The Sponsored Heroines Are Coming for Me

Chapter 170

Chapter 170

Aria gazed at the door.

Light poured in slowly from beyond the door as it opened, filling the dark room with sunlight.

Aria’s world, once filled only with shades of black and white, began to bloom into color.

“...Why... Why?”

She found herself stammering again.

There was no particular reason. It just felt like she had to.

Thinking back, it had always been this way.

During the time when her world consisted only of books, walls, and her home, it was you who had first shattered those monotonous colors.

That day.

I remember you, standing beyond the unusually dark window.

You looked just the same as today.

Your hair, dark and deep black. Eyes so intense they seemed to pull me in. Even your pale skin and lips, which looked almost lifeless, appeared as if cast in black and white. Yet, the sunlight and blue sky that flooded in as you drew back the curtains filled my world with color.

Yes.

Just like now.

— Step

You opened the door, walking in with those colors, standing before me.

I could only stare blankly up at you.

I longed for you, but I never believed you would return.

“...Why?”

The same words escaped my lips once more.

They held no real meaning.

They were just words that tumbled out from my mind, without any conscious thought.

All the memories that had resurfaced so helplessly.

All the regrets I’d harbored while thinking of you.

All the despair I felt, blaming myself.

None of them lingered in my mind right now.

The room had come alive simply because you were here.

The once lifeless scenery around me began to stir again.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Just from seeing you again.

I recalled the times when you embraced me.

“Ah... Ah...”

Inarticulate sounds, which could not form into proper words, spilled from my lips as I looked at you.

You crossed the unnecessarily large room, standing before me.

Your face hadn’t changed since then.

The same sorrowful expression you had when you would embrace me, comforting me in my weariness.

Not a single feature had shifted.

So, I began to hope—hope that perhaps you would hold me once more.

Even though I knew it was shameless, I swallowed nervously.

“...”

I looked up at your face.

Only now did I truly see your expression.

And then I realized.

Your face was completely devoid of emotion.

Despite looking at what must be my haggard face, not even a twitch of your eyebrows.

And so, I began to wonder.

Maybe you no longer felt anything for me.

Since the day I chose to leave you behind, cutting you from my life as if you were merely part of my past, had you done the same—completely severed me from your heart?

‘...That must be it.’

It had to be.

Looking at Ian Blackangers’ cold expression, I finally understood.

I had committed an unforgivable sin against you.

You would never come to save me now.

The moment I realized this, the world, which had grown so bright just a second ago, was once again consumed by darkness.

It was as if I had been swallowed by the deepest ocean depths. A world where not a single light could be seen.

“Haah...”

I felt like I was suffocating in that abyss.

◆

I made my way to Aria’s quarters.

“We’ve been expecting you, Sir Ian Blackangers. I will escort you to the Lady Saint Candidate’s residence.”

They greeted me as they had in the past.

It seemed the Saint Candidate had made a special request.

What did I just hear?

Hope? In you?

Aria’s mind went blank.

“N-No...”

Panicking, she reached out to grab Ian’s hand.

But Ian firmly pulled his hand away.

Instead, Aria clung desperately to the hem of Ian’s shirt.

Kneeling before him, she muttered in a pleading voice.

“I-Ian. I’ll do better, okay? Please...”

But Ian took a step back.

With the force of her grip gone, Aria collapsed helplessly to the floor.

“Aria, the Ian you’re talking about isn’t here. I am nothing to you.”

“But... but we were childhood frie—!”

“No. That’s not a thing.”

Ian’s reply felt like the world was collapsing for Aria.

Not a childhood friend. It was Ian who had always come to visit whenever Aria was left alone at home. It was Ian who had been the first to say they were friends. But now, he was shaking his head firmly, denying it.

... She knew.

She knew the reason why.

Aria squeezed the Hero miniature tightly in her hand.

Because she had thrown it away.

Because she had rejected the heart Ian had desperately extended to her.

Because she had declared that she was no longer “Gloomy”.

Aria wasn’t his childhood friend. It was Gloomy who had been his friend.

Drip.

Tears began to fall from Aria’s eyes.

“I... I’m Gloomy... Gloomy, Ian... I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Please, I’m sorry...”

“You’re Aria. You’re the Saint Candidate.”

“No... No... I’m sorry. Please. No, I’m not Aria... Let me be Gloomy again. Let me be Gloomy... please?”

“Aria, are you denying the path you chose for yourself? You said it with your own mouth, remember? That you were no longer Gloomy. That you didn’t need the past anymore. Are you saying you can’t even keep that promise?”

“I... I...”

No words came to mind to defend herself.

There couldn’t be.

Everything was her fault.

Despair swirled through her mind, over and over, burning itself out only to return.

“Hic...”

Aria cried.

Even so, she kept crying while looking into Ian’s cold eyes.

“I-I’m s-sorry... Forgive me. I-I was wrong. I was wrong. I’m so sorry...”

She crawled on the floor, groveling as she apologized.

Ian just looked down at her.

Surprisingly, he felt no particular emotion.

Only thoughts of how he could use Aria in the next scenario crossed his mind.

But.

It seemed she was of no use for now.

Aria was far more pathetic than he had expected.

“...I’m leaving for today.”

Ian turned, opening the door to leave.

Aria, on all fours, grabbed his ankle, crawling as if in desperation.

“No, don’t! Don’t leave... Don’t gooo!”

Ian ignored her.

Pulling his foot free wasn’t difficult.

At that moment.

Aria suddenly shot up and ran toward the desk.

— Clang!

The sound of something breaking rang out.

Ian turned to look.

‘...Is that a holy relic?’

A glass figurine of a sacred object lay broken.

Aria stood there, bleeding from her hand, holding one of the shattered pieces.

“If... if you leave...”

Her hands trembled violently.