Chapter 61: Chapter 61

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: A New Purpose

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Before another exit of the Demon Palace.

A silver-haired woman tumbled out.

"Nikita!"

A man rushed out and quickly helped her up.

The man, who bore a striking resemblance to Nikita, was her older brother, Niah Cincia.

"N-Niah, Brother."

Nikita clenched her fists.

Then, she punched Niah hard in the side.

"Gah!"

"Why, why didn't you tell me sooner! You could have at least told *me* you were alive!"

"I-I'm sorry, Nikita. If I had contacted you, it would have surely raised suspicions."

Niah looked at the fuming Nikita, at a loss for what to do. He had never seen Nikita this emotional before.

Her own emotions were overwhelming her. The surging feelings in her heart spun her into a chaotic mess.

One man kept coming to mind. The man who had shielded her, who had arbitrarily sent her away to this place.

When he left the Academy, she hadn't even seen him off. Yet, he had stubbornly returned to the Academy, consistently staying by her side.

"If only I had known, none of this would have happened..."

Nikita bit her lip hard.

"Vi... Did you silence my junior, too, so he wouldn't tell me?"

"No, that was his own decision. He was the one who saved me in the first place."

Nikita's eyes widened.

'Perhaps Vikamon...'

'He might have known about Niah's impending assassination for a long time.'

'And that's why he returned to Jerion Academy.'

For whom was it?

'It was for me.'

Nikita had always known Vikamon's feelings.

After all, she was merely a tool for a political marriage within the Cincia Marquisate. She couldn't accept his feelings, so she had ignored them, and Vikamon knew this.

That's why Vikamon never confessed to Nikita in the end.

'He...'

Vikamon had left the Academy after getting entangled with Lucas. At that time, the group Vikamon attacked included the Third Princess.

Because of that, as punishment, he was expelled not only from the Academy but also from his family.

'Could there have been a reason for that, too?'

There might have been some underlying reason. The reason he had to return as Hanon.

And what if she was involved in that reason? As a third-year student, Vikamon couldn't openly watch over the second-year Third Princess.

What if he was by the Third Princess's side to prevent Niah's assassination?

'...Was it truly for me, even to the point of being cast out by his family?'

Nikita's lips were pressed together, bitten. This thought was clearly a leap of logic.

But recalling Vikamon's face as he looked at her in his final moments, it was a story she couldn't simply deny.

Vikamon, disguised as Hanon, had constantly stayed by Nikita's side. He supported Nikita, who always pushed herself too hard, making sure she didn't struggle.

That demeanor was exactly how Vikamon had been in the past.

'The reason he hadn't rashly informed me of Brother Niah's death was...'

'Perhaps he kept it a secret, considering the possibility that the Third Princess's faction might discover something.' 'And in preparation for a hypothetical situation, he clearly intended to reveal this fact to stop Nikita if she went out of control.'

Nikita recalled Vikamon's bittersweet smile as he looked at her in Hanon's guise.

'...He knew from the beginning.'

After hearing the news of Niah's death, Nikita had dabbled in the magic of the Ancient Dragon.

Once touched, the Ancient Dragon's magic cannot be stopped. Vikamon knew this, and that's why he smiled like that.

'And today.'

To completely erase the Ancient Dragon's magic etched into Nikita, Vikamon had prepared alone and, in the end, saved Nikita.

'Why?'

Nikita wanted to ask again. Why did he have to go to such lengths for her? She desperately wanted to go to him and ask.

But the answer was already set.

"It's alright."

"Nikita's safety is enough."

The words he had spoken so gently while looking at her. Once she knew he was Vikamon, the meaning behind those words all connected.

"Nikita, be happy."

'It's alright if these feelings aren't returned. Just Nikita's happiness is reward enough.'

That's what Vikamon had been saying. The blurry image of Vikamon was a complete mess.

His body, infused with molten steel, bore scars from lightning etched all over. And in the end, he had clearly taken something that had resided within her.

Though she didn't know exactly what it was, she was certain it was related to the Ancient Dragon's magic.

He had done everything, even sacrificing his own body for her. Her chest felt heavy. Unidentifiable emotions swirled within her. Her heart felt like it was tearing apart.

She felt sorry and pained that she had never even once responded to his feelings.

"You foolish man..."

Nikita clutched the lapels of her clothes tightly. She repeatedly pounded her heavy chest.

"Truly."

Thick tears streamed from her eyes. Yet, even with her tears, his final face remained unclouded in her mind.

They flow. Emotions overflow too much. This was the first time in her life she had felt such a thing.

It was a life where no one had truly seen her, except for Niah. No, even Niah, with his brilliant talent, hadn't been able to truly see her life.

Just as a common person cannot understand a genius, a genius also cannot understand a common person.

However, Vikamon was an ordinary person, just like Nikita. He also had no talent for magic and was treated as useless by the Niflheim family.

The only person who stood on the same level as her. Perhaps that's why Nikita had ignored him all the more.

Seeing him meant seeing herself. She had implicitly known this, which was why she closed her eyes to him.

But Vikamon had always been looking at her. His eyes were straighter and more steadfast than anyone else's.

All of Nikita's efforts were dismissed as natural because she was born into the Cincia Marquisate. No matter how outstanding her achievements, they were considered natural for someone from the Cincia Marquisate.

However, Vikamon praised her. He praised her accomplishments and showed her respect.

Nikita found comfort in that. Conversely, the Cincia Marquisate didn't acknowledge any of Nikita's efforts.

No matter what she did, she couldn't escape being a pawn for political marriage within Cincia.

But at this moment, she was completely free from Cincia. Because she had dabbled in the Ancient Dragon's magic, the Cincia Marquisate would no longer treat Nikita as one of their own.

Freedom. It was the first freedom Nikita had ever been given. A life she could live as Nikita, not as Nikita Cincia.

And this was the life Nikita had desired above all else. The real reason she had collapsed after Niah's death was because she had realized her miserable life was merely for political marriage.

And it was Vikamon who had given her this life. It was as if he was telling her:

'Even I, cast out from my family, am living openly like this.'

'Why couldn't Nikita live like that?'

The life he had shown her himself. All the actions he had taken so far reverberated back to Nikita.

She could live. She could definitely live. Vikamon had abandoned his family and lived brilliantly.

Because she had seen him, she, too, could surely live like that. Nikita was a hard worker. She knew how to rise again, even after falling.

And this time, she wouldn't be rising alone.

"Truly foolish."

She could no longer hold back her tears. She wanted to meet him right away and talk. She wanted to question him about every single thing he had done.

More than anything, she wanted to tell him the emotions that were now overflowing within her.

"...Nikita, the real Hanon was found a while ago."

At that moment, Niah's voice reached Nikita's ears.

"He's not Hanon Airey, is he?"

Even the First Prince's faction had confirmed that the person at the Academy wasn't Hanon. Nikita bit her lip upon hearing Niah's question.

"...I can't tell you who he is."

Nikita kept the secret. She couldn't reveal this truth, even for his sake.

Niah nodded.

"I'm only telling you this because I know what tool he used."

"A tool, you say?"

"A tool that allowed him to perfectly disguise himself as Hanon."

Nikita recalled the fact that he had also disguised himself as Hania.

"That's called the 'Bandage of the Veil.' In terms of classification, it's a type of divine weapon."

Niah's face darkened as he said this. All divine weapons come with risks.

It wasn't uncommon for people to meet their demise because of divine weapons.

"Brother, surely there aren't side effects, are there?"

"...Yes. The more you use the Bandage of the Veil, one of the three core emotions disappears."

Nikita's eyes slowly widened.

"Emotions, you mean?"

"Sadness, anger, love—one of the three universal emotions that humans feel disappears. And according to further research, it might not just be one, depending on the duration of use."

Nikita froze, her eyes wide open.

Sadness, anger, love. Half a year had already passed since Vikamon began using the Bandage of the Veil.

If he had lost an emotion, she already knew the most likely first candidate.

"No."

Nikita denied it.

"No. No..."

Just when she was finally ready to face his true feelings, for them to disappear... Nikita couldn't accept that fact.

And what was even more unbearable was that it was because of her.

'When Vikamon said "Be happy," it was...'

'Perhaps a farewell to his own fading emotions.'

"I have to go back right now!"

"Nikita, if you go back now, you'll only put yourself in danger!"

Niah urgently stopped Nikita.

"And it was his choice to protect you, wasn't it?"

The moment Nikita returned now, all of Vikamon's actions would become meaningless. Knowing that, Nikita suppressed her emotions and clenched her fists.

"...Alright."

Nikita accepted.

"But someday..."

If she were to meet him again, 'Even if he has lost his emotions,' she would make him find those emotions again.

'I have received so much.'

Therefore, she would absolutely return it to him.

Nikita's blue eyes fell upon the Demon Palace. Those eyes were now filled with a single person.