Chapter 164 - Ending Credits
Knock knock.
"Professor, are you home...?"
A girl knocked tentatively on the door of Isolet's house.
"Professor Isolet, it's me..."
Her face pale and drawn, she rapped on the door again—only to realize it wasn't locked. Hesitation flickered across her features.
"...I'll come in."
With a deep breath, she stepped cautiously inside.
"Ugh..."
A pungent stench of alcohol assaulted her nostrils.
"Professor?"
Pinching her nose, she scanned the room—and spotted Isolet slumped over the dining table, surrounded by spilled liquor.
"Professor, what in the world..."
"Mm... Kania... you've arrived."
The girl hurried over in alarm, but Isolet somehow discerned her voice amid the haze. She lifted her head with a dopey grin.
"The others...?"
"Th-they'll be here soon."
"Good... then go say hello to Frey first."
Isolet's gaze drifted to where she'd gestured—and there, predictably, stood not Frey, but his sword sheath propped up in his place.
"........."
The girls, utterly lost in their daze, stood frozen before it.
"Um..."
Kania stared blankly at the scene before approaching them gingerly.
"Rosewin...?"
She addressed the one who looked in the worst shape, standing right in front of them.
"Ugh... uwaaah..."
"Rosewin, what on earth are you—"
Rosewin was viciously yanking at her once-prized, lush locks.
Crack...
"Rosewin, calm down first—"
Kania reached out to stop her bizarre behavior, then froze as realization dawned. She withdrew her hand.
"Ah..."
Rosewin's hair, now a sickly pale shade, was an unnaturally deep ruby color.
Crack, crack...
And that was just the beginning.
Every gem adorning Rosewin was ruby. Her clothes were all ruby-hued. Even her room had been dyed in shades of ruby.
The sheath before her gleamed with pristine silver, utterly spotless.
"........."
In that moment, Rosewin—whose hair had once been a brilliant golden blonde, now darkened to deep ruby—slowly tore at her strands.
"I shouldn't have... bragged about it so much..."
She cursed herself for every time Frey had summoned her, how she'd dolled up deliberately and showered praise on Ruby.
"What was so great about her color that it had to stain me too...? The color that should've stained me was something else entirely..."
She'd been muttering to herself for a while when—
"It's... everywhere..."
Glancing around, she recoiled in horror.
"Everything... it's all her..."
Her surroundings were littered with brutally ripped-off ruby accessories, scattered ruby scarves and gloves, and floating strands of her ruby hair.
"...Ah."
But then Rosewin realized.
No matter how much her world glowed ruby, the one who shone brightest in Ruby's color—more than anyone—was
"...Aah."
herself.
"........."
Kania stared vacantly at Rosewin, now slumped on the floor with dead eyes, before turning away. Her gaze landed on—
"Uuu..."
Lulu, who had entered the scene.
"Lulu? That wound on your arm..."
Though she'd only cut a few times, the old habit of self-harm lingered. A deep gash marred Lulu's arm.
"The only one who ever loved me... was you..."
Blood seeped steadily from it, yet
"I want to be loved again..."
Lulu merely stared blankly at the sheath, murmuring in a hollow voice.
"Pet, slave, anything... I just want to be held one more time..."
Kania averted her eyes with effort, only for Aishi—seated beside Isolet—to come into view.
"The Hero of Money... was Frey...?"
Despite downing plenty of alcohol, she seemed relatively composed.
"After this final battle ends..."
She was despairing over facts freshly gleaned from the diary.
"I was going to confess to him...?"
As Aishi said, the 'Hero of Money' was the Cloud Kingdom's savior.
He'd made immense contributions to unearthing a buried magic stone mine, propelling the poorest nation to superpower status overnight.
And in the mine's early days, he'd dealt with the hyenas circling the kingdom.
Of course, he'd earned a fortune in return—but records from his transparently public charitable foundation showed every coin funneled into philanthropy.
To Princess Aishi.
That was why Aishi had fallen for him, despite never seeing his face or knowing his identity.
The man who'd uplifted her kingdom and shown unparalleled benevolence.
P.S. Our letter exchanges have been a real pleasure.
How busy must he be to not even write back? Aishi had wondered.
"...Well, once this operation ends, I can just go to the Eastern Continent."
She'd resolved to track down the Hero of Money there after the final battle and confess.
"You said you were going to the Eastern Continent..."
But now she understood.
"So why..."
The letter had arrived the day before the Frey capture operation began.
"Why..."
The man who'd saved her family, lifted her eternal curse, and bestowed an indelible boon upon her kingdom
was none other than Frey.
"...Impossible."
Only then did memories flood Aishi's mind—of the letters she'd sent Frey.
I'll buy up every scrap of info on Frey. The priciest stuff. Now's our chance to crush him.
I need an assassin to hit Frey. Even a wound would satisfy me—death would be better.
Can I commission a weapon for Ruby? Top quality only. Please.
Ruby's so kind. She saved me from Frey again today. You think so too, right, Hero of Money?
Letters pressuring and attacking Frey.
Letters praising Ruby and commissioning gifts to aid her.
"Ah..."
As she recalled their contents, Aishi's expression hardened.
Remembering Frey's unusually lonely lament from the diary,
"Urgh..."
Aishi quietly face-planted onto the table.
"Even after reading all that... he was just happy..."
The diary held not a single line resenting Aishi.
Even as he received letters insulting him, praising his enemy, begging for help against himself—
Frey had simply been glad for someone to talk to.
"...I could've drunk with him at least once."
Trembling at the realization,
"Just once... I should've listened patiently."
She began to regret never once sharing a drink with Frey.
Pour, pour...
As she filled a glass with the strong liquor Frey always carried to endure her curse.
Meanwhile, as the girls crumbled in their own ways,
"This is..."
Kania gazed at them, her face ashen.
"What the hell happened...?"
Originally, she'd come here to hold a serious meeting with the others.
Things she hadn't pondered amid the shock when her past memories awakened days ago.
The possibility that those sudden recollections and scattered 'evidences' were fabricated.
Yet if they were all true, what were Frey's 'villainies' against them all this time?
And how to unearth his true deeds to clear his name.
Creeeak...
But before any meeting—or even proper talk—could happen, the front door swung open.
"Professor... we're here..."
"...What is this?"
"...?"
Irina, Clana, and Serena entered—and froze at the sight before them.
"Why... why is everyone like this?"
"I don't know. They were already like this when I arrived."
Kania replied with equal bewilderment.
"...Ah?"
Then she spotted the diary beside Aishi.
"W-wait, Kania! Stop!"
"...Eek?"
Irina suddenly shouted in panic.
"Why—"
But ignoring the warning, Kania touched the diary.
"........."
Her expression turned soulless as she stared down at it.
Slide...
And slowly began reading.
"E-everyone, back away."
Irina watched her anxiously.
"...That diary has some ancient magic on it."
She declared gravely.
"Wh-what kind?"
Clana asked cautiously.
"It assimilates the writer's memories seeped into the paper..."
Irina extended a hand to analyze it, her voice trembling.
"With the reader... Huh?"
Mid-sentence, she stared blankly at something.
A gift for those who reached the Happy Ending.
Experience Frey's heroic moments alongside him.
"That...?"
A tiny window hovering above the wilted-yet-unfading flower on Frey's sword sheath.
[Frey Raon Starlight does not exist.]
The miracle that should have centered on Frey—receiving the flower from Rosewin after all was said and done—
[Ending Credits mediator shifted from <Frey Raon Starlight> to <Frey's Diary>.]
had manifested in a profoundly skewed manner, for reasons unknown.