The moment the words left her lips, a thought popped into Lia's head.
'This isn't right….'
Her confession was completely different from what she had expected.
Right after she had been unilaterally rejected.
The person she confessed to already had someone they liked.
Even in such a situation, she had done something that would make Emil uncomfortable, just to make herself feel better.
Because of the complex emotions swirling within her from such a situation.
Tears welled up in Lia's eyes, threatening to spill.
"Lia… that is…"
"Ah, ha ha ha, sorry, sorry, I just said something so out of the blue. You were flustered, weren't you…?"
"..."
"I'm sorry. From Emil's perspective, I must have just been a friend. …I knew it would be awkward, but I still did it. I'm sorry…."
It was miserable.
She was ashamed of herself for apologizing after confessing.
Why had it come to this?
Had she been too hasty?
Perhaps there could have been a better way.
Lia felt her mind grow complicated and her heart pound.
She wanted to quickly hide somewhere.
And then.
"…I actually knew."
"…Huh?"
"I knew that Lia had feelings for me."
"..."
Emil gently avoided her gaze, his face tinged with guilt.
Just as Lia had confessed impulsively.
Emil, too, had impulsively revealed his true feelings to her.
"Heh, heh… Emil is kind after all."
"It's not about being kind or anything like that. It's just…."
Lia felt his consideration in his honest answer.
But Emil shook his head, denying it.
Why?
She was the one who caused trouble, so why was he making that face?
"It's just… thank you, Lia."
"Yeah…"
"But, I'm sorry. I…"
"I know, it's okay. …Seriously, *I* should be the one who's sorry, so why are *you* apologizing, Emil?"
"..."
"Ha ha ha, it's okay, so straighten your shoulders! I like it when you're confident!"
"Yeah…"
"Alright then! I'm embarrassed, so I'll go first! Don't you dare follow me?"
Tap tap!
With that, Lia took a few steps away from Emil and looked back at him.
Then, wiping away her tears, she waved at him with a bright smile.
Afterward, she hurried and ran towards the dorms.
"..."
Emil watched Lia's retreating back.
And a moment later.
As her figure grew smaller and smaller.
He softly muttered.
"It's my revenge, but… it's not easy."
Whether it was Mari's time, or Chris's time.
And now, even in Lia's moment.
Of course, he intentionally pursued them, received their confessions, and then rejected them.
Still, the moments he spent laughing and having fun with them while pursuing them remained in his heart.
'When I rejected Mari's confession, it wasn't this difficult.'
Somehow, as time passed, his heart began to ache when rejecting their feelings.
They were people he had once truly loved.
Though the feelings of being betrayed, wronged, and resentful still remained.
He felt guilty when rejecting their confessions.
That guilt grew stronger each time he rejected a heroine's confession.
He tried to recall the reason, and the answer came quickly.
…Sierra.
Because Emil also currently harbored feelings for someone, just like them.
He understood well what it felt like to be rejected by someone you liked.
"..."
However.
"Still… I have to finish it all."
Though his heart ached.
This was about eliminating the lingering regrets of my five deaths.
Didn't I resolve this when I first started the 6th regression?
It didn't matter if this iteration ended in a bad ending.
Even if this iteration was his last life.
Emil reaffirmed his resolve to avenge his past grievances.
And that night.
Ding!
[Conditions met!]
['Memories of Despair' activated!]
His special skill announced its beginning.
***
Lia lay blankly in her dorm room, hugging a pillow.
After her sudden confession to Emil.
She had returned to her dorm, shedding big tears, and after crying for a long time, now not even a single tear would come out.
"Am I really a fool…."
She felt pathetic.
What was she even doing?
Was she trying to make herself into a tragic heroine?
Unfortunately, she couldn't even be a tragic heroine.
Because she wasn't the prince's princess.
"...Damn it."
Recalling it, she felt another surge of emotion.
She was just as charming as Sierra.
Why couldn't it be her?
As she continued to think such thoughts, her situation began to feel increasingly pitiful.
"Tomorrow… how am I going to go to the academy…."
As she lay there blankly, spending time blankly, at one moment.
"Ah… how will I face Emil…."
She suddenly felt drowsiness wash over her.
Was it because she had cried all day?
Lia thought it might be good to just fall asleep and forget the painful memories.
She gently closed her eyes.
And then.
'Huh…?'
The moment Lia closed her eyes, she opened them.
'What is this?'
It was a strange sensation.
Just a moment ago, she had clearly been lying in bed.
Now, she was at the academy.
She stood in the academy corridor, neatly dressed in her uniform.
'This is….'
Recognizing the familiar scenery, she immediately identified the location.
It was the academy annex.
The very place she had diligently frequented during summer vacation for the board game club.
And then.
'....'
[Ha ha ha~! Emil, I only have one card left now~? What should I do? Huh? What should I do? Lia Noona~, please just let me off this once~, Heh. If you beg like that, maybe I'll let you off?]
[Be quiet….]
[Loser, loser, loser~! Kah ha ha ha!]
A familiar classroom.
It was the classroom where the board game club was held.
And from inside, two familiar voices could be heard.
'...What is this?'
Lia walked towards the classroom door as if possessed.
And the moment she reached out her hand to try and open the door.
Swoosh….
Her translucent body passed right through the door.
'....'
She couldn't open the door.
She realized.
This was indeed a dream.
And Lia, without hesitation, pushed her body through the closed door.
"Ah~! What, what~! It's all over after all, isn't it? Does this mean I'm getting treated again today? Ha ha ha ha! Oh no, I feel so bad, what should I do?"
"Kuaaaah!"
'Seriously, what is this…?'
Lia murmured questioningly, looking at the scene inside the clubroom.
There were several students there.
She was sure there were only four club members in her memory.
But in the scene before her, there were as many as seven people, divided into groups, enjoying board games.
'Why am I dreaming this kind of dream…?'
Lia couldn't understand.
It was such a vivid lucid dream.
Then, shouldn't the scene show four people playing board games, just like in her memory?
Moreover, four of the seven people she saw were strangers.
The faces she knew were Emil and herself… and Bran.
'....'
As Lia watched the club scene, not knowing why, at one moment.
'Oh…?'
Whoosh.
Suddenly, the scenery changed.
This time, it was the city market.
It was dusk.
"Mmm~, this taste of getting treated after winning a game!"
"Is it good?"
"Yes! It's delicious! Buy me more!"
"Ha, next time, you'll have to buy it for me, won't you?"
"Hehe~, really? Emil… you're bad at games."
"Ugh…!"
There, she saw herself and Emil again.
'...I don't… have a memory like this.'
But it was strange.
It was clearly a sight she had never seen before.
Yet, after seeing that scene, it suddenly flowed into her mind as if it were her own memory.
Soon, the memory became her own experience.
'This is….'
Only then did Lia realize.
She didn't understand the principle, but unknowingly, she knew what this was.
This was 'something that actually happened somewhere.'
Perhaps she was seeing memories from another time, memories that she might have experienced.
'Ha ha, that's strange.'
"Ta-da~! Done!"
"Eeek! A-already?!"
"Hmm-hmm-hmm~, who was it who said that? That they never lose a speed competition~?"
"No way…! To think I lost in speed…."
"Hey~, Emil, is it humiliating? Huh? Is it humiliating to lose physically to a girl?"
"Be quiet…."
"Ha ha ha ha! Ah~, I want to get a snack from Emil soon~."
The dream landscape continued to show her memories she didn't know.
Various games she played with Emil.
In reality, she had always lost to Emil.
But the Emil in this place was bad at games.
So he lost to her every time, yet he kept challenging her.
'Heh heh, Emil here is incredibly persistent.'
Lia watched him with interest.
Emil struggling to win somehow.
Blushing and reacting when teased even a little.
And even the way he would immediately smile and rejoice when he saw a chance to win.
They were all different sides of Emil.
'....'
And then.
Thump, thump.
"..."
"..."
The two of them played games together.
And when the games ended, as if by promise.
They spent time together, just the two of them.
Sometimes in the city, sometimes in a flower garden, sometimes on a rooftop.
And so, before they knew it, the two of them.
"...This is embarrassing."
"...Should I let go?"
"Hehe, no."
They had become a couple walking hand in hand.
'....'
Lia watched the two of them in her translucent form.
The two in the dream gradually became lovers.
And that memory also seeped into her own memory.
'Pfft, what is this~, really~.'
In that situation, Lia laughed.
'If it's like this, it makes it seem like I'm dreaming this because I have so many lingering regrets~!'
She had been rejected in reality.
Yet, in the dream she was having that day, she watched herself spending happy moments with Emil.
"Lia…."
"Yes…"
"I like you."
"...Yes."
Ultimately, the two became lovers.
Emil had confessed to her.
'Seriously~! If anyone knew about this, I'd die of embarrassment~! Why am I dreaming a dream like this~!'
Lia, watching the two, playfully laughed and flailed her arms as if protesting.
The two looked happy.
'Seriously~!'
Drip, drip.
'Really~!'
Drip… drip.
'H-h-h, seriously… why am I having such… h-h-h, a dream….'
Lia soon dropped her tears uncontrollably.
'Even if I have such memories… h-h-h, it's just miserable….'
Who could it be?
Who would commit such a malicious act?
To only be able to see moments she desperately wished for in a dream.
Who on earth would inflict such tormenting hope on her?
'H-h-h, ugh… h-h-h….'
Lia wept mournfully.
Unable to watch the happy couple any longer, she slumped to the floor.
Wiping away her tears with both hands, she continued to shed them.
And then.
Smash!
"Eek! S-sorry! Were you that surprised?"
"..."
'...Huh?'
A familiar sound reached her ears.
A moment she would probably never forget.
Lia stopped crying mid-sob, raised her head, and looked at the scene.
There, as before.
"Th-this… is it that expensive…?"
Stood her trembling self, terrified by the broken vase.
"Yes, it's a valuable family heirloom."
And in front of her stood Bran, subtly smiling, carrying out his cunning plan.
'....'
A sight that sent chills down her spine just by looking at it.
And Lia, who continued to watch that scene.
Why she was being subjected to such malicious hope-torture.
She came to understand the reason.