Chapter 9 – The Weight of Leaving
The forest was quiet. Too quiet.
Aurora's bare feet brushed against the damp earth, her white dress fluttering as she hurried through the trees. She did not dare look back—not at the black spires of the Demon Lord's castle, not at the girl whose tearful eyes still haunted her.
The crumpled letter burned in her mind.
She had written it with trembling hands, each word a blade to her own heart. We'll meet again by fate… How empty it had felt, leaving those words behind. She knew the look Silvia would wear upon finding it—betrayal, confusion, grief. And yet, she left anyway.
Because she had to.
"System," she whispered, her voice almost breaking. "Tell me I did the right thing."
The chime of the system answered, cold and precise.
[Affirmation: Host avoided entanglement with a potential threat. Mission stability intact.]
[Note: Forming attachments to entities tied to the Demon Lord faction will hinder long-term survival.]
Aurora clenched her fists. Survival. That was all the system ever cared about. Points, missions, growth. It never cared that she had just broken the heart of the only girl who called her a friend.
A gust of wind brushed her cheek. She stopped, raising her eyes to the night sky. The stars stretched endless above her—cold, beautiful, distant.
"…You're cruel," she whispered, not sure if she meant the system, the goddess who sealed her bloodline, or fate itself.
Her chest ached. Every step away from Silvia felt heavier, as though invisible chains bound her to that lonely castle. For a brief moment, she had felt wanted. For a brief moment, she wasn't just Aurora, the unlucky soul reborn. She was someone's friend.
But now…
The system chimed again, interrupting her thoughts.
[New Mission Available: Proceed to Avalon Academy.]
[Objective: Stay low profile. Observe reincarnated entities. Prevent emotional entanglement. Rewards: Access to sealed bloodline fragments.]
Her lips trembled into a bitter smile. "Low profile, huh? After I just burned half a forest and made a crater so deep it could swallow a city?"
The memory of divine fire surging from her hands returned in a flash—sunlight that scorched the land, darkness that summoned storms. That power, terrifying and exhilarating, had been a mistake. She hadn't even controlled it; it had burst out before the seal clamped down on her bloodline.
Now, she was back to being a weak girl in a plain white dress. No crown, no ornaments, no divine glow. Just… Aurora.
She lowered her head, clutching at the pendant the system had given her—a small crystal pulsing faintly with cosmic light.
"I'll go to Avalon," she whispered to herself, though her voice wavered. "I'll play the part. I'll follow the missions. And maybe… maybe someday, I'll be able to face her again without running."
The wind carried her words into the night.
But deep inside, Aurora knew Silvia's tear-streaked face would never stop chasing her.