Chapter 309 – Vanitas Still Life -1-

“···Follow me.”

Boris was relieved by the premonition that things would go smoothly.

She walked, feeling an unknown strangeness in Rike’s imposing gait.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

It was because of Enoch Skadi’s permission to bring him by force if he was forced or unable to speak.

I was worried about what to do to get rid of the drit or young lady that was around.

She liked herself if she voluntarily went to a place where her eyes were few to see.

Boris, who had left her academy and quietly followed her.

She was stunned and called out to Rike, who didn’t stop her steps even though he came into her alley.

“My lady. How far are you going?”

Rike did not stop at the call and dug inside without hesitation.

Her presence, which she could read with her own prowess, stopped her feet in her alley, completely gone.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a conversation with Boris like this.”

“Yes. She was relieved that the young lady seemed to have regained her strength with her academy life.”

“I think she found the driving force to live and act rather than that.”

Purple eyes reflected as she stopped and looked back.

Even before he could hear her words, Rike’s eyes felt the temperament of resistance as if her bones had risen upside down.

“If you have something to tell me, tell me. I’ll listen.”

A coolness permeated in the subdued voice.

Boris felt chicken flesh grow under her armor.

‘I even read the approaching signs…’

The time I spent only one grade- I don’t know what happened at the academy.

Likes Skadi, who was weak and withered as if she was about to die, has completely changed.

It was the ups and downs that made me feel like a completely different person.

In any case, what Boris had to do was decided.

“If you want to continue attending the academy, you must return to the territory once.”

“It’s a freshman, but even so, they didn’t pay the tuition right now. I can return the money, so would you like to take it now?”

“That way…! Even if you have only one ear to listen to, please cover your words!”

Although Boris growled and raised her spirits.

Ricke played with the tip of her own hair and gave her a smirk.

“Because? If I go back, are you going to make me live in a room not voluntarily but unwillingly?”

“That can’t be the case. Once we return, the first step is to apologize to the head of the household for our careless words and actions.”

“Apology… I mean to apologize…”

Is her brother scratching her chin when he feels this way or stuffiness?

Rike imagined Dunn Roman touching her scar with her embarrassed expression.

“In addition, if you help with the current affairs of the marquis family and resolve misunderstandings about the engagement, your relationship with the head of the family will gradually recover.”

“Huh~”

“If the young lady is frightened and troubled, this Boris will bow her head and beat her.”

She seemed to burst into laughter at her clumsy speech, which she was trying to entice herself with.

I don’t know how the story of her engagement to Robert Bolt reached Enoch Skadi’s ears.

It’s obvious, but there’s no misunderstanding.

Rike thought that she couldn’t be normal with her personality that she had shown in her mansion.

She must have found it hard to believe that she would have acted out of her stomach like that.

Rike, who lowered her head to swallow her laughter, cleared her expression before raising her gaze.

“Okay. There’s nothing I can’t do if I understand it.”

“It’s not a situation that requires convincing. You have to go unconditionally.”

“Calm down, Boris. Since we have time, let’s talk about the old days.”

“…”

You bark, I speak attitude.

Because Rike originally looked a lot like Joanna Bright.

From Boris’ point of view, who had seen a weak and submissive girl since childhood, Rike’s words and actions were quite confused.

“Gerdo Boris was also her mother’s escort.”

When the story came up, Boris openly frowned at her.

“The head of the family wants the lady to get away from the past. I, Boris, understand that it’s a disaster that is hard to forget… However, if you still show yourself obsessed with the past, the head of the family might be disappointed.”

“Such nonsensical talk is over. Listen to what I have to say and answer.”

“Miss!!”

Even though she mentioned Enoch Skady, Boris felt her heart ache when she saw Rike who didn’t lose her spirit at all.

“Where were the two of you escorting ‘that day’?”

The atmosphere sank to the bottom as we talked to each other.

There was a bleak silence in the alley.

“When I was young, I was overcome with loss and trauma, so I didn’t even think to look around. But looking back, there are a lot of strange things.”

“…”

“Boris. My last question.”

“Haa… It’s really sad that the young lady has changed so much.”

“Did you guys know what was going to happen to your mother?”

I wondered if something had changed, but such a steamy question.

‘Did I remember something? It’s still too young.’

In fact, isn’t that confident appearance also an act that is no different from an outburst? I thought that maybe it was my own illusion that I had changed.

No matter how you try to create a plausible atmosphere, there is no evidence, so it is enough to catch it.

“I understand the resentment we have for not fulfilling our escort duty. However, when we woke up after fainting, the incident had taken place.”

“No. The language that makes me a bad person is good, but that’s not the answer I want. There’s only one thing I’m asking, right? You knew your mother would have trouble that day, didn’t you?”

Rike cut off Boris and demanded a concise answer.

Her knight shook her head with a sorrowful expression at the girl who demanded an unreasonable answer from her.

“I didn’t know. How can I, a mere knight, see the future?”

“…I expected it, and I even hardened my heart. As expected, the truth hurts my heart.”

Rike, who was staring at La Borise through her eyes, laughed, lowering her eyes after a while.

“I told you I didn’t know, but…”

“After all, everything in the mansion until now is in love with black magic, right? It’s all rotten from the root.”

“A warlock! Don’t insult a knight who lives by honor.”

“Then can you say no?”

“Of course not!! It’s not us that has anything to do with the warlock, but the Bright family—-.”

Bang!

Rike’s fist, which only looked weak, broke the wall.

Rike, who had retrieved his fist, erased the drooping eyes and painted a neat smile.

“I just caught fire with those words.”

“…”

“In the past, even if I was told that I was a delusional psychopath, I would not have been able to refute it. No, if I hadn’t met my brother…”

The girl flipped her bangs once to reveal all her scars.

She stretched out her hand in the air.

“Vanitas.”

Seureung-

A bloody scythe appeared from an empty hand.

“!”

Boris looked at the weapon, which felt strange power, and reflexively pulled out the sword from her waist.

“I made a promise. I won’t let anyone involved in that incident live.”

“… Throw away your weapon. This will be difficult.”

Hwareuk!

The blue aura that was refined with the accumulated time dwelled in Boris’s sword.

‘Where and how are you so sure? Did I really have a mental problem?’

It was highly probable that it was the latter. I was curious about the source of that weapon that suddenly appeared.

What if there is any evidence that Rike is showing that attitude now?

According to Boris’ experience, even if he exerts excessive restraint here, Enoch Skadi is a person who would give a reward if he would have given it, but would not scold him.

“It didn’t work for my brother and sister at all. What about Boris?”

Talk!

As Rike hit the floor with her scythe, a red liquid boiled to form a puddle through the cracks in her floor.

From the smell of blood that stung her nose, Boris realized that it was blood.

[ Still life painted with blood ]

Vanitas gave the girl blood magic.

There, Rike realized the meaning behind the materials Vanitas threw at her head.

Shooting blood like bullets? Use with Aura?

It’s too simple. A waste of precious blood magic and vanitas not being properly saved.

Vanitas is, in the end, nothingness and emptiness.

‘The skull itself reminds us of death and imprints the ephemerality.’

Candles and flowers attract attention with their immediate beauty, but are destined to wither and disappear in the end.

Crowns and jewels symbolizing wealth and honor, drinking glasses and cigarettes for pleasure.

Everyone enjoys wealth and honor in the world, yet the ephemerality is the same.

It becomes the power to reflect on those who do not realize this meaning and lead the people around them to destruction with unreasonable greed.

“I hope my brother is satisfied with my growth.”

A red crown rises like an angel’s halo over Rike’s head, smiling while looking somewhere.

On the floor, bright red flowers that grew after drinking the sticky blood bloomed.

“What the hell is this…!”

A mad situation in which blood dances and submits to the girl’s gestures.

Even Boris, who had a long career, couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

“My older brother and sister say my talent is great, but I want a sober indicator.”

Gying-

He even made a neat aura on the scythe.

Her culprit was Rike, who had not dared to handle it, and with a familiar spinning scythe, aimed at Boris.

The thrill of living that penetrates the body the moment it is aimed at.

The knight regained his composure.

‘···Okay. When I just opened my aura, it would seem like I had the whole world.’

Definitely a great talent, but at least a cadet who has just finished his first year at the academy.

Something that seemed to be an injustice was openly scattered, but it had to be done quickly and without a chance to do something.

It was time to show that the level of being a knight who had been through prenatal battles was different.

“Even if I lose an arm or a leg, I will go to the church and go to the manor, so please understand…”

Clap-

At the same time as shaking off her flesh, she swung her blue sword once to get her into a pose, and Rike smiled at her.

“I’ll look forward to it.”