Chapter 104: Smiles

Adrian was just about to open his door and enter his room when he heard footsteps. He turned around and saw Lucion walking towards him, and a smile bloomed on his face, but the moment he saw his friend’s expression, it withered just as fast.

Lucion’s face was pale, and his grey eyes, which had always been calm in Adrian’s memory, were now unfocused, lost in thought.

As Lucion walked past him without so much as a glance, Adrian found his voice. “Lucion… did something happen?”

He neither looked nor answered, and simply poured his Aether into the door to unlock it.

Adrian tried again. “Lucion?”

No answer, again.

“Lucion!” he shouted, his voice echoing down the corridor.

Lucion’s eyes finally flickered. He looked straight ahead first, only now realizing he had walked all the way to his room. Then he finally turned towards Adrian and stared at him.

“...What?” he muttered.

“What happened?” Adrian repeated.

Lucion looked at the door handle in his grip, then back at Adrian. “Nothing…”

He stepped inside his room and shut the door behind him.

“H-hey—!” Adrian reached a hand out towards him.

Adrian was left standing alone in front of his door, the chill breeze of the oncoming night biting as ever. He kept staring at Lucion’s door, his expression a mixture of worry and fear.

Something must’ve definitely happened… He entered his room as well. Does he not see me as a friend he can talk to about it?

---

Setting his books and the pouch on the desk, Lucion untucked his shirt and pulled off his tie. He then walked to his bed and fell backwards onto it, arms spread wide as the white mattress swallowed him whole.

Cedric is a third-rate villain in Fragments of the Fallen Crown who dies around Chapter 30 at the hands of Riven Aedeth, the MC of the game. Emerald is an NPC who doesn’t make an appearance in the game whatsoever. Cedric died early… and the person I thought I knew was never her real personality.

Staring at the ceiling above, he activated [Perfect Recall] again and sifted through his memories.

The only person who might know the answer to his question was Vionette Crimvane, and she was far too dangerous for him to approach, let alone ask for a favor. Now, the only option left was the thing he had avoided the most since being transmigrated:

Meeting Riven Aedeth, at the cost of inserting a new character named Lucion Vale into the story.

***

“This is not a small matter.” Sinia stated, her fingers clasped in front of her face.

Seated before her in her office, in orderly rows, were the professors of the academy.

“Cedric Vaelthorn, the son of Duke Vaelthorn of Gergrain and a student of Onyx Spire Academy, was murdered inside our own buildings. If this gets out, the students and their parents will all lose their trust in us, not to mention the Vaelthorn family itself.” Sinia turned slightly to the side and looked at a butler standing to the left of her desk. “Where is Kaimon? He should’ve received the news by now.”

“My Lady, His Majesty…”

***

Lina was walking through the markets today as well, searching for a sword that suited her. She had already scoured the west and north parts of the capital, and today, she had decided to try the shops in the south.

“No, that one is not very good,” Lina said, tapping her fingers beneath her chin.

The shop owner, a sword in his hand, smiled, though his eyelids twitched in irritation. He crouched down, rummaged for another blade, and brought it up.

“Ohh… this one might be to your liking! This is better than any other sword in here!” He held it out towards her. “What do you think, young miss?”

Lina snorted at the sword. “That’s crap.” She turned around and walked away. “Your swords suck.”

Behind her, the shop owner’s hands clenched, his eyes burning with rage at the girl, but he swallowed it down.

These guys are so fake they can’t make anything other than the standard swords knights use! So useless! She gritted her teeth, glancing around in fury. Maybe I really should’ve gone to that man named Marnok too?

As she was crossing the street, a luxurious carriage suddenly pulled in front of her, the horses digging their hooves into the ground to halt before her. As she stared at it in confusion, the carriage window slid open.

Kaimon looked at her through it and asked, “Lina Ravel, may I have a moment with you?”

***

Noa Ravel’s little sister? Kaimon… this has a 50% chance of misfiring…

“Okay, I understand.” Sinia nodded to the butler. “Are you here as his representative?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

We’ve managed to conceal the situation for now, and only the inside members know about this… but it won’t be long before people begin to question each other. Professor Castil observed Sinia and her fellow professors with her amber eyes. Wasn’t Cedric the boy Neiscris told me tried to bother Lucion? No… he couldn’t have done it. I’m glad, at least, that he’s okay.

After their talk was over, the butler drifted back to stand behind the seated professors, joining the meeting. Sinia ran her gaze across the professors and leaned forward.

She began, “For now, we will hi—”

“Two of the people closest to you… are traitors.”

Her words died in her throat at the memory, her stomach aching. It was a warning from an untrustworthy person that she had decided to ignore, but now, for some strange reason, it was urging her to remember it.

Looking at the Headmaster, Castil sharpened her eyes. Mmm?

“Headmaster…?” a professor muttered.

Sinia quickly changed her expression and smiled, then cleared her throat. “What I was going to say was, for now, we will not tell anyone about this until we discover who the culprit is.”

“If I may ask, what about the Vaelthorn family, Headmaster?” Mazul asked, looking at Sinia gravely. “They already know that Cedric hasn’t come back to the mansion since yesterday evening.”

Sinia thought it through again, staying silent for a few seconds before answering, “We will hold them off until Kaimon comes back. As the King, he is the most suitable person to deal with the Duke.”

“I will inform His Majesty as quickly as I can.” The butler bowed.

Hearing the bells of the academy ring, Sinia rose from her chair, and the others followed her lead.

“It’s time for the academy’s second day to begin. All of you are dismissed for now. Continue your work as if nothing happened.” Her voice grew deeper and her mismatched eyes glowed as she looked at them. “Remember: no one should hear about this for now.”

***

Unlike his first day, which had been filled with annoyance and enjoyment, the second day was gloomy and thick with suspicion. Lucion entered the room, his eyes immediately locking onto Cedric’s seat.

I almost thought it was a good dream. He put his books down.

“Hey,”

Lucion turned towards the voice and found Adrian sitting next to him.

“Good morning,” Lucion said, though flatly.

“What was with you yesterday? You didn’t even answer me,” Adrian pressed as Lucion sat down.

Lucion was silent, just staring at the grain of the desk. What could he say? That he had watched the shy, kind girl kill another student?

He forced a faint smile. “I was just too exhausted, maybe that’s why.”

Adrian’s gaze lingered on his, the eyes behind those round glasses narrowing. Then he exhaled, feeling both betrayed and worried.

…

It was the third period of the day, and one of the electives at that—the second Alchemy lesson. Grabbing his materials and books, Lucion headed up to the classroom on the fourth floor.

“Lucion! Wait for me!”

He turned to see Neiscris running down the hall towards him, clutching her own set of books.

Not this again…

As he waited, Neiscris reached him. After one last deep breath to steady herself, she looked at him and smiled.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” she asked, pouting.

They began walking again, and Lucion side-eyed her. “Why should I wait for you?”

Neiscris wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, sniffling twice. “So cold…”

Lucion looked straight ahead again, exhaling. Then something that looked natural, yet caught him off guard, happened.

At a crossroad, where one path led to class C-1, Emmy joined them, lifting a hand in greeting.

“Good morning, Lucion,” she said with a smile. “Huh?”

She stared into his eyes, which were full of caution and fear. She tilted her head, her face filled with confusion.

“What’s wrong, Lucion?”

“Nothing.” Lucion looked away from her.

“Really? You seemed a little off today. Well, I guess it’s just my imagination.” Emmy laughed. “The test Professor Mazul gave us yesterday was hard, wasn’t it?”

“...Kind of.” Lucion muttered, lost in thought.

“You did well, though.” Emmy smiled warmly—happily. “Even the professor praised you.”

It was a smile Lucion had thought beautiful, the smile of an innocent girl. No matter how long he stared at it, it was the same as when they first met inside that pocket dimension. 

But now, he no longer knew.

Next to him, Neiscris looked at him and smiled as well. “Of course he would…”

“And you are…?” Emmy looked at Neiscris.

Neiscris fixed her with intense eyes. “You don’t want to know.”

As they walked, Lucion felt as though he had been lifted out of that hall and set down outside it, watching them closely but from far away—just as he had watched the game through that monitor.

Neiscris was smiling at him the same way, and he didn’t know what to make of that either. Why was Neiscris, a villain fated to hate everyone around her, smiling at him?

Emmy was a broken glass he was trying to piece back together, and Neiscris was a mirror clouded by the ghost of a character he thought he knew. Of the two, which was the real smile, and which was the mask?

…Or were both masks?

Outside the windows of the hall they were walking through, unseen by the trio, a crimson eye gazed at them through a crack in space. Then the crack sealed shut, along with the eye.

***

“Wow, bro already got two waifus near him right now,” Vionette said as she deactivated [Vacant Eye].

She was on a balcony of their private room in Gergrain, reclining on a wooden chaise lounge beneath a parasol, sipping a cocktail. Setting the glass down on the floor, she stepped back inside.

Sprawled on the floor with a round cushion beneath his head was Noa, idly tossing a ball of paper into the air, catching it, and repeating, boredom written all over his face. On the sofa beside him, reading one of Noa’s comic books, was Elina.

“It’s so fucking boring…” Noa muttered.

Vionette walked over and knelt near his head, looking at him with a smile. “Why? Weren’t you only bored because I wasn’t there? I’m here now.”

Noa stopped tossing the ball and looked at her.

“Not like that,” he said, clenching his fist, far too seriously. “Like I want some shit to go down so I can fight someone, man!”

“Well, you’ll have to wait on that one, darling.” She got up and, walking a few steps backwards, sat on the bed. “You know, we haven’t heard much from those organizations for a while now, and they haven’t left Gergrain either…” She draped herself across the mattress. “Wonder what they’re up to.”

“Hey, I think we should make a TV to get rid of our boredom at least,” Noa suggested.

Elina rolled over on the sofa and looked down at him. “A TV? What’s that thing?”

“It’s basically looking at moving pictures, I guess?”

Vionette pointed a finger at Noa. “Worst explanation ever. How would anyone who doesn’t know anything understand that?”

“Oh, c’mon! Even if I explained it perfectly somehow, she still wouldn’t get it anyway!”