The Butterfly That Swallowed the Fog

Others had already devoured them all. Why would you be the only one left out?

Tilia’s eyes sharpened with a sharper edge to the measured reply.

There was nothing particularly bad between Cecilia and herself, nor anything good. They exchanged smiles and conversation, but that was the limit of it—both of them knew the other’s smile was never sincere.

And yet that very girl had given her something to be jealous of on exam day.

Really.

Cecilia shrugged as though the suspicion that had sunk deep into Tilia’s face was nothing to her.

I hoped you’d take first place this time.

…Me?

Yes.

Cecilia said it with absolute certainty, not a single lie in her expression.

I wanted you to beat Elex Davenport.

…

There’s no one else who can do it in this situation but you, is there? So.

Her red lips split in a deep curve.

I wanted you to drink it and make him suffer a truly devastating failure.

“Careful now. The same rules as the mid-term apply. Any attempt at cheating will be caught, so don’t even try. Now, begin!”

The scribe’s voice rang out and the students’ hands sped up across the lecture hall.

Tilia, seated in the second row from the front, was the most agitated among them, unfolding her answer sheet with quick, decisive fingers.

Serious, she scanned the questions. Then, as though she had made up her mind, she started at the very last page and worked her way back.

While most students stared at their papers with despairing faces, the sound of Tilia filling in her answers echoed light and cheerful through the hall.

And three seats away from where she sat.

Someone was still watching her in the same way as before, but the blue eyes that observed her now were ice-cold.

Cecilia watched Tilia fill in the sheet and wore a cold smile.

Even if I tried to give her a helping hand…

Her pen tapped once, twice on the desk. She turned her head with an irritated gaze.

She keeps getting on my nerves.

Soon after, a red line appeared across Tilia’s answer sheet with a soft twack.

“Good. A few questionable answers, but nothing bad.”

In the quiet afternoon as the sun dipped toward the horizon, Tilia sat alone in the deserted courtyard, checking her paper. She lifted her head with a satisfied expression.

She had avoided failing the exam, so it would have been nice if her score had been even higher.

Wouldn’t it be good if the graders had been a little slower, since ordinary students couldn’t see the essay answers?

Tilia calmly prayed for others’ misfortune and neatly folded the exam sheet into her bag.

The hardest exam of the season had passed safely. She could finally breathe a little.

Of course, one must not be carelessly complacent.

Today she would eat something delicious with Judy.

It was the moment Tilia rose from the cold stone steps with a light step.

A strange sensation brushed the left pocket of her skirt.

What had I put in there?

She looked at the pocket with a puzzled expression and reached inside.

What emerged was a small bottle the size of a palm.

During the break before the Rhetoric exam today, Cecilia had given it to her, but it had gone untouched.

‘She was walking so nicely together before…’

Tilia tilted her head, recalling the secret meeting from last week’s dawn.

‘Did they break up?’

Cecilia’s expression had not been feigned when she said she wanted Elex Davenport to be disgusted.

‘She really seemed to have ill will…’

Tilia glanced alternately at Elex and Cecilia’s faces and shrugged her shoulders.

Well, it wasn’t her business.

Thinking about it, it would be far more surprising if Elex Davenport were seen with anyone for long.

Recalling the ominous rumors that circulated inside the academy, Tilia shook her head.

Apparently even Cecilia had fallen for that human scum. That was why those who valued their faces should never associate with them.

Feeling a spark of sympathy for Cecilia’s anger, Tilia turned her gaze back to the bottle in her hand.

Under the pouring sunset, the originally transparent medicine bottle glowed a brilliant crimson.

Suddenly, a whisper from one of Cecilia’s close associates echoed in her mind.

“Of course. Everyone else is galloping on horses, but you can’t run barefoot.”

Tilia’s vivid green eyes deepened a little as she stared at the bottle in her hand.

‘Running barefoot…’

The pink ribbon tied around the short neck of the bottle was a luxurious silk finish.

That little ribbon would surely be more expensive than the tie Tilia wore at that very moment.

‘How envious.’

But there was not the slightest regret in Tilia’s face as she looked at the spilled Holy Water.

‘But living only envying others your whole life is impossible, isn’t it?’

She understood. She could not win against those who rode in carriages. Even if she worked hard all her life, she could not reach the same destination.

So the only two choices left for Tilia were: become someone else’s spectacle by boarding the carriage, or…

‘Train your legs to be stronger.’

Tilia’s choice had always been the latter.

And thankfully, she had never regretted that choice even once until now.

Tilia Ambrose, though not first place, had consistently taken second. Even if the top and second spots at the Archasis Royal Academy were always held by Elex Davenport and herself, it would be no exaggeration to say so.

Tilia was satisfied with that. If she was not sorry, it was a lie, but her goal was truly enough with that much.

‘It was uncertain whether Cecilia Clayton would even give me something decent in the first place.’

She did not know why, but Cecilia would subtly restrain herself and periodically try to cut Tilia down.

Why, when she held overwhelming superiority in every aspect except grades, she disliked Tilia so intensely was incomprehensible…

‘Well, there are always people who simply dislike you for no reason.’

To Cecilia, Tilia was simply the one she hated.

Tilia tossed the empty bottle lightly into the trash bin nearby, dismissing others’ malice with ease.

Clang. The glass shattered against whatever had been inside.

I wonder how Judy did on the exam.

But without caring at all, Tilia walked down the stairs with a light step, worrying about her roommate.

Night had already come to the stairwell where people had vanished.

Slowly, warmth faded from the staircase. The water that had pooled on the flat stones reflected a darkening sky.

Zwooong.

A butterfly with striped wings flew in from somewhere.

The wings folded neatly, it extended its tentacle-like proboscis and began to suck up the transparent Holy Water.

More than just a single butterfly gathered around the sweet scent.

Black ants with antennae, centipedes with countless legs, and countless other butterflies seemed to have followed their companions, all converging on the spot.

The beginning of darkness, where the gas lamp began to faintly reveal its presence.

Beneath the stairs where Tilia had sat, strange-smelling creatures swarmed in a black tower.