024. Sincerity (2)
024. Sincerity (2)
Alisa's turquoise eyes sparkled and shone.
She had taken in the sight of Clara, who had poked her head out, without missing a single detail.
And
'......No, that's not it.'
Aria didn't look like this.
It was true that they looked similar.
It was also true that if one of them wore a mask, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart.
But Aria didn't look like this.
She didn't look this... vicious.
"Why are you staring at someone's face like that? Who are you?"
"Ah, no...."
Alisa stumbled backward.
Clara Witri.
She didn't really have any connection with her.
'She's a bit scary.'
For some reason, Clara's gaze made her feel uncomfortable.
That was why she couldn't pretend to be as mature and relaxed as she did in front of Aria.
'That girl is, how should I put it....'
Unlike her appearance, she was a very easy person to approach.
At least in this world, that is.
Alisa smiled inadvertently as she thought of Aria.
"Young Lady Clara Witri? Is this our first time seeing each other like this?"
"And you are?"
Clara looked up at Rachel with a puzzled face.
Clearly, the pink-haired girl who used to hang around with 'that blonde bitch' whom Clara hated most in the world.
She looked like a friend of the blonde bitch who bullied and hated Aria Witri.
'......If so, then I have nothing to say to you.'
Clara had also roughly guessed it.
Who the girl in the pendant was.
The bad bitch who bullied Aria, constantly bringing up things that happened before she came to the Academy.
She had planned to deal with her someday, but not now.
"Uh-huh. I'm Rachel Alpid. We're both friends of Young Lady Aria, you see."
"Friends?"
"Yes. So we're looking for Young Lady Aria right now... but she wasn't in the Dormitory. So we came here thinking she might be here!"
Clara Witri.
She opened her eyes coldly.
Friends?
What a load of bullshit.
She already knew everything that happened at the ball.
To think they could do such a thing to a friend who saved their life?
They clearly had no conscience, nor parents.
So, she didn't want to associate with them.
Because there was no one who could call themselves a friend to her sister, Aria.
It was better not to have any at all.
'I, I could at least start by being a friend.'
That was why she didn't believe them.
In the first place, what was their purpose in coming here?
Clara hadn't been at the Academy for long.
Once Aria's 'true identity' was revealed, she was stripped of her position as successor and kicked out of the family.
That was because Clara Witri had been hurriedly put in the position of successor as a replacement.
She had a duty.
The duty to expand her connections in the Academy and the Capital by any means necessary.
Because the Northern Territory could not be self-sufficient.
Even if it looked like the number one noble family in the Kingdom on the outside, the inside was completely hollow.
To fend off the swarming monsters and maintain the territory, external support was desperate.
Therefore.
Clara Witri was moving more busily and frantically than the two could imagine right now.
She had no choice but to keep the help for Aria to a minimum.
'Even after grasping the full situation, I can't move right now. That's all it is, but....'
At least, that was the case for now.
Until she could take her sister, Aria Witri, to the Northern Territory and have her officially recognized as the successor again.
Killing the insane Head of the Family or locking him away somewhere would come after that.
Definitely.
However.
'......In the end, is this girl also leaving Aria to fend for herself?'
Rachel also began to misunderstand Clara inwardly.
According to rumors, Clara's special admission to the Academy was to monitor Aria Witri.
And to kill her.
'But it didn't seem like that. Clara even saved Aria... but.'
Why was she leaving Aria in such a Dormitory?
Was there any reason or need to leave a precious person in such a dump?
Rachel's expression hardened a little at that thought.
"You're asking if Aria Witri is here?"
I don't want to.
I'm never going to tell you.
Because you guys are friends with that blonde bitch.
It was obvious you'd bully my precious sister again.
"What do you want to know for?"
"......I'm just worried, that's all. Yuna said she stayed in the Dormitory until late at night, but when I went there just now, she wasn't there."
"Why are you curious about that? Ha. Do you think I'd tell the likes of you? Commoners who I wouldn't even associate with if it weren't for the Academy, how dare you."
"That's a bit harsh, isn't it? We just came because we're worried about Aria!"
"Shut your mouth, commoner. How dare you use such language to a Young Lady of the Witri Family?"
"You're the one whose words are getting harsher! And I'm from a fairly prestigious family myself..."
While a strange war of nerves was going on between the two.
"......Augh."
Alisa, feeling a bit discouraged by the two's momentum, stepped back.
And by chance, she looked through the gap in the door.
"Ah, Alisa?"
Aria Witri.
She was coming out to greet them with a bright, smiling face.
*
"Hehehe."
Aria was really, super happy.
There were just, like, so many pretty people around.
But none of the three were as pretty as Yuna.
Yuna was so pretty in face, body, and heart that no one could follow her.
And Clara wasn't either.
Because Clara looked too much like her.
That subtle difference was creepy and unpleasant.
It was clear that Yuna would also feel very uncomfortable if she saw that face.
'Hing hing.'
So, she didn't think she was pretty like her.
"I told you not to move at all because I was going to go out! Is my word a joke to you?"
"Th, that's not it...."
Clara snapped at Aria as if she were about to pounce.
She was furious.
The hypocrites who claimed to be friends.
She didn't know what kind of things those minions of that evil blonde bitch would do to her sister.
'......Can I stop them?'
She had no confidence in magic or swordsmanship.
The only thing she trusted was her brilliant brain.
Even those elements were similar to Aria's, so really.
'This is fate.'
Clara thought so and felt a little happy, then showed a very unpleasant expression toward the two.
If she had known this would happen, she shouldn't have let those two into the Dormitory.
"Wait a minute. That's a bit harsh, isn't it? Isn't Aria your sister?"
"What does that have to do with anything? I don't need a sister who doesn't listen to me! I don't need her as much as I don't need you!"
Clara admired Aria.
She followed Aria's tone, personality, and social skills as they appeared on the outside.
As a result.
'I misjudged this girl! She's a completely self-centered person, isn't she? She's a little... similar to Yuna, but this isn't it! She's treating Aria like some kind of doll!'
'This hypocrite. What are you trying to do by luring my sister with such words? Do you think I don't know what your gang did to my sister...?'
The misunderstanding was growing uncontrollably.
Alisa felt like she couldn't breathe and the world was spinning in the midst of this.
So, taking advantage of the two fighting.
"I was worried. Where on earth were you?"
"Hehe. Really? Were you really worried about me?"
But there was no need for that.
Alisa wasn't as good as Yuna, but she was a kind child.
And Aria didn't want to cause harm to kind people.
She had already had enough of that in her previous life.
Hehehe.
Aria laughed.
She wanted to show that she was okay.
She didn't really want to laugh, but she just forced a smiling face.
She was extremely, truly, completely used to acting with her expressions.
Seeing that, Alisa felt a lump in her throat and, without realizing it, grabbed both of Aria's hands tightly.
"Ugh...."
It was Alisa whose face turned red.
Aria, who didn't really know what the situation was, just smiled brightly.
Because Alisa must have suffered a lot of heartache, too.
But that would all end now.
Yuna would solve it.
Twisting the fated destiny was Yuna's role.
She was just going to run quietly.
Very slowly toward the end.
Hing hing.
So she didn't want to be a burden to the people who were so worried about her.
"Aria."
"Yes?"
"...No more disappearing without telling me, okay?"
Since they were already holding hands tightly.
So, she shouldn't disappear now.
It was one year anyway.
After one year, everything would end and start over.
All the memories of this world.
Would scatter and disappear like a cluster of stars.
The only one who would keep all those memories and move forward.
Was Alisa.
So she promised.
When everything was about to end.
The one to disappear first would be her.
A world that would never return, just this once.
'......At least this much.'
She had the right to enjoy it.
Therefore, Alisa smiled with tears in her eyes.
Just as Aria had done.
"Yes."
Aria nodded slowly.
And she apologized inwardly for not being able to keep the promise.
Because for her... there was already a path set.
Because it would be Yuna who would save Alisa.
So.
'For Yuna's sake....'
She had only thought that.
Aria and Alisa.
The gazes watching the two were a bit strange.
Clara blocked the space between the two with a very unpleasant face.