The World After the Bad Ending

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In front of another exit of Magung Academy.

A single silver-haired woman rolled out.

“Nikita!”

A man who rushed out quickly supported her.

The man, resembling Nikita, was her older brother, Nia Cynthia.

“N-Nia, big brother.”

Nikita clenched her fists tightly.

Then, she abruptly hit Nia in the side.

“Ugh!”

“Why, why didn’t you tell me sooner! Even if you told me you were alive, it would have been okay!”

“I’m sorry, Nikita. If I had contacted you, someone would have surely become suspicious.”

Nia looked at the angry Nikita, unsure of what to do.

This emotional Nikita was something Nia had never seen before.

She too was unable to control her emotions at that moment.

Feelings surged within her, causing confusion.

A certain man kept appearing in her mind.

The one who blocked her path and sent her here without permission.

When he left the academy, she hadn’t even been able to see him off.

And yet, he had stubbornly returned to the academy and remained by her side.

“If I had known, this wouldn’t have happened….”

Nikita bit her lip tightly.

“Did… did that guy not inform you because you silenced him, big brother?”

“No, that was his own judgment. He was the one who saved me in the first place.”

Nikita’s eyes widened.

‘Bickamon, perhaps…’

He might have known for a long time that Nia was going to be killed.

He might have returned to Jerion Academy for that reason.

But who was it for?

‘It was for me.’

Nikita had always known Bickamon’s feelings.

After all, she was destined for a political marriage as a member of the Cynthia family.

Since she couldn’t return his feelings, she had turned away, and Bickamon was aware of this fact as well.

Thus, he never confessed to Nikita until the end.

‘He…’

Bickamon had left the academy entangled with Lucas.

At that time, the Third Princess was among the groups Bickamon had attacked.

As a result, he was banished from not only the academy but also his family as punishment.

‘Perhaps there was a reason for that too.’

The reason he had to return to Hania.

And if that reason involved her in any way?

If Bickamon was by the side of the Third Princess to prevent Nia’s assassination?

‘…Was he really doing it all for me, even at the cost of being banished from his family?’

Nikita pressed her lips together tightly.

This thought was certainly a leap in logic.

But when she recalled Bickamon’s face looking at her in that last moment,

It was undeniably a believable story.

Bickamon had returned as Hania and stood by her side.

He always supported the reckless Nikita so she wouldn’t have a hard time.

That looked just like the past when Bickamon had been there for her.

‘The reason he didn’t hastily inform about Nia’s death…’

He surely kept it a secret, considering the possibility that someone from the Third Princess’s faction might notice something.

If an emergency arose, he likely intended to prevent her from going berserk by keeping this fact hidden.

Nikita recalled Bickamon’s bittersweet smile as Hania.

‘…He must have known from the start.’

After hearing the news of Nia’s death,

Nikita had been drawn into the magic of the ancient dragon.

Once you touched the magic of the ancient dragon, it couldn’t be stopped.

Bickamon knew this and smiled that way.

‘And today…’

To completely erase the ancient dragon’s magic that had been engraved on Nikita,

Bickamon had prepared everything alone and ultimately saved her.

‘Why…’

Nikita wanted to ask once more.

Why did he have to go so far for her?

She wholeheartedly wanted to ask him.

But the answer was already decided.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s enough that Nikita is safe.”

He had said that kindly while looking at her.

Now that she knew the meaning behind those words involved Bickamon, everything connected.

“Nikita, be happy.”

It was okay not to return this feeling.

Just by her being happy was already enough of a repayment for him.

Bickamon seemed to say that.

The blurry image of Bickamon appeared to be in a dire state.

A body infused with steel and the scars of lightning engraved here and there.

And finally, he had certainly taken something that was contained within himself.

She didn’t know exactly what it was.

But she could clearly sense it was related to the magic of the ancient dragon.

He had given everything, sacrificing his own body for her sake.

Her chest felt stifled.

Unknown emotions swirled within her.

Her heart felt like it would tear apart.

She felt sorry and pained that she hadn’t even responded once to his feelings.

“Foolishly…”

Nikita tightly gripped the collar of her clothes.

She knocked at her stifled heart repeatedly.

“Really.”

Tears fell thickly from her eyes.

Yet still, no amount of tears could mask the memory of his final face.

It’s flooding.

Emotions overwhelmed her too much.

This was a first for her.

A life where no one but Nia had ever cared for her.

No, it was a life where even the brilliant talent of Nia couldn’t look at her properly.

Just as a criminal fails to understand genius,

A genius too fails to understand a criminal.

However, Bickamon was a criminal like Nikita.

He too had no talent in magic and was treated as useless by the Niflheim family.

The only person who stood on the same level as her.

That’s why Nikita might have turned away from him even more.

When she saw him, she saw herself.

She subconsciously knew that and turned her eyes away.

But Bickamon had always been watching her.

Those eyes were more honest than anyone else’s.

Nikita’s efforts were deemed natural because she was born into the Cynthia family.

No matter how outstanding her achievements, they were always attributed to the Cynthia name.

But Bickamon praised her.

He praised everything she had done and expressed his respect.

Nikita found solace in that.

On the contrary, in the Cynthia family, not a single one of her efforts was acknowledged.

No matter what she did, she could never escape her destined fate of a political marriage.

But at this moment,

She completely broke free from the Cynthia family.

Since she had touched the magic of the ancient dragon, the Cynthia family would no longer consider her one of their own.

She was free.

It was the first freedom given to Nikita.

Not as Nikita Cynthia.

But as Nikita, living her life.

And this was a life she had longed for above all else.

The real reason she had crumbled with Nia’s death was

Because she had realized the wretched life that was merely for a political marriage.

And this life was given to her by Bickamon.

It felt as if he was speaking directly to her.

Even after being banished from his family, he was still living so gloriously.

Can’t Nikita live like that too?

The life he showed her came back to Nikita.

She could live.

She would definitely be able to live.

Bickamon abandoned his family and lived brilliantly.

Seeing him gave her the belief that she could also live like that.

Nikita was a doer.

She knew how to rise again even after crumbling.

And this time, she wouldn’t rise alone.

“Really, foolishly.”

She could no longer hold back her tears.

She wanted nothing more than to meet him right away and talk to him.

To discuss everything he had done, one by one.

Above all,

She wanted to tell him about the feelings bubbling up inside her now.

“…Nikita, a real Hania was found recently.”

In that moment, Nia’s voice reached Nikita’s ears.

“He’s not Hania Irey, is he?”

Those in the First Prince’s faction had confirmed that the person at the academy was not Hania.

Hearing Nia’s question, Nikita bit her lip.

“…I can’t tell you who he is.”

Nikita kept the secret.

For his sake, she couldn’t reveal this fact.

Nia nodded.

“I’m just saying this to find out what kind of tool he used.”

“Tool?”

“A tool that perfectly disguises itself as Hania.”

Nikita recalled that he had also disguised himself as Hania.

“That’s the Shroud Bandage. If you categorize it, it’s a type of divine artifact.”

Nia’s expression darkened as he said that.

Divine artifacts all carried risks.

It was not uncommon for users to meet death due to these divine artifacts.

“Brother, could it have side effects?”

“…Yes, the more one uses the Shroud Bandage, one of the three emotional elements vanishes.”

Nikita’s eyes widened slowly.

“Emotions?”

“Sorrow, anger, love—one of the three universal emotions humans experience will disappear.

And according to further studies, it may not just be one depending on usage.”

Nikita froze, her eyes widening.

Sorrow, anger, love.

It had already been half a year since Bickamon had used the Shroud Bandage.

If his emotions had vanished,

She already knew who the most likely candidate would be.

“No, no.”

Nikita denied it.

“No, not possible….”

Just as she was starting to face his true feelings,

They would disappear?

Nikita couldn’t accept that fact.

And the thought that it might be because of her made it all the more unbearable.

‘What Bickamon said about being happy is…’

Perhaps it was a farewell to the emotions that were fading away.

“I have to go back now!”

“Nikita, if you go back now, it will only put you in danger!”

Nia urgently stopped Nikita.

“And he made that choice because he wanted to protect you.”

If Nikita returned now, everything Bickamon did would become meaningless.

Knowing that, Nikita suppressed her emotions and clenched her fists.

“…Alright.”

Nikita accepted it.

“But someday…”

If she were to meet him again.

‘Even if he has lost his emotions.’

She would make him regain those feelings.

‘I’ve taken so much from him.’

So she would give it back to him without fail.

Nikita’s blue eyes reached Magung.

Now, those eyes were filled with one person.