An hour and a half before -
Lumina and Vyra were chatting happily, but they were troubled by what dress to choose and what not to choose.
After a long and hard deliberation, and trying out many of the dresses one after another. They had finally selected their attire. Vyra had chosen a dark gray dress, which highlighted her red hair and green eyes, and she had a hunch that Heinz might also opt for a gray attire. So, she decided to match him.
anwhile, Lumina chose a yellow lemon-colored dress, which highlighted her golden hair and light red eyes, making her look both innocent and alluring at the sa ti. She truly felt quite happy at the mont. Though Axel said that he wouldn’t dance with her. She wouldn’t give up that easily, and with how beautifully she had dressed, he was bound to be stunned, especially since she knew that Sophia wouldn’t co on this occasion; she had asked her about it a few days ago, even though their relationship had beco sowhat stiff by now. Lumina still talked with her from ti to ti.
But her thoughts drifted elsewhere all of a sudden. Lumina swallowed hard, thinking of how handso Axel might look in a fashionable attire.
She humd a beautiful lody together with Vyra, the alchemy genius, who was usually very reserved and shy. Disliked gatherings like this. But now that she had feelings for soone, she couldn’t help but think differently about everything. She could never have imagined that her one decision to enter the masked competition and team up with that spear user would turn out like this.
She never needed to enter the masked competition to get a seat in the academy; her family was the best in the alchemy field in the whole of the Suncrest Great Kingdom. She entered the competition on a whim to improve her archery skills.
She could not help but enjoy the feeling she was having; she smiled in anticipation, even though Heinz was a commoner. There were so many things about him she could not help but like a lot. Now she would dance with him in front of everyone. The words of it would reach her family once they got out of the academy. But that was fine. She knew her family would oppose their relationship, but she was determined. Her heart was set,
Lumina was naturally unaware of her friend’s thoughts as they both entered the enormous ballroom, which had been expanded with magic, no doubt. Lumina had gestured to the guards not to announce their arrival, as she wanted to surprise Axel, appearing in front of him out of nowhere.
But the mont she entered, her expression cracked as the first words she heard, the ever-so-familiar voice spoke, "Miss Sophia Evercrest, may I have a dance?"
Doubting her own ears, she looked towards the distance. That blue hair she knew all too well; he was bowing slightly, extending his hand towards soone whose beauty was transcendent, soone too beautiful. Lumina’s brain froze, unable to process what was happening right in front of her eyes.
Axel, wearing an incredibly dashing dress, was asking Sophia for a dance. The valkyrie, who always wore the sa boring dress and still managed to look beautiful, now, for the first ti, had changed her clothes and wore a complete white dress that made her look no less than a divine angel. She, who had always hated gatherings of people and was uninterested in everything, had now transford. Sophia even told Lumina herself that she would not attend this charade. Yet, here she was. And why was Axel asking for a dance?
But the response from Sophia was not a surprise for anyone; she could not help but let out a sigh of relief at the direct rejection of the proposal of dance from Axel. This again made her aware of the intense jealousy she had towards Sophia. Not for her beauty. But because she was attracting Axel towards her.
But alas, just when she thought the unexpected scenario was over. It beca worse. Axel asked her again, but Sophia refused. But the blue prince of the academy went closer to her and almost demanded a dance, nearly commanding her. But the end of his sentence made it seem like he was pleading.
Lumina almost dropped to her knees, unable to comprehend why Axel was doing this, but Vyra caught her from falling. Lumina could not help but think of the worst possibilities she could imagine. Was Sophia’s beauty so great that Axel could not resist her anymore? Maybe he always had a thing for her. It was natural, after all; she was the most beautiful and perfect woman any man could want. She was perfect in every possible way.
And when Sophia finally agreed to his request for a dance, she looked straight at Lumina from the corner of her eye and smiled; Lumina felt like a rusty sword laced with deadly poison was being slowly pierced right through her heart. She watched on as the tears fell from her eyes. Vyra tried to console her, and even Heinz appeared beside her. Both of their expressions turned ugly at what Axel was doing, while the princess was watching.
Lumina could only watch on, as she realized more and more how strong her feelings were for Axel Nomrad, how all of that was now turning into complete despair. The girl she thought to be like her own sister once was now dancing in the arms of the man she desired deeply. Sophia, who usually never showed any emotion on her face, was now smiling in genuine happiness in his arms. Even Axel, Lumina had never seen him so happy. The look in his eyes. The way he looked at Sophia conveyed nothing but pure love.
They were both like the brightest dazzling stars intertwining with one another, almost like yin and yang, a mix of black and white, a swirl of red and blue. Combining, separating, then pushing and pulling each other beautifully, harmoniously, endlessly. Each of their steps and minor movents is so perfectly in sync that it could almost be called a work of art.
It hurt; it hurt her so badly that it was laughable. Vyra tried to wipe away her tears, but she pushed them away. She thought she would surprise Axel with this beautiful dress, and everyone else, but not a single person even looked in her direction. Every single one of their eyes was utterly fixated on the dance of Axel Nomrad and Sophia Evercrest, the pair of transcendents.
Their dance finally ended. When Axel finally looked in her direction, his soft smile and happy look vanished, completely replaced by a dreadful, panic-filled face. However, they did not separate imdiately, or to be precise, Sophia did not let him. They continued to whisper to one another while Lumina felt her entire spirit had been shattered.
Even though she had been through many tough things in her small life, dreadful and disgusting situations within the hell called the imperial palace. She had never lost her shine. Her brother protected her always, never letting her suffer, even with what she went through in the trial; that one person had protected her. She maintained her positivity, her brightness. But now, for the first ti, she felt like life had kicked her down into a narrow dark chasm. From which she had no way of getting out. In here, she could only embrace the darkness.
The darkness that could never touch her was finally encroaching on her spirit. She ran away, while Vyra followed behind. Her mother had told her about a particular balcony at the very edge of the building, on the third floor, a quiet place where she could be alone.
A place where her mother used to co whenever she was upset while she was a student at this academy long ago. At that ti, they still allowed students to co and go in this building as necessary. How ironic that she had also co here just like her mother, with her heart broken.
She had shouted to Vyra to leave her alone when she entered this small and rusted balcony filled with dirt. How many years had it been since this had been left unused? Her beautiful, flowery yellow dress was stained with mud as she sat in one corner of the balcony, leaning against the wall, staring towards the three moons that were nearing the large purple moon with hollow eyes. The tears wouldn’t stop, no matter how many tis she tried.
Had she been played by the two of them from the very start? Were those things about Axel being unable to love anyone else but her dead childhood friend nothing but a lie? Was it all a lie, Sophia, even her? The way she provocatively smirked at her, as if declaring that she had won. Maybe two of them had been together for a while. She had shown obvious signs of interest in him all this ti. But was it necessary? Necessary to show sothing like this? To break her heart in such a cruel way.
She felt the world around her spin, her mind unable to process the enormity of the sadness she was feeling, the sadness that was the exact opposite of her existence. Negative emotions were entirely detrintal to her own path of progress.
Suddenly, she heard a sound, the old wooden door of the dirty balcony creaking, announcing the arrival of soone else. Just as she was about to shout to leave her alone, assuming it was Vyra, since she was standing right outside. But it was soone else. Probably the very last person she wanted to see at that mont.
User Comments
0 comments from readers