A Depressed Kendo Player Possesses a Reckless Aristocrat - Chapter 135



Omen

Two months had already passed since the winter break ended and the new semester began.

As the frost that had hurt everyone melted away, so too did winter recede.

What remained in the world was a faint base for life.

Between the melting snowfields, life sprouts.

On the plains covered in verdant green, flower petals dance as if mimicking the fluttering of butterfly wings.

The season was already completely dyed in spring.

‘…Time goes by fast.’

As I took in the scenery visible outside the window, I was suddenly lost in such a sentiment.

I felt a strangely unfamiliar sensation.

It felt like just yesterday it was winter, and now I woke up to find it spring.

As I ruminated on this slight incongruity, a single call broke through my thoughts.

“L-Lord… h-here, these, are the d-documents you need to p-process…”

A voice trembling with anxiety.

Responding to it, I raised my head to see the purple-haired one standing there in a thoroughly cowering stance.

She hesitantly extended a bundle of papers towards me.

“Th-this time… it’s because I have to submit the report on the Sentinel budget…”

Her voice was almost choked with tears, but the girl finished her sentence.

I gave a faint smile and took the documents.

“Thank you, Violet.”

“Y-yes, yes…”

“Having a secretary makes work flow more smoothly, indeed.”

Violet had recently become my secretary, assisting with the Sentinel-related paperwork.

Despite her dazed demeanor, her work was quite efficient.

I was getting help with my work because of her.

Of course, it seemed she wasn’t yet used to Sentinel life…

“U-uhm… th-thank you…”

Violet flinched at the casual compliment.

Her cheeks were flushed red.

I gave a bitter smile at her extremely shy reaction.

Actually, I felt sorry that I might be placing too much of a burden on Violet.

After all, she had joined the Sentinels because of my insistence.

I’d been concerned about Violet, who always seemed like an outcast, so I’d taken this opportunity to bring her into the Sentinels.

Naturally, as a commoner, Violet was intimidated by the gathering of the Imperial Princess and high nobles.

But she couldn’t refuse my repeated proposals and finally signed the admission form with tears in her eyes.

‘I wouldn’t blame her for hating me… this is almost bullying.’

I felt a pang of self-reproach, but I quickly shook it off.

Even if it was difficult and uncomfortable now, it would ultimately be beneficial for Violet.

In the original story, Violet appeared as a tragic villain.

If the story was to unfold as it did before, she would start showing signs of darkening within a year.

If I and the others were by her side by then, it would be possible to prepare for the tragedy early.

Maybe we could even prevent the darkening itself.

‘……I just hope she holds up well.’

Because I don’t want to lose anyone again in this life.

I added a hazy soliloquy.

My heart ached for no reason, but I didn’t show it.

Even as it was, Violet was already watching my every move, so if I even furrowed my brow here, wouldn’t she just faint?

“Hmm… it might not be so bad.”

My favorite character fainting.

A scene difficult to witness in many ways.

For a moment, a strange interest arose, but I barely suppressed my playfulness.

“L, Lord…?”

It was because of the purple cutie who was tilting her head with pure eyes.

For a moment I was going to torment that harmless creature, and a silly sense of guilt made me chuckle.

Violet was… how to say it… particularly dear.

As much as she was the character I loved most in the original, I had so many memories.

Just looking at her shimmering violet hair.

The moment I sat in the corner of the locker room, turning pages alone, vividly flashed before my eyes.

‘Whenever tears would burst reading Violet’s part, Changho-hyung used to comfort me.’

I wonder if he’s doing well now.

Because of me, he lost his qualifications as a player and went down to the provinces, I heard…

He was always someone I felt sorry towards.

‘Geez, what am I doing, getting lost in old memories.’

I shook off the stray thoughts.

My gaze suddenly turned to the clock, which was showing a late hour.

“It’s gotten late. You can go back now, Violet.”

“Y, yes…?”

“I’m planning to stay a bit longer and finish up some paperwork, so you don’t have to worry.”

“B, but…”

“Go now.”

Violet was showing a hesitant look.

Following my resolute attitude, she had no choice but to retreat in the end.

“T, then… I’ll… um, go in then…”

“See you tomorrow.”

-Squeak, Thump…

Behind the weak sound of the hinges, only silence remains in the surroundings.

I started the paperwork again.

Scratch, scratch…

For a while, the sound of the pen nib scraping paper continued within the office.

*

“Haa…”

Violet let out a faint groan.

The girl, fresh from the shower, threw herself onto her bed.

Her whole body felt heavy, like waterlogged cotton.

As she savored the damp, flowing listlessness, the ticking of the second hand pricked her ears.

The clock showed ten o’clock.

She could keenly feel how quickly the day had passed.

It had already been half a month since she started this busy routine.

The work, which had felt utterly awkward at first, was now starting to feel somewhat familiar.

Of course, dealing with the other team members was still difficult though…

-Woohoo, look who’s here today, Violet!

-Got some time? Wanna go for a training run? I was just about to head out!!

-Huh? You’re stuck on something in the paperwork? Hold on, let me take a look.

-Ah, it’s about the official mage registration. It’s simple. You just need to understand some basic rules…

-Um… Can I call you “unnie”?

-Oppa’s usually not one to open up easily, this is surprising.

-You don’t need to be so stiff just because I’m a princess.

-By the way… What’s your relationship with Raiden? You’re not… something special, are you…?

The lively hubbub still seemed to linger in her ears.

‘They don’t seem like bad people,’

Violet murmured quietly.

Violet. Violet. Violet.

How long had it been since her name had been called so much by others?

Her chest was filling with a soft, warm feeling.

It was a thrill she hadn’t felt in ages.

But that newness quickly gave way to what actually swamped the girl: fear.

‘……This everyday life, it’ll change once I take this bandage off.’

The girl absentmindedly touched her face.

What her fingertips met was a stark white bandage, covering more than half of her head.

*Sssrrr*…

Carefully peeling away the fabric, a hideous scar was revealed.

It looked as if burned by fire.

The price of a life, loathsome above all else.

‘Everyone… will hate me…’

Everyone she’d met before had.

They’d approached her warmly at first, but upon seeing this scar, they all turned their backs.

Yeah… it was that kind of ‘curse.’

A self-deprecating smile formed on her lips.

As the price for surviving alone from that burning village, the girl had been burdened with a lifetime of loneliness.

A cruel script that would never permit happiness.

The girl was merely a wooden puppet, dancing along the lines she was written to.

“…I thought it would be like that forever.”

There was a visitor who kept coming to this world, where only dust quietly settled.

Violet held that name within herself.

Ryden Lysicht.

The only boy who hadn’t changed even after facing her scar.

He hadn’t wavered before the curse. Rather, he even stepped closer towards her.

“Strange person…”

A mutter slipped out without her realizing.

Violet was silently closing her eyes, recalling a certain scene.

-You must have… been in so much pain…

From noble mtl dot com

-And lonely too.

A hand that gently stroked the scarred skin.

A voice that whispered tenderly in her ear.

A cheek silently tracing the path of tears.

From that blurry landscape, like a dream of one night, the clearest thing of all was the following phrase:

-Not repulsive at all.

As if it’s natural, he affirms his own existence.

Even to foolish, clinging questions, he moves his lips as if to answer them again and again.

“Just… why…”

Was the curse ineffective on him?

It was quite some time ago, but even now, it made absolutely no sense.

The questions didn’t stop there.

The attitude the boy took.

The favor he showed her.

That heart that keeps approaching with such kindness.

Just why, was he so warm toward her?

-Join the Sentinel.

-I will give you a place to belong.

When she heard that offer, Violet wanted to ask that.

Why he was doing this to her.

Why he was treating her as if she were already someone within his fold.

She was confused.

Uncontrollably, her heart kept pounding.

“I don’t know… I don’t know.”

Why are you looking at me with such affection in your eyes?

The question existed, but the answer didn’t return.

The girl just tossed and turned, sprawled out on the blanket.

*

Meanwhile, in a basement where the location could not be specified.

Into the backdrop of cool darkness, similarly dark-clad thugs stood.

Each of them deeply shrouded in robes.

Only the violet butterfly mark emblazoned on their chests identified them.

The Seekers.

Those listed as the Empire’s top priority targets for elimination had gathered in one place.

A dozen or so executives remained silent, until a pure white robe, seemingly the leader, revealed itself.

“Have you all gathered?”

“Your Holiness.”

They all lowered their heads.

The white figure offered a simple gesture in lieu of a greeting.

“The reason we have gathered here today… as you all know, the next opportunity has returned.”

Following the quiet declaration, the executives’ eyes gleamed.

But the light was far from pure.

It was an inferno of greed and murderous intent… the flames of demons.

“The realization of our grand ambition is nigh.”

The old man cloaked in the pure white robe, flashed a chilling smile at those gazes.