Chapter 622: The Season is Autumn (11)
Chapter 622: The Season is Autumn (11)
——
‘A Letter to Senior Ian’
I have committed many sins by loving you. My overstepping love has caused trouble for many people. I pray that you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
If I may offer a shallow excuse, I did not know that even love could become a sin. But now, I understand.
My love is a crime.
It was a mistake, a transgression. So many people suffered as a price for my coveting a man I should never have desired. How miserable it is to live a life justifying such things under the name of ‘love.’
Therefore, I intend to leave my heart behind and depart.
I have committed a great wrong against my family, my friends, and many others. It was a mistake made by a woman who was a monster from birth and did not know her place. I hope you can forgive me with a generous heart.
If you are the Senior I knew, you will likely be the first person to read this letter.
I loved you sincerely. I loved you with all my heart, and because of that, I committed so many wrongs.
I love you. I loved you, and I planned to keep loving you. Thus, I shall try to fold away my love now.
I am sorry. For being such a pathetic woman.
I hope you will be happy, even without me.
Respectfully yours,
Seria Yurdina
——
I gritted my teeth the moment I finished reading the letter. My only desire was to turn around and run out right this instant.
However, my wish could not be granted.
Before I knew it, a small girl was standing behind me. It was the woman whose pure white cigarette smoke left a lasting impression—the Great Witch who had followed me.
My voice, thick with emotion, came out in a stammer.
“Wh—where… where did she go?”
Was it crying, anger, or something else?
Emotions I couldn't even define myself overflowed like a flood. Even then, the Great Witch simply stood there in silence.
“I’m asking you where she went! Seria is, like this…!”
“Like this, what?”
I felt like the blood vessels in my brain were about to burst at that brazen counter-question.
Like this, what?
She left my side, so what?
It was nonsense. Yes, it was absolute nonsense, but…
Strangely, no rebuttal came to mind, forcing me to shut my mouth. The Great Witch exhaled a puff of smoke and asked.
“Is she not allowed to leave you? Must she stay by your side no matter what happens, and must she seek your permission for every decision she makes for herself?”
“Seria is…!”
“That’s why she decided.”
It was a calm declaration.
I felt like I understood the story hidden behind that tone, and I let out a hollow smile. The Great Witch continued her confession without hesitation.
“That brat has too high a compatibility as one of the Seven Deadly Sins. It wouldn't be strange for her to harbor the seed of Gluttony that emerged in the North, nor would it be strange for her to harbor the seed of Jealousy related to her mother.”
“If I were by her side…!”
“You think you can control all the power of the Seven Deadly Sins?”
Thump.
No rebuttal came. I felt wronged and frustrated, but the words wouldn't leave my throat.
While my lips were still fluttering, the Great Witch’s cruel pointing-out continued.
“Don't make me laugh when you can't even control your own power… That child left for your sake. Because she thought she would only be a burden to you from now on.”
“But, even so…!”
“Arrogant brat.”
At my master’s solemn scolding, I finally fell silent.
I simply looked around Seria’s bedroom, now empty, in a daze.
Dolls resembling me were placed here and there. She must have liked me that much.
“Even without someone like you, that child can shine on her own. She ran out with that kind of resolve.”
I had nothing to say.
Looking back, Seria was always like that. She was a being who shone on her own, someone who commanded everyone's admiration even without me. On the contrary, was the point she began to break down perhaps after she met me?
My head spun. However, there was a fact I had only just realized.
Seria was precious to me.
And that was exactly why I couldn't hold her back.
She had already left, and her resolve must be just as firm.
The junior I knew was a woman that decisive.
In the end, only one question escaped my lips.
“……Where did she go?”
A suspicious gaze turned toward me. A look cast out of concern that I might go looking for her if she answered.
I met it with a firm gaze of my own. Seeing that determined resolve, the Great Witch eventually let out a short, dry laugh and uttered a familiar name.
“Heavenly Sword Mountain.”
It was a place name known to anyone who held a sword.
A long time ago, the army led by Delphirem swept across the entire continent. Facing an army of immortals, humanity did their best but ultimately had no choice but to prepare for death.
Right then.
A bolt of lightning struck from the sky, and in its place sat a pure white sword. It was an omnipotent weapon that cut through evil and immortality.
Its name was the ‘Heavenly Sword.’
After the war ended, the hero, fearing the power of the Heavenly Sword, plunged his beloved weapon into the center of the continent. And the graveyard created around it was Heavenly Sword Mountain.
Of course, the prevailing theory was that this was nothing more than a legend. The height of Heavenly Sword Mountain was dizzying, and it was far-fetched to say it was built by human strength alone.
However, there were those who followed that story.
The Sword Circle.
True Sword Demons—madmen who abandoned all worldly ties to focus solely on the sword.
I had no choice but to raise my voice immediately.
“Seria gets lonely easily…!”
“Then you should have taken better care of her sooner.”
Once again, a point that cut me off completely.
The Great Witch exhaled a puff of smoke.
“Do you believe in fate?”
I couldn't answer recklessly. I only stared at the letter Seria had left behind with a distorted expression.
“If you do, then you will see her soon. Fate, connections… they aren't things that can be cut so easily. Rather, you can consider this a necessary trial before your bond deepens further.”
What kind of nonsense is that?
There was much I wanted to say, but in the end, my heated voice failed to escape my lips.
Because it was already too late.
The sky was maddeningly clear. The season was autumn, now reaching its end.
Before I knew it, a cold wind had drawn near.
A few months later.
Even after that, I frequently found myself staring blankly into the distance. Was it because I thought Seria was there?
There weren't many people who disturbed my sentimentality. Except for those who were extremely impolite and lacked any sense of tact.
Sadly, there was someone by my side who met both criteria.
“It’s been a while, Hand Axe Moron-Moron Young Master.”
“Is that title fixed now?”
As I said that, I cast a slightly dissatisfied glance behind me. Standing there were the two twins with silver pupils and hair.
The Alphenhauser twins.
Among them, the younger sister, Luna, bowed her head as if overwhelmed and was restless, while the older sister, Sienne, was letting out a haughty, arrogant laugh.
It was the same scene as always.
“Well, of course, right? If I call you by another name anyway, you’ll just lower your voice and say, ‘I am Ian Torius.’”
“I am Ian Percus.”
“Puhuhu, see! I knew you’d do that!”
I let out a bewildered, dry laugh at Sienne’s words.
Closing her eyes loosely and lowering her voice solemnly as if trying to imitate me was fine.
But that was it. She had gotten my actual name wrong.
Yet Sienne was bursting into laughter as if even that was enjoyable.
She truly was a consistent woman.
A question naturally flowed from my mouth.
“So, have you obtained any news about Celine?”
“Hmph, well, about that much.”
With that, Sienne unfolded her folding fan to cover her mouth. For someone who hadn't produced any meaningful results so far, it was a truly confident posture.
“Won't she come out before long? I’ll tell you again, Alphenhauser’s intelligence is the best on the continent….”
“Senior Sienne.”
There was no need to listen to the rest.
I continued speaking with a blunt expression.
“If you have nothing else to say, get lost. I’m feeling troubled.”
“I—I was trying to comfort you…!”
Then, the one who got angry was actually Senior Sienne.
Moreover, the one who was surprised by that confession was me.
Could it be that those rude words were meant for comfort?
As I stood there with my eyes wide in shock, Senior Sienne raised her voice, huffing in indignation.
“The Haster family relic is arriving soon! But are you still going to be spaced out like that?!”
“Is it okay to talk about that so openly?”
“Hmph, it doesn't matter! No one knows where the relic will be stored anyway!”
The woman turned her head away with a huff.
Objectively speaking, it was a very cute scene. Unfortunately, a thick ill-fated bond had piled up between us, making it difficult to recognize that fact.
As I stood there dazed, Senior Sienne gave one last shout and left.
“Ah, I was going to tell you! Now I won't, dummy!”
“What kind of….”
Childish nonsense is that? Before I could ask, Senior Sienne had hurried away. Only Senior Luna lingered for a moment, her lips moving to convey her meaning.
‘I’ll send a separate code tomorrow.’
I should hope so.
I thought as I closed my eyes. Thinking of my wife who had left for the Holy Kingdom, my fiancée who had gone to the Great Forest, and my childhood friend whose whereabouts were unknown.
Why, exactly?
I missed Celine and Seria so much. Just because they weren't before my eyes.
It was truly an unpredictable state of mind.
That night.
In front of the Academy building where the Alphenhausers were staying, Imperial Guards were in the middle of a conversation at the entrance where warm light leaked out.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Smooth footsteps tickled their ears. When the guards turned their eyes, amber sparks were floating there.
“……?”
And black hair followed like a trail.
One step, two steps.
With every step closer, the guards had to shiver at a strange sensation. A feeling like goosebumps rising, or their skin itching.
What is this?
Before they could resolve this question, the guards leveled their spears as they had been trained and spoke.
“Halt! Identify yourself!”
There was no answer for a while.
Amber eyes turned toward the sky, and the moonlight flowed gently down her cheeks.
Finally, the woman spoke in a frozen tone.
“Haster.”
The gazes of the two guards, who failed to understand the meaning, met, and that was the end.
Hell descended upon Alphenhauser.