“It’s good that he’s dead, though I wasn’t sure what to do about that letter. But...”
For reasons Aria still didn’t understand, Prince Alex had burned the letter that was returned among Tonio’s belongings to ashes.
When Aria heard about it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that fate was on her side.
“I thought it was all over.”
She even laughed to herself at Princess Nailia, who treasured the letter without knowing what was written inside.
“But now you’re saying it can be restored.”
If the letter was restored and Princess Nailia learned its contents...
“That can’t happen, can it?”
“So, what are you going to do?”
At Ceres’s question, Aria’s smile brightened.
“You’ll be found dead tomorrow.”
“.....”
“And Feik will be blamed for it. That idiot.”
Aria reached into her pocket and pulled something out. It was a small vial.
“I’m disappointed too. You were a good friend.”
A friend she could offer up whenever she needed a scapegoat.
At first, Aria didn’t have any friends either. She was bullied quite a lot by the other children.
Then, she found Ceres. A girl whose family circumstances were no better than her own, who was so trusting it bordered on foolishness.
That was why Aria made her the perfect target.
As long as everyone had someone to pick apart and ridicule, that was enough. All Aria had to do was step in now and then to defend her and offer a little comfort. The image of a kind-hearted friend built itself.
“The burn you got before... was that deliberate too?”
Ceres always found that incident strange. It wasn’t something the original owner of this body would’ve done.
“Mm. I ran into you on purpose. It really hurt.”
Aria pouted as if recalling the pain even now.
“But thanks to that, everyone in class ended up taking my side.”
The way they got angry for her, cursed Ceres on her behalf, and cornered her at every opportunity was almost laughable.
“Don’t be too scared. They said it won’t hurt much. Besides, I couldn’t send a friend off in pain, could I?”
What a load of crap.
A yellow liquid. One glance was enough to recognize it as the deadly venom extracted from an Ask viper.
The moment it entered the body, every inch of you would feel as though it were burning. Your insides would dissolve long before death finally arrived.
And she’s calling that painless?
She’s still lying through her teeth.
“Are you planning to make me drink that?”
“Mm-hm.”
Aria shook the vial, smiling as brightly as ever.
Wow. You really are insane.
Who smiles like that while talking about killing someone?
“How are you planning to make me drink it?”
“How else? You’re tied up, and I’m not.”
Still smiling, Aria took a step closer. She was planning to force it down Ceres’s throat.
“Tied up? Who? Me?”
“What?”
Snap.
Something suddenly snapped. The rope around Ceres’s wrists fell limply to the floor.
“You’re right, Feik really was an idiot. He tied me up with a rotten rope.”
“W-What are you talking about?!”
Just as Ceres had said, the rope lying on the floor looked like it had been rotting away for decades.
“Feik, that moron!”
What kind of fool used a rope like this to tie someone up?
Watching Aria seethe, Ceres snorted.
No, the rope was perfectly fine.
She just turned back time, long enough for the rope to rot away.
“So, what now? Because I don’t intend to sit here and obediently drink that.”
Aria’s face twisted as she clutched the vial. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.
As she bit down on her lip, Ceres generously offered her a choice.
“You have two options. One, you go to Princess Nailia yourself and tell her everything.”
“What?”
“Or I drag you there and make you tell her.”
“Ha!” Aria laughed in disbelief. “If it comes down to your word against mine, who do you think people will believe?”
Even if Ceres repeated every word that had been said here, no one would take her side.
“What about the letter?”
“Won’t you be arrested before that happens?”
“Arrested?”
Riiip!
As soon as the word left Ceres’s mouth, Aria began tearing at her clothes. She even picked up a jagged shard of glass from the basement floor and dragged it across her skin.
Wow. She’s completely unhinged.
Ceres clicked her tongue as she watched. She didn’t stop her. She just stood by and watched the spectacle unfold.
“You would’ve been better off dead than hauled away as a criminal.”
Blood streaked her skin in several places, but Aria’s smile only widened. The sight was downright grotesque.
“Are you really going to walk into class looking like that?”
“Mm. The others will take care of the rest.”
From reporting Ceres to spreading the story, everything would fall into place on its own. All she needed to do was cry and tell everyone that Ceres had done this to her.
“You’re going to regret this.”
“Regret it? Me?”
There she goes again.
Forget medical treatment. What she needed was a psychiatrist.
“No, you’re the one who’s going to regret it.”
Still smiling, Aria hurried out of the basement.
“.....”
Ceres neither stopped her nor called after her.
***
“Aah!”
“W-What happened?”
“Isn’t that Aria?”
The students stared in shock as they spotted Aria staggering down the corridor. Her clothes were torn in several places, and blood seeped from wounds scattered across her body. Anyone could tell at a glance that something terrible had happened.
“Are you okay?”
“What happened to you?”
A few students rushed over, but Aria brushed past them without a word and headed straight for the classroom where Princess Nailia was.
Bang!
“Ugh...”
Thump.
As soon as she stepped inside, Aria collapsed to the floor and began to sob. Wrapping her arms around herself, she waited for everyone to rush to her side just like always.
But—
“.....?”
The room was silent. No one reacted.
Why?
Slowly lifting her head, Aria froze. Every student in the classroom was staring at her with cold eyes.
What’s going on?
Normally, the moment she shed a tear, they would’ve rushed to her side, asking what had happened.
“G-Guys...”
Her gaze wandered helplessly before settling on Princess Nailia.
“L-Lady Nailia!”
Tears welled in Aria’s eyes once more. The others might turn away from her, but Princess Nailia never would.
After Tonio’s death, it was Aria who stayed by her side and comforted her when she was grieving.
As if responding to her call, Princess Nailia rose from her seat and walked over.
“Hic... Ceres... Ceres...”
SMACK!
“Huh...?”
Aria could only stare in a daze. A sharp sting spread across her cheek.
“L-Lady Nailia...?”
“.....”
Princess Nailia looked down at her with an expression colder than she’d ever seen before. She had always been reserved and difficult to read, but there was at least a warmth whenever she looked at Aria.
“Why...?”
The other students were no different. Their eyes were just as cold. The anger simmering beneath them left Aria completely bewildered.
“Aria.”
“...?”
A familiar voice suddenly reached her ears. It was a voice she should never have been hearing here.
Startled, Aria looked around before her gaze landed on Princess Nailia’s hand. Something there was flashing faintly.
A communication orb.
N-No way...!
The color drained from Aria’s face.
Then, the voice spoke again.
“I told you you’d regret it.”
It was Ceres. Her voice was coming from the communication orb.
“L-Lady Nailia...”
“.....”
Aria called out to her in a trembling voice, but Princess Nailia said nothing. Instead, her gaze dropped to the communication orb in her hand.
A little while earlier, a man had suddenly entered the classroom.
“Who are you?”
“...A messenger.”
“A messenger?”
“Haa. Just take this.”
With a long sigh, he handed over a communication orb.
Before anyone could ask what was going on, he turned around and left like his job was done.
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