Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Full of Pettiness
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Darkness.
Whether her eyes were open or closed...
Nothing was visible.
Formless, endless...
A blackness so profound even silence was devoured.
"......"
There, in that abyss, was Karnel.
Slowly sinking into pitch-black waters...
Weightless, silent, utterly alone.
"...Ah."
Right.
This dream again.
An empty space.
A world of nothing but darkness.
A place where only she existed, and even that existence was fading.
The shadow behind the brilliant name 'Delbar'...
The being known as Karnelia.
Rustle—
Karnel lifted her head.
Far off in the distance.
Beyond the pitch-black darkness, a faint light flickered.
A dazzling, radiant glow.
Golden specks twinkling and drifting like stars.
Toward that place, toward that brilliance...
Karnel reached out her hand.
"......"
But—
The light was beyond her grasp.
The endless darkness blocked everything that resembled light.
Unreachable light, unattainable stars.
Hope lingered only in the corner of her vision, her fingertips clutching at nothing.
"───?"
A voice echoed from the distant void.
...An incomprehensible language.
Untranslatable emotions.
Like a faint echo from beyond memory...
Only the sensation remained.
"───??"
Another voice.
She vaguely sensed she needed to head toward it.
But... Karnel turned away.
"......"
The bottom of the empty abyss.
She crouched down in that vacant space.
There was no need to move.
This dream... would end with time.
As always.
Just like it had countless times before.
She couldn't even remember how many times anymore...
But this dream always ended the same way.
"......?"
But this time was different.
Even as time passed... the dream didn't end.
"......"
Karnel quietly hugged her knees and tilted her body sideways.
Slowly... she flopped down onto the cold darkness.
Before Karnel's eyes, 'time' flowed.
Life and death, joy and sorrow.
Linked chains of causality crawled along sluggishly.
Like one long chain.
But... she wasn't in that chain.
"...Time."
Karnel knew.
She didn't belong in that flow.
She existed outside the concept of 'time.'
"......"
Trapped in a stopped clock.
And yet... Karnel could tell.
How long time had passed here.
How many moments had become eternities crushing her.
"...Why."
The reason she couldn't join that chain.
...It was painfully simple.
Karnel was already bound to another chain.
Its name... 'Delbar.'
From the moment she was born into the world, she had been part of that brilliant light.
That name was dignity, honor, the envy of countless others.
And at the same time—
...A prison.
A life defined by the name 'heir to the Delbar Dukedom.'
That name severed the girl from the world and demanded false standards even from herself.
"......"
Who had forged that chain?
Her father?
The world?
Karnel shook her head.
"...No."
Her own answer was all too clear.
Karnel knew it wasn't the world or fate that bound her.
"......"
She had chosen it.
She had accepted the name 'Delbar' herself and demanded perfection worthy of it.
She had to be perfect.
No flaws allowed.
That was the only way to prove her existence had value.
That was the only way to make her mother smile.
That was the only way to avoid disappointing anyone.
So—
She always smiled, always scored points.
Evaluating everything in the world, enduring so she wouldn't crumble.
Pretending to be perfect, pretending to be strong.
Always elegant and refined.
Always living up to someone's standards.
But—
"...Ah."
Karnel's insides... were as empty as this darkness.
...She wanted to be free.
Free from the name 'Delbar,' the title 'young lady,' the shackles of 'perfection'...
Just as 'Karnelia,' with wings on her own time, flying far away.
"───nim?"
Crack—!
A fine crack appeared in the darkness...
And brilliant light seeped through the fissure.
"─Jangnim?"
The light grew brighter.
Piercing the darkness... a voice flowed into her ears.
"President?"
The moment she heard her name called.
Karnel suddenly...
Realized her eyes were open.
"Excuse me, Karnel?"
The darkness vanished, and reality returned before her eyes.
And... in that reality—
"......"
Was Adel.
But something was off...
He, who always hid his expression behind a mask, was now maskless—
Tilting his head, looking at her masked self.
"......... "
".........Hm?"
Karnel stared blankly at that face without a word.
Gazing intently...
As their eyes met, question marks popped up one after another above Adel's head.
Rustle—
Karnel reached out her hand.
Toward that unmasked face...
"??"
Karnel...
Grabbed Adel's cheeks and squished them with her fingers.
(・ω・)
Adel's face looked like a picture book mascot.
Cheeks pinched, lips pouting...
"???"
A bewildered expression.
But Adel neither fled nor pushed her away.
At that sight, Karnel... let go of her hands at some point.
"......... "
This is a dream.
It couldn't be reality.
If it wasn't a dream...
Adel would never make such a cute face.
So—
Thud!
Karnel... slammed her forehead into the table.
Like struggling to return to reality.
But...
"...Huh."
Karnel blinked soon after, thinking.
Why does my forehead hurt...?
***
Bang!
"What."
Karnel poked all over my face with her fingers...
Then suddenly slammed her forehead into the table.
"President?"
I asked cautiously, but...
No reply came.
"......"
...Rustle.
Karnel's head slowly lifted, her gaze turning toward me.
Her face flushed red.
Even her eyes trembled slightly.
Then...
Rustle.
She turned her head away, hiding her face.
"Excuse me?"
"............Don't talk to me."
"Huh."
I tilted my head.
She seemed sober now.
Her eyes were clear, her voice steady...
But for some reason, her face and ears were tomato red.
"Ah, top student."
"?"
Rustle.
I turned my gaze to the S Class students seated around the table.
"What."
"Where'd that girlfriend of yours go earlier?"
"...!"
Whoosh—
Karnel shot up from her seat like she'd been stabbed with a sword.
Her eyes wide, mouth agape.
"G-Girlfriend...!"
I turned to the culprit with a grimace... Seros.
Seros's lips curled up slyly.
"Ah~ President, about that!"
Heh—
A face full of intent to tease me.
"...You bastard."
I picked up one of Lapia's spirits clinging to my leg.
A hedgehog-shaped spirit.
And without a moment's hesitation—
"Bite."
Fling...!
I threw it at Seros.
"Hey, hey hey...!! This isn't right!"
Swoosh...
The spirit arced through the air.
Splat!
It landed on Seros's shoulder.
Right after...
Crunch—!
"Gyaaaaah!!"
The hedgehog bit down on Seros's arm.
At the same time, its spines began stabbing him wildly.
"Heh... As expected of my spirit."
Lapia, arms crossed beside him, nodded contentedly.
I watched that, then... turned away.
"You're up, President."
"......"
Karnel, still with a dazed look.
Then...
Gulp!
She grabbed a glass of water nearby and downed it in one go.
"Ah, that's mine—"
"...Haa."
The water I'd brought...
Karnel drank it refreshingly, then let out a satisfied breath.
She pushed her chair back smoothly and stood.
"Where are you going?"
"...Where? I have to show my face."
"?"
"I'm a Delbar, aren't I?"
"Ah... But you don't have to."
"Huh?"
I rested my arms on the table and propped my chin.
I hesitated whether to say it...
But since it'd be reality soon enough, I spoke plainly.
"Um... They came."
"What did."
"Uh... The Duke?"
"......??"
Karnel's face went blank again.
...I added.
"I mean... your father and mother, both of them are here."
".........Why?"
"Who knows?"
Probably...
Right now, Duke Delbar and Amelia were down on the first floor, mingling with the other nobles.
"......Then what am I supposed to do."
"Good question."
"......"
Karnel stood there silently for a while.
Then...
As if resigned, she slowly headed toward the terrace.
"...Hm?"
I watched her back.
For some reason... her steps lacked energy.
Her usual confident, poised posture was gone; her shoulders slumped like they carried sandbags.
And,
As I was thinking that—
"Adel."
"?"
I turned.
Across the table, Klaus, who had been sitting quietly, looked at me.
"Not gonna follow her?"
"...Follow?"
"Yeah."
"......But where's Charlotte?"
"Heard she went to fight with her dad earlier."
"...I see."
I nodded slowly, then silently stood and headed toward the terrace where Karnel had gone.
"......"
The night air brushed my face.
"President?"
".........What."
And...
Under the moonlight, Karnel with slumped shoulders.
"What are you doing out here."
"......Good question."
"...?"
"......It's my first time."
"Huh?"
"...First time, coming out to a place like this and doing nothing."
I turned to look at Karnel's face.
More relaxed than before.
No pretense, no burden...
Just the face of 'Karnelia' herself.
Looking again... her shoulders were properly squared now.
Innate poise, perhaps.
Her ingrained demeanor didn't waver easily.
"So I don't know what to do."
"Then, just do nothing."
"......Is it that simple?"
"Yeah."
No need to do anything, no reason to shoulder heavy burdens...
Just be as you are.
"......You're right."
I leaned against the terrace railing and looked down.
"Ah, looks like it's ending."
"...."
The splendid lights dimmed one by one, people starting to leave.
And among that flow, familiar faces appeared.
Klaus looked up at me and gave a light wave in greeting.
And...
"Top student~! Where's that girlfriend—!"
Thwack!
The words didn't finish.
A fist flew from somewhere and nailed the back of Seros's head.
"Spouting nonsense again."
Lapia's sharp glare.
Seros flat on the floor.
...That guy had been saying crap like that nonstop since learning Amelia was Karnel's mom.
"...Tch."
And...
Erwin, clicking his tongue while glancing back and forth between me and Karnel.
I stuck my tongue out at Erwin, then leaned back on the railing and spoke to Karnel beside me.
"So, how was it."
"...What."
"This banquet."
The banquets that were always the worst every year.
And this one didn't seem any different.
Karnel had passed out drunk...
And I hadn't done much either.
Not strange if it got a '0 points.'
"......"
Karnel moved her lips silently.
As if debating between '0 points' or '1 point'...
Finally, she spoke softly.
"...99 points."
"......Pardon?"
"What."
"Well, you didn't do anything."
"It's my call."
"Then, what's the remaining 1 point."
"Figure it out yourself."
"Uh...."
A sudden quiz.
I scratched my head awkwardly and averted my gaze.
And...
A voice from below.
"Adel!"
Platinum blonde hair.
Blue eyes.
"I gave 100 points—!!"
Amelia shouting boldly, arms raised high...
Then shoving Duke Delbar's back and scurrying out of the banquet hall.
...Leaving me a very satisfied smile before turning away.
"But...."
Karnel spoke up beside me.
I naturally looked at her.
But...
"...."
"Earlier, that word 'girlfriend' needs some explaining...."
Smirk—
Her lips curved into a perfectly wicked smile.
Cold sweat beaded on my brow at that little devil expression.
"Um... President?"
I reflexively stepped back.
But... behind me was the railing.
No escape.
"President? This isn't Yoram."
"...Karnel?"
"Don't know her."
"Huh?"
The distance closed in.
Karnel's smile shifted slyly to pettiness.
I could feel it.
Our Karnelia...
Was in a very sulky mood right now.