Chapter 158: The Loss of Interest
“Byron, don’t go.”
Noel, sensing that something was wrong with Sue, met her gaze. He brushed aside her long bangs, which were covering her eyes. Her eyes were trembling. Something was definitely wrong.
“Noel, don’t worry. Don’t worry about me.”
Sue pulled his hand down. She probably never imagined that would be their last conversation.
Vercia was chatting with the other young ladies at the table closest to the entrance hall, at the top of the garden. Sue swallowed, seeing Enzhe sitting next to her.
“Lady Enzhe, Lady Vercia, you’re here.”
Sue, escaping from Azette’s grasp, approached them. Her voice was calm, her posture straight, her gaze steady. Azette felt a sense of dissonance, seeing the composed Sue, unlike the Sue she had seen moments ago.
“Sue, you’re late.”
“I’m sorry I’m late, Lady Enzhe.”
Enzhe looked genuinely happy. She didn’t say “It’s not fun.”
Her skin was glowing, her black eyes were sparkling, her hair was flowing, and a smile was playing on her lips. She looked like a beautiful girl in the bloom of youth.
“You came, Lady Byron!”
Vercia stood up, her movements exaggerated. The table shook, but no one criticized her lack of grace.
Vercia, walking around the table, stood in front of Sue and gently took her hand, just like before.
“I was worried you wouldn’t come.”
Her upturned eyes, crinkled at the corners, slowly led Sue’s hand.
“Come, let’s take a walk, Lady Byron.”
“A walk…? Where are we going?”
Vercia, ignoring her confused question, pulled her along. They were heading down.
Down, down, down.
She couldn’t help but chuckle, unable to hide her amusement. Sue’s face, as she glanced back, was priceless.
“Everyone is here for you.”
“For me…?”
Sue’s shoulders flinched.
She felt a sense of unease.
Why had Vercia invited her? Why was Enzhe sitting next to her, smiling? Why were all the guests students from the academy?
What were those oppressive gazes she had been feeling?
“…Ha.”
Sue, unconsciously deducing the “answer,” realized it was too late.
“We’re here, Lady Byron!”
They had returned to the center of the garden, and Sue was thrown in front of the fountain. Before Sue could regain her balance, Vercia, who had approached her, gently cupped her cheeks.
“Now, look closely. At what you’ve done.”
Sue’s head was forced up, and she felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Like a rainy day, or a day with cherry blossoms in full bloom.
“Giona? Lady Byron? …Everyone, what’s going on?”
The only one who was innocent, who hadn’t been hurt, couldn’t understand what was happening.
“Ugh, uhhh…”
She didn’t want to hear it.
Vercia covered her ears at the sound of Sue’s pained groans.
Sue, standing in the middle of the Vercia mansion’s garden, finally saw everything.
“You’re not going to tell me you don’t remember, are you? That’s impossible, right?”
It was impossible.
All the memories she had suppressed came flooding back, making her feel nauseous.
Her eyes darted around.
The blurry figures started to become clearer, and…
Ah, she remembered everything.
Chemiel, the first one she had taken to the basement, Ronald, the one she had struggled to silence, Zephiel, the one she had been afraid she had killed because she had injured him so badly, Judy, the one she had only used curse magic on, Peanut, the one who had been sacrificed to appease Enzhe after her broken engagement… And Raines Noel, who was running towards her with a worried expression.
Could dozens of gazes, raining down on her like arrows, be filled with resentment and hatred?
Yes, this place was proof of it.
This wasn’t someone’s birthday party, it was a stage for Sue Byron, a breeding ground for her sins.
“Vercia was right.”
Sue turned her head at the clicking of heels. Enzhe, who had been watching everything, had a strange expression on her face. She was observing Sue as if she were a stranger.
“You really did feel guilty.”
How disgusting.
“Lady Byron, Sue Byron, what are you thinking right now?”
Giona Vercia, her face a picture of victory, asked.
“Did you really think you would be forgiven if you came here? Did you really think we would be attending the academy, carefree, after being humiliated by you?”
Sue’s bloodshot eyes, on the verge of cracking, asked, unable to accept Vercia’s irrefutable logic,
But Enzhe did the same thing. Why are you only doing this to me? Why only me?
And they answered with a mocking laugh,
Enzhe can do that. Melaine can do that too.
But you can’t. Because you’re Sue Byron.
“I don’t know why you feel guilty, but even that must be a way to comfort yourself. That’s the kind of person you are, Lady Byron. Sue Byron. So I’m going to shatter that illusion for you.”
So let’s show it to everyone who fell for your pathetic self-deception, everyone who likes you.
“You don’t deserve to be loved. Ever.”
***
She ran aimlessly.
“Ha… Ha…!”
She had accepted defeat.
Her heart and mind pierced by hundreds of invisible daggers, Sue fled from Vercia’s garden, her appearance pathetic.
She pushed Nine away, covered her ears at the sound of Melaine calling her name, and shouted at Noel, who was chasing after her.
She ran from the clear blue sky, her feet crushing the flowerbeds, her legs kicking over buckets, her body rolling on the ground, her arms scraped and torn by the gravel.
She ignored the frozen gaze of the guard, his face filled with disgust, and ran past the open gate.
‘Ah… I don’t want to die.’
But even as she sank into the mud-filled swamp, Sue wanted to live.
Shamelessly, viciously, powerlessly.
Even the desire to live was a poison.
Her heart was already shattered.
But Sue, she had been this selfish and wicked since birth.
She wasn’t shameless, she wasn’t kind, she couldn’t die, and she didn’t have the will or the power to solve her own problems.
“Ha… Ha…”
The sun, mischievously, had climbed to the highest point in the cloudless sky. A scorching wind swept over Atlantis, but her body was ice-cold.
She walked, seeking shade from the light. Her broken heel made her limp. After walking for a long time, she found a worn-out stone staircase under a lush tree.
She sat down on the dusty steps, her knees drawn to her chest, her head buried in them.
“….”
She was hot, she was thirsty.
Her hair, loosened from its braid, flowed down her back like blood.
Her mind gradually calmed down as she took deep breaths, but she started to shiver.
Were they happy in the garden without her?
Dozens of accusing eyes, shimmering like mirages in the shadows, appeared before her. She closed her eyes.
Giona Vercia had done the right thing.
Poetic justice.
She had served justice, and Sue had succumbed to it. That was what Sue Byron deserved.
She finally understood.
Nothing had changed, and nothing should have changed.
Sue Byron’s feeble will hadn’t changed anything.
She was weak.
Vercia, on the other hand, was strong. Even Damon Keron, who had tried to kill her, was strong. At least they were stronger than her, who was just floundering in a muddy swamp. They knew what they had to do, what they should do.
They had risked their lives, running towards their goals. But she had been lazy and complacent, just praying for time to pass, sinking deeper and deeper each day.
She had deliberately let them deceive her, to cover up her sins, and she had hoped to be forgiven, even though she knew she didn’t deserve it.
She had prayed for everything to work out without putting in any effort.
It was all self-deception.
“…I’m cold.”
The sun had started to set. The blue sky turned into a golden sunset, and the golden sunset was soon painted with a brilliant purple hue.
‘…I should go home.’
She had regained her composure, and she was back to where she had started. Her endless self-loathing always had the same starting and ending point.
Right, she should pray.
She should pray, again and again, that this would be the end.
If today was hard, tomorrow would be better. If tomorrow was hard, the day after tomorrow would be fine.
She would keep thinking the same thing, repeating the same mistakes, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. That was Sue Byron.
But she couldn’t move. Her body ached when she tried to stand up. She looked around, but everything was unfamiliar.
Her shoes were broken, she didn’t know where Ten and Nine were, and she had no money.
“Ha… Forget it.”
She slumped back down, giving up on standing up.
She was exhausted.
It was all her fault.
Would tomorrow be better if today was hard? That was impossible. She knew that. She knew, but…
As a dark figure loomed over her, covering the swaying shadows of the leaves, a familiar voice, as warm as the spring sun, called out to her,
“Byron.”
A reassuring voice echoed in her ears.
“…Master Acrea.”
She looked up, her eyes glued to his beautiful form.
His red cape slung over his arm, his uniform pants covered in dust, his honey-colored hair damp with sweat, his round eyes staring at her, his face not wearing his usual doll-like smile, but an unreadable expression.
“Found you.”
Before she could even speak, Acrea draped his red cape over her shoulders. He then knelt down and met her gaze, drawing a simple formula on her palm.
“You’re so weak, yet you came all the way here.”
Warmth flowed through her body as if by magic.
“Thank… you.”
She murmured, clutching the edge of his cape, finally understanding why he had come all this way.
Acrea stared at her silently for a moment, then sat down a short distance away. Sue, afraid to look at him, lowered her head and asked,
“…Why did you come?”