FVN Chapter 186: Shining Star
Chapter 186: Shining Star
chapter 186: shining star
inside the dark room, covered by blackout curtains.
the air was thick with a stale, musty odor mixed with a faint, sharp scent of flesh.
the floor was a chaotic mess, strewn with clothes and leftover lunch containers, nothing in its place.
on the bed, a woman lay buried under a blanket. her disheveled hair was tangled in all directions, and the unfocused eyes peeking through it lacked any clarity.
“k-kraush, is it really you?”
mary stammered, her words jumbled as she spoke.
she had instinctively opened the door upon hearing kraush’s voice, but the person standing before her was so different it left her confused.
kraush stood silently for a moment, watching her in her pitiful state, before speaking.
“yes. you came to my room, so i thought it fair to return the favor.”
mary flinched, her shoulders trembling.
only kraush knew about her visit to his room, and this confirmed for her that the person before her was truly kraush.
clenching her lips tightly, mary struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.
if she let go even for a moment, she felt they would burst out uncontrollably.
“mary.”
kraush placed the lunchbox karandis had given him on the desk before approaching her.
“what did sigrid say to you?”
the day mary had met kraush, she resolved to leave sigrid for good.
even if they had argued afterward, it wouldn’t have been enough to cause her to spiral into this level of ruin.
but now, mary was visibly shattered.
that meant sigrid must have said something in their confrontation that completely broke her.
mary’s gaze darted around, filled with deep, unspoken anguish.
“...even if i told you, kraush, you wouldn’t understand.”
those words immediately clued kraush into the possibility that sigrid had brought up events from before their regression.
mary was unaware that kraush, like her and sigrid, had regressed.
to her, it would seem pointless to share something kraush couldn’t possibly understand.
kraush stared at mary in silence, fully aware of something she didn’t know.
the arthur that existed in mary’s memories no longer existed in this world.
this was a fact not just unknown to mary, but to sigrid as well.
and this truth could become a devastating card to play against mary.
even if her trust in sigrid had crumbled, arthur likely still held a place in her heart.
“i see.”
kraush responded calmly, pulling out a chair and sitting down, his tone betraying none of the thoughts racing through his mind.
mary’s eyes wavered violently.
“i-i’m sorry. kraush came all the way here for me, but i’m saying things like this...”
she quickly showed her vulnerable side, apologizing profusely.
mary was extremely anxious about the possibility of kraush resenting her.
after all, kraush was the only one who truly supported her.
in mary’s heart, kraush stood far above sigrid, and the thought of upsetting him terrified her.
mary had spent her life as a knight, devoted to serving someone else.
that deeply ingrained nature hadn’t disappeared even after the regression.
“there’s always something people find hard to talk about. it’s fine.”
kraush said with a gentle smile, as if to reassure her.
“if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. that’s your choice, mary. i only came because i heard you locked yourself in your room after fighting with sigrid.”
his words were not an interrogation but a reassurance born from genuine concern.
the moment she heard that, mary felt a sudden surge of emotion welling up inside her.
even though she had shut herself away, she knew all too well what was happening outside.
mary understood sigrid’s tendencies better than anyone, knowing full well that she was likely being slandered and dragged into the mud.
she’d seen sigrid act that way countless times before.
of course, she had never imagined that sigrid’s cruel habits would one day be directed at her.
even so, it wasn’t hard for mary to guess that her reputation had sunk lower than ever.
perhaps that’s why kraush’s words of concern cut so deeply into her heart.
it felt like being acknowledged on a desolate island where no one else could reach her.
even though kraush surely knew how low her reputation had fallen, he had still made the effort to visit, even going so far as to appear in a woman’s guise.
“sniff... hick...”
before she knew it, tears were streaming down mary’s face.
seeing this, kraush pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.
“what’s with the crying?”
“i-i’m sorry. the tears just keep coming...”
already broken in both body and spirit, mary only cried harder when kraush began wiping away her tears.
her sobs, filled with anguish, echoed for several minutes.
when her tears finally subsided, kraush poured her a glass of water and handed it to her.
「arthur only chose you because your talents were useful. you’re the perfect meat shield, after all!」
the mary of old would have vehemently denied such claims.
she had once been the divine spear, a knight with unshakable pride and confidence.
but the mary of today was different.
her spirit had been broken long ago, leaving her heart in shambles.
her self-esteem was already in ruins, and now she felt entirely isolated, abandoned by the world.
when she abandoned her loyalty to sigrid and even arthur’s love became uncertain,
the words sigrid herself uttered were an irreversible wedge for her.
「do you think arthur would like you as you are now? without being the divine spear, you’re absolutely useless! just lock yourself away in a corner, longing for arthur for the rest of your life! do you think arthur would ever come looking for you?」
「no, that’s not true. arthur wouldn’t, arthur wouldn’t!」
as mary screamed in despair, sigrid, pouring out all her emotions, looked at her with an exhausted expression.
in sigrid’s eyes, mary was no longer visible.
instead, she turned her back on someone who held no value anymore.
something so broken could no longer be of use anywhere.
when something has lost its value, it must be discarded.
and so, sigrid stepped towards the door.
「ugh, truly, a useless woman. you couldn’t even manage to bear the cursed one’s child.」
with words that pierced mary’s heart, sigrid opened the door.
「i should’ve let you be executed back then.」
watching sigrid leave, mary completely broke down that day.
she locked herself in her room and never came out again.
“everything is my fault... if only i hadn’t been so useless, if i had tried harder, everything would’ve been fine.”
after hearing the entire story from mary, kraush remained silent.
‘damn, she’s not wrong though.’
even kraush thought there was no lie in sigrid’s words.
[ get your act together before your agreement shows on your face. ]
noticing kraush’s reaction, crimson garden, who was outside the dormitory window, spoke up.
barely regaining his composure, kraush adjusted his expression.
“don’t put too much stock in someone who sees people as mere tools.”
mary looked at kraush with wavering eyes.
“what matters is yourself. the mary diana i’ve seen isn’t such a weak person.”
with a light laugh, kraush gestured outside.
“seriously, how many out there could actually best you among the people outside of me?”
mary’s strength was at a level no one could disparage.
in fact, except for kraush, hardly anyone at rahern academy could go head-to-head with mary.
“rahern academy is filled with exceptional talents. if someone like you, standing among the top ranks, says you’re useless, then there are barely any useful people in this world.”
kraush raised a hand and gently untangled mary’s disheveled hair.
with each touch, mary’s body flinched.
“so stop blaming yourself so much.”
as he smoothed her hair, kraush leaned slightly forward.
he rested his elbow on his knee, propping his chin in his hand with a smile on his face.
“i’ll take care of anyone who tries to put you down.”
that smile was so enchanting that it could momentarily erase even the memories of sigrid.
at the same time, the tangled thread of mary’s emotions unraveled in an instant.
the one who unraveled that thread was none other than the person standing before her.
“so come on out already.”
mary’s eyes began to well up again.
“you don’t belong in here, do you?”
amid her streaming tears, kraush stood up and faced her.
“if it’s really hard...”
mary, following his words, lifted her head and met kraush’s gaze.
through the curtains, soft sunlight filtered in and gently illuminated kraush’s face.
“caw!”
at the sound of a crow from somewhere outside, a gust of wind swept through, rustling the blackout curtains.
in that moment, the sunlight poured in, casting kraush in a light brighter than ever before.
it was a radiance so bright it could almost be compared to a star.
“just follow me.”
that starlike light outshone even arthur.
crack—
and then, above mary’s head, the sound of the final dial cracking echoed through the room.
translators note: