Chapter 165 - The 0th Round
"Mm...?"
Having endlessly read through the diary, Kania suddenly snapped back to her senses and lifted her head.
"Wh-where... is this...?"
Before her eyes was no longer Isolet's house, where she had been just moments ago, but an entirely new space.
"......???"
It was the garden of the Starlight Mansion, a place all too familiar to Kania.
"Why am I suddenly here...?"
Wearing an incredulous expression as she looked around, Kania glanced down absentmindedly—
".....!"
—and her eyes widened in shock.
Experience Frey Raon Starlight's great heroic qualities, resolve the longstanding misunderstandings, and enjoy a happy life thereafter...
The diary in her hand had a translucent window floating above it, accompanied by the sound of static crackling.
"Ah?"
As Kania read the contents, her expression gradually hardened.
"The contents of that 'Prophecy Book' were really true...?"
Muttering to herself with a completely frozen expression, Kania—
"...Ugh."
—gazed at the entrance of the Starlight Mansion with trembling eyes.
"I-I suppose I have to go in...?"
The diary's contents flooding her mind were urging her to enter the mansion without delay.
"Uh, umm."
Thus, she timidly made her way to the entrance and—
"Eek!"
—when her hand passed through the door effortlessly, she recoiled in terror.
"........"
A brief silence followed.
"...Gulp."
Swallowing dryly in the quiet, Kania squeezed her eyes shut and took a step forward.
Swish...
Before her unfolded a sight all too familiar: a cozy sofa exuding warmth, antique decorations, and dark wooden floors. These elements synergized to create an air of comfort.
"...Ugh."
But Kania began to tremble at the scene.
For her, the Starlight Mansion was neither cozy nor comfortable.
It was merely a space that suffocated her.
"Young Master."
After shuddering for a long while, Kania took a deep breath.
"Were you truly... a hero who protected everyone?"
Clenching her fists with a hollow expression,
"Then all those villainous acts you've committed..."
she murmured softly.
"...were they truly necessary?"
Of course, no answer came.
Clatter, clatter!
"...!?"
Instead, a loud noise erupted from the kitchen.
Whoosh...
Gazing at the kitchen with half-lidded eyes, Kania frowned and muttered,
"That's..."
A familiar black energy was rising from the kitchen.
"...Wait, no way?"
Only then did Kania realize.
She was now at the point in time described in Frey's diary.
Creeeak...
Startled by the mysterious events, Kania—
".....!"
—froze in shock upon seeing herself emerge from the kitchen.
Step, step.
Her other self, wearing a cold expression, carried a tray with a sandwich and coffee as she walked.
One step, then another.
"Persistent bastard..."
Pausing briefly, she muttered in disgust.
"...Why won't you just drop dead?"
And with that, she began ascending the stairs slowly.
"......."
Watching blankly, Kania followed her other self as if entranced.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Young Master, I've brought your meal."
Trailing behind, her other self knocked on a door all too familiar.
"Yeah..."
A moment later.
"...Come in."
Frey's voice echoed for the first time since the final battle.
"The sandwich and coffee you ordered, Young Master."
"...Mm."
Entering upon hearing it, Kania placed the food before Frey, who sat at his desk.
"This is your fifteenth order already. Are you finally satisfied?"
With cold, dead eyes, she posed the question, and Frey replied calmly.
"Too annoying to complain anymore, so I'll just eat it."
"...I am deeply grateful for your grace."
Glancing coldly at Frey, Kania left the room the moment he finished speaking.
".........."
Silence fell over the room.
".....Ah."
And from that moment—
Seep...
—Frey's emotions from the diary began to seep into Kania.
"Uwaa...?"
Feeling exactly the same emotions as the Frey she was now witnessing, Kania—
".....!"
—widened her eyes.
[The peak is finally in sight.]
"What...? This is...?"
Her mind blankly fixed on Frey, who now smiled faintly as he picked up the sandwich—despite complaining about the taste earlier—when the diary's contents resurfaced in her head.
[The minuscule poison and curse Kania slipped into the food are finally showing signs of activation.]
Munch, munch...
"...Huh?"
Confused by the phenomenon, Kania tilted her head as Frey— who had clearly called her food tasteless—devoured the sandwich with a blissful expression.
[Indeed. My Star Mana had been blocking it until now, but with consistent intake, it's finally taking proper effect. Once this poison and curse fully activate... Kania will have my weakness in her grasp.]
"Uh..."
[With her holding my weakness, I now have a solid, justifiable reason not to torment Kania anymore. If I bully her from here on, she can retaliate by making me suffer.]
"Eugh...!"
Clutching her mouth, Kania collapsed to the floor.
"Urgh...!"
And then, she began vomiting blood.
"...Ugh?"
A searing pain stabbed through her chest.
Bewildered and bleeding, Kania's eyes caught—
"Cough..."
—Frey, vomiting blood mid-bite of the sandwich.
[Of course, ingesting her poison and curse is quite the ordeal. But there's a good reason for it.]
And the diary's contents continued.
[Without this clear weakness, treating Kania well would only breed 'suspicion' in her. And 'suspicion' soon turns to 'certainty.']
[She was my partner through the early days of countless regressions, the subordinate with whom I shared the most emotional connection, and the one who sacrificed the most in my stead. After realizing that no one else could discover it for a clear ending... I deliberately handed her my weakness myself, freeing her from my torment.]
"Ah..."
Comprehending the influx in her mind while staunching the blood with her hand, Kania—
[And the most important reason...]
"Ah..."
—froze at the plainly written words in her mind.
[Whether I like her or hate her, whether she's my subordinate or enemy... her food is still the most delicious in the world.]
"Aaa......."
Frozen solid by those words, Kania's vision captured—
Munch, munch...
—Frey, enduring agony and spilling blood, yet wearing a faint, worn smile as he chewed the sandwich laced with her poison and curse.
. . . . . .
Time had passed unnoticed, and deep darkness had fallen.
"Hurk...!"
For Kania, collapsed and vomiting blood, it had felt like only an instant.
"U-urgh..."
Though the immense pain from the curse and poison she herself had inflicted had subsided, Kania remained dazed for a while.
"What... have I been doing all this time...?"
Her face pale, she murmured.
"He suffered like this... because of me?"
She had just experienced the pain Frey felt when the curse began activating.
"To give me freedom... without me noticing...?"
But what pierced Kania's heart more than the pain was her conscience.
From the scene she witnessed, Frey had deliberately let himself fall under her curse as a reward for her loyalty in previous loops.
And.
"Then, the emotions he felt while eating..."
The feelings Kania sensed while briefly synced with Frey's heart were—
"That was..."
Undoubtedly 'happiness' and 'nostalgia.'
Frey had felt longing and joy while eating the food laced with her poison and curse that tormented him so.
[...her food is still the most delicious in the world.]
"Uwaa..."
Realizing this, Kania collapsed again upon the resurfacing phrase, her legs giving out.
Swish...
"...Ah?"
Just then, Frey—who hadn't slept and remained at his desk—glanced at the clock and rose, prompting Kania to look as well.
The clock, adorned with magic stones, indicated the deep hours of dawn.
Creeeak...
Staring blankly at Frey, who cautiously opened the door and stepped out at such a late hour, Kania—
"Right."
—rose with a complicated expression.
"The reason I infused him with poison and curses."
She began trailing Frey slowly.
"Frey... every night..."
"Forced me to..."
She opened her mouth, then trailed off.
"......."
Following Frey with an even paler face than before, Kania—
"Eek."
—jolted to a stop when he suddenly halted after weaving through the dim corridor.
Creeeak...
"Y-yep..."
Gazing intently at the door Frey opened, Kania muttered in a trembling voice.
"...He was heading to my room."
The place Frey entered late at night was Kania's bedroom.
"Mmm... zzz..."
"..........."
Entering stealthily, Frey carefully checked on the sleeping Kania.
"...Good."
Click.
He unbuttoned his shirt and—
Swish, slide...
—climbed onto the bed gently, slipping his hand into the top of the comatose Kania's clothes.
"Y-yeah..."
Watching the scene, Kania's face hardened.
"I knew... I knew but endured it..."
With emotions swirling across her face, she began confessing her pent-up feelings.
"For revenge... and fearing harm to my sister... I held back, but..."
"Even if it was necessary, that was... Huh?"
She soon wore a bewildered expression.
"You've been struggling without enough life force lately, right? Just hold on a bit longer, Kania."
Instead of the act Kania expected, Frey—
"I'll soon enhance your sister's healing abilities. And this loop... I think I can give you a happy ending."
—gently stroked her back with one hand while muffling his mouth with a handkerchief in the other,
Whoosh...!
infusing an enigmatic energy.
"Cough!! Gah...!"
"Kyaaah!!"
From that instant, Kania collapsed in agony like her insides were being churned, vomiting blood.
"...Uwa?"
She widened her eyes seeing vitality return to her sleeping self on the bed.
"Kuh... Ugh."
Meanwhile, Frey, who kept infusing life force—
"...Grit."
—trembled with head bowed but persisted until the end.
"Th-this is..."
And then.
"Wh-what..."
Trembling as she read the provocative window that appeared suddenly, Kania—
"Ze..."
—forgot her pain and froze solid.
"Young Master........"
Her eyes fixed on those two digits.
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