58 – Reality
Within Ariel’s heart, an angel who believed in Venice and a devil who doubted him battled endlessly.
Another day passed.
The faith Ariel had in Venice slowly crumbled, like a tiny speck of doubt eating away from deep within.
The tug-of-war between belief and doubt eventually shifted towards the realm of negativity.
Depressing thoughts faintly emerged and grew uncontrollably. The snowball of growing mistrust began to break down the sturdy walls of her heart.
Two days had passed.
Ariel stepped out of her room. Kale and Freya, along with their family, embraced her tightly and showered her with praise.
“…Thank you. I’m okay now.”
Ariel replied like that. However, her expression seemed awkward, as if it had been shattered.
As the dam that held her emotions together collapsed, the small cracks grew larger due to the pouring emotions, eventually emptying its contents in an instant.
After four days, she had a meal. She cut the well-cooked steak and swallowed it, but she couldn’t taste anything.
Am I really eating something right now? Am I really alive? I don’t know anything anymore.
Even amidst the cheerful conversations of her family, Ariel remained expressionless and silently kept her silence.
Another day passed, without even remembering how it went by. Surrendering her body as it flowed without any thoughts, she suddenly found herself in a world covered by the curtains of night.
“………”
Arriving in her room, Ariel sat quietly by the bed and looked out the window. Today, on the black canvas, white snowflakes spread out like a painting.
Suddenly, I recall the time when Venice and I embarked on our first Night Crow mission.
His face, looking at me with a nonchalant posture and expression that couldn’t be understood.
…Even back then, it was in this room.
Since that incident, every moment with Venice in Ariel’s mind slowly, no, quickly passes like a fleeting shadow.
And the memories are engulfed by the flames of melancholy and distrust, gradually fading away. Soon, the memories turn into ashes, scattered by the wind.
Drip. Drip.
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A single tear rolls down Ariel’s empty eyes. It was expected that they wouldn’t flow anymore, that they wouldn’t hurt anymore, as too many tears have already been shed.
But it seems like her body doesn’t follow her heart. Tears flow endlessly, soaking the pillow and blanket.
At the same time, tears start to well up in Ariel’s heart as well. The heart that was burning fiercely seems to have stopped beating, frozen by the cold tears.
Thump.
In that moment, when even a fragment of an angel couldn’t withstand the fierce assault of the devil, Ariel’s heart is left with only anger, hatred, and emptiness.
The happy memories with Venice were all just a past filled with lies, and he was nothing more than a dark sorcerer who targeted her.
Ariel was angry at him, resented Venice, and filled with emptiness by the cold reality that remained after the happy past had passed.
“…Let’s stop.”
There will be no more thinking about that bastard.
However, Ariel doesn’t realize that she is still shedding tears even as she falls asleep.
***
The next day, when the sun retreats and the moon rises in the night, spreading its moonlight all over the world.
Frost Manor is unusually busy even at this late hour. The composed Frost family lord gives orders to the knights and servants, who move busily without showing any signs of urgency.
Quaaang!
The reason is because there was a sudden explosion and vibration that felt as if the heavens and earth were shaking, just moments ago near Frost Territory.
The inexplicable explosion suddenly woke everyone up from their drowsiness.
Upon hearing the explosion, Frost Lord immediately mobilized all the knights and reinforced the defenses of Frost Territory, giving orders to investigate the truth behind the incident.
The Frost brothers also joined in the search for the cause.
Not much time had passed, but Jake Frost entered the meeting room alone with a vacant expression.
“Yes. Sons, have you found anything?”
“There were traces of an enormous… massive explosion.”
“…Is that all?”
“No, Father. Around that area… there were countless corpses of dark wizards.”
“….What?”
Jake Frost continued his explanation.
Not far from Frost Territory, there were traces of a tremendous explosion, and the surrounding area was filled with cold corpses and bloodstains of dark wizards, forming a sea.
It would be reasonable to assume that a battle had taken place, but if that were the case, there should have been corpses from other factions as well. However, only the corpses of dark wizards were visible.
In case there were any remaining forces, Frost Lord held his forehead, leaving the other knights and Kyle Frost on standby.
“What on earth… happened?”
“…Ah. Another point we discovered is that there were footprints stained with blood, no matter which direction they headed…”
Ringgg!
However, their conversation was abruptly interrupted by the alarm that began to echo throughout the entire Frost Castle.
“Father, what is this sound…?”
“…This is the alarm that sounds when dark wizards invade! Jake, immediately instruct all the knights to search the surroundings and the interior of the castle!”
Under their orders and commands, the knights quickly began the search.
“…Lord Frost! In the castle courtyard…!”
Upon hearing the knight’s words, Frost hurriedly made his way to the courtyard.
“This is…!”
What he found in the castle courtyard was a hole big enough for a person to pass through in the dark magic barrier, as well as a large amount of scattered blood around it.
And there were only bloody footprints leading from the inside to the outside.
Breed Frost and Jake Frost, who were looking at the footprints, raised their heads to find the source of the footprints. What they saw when they looked up was a window wide open, letting in the cold wind.
“…..Ariel-!”
“No way!!!”
Ariel’s room window was wide open. They rushed with all their might to Ariel’s room.
Crash-!
As they forcefully broke through the door and entered Ariel’s room, Ariel was not missing as they had feared.
“Ven…ice..?”
There was only Ariel, with blood-stained window frames and a trembling gaze, as if she were insane, looking out beyond them.
***
Ariel was lying in bed, feeling sudden chest pain, chills, and coughing.
“Cough… Cough.”
“…Did I catch a severe cold again?”
The pain was similar to what she had experienced before, but the intensity seemed even stronger this time.
It felt like a bug was burrowing into her heart, gnawing at it from the inside. And there was a fever that could be felt throughout her body.
At first, it was a vague heat that could only be felt near the heart, but gradually, that heat spread throughout the entire body.
Due to the throbbing pain that made it difficult to even think, Ariel’s mind was hazy.
As the pain became unbearable, Ariel tried to sleep.
Despite the throbbing pain in her head and the heat, it was difficult to fall asleep, but somehow she managed to reach the brink of sleep.
In a state of half-consciousness, just before falling asleep, Ariel sensed a faint noise.
The sound of someone climbing over the window, the rustle of clothes. And then, sitting on the floor of the room, walking quietly, the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor.
“Cough… cough…”
Somewhere, someone familiar approached Ariel, coughing incessantly. Ariel dismissed it as a mere hallucination.
“Ariel… cough… Miss…”
Until the moment the voice, more familiar than anyone else’s and deeply rooted in Ariel’s memory, reached her.
“I’m sorry… cough… for being late…”
Beyond her blurred vision, Venice appeared, dressed in a black magician’s robe, blood staining his entire body.
Despite coughing up blood, he reached out his hand to Ariel’s forehead.
It’s really a realistic illusion.
That was the only thought that crossed Ariel’s mind as she watched the scene. Venice, who had already left and would never return.
She silently gazed at the illusion of Venice created by her pain. He wore the black magician’s robe, but it felt as if she was looking at the former butler Venice.
The kind, no, still kind Venice in the illusion brought his hand to her forehead.
Strangely enough, even in this illusionary world, she could feel his warm touch. At the same time, the pain that had been consuming her body seemed to gradually fade away.
“Cough-!”
Was this illusion projecting Ariel’s pent-up hatred towards Venice? Venice coughed up a tremendous amount of blood.
She turned her head slightly and looked down, and there was a tremendous amount of blood flowing from his abdomen, staining the wooden floor.
Some time passed. Venice, who had been vomiting blood continuously, took his hand off Ariel’s forehead.
And then, lying on the bed, he looked at Ariel and forced a sad smile. It was a smile mixed with so much sadness that it could make anyone who saw it feel melancholic.
“…With this, all the magic is gone. Ariel… sniff.”
Venice struggled to maintain his balance and barely stood up. He took out a blood-soaked paper note from his pocket and placed it on Ariel’s desk.
“I won’t be able to see you again… Ariel.”
His mournful expression made Ariel’s heart dampen. She thought she had lost her feelings, that she hated and despised him.
But deep in Ariel’s heart, Venice was still there.
“…Take care. Goodbye.”
With that, Venice disappeared, leaving behind only a bright smile, flying out of the window.
“………….”
Tears streamed down Ariel’s eyes as she quietly stared at the illusion. The sight of the vanishing illusion felt like it was taking away even the last remaining memory.
That’s when it happened. As her strength gradually returned and her mind began to clear.
Soon, she felt like she was about to wake up from the dream, bidding farewell to the Venice in her dream while crying.
Blink.
When she woke up from her sleep and opened her eyes, Ariel was still crying.
It seemed like the same illness as before, where the pain came and went in an instant. But now, she didn’t feel any pain anymore.
It felt like a relieving sensation, as if the bug that had been dwelling deep inside her had disappeared.
However, there was something strange. She had definitely closed the window, but the bone-chilling cold wind from the north was seeping into the room.
Unconsciously, Ariel sat up and looked at the window.
“…..Huh?”
The window was wide open, and blood was dripping from the window frame, hanging thickly and falling with a thud.
Turning my head to look at the floor of the room, there was a pool of blood that would make you believe someone had died.
But that’s impossible. What just happened… was a fantasy. It was a scene from a dream.
Yet now, I am clearly awake from the dream, facing reality. The pungent smell of blood and the cold wind penetrate Ariel’s mind.
And there, on Ariel’s desk, was a small note stained with blood.
“Ven…ice..?”
Crash!
That was when it happened. The door of the room shattered as Father and Uncle Jake entered.
And that was when it happened. The noise that had been heard since earlier, it was the sound of the protective magic of the sorcerer breaking.
Ariel denied reality. Yes, what I am seeing now must also be a dream. It must be a horribly realistic and malicious nightmare.
But the cold chill, the rising sense of unease, created a creepy feeling. And the resounding noise denies Ariel’s denial.
“Ariel, are you okay?!”
“What the hell…?!”
Although it seemed like Father and Uncle were talking to her, she couldn’t hear a thing.
Ariel’s gaze was fixed on the small note on the desk and outside the window.
“………..”
Ariel pushed them away and quietly approached the window frame. What she saw outside the window were clear footprints stained with blood on the white snow.
“No… no way.”
“Ariel… Ariel?!”
Ariel clenched the small note in her hand tightly and threw herself out the window. And she began to sprint along the blood-stained footsteps.
The sad smile Venice had just shown. The sudden disappearance of pain. And the footsteps of Venice leaving and the remaining blood.
A sense of guilt and unease began to fill Ariel’s heart from its deepest depths.