Chapter 86: The Sacred Day Of Lady Elise (7) |
“…Es…Estelle?”
“Ah, ah!…I…Ian!!…Help me!!…Es…Estelle has…gone mad!!”
“….”
Crunch-!
Nails dug into the flesh between Estelle’s clenched fist.
She didn’t want to show this side of herself to Ian.
She still remembered how sad Ian looked during their first year from time to time.
…But she had to make Delphicia pay no matter what.
“Shoot- water - barrier….”
Tap-!
“Estelle!!”
Ian rushed over to her in an instant, grabbing her wrist and shouting.
“Let go!!…Ian!! Let this go!!”
“I understand, so calm down first and cancel the magic!! You can still cancel the chant, right?!”
“No!!! Ian!! I can’t!! Let me go!! I have to make Delphicia pay even more!!”
“Estelle!! Please!!”
“Aaaaaah!!! Ian! Let go! Please let me go!!!…Ah?..Ah!!”
Whooosh-!!
The magic destabilized due to her overwhelming emotions, showing signs of exploding as the mana contained in the water droplets became unstable.
‘…No, no!’
If the water droplet burst in this state, Ian would be swept away.
Even if it meant her own death, she couldn’t bear to see that happen.
Swoosh-!
She tried to pull the bursting water droplet towards herself…
Boom-!!
“…Ah?”
“….”
Instead, the moment the water droplet burst, Ian wrapped around her and was flung away.
“Ah, Ian!!!!”
Evelyn’s scream was heard.
“Ah…ah…! Ah…!!”
Blood flowed from Ian’s forehead as he lay on the ground.
It was her doing.
“No, no!!…I…Ian..!…!!Ugh…!!!”
Vomit surged up.
She couldn’t breathe.
Her heart felt like it was tearing apart.
‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’
‘What I should do.’
‘How I should do it…’
She couldn’t think of anything.
Just that her vision was turning black.
“Gurgle…!Ha..!.Ugh….!!…Ha…aaaaa!!!”
“Ah…Miss!!!”
When she came to her senses again…
She was crying in Frederica’s arms.
“Ian!!!!”
Evelyn’s scream trembled, as did Delphicia’s fingertips.
‘…Did…Did he die?’
Did Ian die because of her?
“Ah..ah..!! No!!..Ian!!…Please..come to..your senses!!..Sob..ah..ahhh!!!”
She hadn’t intended for things to escalate this far.
She just wanted to give Estelle, whom she found annoying, a bit of a hard time.
That was all…
“…Sob…Please….Someone…someone…go…and…bring…Yuris…anyone…!…Ian…come to your senses…Sob!!”
“Sob!! It’s okay! I’ve come to my senses. It’s okay, so don’t call… Yuris might get scared. Ah!…It hurts!”
“Ah..!!..Ah…ah…!!!…Sob…ah..sob! Hey!…You…idiot!! Sob…!You can’t…interrupt…magic chanting like that…what were you thinking!!…Sob…”
“No… Evelyn, at that moment, canceling the chant was still possible… I thought you knew how to cancel it.”
“Shu…shut up…you idiot!!…Sob…you…if you had…died or…been seriously…hurt!!…What..what was I supposed to do!!..Sob….!!”
“Stop crying, I didn’t die. Okay? And I didn’t just rush in without thinking. It wasn’t a ‘blade’ type but a ‘bubble’ after all. At worst, it would have just broken a bone. And it seems Estelle controlled her power well, you’re fine.”
“Sob…you idiot…breaking a bone…is that supposed to be nothing?…Sob..And…what do you mean ‘it’s okay’?!!…There’s…blood…from your forehead…”
“Oh… really? Looks like it’s just a scratch. Look, it’s almost stopped bleeding.”
Seeing Ian laugh it off, Delphicia finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Ha…thank you…Ian…for helping..I’m sorry…you got hurt…because of me…”
“No, Delphicia, you don’t have to apologize. It’s natural to help each other, among friends. Anywhere else hurt besides the cheek?”
“Uh… Yeah, Ian. Thanks to you…I wasn’t hurt.”
Delphicia smiled faintly.
Realizing that after Evelyn, she was the next one Ian was worried about, not Estelle, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of superiority.
“Really? Then, Delphicia…”
“…Yeah?”
That’s when Ian picked up the gift box that Estelle had thrown on the ground and asked.
“……Did you do this?”
Scary.
Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary.
Was Ian capable of such an expression?
As he was always smiling and laughing, Ian’s anger was something she had never even imagined.
“Sob…Ah….no!…It wasn’t me…Ian!”
“….”
Seeing Ian’s face now was far more terrifying than when Estelle had cast the magic.
“Believe me!!..Sob….It wasn’t…me…”
“….”
Ian’s black eyes pierced through Delphicia.
Shiver-!!
Had her lie been discovered?
Delphicia trembled all over at Ian’s silent stare.
“Good…then I’m relieved.”
After a moment, seeing Ian’s faint smile, Delphicia could finally breathe again.
“Evelyn.”
“Sob…Yeah…Sob…”
“I’m okay… so calm down now… I’ll go look for Estelle for a bit.”
“See… First, to the infirmary… No… Ha… Yeah. Go to the staircase at the end of the fourth floor on the right. She seems to be there often.”
“Thanks for telling me.”
Swoosh—
Ian, with the ruined gift box in his arms, left the classroom.
“…Ha..ha…ha!!”
“Are you okay, Delphicia?”
“Yeah… Yeah… Sui… I’m okay. Luckily, it passed over…”
Bang—!!
Then, once again, a loud noise echoed through the classroom.
It was the sound of Evelyn kicking the wall.
“…Uh…Evelyn..?”
“….”
Step- step-
Evelyn walked over without saying a word and glared at Delphicia, saying,
“You bitch.”
“…What?..Bitch?”
Evelyn was known to have a fierce temper, but she had never been seen cursing at anyone other than Ian before.
“Yeah, you bitch. You, right?”
“…What, what? Why…suddenly…cursing…”
“Pretending you don’t know? About ruining the gift Estelle brought.”
“No…Evelyn…It wasn’t…me…”
Snap—!
“Stop lying to my face before I really rip your mouth open. I’m barely holding back as it is.”
Evelyn slapped her.
And it was a strong enough slap to burst the inside of her mouth.
“Sob..!!..No…!…It’s not true!!…You…you saw it…!! Ian believed it wasn’t me. And…there’s no proof that I did it..!”
“Ha… These bitches really think Ian is a fool.”
Snap—! Snap─!
“Hey, I told you not to lie. I’ll rip your mouth open.”
“…Sob!….Ah..!.Sob…”
“Bitch!! Do you think Ian really fell for your shallow lies?”
“Ha..Sob…E…Evel…yn…”
Snap─!!
“Don’t interrupt me. Listen. Bitch. Ian didn’t get deceived; he chose to be deceived. Why? Because you acted well? Because he liked you?”
“…Sob!…Uh…Uh!”
“No!! Just because he wanted to believe!! Bitch!! He wanted to believe that a classmate wouldn’t do such a shitty thing!! But what the hell? It passed over? You really want to die by my hands?”
“Sob!….Sob!…I’m…sorry…sorry…I’m sorry…!”
“Ha…. Yeah, you should be sorry, bitch. Treating my childhood friend like a fool. But you know…”
Evelyn sighed deeply and brushed back her hair, saying,
“Aren’t you sorry to Estelle?”
“…Sob….!..E…Evel…yn…”
“You should know if you like Ian, bitch! How hard it is to convey your feelings to Ian when a childhood friend like me is around!”
She knew it all too well.
Delphicia had wanted to give Ian chocolates too but was too scared of Evelyn to do so.
The top student of the second year was the heir of Redrose.
The second top was Estelle, but…
If you had to name the most feared person among the second years, it was always Evelyn.
“…But Estelle tried to convey it. Whether it succeeded or not, she at least tried to convey it, bitch!! Can you even imagine how much Estelle must have struggled to prepare that gift, only for you to ruin it like that?”
Whoosh—
Evelyn’s magic power spread out, and her golden hair fluttered in the air.
“…When Estelle comes back, make sure you apologize properly.”
“Sob…!Sob….!Sob….!”
“Bitch…not answering?”
“…Sob….Ah..ah..Okay…!…I..I’ll do it!…I’ll apologize..Sob!!”
“Ha… If you understand, then stop crying and bitching around. Acting like you’ve done something worth crying over, fuck… Hoo… Fuck, how many times do you make me say fuck. Fuck.”
“……”
“What are you staring at? Why? Does it suck seeing your friend get slapped? You want to get slapped too?”
“…No…Evelyn…”
“Then take that bitch and fuck off to the infirmary!! Ah!!! Really feels like shit, fuck!!”
Bang─!!!
Even after Evelyn slammed the door and left the classroom…
No one remaining in the classroom dared to speak.
‘…Estelle!’
Tap-!Tap-!Tap-!
I was running around trying to find Estelle, but her figure was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh my~! Ian! What a coincidence!☆”
…Instead, it was Elfrida who appeared.
“Sorry, Elfrida, I don’t have time right now.”
“Chee~! Senior, you seem to be busy every time you see me. Last time you said you’d contact…”
“…Elfrida. I really don’t have time right now.”
“Eh? Oh, no…Just a moment!…It’s just for a bit…because it’s…Lady Elise’s…day…”
“…Sorry. Later.”
Tap-!Tap-!
I apologized to Elfrida and ran off again.
But…
‘…Gone.’
I checked all around the second-year building including the place Evelyn mentioned, but there was no sign of Estelle.
Since Estelle in a wheelchair wouldn’t be faster than me, it meant she must have already gone home.
“….”
Sitting down on the stairs, I took out Estelle’s gift box from my embrace.
Despite being terribly crumpled, indicating it had been through a lot, it was still obvious that it was filled with earnest effort.
“…It was really nice.”
Just tens of minutes ago, I was as happy as could be in my life…
But in an instant, it turned into the worst feeling.
“Ha…What should I do…”
I haven’t mentioned it to Estelle, and I didn’t plan to in the future, but…
I was projecting ‘the past me’ onto ‘Estelle.’
That’s why I approached Estelle first.
Just as I received help from Evelyn, I wanted to be of help to Estelle too.
…However.
It was only after I had run around desperately searching for Estelle that I belatedly realized.
“It wasn’t just because of that…”
During our time together, Estelle had become an undeniably important presence in my life.
