Chapter 385
Beside him, Aldraya stood with perfect posture, like a living porcelain statue.
Her long white hair had been neatly let down, covering her back like a silver cloak.
Her empty, monotonous gaze was fixed on the messy knot of the tie at Theo's neck, a small chaos in the midst of the stability of his private space.
In the past few days, she had spent almost limitless patience teaching this simple ritual, a custom of the normal world that, for Theo, felt like deciphering an ancient code.
Every stiff movement Theo made, every failure to form a perfect loop, was observed by Aldraya without a blink, stored as data within her machine-like mind.
She looked not only at the fabric, but at the tension in Theo's shoulders, at the faint crease forming on his forehead when he concentrated, at the body language of a warrior more accustomed to gripping a sword than a strip of silk.
A conclusion turned within Aldraya's thoughts.
That whoever in the future would share life with this young man—who would attempt to tame his rigidity and stubbornness in trivial domestic rituals—might encounter a path filled with obstacles.
A faint image of an anonymous woman, whose fate would be tied to hands that fumbled with the knots of everyday life, floated within her awareness.
Yet behind that seemingly critical assessment, there was a quiet commitment to remain here, to straighten what was tangled, to be a guide in the small matters that rendered Theo unexpectedly helpless.
Their intimacy, built upon shared experiences and celestial hymns, now found a new form within the quiet space of the dormitory room, embodied through the touch of Aldraya's cool fingers that occasionally brushed Theo's neck as she corrected his mistakes—a touch as gentle as when her tongue once traced his wounds.
Then, in the silence broken only by the sound of fabric brushing against fabric, Aldraya repeated her action once more.
Undoing the failed knot, smoothing the cloth, and beginning again with precise and elegant movements, while Theo could only stand still, watching a small perfection recreated from the chaos he had made.
'Even a game always gives a pause before dropping its hammer of fate.'
The party was a bright point on the narrative map engraved in Theo's memory, a warm oasis in the desert of tension that would soon engulf this world.
Beyond the door of his room, the shimmer of party lights had already begun to appear from the main hall of the Star Academy, dancing like fireflies in invitation.
Theo, whose tie was still being adjusted by Aldraya, stared outward with a complex gaze.
His knowledge as an active gamer who had completed the entire scenario of Flo Viva Mythology granted him paradoxical insight.
He knew this party was a pause, a chapter filled with laughter and light before the great storm of Arc One reached its peak in Episode Twelve.
An event in which the game's main character, Ilux Rediona, would shine before everything changed.
The knowledge of the future created a strange bitterness in his chest, making the distant party lights appear beautiful yet fragile.
Beside him, Aldraya Kansh Que stood calmly, the simple party dress she wore reflecting the dim glow of dusk.
The woman with white hair and a flat expression was a living contradiction amid the lively preparations for the celebration.
Her empty gaze observed Theo's profile, as though able to sense the conflicting waves of thought within the young man's mind.
The peaceful days following their undercover mission at the Bathee family's residence had woven a new rhythm between them, a coexistence stitched together from silence, small corrections, and mutual acceptance.
The earlier ritual of tying the tie was only one of many small moments affirming that in a world threatened by battles between angels and the weight of destiny, there was still room for stiff hands that needed correction and for patience given without condition.
'Ilux has no reason to smile sincerely tonight.'
Theo's eyes, behind the windowpane that occasionally reflected the party lights, seemed to pierce through the glittering hall and perceive a silent shadow.
Within the map of his memory as a gamer, this fragment was clearly read.
Ilux Rediona, the protagonist, would not be among the laughing crowd.
Erietta's departure from Star Academy had severed the only complicated and painful emotional knot, leaving behind a hollow space filled only with bitterness and glasses of alcohol.
Theo imagined him sitting alone in a dim corner, perhaps on a balcony or in the quiet library, sipping a drink while staring blankly at the unfamiliar festivity.
Occasionally, perhaps a student would approach, attempting to converse with the academy's star who appeared gloomy, yet the conversation would dissipate, never touching the core of the loneliness that surrounded him.
This party was merely a silent interlude for him, an interface before the true gate of conflict opened wide.
Theo's knowledge of the storyline granted him an almost cinematic image of what would unfold after the party's glitter faded.
The main event would begin with a meeting, a dialogue between two extreme points pulling at Ilux's fate.
Xavier XVII, bearing the weight of legacy and charisma, would stand before Ilux.
Their conversation would not be friendly.
It would be an exchange of words filled with thorns, disappointment, and perhaps a sliver of hope that would ultimately be severed.
The air between them would turn static, charged with long-buried emotions, before erupting into physical confrontation.
The fight scene would not merely be a clash of fists, but a symbolic climax in which one chapter of Ilux's life had to end in bitterness.
And Xavier's decision to leave, to vanish from Ilux's life, would be the decisive blow that changed everything, becoming the main trigger for Ilux's transformation into a darker and stronger version of himself.
'Behind the curtain of the party, destiny has already prepared its sacrifice.'
That knowledge hung in the air of their room like a sword of Damocles perceived only by two people.
Theo, with the game memories that had explored every corner of Flo Viva Mythology's story, understood with cruel clarity that the red thread triggering the explosion between Ilux and Xavier still lay hidden in darkness.
Both of them—the wounded protagonist and the charismatic figure who would abandon him—were still walking under false assumptions.
They might believe Erietta had merely been expelled, exiled, or returned to her family in disgrace.
Ilux, in his bitter solitude, might still harbor embers of anger and confusion over the absence of his former tormentor, without even brushing against the shadow of the horrifying truth.
They were preparing to clash upon a stage they believed empty, while beneath that stage, a sacrifice was being coldly prepared.
'I can feel her gaze stripping bare every mistake.'
That truth buzzed in Theo's ears, louder than the clinking of glasses or the music drifting from the hall.
In the original narrative he had memorized, this party was supposed to occur beneath the shadow of a death.
Aldraya Kansh Que should have already been gone, her body shattered along with her essence by the blaze of deep hatred toward Quil-Hasa, the God she believed regarded her as a worthless slave.
To be continued…