Chapter 92: The End of the Beginning
Noel led Sue to a small hill behind the park. It wasn’t particularly steep or high, so it was a sight unfamiliar to Sue, who had only ever paid attention to Lake Libra.
“Can you climb it?”
Noel asked, looking at her. He seemed to be concerned about her injuries.
“Yes.”
Sue nodded easily.
The slope looked gentle, and the path was straight and safe, so she thought she could manage. She was glad she was wearing a comfortable dress under her coat.
Sue, having no right to refuse, took the first step. Noel quickly overtook her.
Sue slowly climbed the hill, following his footsteps.
They walked in silence, their feet crunching on the dirt path. She had things she wanted to ask. Why they were climbing this hill, how he knew about this place, if he had been here before.
But as she started to feel slightly out of breath from the unexpectedly steep slope, she forgot all her questions.
“You asked me to take you to the mountains before.”
But it seemed like Noel had been the one who had wanted to go.
“You did, didn’t you?”
Noel’s steps were light and quick.
“You’re hurt now, so I wanted to show you this instead. You’ve never been up here, have you?”
“How did you know?”
“Haha, you only ever walk past it on your way to the academy.”
“…I go for walks sometimes.”
Sue retorted, feeling a little embarrassed. Noel chuckled. Sue, flustered, touched her neck and quickly changed the subject.
“But there’s no greenery, since it’s winter.”
“…Greenery?”
Noel turned to her, confused by her word choice. Sue, more out of breath than she had expected, continued rambling,
“You know, what you said. That you liked it because there were a lot of trees. You said you liked the smell of trees, right? That’s green. But all the leaves have fallen now, so it’s just brown.”
“So that’s what you mean by greenery?”
“Yes.”
“Hahaha…”
He laughed, as if he had heard something funny. She couldn’t see his face, but it had been a while since she had last heard him laugh like that.
Is this the power of hiking?
A faint smile appeared on Sue’s face.
They say people feel good when they do things they enjoy.
Sensing the stiff atmosphere between them softening, Sue continued climbing, her mood improving.
“We’re here.”
It wasn’t the summit, as the path continued further ahead. But it seemed like this was Noel’s destination, as he gestured towards a small rest area by the side of the path.
“Sigh…”
Sue stood beside him, her hands in her coat pockets.
A cool winter breeze blew through the trees. She wasn’t exhausted, but her body felt heavy.
He was looking at the scenery below. Reaching the summit and looking down at everything below. Sue knew that was the appeal of hiking.
She followed his gaze. She stepped onto a large, flat rock to get a better view.
What would she see? Through the bare branches, she saw…
“…The academy.”
The grand campus, which she saw every other day, filled her vision.
She could see the graduation building, with its castle-like spires, and the oval-shaped sixth-year building. The large sports field, the training grounds, the stables.
They silently observed the scenery of Full Bloom.
Sue chuckled inwardly.
Was it anticlimactic? Disappointing?
Of course, the view from a hill near the academy would be of the academy. She had been expecting a breathtaking view.
But it was still a novel experience to see the scenery of Full Bloom, which she had always looked up at, from above. And it was a beautiful sight, making her glad she had climbed the hill.
“Predictable, isn’t it?”
He asked casually, his voice carried by the wind. Sue shook her head and replied,
“No, it’s beautiful.”
“Haha, really?”
“At least it’s not fake.”
They both laughed.
Sue, oblivious to the fact that Noel was watching her, suddenly felt a surge of confidence and turned to him.
“Now tell me. The things you wanted to say. I’ll listen.”
Seeing her bold expression, Noel smiled back. The wind blew.
***
Noel slowly began his story.
Sue squatted on a flat rock, listening intently, not wanting to miss a single word.
The prestige and reputation of the Noel count family. His father’s ambition. His mother’s achievements. His own confidence. The incident that had shattered it all. Damon Keron. Damon’s power. Haina’s trauma. Delthel’s humiliation. His own fear.
He told her everything. His fear, his terror, the way they had gradually consumed him, leaving him feeling helpless, the way he had used her, the way he had tried to kill Damon.
Noel, who was usually so reserved, seemed surprised by his own calmness as he spoke.
It was surprising. Based on the story she had heard, he should have been sobbing uncontrollably.
But he wasn’t crying, he wasn’t angry, he wasn’t hateful, and he wasn’t pitying himself.
Sue felt a pang of sympathy for him, and she just stared at a branch on the cliff, unable to say anything.
“…That’s it. That’s the end.”
Noel took a deep breath.
Sue, having absorbed his entire story, understood why he had brought her here.
“Byron, tell me. Why did you save me?”
Noel asked without hesitation, the aftereffects of dredging up his painful past already fading.
“Same reason you couldn’t kill me.”
Sue muttered faintly.
“Guilt.”
Sue had made that choice, alone, to alleviate the guilt that was weighing her down.
And Noel had summoned her to alleviate his guilt towards her.
“Noel, you’re trying to apologize to me.”
Sue finally looked up at him. His hair and clothes fluttered in the cold wind.
“…Yes.”
He clenched his fists.
So you wanted to apologize for using me, for misunderstanding me.
Sue smiled serenely and replied firmly,
“Thank you. But don’t apologize.”
She continued, ignoring the flicker of pain in his eyes,
“Even if you apologize, I can’t forgive you.”
“…But…”
“I don’t have the right.”
She had said the same thing before.
Sue Byron didn’t have the right to forgive Raines Noel.
She chuckled bitterly.
At first, she had been curious about why Noel had summoned her. She hadn’t even understood. But now, having imagined all the pain he had gone through, she realized that she couldn’t accept his apology.
“To be honest, I didn’t want to see you.”
“……”
“Because if I saw you, I would have to apologize, and I didn’t want to do that.”
“……”
“It can’t be undone. That kind of thing.”
If she could take back all the pain she had inflicted with a single apology, the world would be absurdly unjust. No, it already was unjust.
“That’s why I ran away earlier.”
She buried her face in her knees.
“I’m so sorry, but I didn’t want to apologize.”
Her own fault, and the fault of others, had become her burden, and she couldn’t escape the swirling vortex of guilt.
“Noel, thank you for telling me. Everything that happened… Thank you for telling me. But I can’t tell you everything like you did. I’m… different.”
Right, she was different. Different from everyone else. She could at least be proud of that.
She was the one and only Sue Byron.
That difference was special, but not great. Strange, but utterly insignificant. The realization stabbed at her chest.
The wind blew, and she slowly lifted her head. The scenery of Full Bloom once again filled her vision.
“One thing’s for sure, I’ll probably continue doing the things I’ve done.”
“……”
“That’s why I envied you. I probably admired you. You were popular, and you were good at everything. And I thought you could do more. Unlike me, anything.”
Because unlike her, a supporting villain who had barely made it into the story of ‘Beyond the Tiny Droplet’, he was an extra who didn’t even exist in the novel. She had thought he could achieve anything he wanted.
“But it turns out… I ruined it for you. It was ultimately me who made Damon that way. Because I mocked him, because I despised him. It’s absurd, it’s ridiculous, but it’s the truth.”
She chuckled hollowly, her thoughts turning into words.
Haha, what is this?