Reina remained silent for a long time.
The tears had stopped.
Only exhaustion remained.
Then she spoke again.
"You know..."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"When I was younger, I prayed to Lady Celestia every day."
Her crimson eyes drifted toward the darkness beyond the restaurant windows.
"Whenever my brother was suffering."
"Whenever my mother punished him."
"Whenever I felt powerless."
Her voice softened.
"I prayed."
"I thought perhaps the Eternal Light would hear me."
"Perhaps a miracle would happen."
"Perhaps someone would save us."
A quiet laugh escaped her lips.
"But no miracle ever came."
Her fingers slowly clenched.
"So tell me, Rio."
Her gaze met his.
"Why did my brother have to die?"
"Why didn't the Lady save him?"
The question hung heavily between them.
Neither accusation nor anger.
Only disappointment.
"The Eternal Light."
"The Embodiment of Peace."
"The Protector of Humanity."
Reina's smile slowly faded.
"So why didn't she save us?"
Rio had no answer.
Because there wasn't one.
Reina lowered her head.
"When I arrived at Nexus Academy..."
"I found a book."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"No."
"It would be more accurate to say..."
"The book found me."
A strange expression appeared on her face.
"I still remember it."
"It sat alone on a forgotten shelf."
"Almost as though it had been waiting."
Her crimson eyes darkened.
"It spoke of the Lady of Velvet Sin."
Lady Nyxara.
"The Goddess cast into darkness."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"In a world filled with cruelty..."
"It wasn't the light that answered me."
"It wasn't the heavens."
"It wasn't salvation."
A cold smile appeared.
"It was darkness."
The crimson within her eyes deepened.
"Lady Nyxara listened."
"Lady Nyxara understood."
"Lady Nyxara offered me something nobody else did."
Her voice became colder.
"The strength to kill my mother."
Silence followed.
Rio stared at her.
Once—
he would have called her pathetic.
A broken girl who abandoned everything.
A fool who offered her soul to an evil goddess.
A victim too weak to continue forward.
But now—
he wasn't so certain.
His thoughts drifted elsewhere.
To another world.
To another life.
To another version of himself.
Rio of Aetheria.
Rio of Earth.
Reina Emberheart.
Oliver Emberheart.
Different people.
Different stories.
Different suffering.
Yet somehow—
all connected by the same cruel truth.
None of them had chosen the circumstances of their birth.
None of them had chosen the pain forced upon them.
They had simply endured it.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The world broke people.
Then demanded they continue smiling.
So why?
Why should they be the ones forced to endure everything?
Why should they be the ones expected to suffer quietly?
Why should it always be them?
The thoughts lingered.
Dangerous thoughts.
The kind that slowly pulled people toward darkness.
Reina eventually stood.
The chair shifted softly behind her.
She looked down at him.
"I won't ask you to join us today."
A small smile appeared.
"You still have time."
She turned toward the exit.
"But I hope that the next time we meet..."
Her voice grew quieter.
"...you know which side you're standing on."
Rio remained silent.
Reina paused for a moment.
Then spoke one final time.
"There will come a day, Rio."
"A day when you reach true despair."
Her crimson eyes reflected something ancient.
Something certain.
"And when that day arrives..."
"There will only be two choices left."
The silence that followed felt heavier than any threat.
Then—
space rippled.
Cecilia emerged from thin air as though she had never left.
The silver-haired Apostle stretched lazily.
"It seems everything is over?"
"Hehe~"
Reina nodded.
"Yes."
Cecilia immediately wrapped an arm around her disciple's shoulders.
"Then let's go."
She glanced toward Rio.
A playful smile appeared.
"Bye, Rio~"
The next moment—
both women vanished.
The restaurant fell silent once more.
Leaving Rio alone with nothing but his thoughts.
...
The next day arrived.
Just like every other morning, Rio found himself inside the Fourth-Year classroom before Professor Evillise's arrival. She had once again instructed him to head there ahead of time and prepare the materials for the lesson.
Normally, he would have spent the waiting period reviewing notes or studying the formulas Evillise intended to teach.
Recently, however—
his thoughts had been elsewhere.
Far away from mana theory.
Far away from the academy.
Far away from everything.
The conversation with Reina lingered within his mind like a shadow that refused to disappear.
The offer made by the Black Cross.
The promise to restore his mana circuits.
Everything mixed together until his thoughts became difficult to organize.
"Haah..."
Rio rubbed his eyes.
For perhaps the first time since arriving in this world, he genuinely felt tired.
Not physically.
Mentally.
The classroom slowly filled with students.
Conversations started.
Laughter echoed.
Eventually, Professor Evillise entered.
Without wasting a second, she immediately began the lecture.
And so—
the days continued.
One after another.
Lectures.
Research.
Meetings with Christopher.
Attempts to solve the Arcane Core problem.
Days became weeks.
Weeks slipped by quietly.
Yet despite all of Christopher's efforts, one obstacle remained unchanged.
Ignition.
The final and most important step.
The step capable of determining whether the Arcane Core succeeded—
or failed.
Unfortunately, even after countless records and theories, Christopher still had no solution.
...
I blinked.
Rio looked up from the documents spread across Christopher's desk.
The Vice Headmaster was staring at him.
"You want me to accompany them on their mission as their proctor?"
"Yes."
Christopher didn't even look up from the paperwork in his hands.
Currently, the Fourth-Year students were preparing to leave the academy for an external mission.
That much Rio already knew.
What he didn't understand—
was why Christopher wanted him involved.
"The Imperial Prodigies?"
Christopher nodded.
Rio frowned.
"Are there no other professors available?"
"Why me?"
"Hm?"
For the first time, Christopher looked up.
"To be honest, we usually don't assign proctors to the Imperial Prodigies."
He leaned back slightly.
"William, Lucinda, Anastasia, Joseph, Isolde."
"They've completed enough missions together that supervision normally isn't necessary."
His expression became more thoughtful.
"But Raze isn't participating this time."
Rio immediately understood.
The strongest member of the group would be absent.
Christopher continued.
"And considering the mission difficulty, I'd rather be cautious."
A brief pause followed.
Then he smirked.
"Besides."
"As weak as you are, I won't ask you to actually do anything."
Rio's eye twitched.
Christopher ignored it.
"Just observe."
"If anything unusual happens, report it to me afterward."
"That's all."
Rio sighed.
The title of Vice Headmaster existed for a reason.
Refusing wasn't really an option.
Especially when Christopher had already decided.
After a few seconds, Rio nodded.
"Understood."
"Good."