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“…It’s like a march of the undead.”

Although these nobles were all so morally corrupt that it would be hard for me to distinguish them from rotten corpses, the sight of them approaching me like zombies instilled a peculiar feeling within me.

– Kwachik!!

I kicked down the door still in the midst of my thoughts, and rushed out the room with Clana in tow.

“…Should I just beat them all up?”

I touched my sword, contemplating whether or not I should just cut my way through as I saw the horde of nobles swarm towards me like ants. But in the end, I just let out a sigh and shook my head.

Even if the majority of them were corrupted trash, it would prove troublesome for me if I did something like that.

Although they were in the minority, there were a few good nobles among the crowd in front of me. Apart from them, there were other nobles that could still be of some value after I fixed them up. But I decided it was better to leave them be at the moment considering all the chaos that would ensue if they all suddenly died.

“Hm…”

I slowly let go of my sword and started racking my brain as the nobles continued to fill up the premises.

‘I’m unaffected?’

It was truly a relief that I had my stellar mana, the Hero’s Power, and a Mental Strength of 9.3. Thanks to all of these, I was able to freely move despite the scene in front of me resembling a mental attack.

“Frey…”

“…H-at.”

Clana quietly called out to me.

“Is this really a dream?”

“What?”

“Look at those nobles over there… it’s like a march of the undead.”

“……”

“Am I wrong? I mean… I can’t think of a reason why you would help me either… so, this has got to be a dream, right?”

Clana’s face was awash in sorrow.

“Wait, you… that memory from before… the Stellar primrose… Huk!”

“…Sorry, Clana.”

I gazed at Clana sadly and apologized. I knocked her out once again and hurried over to the room overflowing with black mana.

“…First things first. I need to take care of the most pressing issue.”

Right now, I needed to do something about Clana.

.

.

.

.

.

It was dark all around.

Clana, who woke up to the darkness, briefly looked around to assess her situation, and then became lost in thought as she tried to remember what had happened.

“F-Frey was… Huh?”

However, her memories were completely blank as if they didn’t exist.

“Meow…”

“Kya!”

Something was biting at her ankle.

Startled, Clana looked down and saw a black cat. After getting her attention,, the cat bit her ankle once again and started dragging her somewhere.

“Ha… seriously. This is absurd.”

After being dragged off for a while, Clana spotted a young girl jotting something down as she mumbled incomprehensibly.

“E-Excuse me…”

Clana carefully approached the young girl and called out to her, but there was no response.

“What the?”

Sensing that something was off, Clana reached out and tried to touch the girl, but just as she had anticipated, her hand went through the girl.

“…Ack.”

Perplexed, Clana peered in to see what the girl was writing. After a while, Clana roughly understood the situation.

‘This is… the memory of back then…’

Clana slowly began reading her diary of when she first met Frey.

==============

3rd day of ○○ Month

As expected, the ball for my debut was a nightmare. Everyone who approached me either looked at me lustfully or had other ulterior motives behind their actions. Someone even outright asked for my hand in marriage.

It was repulsive to consider that a 50-year-old would propose to me when I’m not even 10 years old…. However, the most revolting moment by far was when the tea party started.

No one came to have a tea party with me… not a single child. But I didn’t really care. After all, I’m used to being alone.

I did feel slightly sad about it, though. Very slightly.

I was comforting myself with the food since the cake and tea were absolutely delicious.. In such circumstances, that boy came up to me.

Had he said his name was Frey? As the first son of the Starlight Duchy, he had a high position – several times better than a mere puppet like me.

Regardless, it was obvious that everything he showed me, from his demeanor to his words, were all fake. He clearly pitied me and just wanted to manipulate me for his own benefit.

That’s why I told him that he would have to bring me the Stellar Primrose from the dangerous woods nearby if he wanted to befriend me. It was a form of retaliation for attempting to approach me with ulterior motives.

It was most likely that he would give up after searching for a few hours or even before attempting to do so. He might even cuss me out.

I know it.

After all, I’m just a worthless kid.

==============

Clana’s surroundings started to warp as soon as she finished reading, and the memories from the diary flowed into her.

“Ah…?”

Confused by the vivid memories flooding into her, Clana let out a sound. Meanwhile, the younger Clana, who was still seated, appeared to be troubled as she started muttering something again.

“It can’t be… right…?”

The younger Clana scribbled on her diary again with trembling hands, and Clana cautiously moved closer to read it.

==============

4th day of ○○ Month

About the boy I bullied yesterday… They said Frey hadn’t returned yet.

What’s going on? Is this the Starlight family’s scheme to win me over? Or did he just run away from his house?

Well, one of those reasons must be the case. I mean, there’s no way he would be searching for flowers all night for someone like me, right?

He couldn’t be…

============

“Ack…!”

After reading to the end, Clana let out a groan and grasped her head that was hurting as if her skull was being split apart.

Regardless of her pain, the scene shifted again. This time, Clana saw her younger self anxiously scribbling in her diary, gnawing on her nails.

==============

6th day of ○○ Month

It’s already been 4 days since Frey disappeared. The Duchy has been searching for him, but they haven’t been able to find him yet.

What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? I think he really wanted to be friends with me.

That flower is so rare that legends say it only blooms once every hundred years… There’s no way that crazy kid would be able to find it…

I just, I just believed that he was putting on a façade. That’s why I told him to do something so ridiculous… I thought he would give up shortly…

Just what have I done…

To the first person who reached their hand out to me?

============

Clana stumbled backwards and looked around with uncertainty evident on her face as the scenery changed once more.

“T-this place is…”

It was a forest she recognized.

“Ah…”

Clana stood still in a daze before she belatedly noticed her younger self conversing with someone.

The young girl’s clothing was torn in numerous places from getting caught on the many branches around her. Her fair skin had traces of minor injuries, and her entire body was dirty from her struggle through the forest.

“You… that’s…”

That young girl was speechless as she stared at the boy who was as dirty as she was.

“It’s the Stellar Primrose!”

Frey extended the flower towards the young girl with a bright smile.

The silver Stellar Primrose that extremely resembled himself.

“Take this too! It’s the Sunrise Primrose!”

“Why… why did you go to such lengths to get these for a worthless kid like me…?”

Tears began to well up in her eyes when Frey brought out the Sunrise Primrose as well.

“Because I want to be your friend!”

The young Clana hung her head in guilt when she saw how well Frey had preserved the flowers despite his disheveled appearance.

“…Why?”

“Because we’re not friends yet!”

The girl asked the boy with great difficulty, and although the boy replied with an innocent smile, she couldn’t understand his response. So, she pressed on with a strained voice.

“I don’t have anything to give you. I don’t have any power, and I’m just a puppet that people hate.”

“None of that matters to me?”

“Instead, I’ll form a covenant with you.”

“Hm?”

“The same covenant that the Imperial princess, the Hero, and the daughter of the Moonlight family made in this forest a thousand years ago… I’ll make it with you.”

The boy appeared puzzled. However, the girl firmly grasped his hands and began reciting the covenant.

“Henceforth, I declare. The absolute covenant that remains firm between the three families.”

“What are you doing?”

“I, Clana Solar Sunrise, will forever serve Frey Raon Starlight.”

Hearing the young girl form the covenant, Frey’s jaw dropped in surprise.

“As long as you don’t betray me first, I will never hate you… and will follow you till the day I die.”

“U-uh, ah…?”

“In case I break the covenant, my hand will shake whenever I see you, my heart will heat up… and in the end, I will go insane.”

“Y-You shouldn’t make a promise like that!”

“This is the greatest gift I can give you right now.”

Frey quickly interjected just as the young Clana was about to finish the covenant.

“I-I will also make a promise! I’m going to do it too!!”

“Y-You! What are you doing!”

The mysterious energy surrounding the young Clana shifted over to the young Frey.

“Stop! This is my gift to you! This whole thing becomes meaningless if you do it as well!!”

“But where is there a friend who only receives one-sidedly?”

The girl’s face contorted in anger as she tried to release herself from the boy’s grasp. But the boy held on firmly.

“Gifts are meant to be given and received in return.”

The girl could only stare in disbelief as the boy started reciting the covenant.

“I, Frey Raon Starlight, will make my friend standing before me, the Empress.”

“You…!”

“And if I break this promise…”

“T-That’s impossible! It’s impossible for me to become the Empress!!”

Shocked by his declaration, the young Clana desperately tried to dissuade him.

“Now that it’s come to this, make the penalty something trivial! Something like having to give me a cracker or even a coin!”

“I will give you my everything.”

“Ah……”

The covenant was made and the girl let out a stupefied sound.

“So that’s what happened… That’s why Frey is…”

In the next moment, the surroundings began to fade.

“R-Right. That’s what happened…”

Clana came to a realization as she found herself in the dark space once again.

“Frey… because of that promise…”

However, Clana, who was murmuring to herself, had a look of doubt on her face, as if something was still missing.

“But, I feel like I’m forgetting something…?”

.

.

.

.

.

“Hah…”

“Kania! How did it go?”

Frey nervously asked Kania as she took her hand off Clana with a deep breath.

“It succeeded for now… but we need to wait for her to wake up to see if it’s effective.”

“…Euk.”

Seeing Frey so anxious, Kania tried to explain with a worried face.

“I covered her memories from the Ordeal with the only other memory that was capable of suppressing it… but as expected, it’s another risky memory.”

“Damn it. I don’t even remember making a covenant with her… Just when did that happen.”

“It’s most likely to be another one of our memories that have been purposefully erased… a memory that can only be retrieved from our subconsciousness.”

Kania frowned and quietly continued.

“I’m saying this again, but black mana isn’t omnipotent. There’s a high chance of failure in altering her subconsciousness… and even if succeeds, there’s a good chance for her memories of the Ordeal to resurface with the smallest trigger.”

“As long as we’re careful…”

“No. Her memories will resurface naturally in due course. What I did is merely a stopgap.”

“Around how long… will it last?”

“A minimum of a few weeks and at best, a few months.”

Frey tightly clenched his fists as he watched Kania rise from her spot.

“That’s why… unless we find a permanent solution for it, it’s pretty much guaranteed at this point that you’re going to suffer another penalty.

“Fuck.”

Frey muttered profanities and paced around the room in frustration. After a short while, he heaved a sigh and opened his mouth.

“Kania, if I die by any chance, take the will from my secret pocket… Kania?”

However, he stopped and tilted his head.

“Kania, what’s going on?”

He was confused because he saw Kania, who had been trying to get up, completely stiff as though she had become petrified.

“Why, why are you like that?”

At that moment, Serena’s owl, that had been perched on Frey’s shoulder after flying in from the other room, helplessly fell off. After rushing to catch the owl, Frey looked at Clana’s motionless body in horror.

“………..”

Clana, who had been moving around until a moment ago, had also become frozen stiff.

“Just… what…”

Frey peered out of the window to take a look at the crazy nobles. As if to confirm his suspicions, they were also unmoving. Cold sweat ran down his body as he tried to leave the room.

“Hello, Frey.”

“……..!!!”

Someone suddenly opened the door and stepped into the room. Frey fell on his butt in horror.

“We finally meet.”

Her crimson eyes were sparkling like rubies as she gazed at him from above.