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Charlotte ran away.

She just had to run.

She no longer had the courage to face him.

She couldn’t bear to shed tears in front of him, as she didn’t feel she had the right.

Charlotte didn’t even know where she was going. She moved her feet aimlessly, without a destination in mind. She didn’t even think to wipe away the tears streaming down her cheeks.

As she wandered without purpose, she encountered several priests and nuns in the Cathedral, but they were taken aback by the deep sorrow etched on Charlotte’s face and dared not call out to her.

Before she realized it, Charlotte found herself standing alone in an empty chapel.

It was a habit she always had during difficult times—to pray to the Goddess.

She knelt before the statue of the Goddess, which bore a benevolent smile. And unable to contain her emotions, she began to cry silently.

‘Ah, Goddess…’

The time she had spent with him after such a long separation was incredibly sweet. She was immensely happy.

At the same time, it was painful.

With every passing moment, she had to confront the irreparable sin she had committed against him, and yet, to not be able to reject him was both her greed and sin.

She understood this was an excessive desire… and yet, she harbored a tiny bit of hope.

Perhaps he also missed her.

Perhaps he hadn’t forgotten those feelings from back then.

Just like in the fairy tales she had read as a child, maybe everything could be resolved perfectly.

What a foolish hope it was.

If only she had been angry instead. If she had chased him away, claiming she didn’t even want to see his face, it would have been better.

If she had asked him why she left, she might not have been able to say everything, but at least she could have answered a part of it.

Why she had no choice but to leave him.

What she went through at the side of the Hero after leaving him.

Why she hadn’t thought about going to find him until now.

Now she truly regretted it deeply and wanted to apologize for the anger and sense of loss he must have felt…

She would have tried to atone in any way she could.

If only she had done that, her heart wouldn’t feel so torn with guilt, and she wouldn’t be this sad and emptied.

But Ion didn’t do that. Not only that, but he even expressed concern for her.

He told her that there was no need for her to sacrifice herself anymore and to live her own life now.

Those words cruelly wounded Charlotte’s heart.

Ion’s expression was incredibly calm, as if he had no feelings left for her at all.

Once, they had loved each other, but now it seemed that was no longer the case.

They were no longer anything to each other…

The way he carried himself made her painfully aware of that fact.

And Charlotte knew all too well that everything was her fault.

“Sniff…!”

Charlotte clutched her face.

And she cried endlessly, like a child.

‘What… should I do…?’

Of course, she knew.

The Goddess said nothing at all.

*

After Charlotte left the room, I felt a sense of unease as I exited the Cathedral.

I couldn’t quite grasp the reason why she had suddenly taken her leave, and she seemed uncomfortable talking to me in the first place.

Our reunion left me with only uncomfortable feelings.

During the war, I didn’t want to run into her unnecessarily, and after the war, she had been busy visiting the contaminated lands of the mainland and the Empire, lacking opportunities to meet.

It would have been nice if we could lighten our long-buried feelings during this encounter, but perhaps it was still a bit too early even after fifteen years.

If Charlotte was struggling to have a conversation with me, I thought it best not to force her into an awkward situation.

Maybe one day, a chance to talk would come naturally. If that was the case, there was no reason to push it now.

If not, then that couldn’t be helped.

The Cathedral of the Capital City was decorated magnificently, befitting its grand size. However, since I wasn’t in the mood for sightseeing at all, I headed directly for the entrance without stopping anywhere.

Outside, the sun was high in the sky. I had been out cold for half a day.

A whole day had passed already. Since the ball was on Friday, today being the weekend meant there were no classes, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy about having sneaked out without telling anyone.

I wasn’t a student anymore, so there wouldn’t be anyone to discipline me anyway, but if an instructor were to sneak out, it would provide a poor example for the students.

I headed to the station to catch a tram straight to the Academy.

And then I realized.

Thump, thump.

“……”

Someone was following me.

Just one person. Considering they had been consistently tracking me from the main road, it was appropriate to assume they had known from the start that I was at the Cathedral and had waited.

I didn’t know their purpose.

But I would find out from now on.

I changed my original plan and headed towards a secluded alley instead of the station.

The one trailing behind didn’t seem very skilled at stalking. As soon as I disappeared from sight, I could sense them hastily quickening their pace, flustered.

The pursuer was a well-built man with tattoos on his shoulder. He exuded the vibes of the dark underworld at a glance, so without hesitation, I grabbed his wrist and shoved him hard against the wall.

Bam!!

“Ahhhh! Ah, it hurts! It hurts!”

The man was rendered powerless in an instant, with no thought of fighting back.

He was even less impressive than I expected.

“What are you doing?”

“T-That’s, hey! We’ve met before, haven’t we? Don’t you remember me?! It’s me!”

I tilted my head slightly and exerted more pressure on his twisted arm.

“I don’t remember at all.”

“Ahhh!! What the hell…! I’m working for the lady! We saw each other back then! Ack…!”

The lady?

The only person a punk from the underworld might know as ‘lady’ that I would recognize was of course Silvia.

I released the man from the wall and scrutinized his face closely.

Come to think of it, he was the tattooed guy who had confronted me when I first visited Silvia in the Dark Alley.

I let go of his arm and asked nonchalantly.

“What do you want?”

“Ugh! My arm… it feels broken…”

“Don’t be so melodramatic. It’s not that bad.”

The tattooed man grimaced in pain, clutching his injured right arm, while he pulled a note from his pocket with his good left hand. The paper was made from a material too luxurious for a back-alley thug.

“Take… this! The lady said I have to deliver it to you personally.”

“Silvia? If she has something to say, she could just contact me through the communication device.”

“I don’t know! I just heard I had to deliver a note urgently because she hasn’t been able to get in touch since yesterday!”

“Hmm….”

Suddenly, a thought struck me mid-conversation.

The communication device Silvia had given me was always kept in the inner pocket of my instructor uniform. However, since I had changed into formal attire for the ball the day before, I had left that device in my room.

Even if I had taken the communication device, it would have surely malfunctioned due to the surge of dark magic. So thinking about it, perhaps it was a blessing I left it behind.

By the way, who changed my clothes?

When I first opened my eyes in Charlotte’s room, I was wearing a clean, comfortable shirt instead of the tight formal attire. Since I had no memory of putting it on myself, it meant someone had changed my clothes while I was unconscious.

In the first place, how was I moved from the Imperial Palace to this distant Cathedral?

Could it have been Charlotte…?

“……”

I stopped letting my mind wander about that and decided to focus on the immediate problem.

Even though I left the communication device behind, if it was urgent enough for them to send someone instead of waiting, it must be important.

I took the note the man handed me. As soon as I held it, a faint scent of roses wafted from it.

Silvia always wore a rose-scented perfume made from her unique recipe that couldn’t be found in stores.

I still didn’t understand why she insisted on the rose scent. I could only vaguely guess it might have something to do with her last name, Rosen, which meant rose.

I read the first sentence written in exquisite handwriting.

And upon reading the content, I immediately froze.

[As soon as you read this, come find me as quickly as you can.]

[That woman you’ve been looking for might still be alive.]

She might still be alive.

Who?

Ella.

I felt my head grow cold at that short sentence.

The tattooed man spoke with a pained voice, still gripping one arm.

“Ugh…! You can’t tell me that isn’t broken? That’s impossible… Anyway, I delivered it properly. Can I go now?”

“No.”

I grabbed the tattooed man by the shoulder and pulled him up.

My voice was so cold and chilling that even I was surprised. The tattooed man, filled with fear, carefully opened his mouth.

“W-why are you… doing this…?”

“You know the way from the Cathedral to the Dark Alley.”

I only knew of one path leading to the Dark Alley. And it was already too precious time to go all the way back there.

I lightly pushed the man’s shoulder, saying.

“Lead the way. Right now.”

It wasn’t the time to go back to the Academy.

I needed to meet Silvia and talk.

 

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