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As Kania snuggled up to Frey, the Sun, which had been rumbling violently as if it was going to fall down at any moment, began to stabilize.

– Ruuuumble!

“Hiek?”

“Ack.”

Simultaneously, a faint earthquake shook the land.

Although it was relatively weak, it was enough to make them fall to the ground.

“Ugh…”

Clana let out a moan as she fell on her butt, yet Irina simply stared at her before asking in a grave voice.

“Clana, can I ask you something?”

“Huh- yes?”

Clana, who was gently rubbing her derriere, stiffened as she met Irina’s eyes.

“How do you know about the system?”

Irina’s eyes shone with a sharp glint.

Clana had been unaware of Frey’s circumstances until recently. Even if she had memories of the ‘Ordeal’ Frey had mentioned… it was odd that she would know of the ‘System.’

“The System? Um… about that…”

Thus, Clana quietly stammered.

“So… uh…”

Quite a long time passed before Clana hesitantly opened her mouth.

“You… told me, didn’t you?”

“What?”

“Irina, you gripped my neck and told me everything.”

Irina became dumbfounded at Clana’s explanation.

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Yes?”

“There’s no way I could have told you. If I had, Frey…”

Irina rebutted in a tremulous voice and quietly looked over at Frey.

“…would have become like that.”

“Ah.”

Clana briefly became absent-minded as she came to that realization. Then, she held her head and started mumbling.

“But, I’m sure… I definitely heard it from you.”

“What are you…”

“From Ms. Kania as well.”

Clana slightly lifted her head and turned to look at Kania, who was still silently collapsed on top of Frey.

“I heard the truth from Kania while she attacked me in a frenzy….”

“…Just when and where?”

Irina started to become frustrated as Clana continued her nonsensical story.

“Uh…”

Clana became lost in thought and guilt soon overflowed.

“It was the day I visited Frey’s mansion shortly after I became the Empress.”

Clana’s hands were trembling.

Unknown symptoms that had been tormenting Clana for the past few weeks-

The hell that abruptly started after a nightmare, had come back to haunt her again.

“It’s all my karma…”

However, Clana was no longer distressed by the symptoms she didn’t know the cause of.

The shivering was a reminder of the sensation of piercing Frey’s body with a light arrow and dagger.

She also realized it was the result of the covenant she made with Frey – her sole friend and companion during her childhood.

That was why she decided to embrace her symptoms as both her karma and proof of her connection with Frey via the covenant.

“……Hmm.”

Irina, who had been observing Clana, continued.

“So, you’re saying you only learned about the ‘System’ through the ‘Ordeal?’”

“Ordeal… You’re saying it was a tribulation?”

“Yeah, if you know what the ‘System’ is, you should also know about the ‘Ordeals.’”

Clana blanked out for a short moment before shaking her head.

“No… what I experienced was not an ordeal.”

“What?”

“It was undeniably the reality.”

Irina frowned.

“Clana. About that ordeal… No, just how many memories of it do you remember?”

“…They’re from after graduating from the academy, so a few years at the very least.”

“A few years!?”

Irina exclaimed in shock at Clana’s answer. She then calmed herself and began to sort out the situation.

‘If what she said is true, she discovered the truth about Frey as she started remembering the years’ worth of memories from the Ordeal…’

Frey said the Second Ordeal was merely a simulation of a what-if scenario created to test him.

Not only that, he also said that everyone in the Second Ordeal were all supposed to be fabricated illusions created by the system.

But for some reason, Clana remembers the events from the ordeal.

She even learned the truth about the ‘System.’

‘…Does that even make sense?’

Irina quietly brooded over these inexplicable events and tried to inquire further.

“Cough!”

However, Frey, who had been lying down, started to cough up blood.

““Ah.””

The two girls who had been in a daze since the Sun rose up and the earthquake, only just came to a realization.

That what they were talking about wasn’t important right now.

““……….””

A few hours after the events in the woods, which held Clana and Frey’s memories, came to an end-

“Kuheuk!”

“F-Frey!!”

Clana and Irina had stealthily carried the unconscious Frey and Kania back to the dormitory.

“Ugh, ugh…”

“Why, why is this happening…?”

They were anxiously nursing Frey, who continued to cough up blood while unconscious on the bed.

“M-Ms. Irina, why does Frey keep on coughing up blood?”

“J-Just wait. I’m trying to find that out.”

However, despite all their care, it didn’t have much effect.

The bowl they used had already filled to the brim with his blood and began overflowing.

– Drip…

“Ah, ahh…”

They couldn’t even lay Frey down on the bed in fear of him choking on his blood. Clana held a bowl near his mouth and began to tearfully plead as he started coughing up blood again.

“Please, please don’t die…”

“Kuhuk…”

“E-Even though I finally found out the truth. Even though I can finally understand you.”

“Ugh…”

“Even though… I can finally love you…”

Although it was only for a limited time, Frey had previously been able to walk around without any problems.

But that same person had become exceedingly ruined beyond any medical reasons – All because she caused him to suffer another penalty.

“Eugh…”

Her hands trembled as she drowned in guilt and she tearfully buried her head against Frey’s chest.

“W-Wait… something’s off.”

“Yes?”

Clana, who had been crying for a long time while leaning against Frey, raised her head at Irina’s remark.

“W-Why hasn’t Frey’s lifespan decreased?”

“What… what do you mean?”

Clana became filled with hope.

The fact that Frey’s lifespan hadn’t decreased meant that the time they could spend together had increased.

She still had a chance to take good care of him. She still had a chance to bear his mark on her body.

“This… is an apparatus that shows Frey’s remaining lifespan.”

“…L-Let me see it!”

As soon as Irina explained the apparatus, Clana swiftly snatched it away.

“…Uh?”

Then, with a face full of hope, Clana looked at the device before turning to Irina with a perplexed expression.

“Ms. Irina, what does this mean?”

“…What do you mean?”

“The date written here. It says two years and two months from now. Where did the rest of his lifespan go and why…”

Hearing that, Irina dejectedly lowered her head.

“It can’t be. This date… is it the day he dies?”

It was only then that Clana realized the meaning of the date.

No, in fact, she had realized it the moment she saw the date, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it.

“He, he’s really… going to die. Without even being able to live a full 3 years.”

Clana muttered in a daze.

She had been aware of the fact Frey was on limited time.

However, it was a lot shorter than she had expected. Along with the fact there was a precise date of his death, or rather, the longest time he would be able to live. These realizations mercilessly shook Clana’s mind.

“…Anyways, the important thing is that his lifespan didn’t decrease.”

“It hasn’t decreased?”

“Yeah, if it did… the device would have shown 1 year, 1 month from now.”

Irina continued.

“So, maybe, what Kania and I… no, what Kania did wasn’t in vain.”

“Kuluk!!”

While she was feeling both helpless and complicated by the situation, she wiped Frey’s blood.

“But considering how much blood he is throwing up… it must not have been done perfectly.”

She mumbled while biting down on his lips and with blood flowing down.

“Someone like me… What an archmage I turned out to be.”

Thus, only the sound of Frey’s coughs echoed throughout the room for a while.

“Ugh…”

“Ms. Kania?”

“Kania!”

The silence was broken only after Kania slowly opened her eyes and rose from the temporary bed placed next to Frey’s.

“This place… Ugh!”

Kania, who opened her eyes in a groggy state, soon felt an excruciating pain in her chest and desperately hunched over with her mouth shut.

“Kania! What’s wrong?”

“Ms. Kania! Are you hurt…?”

As the two girls called out, Kania momentarily became lost in thought before smiling and standing up from her bed.

“I see. I managed to succeed in the end.”

“But, looking at the Young Master’s condition… there seems to be a predicament.”

“U-uh, yeah…”

Kania seemed serene, and Irina, who had been diagnosing Frey until now, proceeded to explain.

“From what I saw, Frey’s lifespan is safe, but his vitality seems to have been taken a hit. Of course, we should be thankful for even that… but he’s not recovering for some reason.”

“Of course he wouldn’t.”

Kania approached Frey with a smile still plastered across her face.

– Shwick.

““…Ah?””

Kania lied down next to Frey and hugged him tight as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Young Master.”

Kania affectionately gazed at Frey.

“Please have a good rest.”

As the two girls looked on, stupefied, Kania started talking with a solemn voice.

“I think a side effect appeared when we mixed and separated our souls.”

“A side effect?”

“Yes, traces of the Young Master’s soul still lingers inside of me, causing his body to become unstable. That’s why recovery is extremely slow.”

Kania gently stroked Frey, who had stopped coughing up blood at some point and explained to the two girls who still looked dumbfounded.

“Which is why I have to stay close to him like this until he wakes up.”

With that said, Kania tightly hugged Freya and quietly closed her eyes.

Due to the ‘Curse of Unity’ cast on her, Kania felt Frey’s pain all throughout her body, his complicated feelings despite being unconscious, and even his heartbeat in all their entirety.

“…Hey.”

“Ms. Kania.”

Seeing Kania smiling blissfully, Irina and Clana began speaking nervously.

“I’m… going to make a ‘Blood Oath’ to Frey. I will pledge my soul to him…”

“I-I need to make a new covenant on his soul… Otherwise, I think I’m going to cra…”

“Not now.”

However, Kania silently tilted her head and cut them off.

“I’m afraid Young Master’s soul is in an unstable condition right now. Holding magical covenants might cause problems.”

“S-Still…”

“Please cooperate for his speedy recovery.”

Kania knew that magical covenants wouldn’t have any effects on the soul. However, she coldly intervened and crushed their objections.

“Mm…”

Kania caressed his face and enjoyed his touch with a delighted smile.

Frey, who had manipulated his memories so as not to hate her. He, who gave up his life force in order to save her.

Also, the person whose grace she can finally start to gradually repay.

““……….””

Thus, silence lingered in the air for a long time.

– Creak…

“Frey, are you o…”

That is until Serena entered the room with a pale face.

“……Please give me an explanation.”

“For what?”

Serena had a pile of papers containing ancient scripts as if she had stopped by the library before returning to the academy.

And, for some reason, she also had new wounds all throughout her body. Serena interrogated Kania in an icy voice. However, Kania, who had been snuggled up close to Frey until then, returned a question.

“Regarding… what happened today.”

Kania lifted her mouth into a smile and answered.

“I saved Young Master’s life.”

“…I see.”

Serena quietly nodded her head.

“I have also embraced him.”

However, Serena’s face began to contort as Kania gently caressed her stomach.

“And his traces still remain within me.”

“…Ha.”

Kania looked at Serena and continued with a serene smile.

“Not only that…”

Then, she dealt the final blow.

“…The Young Master and I have become one till our deaths.”

Kania leered at Serena.

“Since Lady Serena is smart, you must know already, but everything I’ve said is true.”

“You should really be moderate with the euphemisms.”

“Euphemisms? I’m only stating the truth.”

Serena slightly bit her lips at Kania’s composure before lifting them into a smile.

“…Right. Everyone, I have good news.”

Everyone’s gaze focused on Serena.

“I discovered the base of the Secret Lord.”

Serena proudly declared then coldly looked down at Kania, who was still snuggled up against Frey.

“Isn’t this great news?”

With that, the time slowly flowed past dawn as the two girls’ gaze clashed in the air.