Date: January 1, 2018 | Time: 1:35 PM
Location: Sylvaris Central Market District
Perspective: Celia
My hand felt so small, so warm, encased in his.
Every step in these new heels felt like I was walking on air—not because of the mana-enchanted soles, but because he put them on me.
He knelt for me. In front of everyone, he showed the world who I belonged to.
I could run a marathon in these if he asked me to. I'm his good girl. I'm his bunny. As long as he's holding me, I'm safe and happy….
Then, his hand went cold.
He stopped. I looked up, ready to offer a playful pout, but the look on his face froze the blood in my veins. He wasn't looking at me. He was staring past the stalls, past the crowds, his eyes locked on a sliver of movement in the distance.
"Kai? What is it?"
"I have to go now, Celia."
He began to withdraw his hand.
No. Not now. Not when we were finally perfect.
I lunged, my fingers latching onto his forearm with a desperate, white-knuckled grip.
"Kai, I'll fall if you let me go," I pleaded, forcing a tremor into my voice, looking up at him with every ounce of vulnerability I had left.
"Don't let go of my hand. Stay. Please."
He didn't even turn his head.
"Let go of my arm."
He stepped forward. I followed his gaze this time, my eyes widening as I caught a glimpse of it—a shock of short, pink hair disappearing into the sea of people.
Her.
My heart didn't just beat; it snarled. My nails dug into his skin, and I felt my mana flare, dark and jagged.
Crownless,Hide my chains. Make them invisible. I'm not letting him leave.
I whispered the incantation for physical enhancement under my breath, feeling the cursed energy surge through my muscles, locking my grip into an iron vice.
"You will stay with me, Kai. You have to."
But Kaiser didn't struggle
With a terrifying, effortless surge of strength that shouldn't belong to a "beginner," he twisted his arm.
I felt my grip shatter.
The invisible chains of chaos I'd woven around his wrist didn't just slip—they snapped like brittle glass under the weight of his absolute intent. He didn't even look back at the wreckage he left of my composure. He just stepped into the crowd and vanished.
"Kai!"
I lunged after him, my new heels catching on an uneven cobblestone.
The "invisible base" couldn't save me from my own desperation.
I hit the ground hard, my palms scraping against the grit, the hem of my black dress fluttering in the dirt. I looked up, gasping, searching for him, but he was gone. He didn't turn around. He didn't see me fall.
He ran toward her like I was nothing but a replacement he'd finally stepped out of.
"Shit... SHIT!"
I scrambled to my feet, my face contorting into a mask of pure, murderous jealousy.
I could feel the Ring of Empty Chaos throbbing on my finger, the cobalt swirl mocking me.
How? How could he just leave me? After everything?
Crownless! Go invisible. Follow him. Now!
「 On it my queen. I'm ghosting him. 」 The King of Grotesques vanished from my periphery, a shadow slipping through shadows.
Ronan. You too. Don't lose sight of him.
「 As you command, my Queen. He shall not escape our vigil. 」 The King of Flames dissolved into a flicker of heat, trailing the scent of Kaiser's aura.
I pushed through the crowd, my red heels clicking violently against the stone, shoving merchants and adventurers aside without a word. My eyes scanned the backs of heads, the gaps between stalls, my breath coming in jagged, hateful hitches.
Why, Kai? Why her? What does a pink-haired bitch have that I don't? I'll kill her. I'll peel the skin from her face so you never have to look at her again.
I reached the center of the district where the paths branched in four directions. I stopped, spinning in a circle, my vision blurring with rage.
Crownless! Where is he? Ronan! Give me a location!
「 ...I, My Queen? This is awkward, 」 Crownless's voice crackled in my mind, sounding uncharacteristically hushed. 「 He's gone. Poof. Ghosted the ghost. I can't even hear his footsteps. The crowd's all 'buzz-buzz' and he just... vanished. 」
「 My Queen, 」 Ronan's voice was heavy with shame. 「 He has completely disappeared from the area. I tracked the heat of his trail to this junction, but it ended abruptly. It is as if he ceased to exist in this plane. 」
"Worthless," I hissed out loud.
"Both of you. Worthless!"
I stood in the middle of the bustling market, a girl in expensive red heels and a black dress, looking like a discarded doll.
The man who had knelt to put them on me was gone, chasing a memory, leaving me alone in the very world he promised to protect me from.
Gone. He's actually gone.
The heat from his hand is already fading, replaced by the biting winter air of this gods-forsaken city.
That pink-haired bitch. That ghost. How is she here? How does she have the right to breathe the same air as my Kaiser? I'll kill her. I'll dig a hole six feet deep and bury her in it while she's still screaming. She thinks she can take him?
He is mine. My soulmate. My heart. My air. If she touches a single hair on his head, I will dismantle her limb by limb.
I pushed through the crowd, my new red heels clicking like a countdown to a massacre. I didn't care who I hit. I didn't care about the curses being hurled at my back.
Crownless, find him! Ronan, burn anyone who stands in my way!
「 My Queen, I'm trying, but the man's literally a ghost. 」 Crownless said..
「 I am scouring the thermal signatures of the crowd, my Queen, but he has masked his presence with terrifying efficiency, 」 Ronan added.
"Where are you, Kai?" I whispered, my eyes darting frantically. "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me for her..."
I turned a sharp corner, my vision blurring with tears of pure, unadulterated rage, and slammed directly into someone.
I didn't fall—my enhanced physical stats kept me upright—but the impact jarred my teeth.
"Get out of my way before I—"
"Celia?"
I froze, my breath catching in my throat.
I knew that voice. It was a remnant of a past I had buried under a mountain of obsession. I looked up, my eyes snapping to the man standing before me.
Black hair. Black eyes. He was wearing clothes over a functional adventurer's outfit—nothing flashy, just sturdy leather and steel. He looked tired. He looked like he'd been searching for something for a very long time.
Kiel.
Why now? Why is this nobody of my old life standing in front of me when I'm losing the only person who matters? I don't have time for this. I don't have time for apologies or explanations.
"Celia? It really is you," he said, his voice trembling with a mixture of relief and disbelief.
He took a step toward me, his hand reaching out instinctively before he pulled it back.
"Why do you look like that? Why are you here? I've been... I've been looking everywhere."
"Get lost," I spat.
I shoved past him, my heels clicking a rapid-fire rhythm as I broke into a run.
"Wait! Celia, hold on!"
I heard him scrambling after me. Despite my speed, he was an adventurer; he could keep up. I wove through the stalls, my black dress billowing around me, but he stayed right on my heels.
"You can't just run off!" Kiel shouted, his breath hitching as he dodged a fruit cart.
"We got separated! That bastard Levi took me away and dumped me in the middle of nowhere! By the time I made it back to the area, everyone was gone. I've been tracking you for months!"
"Where is Ronan?"
"What happened... Stella?"
At the mention of that name—the name he used for the girl I used to be—I snapped.
I spun around, my hand launching forward to grab his collar. I slammed him back against a stone pillar, the force of the impact making the wood of a nearby stall creak.
"Stop following me," I hissed, my eyes glowing with a violent, crimson light.
"And don't you dare call me that. Stella is dead. I'm Celia. And if you don't turn around right now, I'll make sure you never walk again."
I pushed him back with a snarl and turned to keep moving, but Kiel was as stubborn as a mountain. He regained his footing and started following me again, though he kept a few feet of distance this time.
"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on!" he insisted, his voice sounding more worried than angry.
"You dyed your hair? And your eyes... how did you change your eye color? And that dress... it's nice, but it's not you. What happened to you?"
I ignored him.
"Are you looking for someone?" Kiel asked, his tone shifting. He moved up beside me, trying to catch my gaze.
"I can help. I just came from the North District. I saw the crowd moving toward the plaza. If you're looking for someone, I might have seen them."
I stopped dead. I turned to look at him, my expression one of pure, unbridled annoyance.
"Can you shut up? Just for 10 seconds?"
Kiel blinked, holding up his hands in a defensive gesture. "Calm down! When did you get so angry? I'm just trying to help you, Celia. You look like you're about to start a war."
A war? He has no idea. I'm about to end a world. But... he said he came from that direction. He has eyes. If he saw Kai... if he saw her...
I gripped my arm, my fingers digging into the silk of my dress. "You said you came from that way. Did you see a man? Black hair, blue eyes... wearing black? And a... a girl with short pink hair?"
Kiel's expression shifted, his brow furrowing as he processed the question. "A man in black? And a pink-haired girl? I... I might have."
"Where?" My heart leaped.
Kiel looked at me, his eyes searching mine. "Why do you care about them so much? Who is he, Celia?"
I just stepped closer, the shadows around my feet beginning to writhe.
"Where did they go, Kiel? Tell me, or I'll burn this entire market to the ground with you in it."
"They were headed toward the Old Clocktower," he whispered. "Was that the E-rank?"
The Clocktower.
I didn't wait for another word. I turned and sprinted toward the towering stone structure in the distance, my red heels clicking a murderous path through the city.
I'm coming, Kai. And when I find her, I'll show you why you should never have let go of my hand.
I reached the base of the clocktower, my lungs burning, but the only thing waiting for me was the indifferent ticking of giant gears above.
No black coat. No Blue eyes. No sign of the pink-haired thief who had lured him away.
She took him. She reached out from the past and snatched the only thing that makes me feel alive.
I'll rip the pink from her scalp. I'll make sure the last thing she see is my face before I send her back to the hell she crawled out of. I'll break her legs myself…
He's mine. How dare she? How dare he let go?
The world was too distracting. The people around me were nothing but obstacles—shifting, sweating walls of meat. Someone slammed into my shoulder, a heavy, jarring impact that nearly knocked me off my heels.
"Hey! Watch where you're standing, you brat!"
The man was a blur of grease and anger. He stood over me, his face red, barking about how I was blocking the path.
I didn't look at him. I couldn't. My mind was a loop of Kaiser's hand slipping away from mine. The man's voice was just a fly buzzing against me. I stood there, staring at the cobblestones, my fingers twisting the Ring of Empty Chaos until the metal bit into my skin.
"Are you deaf? Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
He reached out, his hand hovering near my shoulder, but a shadow blocked him. Kiel stepped between us.
"You've got a lot of nerve barkin' at a girl half your size," Kiel's voice was a low, abrasive growl.
"Why don't you take your pathetic, bottom-shelf ego curry munching losing ass somewhere else before you embarrass yourself further? You look like human garbage and smell worse than trash. Get lost, you fat ass fool."
The man's face turned from red to purple. He forgot about me instantly, lunging forward to grab Kiel by the collar of his adventurer's gear.
"What did you say to me, you little—?"
"I said you're a waste of oxygen," Kiel interrupted, his voice steady despite the man shaking him. He was distracting him. He was trying to be the 'protector' again, playing his martyr role while the crowd started to circle, whispering and pointed.
Noise. It's all just noise. Kiel's 'heroism,' this man's 'pride,' the crowd's 'curiosity.' It's a static hum that's keeping me from hearing Kai's footsteps. It's blocking the trail. It's suffocating me.
The man raised a fist, his voice reaching a shrill, aggressive peak that shattered my focus.
SHUT UP.
Dark, translucent chain erupt from the shadows at his feet. It lashed around his ankles like a viper. With a violent jerk, he was ripped off his feet, his scream cut short as he was slammed back-first into the stone floor.
thud.
I didn't wait for him to recover. I stepped forward, the red heel of my new shoe—Kai's gift—stepping onto the man's forearm. I pressed down, feeling the bone groan under the enchanted pressure.
"Shut. Up."
My eyes weren't black anymore; they were a pulsing, violent crimson that drained the color from his face.
The man gasped, his eyes bulging with a terror he couldn't even manage a whimper. The plaza went silent.
I pulled my foot back, the red leather pristine despite the filth of the ground. I didn't look at Kiel. I didn't acknowledge the way he stood there, paralyzed, looking at me like I was a monster he no longer recognized.
"I hate everything," I whispered to the empty air. "I hate all of you."
I turned and sprinted away from the tower, my heels clicking a desperate.
Where are you, Kai? Where are you?
I ran through the North District. I searched the alleys near the Weaver's Lane. I pushed through the crowds at the fountain, my eyes scanning for a flash of blue, anything.
Ronan! Crownless! Tell me something!
「 My Queen… we have searched the rooftops. There is no trace. 」
「 My liege, it's like he is masking his own presence. 」
I stopped in the middle of a deserted side street, the cold wind whipping my hair across my face.
My red ribbon—his ribbon—felt like a noose. I looked at the Ring of Empty Chaos. The cobalt swirl was still there, but it felt cold.
I stood there, a girl in a beautiful black dress and red heels, surrounded by a city that didn't care. The realization finally sank in, heavier than any chain.
I lost him.