Chapter 26
Aria stepped forward slowly. The scent of grass mixed with the crisp air grew stronger, and the ground beneath her feet felt soft — as if walking on clouds. Every sound in her ears was crystal clear, and distant landscapes appeared in sharp detail.
This vivid clarity revealed Nocturne’s heightened sensory abilities and memory in full.
Amusingly, everything she touched felt soft. Even solid stones were as yielding as cheese, and the scorching sun above felt merely warm. She closed her eyes and let out a pleasant sigh.
“Haa…”
To have such a strong body — what a wonderful thing.
Even during her anxiety-ridden childhood, peering into Nocturne’s mind always made everything feel less burdensome. Her heart would lighten.
Now she understood how Nocturne could endure such a harsh life and still remain healthy.
The world, through his senses, simply wasn’t that cruel to him.
“I think I can fix this quickly.”
Because this mental world mirrored reality so closely, the distortions caused by brainwashing would be easier to find. Aria began carefully probing deeper into Nocturne’s subconscious.
The subconscious contained the moments that formed his identity — tangled memories, unconscious thoughts, and core values. And throughout it all, there were fragments of “Aria”.
Right in front of her, one of them was speaking to Nocturne.
“Nocturne, if you keep skipping classes like that, you’ll get suspended. The teacher’s gunning for you.”
She looked curiously at the young “Aria.” She was wearing the academy uniform — a white shirt, a navy cape-jacket down to the elbows, and a skirt edged with gold. She looked about ten years old.
“Don’t worry about it.”
The voice came from a boy standing nearby — familiar, yet strangely distant.
Black hair swayed in the breeze, and beneath it, clear dark eyes.
A boy so beautiful he seemed otherworldly turned to the young Aria and replied:
“I’m quitting after this break anyway.”
Ah. She knew when this was — a time when Aria and Nocturne were first getting to know each other.
She watched the children’s conversation with a bittersweet smile.
“…You’re skipping class to train, aren’t you?”
Nocturne’s sharp eyes narrowed at her. Aria flinched slightly, then spoke.
“I saw you practicing late at night… melting iron in the incinerator. Are you trying to get revenge on your uncle?”
“You’re observant. Can you read minds?”
“…No.”
The young Aria slowly reached out. When Nocturne didn’t react, she cautiously pulled up his sleeve. A faded bruise came into view.
“This… your uncle did this, didn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
“It must’ve hurt…”
Nocturne scoffed.
“It’s fine. I’ll just return the favor next time.”
“But you’re just a kid. They’re adults, and there’s so many of them…”
“I won’t lose next time. They caught me because I was chained and locked up with a control ring.”
“What? They treated you like a beast… Nocturne, are you okay?”
“Doesn’t it look like I am?”
He pointed to his bare neck — no ring.
“I escaped and came here. My uncle tried to drag me back, but another teacher chased him off.”
“…I see.”
“They care about appearances, so they’ll stay quiet over the break.”
Aria hesitated, then asked gently:
“When I asked if you were okay… I meant, aren’t you scared or hurt?”
That young Aria had never been abused herself, but she had read the minds of children who had. It was traumatizing, to the point she had needed therapy afterward.
And when the break ended, Nocturne would have to go back to that painful household. Of course she was worried.
But Nocturne simply shrugged.
“I just need to get stronger and crush them all before vacation ends.”
He said it as if describing summer plans, not revenge. That calmness tugged at her heart.
A child who had been abused couldn’t possibly be okay. He had simply accepted reality and decided to survive.
Nocturne was so calm that Aria felt as if all the sorrow he had suppressed came rushing into her instead. The young Aria too had her lips tightly pressed together, struggling to hold something back.
Then, just as Nocturne turned away, Aria suddenly reached out and pulled him into a hug.
Caught off guard, he stumbled into her arms.
“……?”
Since Aria had been standing on a step, there wasn’t much of a height difference.
With her face buried in his shoulder, Aria murmured:
“You’ve been through so much. You endured well.”
“……”
“You must’ve been so scared…”
“Not really.”
His murmured denial was too quiet for Aria to hear.
Nocturne didn’t push her away. Though unfamiliar with comfort, his stiff body and awkwardly hovering hand didn’t resist.
He simply stayed there, letting her hold him until she was done crying.
Aria quietly watched the two children embrace before turning to walk away.
The scene changed again — Nocturne was packing his things in the dormitory, the semester over and summer break approaching.
“Don’t go back to the duke’s estate, Nocturne. You could stay here in the dorm.”
Aria approached from behind. Nocturne replied flatly:
“The application deadline’s long past.”
“They’ll make an exception if you ask.”
After a pause, she offered:
“Then come to the palace with me. There are plenty of empty rooms…”
“…Don’t joke.”
“I’m not joking. If you go back, they’ll hurt you again.”
“That’s what I want.”
He looked at her and said:
“If they try again, I’ll… finish it this time.”
He crushed a flame in his hand and gave a crooked smile.
“If you take revenge like that… you won’t make it out either.”
“I don’t care. I’m not particularly attached to life anyway.”
“Well, I am.”
“What?”
“I’m attached to you. Nocturne, if you take my hand, I’ll help you get revenge — properly.”
Nocturne raised a brow at her bold offer.
“How? You couldn’t kill a frog.”
“Nocturne, what do you think a successful revenge is?”
“Obviously, destroying your enemy.”
“That’s the goal.”
Aria walked up to him, slowly.
“But to call it successful, you have to destroy them without losing anything yourself. No — you have to gain something instead.”
She bent to meet his eyes.
“In simple terms: the more you gain while they lose, the more successful the revenge. Got it?”
“……”
“Take my hand, Nocturne. I’ll help you succeed even more.”
She reached out, and as Nocturne met her crimson gaze, he took her hand.
Even Aria had to admit — that younger version of herself had spoken well.
Smiling at their clasped hands, she heard Nocturne mutter:
“You talk like it’s logical, but really… you just don’t want me to get hurt.”
“So you knew.”
She looked at him fondly. His lips curled in a soft smile as he shook her hand.
“Just like going through old boxes, these memories keep making me nostalgic… I’m wasting time.”
Even though Nocturne’s inner world felt safe, it wasn’t good to linger.
The longer she stayed, the more she risked becoming part of his emotions.
She needed to reach the core memory — and fast.
In a garden of grass, on a stepping stone path, Aria and Nocturne faced each other.
Nocturne scowled.
“You’re saying I shouldn’t get revenge on the people who tried to kill me?”
“They’re doomed anyway. You don’t have to dirty your hands.”
“Then what’s the harm in it?”
“If you kill them… your soul will suffer too.”
“Soul? That doesn’t exist.”
“It does, Nocturne.”
Aria pointed to the sky. Two moons hung in the black night.
“Actually, there’s only one real moon. The other one is its soul.”
“The moon’s soul?”
“Yeah. When things die, they return to that second moon — that’s what my mom said. She said my grandparents are watching us from there.”
“……”
Nocturne stared silently at her.
The two moons shone white above Aria’s head. Bathed in moonlight, her smile was so pure that he couldn’t refute such a fanciful tale. He murmured:
“…I guess if someone like you exists, then heaven might too.”
“What the heck…”
Had Nocturne really said something that cute? She couldn’t remember — she must not have heard his whisper at the time.
Thirteen years later, and she was getting butterflies over something her ex had said? She chuckled softly, waiting for young Aria’s reaction.
But then her expression twisted strangely.
What was that? She blinked, and her vision returned to normal.
“Did I imagine it?”
She shook her head and continued forward.
Each step stirred new memories — being kidnapped together, graduating the academy, the moment Nocturne proposed…
And suddenly, Nocturne and Aria were standing atop the Cambiata Temple, facing one another.
Aria seemed to smile, but the shadows made it hard to see. Her long hair blew in the wind, blocking her face.
“I loved your soul, Nocturne.”
No — it wasn’t the darkness. Aria’s face had turned black as night, her entire body engulfed in blackness — except for her glowing red eyes.
“Love mine back.”
Aria had never said that. And she had never looked like that either.
“This is it.”
This was the distortion caused by the brainwashing — the first true anomaly in Nocturne’s otherwise real-feeling world.
“If I want to use my ability, I need to get closer.”
But the ground quivered under her foot. She looked down — and her heart dropped.
The soft grass was gone. In its place flowed red lava, and instead of stepping stones, there were half-melted corpses of humans and monsters.
They stood atop a mountain of bodies.
“Hhk…”
Everything turned red. In the flickering vision, Aria — the blackened one — collapsed into Nocturne’s arms.
She whispered weakly:
“Avenge me.”
“No, Ari…”
“Carry on my will.”
She hadn’t been able to speak back then — yet in Nocturne’s memory, her voice was clear.
Aria stared, stunned, until she snapped herself out of it.
She needed to finish this — fast. To break the brainwashing, she had to touch that distortion.
Even though she didn’t want to look down, she forced herself forward, ignoring the sickening sensation.
“Who are you?”
Suddenly, a voice — her voice — rang out clearly.
Had she said that?
Confused, she looked up — and saw Aria, the blackened one, now standing apart from Nocturne, her red eyes staring directly at her.
Startled, Aria stepped back — and at that moment, every eye from Nocturne and the mountain of corpses below turned to face her.
