037. Curse (3)
037. Curse (3)
Aria was different.
If it were the Aria of the past, she definitely would have acted differently.
Always elegant and calm.
Instead of stepping forward into this mess, she would have put agents in front.
And yet, she would have achieved her goal cleanly.
Without anything like getting her thigh stabbed.
Yuna Castilla.
She definitely thought so.
While recalling the image of Aria from the old memories she envied.
'Something like this... happened in the past, too.'
Aria.
That someone like Aria would throw her body for her.
It happened in the past, too.
Back then, I really, really thought it was ugly hypocrisy.
It was so disgusting I couldn't stand it.
But looking back now.
"Why, why..."
This is all Aria's fault.
For stupidly interfering in something that had nothing to do with her.
It's because she got hurt as she pleased.
'I should have told her... let's get along... let's start... our relationship over...'
I had to tell her.
It was the first time I'd seen Aria so afraid of me.
It was an expression I had never seen in my life.
That's why I couldn't bring myself to say it.
Because I was afraid... that Aria would make that face again.
"I, I, I... my body..."
"Don't make excuses. You could have stopped it enough, right?"
Yuna nodded obediently and accepted it.
Because Arcana's sharp point was entirely correct.
She had enough time and power to do so.
She had the chance to restrain the girl in front of her and save Aria from the crisis.
'But.'
My body didn't follow.
My body has been really strange since earlier.
Because it felt so, so heavy.
I just thought it was a simple case of being in poor condition.
The tattoo engraved on Yuna's back of her hand began to emit a little light.
'Did I... approach Aria... and do that?'
That couldn't be it, since earlier.
Since the moment I left the Academy, my body had been really strange.
'It's all an excuse.'
"Ah, ugh..."
Yuna slumped down.
And looking at Aria with trembling eyes.
Slowly, slowly.
She tried to approach, even if she had to crawl in a pathetic state.
To convey the words she hadn't finished.
The words "I'm sorry."
And.
'Thank you...'
She wanted to say it.
That's all.
'Why, did you...'
Herself, who had hurt Aria so much and bullied her under the pretext of returning what she received.
Herself, who had done things that were hard to even put into words.
Why was she able to throw her body to save her like that?
At this rate, it's like...
Aria's identity...
It's like that person.
'It shouldn't be.'
I definitely thought it wasn't.
A faint possibility bloomed in Yuna Castilla's head.
Because she overheard Rachel saying Aria's [Dormitory] was a mess.
Because there was a possibility that it wasn't Aria in the [Dormitory] that night.
So.
Yuna wanted to apologize.
That's all.
"YOU DON'T MOVE!!!"
Clara appeared in front of her.
She blocked Aria's front and stopped her.
'I've seen it many times.'
The mysterious girl who resembles Aria.
The one who protects Aria so devotedly after her identity is revealed and she's kicked out of the family...
'...Huh?'
It was a bit strange.
I heard Aria was treated as an illegitimate child and kicked out of the family.
That Aria's mother had an affair.
So, just as she had so desperately wished.
She was kicked out of the family in a terrible state.
'Serves her right.'
I definitely thought so.
This was a bit strange.
Clara and Aria's mother aren't sisters, they aren't even blood-related.
For the two of them to look that similar.
'...It has to be the father's side that's blood-related.'
It's strange.
It's definitely strange.
Perhaps, everything Aria suffered...
Yuna's pupils began to dilate, very, very much.
At the same time, her heart pounded wildly.
'No way.'
It couldn't be.
Aria's lineage is the same as mine.
Commoner.
Everyone at the Academy thought so now.
But.
What if that's not it?
Everything.
Everything...
If it was a frame-up?
Even though she was kicked out of the family in a terrible state, having suffered terrible things due to a terrible frame-up.
With an incurable disease, even overworking her own body.
The reason she stays at the Academy... pretending to bully me.
'...Ah?'
Her stomach churned.
It felt like she was going to throw up everything she ate today right then and there.
No.
That can't be.
Aria is bad. She's evil. She's a bitch who deserves to die.
Definitely, definitely, even just last month, Yuna thought so.
The birthday party she had with her precious friends.
Even up until that night...
Aria...
Such an Aria.
'I, I... what on earth?'
"Know your place. You trashy bitch. If you have a conscience, get lost!!!"
Clara's shoe rushed toward her face.
Yuna squeezed her eyes shut.
'I deserve to be hit...'
At least at this moment.
However.
The thing Yuna feared didn't happen.
"STOP!!!"
Because Aria shouted, spitting out blood from her mouth.
"Si, sister? Are you okay?"
Clara headed toward Aria urgently, but.
"Ke, keugh, th, that's enough, for that bitch."
Aria's gaze was solely.
Directed at her.
It was a face full of mockery.
A look that said she deserved it.
'...Without even thinking about her own state.'
It wasn't Aria's self-directed drama or a staged play.
Aria had really, really.
Suffered a big wound to protect her.
'Get lost.'
Aria's last word was still stabbing her heart.
Though now she thinks she knows the reason.
"Pu, puha, it, it looks good..."
Why is it?
Why is Aria mocking her so much?
When the person herself.
Is in a state that's truly worth mocking.
When they're both in the same boat now...
"Sister! Don't force yourself to speak..."
Even so, Aria's body was trembling violently.
Everyone here thought.
'Forced.'
Aria was forcing herself, to shake off the fear of Yuna.
She was doing this kind of play.
To reassure the people around her.
To be seen as okay.
"Stay still. So the wound doesn't open. You, the younger sister over there, hold Aria well so she doesn't move."
Arcana stepped up and started to take command.
"Yuna Castilla... I think it would be better for you to step aside for now."
"...Yeah."
While Aria's eyes were gradually losing their color.
Lena arrived.
After checking Aria's condition with a nervous face.
"...Who, why did they do this?"
She asked, sending cold glares around.
There was no danger to Aria's life.
Her consciousness was just fading due to the paralytic poison.
The dagger itself was quite small, and it was stuck in the outer part of the thigh, which has relatively more fat, so really.
Really, there was no major danger to her life.
Because the dagger could be pulled out.
Because magic could be poured into the torn wound.
If she did that, the body could be restored to its original state.
However.
A tear flowed from Lena's eye.
External wounds can be healed.
But...
Internal wounds?
The curse Aria was born with wasn't just a 'normal' curse that starts with the lungs and hardens the whole body to death.
"Is it... very serious? Teacher?"
Alisa asked in a trembling voice.
Lena couldn't bring herself to answer.
Because.
As much as the body is wounded.
As much as the magic power consumed to regenerate the body.
The mind, too.
Furthermore, the memories would also be wounded.
It was that kind of curse.
Lena had never told anyone that the curse Aria had was that kind of curse.
Because telling them wouldn't solve anything.
Rather.
For Aria, who would gradually have an unsound mind.
Because she thought people with dark intentions would approach such a kind child.
That's why she tried her best to find a way to break the curse.
"...No, it's fine. There's no danger to her life."
"Then why do you have such a serious expression..."
How much time does Aria have left?
It's not just Aria's body that's sinking into the swamp.
It's her mind.
Her mind was also slowly sinking along with it.
At least the curse progressing in the body could be delayed with an elixir.
'The mind...'
There's no way to do that.
Lena hugged Aria without a word.
Because the vitality was slowly disappearing from Aria's eyes.
"For now, only Aria's friends... follow me."
Because a medical camp had been set up at the entrance of the [Great Forest].
She was about to move Aria there.
"Ah, no, he, here..."
Yuna Castilla.
As she hesitated and tried to follow.
Clara slapped Yuna's hand away and shouted.
"I told you to get lost!!!"
"...Yeah."
Watching that scene, Lena made a decision.
To the friends who truly care for Aria.
'I must tell the truth.'
The fact that they shouldn't let Aria get hurt anymore.
Because her mind.
Would be ruined.