8. Bianca del Castana - 04
8. Bianca del Castana - 04
"So, Bianca del Castana. Did you have a grand time pretending to be lovers these past forty days? You kidnapped Kain by force, tampered with his mind, and sat beside him playing the part of his lover while he remembered nothing—were you really that happy?"
"Sitting next to him, introducing yourself as his lover, monopolizing every smile he gave, sharing everything with him—did you actually start believing you were his wife? If so, that's utterly revolting. Don't you agree, Bianca del Castana?"
Aria's mocking laughter echoed through every corner of the vast space. Right now, Bianca was the sole audience for her words, yet listening to Aria made her feel as if she were being stripped naked and humiliated before a crowd.
"....."
...She had been prepared for this. The day Kain left her without a second thought, declaring their 'false engagement' meaningless—hadn't she sworn a vow deep in her heart? Hadn't she resolved to claim him, using any means necessary, no longer caring about the world's eyes or its scorn, determined to forge a future with him no matter what?
But now, hearing Aria's voice, Bianca felt a pain in her chest so sharp it pierced her. The things Aria was so bitingly condemning were precisely the weak, ugly parts of herself that Bianca had tried so desperately to ignore.
"So, did it feel good? Ah, of course it must have. Because you were rejected. I saw it all so clearly—Kain rejected you, pathetically. How wonderful it must have felt to reclaim a man who refused you and walked away. At the very least, you got to taste a moral transgression so immense that an ordinary person could never experience it in a lifetime. Isn't that right?"
"What you did is truly, utterly disgusting. You callously erased someone's memories, then sat beside him pretending to be his lover, exchanged affection with him, and in the end, you even made love to him. Bianca del Castana. What you did to Kain was nothing more than utterly selfish, one-sided romantic theatrics. That is not love. It's nothing but a vile, nauseating act."
Each and every word Aria spoke stabbed Bianca squarely in the heart.
...Yes. Not a single thing Aria had said was wrong. Aria was right. As she said, Bianca was undeniably a vile woman. She had never been loved by anyone, didn't know what love truly was, and could only love someone in such a twisted, defective way. Ever since that day thirty years ago, she had endlessly craved him but could never have him, so she resorted to every scheme, deceived him, betrayed him, and in the end still craved his love—a woman half out of her mind was what she was.
In particular, she knew better than anyone in the world that tampering with Kain's memories to stay by his side and earn his love was a misdeed so wrong that even if she fell to the deepest pit of hell, she would have no excuse.
...But despite all that, there was just one thing in Aria's words she absolutely could not accept. Everything Aria said was true, but the love she and Kain had shared last night was never a lie.
She didn't quite know why, but at that moment, Kain had all his memories. He knew the whole truth. He understood why he was there, what situation he was in—everything.
Even so, Kain forgave her. He accepted her existence. And in the end, of his own free will, he made love to Bianca. Even now, she could vividly recall what had happened last night. The warmth he gave her, his consideration, his kindness—and his love.
While they became one, Bianca could feel the love dwelling inside him. He had been rough with her at times, gentle at others, but in every moment, it was unmistakably filled with warmth toward her.
...Thus, Bianca could never accept Aria's words. She could endure any insult. As Aria said, she was a vile and repulsive woman. But she must not deny the love she shared with him. Because if she admitted even that was wrong, she would be dragging Kain, who had loved her, into the mud as well.
Whatever else, she could not bear to hear the man she loved, Kain von Estel, being slandered by anyone. Especially if that someone was the very woman she loathed most in the world.
"...You've been prattling on because I let you listen quietly. You don't know a thing, you have no idea what you're talking about, and yet you run your mouth so carelessly. Haven't you heard that the tongue is the root of all disaster?"
When Bianca, unable to bear it any longer, growled at Aria, Aria merely sneered at the sight of her.
"I should be the one saying that. Bianca del Castana. You're the one with the overly long tongue."
"Oh, isn't yours the longer one? At first you pretended to be so clever and intellectual, but the moment you heard Kain and I made love, you started barking like a dog that lost a fight. It's utterly ridiculous."
"It's rather irritating when you act like you've already won, after pulling such a filthy trick to get one step ahead."
Aria barely suppressed the urge to pounce on Bianca and rip every strand of hair from her head as she delivered an ultimatum. In her heart, she wanted to erase that woman from the world as if scrubbing her out with an eraser, but as long as Bianca del Castana bore the title of Kain's fiancée, simply killing her would only put Kain in a difficult position.
"Let me give you one last piece of advice. In my eyes, a woman like you has no right to be at Kain's side. It's obvious that if a half-crazed woman like you continues to stay near him, you'll eventually become a great danger to him."
"...What?"
Bianca's eyes blazed with fury. The space between them, already far from harmonious, was instantly engulfed in fierce killing intent.
"A danger? Me, a danger to him?"
It was utterly laughable. Even if the sun rose in the west and set in the east, that would never happen. If by any chance she became a threat to him, she would sooner cut out her own heart with her own hands before letting it come to that.
And on top of that, these words were coming from the 'Winter Witch'—the very person who had dealt him the greatest harm! As if she didn't even know who the greatest sinner was right here!
"I should be the one saying that, witch. Because of you, he died. Kain died because of you! To stop you when you went completely mad, he sacrificed everything he had!"
Recalling the death he had met then, Bianca's Magic Power began to surge violently around her.
"Have you already forgotten who it was that drove a sword into his heart? Winter Witch?"
"...What are you talking about..."
As Aria frowned, utterly unable to grasp Bianca's words, Bianca burst into laughter at the sight.
"Ah, yes. I'd nearly forgotten. You're nothing but a worm now. I forgot that you, the Absolute One who could freeze the entire continent without a care and look down upon the world, have been reduced to a mere insect."
"But amnesia doesn't give you a full pardon for all your sins. So you must know at least one thing. That you, with your own hands, drove a sword into the heart of the Kain you so adore, worship, and love."
As she spoke, Bianca raised both hands. The cold sensation of touching his corpse still lingered in her palms.
"We are, essentially, indebted to him. I, too, managed to return to the past and seize another chance thanks to him."
"So my life means nothing at all for his sake. And you, who knows nothing about that, dare to spout such nonsense?"
Meanwhile, completely ignoring the animalistic growl that escaped Bianca's lips, Aria was mired in extreme confusion.
'...She came back to the past? And I... killed Kain?'
Aria unknowingly bit her lip hard. Rationally, Bianca's words were clearly nonsense. Talk of returning to the past, her driving a sword into Kain's heart—such things were no different from the ravings of a drunkard on the street.
...But somewhere deep in Aria's heart, she knew Bianca's words weren't just nonsense. There was something. Not a memory, but something carved deep into her soul, whispering the truth to her.
And Bianca silently stared at the confused Aria.
That creature is too dangerous. She had tolerated it until now for Kain's sake, but she could no longer let it run wild. It was the source of a great catastrophe, a hazard, and the root of all evil.
'Winter Witch.'
Right now, having lost all her memories, she was a harmless existence to humanity. But what if she regained her memories? If she realized who she was, and what atrocities she would commit in the future?
Then this time, humanity would be annihilated. Wiped out before anyone could even comprehend what had happened. Because the power the 'Winter Witch' possessed was a catastrophe far beyond the understanding of present humanity.
In contrast, unlike ten years later, humanity did not possess the power to subjugate the Winter Witch. With the exception of the ageless, deathless Kirie, even Bianca herself, the Imperial Princess, and the Saintess currently had less than half the skill they would wield in their prime a decade hence.
So she would eliminate her here. If the tragedy wrought by the Winter Witch repeated itself, Kain's noble sacrifice ten years from now might be reduced to a meaningless dog's death.
"I hold no personal grudge against you, but you are far too dangerous. I'm sorry, but I'll have to kill you right here."
Bianca took a stride toward Aria. In her own way, she meant it.
"...Sorry, but I should be saying that. And I've got plenty of personal grudges, so you don't need to feel sorry."
Setting aside the turmoil in her heart, Aria retorted in kind. Then, a terrifying surge of Magic Power and killing intent began to pour from both their bodies like a waterfall.
KUGUGUNG—
As their magic powers clashed fiercely, the surrounding space warped and, unable to withstand the force, began to gradually collapse.
Downfall. A same-rank spatial combustion phenomenon. The term for when mana exceeding its limit concentrates in a small space, causing the space itself to collapse and incinerate everything.
That phenomenon, which only an archmage who had reached the limits of human magical capacity could manifest, was being effortlessly recreated between Bianca and Aria.
"Today, I'll settle the score from ten years later. You'd better brace yourself. If this fight ends too easily, nothing could be more anticlimactic."
FWOOSH—
A superheated White Flame began to ripple across Bianca's entire body. Far surpassing the temperatures of Red Flame and Blue Flame, the White Flame boasted such fearsome power that its mere presence melted the ground around her into a slush.
"I have no idea what you're babbling about, but on one point we seem to agree. I, too, was thoroughly sick of looking at your face."
CRACKLE—!
The intense lightning surging around Aria began to disintegrate every nearby object down to the molecular level, then bypassed the gaseous state entirely, becoming plasma. The ultimate form of matter—serving as both the strongest spear and the strongest shield simply by existing.
Bianca and Aria, the two women, each wreathed in flames and lightning, silently stared at each other for a moment—
KABOOOOM—!
With a roar as if heaven and earth were bellowing, they commenced their clash.