A Flame Without Regret
A flame without regret.
"…What did you just say?"
In the study of the Silverrain estate, the air hung heavy and still. The head of House Silverrain spoke in a voice scraped up from the bottom of hell itself.
Jerome, the subordinate delivering the report, kept his head bowed so low he couldn't even wipe the cold sweat running down his face.
"I-it's exactly as I reported, my lord. This afternoon, during a carriage accident downtown… Ruby Scarlet is said to have saved a child with her flame magic."
"Saved? That insane arsonist bitch? She didn't set the fire herself?"
"Yes, my lord. And furthermore…"
Jerome swallowed dryly, hesitating. The family head's brow twitched. Startled by that tiny movement, Jerome rushed on.
"Th-the man at her side declared it in front of the crowd. That Ruby Scarlet is no calamity—that she will become a great elf who protects this city…! Public opinion has completely flipped."
Crack!
The crystal wineglass in the family head's grip screamed as it shattered into pieces. Red wine mixed with glass shards and dripped from his palm. Whether blood or wine, the liquid soaked into the finest carpet, but he seemed not to feel the pain at all.
"M-my lord…! A-are you all right?!"
"What? A great… elf? Ha. Hahaha!"
The family head let out a hollow laugh, as if the sheer absurdity of it were beyond belief. Murderous intent dripped from every note of that laughter.
"You dare scatter ash over my plans? You dare dress up that lowborn half-breed bitch as a hero?"
He yanked out a handkerchief and irritably wiped his wet hand. Like that crumpled cloth, his pride had been trampled into a ruin.
"As expected… that human mongrel is behind this."
The family head ground his teeth and crushed the documents on his desk beneath his fingers. The face of the man in the photograph—Aris Mardia—creased and warped under the pressure.
"Is the information on him solid?"
"…Yes! He's a special inspector dispatched by the Holy See, and Ruby Scarlet's dedicated counselor. They say he's the one who handled the mental care of the southern hero, Elara von Heim…"
"You little shit… I know. How could I not know?"
The family head pressed hard at his temples. The man had grated on him from their first meeting—daring to lecture the great House Silverrain, then slipping the encirclement with the eyes of a rat. He'd known the man was no ordinary human, but a counselor of the Holy See… no, a hunting dog of a bastard, was he?
The situation had tangled into something complicated. If the man had been a mere human, they could have killed him so quietly that neither rat nor bird would know. But he belonged to the Holy See. And not just any counselor—one whose name was already known. Touch him carelessly, and the entire family could become a target for the inquisitors.
"…Damn it."
The family head crushed the broken glass shards under his boot. Assassination carried too much risk. No justification, either. That left only one method.
"Jerome."
"Y-yes, my lord!"
"He said he would enter the Heavenly Spirit Tournament, didn't he?"
"Ah, yes… most likely he'll accompany her as Ruby Scarlet's guardian."
The corner of the family head's mouth curled into a vicious smile.
"…Perfect. The arena is extraterritorial."
His eyes glittered with cold light.
"The Heavenly Spirit Tournament is a place where accidents are common. In the chaos of battle, even the gods don't know whose throat a blind blade will find."
"M-my lord. You don't mean…?"
"Counselor of the Holy See or not—I don't care. The moment he steps into that ring, he's just another piece of game."
The family head glared out the window at the distant dome of the Heavenly Spirit Tournament.
"Aris Mardia. Leave him alive and he'll be a thorn in our side forever. Break through that shield called Ruby and take his head."
"I-I'll see to it! I'll tell the mercenaries we've planted… that there are two targets."
"If you understand, get out."
Jerome scrambled from the room. Alone in the empty study, the family head flung the wet handkerchief to the floor.
"Let's see if your god will protect you, you Holy See bastard…"
"Achoo—!"
My nose suddenly itched. The sound of my sneeze cut through the night air.
"…Huh? What? You sick or something?"
Ruby narrowed her eyes and looked up at me. The tip of her nose was faintly red, and for a moment she almost looked… concerned?
Ah. No—on second thought, her expression was a little too fierce for that. The sneeze must have gotten on her nerves.
I rubbed my nose and gave an awkward laugh.
"I'm fine. Haha… someone must be cursing me out with real enthusiasm."
Either way, the situation was positive. Thanks to the earlier incident, Ruby's affection had broken past fifty. Halfway there. Fill the remaining half, and it would be conquest complete.
The problem was the Heavenly Spirit Tournament two days from now. Ruby's combat power put her among the top contenders for the championship, but my life was worth about as much as a fly's. I had the temporary shield of White's Oath, but I couldn't exactly throw myself into a battlefield relying on that alone.
Maybe I should hit up the gallery veterans and put together some survival gear…
I was walking along, lost in that tangent, when—
"…Hey, Doc."
"Yes?"
Ruby, who had been heading toward the restaurant district after leaving the crowd behind, suddenly stopped dead. Her gaze wasn't on the street glittering with neon signs. It was fixed on the pitch-black darkness of the city's outskirts.
"Hm? Do you see something? There's nothing over that way."
"…I lost my appetite."
Ruby slowly released the grip she'd had on my sleeve.
"Follow me. Before we eat… there's something I need to show you."
"…?"
It wasn't her usual sharp, snappish tone. Her voice had settled heavy as night fog. The atmosphere left no room for refusal, so I followed her in silence.
I don't know how long we walked. The place we arrived at was an outer district the city's glittering lights never reached—a ruin overgrown with weeds. The wreckage of a building, collapsed as if some enormous beast had raked it apart. The pillars had burned black as charcoal, and the walls still bore the soot of fierce flames like old scars.
"…Here."
Ruby stood dazed in the middle of the ash-covered lot.
"Is this… an abandoned house?"
"…No."
She stared at the skeletal remains with a complicated look and murmured,
"The place I was born. And… the place where I burned everything with my own hands."
"…"
She gave a bitter smile and ran her hand along the blackened wall. Soot stained her white fingertips.
"Everyone says it, don't they? That I went crazy and burned my own father to death—that I'm a monster who killed her own blood."
"…"
"You saw that woman today, right? The one who threw herself into the flames to save her kid."
Ruby's shoulders began to tremble, just slightly.
"My dad did the same thing. Trying to stop my flames when they went out of control… he held me. Inside that horrible fire."
Moisture began to gather in her voice.
"It must have been so hot. His flesh burning, his bones melting. But he never screamed once. He never let go of me until the end. He kept saying it was okay, that Dad was right here…"
She slowly turned and faced me. Backlit by the moonlight, her red eyes wavered as if they might shatter at any moment.
"In the end, only I survived. Using my dad as kindling—because of this cursed flame—only I walked out fine…"
This was a confession. Having crossed fifty affection, she was laying bare the deepest wound she had never shown anyone in the world. Behind the mask of the "wicked woman," a guilt-ridden child had been crying—and now she stood before me.
"Hey, Aris."
It was the first time. The first time she had called me by my name instead of my title.
"Be honest with me. Aren't you scared of me…?"
Ruby stepped closer with a self-mocking smile.
"I'm a time bomb that could go off any second. That 'great elf' crap you talked about… it doesn't suit me. I might burn something precious all over again."
Fear. Fear that the cheers and expectations she'd felt today might one day turn back into screams and curses. Fear that her flames might burn even me, standing right beside her.
Crackle—————.
The violent surge of her emotions forcibly triggered Psychological Insight. But this time there was no static. The voice rising from the deepest part of her heart came through crystal clear.
Don't run. Please… don't leave me alone.
…It was almost exactly like that. Right now, Ruby needed to know. Whether I would stay beside her even after learning her terrible past—or point at her like everyone else, call her a monster, and walk away.
As her counselor—no. As Aris Mardia—the answer I had to give was already decided.
I walked slowly forward and stood in front of her. I took a white handkerchief from my pocket and carefully wiped the soot and tears from her cheek.
"Wh-what are you doing…?"
"Ruby. It's been so long since you came home, your face is a complete mess."
I didn't look away from her wet red eyes. I met them straight on.
"Well… I don't know much about magic, but I do know one thing. Fire destroys—but it also lights the dark, and melts what's frozen solid."
"…What?"
"I told you before, didn't I? That your flames can be controlled."
When I had wrapped her fire before—it hadn't burned my hand. Because somewhere deep down, she had desperately not wanted to hurt me. That much had been certain.
I smiled softly and went on.
"That still holds. If the flame of the past was a mistake, then today's flame was salvation. You've already proven it. Your fire can protect the things that matter."
I reached out and firmly took her small, trembling hand.
"Your father held you not because you were an uncontrollable monster. He held you because you were his beloved daughter. He loved even that flame of yours—as a part of you."
"…Even though I'm the monster who burned him alive?"
"It wasn't something you chose to do, was it…? The fact that you've spent your whole life in this kind of pain, blaming yourself and living in regret—that's the proof."
I went down on one knee, bringing my eyes level with hers. I packed every ounce of sincerity I had into the gaze I lifted to meet hers.
"So don't be afraid. When you start to waver, I'll hold you steady. If you lose control, I'll stop you."
I tightened my grip on her hand and flashed my usual grin.
"I'm your dedicated counselor, after all. I take full responsibility for that level of after-sales service."
"…Ha. Seriously."
Ruby let out a wet, broken laugh. Instead of pulling her hand free, she roughly scrubbed at her eyes with the other.
"If you just shut up and… I wouldn't even hate you."
She sniffled and glared at me. But those red eyes were no longer trembling with anxiety. They held a light clearer and deeper than ever before.
Ruby Scarlet's affection has increased.
Ruby Scarlet's affection has risen by 20.
Finally… her affection…?
Ruby had been stacking affection faster than expected. The problem was that the process itself had been so long.
Ruby Scarlet's affection is 70/100.
You have become Ruby Scarlet's Sole Confidant.
The system window flickered before my eyes.
Sole Confidant.
It was a phrase that carried a weight far beyond mere text.
"…Anyway, let's go. I'm hungry."
Ruby said it gruffly—but her fingers laced through mine, interlocking tightly. Our hands locked together. Warm. Solid.
We turned our backs on the ruins and walked on. She didn't look back again.
The red flame that had bloomed atop the ashes was no longer a chain of the past. It burned now as a lantern lighting the way forward.