Page 147

Near Zerion Academy.

Seeing Nikita again, despite saying goodbye until next year, filled me with confusion.

I hadn't expected her to reappear at this moment.

Was it just a coincidence?

That thought crossed my mind, but looking at Nikita’s face, I knew it wasn’t.

She had come here to see me.

"Nikita, how come—"

"...I heard you were in danger."

Word had spread recently that Isabel and I had been transported to the ninth floor of the Demon Dungeon.

Nikita must have heard about it too.

She glanced briefly at Seron, who was standing beside me.

She didn’t know what kind of relationship I had with Seron yet.

So, in front of Seron, she called me "junior."

It was also inconvenient for Nikita if people knew she was alive.

But for her to rush here like this... she must have been really worried about me.

"That makes sense. If I had heard you had been transported to the ninth floor, I would’ve run here in a panic too."

Having someone worry about me was something to be grateful for.

So, when I expressed my thanks, Nikita gave a gentle smile.

"You overdid it again, didn’t you?"

She grabbed my collar and let out a sigh.

I must have pushed myself too hard so often that it was already a given in her mind.

"You're still the same, junior."

"They say sudden changes can be fatal. I have to stay the same if I want to keep living."

Nikita laughed again.

She seemed to enjoy our conversation.

A beautiful woman’s laughter was the best reward.

I felt a sense of satisfaction fill my heart.

Then, I suddenly realized—I had momentarily forgotten about Seron, who was standing right next to me.

I had been so caught up in reuniting with Nikita that I hadn’t even thought about her.

"Seron, Senior Nikita is—"

Just as I turned to explain, I saw Seron clenching her fists tightly, her head lowered.

"Seron?"

When I called her name, her shoulders flinched.

Then, all of a sudden, she lifted her head and smacked me on the back with a bright smile.

"Good for you, Prince Sweet Potato! Now that Senior Nikita is safe, you don’t have anything to worry about!"

She hadn’t listened to our conversation at all.

"You finally reunited! I’m fine, so why don’t you two go have a meal together?"

With those words, she spun around and dashed away.

Her sudden action left me stunned, unable to stop her.

Why was she acting like this all of a sudden?

As the thought crossed my mind, my gaze returned to Nikita.

She was watching Seron’s retreating figure.

"That girl… she likes you, junior."

Only then did I fully understand Seron's actions.

I—no, Vikamon—had once loved Nikita.

Even though he never confessed, everyone knew he had feelings for her.

Seron, on the other hand, had been openly expressing her feelings for me.

For someone like her, our unexpected reunion must have felt...

It wasn’t hard to imagine what she was feeling.

"Junior, I'm sorry. I must have interrupted something."

Nikita looked at me apologetically.

"Do you like that girl too?"

Like her?

I fell silent at the question.

Through the Veil Bandages, I had lost my ability to love.

No matter how much someone liked me, my heart had long since stopped beating.

‘What I’m doing now…’

It was nothing more than responding based on what I had learned from past experiences.

This was the best I could do.

"I don't know."

But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to love.

I was grateful for Seron and Sharin’s feelings toward me, and I wanted to give something back.

"That’s why I keep trying to regain it."

I would give it my all.

Because that’s just who I was—a simple, stubborn fool.

Even for something like this, I would give it my all.

"Until I can properly return the feelings that are directed at me. I have to."

Nikita looked at me, her small frame filled with a newfound strength in her gaze.

"There’s a lot more I want to ask, but I’ll save it for later. I interrupted by accident, after all."

She smiled warmly.

"You know, junior? I like that about you. The way you put your whole heart into others—it makes you an amazing person."

I used to be the one complimenting her all the time.

Now, she was the one complimenting me.

"You sure are generous with your praise. Did you learn that from someone?"

"I had a dear junior who was really good at giving compliments. Thanks to him, my self-esteem improved a lot."

We really got along well.

No wonder I had spent an entire semester assisting her.

"Don't forget this."

She nudged my shoulder lightly, as if etching her words into me.

"I'll help you get your emotions back too. Just like you helped me get my life back."

Something inside me swelled with emotion.

"Now, hurry up and go after her."

She had noticed my urgency to follow Seron.

"Nikita, don’t worry. I have no plans to die before graduating from the Academy."

"You made it back from the ninth floor of the Demon Dungeon, so I believe you. But still..."

Nikita turned to where Seron had disappeared.

"I’ll only hold back until the end of this year. After that, no more."

What did she mean by that?

She didn’t seem willing to explain, only smiling mysteriously.

"See you next year for real this time."

She waved at me.

Though her face was full of regret, I couldn’t leave Seron alone any longer.

"Yeah. See you next year."

With a final farewell, I hurried after Seron.

As I reached the streets, I saw the crowd moving busily.

But Seron was nowhere to be found.

"Excuse me, have you seen a red-haired girl?"

As I asked around, the sky started to drizzle.

Swaaah—

And soon, the rain poured down fiercely.

It had been sunny just moments ago—what was the sky so upset about?

I quickened my pace, desperate to find Seron.

After running for some time, I saw people scrambling to take shelter from the rain.

And among them, a lone figure stood motionless in the middle of the street.

Her long red hair, which she had styled with such care, was now soaked and clinging to her.

Her clothes, completely drenched, were stealing away her warmth in the autumn air.

"Seron!"

At the sound of my voice, she flinched and turned toward me.

Then, as if realizing something, she gasped and covered her face.

It seemed like her makeup was coming off because of the rain.

“W-Why are you here?!”

I stopped running at her outburst.

“What do you mean, why? I came out today for a date with you.”

The reason I was here today was for my date with Seron.

There was no other reason.

Seron knew this.

So she must have known I would follow her as well.

But Seron couldn’t meet my eyes.

The rain poured even harder.

“Seron.”

“……”

Her shoulders flinched when she heard me call her name.

Then she bit her lip tightly and lowered her head.

“Senior Nikita was… the one you liked, Prince Sweet Potato.”

As expected, Seron had been dwelling on the past, just as I thought.

“You met Senior Nikita again. Then… I don’t really need to be here.”

Today, more than ever, her self-esteem was at rock bottom.

Was it because of what happened with Sharin earlier in the day?

No.

Seron had always had low self-esteem.

The many misfortunes that had befallen her tormented her cruelly, and because of that, it was only natural for her confidence to be low.

Her harsh attitude toward others was proof of that.

Before anyone could look down on her, she struck first to protect what little confidence she had left.

And today, that fragile self-esteem had finally reached its breaking point.

The person she liked… had once liked someone else.

Nikita’s presence had driven her self-esteem to the edge.

And in the end, she chose to step back.

Because retreating hurts less than fighting.

Seron’s body trembled violently.

It wasn’t because of the cold.

She was shaking in fear of what I might say next.

Even a stray puppy abandoned on the streets wouldn’t look as pitiful as she did now.

“…That’s right.”

At my response, her expression crumbled completely.

Vikamon had loved Nikita.

That was an undeniable reality.

The remnants of that feeling might still exist even now.

It was true that I had cared for Nikita more than others.

But that was all in the past.

“Seron, do you remember what I told you before?”

Seron and I had once made a promise.

“I asked you to help me regain my emotions one day.”

On the day we graduated from Zerion Academy,

I had asked Seron to help me recover the emotions I lost due to the Shroud’s bandages.

“Is that promise gone now?”

Seron stiffened.

Her gaze slowly lifted toward me.

She looked at my face.

I had no idea what kind of expression I was making.

But her eyes were trembling pitifully.

“Of course not!”

Seron shouted.

Even as her body trembled violently, she held back her emotions and continued speaking.

“That’s a promise between you and me. I’ll definitely help you get them back.”

It was her true, heartfelt resolve.

“Seron, the one I asked… was you.”

Her red eyes widened.

“No one else. Just you.”

I hadn’t asked anyone else—only Seron.

As I’ve said before, if someone likes me, I will respond with my full sincerity.

Whether that response would be acceptance or rejection, I believed it was the least I could do to respect their feelings.

Right now, having lost my ability to love, this was the only thing I could do.

To express my thoughts clearly and honestly.

So that when I do regain my emotions, I can give her the most sincere answer.

This was my best effort.

Tears fell from Seron’s eyes.

Whether they were tears or just raindrops, I couldn’t tell.

“…I thought maybe there wasn’t a place for me in your heart, Prince Sweet Potato.”

The people around me were all brilliant and talented.

Seron had been working desperately hard lately, but talent was a real thing in this world.

The gap created by talent is not easily closed.

I understood that better than anyone.

After all, I was just a third-rate villain, Vikamon Niflheim, whose only talent was endurance.

Trying to keep up with geniuses was exhausting.

Even I had to push my body to its limits and use every stroke of luck I could find just to stay on their heels.

For Seron, who lacked any prior knowledge, it was an even greater struggle.

“Everyone else is so dazzling, so beautiful, so incredible… I thought I’d never catch your eye.”

A person’s worth isn’t defined by things like that.

I had found great comfort in Seron’s presence.

We always joked and bickered, but those little things mattered to me.

“But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Seron shook her head and looked at me.

Determination shone in her eyes.

“Prince Sweet Potato, I like you. I like you so much it’s driving me crazy.”

A confession from the depths of her heart.

“So if there’s no place for me, I’ll make one. If everyone else is dazzling, I’ll shine even brighter.”

She stepped closer to me.

“You’re the only person I’ve ever been greedy for.”

The rain began to stop.

“Today is the luckiest day of my life.”

Seron reached out her hand to me.

“And that day… that was also the luckiest day of my life.”

I took her outstretched hand.

“Ha… Shall we have a dance?”

Once, beneath the moonlight.

And today, beneath the most brilliant sun that broke through the parting rainclouds.

Seron invited me to dance.

“With pleasure.”

The streets were empty from the sudden rain.

And in the midst of it, we held each other and began to move.

No grand ballroom, no dazzling lights—

Just the two of us, drenched from the rain, waltzing in the open street.

Yet, as the sunlight broke through the clouds and illuminated her smiling face—

She shone brighter than anyone in the world.