Chapter 208: End of a Semester Interlude


    ?


    [Heavenly hall]


    [Student council office]


    "So, what will you do now that the semester''sing to a close?"


    "For the most part, I''ll have to head back home. My family''s waiting,"


    "Hmm..."


    Three days had passed in a blur since the grand festival, and now the academy was preparing for the winter break.


    Snow''s office, usually buzzing with activity, was eerily quiet.


    The semester winding down meant the council members had already been dismissed earlier than usual.


    No doubt Snow had sent them off after making sure everyst bit of work was meticulously handled by her.


    "Aren''t you pushing yourself a little too hard?"


    As someone who had served on the student council before, I knew firsthand just how exhausting the workload could be.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Even reading through a single stack of reports could feel like an uphill battle some days.


    Snow paused, lifting her head to meet my eyes.


    Her pure white hair framed her face perfectly as she tilted her head, a yful smile tugging at the corner of her lips.


    "Oh my, does it seem that way? The other council members had the same concern as well. Fufu-" she chuckled softly, brushing off the worry as if it were a trivial matter.


    With a graceful motion, she set the papers aside and leaned back in her chair, her smile still in ce.


    "I appreciate your concern, but you don''t need to worry. Although the work can be a bit taxing,pared to the tasks my dear father gave me back in the empire, this is nothing." "I see..."


    Snow''s responsibilities here, though heavy by academy standards, probably paled inparison to managing affairs in the empire.


    Managing academy student council affairs, with all its rules and politics, was likely child''s y for someone like her.


    "So, what did you call me here for?"


    I asked, leaning back slightly in the chair, still feeling the strain of my recent defeat against Rose.


    I had been training my mana sense in my private room, trying to enhance my reaction speed, particrly against fast-paced attacks.


    But just when I was deep in focus, Yui had informed me that Snow requested my presence, so here I was.


    Snow, however, seemed unbothered by my question as she continued to work, her eyes scanning over the papers before her.


    It was clear that she was purposefully dying the reason she called me here.


    I didn''t press her, though the silence hung awkwardly between us.


    Finally, she looked up, her lips curling into a teasing smile.


    "I just wanted to see you. Is that not enough of a reason?" she said yfully.


    "Fufu~ I''m kidding. You don''t have to react so seriously," she added, waving off my silence with a soft chuckle. "I actually have two reasons for calling you here."


    With that, Snow gracefully stood up from her desk, moving toward the chair across from me.


    She summoned her wand, and I watched as pale bluish mana gathered at its tip, swirling in the air with an ethereal glow.


    [Low-grade ice magic]


    [Ice Formation]


    Crackle-!


    The cold air around us shifted, and in a matter of moments, ice began to manifest, taking shape in front of me.


    It started small, a simple crystalline structure, but soon enough, a small-scale figure of a human formed from the icy mist.


    Though the figure was mostly icy white with bluish pigmentation due to the mana lingering around it, I could still make out the details-a young woman covered in baggy robes.


    ''mme, huh...''


    "Did you meet anyone with a simr figure and appearance to this, Riley?"


    "Yes...."


    So, she really was aware of mme''s situation.


    That realization brought me some relief.


    If anything were to go wrong,


    Snow would likely handle the situation behind the scenes.


    "Sigh... that girl...."


    Snow sighed softly, her hand moving to her chin as she pondered something.


    Tilting her head slightly, she looked at me with curious eyes.


    "She didn''t do anything... weird, did she?"


    "No, nothing at all. Aside from randomly calling me out, she didn''t really do anything. She has a unique vibe, though. A bit mysterious"


    "Well... I guess that''s fine," Snow said, though her gaze remained sharp. "But if you meet her again, please avoid engaging in conversation with her as much as possible. And inform me immediately if she tries to contact you."


    "Who is she, exactly?"


    I asked, feigning ignorance.


    Despite already knowing about mme due to my knowledge of the game, I had to y it safe.


    Acting too familiar with her would definitely raise suspicions.


    "So, she didn''t introduce herself?" Snow seemed relieved by this. "That''s good.... Well, let''s just say she''s someone of great importance to the empire. I can''t tell you the full details right now, but you''ll learn about her soon enough. For now, her identity and presence need to


    remain under wraps, so..."


    "It''s alright, I understand."


    Snow smiled, her relief evident.


    "Thank you. It''s a delicate situation, and we can''t afford any unnecessaryplications."


    Crackle-!


    Snow shattered the ice figure she had just created with a simple flick of her fingers.


    The crackling sound echoed through the room as the shards scattered across the table.


    She then turned her attention back to me, her gaze yful yet sharp, and smiled. "Now, for the second reason I called you here... I wanted to talk about us."


    Her tone shifted slightly, carrying a weight I wasn''t expecting. I blinked, caught off guard. "Excuse me?" I asked, unsure of where this was going.


    "Fufu- There you go again, trying to deny the obvious," she teased, her voice carrying a soft lilt. Rising from her chair, she moved gracefully toward me, her movements deliberate. Rather than sitting on the other side of the couch where there was plenty of space, she chose


    to sit close-very close.


    The proximity between us too close for casualfort.


    "I like you Riley"


    || ||


    "I can understand your reluctance in forming a proper rtionship with me. But ignoring and


    denying what''s obvious... can be quite cruel, you know?"


    Before I could react, she reached out and took my hand in hers.


    The warmth of her touch was a stark contrast to the cool andposed persona she usually


    disyed.


    Her fingers wrapped around mine, and I could feel the slight tremble in her grip, as if she was nervous despite her confident exterior.


    Her cheeks flushed a soft pink, and the color deepened into a warm, romantic red that spread


    across her pale skin.


    Even her ears turned a delicate shade of pink, betraying the vulnerability she was feeling at


    that moment.


    Her face wasing closer, and I knew exactly what she wanted.


    The way she gently closed her eyes, lips slightly parted, told me everything.


    ''Tsk.... just how shitty have I be?''


    It was in that moment that I realized just how far I had fallen-how deeply I''d buried my true


    feelings beneathyers of excuses.


    Liyana, my inevitable end, the happy ending I wanted-they had all be convenient


    shields.


    Using them to deny the truth, to turn a blind eye to what was right in front of me.


    "Snow..."


    I should''ve pushed her away.


    It would''ve been the easiest thing to do-to reject her feelings before they could take root,


    before she could invest more of herself into something I couldn''t promise.


    All I had to do was end it.


    To tell her it wasn''t possible, that we couldn''t be.


    Yet, I couldn''t bring myself to do it.


    Because, deep down, I wanted it too.


    As I gazed at Snow, so close, so sincere, a flood of memories rushed to the surface-memories


    I had long since tried to bury.


    They weren''t just moments with Snow; they were fragments of something muchrger, much


    older.


    Forgotten scenes from another time, another life.


    [Note: User''s soul is shaking!]


    [Note: Temporal resonance will now be activated!]


    [Skill: Archive (S)] → [Activated.]


    My mind spiraled, trapped in a cycle of echoes from the past.


    The Archive skill stirred within me, tugging at forgotten threads of fate.


    Scenes shed before my eyes-both good and bad-on an endless loop.


    Memories ofughter, of quiet moments together, of fleeting happiness.


    But no matter how sweet the memories were, they always led to the same, inevitable


    conclusion.


    The end.


    The moment Snow and I would be together, the world would fall apart.


    The future we could have shared was a lie-our very love was a paradox that could never exist.


    No matter how much I wanted it, no matter how much she deserved the truth, the Archive


    showed me that our story would always lead to ruin.


    I had seen it, lived it, and forgotten it, only for it to resurface now, painfully vivid.


    "I love you, Riley"


    Her words reverberated in my mind, shing with the images of our doomed future.


    My heart ached with the desire to reach out, to ept her feelings, but my mind screamed at


    me to stop-to spare her from the inevitable pain.


    And yet, my body moved on its own...


    Before I could fullyprehend what was happening, my hand instinctively reached out,


    pulling her closer.


    It was as though some part of me-the part that craved connection, warmth, and love-had taken control, overriding the doubts and warnings echoing in my mind.


    Snow''s eyes widened in surprise, a soft gasp escaping her lips as the suddenness of my action


    caught her off guard.


    "Nn?" she exhaled, her breath warm and shaky.


    In that brief moment, every other thought faded away, reced by a singr, undeniable


    truth.


    Our lips touched, a tentative connection that sent a shock through my entire body.


    The sensation was gentle, soft, and warm-It felt familiar.... like something I''ve often used to


    do.... Like it was everything I had longed for.


    Her breath mingled with mine, sweet and faintly trembling, a sign of her own uncertainty, her


    own emotions rising to the surface.


    I could feel her warmth enveloping me, the steady thrum of her heartbeat against my chest as


    I held her close.


    For a split second, the world seemed to stop.


    All the warnings, the visions, the worries-they dissolved into the background, leaving only


    the two of us, locked in a moment that felt both fragile and eternal.


    And as we got deeper in the moment.


    Snow didn''t pull away.


    Whether this was a good or bad thing... I''ll worry about it when the timees.


    ...


    "Oh my~ Oh my~" Unbeknownst to the two whose feelings had just blossomed into something real, a pair of mischievous eyes had been watching from the shadows, wide open in sheer shock.


    A fantastical creature, hidden from sight, clutched its mouth with oversized paws, barely containing its astonishment.


    Cheshire—had just witnessed something far beyond his wildest expectations. His normally yful, carefree demeanor was momentarily reced by a stunned silence as


    his mouth stretched into a gigantic, impossibly wide grin, still trembling with disbelief. "What in the fantastical realms am I witnessing?"


    Cheshire whispered to himself, his voice barely above a breath as his whiskers twitched in amazement.


    His violet eyes glimmered with a mixture of amusement and intrigue, while his striped tail


    flicked back and forth, betraying the whirlwind of thoughts rushing through his mind.


    As he hovered in the shadows, invisible to them both, Cheshire''s usually yful smirk softened into something more contemtive.


    "Oh, how absolutely precious! Such a forbidden love," he mused, his voice slipping into a


    sing-song lilt. He stroked his fur with one paw, feigning nonchnce, though his eyes still gleamed with mischief.


    "But what to do with this little tidbit of information? Hmmm... Oh, the possibilities~!"


    As thoughts of sharing his discovery with Alice flickered through his mind, Cheshire''s grin


    grew wider, more devious.


    Alice would surely be interested in thistest development, wouldn''t she?


    But then again, stirring the pot too much might spoil the fun. Perhaps he should wait... bide his time until the moment was just right.


    After all, secrets were best revealed when they could cause the most delightful chaos.


    "Ah, decisions, decisions-"Cheshire purred to himself, hisughter echoing faintly in the air, though neither Riley nor Snow would ever hear it. With a final, exaggerated puff of his striped tail, Cheshire dissolved into smoke, his form dissipating like mist caught in the wind.