The Chains of Twisted Love
Solia ran her fingers over Aren’s body with careful, almost reverent touches. His frame—pitifully thin, stripped of any real strength—stirred an instinctive pity in her. Though the two of them had never actually consummated their relationship, they knew each other’s bodies intimately enough to qualify. Solia slowly stroked his sunken stomach, her expression heavy with sorrow.
“You’ve lost so much weight…”
Because of the excessive Magic Grass and the years he’d wasted shut away in his room, Aren’s body had wasted away until there wasn’t a trace of muscle left. It was an unsightly sight, yet Solia didn’t care. What she loved was his mind, not his body.
She slowly reached for her own clothes. With a soft rustle, the sunlight streaming through the window briefly illuminated her figure as it passed. Her generous curves traced graceful lines, glowing faintly in the light. Without a hint of shame, Solia slipped into the bed beside him.
“……”
She gazed at Aren, who was still fast asleep, and whispered into his ear.
Solia’s original plan had been to wait until just before their Academy graduation and then take the final step with his consent. Getting pregnant while still attending the Academy would have interfered with all her future plans. But the moment she saw his withdrawal form, she could no longer hold back. The pressure from her father and every other excuse were just that—excuses. Solia loved and desired Aren more than anyone else in the world, so she had decided to brand him with an indelible mark, a shackle he could never escape.
“If you become a father… maybe you’ll finally feel some sense of responsibility…?”
If they had a child together. If he had a family he was obligated to protect. Then surely Aren would quietly acknowledge his mistakes.
And honestly—
As a noble and a member of the privileged class, Solia truly believed that. No matter how many hundreds or thousands of commoners you gathered, they were all worthless insects compared to a single Aren. What did it matter if he toyed with a few of them? Of course, she never voiced such thoughts openly, but her view of the clear hierarchy between nobles and commoners was absolute.
The real reason she had distanced herself from him wasn’t simply because of his outrageous behavior. The fundamental cause was—
“…Solia?”
Before she could sink any deeper into her thoughts, Aren’s voice pulled her back. She listened carefully.
“Solia, Solia…! How is it? Doesn’t it feel good…?”
Whatever pleasant dream he was having, he kept calling her name with a rare, gentle smile on his lips. Solia caressed his cheek, the corner of her mouth lifting in fond amusement.
“So you still longed for me after all, Aren…?”
A whole year had passed. From his reactions yesterday and today, she had been certain he genuinely despised her. But that wasn’t the case. Because they cherished each other more than anyone, because they didn’t want to hurt one another, they had simply avoided each other. Of course, that was only what Solia told herself.
“You felt the same way I did… right? It must have been so hard for you…”
Hearing his sleep-talking, she could no longer endure. She had to connect with the Aren right in front of her—and she had to do it now.
This is simply returning things to the way they should be.
The original future. The original life. The original happiness. Marrying Aren, building a family with him, living a joyful life together. She was simply putting her deepest desire into practice with her own body.
Solia looked at the real Aren and dreamed of a happy future. Aren looked at the Solia in his dream and smiled with pure bliss. Similar, yet completely different—two people sharing one bed, lost in entirely separate dreams.
Their bodies slowly overlapped.
Solia smiled back at Aren, who still wore that blissful expression. It was the bright, genuine smile he had once desperately longed to see from her. But—
Her lips twitched and trembled. The muscles around her mouth quivered faintly from a smile she hadn’t worn in so long. After an entire year, her smile was no longer radiant.
“I love you, Aren.”
Instead, it was deeply, unmistakably twisted.
For a while, a strange current flowed through the room. Time passed. Whether by the prank of fate or the whim of the gods—
His fingers began to twitch.
The accumulated toxicity of Magic Grass saturating Aren’s body stimulated his brain’s hormones and autonomic nervous system, forcibly dragging him out of deep sleep.
I had a nostalgic dream.
Back when I was thriving at the Academy. Memories of running around with Solia came flooding back, vivid and clear. They were a little childish, but they carried the pure emotion of that time. Holding hands, racing through the empty gardens of the Academy without a care in the world…
The restless stirring I felt was probably because those memories of playing with Solia felt so real.
“Aren, Aren…!”
At some point her face had flushed bright red, as if she’d been running hard. “Haa… haa…” Her breathing grew rougher and rougher. Well, she was a mage, so she never had much stamina. Strange… I was sure we were supposed to be lying down and resting. Why did it feel like I was getting more and more exhausted?
The more stamina I used, the heavier my body felt. Matching Solia’s pace, I unconsciously began to pant as well.
Something’s… off.
At that moment, the boundary between dream and reality warped.
“Haa… haa…!”
The direction of the exhausted breathing had shifted strangely. The girl who should have been lying beside me was now—
No.
Please, let it not be true. I didn’t want to open my eyes. I didn’t want to wake from the dream. I didn’t have the courage to face reality.
My senses grew sharper and sharper. My mind was being forcibly awakened, making everything painfully clear.
“Aren, I love you…!”
The sweet, seductive voice in my ear. The pleasant sensation spreading across my entire body. This was… surely not—
Calm down. It’s a dream.
It had to be a dream. It had to be. Otherwise none of this would make sense. Why? For what purpose?
I should have woken up immediately and lashed out. I should have scolded Solia and thrown her out of the room. That would have been the right thing to do. This twisted method was wrong.
But what if… what if Solia left? What if she was truly disappointed in me…?
I can’t…
I didn’t have the courage to look her in the face. Even now, the sight of myself—unable to resist, helplessly submitting—filled me with disgust and self-loathing.
What did I really want from Solia? Did I want her to leave me, or did I want her to love me again? The one thing I could say for certain was that I had never wanted her to approach me like this.
In the end, I never opened my eyes. The pleasurable sensation continued to tease every inch of my body. The ecstasy lasted for a long time, yet the sickening feeling in my chest refused to fade. My body grew more and more alive, but my mind was rotting away.
How much time had passed?
When Solia had finished everything, she began erasing every trace with magic, one by one. Should I wake up now and tell her the truth? Even if it meant blushing with shame, should I tell her that this was wrong?
“……”
I couldn’t. We had already come this far. We had crossed so many lines. Even though I knew this was a terrible mistake, I couldn’t bring myself to reject Solia. It was an endlessly twisted, filthy love-hate.
I wanted Solia to leave me, yet at the same time I longed for her with desperate intensity. Even if this love was absurd and wrong. Even if I was left powerless, unable to say a word. I couldn’t let her go.
“I love you, Aren…”
With a soft peck, Solia left a light kiss on my lips, then quietly slipped out of the room.
Creak—
Some time after Solia left, I slowly sat up.
“Ha… hahaha…”
A hollow laugh escaped me on its own. To think I’d been taken advantage of by my ex-fiancée. It was so ridiculous I could only laugh.
“Kk… heh heh. Fuck. Seriously.”
Was I mocking myself? Whatever the case, my lower back ached terribly, so I lay back down again.
“Ah, I really, truly…”
I wanted to die. Today, I had been violated in both body and soul by my former fiancée.
Bang! Bang!
Someone was pounding on the door with force. A faint ache still lingered in my waist, but I stood up without hesitation and walked to the door. It seemed the thing I had wanted most had finally arrived.
When I opened the door, a woman with breathtaking beauty and flowing blue hair stood before me. The Student Council President and my senior—successor to the Sword Saint, Ishilla Camelot.
The moment the door opened, Ishilla pinched her nose and glared at me.
“What exactly have you been doing in there…? There’s some strange smell…”
“…Nothing happened.”
I couldn’t possibly tell her the truth, so I gave a vague answer. Ishilla looked at me with an expression of utter disbelief and spoke.
“Anyway, Aren Roenhart. The decision regarding your punishment has been made.”
Punishment? That’s a bit harsh. There were nicer words like “conclusion” or “result,” yet Ishilla announced it as if I had committed some grave crime.
“It’s finally here.”
I could finally leave the Academy. At last… at last…! This was the moment I had longed for so desperately. The only chance to sever these wretched ties. I stared fixedly at Ishilla’s lips, eyes filled with hope.
“Ugh, w-what are you staring at…?”
“……?”
Her face slightly flushed, Ishilla continued, “You’d do well to refrain from such sexual harassment. I won’t fall for your tricks.”
“…………??”
I didn’t quite understand, but I wished she would just tell me the result already.
“Aren Roenhart. Your withdrawal request has been…”
As expected.
“…successfully…”
Of course.
The Academy had clearly decided to expel me. When I smiled, Ishilla’s lips twitched as she finished her sentence.
“…rejected.”
“…Pardon?”