Chapter 78: The Story of Raines Noel Delpheman
“It’s raining.”
Raindrops started to fall. It wasn’t a passing shower. Raines thought of Byron, who had gone to the academy without an umbrella.
He knew why she had gone.
Byron, whom he had met at Lake Libra early that morning, had been different. She had said she didn’t want to go to the academy, but she also said she had to, even if she didn’t want to.
Raines had instinctively understood and empathized with her words. That was how he had figured out what she was trying to do. But he didn’t stop her. He didn’t know how, and he didn’t have the right.
He had simply chosen, once again, to let someone else be sacrificed for his own lazy peace of mind.
It wouldn’t be so bad to live like this, day by day.
Wouldn’t it be quite enjoyable to live his whole life hiding Damon Keron as ‘Leo Noel’ and pretending not to know the truth about Sue Byron?
‘Take me there sometime.’
If he closed his eyes, covered his ears, and sealed his lips, maybe someday he would be able to enjoy a pleasant walk in the mountains with his friend.
He finally realized his own feelings and went to a general store, picking up a red umbrella. It was a brighter, more beautiful red than Sue Byron’s.
As expected, the glass garden was brightly lit late that evening.
He slowly opened the door and saw Byron sitting on the floor, hugging her knees. Her eyes were vacant, her gaze fixed on the stormy garden outside. Raines watched her for a while, then called her name.
“Sue Byron.”
But there was no answer. He called her name again.
“Sue Byron.”
Again, there was no answer.
“Sue Byron.”
His only friend no longer looked back at him.
“Sue Byron!”
“…!”
Sue Byron finally turned her head, her eyes wide like a startled hamster.
She had been completely out of it. Her body was limp, and her hair and uniform were wet, as if she had been outside.
Why didn’t she go straight home?
Raines didn’t ask. He just handed her the red umbrella he had bought.
“You came because of me? Why?”
She was genuinely asking. Raines didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t even know why he had come here.
“You seemed different from usual… I thought it might be related to Lopetrefer. So I came.”
Raines vaguely explained what he had felt. He tried to be as ambiguous as possible, to hide his true feelings. Byron would always pretend not to notice when he spoke like this.
“…Then you should have looked for Lady Enzhe, not me.”
Raines had made a foolish choice, even though he already knew that Sue Byron was different.
“Right. Because you like Lady Enzhe. And because of something… something between your family and the Lopetrefer grand duke family. You pretended to be my friend to use me as a bridge.”
She didn’t understand or care about his attempts to escape. Raines had to listen to her anger and pain, for the first time.
“And you’ve heard the rumors, right? About what kind of person I am… No, you’ve seen it yourself, haven’t you? We were in the same class for years.”
The red umbrella he had bought rolled across the floor of the greenhouse. Noel’s gaze followed it.
“Sue Byron is arrogant, violent, and curses people with magic. She abandons people easily, she’s jealous, and she’s manipulative. She’s a malicious person who obsessively torments people she dislikes.”
Raines knew what she was going to say next.
‘Ah, I should close my eyes, cover my ears, and seal my lips.’
Raines felt a growing sense of betrayal as he watched Sue Byron, standing there, defeated, once again.
“It’s all true.”
“…You…”
Why are you saying that?
Why are you confessing?
Why are you trying to shatter this peaceful moment?
I can’t tell you anything.
Why are you…
“I did it again today. Go to the infirmary. Giona Vercia, the girl you know so well, is probably hiding under the covers, crying her eyes out.”
“Byron…!”
“Noel. Raines Noel.”
She smiled awkwardly, her face on the verge of collapse.
“I have hundreds of other things to worry about besides you. I don’t have time to chat and laugh with you.”
“……”
“Don’t bother with me anymore. I’m busy serving Lady Enzhe. Take care of your own problems.”
Don’t bother with you? Take care of my own problems?
“…I wouldn’t have come if I could.”
Anger surged through him.
Why are you trying to leave me too, even though you don’t know anything? Why are you all trying to destroy my tiny bit of happiness?
It was Raines Noel who finally shattered the fragile, cracked present. The sharp shards of glass, scattered in the invisible world, became weapons, turning against him.
“Then do something about it before you die. Whether it works or not.”
Raines froze. A drop of water fell from Byron’s blood-red hair. Strangely, it wasn’t blood-red, but clear.
“What the hell are you doing?”
He felt a shock, as if he had been hit in the head with a blunt object.
What am I doing?
Well, well, I’m… struggling to kill you and regain my peace of mind.
…Wasn’t that what he had been doing?
What was he doing now?
He had wanted to protect himself by killing someone. But now, he didn’t even want to do that anymore. He just wanted to hold onto this lazy peace forever.
“…Hah.”
Raines smiled faintly in the empty greenhouse.
He searched for the red umbrella Byron had dropped, but he couldn’t find it. He left the glass garden. Thunder and lightning raged as he walked back to the mansion, as if the gods were angry.
When he arrived home, he went to Haina’s room first. She had finally fallen asleep after taking a sedative.
Raines approached her bedside. It had been a while since he had seen her up close. His face crumpled at the sight of her, sleeping peacefully.
Haina was a mere skeleton, and it was a miracle she was still breathing. Her blue hair, once praised for its resemblance to the sea, had turned white. Her body was nothing but bones, and her skin was pale like a corpse.
What had the Keron count family done to his mother? What had they done to make her so sad, so afraid?
He closed the door quietly, and then he heard that voice right outside.
“Is she getting better?”
Damon Keron was perched on the windowsill, a faint smile on his face.
That disgusting face, twitching unnaturally. But if you looked closely, he looked exhausted too. Desperate, even. But Raines didn’t notice, just feeling a surge of disgust at his seemingly relaxed demeanor.
‘Someone who can’t tie the beginning and end of a knot.’
His father’s words. Raines finally understood their true meaning.
He hadn’t started anything, and he hadn’t finished anything.
“…Damon, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Damon, who would normally have ignored such a request, readily followed him. It was just like the first day he had come to the mansion. Both Damon and Raines, at the crossroads of their ends, had returned to the beginning.
He led Damon to a small grove not far from the mansion. He stopped, afraid of arousing suspicion if they went any further.
“What is it?”
Damon asked, his arms crossed, but Raines didn’t answer. He didn’t have time for words.
“Ugh!”
A sharp clang rang through the forest, followed by a scream.
The blade pierced Damon’s shoulder.
Damon, who hadn’t wielded a sword properly in a long time, hadn’t even sensed Raines drawing his sword.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
But he was quick to defend himself. Damon erected a thick barrier around himself and stumbled back.
Raines grimaced, having missed his chance to strike his heart. He was still a person who couldn’t finish what he started.
“You bastard! Are you betraying me?!”
Damon roared, his voice filled with pain. Raines stared at him, kneeling on the ground before him.
“I should have done this from the beginning.”
“What, what?! …Do you want to die?!”
“Kill me.”
What the hell are you doing?
Raines repeated Byron’s words in his mind.
There was no counterattack. Even in this desperate situation, Damon couldn’t use his magic freely. He just clutched his left arm, his teeth gritted.
“…Can’t kill me?”
Raines chuckled, feigning confidence, trying to steady his trembling hands.
He didn’t know why, but this was his chance. He lunged at his cousin with his silver blade.
“I’m going to kill you, Damon Keron.”
And then, Raines Noel finally realized.
Raines Noel Delpheman had to kill Damon Keron Brell.
He was the only one who could tie the knot of this fragmented present. And the knot he had to tie wasn’t to anyone or anything else, but to this man.