Chapter 98: The Final Name

The applause was still ringing in my ears when I opened the waiting room door.

The piano, roses, and blue moon I had left onstage had already merged back into Umbrella. I still wore the wedding dress and crown, with the raven on my shoulder, yet as I stepped through the doorway, I didn’t quite feel like the person who had walked out of this room earlier.

I had barely entered when hurried footsteps came from behind me.

"Noc!"

Before I could turn around, a weight slammed into my back.

"Oi—!"

One knee hit the floor. When I tried to turn sideways to protect my broken arm, I lost my balance completely. Umbrella thickened beneath my back as I found myself on the ground.

Eris had fallen with me.

She was leaning over me, laughing. Her red hair fell on either side of my face, a few strands tickling my nose and cheek.

"Oii, get off me!"

"You were amazing!"

Her smile grew even wider as she spoke. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and when I saw the excitement in her red and blue eyes, I closed the mouth I had just opened to complain.

Then I tried blowing the hair out of my face.

"Thank you. Now, if you’ll let me survive—"

Eris’s gaze shifted to my arm.

"Oh! Your arm..."

She immediately shifted her weight onto her knees. Placing her hands on either side of me, she studied my face.

"Did I hurt you?"

"Thanks to Umbrella, I think I’m still in one piece."

She frowned, but couldn’t quite wipe the smile off her lips. Once she moved aside, I pressed my good hand against the floor and sat up. The skirt of my wedding dress had bunched up beneath me; I had to pull it away from my knees before standing.

Eris couldn’t keep still even while she waited.

"Where did the coffin come from? And the roses that bloomed when you walked... Then crows flew out of it! Noc, the crows actually flew!"

"I noticed. I was there too."

"Don’t joke around!"

She crouched beside me and looked at the raven on my shoulder. When it turned its head toward her, she reached out a finger, then pulled it back at the last second.

"Then they all broke apart. What were those things that rained down on you? And you turned the coffin into a piano. How did you do that?"

I thought she had finished asking questions, but her eyes lit up again.

"The moon changed color too!"

I couldn’t help smiling as I looked at her.

When I left the stage, I had been trying to make sense of the audience’s reactions. Now Eris was right in front of me, trying to describe everything she had seen all at once.

I must have done a pretty good job.

Her surprise was understandable. I doubted the people who had watched me onstage had figured out how I’d done it either.

The other contestants built mechanisms to move their wings and used equipment and lighting to create their backdrops. A few days ago, I had looked at their costumes and thought about how much work they had put into them.

I could simply use Umbrella to create whatever I imagined onstage.

No one had needed to carry a heavy piano into place. Roses had risen from the floor, and crows had flown into the air before turning into crimson flakes. All of it had been part of the same item.

I understood just how big an advantage that was now. The scenes most of them had created with all that equipment had paled beside what I had made with Umbrella.

I stood and straightened the skirt of my wedding dress. Then I lifted my chin slightly and looked at Eris.

"I told you. I was going to give you the best cosplay you’d ever see."

Eris stood too.

"You did," she said, without arguing this time. "But I never thought you’d actually do something like that."

Her agreeing so easily left me with a few arrogant remarks I never got to use.

I cleared my throat.

"That’s what happens when you doubt the Great Noctis."

"So when did you learn to play the piano?"

I hesitated.

My mother in my previous life had sent me to lessons starting when I was eight. I couldn’t give Eris that answer.

"It seems there are still things you don’t know about me."

Eris narrowed her eyes.

"Another secret?"

The corners of my lips lifted.

"Maybe."

She sighed and shook her head. Then, when she looked at me again, her smile returned.

"You’re annoying."

"A few seconds ago, you were saying I was amazing."

"You can be both."

I laughed.

So did Eris.

She kept talking for a while about the stage, the crows, and how everyone had stood up. As I listened, the warmth I had felt in the hall spread through my chest again.

Before coming back to the room, I had been waiting for her to say something.

Now I didn’t want her to stop talking.

---

After the last contestant’s performance ended, I put my phone on the table and leaned back in my chair.

I was trying to look calm.

Eris, meanwhile, kept pacing between the door and the mirror.

A little earlier, she had picked up her phone, opened the competition’s livestream, and checked whether anyone had mentioned when the results would be announced. Now she would turn the screen off, take two steps, and turn it back on again.

"Why haven’t they announced the results yet?"

"They’re probably still deciding."

"I know. But how long is it going to take?"

I shrugged.

Eris started pacing again. A few steps later, she turned to me.

"Where do you think we placed?"

"First."

My answer came so quickly that I surprised myself.

Eris’s eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"I said I’d show you the best cosplay. Anything other than first place counts as losing, and the Great Noctis never loses."

She smiled, but that wasn’t enough to calm her down. After glancing at the door, she raised her phone again.

I turned toward the mirror.

Evelyn still looked confident. Anyone who only looked at my face as I sat there would have thought I had no doubts at all.

They couldn’t see my foot moving nonstop beneath the wedding dress.

I was sure my performance had been impressive. My costume was flawless. I doubted my stage show would be easily forgotten either.

Still, the others hadn’t been bad.

I thought about KuroNeko’s acting, ScarletDoll’s wings, and how comfortable Argent had looked onstage. It was obvious they had been doing this for years. The crowd had started cheering the moment their names were announced.

I had come to the competition with two thousand seven hundred followers.

KuroNeko had more than two million.

Some people had come here specifically for them. Even before seeing their costume, those people had been eager to find out what kind of performance they would give.

Noticing Eris lower her phone, I stopped moving my foot.

"Calm down," I said. "You’re going to wear out the floor."

"How can you just sit there like that?"

"Great people are patient."

Her gaze dropped to the tip of my shoe, peeking out from beneath the dress.

My foot had started moving again.

Eris looked at me.

I looked back.

She turned away without saying anything, but I saw her smile.

Just as I was about to speak again, an announcement came over the speakers.

"We are about to announce the competition results. All contestants, please gather beside the stage for the awards ceremony."

Eris immediately turned to me.

"IT’S TIME!"

"I can hear. You don’t have to shout."

I stood. After sitting in one place for so long, I stretched a little as I straightened my knees.

Eris walked beside me as I headed for the door.

When she saw the contestants gathering at the end of the corridor, she stopped. She turned toward me as though she was about to say something, then briefly squeezed my good hand.

"Good luck, Noc."

I nodded.

Even after she let go, I could still feel the warmth of her fingers.

---

As I stood among dozens of contestants, the light from the stage illuminated one side of our faces.

The armor of the person beside me made a faint noise whenever they moved. A little farther ahead, a girl was trying to pull her long skirt out from under her feet. Someone else had propped their weapon against the wall and was holding their phone in both hands.

I could feel people looking at me.

A contestant in silver armor studied everything from my wedding dress to the raven on my shoulder. When our eyes met, they smiled and gave a slight nod.

Someone else’s gaze was much harsher. After saying something to the person beside them, they turned toward me, brows furrowed and lips pressed together.

A few people noticed me, then immediately looked away. Others continued talking among themselves.

I hadn’t exactly caught everyone’s attention.

Still, enough people were looking.

I straightened my posture.

The conversations quieted when Mira stepped into the center of the stage. She glanced at the card in her hand, then raised her microphone.

"We’ve seen some truly wonderful performances today. Let’s give our contestants another round of applause!"

A few contestants joined in with the applause from the hall. Instead of moving my hands, I dipped my head slightly.

Mira continued.

"Now it’s time to announce our top three."

My throat went dry.

It had been easy to say while sitting in that chair.

First.

Now all my confidence depended on a single name coming out of Mira’s mouth.

"In third place in the NovaCon Grand Cosplay Competition..."

She glanced briefly at her card.

As I waited, I began to hear my own heartbeat.

"KuroNeko!"

Loud applause erupted beside me. The contestant in black stepped forward, adjusting the white mask in their hand. They greeted the audience while walking toward Mira, and the cheers immediately grew louder.

I let out a breath.

I hadn’t come third.

The first thing I felt was relief.

I still had a chance at first place.

Then came the second thought.

You might not even be in the top three, idiot.

I kept my eyes on the stage as KuroNeko gave a short speech. When the applause rose again, I opened and closed my fingers.

Mira turned her card over.

"In second place, we have a contestant who made us feel as though we’d stepped into a little fairy tale..."

She paused.

"Mallow!"

The girl in front of us looked up sharply.

She wore a costume in pale shades of green. Small leaves lined the edge of her skirt, and colorful embroidery decorated the pouch at her waist. For a few seconds, she stared at the contestant beside her. When they smiled and pointed toward the stage, her mouth fell open.

It seemed she had only just believed they meant her.

I hadn’t seen her name alongside the big accounts very often. In the performance we’d watched from the waiting room, she had told a lovely story using small props. Now she could barely figure out where to put her feet.

As she stepped onto the stage, she trod on the hem of her skirt.

She stumbled forward, caught herself at the last second, and immediately smiled at the audience. She was red all the way to her ears.

Mira approached and held out the microphone.

"How do you feel?"

Mallow took the microphone in both hands.

"Um... I’m really happy I didn’t fall just now."

Laughter rose from the hall. She lowered her head with a small laugh of her own.

"And that I came second! I was supposed to say that first."

Mira smiled and stepped back.

Mallow looked at the audience. Her fingers tightened a little around the microphone.

"Thank you to everyone who watched and supported me. I don’t really know what to say right now, but when I get home, I’m going to watch this moment over and over."

She still wore a smile of disbelief.

"Really... Thank you so much."

She bowed. When she straightened, she realized she was still holding the microphone and hurriedly handed it back to Mira.

The applause rose again.

I stood completely still.

I hadn’t come second either.

Seeing a lesser-known contestant place should have reassured me a little. It meant they weren’t only looking at the big names.

But now there was only one place left.

Either I’m first, or...

I didn’t finish the thought.

As Mira raised her microphone, the noise in the hall slowly faded.

"And finally..."

I took a breath.

"Someone competing here for the first time..."

My heart beat a little faster.

I no longer noticed who was moving around me. I was looking only at Mira.

"Despite their lack of experience, their incredible and equally unusual performance left us all in awe..."

My fingers closed around the fabric of my wedding dress.

Could it be me?

Mira smiled.

"This year’s winner is..."

Her brief pause lasted far longer than it should have.

"Portraying Evelyn, the Crimson Bride... Noctis Evernight!"

The lights turned toward me.

The faces beside me suddenly fell into shadow as my white wedding dress lit up. Applause erupted, and several people turned to look at me.

I had heard my own name.

I really had.

’God... Really?!’