Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: When Does Tomorrow Come?
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Emily was momentarily confused about what she had just heard.
"...Huh?"
It wasn't the usual warm, gentle voice. It was endlessly cold, laced with disgust.
The same person, yet he felt like someone entirely different.
"...What did you, say?"
That's why Emily thought she must have misheard.
But she hadn't.
"Didn't hear me? I go alone if I want to go alone. Why would I invite you?"
Ken Fine Stein stared at her coldly, spitting out the words without mercy.
Ken brushed off Emily's hand as she touched his cheek.
"Don't you remember? You stepped on my head and hurled all those insults at me."
"...Th-that was."
"And you dare insult Lady Mary?"
His eyes, rippling with hatred, pierced sharply into Emily's chest.
"Get lost. I don't want to see the likes of you for even a second."
With that, Ken turned away.
His back, facing Emily, felt like a massive city wall.
She couldn't say another word.
All that remained was bewilderment and pain.
Pain surging from deep within her chest.
'From a guy like Ken... those words shouldn't bother me at all...'
Emily kept lying to herself, but deep down, she knew her true feelings were already astray.
She had been rejected.
Just as Emily had deceived herself and rejected Ken.
'It doesn't bother me...'
She kept comforting herself with lies.
But Emily's feet were already carrying her away from the classroom.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The classroom after Emily left.
I lay face down, head buried in my arms, ignoring the students' whispers.
'Jeeeenjaaaang!! What the hell did you do, you idiot Ken!!'
Apparently, the harsh words about Mary had triggered Ken, and with a massive surge in immersion, he poured out all the resentment he'd been holding back.
I watched the whole scene from the side, thinking, Ah, now I'm gonna get beat...
But Emily's reaction was completely unexpected.
"...Ugh."
She bit her lip, clenched her fists, and trembled with her shoulders.
It wasn't quite fear—more like she was suppressing a pained expression.
Her eyes reddened, tears welling up.
Then she rushed out of the classroom.
'Sh-should I chase after her now?'
I tore at my hair, face down on the desk, debating whether to run out and tell her it was a misunderstanding.
But misunderstanding my ass—if the guy who just spewed all that suddenly approached smiling, she'd think he was crazy.
'No choice... maybe talk to her tomorrow.'
I didn't want things messed up with Emily if I could help it.
To have any influence near the ending as time passed, I needed to stay close to her.
I couldn't do anything about Emily hating me personally.
But at least we needed to be able to exchange a few words like recently.
'...How do I explain it.'
Maybe carefully approach her when she came back in a bit.
That's how I spent the rest of the day pondering ways to mend things with Emily.
But she never returned to the classroom after leaving.
And the next day too.
Emily didn't show up at the academy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Emily lay face down on her bed in her room.
After bolting from the classroom without realizing it and returning to the dorm, she hadn't done a thing.
Just lying there on the bed.
But while the room was still, Emily's mind was anything but.
'...What was that look in his eyes.'
Ken's gaze kept replaying in her head.
The anger, disgust, and hostility plain on his face.
His words echoed endlessly.
'Get lost. I don't want to see the likes of you for even a second.'
That voice kept stabbing at her chest.
"Why... why do I have to feel this way about a guy like Ken..."
She didn't want to cry.
Crying would mean admitting his words had hurt her.
Admitting she'd been wounded by them.
It would make all the feelings she'd denied until now come true.
That's why she didn't want to cry.
But tears fell from Emily's eyes anyway. Drop by drop.
"No... I... I'm not affected by someone like Ken..."
She kept deceiving herself, but through the cracks in her wounded heart, her true feelings leaked out bit by bit.
'I don't want him to hate me.'
"What do I care...? Whether Ken hates me or not, nothing changes."
'I don't want him to hate me.'
"We weren't that close anyway, right? I'll just do my thing, he'll do his... we'll just go on like that."
'I don't want him to hate me.'
"Just... hic, just leave it like that... and it'll be fine."
The words she spat out to avoid getting hurt were useless.
Her emotions were bursting out now, impossible to suppress.
And with them, the tears kept flowing.
"Hic... What the hell... don't look at me like that..."
Deep down, Emily knew.
She had been wrong.
At first, it was just a way to deny her feelings for Ken.
That's how she hurt him.
But at some point, bullying him started making her heart race.
Seeing him flustered and at a loss excited her.
Her heart pounded faster; she wanted to make him more uncomfortable.
She wanted to touch him more.
The feelings she'd initially denied became addictive in that thrill, drawing her back to him.
She kept tormenting him relentlessly.
Even knowing it was wrong, she couldn't stop.
That's why, when Mary stepped in to block her, she felt secretly relieved.
She didn't even know where to stop.
And when a fight with Mary nearly broke out, she was glad when Ken stepped in and called them friends.
'N-no, Lady Mary! Bullying? Emily and I are just close friends!'
'...Cl-close friends?'
Of course, she knew it was just Ken's attempt to defuse the situation.
But those words lingered in her mind.
And she realized.
'I want to get closer to Ken.'
After that, she wanted a more normal relationship with him.
She even tried creating time alone together.
'Ken, eat with me today. One day won't hurt, right?'
But opportunities rarely came.
Once they got closer, she'd apologize carefully, she thought.
It was shameless, but it was the best she could come up with.
Confused emotions and her first taste of love—she had no idea how to handle it.
Her actions, wrong from the very first step, bungled everything.
Emily reflected.
She should have apologized from the start.
Shouldn't have let pride get in the way.
Then this wouldn't have happened.
"...Wh-what should I do..."
Only after things went wrong did Emily finally admit it.
The feelings for Ken were romantic attraction.
And her actions toward him were irredeemable mistakes.
'I don't want to go to the academy...'
Morning came.
She'd holed up in her room the day before, skipping the academy on a whim.
But now she had to go.
Had to do something.
"...Let's go."
Steel ing herself, Emily got ready and left the dorm.
Unlike her tossing and turning in agony the day before, the academy was peacefully unchanged.
Students heading to class noisily.
Birds chirping, wind blowing.
"Ahh, wh-what do I do...! My assignment materials needed for this afternoon...!"
A student somewhere wailed after dropping and breaking something.
In that peace, Emily had only one worry.
'I don't know what face to make when I see him...'
What would Ken do if they met in the classroom?
Ignore her?
Or scowl and click his tongue?
Either way, it would hurt.
She feared every possibility.
'...He hasn't come yet.'
Emily arrived at the classroom and instinctively looked for Ken, but he wasn't there.
She went to her seat and unpacked her bag.
"Emily... you okay? You suddenly took the day off yesterday."
The girl next to her.
Marin, the one she was closest to in class, spoke up.
Timid but caring and considerate, she was the one Emily opened up to most.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just felt a bit under the weather."
"R-really? If anything happens, tell me, okay?"
"Yeah."
Marin must have seen the incident with Ken, but she didn't bring it up.
Her kindness eased Emily's mind a little.
"Good morning, Emily."
"Oh, hi. Adrian."
Students gradually filled the classroom.
Emily sat, waiting for Ken, but oddly, he didn't show even as class started.
'...Skipping today too?'
He'd missed a day a few days ago.
Maybe today was the same.
Emily, who planned to apologize somehow if they met, felt secretly relieved.
If he skipped today, she'd talk tomorrow.
One more day, and the emotions would cool.
Maybe he'd treat her a bit softer then.
Time passed, the sun set, and the sky turned orange with dusk.
'He skipped after all.'
Ken never appeared in class.
The tension from her walk to school that morning felt foolish now—this day had been utterly uneventful.
A peaceful day without incident, just like her walk to school that morning.
Feeling a bit better, Emily headed back to the dorm, thinking of what to say in her apology to Ken tomorrow.
On the way back to the dorm.
'...Who is that?'
The path home bathed in sunset glow.
A woman approached from the opposite direction.
'...Doesn't look like an academy student.'
She had long black hair trailing to her ankles, hiding her face.
Her clothes were rags at best—anyone would see she wasn't normal.
The woman, exuding an unsettling aura, staggered toward Emily.
'...Should I step aside.'
She gave Emily the creeps.
Did a vagrant wander onto campus?
Emily didn't want to get involved.
The area was just a tiled path—no buildings, no people.
On that sunset-lit road, only Emily and the strange woman.
A chill ran through her; Emily tried to pass without making eye contact.
But then.
"So... despairing..."
The woman's mutter reached her ears as she passed.
"...Pardon?"
Emily responded without thinking.
She'd meant to ignore her.
But she'd been too aware, reacting to the sudden voice.
The woman turned her head at Emily's voice.
"Youuu~ ...so very... despairing~?"
"......"
Through the tangled hair, their eyes met.
Bloodshot, lifeless eyes stared at Emily with eerie intensity.
'Don't respond.'
Emily tried to ignore her and keep walking.
"...Heyyy~? I'll take youuu."
But the woman was suddenly in front of her, blocking the way.
Emily froze, staring tensely, unsure when she'd moved.
"Youuu.... kekeke."
The woman before her grinned creepily, her visible eye curving like a crescent moon.
"...Bring me the child of prophecy."
"...Huh?"
In that instant, Emily's vision filled with red.
"...G-guhk."
The sudden change in scenery choked her voice.
The cause reddened the landscape.
Blood gushing from Emily's throat.
Thud.
Emily collapsed to the ground, clutching her neck.
'...This, all my... blood?'
Blood spurted like a fountain.
Her vision blurred, body losing balance.
Unable to hold on, Emily slumped onto the cold ground.
'...M-Mom...'
"Kyahahahaha! Kyahaha!"
In her fading vision, a creepy woman danced joyfully, wielding massive scissors.
As Emily watched her, her body grew steadily colder.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ She opened her eyes to a familiar ceiling.
"...Hah!"
With a creepy sensation, Emily sat up and immediately checked her neck.
"...I-it's fine."
Her neck was intact.
Looking around, she saw her familiar room.
Warm sunlight streamed through the window.
The usual morning scene.
"...A nightmare...?"
It had been too awful a dream.
Maybe from all the worry and fatigue the day before, falling asleep exhausted.
She had nightmares occasionally.
'But... it felt too real.'
The vivid sensation on her neck. The woman's chilling laugh.
Recalling it made goosebumps rise.
'...Time to head to school.'
But ultimately, having woken from the dream, Emily shook her head and dismissed it.
She got ready as usual and headed to the academy.
Unlike her tossing from agony and nightmare the day before, the academy was peacefully unchanged.
Students heading to class noisily.
'...What?'
Birds chirping, wind blowing.
"Ahh, wh-what do I do...! My assignment materials needed for this afternoon...!"
A student somewhere wailed after dropping and breaking something.
In that peace, one thought circled Emily's mind.
'...Why does this scene feel familiar.'
Dazed by the déjà vu landscape, Emily stared blankly.