NABC Chapter 10
Chapter 10
The lavishly decorated hall of the noble’s party sparkled with light.
“Wheee!”
“Catch me if you can! Ehehehe!”
While the adults mingled, exchanging pleasantries and forging alliances, the children had gathered near the edges of the room to play.
“Look at this! My father bought me this doll!”
A young girl hugged a palm-sized doll tightly with both hands, proudly showing it off to the other children.
“Wow! That’s the latest magic-powered doll!”
“I want one too!”
“Can I touch it just once? Please?”
The children crowded around the girl, their eyes wide with awe. But one boy sat apart from them, quietly reading a book.
His clothes were neat, his hair meticulously styled, and yet none of the other children approached him. Some had even considered doing so but were swiftly stopped by their parents, who gasped upon seeing the brooch insignia on his attire.
The boy kept his eyes fixed on the book, feigning indifference to the other children. But as their voices grew louder, his gaze repeatedly drifted toward the girl with the doll.
No. No. No.
Shaking his head vigorously, the boy muttered to himself under his breath, “I don’t care. I don’t care. I am the great Ian.”
But just as he buried his face deeper into the book, a soft voice startled him.
“Hello! What’s your name?”
The boy flinched and dropped his book.
The sudden proximity of the girl’s face startled him, her long hair brushing against his nose, carrying a light, sweet scent.
“Did I scare you? I’m sorry,” she said, tilting her head with genuine concern.
“...Huh? Oh, no, no, not at all!” the boy stammered, shaking his head vigorously.
“I just... uh... the book was... boring, so I tossed it! Haha...”
What am I even saying?!
The boy cringed inwardly at his own awkward words. Tossing a book because it was boring? How strange must that sound?
He braced himself, expecting the girl to frown and walk away, but instead—
“Pfft. You’re funny,” she giggled.
“...!”
The boy’s breath caught. To his surprise, she found him amusing. Her bright laughter was warm, like sunlight breaking through clouds.
“My name’s Kate. What’s yours?”
“I... I’m Ian...”
“Oh! Ian! That’s the name of the main character in a fairy tale I read!”
“...Really?”
“Yeah! He was a frog!”
“A... frog?”
“But that’s okay! He was a big, cute frog!” she said with a cheerful nod.
“Haha... I see...”
A big, cute frog?
Ian, who had been raised under strict teachings that emphasized logic and decorum, found her whimsical thinking baffling. And yet, he found himself wanting the conversation to continue.
If possible, he wanted to stay by her side for just a little longer.
“Do you want to see this?”
After chatting idly for a while, Kate pulled out the doll she had been holding earlier.
“My dad bought it for me!”
“But Mother—”
“Silence! Are you arguing with me again? ...We need to have a talk, young lady.”
The woman began dragging the girl away, ignoring her protests.
“...”
So, it ends like this.
The boy let out a hollow laugh, his expression bitter.
It was his fate, after all.
Born into this cursed family, he had known better than to hope for anything different.
And yet, he had foolishly thought he might fit in—thought he could befriend someone as bright as that girl.
Bending down, he began picking up his discarded book. It was time to return to his solitude.
Today’s events would be buried deep in his mind, left to wither and fade.
It was better that way—for her and for himself.
As he stood, he cast one last glance toward the girl being dragged away.
His heart stopped.
Even as she was pulled away, she turned to him, her lips moving silently.
“Thank you.”
“Check your pocket.”
Her mouthed words left him puzzled.
Pocket?
Instinctively, the boy reached into his pocket.
Squish.
Inside, his fingers closed around something soft and round, wrapped in delicate paper.
It was a small candy, neatly packaged in a colorful wrapper.
Looking back toward the girl in confusion, he saw her mouthing more words:
“It’s a gift.”
“Enjoy it.”
“Next time, let’s play like today again.”
The boy stood frozen, the candy in his hand, as the girl laughed brightly one last time. Her smile shone like sunlight before she disappeared into the crowd, swept away by the flow of the party.
“...Maybe it wasn’t entirely meaningless,” he murmured.
Even as her mother dragged her away, she had managed to sneak the candy into his pocket.
Her movements had been swift and deft.
The candy, warm from her touch, sat in his hand. Slowly, the boy unwrapped it and placed it in his mouth.
The sweetness rolled over his tongue, spreading a gentle, comforting flavor.
The bittersweet taste was like the stirrings of his first love.
“Kate, right? ...Kate. Kate. Kate.”
Her name was as sweet and refreshing as the candy itself.
The boy carefully folded the wrapper and tucked it into his jacket pocket.
[That was how I first met her.]
[She was the reason I existed. The driving force that helped me survive the hellish torment of my family.]
[But... if that meeting had never happened, she wouldn’t have suffered so much. She wouldn’t have met such a tragic end.]
[If we’d never met, she could have lived a normal life, married a respectable noble, and raised children in happiness.]
[If only this meeting had never happened...]
[If only I had never existed.]
[If Ian Carlyuga had never been born.]
Orpheus’s thoughts rippled through the mindscape, echoing in every corner of its darkness.
The Crown Prince, now within Orpheus’s inner world thanks to the Curator’s power, glimpsed fragments of Ian Carlyuga’s memories.
He pressed forward, deeper into the suffocating shadows of the mindscape—toward the core where Orpheus’s Abyssal essence resided.