Chapter 158
A long time ago, back when Ian and Aria were both just children.
The setting is a vast meadow.
In a cozy but old wooden house, a little girl sits alone, reading a book.
Her long, jet-ck hair falls over her eyes, but it doesn’t seem to bother her.
She turns the pages with ease, as if she’s used to it.
“Gloomy,e y!”
When she spends all day cooped up in her room, a boy with a board game in his handses to visit.
“You’ve been reading in your room all day again, haven’t you?”
The boy always says the same thing. If you peek through the curtains, he’s there, poking his head through the window with a bright smile—Ian ckangers.To her childhood friend, the girl always replies in a voice that sounds like it’s swallowing her whole.
“Yeah…”
“You can’t keep doing that, Gloomy! Come on, let’s at least y a board game together!”
“Okay…”
She stumbles over her words, but she knows it’s a perfectly happy moment.
The book she was reading—she’d read it dozens of times.
Even though her bangs covered her eyes, she could still read it because of that.
The house was boring, and the outside world was scary.
She was grateful that Ian woulde to visit her.
[ Chronicles of the Hero ]
She admired the heroes, magicians, and saints in the board games he brought.
‘…Ah.’
It’s around this point that she realizes.
Aria Lumines Bell.
Revered as a saintess candidate, she realizes now that she’s dreaming about her childhood when she was called ‘Gloomy’.
And then she realizes something else.
The happy scene will end soon, and a dark one will follow.
<em>Whoosh—</em>
The scene shifts harshly. The location is still her hometown, Istan.
But time has passed, and she’s now at the primary education institution.
The surroundings are dark.
Even though she knows it’s a dream, Aria flinched.
‘I’m scared.’
The girl, a little older now, sits with her knees pulled up, burying her head.
‘It hurts.’
Something flies at her—a chalk eraser, a pencil, a small stone, or maybe sharp words.
<em>– Gloomy. Gloomy.</em>
<em></em>
<em>– Your bangs are messy!</em>
<em></em>
<em>– Your ck hair is dirty and ominous!</em>
<em></em>
<em>– I can’t even hear you!</em>
<em></em>
<em>– A pig with big b*obs!</em>
<em></em>
<em>– Gloomy. Gloomy.</em>
Ian is not here.
He’s the highest-ranking noble in Easton.
He’s probably at home, taking magic lessons.
They say he’s quite talented.
The girl curls up even more.
Scenes sh by rapidly.
She’s holed up at home.
She’s trapped in darkness.
Parentsin that sending her to school is pointless.
When she swallows her tears and goes to school, she’s bullied.
When she can’t take it anymore, she climbs a cliff. Ian pulls her back down.
Ian, who apologizes for not being there for her.
But the bullying doesn’t stop.
Her wrists, long and scarred. Ian,forting her once again.
The relentless cycle.
Over and over.
‘It hurts…’
Just when she thinks it’s too much to bear—
“Ah!”
The girl wakes up from her nightmare.
She quickly looks around.
The soft glow of amp envelops her.
A cozy dormitory near the Academy.
“I must have fallen asleep for a bit.”
A deep anxiety washes over her.
Memories of the past make her feel mentally unstable. But she’s not the same girl she used to be.
She quickly rummages through her drawer and finds her ID.
[ Aria Lumines Bell ]
The girl, Aria, fingers the namete with her name on it.
It was a badge given to her personally by the Pope. She calms down quickly.
“Hehe…”
Aria didn’t like her original name.
That’s why this namete was so precious to her. A quiet giggle escapes her lips.
“Aria. It’s such a nice name.”
Aria gently strokes the namete.
She felt like she hadpletely changed after receiving this name.
Even people’s reactions had changed.
No one called her ominous or unlucky anymore, nor did they say they couldn’t hear her or dismiss her.
Now, she could confidently step outside.
Even nightmares that suddenly came and the fear that apanied them—she could now handle them on her own, without the help of her childhood friend.
She had gained confidence.
With the new name ‘Aria’, she felt she couldpletely distance herself from the miserable person she once was.
So Aria made a resolution.
“Let’spletely forget the old name.”
The name that had only made her a target of ridicule and eventually led her to shut herself in.
“And forget the memories associated with that name too.”
The kids who bullied her.
The school she didn’t want to attend.
Her hometown.
And maybe even her childhood friend. All the painful memories from that time.
“I need to forget everything I can.”
It was better for everyone.
Gloomy had been a burden to everyone, even to the person she loved.
She felt that this was the only way she could truly be the new her, not Gloomy, but “Aria”.
Aria looked in the mirror and adjusted her bangs.
She swept her hair, which had been covering her eyes, to the side.
‘It makes me a little anxious not to have my bangs.’
Aria clenched her fists and held on.
Today was a very important day for her.
‘It’s the first time I’ve invited someone else to my house…’
Of course, Ian hade by often when they were younger.
But that was because Ian wanted toe.
This time, Aria herself had decided to invite someone to her home.
For a homebody, it was a significant step.
Although she had no choice but to do it, her heart still raced.
‘…I’m nervous.’
At that moment,
<em>— Knock, knock, knock!</em>
There was a knock at the door.
It was already time for her appointment.
<em>Thump, Thump. </em>
Her heart pounded.
Feeling the heat rise in her face, she undid one button on her shirt.
Aria opened the door with the smile she had practiced.
“Wel— Wee!…?”
Ian was standing outside the door.
Her childhood friend, Ian Von Pong Istan ckangers.
“Hello! You’re different than usual?”
That’s what he said.
The smile on Aria’s face slowly faded.
Why is he here all of a sudden?
◆
Earlier in the semester.
The day after Ian (Pongpong), the confession bomber, was rejected by Sharon.
The memory of the day Ian (Pongpong) confessed to Aria, as recorded in the journal, was still vivid.
“Gloomy. I like you. Will you go out with me?”
Having searched every nook and cranny of the storage room for something, Pongpong had brought out their old board game [Chronicles of the Hero], which was filled with their shared memories, and ran to his childhood friendte in the evening.
“To be honest… I don’t see you as a man.”
The conversation between them grew more intense.
It was heading in the direction where Ian was clinging pathetically to Aria, only to be rejected.
While Ian was getting crushed emotionally, another guest entered Aria’s house.
Ian, ncing at the guest, opened his mouth as if feeling wronged.
“But Gloomy, we’ve had fun together all this time. We know each other better than anyone!”
“Yes, knowing each other too well—that’s the problem.”
“Knowing someone well is a good thing, so why is that a problem? I know you better than anyone, so I can protect you!”
“Don’t call me by that name. And don’t you understand? Knowing about those endlessly dark and miserable days of mine—that’s the problem.”
Pongpong seemed to be at a loss.
And understandably so.
At that moment, his mind was likely filled with the logical thought, “To protect someone who feels unstable, you need to know them well!”
Unfortunately, humans are often irrational creatures.
Aria was avoiding the “past”.
And, of course, that past included her childhood friend, Pongpong.
Regrettably, Ian made the worst possible choice.
He touched on her “new present” with her “past”.
“…Who was that person who went in?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Aria straightened out her disheveled shirt. The violent size of her chest momentarily distracted from the serious conversation.
Aria’s eyes narrowed as Ian’s gaze also seemed to wander.
The spark of doubt extended to the sincerity of his confession.
“How long have you been looking at me like that?”
With a sharp remark, Aria buttoned up her shirt.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that! My intentions were pure!”
“Pure? You say that while staring at my chest?”
“Th-that’s not what I—”
“You know, right? That I’m a candidate for sainthood. Yet you still ogled my body?”
Ian fell silent.
Aria’s voice dropped even lower.
“You know, I was really grateful to you once.”
“Really?”
“But now, I’m not so sure.”
“Gloomy…”
“Don’te any closer.”
Aria took a step back toward the door.
“Once I start my formal sainthood training, I won’t be allowed to see you. Your reputation is terrible.”
“…Gloomy.”
“That name!”
<em>Snap.</em>
Aria shouted, her voice echoing.
“Don’t ever call me by that name again!”
“But…”
“I’m not Gloomy anymore. I’m Aria. I’m a saintess candidate. I’m not sad anymore. I’m not struggling anymore. There’s no going back to that name!”
She imed she was fine, but to those around her, it didn’t seem that way.
That’s how it was with Aria.
“…”
Even at that moment, Pongpong seemed worried about her.
“But if, if things ever get tough, you can stille to me…”
“No. That’s never going to happen.”
“What do you mean never? You said that before, and how many times…”
“<em>Hah</em>!”
Aria snorted, as if she had just realized something.
Her words wereced with thorns.
“You know what, Ian?”
“…What?”
“It almost seems like you want me to be miserable.”
“N-no! That’s not true. I’m just worried about you.”
“That kind of worry is unnecessary.”
“…!”
“I’m a candidate for sainthood now. My future is set. I’m no longer the gloomy person I once was. But why do you keep trying to drag me back to that past?”
Ian ckangers lowered his head.
He shouldn’t apologize.
If he did…
“I’m sorry.”
…It would be an admission.
An admission that he was a terrible person who had been gaslighting Aria all this time.
Aria spoke again, her tone full of disappointment.
“I knew it. You were only around me because you wanted to feel like a good person, because you thought it made you look cool to be the oneforting me.”
“…”
Ian couldn’t find the words to respond.
The ufortable silence hung in the air for a moment.
Then, Aria let out a harsh sigh.
“<em>Haah</em>. Well, maybe it’s for the best. I wanted to say this anyway.”
“…What?”
“Let’s stop seeing each other. I’m done with that game too. Don’te looking for me anymore.”
Pongpong flinched, instinctively hiding the old board game he had retrieved from the storage room behind his back.
“Gloomy… No, Aria!”
He reached out, almost pleadingly.
But Aria was resolute.
“Don’t pretend to know me again. Never.”
<em></em>
<em>— Bang!</em>
The door mmed shut with force.
Ian’s hand, which he had reflexively extended, never reached her.