An hour later, having finished his interrogation by Mirea in the library, Ard finally left the library to head back to the men's dorm.
"Grr... that blasted princess. She dragged that out, and now I didn't get to show Exgrandal to Mirea," Ard grumbled to myself, sulking.
"No... please don't involve my father,"
A shout came from the garden. Ard turned and saw Milia screaming and being cornered by two young men who seemed to be seniors from Class A.
"Huh... Milia?" Ard questioned to myself.
He saw two young men cornering Milia against one of the academy building's pillars in the garden. He recognized one of the two young men immediately: short red hair and handsome.
"Huh... Big Brother Abel? What's the second prince of Fredonia doing with Milia... and the other one's Julius? The second prince of Durnhill, the fat one? Hey, what's going on?" Ard wondered to myself.
Without thinking twice, Ard immediately entered the garden and approached Milia. He overheard Julius, the second prince of the Durnhill Kingdom, demanding Milia become his fiancée and threatening to destroy the family of Baron Orlaf, a poor noble in a village located in the Durnhill Kingdom's territory. "Tap," Ard, standing behind Abel and Julius, immediately placed his hands on both of their shoulders. Naturally, Abel and Julius turned to see Ard smiling.
"Ah, Milia, I've been looking all over for you. Come with me, Alicia is looking for you," Ard said, stepping between the two of them.
"Hey... what are you doing, commoner?" Julius yelled.
"Don't interfere in our business," Abel added.
Ard immediately turned to look at Abel and stared intensely at him. Abel was surprised and flinched back.
"H-hey... you... Arden?" Abel asked.
"Hah... who? I'm nobody. (Turning to look at Milia and pulling Milia's hand) Come on, Milia," Ard replied.
Ard immediately pulled Milia's hand, walking away from Abel and Julius, who stood frozen, watching Ard and Milia walk hand-in-hand and grow farther away. After they had gone far enough down the corridor, Ard let go of Milia's hand.
"Thank you, Ard. Prince Julius is forcing me to be his fiancée... otherwise, he'll destroy my father's domain... what should I do?" Milia asked, confused.
"Hmm... just refuse if you don't want to," Ard said. "Because the result was the same in my third life. Your family will be branded as rebels and then executed because your father refused the prince who wanted to marry you, right? All of that happened a year later," Ard muttered to myself.
"But what if he forces me and actually destroys my family?" Milia asked.
Ard immediately turned back and grabbed Milia's shoulders, which surprised her. Then he smiled.
"You don't need to be scared. Your refusal aligns with your father's wishes; he doesn't agree to you being that fat prince's fiancée either. Don't worry, I will definitely help you. We're in the same class, after all. Besides, in terms of strength, you're much stronger than him. Don't worry... you have me," Ard said. "What am I even saying? I'm remembering my third life again. This is messed up," Ard muttered to myself.
Milia looked up at Ard, then she hugged Ard tightly, which startled Ard this time.
"Thank you, Ard," Milia said, smiling.
"O-okay... l-let go of me. It could be bad if someone saw us," Ard said.
"Oh, right... sorry," Milia said, releasing Ard.
"Let's head back to the dorm," Ard replied, walking away immediately.
"Alright," Milia replied.
They walked together toward their dorms. Ard glanced at Milia, who was now walking a little close to him.
"Um... she didn't get the wrong idea, right? I hope not... I just want to live a quiet, peaceful, and happy life until I'm old, so please, no more complications," Ard muttered to myself.
After reaching the dorms, Ard waved his hand and walked toward the men's dorm next to the women's dorm. Milia entered, then headed to her room. "Click," she opened her door and stepped inside.
"You're back, Milia?" asked Alicia, who was sitting on the side of her bed cleaning her sword.
"Yeah. (Sitting next to Alicia) Alicia, can I ask you something?" Milia asked.
"Ask what?" Alicia questioned.
"Um... is Ard really the third prince of Fredonia, the one they call the 'trash prince'?" Milia asked.
"Yes, he's my fiancé, but please keep this a secret. Since you're my roommate and you caught us that one time, I'm telling you... don't tell Ard I told you, okay?" Alicia said.
"Okay, I understand. (Turning and taking both of Alicia's hands, startling Alicia) I won't lose to you, so let's both fight as rivals and friends," Milia said, smiling.
"Huh... what do you mean?" Alicia asked, confused.
***
Later that night, "ugh," Ard looked restless in his sleep. His body twitched and sweated; his face looked strained even though his eyes were closed. Both his hands were tightly gripping the blanket covering his body. Ard saw something inside his head, like a separate consciousness watching a movie.
"Esmeralda,"
"Come and get me, Ashton," a girl said.
Ard watched and felt himself running after a girl dressed all in white, with silver hair and blue eyes, who looked about 15 years old, in a vast field of flowers. Ard felt he was inside the body of the man the girl called Ashton.
"Ha ha ha, I'm definitely going to catch you, Esmeralda," Ashton replied.
["Huh? Ashton? Esmeralda? Where am I? Why does the girl called Esmeralda look so much like Julia? Am I... Ashton?" Ard's consciousness questioned.]
Finally, Ashton managed to catch Esmeralda and hugged her. They both laughed, then sat in the middle of the beautiful flower field. Esmeralda leaned against Ashton. Then she turned to look at Ashton's face and smiled, her hand touching Ashton's cheek.
"I didn't think we'd meet again here, Ace," Esmeralda said.
"That's right, after our death, we're here, Edith," Ashton mumbled, putting his arm around Esmeralda.
"But my name is Esmeralda now. Don't call me Edith anymore, okay? I don't want to remember my life on Earth," Esmeralda said, resting her head.
"Yeah, you shouldn't call me Ace either. There are no countries here, and we're no longer enemies. We'll live peacefully and happily together," Ashton said.
"Yes, I love you, Ashton," Esmeralda said.
"I love you too, Esmeralda," Ashton replied.
They immediately kissed and hugged each other tightly. After that, they stood up and looked at the wide flower field in front of them.
"Let's go home to the village, Esmeralda, it's getting late," Ashton said.
"Yes, let's go. I'm hungry, too," Esmeralda replied, smiling.
They both walked back the way they had come. Ard, who was only a consciousness or a ghost, followed them from behind. Suddenly, thick black smoke was seen billowing into the sky. Ashton and Esmeralda looked at each other, their faces suddenly panicking. Then they ran toward the smoke. Ard kept following them from behind.
"Kyaaaa... help... demons,"
A heartbreaking scream was heard from ahead of them, along with the sound of something burning. When they came out of the forest, Ashton and Esmeralda were stunned to see a village completely engulfed in flames, with many demon soldiers—who had horns, black armor, and red eyes—killing the residents and burning the village. Ashton and Esmeralda gasped, their faces turning utterly furious.
Their tears streamed down as they watched the villagers being massacred by the demon forces. Their hearts ached and filled with vengeance, a feeling also shared by Ard's consciousness hovering behind them.
"You bastards... come on, Esmeralda," Ashton said.
"Yes, let's go, Ashton," Esmeralda replied.
They both immediately ran toward the village. They grabbed whatever weapons were nearby and immediately fought against the demon forces. Ard, who was only a consciousness or a ghost, just stared at everything, and without realizing it, his tears fell.
["W-what is this? So this is... the beginning of everything... huh... I'm crying? I'm... Ashton? Esmeralda... yes, that's right... Edith... Esmeralda... my lover," Ard's consciousness mumbled.]
Suddenly, "crack," the world seemed to fracture. Ard became very confused, and "crash," the world shattered. "Whoa," Ard fell into darkness, toward a growing white light until he finally passed through the point.