Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Festival Date (4)
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Even as the festival drew to a close in the dark evening, the academy still blazed with bright lights.
A massive bonfire, embodying the reluctance to let the day end, now illuminated the darkened sky in reverse.
“Haa.”
“…….”
And standing beside me near it was Erika. The sigh escaping her lips carried considerable weight.
“It worries me. Weird rumors might spread about you for no reason.”
Having once directly refuted the rumors surrounding me in the past, Erika was sensitive to such gossip.
I did think I’d been a bit careless myself, so I had no words to argue.
“In the morning, a secret meeting with Princess Elenoa. In the afternoon, an outdoor date with a maid in revealing clothes. Then afterward, another date with a female student.”
“……It wasn’t a date.”
I tried saying it, but it fell on deaf ears as Erika continued.
“On top of that, I heard you took Aria to the lab later?”
She wasn’t wrong in the results. With nothing to say in response, I turned my gaze toward the bonfire, where I could see the black necromancer circling it excitedly.
I’d noticed it before, but she seemed to like big fires like that.
“I didn’t do anything strange.”
Staying silent would only draw Erika’s piercing gaze into my side, so I responded, and she let out a deep sigh.
“Of course not. I don’t think you acted with any ulterior motives. You probably just counseled her or something.”
Erika’s guess hit the mark surprisingly accurately. Since it involved spilling personal feelings one couldn’t share with others, it could be seen as counseling.
“But the problem is that others won’t see it that way. Talk about you is already buzzing. Especially among the guests from outside.”
“Someone told you.”
“…….”
Erika affirmed with silence. Even she couldn’t pick up on rumors this quickly on her own.
It must have been because she’s my fiancée—they tipped her off out of concern.
‘Your fiancé is spending time with other women.’
Somehow, with people around us glancing our way even now, it felt like I’d become the lead in a morning drama.
Staying like this would only breed strange misunderstandings and tarnish Erika’s image too.
“What others think of me doesn’t matter much. But you’re different. You’re the kingdom’s first acknowledged black mage and a royal necromancer.”
Only genuine concern for me colored Erika’s voice.
“Be careful. Great positions attract plenty of envy.”
Her response—that it truly didn’t matter to her—made me feel the change in her all over again.
The woman once swayed by riffraff like Gideon Zeronia was gone. The fragile Erika, whose future had been forcibly taken due to her family’s status, had vanished.
Confident in herself, she no longer cowered under others’ gazes.
Her firmly rooted convictions suited the term “heroine” perfectly.
That’s why, perhaps.
I didn’t want to just leave her like that.
“You’re misunderstanding.”
“Huh?”
Erika tilted her head at my abrupt words. Still gazing at the blazing bonfire, I continued.
“If my image as a necromancer matters, then you, my fiancée, naturally shouldn’t be caught in scandals either.”
“Um, true.”
“Seems like talk about our relationship is circulating.”
I slowly extended my hand toward Erika.
“If it doesn’t bother you, let’s spend some time together.”
“…….”
Staring blankly at my hand, Erika smirked and cautiously took it.
“Is this how you seduced women in Northsweden?”
“I’d rather not talk about that time.”
“Yeah, I never imagined my fiancé was such a playboy. When they pushed the Zeronia marriage, our family investigated your past too.”
“That’ll be useful as leverage when I visit the Bright family for the formal meeting this time.”
Knowing they’d dug into my background gave me more control when I went to the Bright family.
“So that’s why I’m telling you.”
Erika smiled softly as if it were obvious. Her fingers naturally intertwined with mine.
Then, with her face flushed, she bowed her head deeply. As I stared at her bold action, she covered her mouth with her other hand and shot me a sideways glance.
“Don’t look.”
“The fire’s intense.”
Perhaps embarrassed by her reddened face, Erika spoke curtly. Following her wish, I turned my head slightly.
As I slowly walked toward the bonfire, her footsteps naturally followed mine.
“Ooh.”
“P-Professor Erika and Professor Deus.”
“Wow, such a handsome couple.”
“They suit each other perfectly.”
The voices around us. It was perfect as a performance to quash rumors about me and our relationship.
“Let’s stay like this for a bit.”
Erika nodded without protest and subtly shifted her foot to link her arm with mine.
Her cheeks were still pink, but now somewhat calmed, she gazed at the bonfire and said.
“Just a few months ago, I never imagined we’d have a time like this.”
“……Me neither.”
“Th-that over there.”
Erika’s lips hesitated. She had something to say but wondered if she should.
Gently squeezing her hand to encourage her, Erika slowly met my eyes and spoke.
“When you first came to the academy, we spent about a month and a half together, right?”
Half of those three months, we’d spent side by side.
After that, our relationship soured, conversations dwindled, and three months later, she was dismissed from her professorship.
“Back then, did you ever feel your heart race?”
“…….”
The question was so out of left field that my brow furrowed slightly. Seeing it, Erika flailed her words excitedly.
“N-No! I’ve never even dated anyone! Never had a boyfriend…….”
“Have we ever dated?”
“……We drank coffee on the rooftop at night sometimes.”
She swung our interlocked hands to lightly smack my thigh. True, we’d had plenty of subtle alone time.
“You said you didn’t like me, but still…… I wondered if maybe I was the only one feeling it.”
“Hmm.”
I couldn’t definitively say I’d felt my heart race or anything like that. Back then, I didn’t even properly understand love, and the memories weren’t clear.
But.
“For those three months, I was busy running around consoling Setima’s residents and the angels.”
“You were.”
It even earned me labels like devil worshiper.
Anyway.
“But even amid all that, I made time for you.”
“…….”
“I’m not sure about heart racing. But it was enjoyable.”
Honesty spilling out, Erika’s gaze stayed fixed on me.
Then, tentatively, came the question.
“And now?”
“…….”
“My heart’s pounding like crazy right now.”
Her usual cool professor’s expression had melted completely in the bonfire’s warmth, revealing a face of desperate longing shown only to me.
“Your hands are bigger than I thought, you’re so skinny so you need to eat more, your scent is sweeter than expected, what if you can hear my heart pounding?”
“…….”
“All these emotions and thoughts are messing up my head.”
Erika exhaled and continued.
“Deus, what about you? This time with me, your fake fiancée for now…… is it enjoyable?”
Her question gave me a chance to ask myself.
This time, I found it.
“Yeah.”
Enjoyable.
“It’s enjoyable.”
Time spent with the woman Erika Bright wasn’t bad at all.
No pressure, we were both adults, no reckless advances.
No need to mind others’ gazes, but time with her felt special.
“I’m glad.”
Erika slowly lowered her head, her voice carrying a faint sigh of relief.
Snap.
Our interlocked hands came undone.
The warmth and weight in my left hand vanished, leaving only emptiness.
The night breeze filled the space naturally, but the void remained unfilled.
Erika pulled a paper from the inner pocket of her jacket.
Rolled up and sealed with red thread—it was a familiar item.
The dissolution of engagement.
“Here.”
Unfurling the dissolution paper she offered, beside my signature was Erika’s, where it had once been blank.
“…….”
I said nothing else, simply gazing at her calmly, waiting for her words.
“You told me once—bring it when you become the radiant, beautiful Erika Bright again.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“How am I now?”
Shoulders back confidently, eyes glistening with tears yet unwavering.
Seeing that, I answered.
“Radiant and beautiful.”
It was truly so.
I had no choice but to answer honestly.
Erika smiled and said.
“You know, you’ve changed a lot.”
I didn’t deny it.
Objectively looking back, I was different in many ways from when I first arrived at the academy.
“To you, who felt emotions faintly, who was indifferent and blunt.”
“…….”
“This is the only atonement I, Erika Bright, can offer. So that the woman who betrayed you can at least be of some help to you.”
Lowering the dissolution paper slowly, her tear-streaked face came into view.
Even looking pained, she pressed on.
“Just as you gave it to me for my sake, now I give it to you for yours.”
The words I’d said when giving her this dissolution paper.
- Not for a single moment did I ever feel love for you.
“Because not for a single moment have I not loved you.”
This time, in reverse.
- However, you were a woman worthy of love, qualified to be loved.
“So you’re a man worthy of love, qualified to be loved.”
- That’s why I spent time with you, hoped you’d smile, and wished I could love you.
“So I’ll give you time. Time to meet someone who can truly make you smile, someone you can truly love.”
It came back to me.
Wiping away her flowing tears, Erika took a deep breath and said.
“Take your time. You’re an incredibly wonderful man, after all.”
“…….”
“When you find a woman you truly love.”
Erika slowly closed her eyes.
It looked painful just to look at me.
“When you find someone who awakens your emotions.”
“…….”
“Then bring it to me. Let’s end it properly.”
“Erika.”
Just as she’d used our engagement to push Gideon away.
She meant for me to use her freely as a shield to fend off women I didn’t love.
It would be painful for her.
Sacrificing her blooming youth for me, waiting endlessly until I gave an answer, only for nothing to remain at the end.
Maintaining the engagement meant Erika couldn’t meet anyone else.
Couldn’t love anyone.
“That was me speaking as the woman who owes you a debt.”
Snap.
Pushed from her hand, the dissolution paper fell to the ground. Grabbing my hand again, Erika buried her tear-soaked face in my chest as if to hide it.
Around us, those unaware jeered about no public displays or envied the heat.
But we ignored them, focusing solely on each other.
“But as your fiancée, my selfish wish is.”
That one sentence.
Right after uttering it.
“Don’t go.”
Erika clung to me endlessly, sobbing. Trembling in fear of parting, she simply cried.
To ensure no one saw it.
I carefully embraced her.