Chapter 15
And every time Aldraya left after uttering her strange, cryptic words, the air around her felt heavier, as if leaving behind a faint echo of something trying to pierce through the layers of reality.
Theo began to suspect that their interactions were not merely the result of Aldraya's personal curiosity.
There was a pattern within them—an unseen thread that subtly connected Aldraya to him, in a way he could never fully comprehend.
Perhaps, Theo thought, it all began with Erietta Bathee.
From the way she spoke so softly in front of him, from the gaze that sometimes refused to look at Ilux Rediona as it should, but instead drifted toward Theo—the one standing behind the story itself.
If that were true, then Erietta's closeness had been the first spark, and Aldraya—with all her mechanical mystery—was merely the second flame that followed.
'It's time to face Erietta.
After all, I still have a promise to duel with her, and to talk about the Lu Core training within the dark realm.
It should be simple, as long as she doesn't show up acting weird like yesterday.
But now, why is this woman walking beside me?
She's not saying anything, not asking anything—but somehow, it feels like I'm being stalked, not accompanied.'
Huuuuuh!
'And just as expected—at a time like this, who shows up?
Erietta.
With that "I-saw-you-two-walking-together" look.
Oh, perfect.
Now she must be thinking Aldraya and I are on a morning date.
For every script I've ever written, this is not what it looks like.
It's really not like that at all.'
The real problem began right there.
The sky looked like a sheet of gray stretched between two worlds—hazy, yet enough to stir unease in the hearts of those who stared at it.
In the western courtyard of Star Academy, the dew still clung to the tips of the grass, reflecting a gentle light that slipped through the clouds.
There stood Theo Vkytor, accompanied by Aldraya Kansh Que, walking as quietly as a shadow along the stone path.
No conversation passed between them—only the sound of footsteps and the soft murmur of wind brushing against the academy's walls.
Theo knew that this morning was not meant to belong to Aldraya—it was meant for Erietta Bathee.
A day when their sparring promise was supposed to be fulfilled, a day when Theo would show her how to regulate the flow of Lu Core in ways never written in the academy's manuals.
Yet, as fate loved to jest, something always happened beyond the plan—and that day was no exception.
Erietta Bathee arrived earlier than agreed.
The girl came from the central garden, carrying a small satchel slung across her shoulder, her hair swaying gently in the breeze, and her eyes gleaming with a flame that would not easily die.
She sought Theo's figure, believing simply that a promise once spoken would not be delayed.
But her steps froze when the distance between them revealed something she hadn't expected.
Two figures stood beneath a moss-covered stone roof—one of them was Aldraya Kansh Que.
There was no closeness, no touch, even the distance between them showed a silent tension—but to eyes that had just arrived, the sight of two people walking together on such a gray morning was enough to raise questions that no easy answer could settle.
Theo caught sight of Erietta from afar.
He knew, from the way she stood still at the garden's edge, that something inside her had already stirred before she could even name it.
Perhaps suspicion.
Perhaps disappointment.
Or maybe simple confusion—why the one who promised to train with her was walking beside a teacher who was never close to anyone.
Meanwhile, Aldraya continued walking calmly—no glances, no words—as if Erietta's presence was outside her calculations.
The air around them turned still, as though the world itself hesitated to disturb the awkward silence splitting the distance between the three of them.
'Damn it! This isn't my fault—why am I the one triggering conflict between two dangerous women?!
Hey, Ilux! Aren't you supposed to be the source of all this trouble, huh?!
Aren't you the one destined to cause strife between Erietta and Aldraya?!'
Fuuuuuh!
'Oh, Lord, I just wanted to duel! I just wanted to talk about Lu Core training!
But now these two women are glaring at each other like they want to tear each other apart—and you, the main protagonist who should be in the middle of them, are stuck in the library?!
The library! Who in their right mind would believe Ilux Rediona is studying?!
A character like you couldn't even tell a spellbook from a cookbook!'
Shuuuuhh!
'Good grief, for all the manuscripts lost to the world—why must the protagonist of this universe be that hopeless?!'
A chill—not from the weather—crept along Theo Vkytor's spine.
He stood between two figures, both silent, both hiding something behind their eyes.
Not anger born of jealousy.
Not disappointment from a missed promise.
Their gazes were deeper—darker—like two ancient forces that refused to coexist within the same space.
Erietta Bathee, whose gentle aura once calmed, now looked at Aldraya Kansh Que as if staring at a reflection of a future she despised.
Aldraya remained calm and cold, but beneath that serenity was something resembling an ancient hatred—something unfit for a being meant to be neutral, emotionless.
The air between them quivered faintly, and Theo knew he was standing in the wrong place, at the wrong time—caught between two poles that should never collide.
Theo tried to avert his gaze, but his body froze.
He knew exactly how these two characters were supposed to act in the story he knew inside and out, from behind the game's screen.
In the original script, the seed of conflict between Aldraya and Erietta was sown by one name.
Ilux Rediona.
The protagonist, the axis around which everything orbited—the reason for every conflict, every love, every tragedy.
But now, the one standing at the center was him.
Theo Vkytor—the character who wasn't even supposed to have a storyline.
He felt like an error in the algorithm—one that the world itself was beginning to notice.
Theo's thoughts raced.
He tried to recall when exactly Ilux had strayed from his role.
As far as he remembered, it was only a few days ago that Ilux had been seen in the academy library, holding a thick, dusty tome—and that alone had been strange enough.
Because Ilux Rediona, in the version of the game that was supposed to unfold, was someone who rejected the word "study" as if it were poison.
Ilux lived by instinct—by hatred and obsession—not by structured knowledge.
So when Theo saw him sitting quietly under dim light, reading about Lu Core flow, his instincts screamed that something had gone wrong since that very moment.
That the script no longer followed the story—and the world he once understood was rewriting itself.
And so, beneath a sky too pale to be called morning, Theo could only stand still, feeling how Ilux's role seemed to slip into his own body without consent.
He wanted to rage, to laugh bitterly at the irony that now bound him—how the writer himself was trapped inside his own story, forced to play a part that was never his.
In the small, voiceless corner of his heart, he screamed with a quiet despair.
'How foolish you are, Ilux Rediona—how pointless a protagonist who doesn't know how to shine without setting the world aflame.'
To be continued…