TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 122
Within a story not included in the viewing.
Olivia was searching for Ricardo, who had disappeared before her eyes. With anxious eyes, she was looking for Ricardo, who had vanished after uttering a foreboding farewell.
He disappeared.
Foolish and.
Stupid and.
The insolent Butler who teases his Master…
With a bitter smile, his presence faded away before her eyes.
The warm embrace of Ricardo, who had held Olivia, gradually grew cold. The warmth that had snugly remained in her heart scattered into the cold breeze, fading away.
“Ricardo?”
Olivia looked around, searching for the vanished Ricardo. Annoyed by the Butler who had disappeared after putting on such a show, Olivia kept looking around.
“Where did you go…?”
Olivia’s pupils trembled with anxiety.
“Don’t joke around. Okay?”
Her heart was strangely pounding.
It felt like tears were about to well up, and though she desperately called out Ricardo’s name, the only response was the hollow sound of the wind.
Something…
Her heart felt strangely uneasy.
She was scared.
“Ricardo…”
Olivia thought it was just the Butler’s Foolish Prank.
She believed it was an Event by the Butler to lift her Gloomy Emotion, as always.
Because it had to be.
If it wasn’t Ricardo’s prank…
She wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Clutching her trembling heart, Olivia desperately called Ricardo’s name.
“I’m going to get mad. If you don’t come out in three seconds, I’ll get mad… okay?”
Humans possess various senses.
Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—the five senses. Among them, an additional sense was weighing heavily on Olivia’s chest.
Hunch.
The hunch that she would never see Ricardo again was pressing down on Olivia with terrifying weight.
An overwhelming suffocation began to tighten Olivia’s chest.
It was stifling.
The oppressive emotion slowly began to redden Olivia’s Sharp Eyes.
With trembling eyes, Olivia touched the ground where Ricardo had disappeared with her bare hands and muttered.
“It’s strange… Ricardo was here just a moment ago…”
Olivia looked at the Academy students who had hurled malicious insults at her.
“Huh?”
Even if they cursed her, even if they threw Rotten Eggs at her, Olivia, with desperate sincerity, asked in a trembling voice for an answer to her question.
“I can’t see him.”
“I’m telling you, I can’t see him.”
“He was definitely by my side just a moment ago, Ricardo even played a prank… but I can’t see him.”
At their silence, her heart…
Thumped as if it would burst.
Her mind denied it was the Butler’s Prank, but deep in her heart, buried away, it kept giving her a negative answer.
It’s not a joke.
What you’re denying is true.
It kept whispering in Olivia’s ears.
“Huh…? I’m asking you.”
“I’m asking you…”
“I. I. I’m asking you! Okay? Why aren’t you saying anything? Why!”
Even as Olivia’s loud question echoed, the crowd remained silent.
Olivia was afraid of the silence.
“Why aren’t you saying anything… After talking so much, why aren’t you saying anything…”
-Step… Step…
The Academy students and Mikhail, Ruin, who had been whispering about Ricardo’s sudden disappearance, fell silent as they saw a woman walking toward Olivia.
“I…”
Yuria gritted her teeth.
With powerless steps, Yuria stood before Olivia, her shoulders beginning to tremble faintly. The vibration of emotions that refused to accept it weighed heavily on Yuria’s shoulders.
Looking at the spot where Ricardo had disappeared, Yuria muttered softly.
“Did you think I’d thank you if you left like this…?”
“Did you think I’d be happy that a Bad Person like you got what you deserved?”
“Why didn’t you give me a chance… Saying you’d apologize… Saying you were sorry, why didn’t you even talk to me.”
“What is this.”
Olivia looked at Yuria, whose fists were clenched.
Thinking that if it were Yuria, she might know where Ricardo was, Olivia, trembling, reached out her hand to Yuria, believing that someone as beloved as her would surely know where Ricardo was.
“Hey…”
“…”
“I can’t see Ricardo.”
“…Let go.”
“Ricardo was definitely in front of me, but he touched something he shouldn’t have… The person who gave me that stone said it was really dangerous and told me to keep it with me.”
“I said let go.”
“Hey, Yuria, Ricardo is not visib—.”
Yuria roughly pushed Olivia’s hand away.
“I said let go…!”
Yuria’s eyes were brimming with tears. As Yuria harshly shook off her hand, Olivia’s body fell to the cold floor.
Yuria glared at Olivia.
“Do you still not understand?”
“I’m a fool, so I don’t get it. So…”
Olivia, holding onto her trembling heart, looked at Yuria. Because she was a fool. No matter how much of a Genius she was called, when it came to human relationships, she was a fool.
Olivia asked Yuria, the person she least wanted to rely on.
“So… tell me…”
Bang, bang…
Olivia pounded on her chest in frustration.
“It’s so suffocating… This heart of mine feels so strange, it keeps telling me…”
“Like… my heart is shrinking… And now, it feels like I’ll never see Ricardo again…”
Hot tears began to stream down Olivia’s cheeks. Even though she kept lying to herself that it was A Trivial Thing… Even though she kept whipping herself, saying it was nothing, the anxiety whispered eerie words into her ears, and the tears wouldn’t stop flowing.
“My heart hurts strangely… So, okay? Tell me.”
Olivia grabbed Yuria’s hand again.
“I’m begging you like this. I’ll stop liking Mikhail too. So, tell me.”
Kneeling before Yuria, Olivia desperately cried out.
“I can’t do without Ricardo.”
“That fool has been so good to me. I’ve done nothing for him, so letting him go like this doesn’t make sense.”
Olivia’s feelings, having lost someone precious, began to unravel the thickly wound Bandage.
The emotions, friendship, and lingering feelings she had built up over 13 years were collapsing all at once.
“I couldn’t even give him a proper Gift. I said so many harsh things… I can’t let him go like this, can I?”
Olivia buried her forehead in Yuria’s hand.
“Please… just! Say something!”
Yuria glared at Olivia, veins of rage showing in her eyes. She merely bit her lips tightly and looked down at the pitiful Olivia sitting on the floor, unable to control her trembling shoulders.
“I clearly told you.”
“I told you Ricardo was sick… That he was so sick he might die!”
“I was scared of you, scared of what you might do to me because of one word I said! But I told you because I thought Ricardo might die. Do you understand?!”
“But, what did you say.”
“I…”
“What did you say!”
“I’m a fool…!”
Yuria let out an Empty Laugh and grabbed Olivia by the collar.
“You know why I can’t speak… Why are you pretending not to know!”
Yuria’s eyes glared at Olivia with the emotion of a Grudge.
“It’s because of you.”
Olivia bit her lips tightly and shook her head.
“No… I didn’t know.”
“Ha…” Yuria let out a hollow laugh as if it were absurd.
“Ricardo died because of you.”
In Yuria’s mind, Ricardo’s face kept appearing.
The image of Ricardo, holding onto a Straw Rope of Hope that seemed like it could snap at any moment, yet smiling, lingered before Yuria’s eyes.
Even though she had hated him.
Even though he had tormented her.
Because he had been her First Love.
Her heart ached so much.
“He was someone who only ever did bad things…”
“Someone I thought wouldn’t matter no matter what happened.”
“Someone who tormented me whenever I tried to like him…”
Drip… The sky began to darken, and soon after, the Clouds burst into tears.
The pouring rain soaked both Yuria and Olivia.
“Why does it hurt so much.”
Yuria looked up at the sky with a numb feeling.
“Ricardo was in so much pain.”
“…”
“He couldn’t even walk on his own, his body was covered in Black Scars. His breathing was so rough… His eyes were lifeless.”
“My chest hurts so much…”
Overwhelmed by the relentless questions of responsibility, Olivia shook her head frantically.
Because it was something she hadn’t known.
Because she thought it couldn’t possibly happen.
But.
The reasons for Ricardo’s pain pouring out of Yuria’s mouth pointed solely at her own responsibility.
“Like a fool, he didn’t even say he was in pain…”
“Like a fool, he smiled and said he was fine… Do you know that!”
Amidst the pouring rain, Yuria shouted at Olivia.
And.
The arrows of blame were not only directed at Olivia.
“What do you mean. That Ricardo came.”
A Platinum-Haired Silhouette was emerging through the crowd of students.
Princess Chartia.
Having finished her busy tasks, Chartia stood before Olivia, who was the focus of everyone’s gaze, exhaling heavily.
“Where is he.”
Chartia looked around.
Seeing the silence.
And the people shedding tears, Chartia spoke in a voice filled with anger.
“Where is That Guy.”
No answer came.
Yuria lowered her head.
Olivia simply looked down at her trembling hands with shaky eyes.
“I’m asking you! Where is that fool!”
With a trembling voice, Chartia asked Yuria.
“The Student Council made the wrong judgment.”
“What…?”
“Three days ago, that guy handed over a strange Bundle of Papers and left.”
Chartia was flustered.
The contents of the documents she hadn’t checked due to her busyness were vastly different from what she had known.
After seeing the truth of the matter that Ricardo had meticulously hidden, Chartia couldn’t help but be taken aback.
“The incident in the Dungeon. The Academy arson. All the things we thought were Ricardo’s doing…”
“…”
“They had nothing to do with him. Those idiots kept blaming Ricardo, so we issued Disciplinary Action… Damn.”
Chartia, with trembling eyes, looked at Yuria and said.
“He wasn’t involved.”
With a trembling voice, Chartia asked Yuria.
“Don’t you remember anything? You should know.”
“I…”
“Ricardo saved you and came out, didn’t he? Mikhail, you said you saw Ricardo saving Yuria back then too.”
The arrows of responsibility began to spread in various directions.
And.
“You idiots.”
A chilling voice began to tighten their breaths.
“Do you even realize what we’ve done?”
Chartia spoke the Hard Truth to them.
“If it weren’t for that guy here…”
A cold, unyielding truth.
“You’d all be dead by now.”
***
Olivia opened her tightly shut eyes and stared at the Ceiling.
“Ricardo…”
She felt Warmth.
The warmth of a hand stroking her head gently.
“Did you have a Nightmare?”
When she opened her eyes, Ricardo was there, smiling kindly.
As always, Ricardo smiled warmly at her with his gentle Voice.
“But there’s no Chocolate.”
Like a fool.