The girl blankly touched her cheek.
Was she in disbelief that she had been slapped? She looked at Sasha, then at the hand that had struck her… just for a moment.
Her face twisted with rage as she raised her hand high.
But just as she lifted her hand—
“Hey. What are you doing… That girl’s you know who.”
The others, who had been silently watching the situation unfold, stepped in to stop her.
“If you get involved with her, you’ll only lose. Are you crazy?”
“She’s already been exposed as a Koskov. If she lashes out without thinking…”
Whispers that normally wouldn’t have been audible.
But in a library this quiet, even the smallest voice could be heard.
Sasha’s eyes narrowed.
“…I see. You’re right. Fine. I’ll apologize for insulting you.”
“No. I told you to retract your insult toward Adel.”
The girl replied.
“Fine… But do you even realize what kind of position he’s in now? Even in our own family, we get nagged to get closer to Adel Bliss. Do you think it’s just our household?”
“……”
Sasha flinched slightly.
She had been confident she could snap back at whatever was said. But as soon as Adel’s name came up, her mouth wouldn’t open.
“If you didn’t want people saying that kind of stuff, you shouldn’t have gone after the top student. What did he ever do wrong?”
“So it was because of you? No wonder Adel ignores every girl who tries to talk to him.”
“Did you threaten him or something? Scary~.”
Clatter—
The girls stood up.
They left the old books they’d pulled out messily scattered across the table and grabbed their bags.
“If you don’t want to get hurt, it’s best to break it off soon.”
“──!!”
That last comment made Sasha’s temper flare, and she glared at them. But they were already gone, leaving as if fleeing the scene.
“……”
Left alone, Sasha let her hands fall limp.
Strangely, she couldn’t say anything in response.
When they said not to be a burden on Adel… she found herself agreeing without even realizing it and didn’t know what to do next.
This and that… all of it felt unfamiliar.
That day, the library closed a little earlier than usual.
***
The walk back to the dormitory was no easier.
Maybe it was because the upcoming exchange was approaching. Tane which usually became deserted on weekends was unusually crowded that day.
And every time Sasha passed by, she heard remarks similar to the ones from earlier, over and over again.
“That’s her, right?”
“I heard she’s been hanging around with Adel lately.”
“Seriously? Someone from that family?”
“You never know. Maybe they already did it once—.”
Public perception is always like this.
Getting a single apology changes nothing.
Once a rumor has spread far enough, it turns into a kind of brand burned onto someone’s name.
Before long, it becomes nothing more than gossip…something easy to chew up and tear apart.
“……”
Adel had said he didn’t care about his reputation. He told her not to worry about it.
But… seeing his honor plummet this badly because of her, because she was a Koskov, she couldn’t help but care.
Until now, no one had ever tried to approach her.
So the idea of someone she knew being harmed because of her was something entirely new to Sasha.
“Adel……”
Under the pouring gazes, she kept walking without purpose.
– ……
The chatter continued. It felt distant, as though it were coming from far away, yet it made her head throb with a dull ringing.
The sound of rumors spreading. The sight of it. Malice shimmering like a heat haze.
To Sasha, it felt closer to fear than anything else.
She hadn’t done anything wrong, yet she felt as though she was becoming the perpetrator.
…And from that came a reckless thought: that she might end up becoming the same kind of person as her father, David Koskov.
Her trauma was triggered.
But she was still holding on. Gritting her teeth against the nausea rising in her throat, she climbed the stairs.
“……”
Up there was her room. A small space that belonged to her alone.
Being alone was comfortable. Being alone was safe……
And then, the next moment—
When she stopped in front of her dorm room door.
[Die. You filthy bitch]
[Murderer’s daughter]
[Get out of Tane]
[You’re disgusting]
[Leave Adel alone]
Graffiti covering the door from top to bottom.
Sasha stood there, frozen.
……Creak.
After a long while, she quietly cleaned the door, stepped inside her room, and locked it.
Click.
***
Sasha Koskov.
The only remaining blood relative of David Koskov who was formerly a knight of the Special Tasks Order and was now branded a “great sinner”.
Though officially announced to the public as an ordinary civilian, one day he suddenly committed a crime in which he single-handedly cut down and killed half of the Special Task Knights.
The investigation uncovered extensive evidence that he had been cooperating with demon worshippers.
And so, Sasha’s father came to be regarded as a great sinner.
Because of that, Sasha was stripped of her mana core.
It was revealed that she had inherited her father’s extraordinary talent in full.
Before she entered Tane, nothing was permitted to her.
Sasha lived in a cramped room that could hardly be called fitting for the daughter of a noble family.
She came to tremble even over a single meal. All of her family’s assets had been confiscated, leaving her perpetually short on money, without even proper clothes.
Scraping by on poor-quality food became her daily routine.
Her room was located right next to the Black Alley, in a residential area that might as well have been called a slum.
Every morning, Sasha woke to the stench of cheap tobacco drifting in from the neighboring room and fell asleep to the sound of someone shouting drunkenly.
Those things, at least, were familiar to her.
By now, they didn’t bother her anymore. She was used to enduring.
If she could just endure this difficult time, someday she would see the light…that was the self-hypnosis she used to keep going, day after day.
──Ten years passed.
Seven-year-old Sasha became seventeen.
Ten years of living under the weight of poverty, harsh reality, and the stigma of being a criminal’s daughter.
…Even so, it was bearable.
She had grown able to fire back calmly at the filthy curses and hostile gazes of the slums.
She succeeded in changing her path to magic and enrolling at Tane. Maybe she had talent. She thought it was doable.
She had already grown accustomed to humiliation.
If she was alone, she could handle anything. She could endure it.
Yes.
…If she were alone.
“……”
What came to mind was Adel Bliss.
The scene from that day….the emotions that had felt like salvation rose vividly, almost within reach.
She remembered how he expressed gratitude without hesitation, even toward her harsh and distancing tone.
…She felt free. She liked the way his eyes seemed unconcerned with circumstances or background.
“……”
But that couldn’t be allowed.
The feelings of freedom she had experienced beside him were not something she should have had.
Adel Bliss had not freed her from her chains.
Rather, it was a kind of sacrifice. One where he would be bound by those chains together with her.
“……”
Sasha hugged her knees. Gritting her teeth, she swallowed back the unknowable emotions again and again. Or maybe not. Who knows….she might have already let some slip out.
If hearts were something visible, then Sasha Koskov’s heart would look like something awful. It was ripped to shreds and left for dead.
…Yes, that was probably true.
The thought made it impossible to bear any longer.
“…Adel.”
Between her clasped hands, Adel’s name finally escaped.
She kept her hands over her mouth and closed her eyes.
She didn’t want to say anything. Didn’t want to see anything. As if the whole world was rejecting her, she flinched and held her breath.
Pathetic….that’s what it had to be. Slipping away with her tail between her legs, not even able to speak up, and now crying on top of it. No, not just pathetic…disgraceful.
Even as those thoughts crossed her mind, Sasha couldn’t stop the tears.
“…I’m sorry.”
She had never experienced something like this. Someone else getting hurt because of her.
And this wasn’t the first time. Ever since she met Adel, everything had been a series of firsts.
…She didn’t know what she was supposed to do.
So Sasha Koskov had no choice but to do things her own way.
Just like those days, long ago, when she used to shut herself away.
Just like back then, when she clung to a discarded doll and tried to endure.
She clutched the wishing stone in her hand and held her breath in silence.
She knew it was just a superstition.
But when she was driven to this edge….and when she was emotionally cornered like this, even she couldn’t help but pray.
To nothing more than a mere stone.
She prayed desperately that everyone would forget her.
***
At some point, she must have cried herself to sleep.
Knock, knock.
It was the sound of knocking that stirred her awake.
How much time had passed? She looked outside….night had already fallen.
– Miss Sasha, there’s a parcel addressed to you that must be received by today. Please confirm receipt.
“…….”
Wishes didn’t come true. Of course they didn’t. Wishing stones were just superstitions to begin with.
Even the stone was gone. Maybe it had fallen out while she slept. It didn’t matter.
Knock, knock.
– Miss Sasha? Miss Sasha, are you there?
She dragged herself to the door and turned the handle.
“There you are. Please sign here.”
“……”
“Thank you, Miss Sasha Koskov. Confirmation comp—”
The maid flinched and fell silent mid-sentence. She must’ve seen the last name. Sasha took the parcel and was about to close the door, thinking as much, when—
“M-Miss Sasha.”
“…What is it?”
“Y-Your neck… the back of your neck…”
The maid’s reaction was strange.
Despite being trained to show no emotion as a maid of Tane Academy, she couldn’t hide the tremble in her eyes.
“…On the back of your neck, that…”
Gulp.
The sound rang unusually loud.
At the same time, the maid hurriedly stepped away.
“……?”
Feeling something was off, Sasha returned to her room.
She looked into the mirror. Red eyes….expected. But the back of her neck?
She lifted her hair to check.
“……”
And then froze in place.
What emerged, clear and undeniable, was the mark of a demon.
The “thorned sword and bone scale” symbol.
The very one the Special Task Knights were desperately scouring the academy for.
“…Why…?”
Questions barely formed before instinct took over. She bolted out of the dormitory.
***
It happened just as the maid ran off to report what she’d seen:
One of the dormitory students bore the wanted mark.
Then, someone suddenly blocked her path.
“…Where are you rushing off to?”
“Y-You are…? A professor…?”
“Yes. Has something happened?”
“…Yes, I must report immediately. I’ve identified a student bearing the same neck mark the Special Task Knights came to inspect previously. From the Herein Dormitory, Sasha Koskov…”
It was at that moment.
The air shimmered and warped.
“I see.”
The man smiled as he spoke. And in the next instant—
A soft, slicing sound like fabric being torn echoed.
“…Guh…?”
A single blow. Piercing straight through her lungs.
The maid’s eyes widened.
Air hissed through her ruined lungs. She couldn’t even scream.
“A perfect shape. I see, thank you for letting me know… Miss Maid.”
“…….!!”
The man who pulled his hand away smiled quietly.
“You must share in the guilt as well. A maid of Tane should know her place, and yet you ran off without decorum… Hmm. Or perhaps for the sin of tattling on the student under your care…”
“Wh-What…”
“She was doomed either way. I merely made her death a little cleaner… Nothing more. No need to thank me.”
No one could survive with a pierced lung.
Before long, the maid breathed her last.
“…How disappointing. No spirit at all. Boring.”
His tone carried the weight of disappointment, but only for a moment.
The man slowly spread his arms.
Pop.
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop—!
At the same time, the magical lights of Tane began to go out.
“And now, the stage is set.”
Then, the same darkness as that day.
Within it, the man dressed as a professor murmured with a chilling smile:
“The overture is over, Adel Bliss. Will you escape this time as well?”
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