

And so, she failed to notice–

The black smoke rising behind her.

[You… You can’t deny your own blood.]

[You are a monster. You will come to understand one day. And that day is not far off…]

Kuk-kuk, kik-kik–a sinister laugh, like metal scraping against metal, echoed through the air.

Yet, Seria paid it no mind.

She remained perfectly calm, as if she had heard nothing at all.

Perhaps exhausted by her indifference, the black smoke crumbled into sludge.

Yet, even as it seeped into the wooden floor, the unsettling laughter did not cease.

[I know. I can smell it…Your blood’s rightful master is coming. From the distant South…]

Instead, only an exultant cry lingered in the air like an echo.

[The Embodiment of ‘Envy’ is approaching!]

And with that, the sludge vanished, leaving only a wisp of pale smoke behind.

**

The day I reunited with Senior Delphine after a long time.

I confided in her about my concerns regarding Seria and she scoffed before giving me a response.

“Just do it.”

Just one short phrase.

Not grasping her intent, I blurted out a dazed response.

“…What?”

Senior Delphine, ever so considerate, elaborated for me.

“She wants it so badly, doesn’t she? Just spend a night with her… That should solve everything, right?”

To me, it was an utterly incomprehensible solution.