8. Bianca del Castana - 09
8. Bianca del Castana - 09
He addressed all the women present. He would permit no further conflict. Should any raise hostility toward another, he declared, they would have to overcome him first. His eyes, filled with an unyielding resolve, appealed to everyone gathered there.
At a glance, his actions seemed utterly foolish. Including Kain, everyone present knew that the weakest person here was him.
How ridiculous. Justice unsupported by strength is nothing but a hollow echo. The opinion of the weak is mere noise to the strong. No matter how firmly he proclaimed his convictions, if the two women simply ignored him and took a single step forward, all his actions would be rendered meaningless.
...But Aria and Bianca could not act that way. They could not sneer at his foolishness. They realized they could not ignore his declared convictions to push forward with their own will alone.
Because that very quality was the decisive reason both women had fallen in love with him in the first place.
"....."
A heavy silence descended. Only the crackling of the surrounding flames and the dreary wind marked the passage of time.
Aria was the first to break it.
"...I understand. If that is your wish, Lord Kain, I shall abide by it."
Though her eyes still burned with fierce hatred for Bianca, Aria closed them gently and nodded at Kain's words.
It wasn't that Aria had forgiven Bianca. She still disliked—no, hated—Bianca del Castana for deceiving Kain. ...However, Kain's command was absolute. Kain's place in Aria's heart was absolute.
The woman called Aria would never do anything Kain didn't want. That was the first proposition and ironclad rule carved into her heart.
"...Right. Thank you for humoring my stubbornness, Aria."
Saying so, Kain gently stroked Aria's hair once more. The aftermath of the earlier fierce battle had left it badly disheveled.
"I saw every spell you cast on your way here. You've grown so much stronger, Aria. Stronger than the last time I saw you, beyond all comparison."
Though she had been learning magic for only a few months, he never imagined she could stand toe-to-toe against Bianca del Castana. He hadn't expected them to fight like ordinary women pulling each other's hair, but the scale was simply too great.
Because of that, Kain had barely survived several brushes with death on his way here. Indeed, had he not mastered the 'Flowing Star', he might have genuinely died. The shockwaves from Aria and Bianca's head-on collision were powerful enough to easily crush a few small fry like him.
"....."
Even though Kain praised her, Aria simply smiled softly. Seeing that, Kain felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
The person before him was unmistakably Aria, yet she somehow didn't feel like Aria. To be precise, she was indeed Aria, but she seemed far more mature than when he'd last seen her—a little taller, her manner of speaking more adult.
'...Is it just a growth spurt?'
But this wasn't the time to worry over such trivialities. What mattered more was that Aria had obediently nodded at his unreasonable demand. He had thought he'd need a long process of persuasion to stop their fight, but with one of the two major hurdles resolved peacefully, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"...So, Bianca. Now I'd like to hear your answer."
Kain turned and directed the question at Bianca, who had been bowing her head in silence all this while.
"...Kain."
Bianca looked up at Kain with sad eyes, then bit her lip tightly as if she couldn't bring herself to speak.
"...Right. You were always that kind of person. The kind who held others' sorrow closer to your heart than your own happiness, who prioritized those in despair over your own joy. Whether in the past, the future, or the present, you are truly, consistently, a beautiful person."
Kain was not the one reflected in Bianca's eyes as she murmured. Though she looked at him, she was projecting through him another something that no longer existed.
"You know, Kain. I can do anything you wish. I can do anything that makes you happy. Your desires are my desires, and your joy is my joy. That's how much I love you."
Bianca's words were the truth. It was undoubtedly the form of Bianca del Castana's wish—
"But, you see. The one request to spare that woman... I simply cannot grant it."
Resolute will had already settled in Bianca's eyes.
"...Kain, you know it too, don't you? That woman, your maid Aria, the 'Winter Witch'... she is someone who will one day bring calamity upon the world."
It was something that hadn't happened yet. But at the same time, it was a horrific tragedy that had already occurred in our past.
"An unending winter descended upon the continent. And within it, we were forced to witness so much death. People died from the bitter cold, from starvation. So many people were grieving. The harsh winter we endured was truly a massive tragedy."
"...Honestly, at first, I didn't feel much amid the rampant death around me. Because I didn't like the world all that much. I thought this sort of world had nothing to do with me. But you taught me."
She recalled a childhood memory. Even now, closing her eyes, she could vividly remember it. The image of a boy who extended his hand to a girl abandoned by everything.
"I learned so many things being with you. I learned how to love the world, and I learned how to live alongside others. And in the end, I learned how to love someone, too."
It was a true miracle. Because I met you, I went from a mere tool to a person, to a woman, and finally, to someone's lover.
"...But that woman might destroy everything about the future we are to build. She might ruin the very world we must live in. What's more, she might take your life. So I..."
I simply cannot tolerate such an existence.
"...Aria is just Aria. She has committed no wrong. Bianca, are you trying to assign guilt for something that hasn't even happened yet?"
At Kain's reply, Bianca offered a lonely smile. To her, the role of a villain was a familiar one.
"You're right, Kain. There's nothing more meaningless than debating good and evil or judging the weight of a crime over something that hasn't yet happened. But there also exists the chance of one in a thousand. No one can guarantee the future. So, if, perhaps..."
The possibility that ten years hence, Aria might become the 'Winter Witch' and reign once more as a calamity over this world—it was not zero.
"And besides, Kain. I've already spoken the words aloud: I will kill that woman."
Apart from her own worldview, Bianca del Castana regarded every life existing in this world as akin to a flower. She believed one must not carelessly debate life's value, nor commit meaningless slaughter.
...Because the woman called Bianca understood the weight and the fragility of life better than anyone else in this world.
Immediately after her birth, the first thing she saw was test subjects—her so-called 'brothers and sisters'—dying casually, replaced just as casually by new births. Within that sight, there was no respect for life, no weight, nothing at all. Life was merely ephemeral.
Newly born, there had been nothing she could do for the countless lives dying around her. Ignoring the pleas and screams of the test subjects, she escaped the laboratory, received the name Castana, and became a single 'human'.
...Bianca thought she must remember. At that time, she had been powerless. For her own life, for her own survival, she'd had no time to look around, surviving only for herself. So she resolved to remember all their deaths and bear that weight. That was the only atonement she could offer them.
Thus, Bianca believed she must never carelessly speak of killing someone. If the words 'I will kill someone' passed her lips, it was only...
When she had steeled herself with unshakeable resolve to kill.
That was a deep-seated vow within Bianca del Castana's heart, something she would exchange for nothing in the world.
"I'm sorry, Kain. I can't break my will at this moment. I can't change the way I've lived my life until now. So—"
She absolutely could not back down. Bianca merely looked at Kain with resolute eyes.
"...Fine. I respect your will, Bianca."
And at those words, Kain readily nodded.
I understand. I understand fully why Bianca is acting this way. Her actions are by no means wrong. It's simply that what we aim for is different.
...In truth, I don't really know whether I'm doing the right thing or just going astray wrapped in self-righteousness. Perhaps I am the one who's wrong, and Bianca is entirely correct.
But even so, I'm certain of one thing. Never mind the 'Winter Witch'—the Aria of now has committed no sin.
Aria has yet to commit any wrong. Judging someone based solely on the possibility they might sin in the future is clearly unjust. If Bianca gazes upon Aria's sins, I shall prove her goodness. From the moment I placed my trust in Aria and took her as my maid, I resolved to believe in her until the very end.
So the answer is simple. If you intend to kill Aria, I will simply do everything in my power to stop you.
Crack—
Using the Flowing Star, I control the flow of my left arm that can no longer move, forcing it into action. Compared to my right arm, it's as stiff as a marionette, but still far better than not moving at all.
"Kain, you're not actually thinking of fighting me, are you?"
Bianca looked at him with sorrowful eyes.
"I know you're strong. Just seeing how you recently defeated a martial artist in the Master Realm is proof enough that you're qualified to be called a powerhouse. But—"
Bianca was qualitatively different from someone like Lucian von Turnizen. She was unquestionably one of the pinnacles of humanity, a mage standing at the apex of the current human race.
Even if she had sustained significant internal injuries and had little Magic Power left from her blood-drenched fight with Aria, considering the gap in their power, such debuffs weren't even a handicap. Moreover, Kain currently couldn't move one arm normally. It was a foregone conclusion. Kain von Estel had no chance of victory whatsoever.
And yet, knowing that better than anyone, Kain nodded without a hint of hesitation.
"Yeah. I'm going to fight you right now, Bianca."
That foolish figure—challenging her fully aware he could never win—strongly reminded her of the man she had once loved. Faced with the unwavering will radiating from him, Bianca had no choice but to firm up her own resolve.
"...If, if you get hurt or die, I'll follow you in death. So..."
At her appeal—to defeat her with everything he had—Kain nodded silently.
"It's fine. Bianca, you do what you must. Because from now on, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop you."
This fight wasn't for Aria's sake alone. It was to convince you, Bianca, and to atone for my own wrongs in having neglected you until now. This, too, was a fight for you.
Bianca, this time, I'll accept every single one of the feelings you have for me.