NOVEL NEXT C3
Chapter 3: I am destined to break off my engagement (3)
~Year 1124 in the Leavrov Kingdom calendar, Kolona village~
In this village near the border, countless screams and agonized moans had been heard since morning.
“Everyone, evacuate! They’re coming again!”
Hordes of monsters were pouring in from across the border.
As everyone fled in terror from the sudden onslaught of monsters, only one woman reversed her steps to face the horde.
A woman with crimson hair, creates a black orb from her palm.
The stabilization of black magic, something even experienced mages struggle to do but she manifested it with such ease and immediately launched the orb toward the horde of demons.
Unstabilized again as soon as it left her hand, the black energy exploded with a loud crackle as soon as it touched the creatures’ bodies.
With a single blow, several of the creatures fell, and the woman did not pause to prepare her next spell.
“Lady Ariana, you must flee now!”
“Wait a minute, Tommy and Anna haven’t gotten out yet!”
The woman called Ariana, unmoved by the servant’s calls of danger, created a second black orb in the palm of her hand.
Soon after, a second explosion occurred, and more demons were killed or felled in the blast.
In the aftermath of the explosion, a small gap was created between the horde of demons, and a pair of young children ran through it, holding hands.
“Tommy, Anna!”
“Sister Riana!”
Before anyone could say a word, the lady’s servant immediately rushed to the children’s side.
Immediately scooping them up in her arms, she began to run toward her master.
“I’ll protect the children, Lady Arianna, please evacuate as quickly as possible!”
“Now, wait a minute, Elise, I think I can still use this one more time!”
“Liana, you should run away too!”
“It’s really dangerous now, come on!”
“You go first, I really only have one more use and I’ll follow you!”
“Sister Riana!”
After screaming at Elise and forcing her to escape, Ariana began to chant another spell.
The third spell, summoning all of her remaining energy, created a sphere even larger than the previous two.
-Kwagwagwang!
With a loud explosion, the horde of monsters was swept away once more, but it was still not enough to completely stop the onslaught.
“…Ah.”
Almost simultaneously with the activation of the spell, Ariana’s body lay horizontally on the field.
It was a classic case of exhaustion, a phenomenon that occurs when the magic in your body is used to its limit.
“Ariana!”
By the time I realized it, my body was already moving of its own accord to rescue her.
“…Al, Lex? How….”
You haven’t changed a bit since the day I met you.
Why had I misunderstood you so much?
Why did I do that, why did I do that.
* * *
“Ariana!”
I woke up with a start, my heart pounding.
The sight of her, sacrificing herself to the limit to protect others, made my heart pound uncontrollably.
“Alex, are you okay?”
“…Dale?”
I heard Dale’s voice and took in my surroundings.
It was my dormitory at the Academy.
I’d blacked out at the ball last night and only woke up with Ariana’s help.
“Ugh….”
“Headache again?”
“No, it’s manageable.”
My head still throbbed a little, but I felt much better than I had last night.
“Did you have a nightmare? Your bed is covered in sweat.”
“Nightmare….”
It wasn’t much different from a nightmare in that it was a memory I wanted to erase.
Every single thing I saw in my dream was true and real, a reality that hadn’t happened yet, a reality of the future.
“What the hell am I….?”
What was the old me thinking, dismissing the border guards?
It was a decision I would never have made in my right mind. I can only describe it as being mesmerized by something.
It’s ridiculous to think about now, when I’m still a student, but in my previous life, I believed with all my heart that it was the right thing to do.
It was like an article of faith but it wasn’t just the border guards either.
The foolish policies I implemented less than a year after becoming king had brought ruin to the once great kingdom of Leavrov, over a thousand years old.
The treasury is completely empty, the defensive forces have been all but disbanded, and diplomatic relations are in such disarray that even aid from our neighbors has been denied.
It was all my own doing, but there was always someone to blame.
‘Letting your wealth rot away in the warehouse won’t help you at all. Let’s release everything and revitalize the economy!’
‘Border guards, is this necessary? Nothing has happened in a hundred years, do we really need them?’
‘Zee, what are you talking about, I’m the queen! Alex, it’s not even worth talking to this rude person anymore, kick her out right now, and cut off all diplomatic trade as an example!’
“Crazy bitch….”
As soon as I remembered my lost future, a curse word spontaneously came out of my mouth.
A selfish woman who swims in a field of flowers while her head is swimming in a pool of water and who strokes her pride where it doesn’t belong.
Disgust washed over him, even at himself for having once loved such a woman.
“…Alex?”
-Puck!
“Lord Alex, what are you doing?!”
-Puck! Puck! Puck!
“Stop it, what are you doing to the precious jade body!”
After slapping his face until he tasted blood in his mouth, his disgust finally subsided.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think I could calm down if I didn’t do this.”
“Please don’t do anything weird. What if you scratch your precious jade body?”
Dale’s advice was duly ignored, and he prepared to hurry out the door.
“Where’s the carriage?”
“It’s ready. Oh, and there’s a guest waiting for you, Alex.”
“A guest? Is that Ariana?”
“What? Ariana?”
“…Of course not, Ariana.”
It was selfish of me to hope that she would still like me after everything I’d done.
If it’s not Ariana, it doesn’t matter who’s there, so I should just say hello and send them on their way.
With that thought in mind, he opened the door and was greeted by the last person he wanted to see at the moment.
“Ah, Alex, you’re up.”
“…….”
“How are you feeling?”
The urge to strangle her was overwhelming, but instead of doing something that would only increase my losses, I spoke with as much emotion as I could muster.
‘I see you’re already gone, so I guess you don’t care that your fiancé’s collapsed?’
“Fuck off.”
“…What?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I said get lost.”
He shoved Sierra aside, who looked confused, and strode off to see a woman who was a million times more important than this one.
“Alex, what the hell is wrong with you!”
“I told you the other day, get out of my sight.”
“Well, that’s what you said right before you blacked out!”
“Then I’ll say it again now: disappear from my sight, never to be seen again.”
“What the hell is wrong with you!?”
Ignoring Sierra, who was still trying to follow along, I hurriedly climbed into the ready carriage and locked the door.
“Alex, you have to take me for a ride!”
“Don’t make me say the same thing over and over again.”
“You said you were taking me to the palace this winter break, and you were going to introduce me to the king and queen!”
Nonsense.
Even if there was a knife to my throat, I would never let her into the palace.
That’s the second biggest mistake I made in my last life, letting her stay with me.
“Let’s go, Dale.”
“Yes, sir.”
Without hesitation, Dale grabbed the reins and started the carriage.
Sierra’s body slumped to the ground as she leaned against the wagon, but once the horse started moving, it didn’t stop.
“Alex, stop! Alex!!”
Sierra’s loud shout came from the back of the carriage, but there was no time to react to the garbage.
“I’ll take you to the palace right away.”
“…But before that, there’s a stop we need to make first.”
“What?”
While it was important to get back to the palace and greet Abba and Mama immediately, there were more pressing matters that needed to be taken care of.
“Go to Anastasia’s mansion.”
“…Okay.”
It was time to correct the biggest mistake I’d made in my past life, a life that had done nothing but wrong.