The night sky shimmered with twinkling stars, painting a peaceful canvas above.
In the middle of a grassy field, a boy and a girl lay side by side, stargazing together.
"What color roses do you like?" the boy asked the blonde-haired girl beside him.
"Eh...? Why do you wanna know?" she turned her head to him, puzzled.
"Just curious." he replied casually.
His face, though, was blurred out —scratched over like it had been cursed by the gods themselves.
"I like red and white ones... They're pretty," she said with a gentle smile. "And you, ••E••...?"
The boy went silent. He averted his gaze, turning away from her to stare at the stars above.
The girl, her deep blue eyes filled with anticipation, waited quietly for an answer. A gentle breeze swept through the field, calming her heart.
He closed his eyes and softly said, "Azure... and black."
She fell silent for a moment, then gave a knowing smile.
"So you like blue and black roses, huh..."
But just as she said that, the dream shattered like a mirror falling to the ground.
"I hate you."
The boy's voice returned — merciless and cold.
Scenes flickered like old film reels, the voice repeating over and over.
"Shut your mouth."
The words made the girl twitch, her body beginning to tremble with anguish.
"Do you think that sad look will make me feel sorry for you?"
"Pathetic!"
She could barely take it. It felt like someone was slicing into her heart while she was still alive.
And then—
"I hate you the most... you worthless girl!"
Lira jolted awake in her bed, tears streaming from her eyes.
"A... dream...?" Her voice trembled, barely more than a whisper meant to comfort herself.
She clutched her chest tightly, her heartbeat thudding loudly like it was crying in her place.
"Why does it... hurt so much?"
she whispered, the pain in her voice almost unrecognizable.
Her eyes swept across the gray walls of her room, dimly illuminated by moonlight filtering through thin curtains.
"Crying...?" a voice echoed softly from the couch.
"N-No, I'm fine!" Lira quickly wiped her tears away.
"The tea is ready."
T.E.A.0 said, walking in with two steaming cups.
But her mechanical eyes caught the tears still fresh on Lira's face.
CLANG!
The cups rattled as T.E.A.0 rushed over.
"Princess! What's wrong!?" the AI girl rushed to her side.
"Why is your pulse so high!?"
she exclaimed, grasping Lira's trembling hand.
T.E.A.0 was no ordinary AI. She was the first of her kind — designed with a consciousness eerily close to that of a human.
Lira bowed her head, letting her tears fall freely. The blanket beneath her grew damp.
Her hands shook — not from cold, but from a pain so real it couldn't have been just a dream.
Fayros said nothing. He turned to grab the tea from where T.E.A.0 or another name is
Tio had set it down.
But then—
The reflection in the tea showed a boy with jet-black hair, but his eyes weren't the usual empty black. They were violet now—and they looked like they were crying.
Suddenly, a pale white hand emerged from the cup, eerily similar to Kaen's.
It waved slowly through the air, as if trying to reach for something just out of grasp.
"Wha—!!"
CRASH!
Startled, Fayros stumbled back, dropping the cup.
"Fayros!" Lira turned quickly.
The hand was gone.
"Just... a hallucination?" he muttered, relieved.
"Because you don't trust Kaen enough."
A voice cold and laced with death echoed behind him.
Fayros whipped around.
It was the red-haired man he had seen in last night's hallucination.
"Another hallucination...?" Lira asked, helping Fayros up.
Before he could answer, his ink-black eyes caught sight of something in the room — The Dusken Shade.
It had entered without anyone noticing. The terrifying part? Neither the Nexus AI nor Tio had detected it.
But strangely, the black mist that usually cloaked it had thinned.
It didn't say a word.
This time, it wasn't staring at Fayros.
It was looking at Lira.
Despite having no face — hidden behind that dark mist — Fayros somehow knew it was smiling gently at her.
Then it whispered directly into his mind:
"Sofia is doing well, isn't she..."
"Where did you hear that name!?" Fayros snapped.
"Huh? What's wrong, Fayros?" Lira asked, concerned.
The shadow didn't answer. It vanished before their eyes — right before those god-marked eyes of Fayros.
THUD!
He slammed his hands on the table.
Tio and Lira flinched.
"Damn it... Who the hell are you!?"
Fayros trembled with a mix of rage, confusion, and dread.
"Ow... Damn, that hurts!"
He realized he had slammed his hands too hard.
Tio immediately stepped in, utilizing the properties of the Vireonexus flower — a seemingly ordinary bloom with nanomechanical structures that could interface with the Resonance Field.
Because she was a sentient AI, the flower worked through her.
She used it to treat the bruising on Fayros's hand.
Lira watched him, confused and deeply concerned.
Fayros stared at the spot where the shadow had stood.
He didn't look at Lira.
Didn't say a word.
Only his shallow, shaky breaths remained—
as though his heart itself was calling out to someone long lost.
08:39 AM, Classroom A-6, Nexus Academy
The course: MILK – Mental Integration & Loving Kindness. It focused on post-war emotional healing through magical and psychological means.
Nickname among students: Milk Carton Class — because the teacher gave out real milk during lessons to soothe tension.
The instructor: Halien Varmund, a stern man with dark brown hair and golden eyes.
The task: Heal survivors of the recent war between Valenthia and the Omega Machina Republic. The war had ended only a week ago.
Fayros was assigned to a particular survivor— a small girl around 10 years old.
As he approached, the amber-eyed girl trembled with fear.
"Stay away from me...! Don't come any closer!"
She clutched her knees and sobbed.
"You killed my parents... Isn't that enough!?"
She remembered everything — the blood in her mother's arms, her father's corpse, the smoke, the stench of iron.
She dreamed of her mother's screams every night.
But Fayros didn't retreat. He stepped closer.
"I don't need your fake help... Just kill me already..."
Her head sank as she tried to hold back tears.
Lira, passing by to gather supplies, overheard the conversation.
Fayros opened his mouth — but the voice wasn't his usual.
"So what?"
"Eh...?" the girl looked up, shocked.
He cut her off before she could respond.
"Do you really want to die? You don't. Your instincts are fighting to survive."
His voice was cold — no longer the Fayros Lira knew.
Lira's eyes widened. Is he... being possessed again?
"W-What do you mean...? But I want to die... My parents are gone... What's the point of living...?"
"You live—for yourself."
His words pulled her from the brink.
Within the subconscious mind... a place cloaked in darkness.
"What's going on...? Why can't I control my body...!?"
Fayros was lost, panicked. Who was speaking through his lips? Who had taken over?
"You're too slow."
A voice echoed behind him.
"So I gave the white rose in your place — for a moment."
He turned — and there stood the same blood-red-haired man.
Same face. Same voice. But colder, sharper.
"Because of your hesitation, disaster always follows."
The voice wasn't angry. It was in pain.
Ice-cold. Piercing.
"Why...? I didn't hesitate..."
Fayros tried to defend himself.
"That's the problem! Every time you hesitate, people die... You always could act decisively, but when the time comes — you falter. Pathetically."
"So damn annoying... always needing others to clean up your mess. You weren't like this before."
The crimson-haired man spoke, eyes devoid of fear.
"Clean up my mess?" Fayros echoed.
"Yeah..."
"If you weren't so damn stubborn... just accept it."
A voice with blue hair cut in from the right.
"A-Accept? Accept what?!"
The black-haired boy asked, confusion twisting his face.
"The truth... the truth you keep denying."
The blue-haired figure's hair fluttered as he choked back tears, as if holding back centuries of pain.
"The truth!?" Fayros' eyes widened.
"The truth that once known... it's better to die from the pain than live with it."
The crimson-eyed man's words slashed straight through the boy's heart, merciless and cold.
"Some truths... hurt more than anyone can bear. Not everyone can endure them."
His blood-red gaze was as sharp and cold as ice.