"Hmm... or should I say... Iris?"

For a brief moment, dead silence filled the room.

When Aria heard the name ’Iris’, her only reaction was her eyes widening slightly. That was it. She remained incredibly calm, even after being completely exposed by Lucian.

Behind Lucian, Sera and Elira immediately tensed up, their sharp gazes locking onto her. A million questions were buzzing in their minds simultaneously.

Aria took two slow steps back. Calmly unwinding the scarf from her neck, she walked over and sat down on a wooden chair near the curtain-drawn window while placing that scarf on her lap, silently staring down at its woven threads.

"Lucian... I-I’m so so sorry... hic..."

Tears began to well up and fall from her eyes, dropping onto the scarf and around her thumbs.

Sera and Elira couldn’t comprehend the situation. Just a moment ago they were on high alert, but seeing the always gentle and innocent Aria crying like this completely disarmed them. They stayed quiet, waiting to hear whatever explanation she was about to give.

To drive away the oppressive darkness of the room, Lucian raised his palm upward. Several small orbs of light materialized from his hand and floated up, scattering across the room to illuminate the space.

As the light flooded the room, its true state was finally revealed, leaving both Elira and Sera completely stunned.

"What the hell..." Sera whispered, her eyes sweeping over the ceiling, the walls, every single corner.

Everywhere... there were pictures. Pictures of nothing but Lucian. There were shots of him eating lunch at the academy, sitting quietly in class, leaving Miss Myra’s quarters, and even walking alongside Sera and Elira. It was an absolute shrine.

"She is an even bigger stalker than me..." Elira muttered flatly under her breath.

By now, Aria had stopped sobbing. She had gone completely quiet, her head still lowered, her expression hidden beneath her bangs.

She couldn’t meet his eyes out of shame... or perhaps it was something else entirely.

"Aria, you can tell me," Lucian said gently.

"Whatever you are trying to hide and whatever you are thinking... I won’t judge you for anything."

For a while, Aria nervously rubbed her thumbs together. Then she finally stopped, lifted her head, and looked at Lucian.

Under the light of the floating orbs, her face was clearly visible. Those same puffy, emerald eyes were looking narrowly up at him, carrying that exact same, sickening innocence.

"I - umm..."

She stepped forward, standing in front of him. His gaze was neutrally fixed on her.

"I thought we would never encounter each other again... though, the world really is small, isn’t it?

A few seconds passed.

About Iris... I could only say she did all that because I was trying to ignore reality. I tried to choose a different path... Even so, it was impossible. How could I ever allow myself to look at anyone else, Lucian... when my heart, my soul, and my very existence were already promised to you?

Lucian did not speak as if he wanted to hear more.

Her gaze dropped back to the floor as she nervously scratched her nails into her own elbow.

"You don’t remember... yeah, how could you? After all... I was the one who altered your memories."

"What do you mean, altered?" Sera meddled, stepping forward.

"Yes..." she glanced briefly at Sera before looking back at Lucian. "Almost 8 years ago, something happened... something I guess I just can’t keep buried inside me forever."

Looking deeply into Lucian’s eyes, she slowly lifted both of her hands toward his head... acting as if she were about to perform something directly on his mind.

"May I...?"

Lucian watched her standing slightly on her toes for a few seconds. Then, he slightly lowered his head.

"Do it."

With shaking hands, Aria hesitantly placed her palms just above Lucian’s ears. The very next second, a bright purple sparkle ignited, swirling rapidly around his head like a halo of magic.

[SYSTEM ALERT: Cognitive Anomaly Detected]

[Memory Restoration Protocol: ACTIVE]

[Hidden Memory Fragment Unlocked: ████████]

[Analysis in Progress...]

A few tense seconds passed. There was absolutely no movement.

Extreme tension was clearly visible on Sera and Elira’s faces as they watched the bizarre scene unfold in dead silence.

And then... Lucian abruptly snapped his eyes open.

Whether it was intentional or unintentional... his right hand shot out instantly, tightly gripping Aria’s lower face and neck, forcefully lifting her up from the floor.

Looking into Aria’s eyes, the veins on his neck bulged. It was an expression of pure, cold anger.

"Gah — L-Lu—ci — "

Aria grabbed his wrist with both hands, desperately trying to break free. But looking into Lucian’s eyes... it was as if years of deep-seated, buried hatred had suddenly erupted all at once.

"I-it h-hurts..."

Lucian’s other hand was trembling violently at his side.

Seeing this, Sera suddenly leaped forward, grabbed his arm and tried to pry his fingers off.

"Hey, hey! hey!! "Lucian! LUCIAN!!! What the hell are you doing?! Let her go! Let her GO!"

It was no use. His grip was immensely strong... after all, this wasn’t his old, weak body anymore.

Aghh... What is wrong with this grip?

"She’s gonna die! You’re gonna KILL her!"

She looked back at Elira and shouted urgently,

"Don’t just stand there! Come here and HELP!"

Elira stepped forward blankly. She placed her hand on Lucian’s tense forearm.

"Lucian... let go of her please."

No emotion. No reaction. Lucian’s eyes were dead cold, fixed entirely on Aria’s contorting, tear-stained face.

"L-Luci... I-I am so—" Aria choked out.

"Lucian, let go of her! What even are you thinking?! she glanced at elira

Don’t just stand there do something!" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Hearing Sera’s pleas, Elira finally used both her hands to forcefully pry Lucian’s iron grip open.

The moment his hand was removed, Aria collapsed hard onto the floor, clutching her throat and gasping heavily for air.

"Khh—kkk... haa... haah..." Tears and saliva mixed on her face as she struggled to breathe.

"Hey! What happened to you?! Look at me, look here!" Sera cupped both of his cheeks, forcing his gaze away from Aria and toward her own face.

It was then that Lucian finally seemed to snap out of it, returning to the present.

He looked at both of the girls. Sera and Elira genuinely felt as if he had been possessed by some evil entity for those few seconds. Though the dark truth was... there was no possession. Whatever he just did, he was in his complete, conscious senses.

His cold gaze slowly dropped back down to Aria, who was shivering on the floor.

And then, absolute, emotionless words slipped out of his mouth.

"Fucking bitch."