Chapter 15
Translator: True Detective
015. Evasion
"...I."
Yuna hugged her knees.
And trembled violently while covered with a blanket.
"It's not my fault."
For Yuna, it couldn't be helped.
How many people would think there was poison in a wine glass like that.
It was even a glass handed to her by the princess's servant.
'But, but...'
Aria Witri.
How in the world did that bitch know that.
Yuna's stomach churned.
She felt as if the contents would pour out at any moment.
"I-it's not my fault..."
Yuna closely looked at the ribbon she was holding tightly in her hand.
It had been soaked in wine and stained purple.
No matter what method she used, she couldn't prevent the staining.
It meant it was dirtied.
By Aria Witri.
'However.'
Why didn't that person give her any hint about this incident.
When a crisis was about to strike her, they were the kind of person who always subtly gave her advice.
Even though she searched the mailbox day and night without resting.
There was absolutely no note left by that person anywhere.
"It's not my fault."
Did even that person abandon her?
Like her precious friends did?
"Yuna. You definitely have to apologize for this incident. Aria Witri probably did it for your..."
"Th-that, b-be quiet..."
"...Well, whatever. I'll go myself. I'll say Yuna wants to apologize."
Why are her precious friends taking that bitch Aria's side instead of hers.
That wasn't all.
"I-it's not... my fault."
Aria Witri insulted her in front of so many people.
By knocking away the glass she was holding, she dirtied the ribbon, she dirtied that person.
Aria Witri.
She didn't like her.
But just as much, she felt like her heart was going to tear apart.
"Yuna. I understand everything you've been through. But that child is terminally ill... she's a child who truly doesn't have long to live now..."
Rachel said so and subtly took Aria's side.
Yuna completely agreed with those words.
"Th-the bad one is..."
Not Aria Witri.
But herself.
But why...
'Was there truly no news from that person at all?'
Did they judge it wasn't a crisis?
Because they thought Aria would save her?
Who in the world is it?
Are they definitely related to Aria Witri?
'...What is the relationship between those two.'
Yuna Castilla.
She subtly tried to imagine that person's face inwardly.
Body shape, physique, age, gender, hobbies, tastes, name, personality, way of speaking, voice.
She knew absolutely none of it, but.
A certain unpleasant face was definitely coming to mind.
The person Yuna hated the most in the world.
And.
The person who, clutching her stomach and flinching, told her it wasn't her fault even while vomiting blood from her mouth.
"Hah..."
She didn't want to think such nonsensical thoughts.
Yuna thought so and shook her head.
And.
"...S-so. It's not my fault, that's what it is."
She wanted to think so.
That is, until Arcana returned.
With a nonchalant face, she recalled Aria's appearance.
Usually, she looks out of it, but sometimes her old self returns.
Just now was exactly like that.
"That I don't care what happens to a bitch like her. That it was all a coincidence. That I was trying to gain trust by saving the princess, but ended up saving her by mistake."
Aria had said that with a cold sneer.
Just like the old days.
However, the situation of the Aria from that time and the current Aria are 180 degrees different.
At that time, Aria was very wicked.
Behind her cold and expressionless face hid brutality.
Therefore, she applied violent sanctions to the academy students who 'very coincidentally' got tangled up with Yuna Castilla in a bad way.
So they could never approach Yuna again.
Very thoroughly.
She only noticed that after becoming a 2nd year.
Because those guys gradually became invisible.
However.
That kind of Aria was gone now.
She... how should I say it, seemed to be in a serious condition.
But because of that, she could guess.
'She's lying.'
Arcana also doesn't know exactly what intention Aria harbors.
So she made a nonchalant expression and thought she had gotten wrapped up in something a bit bothersome.
Because it's not like she suddenly felt sorry for Yuna now of all times.
And if she was going to do that, she should have felt sorry about half a year earlier.
Then things wouldn't have ended up like this.
"Phew."
It was a state where the threads were too tangled up to untangle now, but.
Even so, she didn't give up.
Arcana conveyed exactly what Aria had said to Yuna.
Because this was a problem they had to resolve themselves.
However.
"R-right! Th-that's it, right? A-Aria's intention was... that!"
"Yeah... well, she herself said so."
Yuna Castilla.
She jumped up from the bed while still covered in the blanket.
And spoke in an excited voice.
"A-Aria, very, very coincidentally! Ended up saving me. Thinking I was the princess! Th-then it all makes sense..."
"Yeah."
From here on out, it's a problem for them to solve.
"However, Yuna, your actions were..."
"I know!!! So don't talk to me. I-I'm thinking about how to say it right now."
Aria had no particular intention of trying to save her.
Rather, she was trying to win the princess's favor to plot some evil conspiracy.
However!
Aria merely mistook her for the princess.
Nothing more, nothing less.
That should have been the case.
"...Why are you crying?"
"I-I'm not crying."
Yuna looked at the ribbon with teary eyes.
And thought of Aria.
'...It's truly the worst.'
Of all things, the image of the person she liked the most overlapping with the bitch she hated the most.
Even at this very moment when she had realized the truth, they kept overlapping.
It was annoying.
That bitch only had evil thoughts in her head.
That's why she had clashed with Aria countless times.
"It's not my fault. It's all Aria's fault. It's because Aria acted in a way that invited misunderstanding. That's for sure."
"Hey, Yuna Castilla. Do it in moderation."
"...What?"
Arcana, who usually kept her eyes squinted, opened her eyes wide and spoke.
"Regardless of Aria Witri's intentions, you wielded that kind of violence against her. Nothing happened simply because everyone hated Aria. If it had been anyone else who got hit by you..."
"Th-that's..."
She couldn't deny it.
Yuna had definitely struck Aria's most vital part, unable to suppress her momentary anger, and ended up...
"...Hah."
But that was all that bitch Aria's fault.
So...
She had to, apologize.
Even if that bitch's intentions were incredibly evil.
Squeezing her eyes shut and turning a blind eye to Aria here was a no.
Then she would become a bitch just like Aria.
"Where is, Aria Witri?"
"I don't know that. But with that body, she'll stand out wherever she goes."
"Don't get the wrong idea! I'm just, taking responsibility. For what I did."
Arcana chuckled and nodded her head.
And closed her eyes again.
"...Maybe."
Aria's intentions might have been something else entirely.
She might have just used the princess as an example to gloss over things.
Yuna thought so.
Just maybe.
Thinking that it was an opportunity to grasp Aria's true intentions.
And.
Such expectations were soon scheduled to be firmly shattered.
Yuna Castilla.
She hid her messy, frizzy hair and left the dormitory with haggard eyes and heavy dark circles.
And began to wander around frantically.
Aria.
There was nothing around the clock tower where she always hovered.
So she hurried her steps.
"...Where is she."
Where in the world is she wandering around with that body.
For what?
Yuna Castilla had absolutely no idea.
Whether Aria was preparing a bouquet of flowers for her.
Therefore.
It was close to a coincidence.
Managing to catch sight of Aria's back, which was ruined and covered in dirt, was.
A very thorough coincidence.
Yuna began to follow behind her as if possessed.
She should call out to stop her and say something.
But she couldn't bring herself to say a single word.
The entrance heading to the Great Forest located north of the academy.
That is, until she caught up to Aria on the forest path leading straight there.
And Aria.
Opened her eyes wide and looked back.
Seeing Yuna's ruined appearance made her heart ache.
And thinking that the cause of it was probably herself, she felt incredibly, immensely sad, her chest felt dry, and it just felt like it was tearing apart.
So.
So that the person she liked wouldn't feel guilty about her anymore.
To lessen that guilt even just a tiny bit.
So she wouldn't keep this incident in her heart anymore.
So she wouldn't be heartbroken over this incident anymore.
'All for Yuna's sake.'
She decided to become a thorough villainess. Because Yuna was kind. The opposite would be necessary. Aria began to mock Yuna.